Verse 6    Word For Word  Translation  Commentary  Errors

Index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30


6. puLLum cilampina

Simple Word for Word meanings
puLLum      cilampina kaaN   puLL        araiyan         kOyilil *
Birds (are) chirping  See !  birds (the) king (of) (in his) temple

veLLai           viLi    caNGkin      pEr  aravam kEttilaiyO *
white (used for) calling conch (it's) loud sound  don't you hear

piLLaay  ezhun^thiraay            pEy        mulai           naNY   cuNtu *
children wake up !     (From the) rakshasa's breast (HE who) poison ate ,

kaLLac                  cakatam           kalakkazhiyak   kaalOcci *
(He who came as) fake   wheel , (He who)  destroyed (and) kicked (the enemy)

veLLathth                                aravil  thuyilamarn^tha       viththinai *
(He who lies) in the milk ocean (on the) snake   in yogic sleep  (the) source of all life

uLLaththuk          koNtu               munivarkaLum yOkikaLum *
(Into their) minds  bringing (His name) saints (and) Yogis

meLLa  ezhun^thu      "ari" enRa          pEr   aravam *
slowly waking   (and)  Hari saying (this) great sound (has)

uLLam           pukun^thu      kuLirn^thu
(in our) hearts entered  (and) made (us) calm

El                                Or empaavaay
Come (Let us do) (the penance of) paavai nOmbu

Translation   By  V.S.

Awaken , Oh Young girl! Even the birds have woken up and are chirping about the arrival of the morning. Don't You hear the loud and sacred sound from the white conch being blown at the temple of our Lord , who rides on the divine GarudA ? Oh Young girl ! Wake up! The Yogis and Sages with minds known for uninterrupted contemplation of our great Lord celebrated for His
adhbhutha leelais such as:

(1) destroying evil Poothanai by suckling her poisonous milk-bearing breast  and at the same time sucking her life away

(2) destroying a cunning asuran , who came in the form of a cart by splintering him into pieces with a swift kick from His tiny (baby) toe .

He (Our Lord) is the primal cause of the whole Universe. He sleeps on AdhisEshan in Yoga NidhrA at the milky ocean. The Yogis and sages have now come out of their meditation slowly and are reciting the name of Lord Hari loudly for seven times. The crescendo of that Hari Naama UccharaNam resounds like thunder and enters into our hearts and pleases us. Does not that aravam  enter your heart too? Oh Young girl! Please Awaken and join us in the nOnbhu ! 

 

Commentary   By Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchari Sadagopan

 From the sixth to the fifteenth paasuram ,Bhaagaavtha ThirupaLLiyezucchi (awakening of the devotees of Lord Krishna )are covered. Ten important bhakthais deeply involved with KrishNa anubhavam are woken up to participate in the Paavai nOnbhu. Each of the Ten important devotees of KrishNa are awakened with one paasuram (6-15). In this sixth paasuram, the first one to be awakened is a young Gopi , who is a novice in devotion to and love for KrishNa. She does not know the difference between Bhagavath  and Bhaagavatha anubhavam due to her youth (JananyAcchAr).

"yEka svAdhu bhunjItha, bhunjItha cha dasabhi: saha" says Saasthram. The parama bhOgya vasthus should not be enjoyed alone. They must be enjoyed with tens (many) people" .If that were so for worldly pleasures , then the enjoyment of the greatest of pleasures -- enjoyment of the anantha kalyANa guNams of the Lord-- must be done with thousands of like-minded adiyArs of the Lord. Swamy NammAzhwAr refers to the same, when he describes the aananthAnubhavam of perumAL sEvai at Sri Vaikuntam: " vanthavaethir koLLa maamaNi maNTapatthu,   anthamil pErinbatthu ADIYORADI IRUNTHAMAI"
(Sri PBA Swamy anubhavam).

Therefore ANDAL and Gopis awaken many represented by the level of spiritual perfection of this Gopi to join in the enjoyment of Bhagavath GuNAnubhavam and Kaimkaryam to Him.

The Inner Meanings of this Paasuram
 

 PuLLum Silampina
KaaNN 
The Lord who took HamsAvathAram and the bird like AchAryAs (Parama HamsAs) , who have received His anugraham , are performing upadEsam for us now.
   PuLLarayan Koil  For us like Pakshis (little birds) and Pasus (helpless Janthus), that one ,(white conch) present in the ashtAkshara  roopa temple of the Lord (is blowing)
  VeLLai ViLI Sankham  That one (Sankham), which is the embodiment of satthva guNam and which instructs  us on all the rahasyArthams (is sounding).
   pEr aravam kEttilayO?  Haven't you heard of that majestic naatham of the white conch ? Its sound delivers us the message :
(1) EmperumAn is Sarva-Seshi, the Supreme Lord (Swami) of us all
(2)We, the chEthanams, are His seshans (eternal servants). Haven't you heard that uplifting message?
  PiLLAi YezhunthirAi  Please discard your childish attitude that the Supreme Lord and You are one and the same and gain true knowledge about Your Master-servant relationship with Him and awaken !
  pEy mulai nanjunDu  Of those (AchAryAs), who destroy the avidhyai named Poothanai, which is the cause of ahankAram and mamakAram in us
kaLLa chakatam 
kalakka azhiya kaal 
Occhi 
Of those (AchAryAs),who control and prevent our body (cart)drawn by the indriyAs from running in destructive directions thru their intervention
VeLLattharavil Thyuil
amarntha 
Of those(AchAryAs),who do not have any desire of swimming in the samsAra saagaram full of fierce snakes(Taapams)
 Vitthinai  Of those great (AchAryAs) , who set us on our journey in the Moksha maargam(path) by being the seed of AchAram & anushtAnam
uLLatthil koNDu 
MunivarkaLum YogikaLum
mella Yezhunthu
meditating on them (on those AchAryAs), the two kinds of prapannAs recognize clearly their insufficiencies to practise Bhakthi Yogam (One kind of prapannan is  known for Bhagavath guNAnubhavan and the other known for Kainkarya anubhavam or Karma yOga nishtai ).
 Hari YenRa pEraravam  approach the Lord and loudly request Him to eliminate the Paapams and PuNyams , which are the seeds of SamsAric afflictions (approach AchAryan as Moksha bheeja BhUthan)
uLLam Puhunthu That aartha naatham (sufferer's loud cry) of the PrapannAs entered through the Lord's (AchAryA's) ears and reached His (their)heart(s).
  KuLirnthu  That sound reaching the Lord's heart made Him happy and contented; That anubhavam of the Lord (Achaaryan) made Him PrasAdha-Visishtan for us. Hearing this uplifting message and its effect on our Lord (AchAryan), Oh Girl,  please awaken and join in the Nonbhu !

Special comments on Individual words of Paasuram 

A. The addressing of the Gopi Here as "PiLLAi"

Four Views:

 (1) This Gopi being awakened is a novice in Bhagavath-BHAgavatha anubhavam .The highest among the bhakthAs of the Lord is the One , who has Bhaagavatha Bhakthi (devotion to the Lord's devotees). This Gopi is not there yet and She has PiLLaitthanam ( attributes of a novitiate).Her BhAgavatha Bhakthi is not ripe and needs growing . Hence , She is addressed as PiLLAI (Sri PeruKKaraNai Swamy).

(2) The young ones do not know kapatam; they are  not adept in the wily ways of life. It is a guNa visEsham of youngsters. Therefore, this Gopi is addressed as "PiLLAi"...Sri PBA Swamy

(3)Our AchAryAs are also addressed as Vadakku Thiruveethi PiLLai, Periya VaacchAn PiLLai, NampiLLai.  In this context, this Gopi who is good as a youngster in grasping , preserving and growing Bhagavath anubhavam (GrahaNa DhAraNa pOshana padur Baala:) is given a place of respect by being addressed as "PiLLAi"...Sri PBA Swamy

(4) Oh Gopi! You are new to Bhagaathanubhavam. Therefore this sleep has enwrapped you. Please cast aside this slumber of PiLLaittanam (youth) and make an effort to grow further in Bhagavathanubhavam . Please grow up in anubhava rasam and become adhikAri in Bhagaavth anubhavam by joining this group singing the Lord's ThirunAmams.--Sri UtthamUr Swamy

B. Inner meanings of the Other phrases of the 6th Paasuram

  Abhinava Desika Sri UtthamUr Swamy's anubhavam:

 (1) PuLLarayan Koil= Thirumanthram (AshtAksharam), the place  of preferred rsidence (Koil) of the Lord.

(2) Sanghu = The Conch there (at that temple ) is PraNavam .

(3) Inn (ViLi Sankhu+inn ) = Iniya(Sweet) sound of NaarAyaNa padham in AshtAksharam.

(4) VeLLai= Satthva guNam. "VeLlai ViLi sankhin Peraravam KettilayO?" = Haven't you heard yet the rahasyArthams of the sweetest manthram arising from the sankha dhavni?

(5) pEy mulai nanjunDu= pEy is Moola prakruthi; its mulai (breasts) are bhuddhi and ahamkAram; nanju = the dhOshams arising from them.

(6) KaLLa sakatam kalakkazhiya KaalOcchi= Sakatam is manOratham (abhilAshai); That sakatam unless directed towards the Lord is stealthy and defective ( sthEna mana: anrutha vaadhini vaak--Vedam). Kalakkazhippathu in this context is the growth of vairAgyam to eliminate the KaLLatthanam (stealthiness) of anrutha Vaak ( untrue talk).

(7) VeLLattharavu = SamsAra BhOga pravAham

(8) Thuyil amarvathu = dircting the mind away from those dhukkham causing Bhogams

(9) Vithtinai ULLatthu kONDu = by treasuring that Koota-sthAna AchAryan/Bhagavaan deep in mind and meditating with preethi. "ULLatthuk KoNDu": When we get up, we uter the ame of Hari, when we start travel, we say KesavA  , when we eat we say GovindhA and whenw e are about to sleep, we say MadhavA".  Lord is kept in the heart and meditated upon by Munis and Yogis.

(10) meLLa Yezhunthu: Hari yenRa pEraravam = arising slowly with the recitation of the name of Hari ( One who removes our aj~nAnam and Viparitha Jn~Anam completely) . That Hari naama sankIrthanam has swelled up to a loud ghOsham. Hari's naama mahimai has been celebrated by Haryashtakam of PrahlAdhan : "Taani sarvANi asEshANi Harir ithi akshara Dhvyam".

 Sri Venkat (adiyen) Iyengar of Baharain has audio files of the ThiruvallikkENI GOshti headed by Sriman M.A. VenkataKrishNan Swamy reciting melodiously the Paasurams of ThiruppAvai in the most traditional manner. Please click here (GodaStutitpavai 1tpavai 2tpavai 3) to listen to them.

Soodikkoduttha NaacchiyAr ThiruvadigaLE Saranam ,
Sarvam KrushNArpanam asthu
RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan



Article by Shriman Sadagopan Iyengar of Chennai:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bhakti-list/message/16883

The Wake-up Call

            This is the month of Margazhi, with a pleasant chill in the  air. Getting up in the morning, which is difficult even in normal times, is  even more difficult as you feel like snuggling deeper into your bed, with  the blanket covering you from head to foot. It takes a lot of will power to  shake off sleep and lethargy and to rise and shine. If we at all get up, we  must thank our Alarm Clock for the courtesy, for if it doesn't shake us out  of slumber with its shrill cry, we would probably sleep on and on. There  are of course those of us who religiously set the alarm to the desired  time, and when it goes off, just silence it and sleep on. This is our fate  when modern chronometric devices like the Alarm Clock are available. In the  good old days, when time was measured by the position of the Sun and the  stars, what would people have done for waking up in time, especially before  Sunrise?

   For the most part, people seem to have relied on their biological clock,  which would jog them to wakefulness automatically at a particular time.  Once the body is accustomed to doing certain things at fixed times, it gets  into the groove and gets ready for them involuntarily, without any  conscious effort on their part.   However, such biological clocks do not  work for everybody, and especially when you are tired, the body's  compensating mechanism lets you sleep longer to shake off fatigue. On such  occasions, the biological clock is not much reliable.

   Realising our difficulty, the Lord, in His infinite mercy, has created  beings like birds and animals which come awake much before we do and give  us a wake-up call too. These are extremely reliable and regular and don't  oversleep like us. A few of these find a mention in Tiruppavai and Tiruppalliezucchi.

"PuLLum silambina kAN" says Sri Andal, pointing out that the birds have  begun their day, chirping merrily and waking up human beings deep in  slumber, with their sweet warbling.

Though this is a thing of the past in the urbanised environment where all  birds and animals have been banished to make room for the ubiquitous human  being, people in the villages wake up even today to the melodious twitter  of our feathered friends. Coming awake to the accompaniment of this  memorable music is an experience by itself, which only those who are  familiar with it would be able to appreciate. To the untrained ear, the  cheep-cheep of these birds might sound like unintelligible babble, but to  the ardent devotee it would be amply clear that the birds are indeed  uttering the Bhagavan nAma in their own tongue. If we listen keenly, we  might find in it resemblance to several of the Lord's haloed names. And  even if we are unable to discern such exalted strains in these sounds, if  we remember that all words and all sounds ultimately indicate the Lord and  His gunAs, we would be convinced that the apparently meaningless (to us) gibberish that we hear from birds is indeed Bhagavan-nAma.

Even if we were to ignore birds prattling away in unknown tongues, we find  parrots explicitly and succinctly uttering the Lord's names, which they  come to hear often or are taught. The author of Sri Venkatesa Suprabhatam  describes how the parrots of Tirumala, immediately after waking up and  fortifying themselves with a breakfast of leftover fruit, start chanting  "Good Morning, Milord!' (SrI VEnkatAchalapathE tava suprabhAtam"), much  before the human devotees do.

"Koottil irundu KiLi eppOdum Govinda Govinda endru azhaikkum  
oottakkodAdu seruppan Agil UlagalandAn endru uyara koovum"

- thus says Sri Kodai in Nacchiar Tirumozhi, confirming the propensity of  her parrots to chant the Lord's names always, even when they are battling  with hunger. The words "uyara koovum" indicate a Shastra-arttha -- while  uttering the Lord's names or reciting stotras, we should do so loudly and  not just mumble. By a loud recitation, not only is our tongue engaged in  kainkaryam but our ears too, as they get to hear the chanted tiru-namams.  And it benefits not only ourselves, but also whoever is within hearing  distance. Thus the manner of reciting stotras is to do it unabashedly,  audibly and in ringing tones, as the conduct of Sri Andal's parrots would  show.

It is not merely the parrots that announce the daybreak, but a host of  other birds too -- for instance the "Anaic-chAtthan" ("Keesu keesu  endrengum AnaicchAtthan kalandu pEsina pEccharavam"), the Cuckoo ("Madhavi  pandal mEl palkAl kuyilinangaL koovina kAN") and hens and cocks (" vandu  engum kOzhi azhaitthana kAN"). Sri Tondaradippodi Azhvaar too confirms the  chorus of birds at the crack of dawn -"Pulambina putkaLum poompozhilgaLin  vAi".

There are the hard-to-wake sleepers who are quite capable of sleeping  through birdsong, for their snores would easily drown the reedy voices of  birds. How to get through to such descendants of KumbhakarNa?  Sri Andal  says that Nandagokulam is equipped for this difficult task, too.  TiruvAippAdi is full of healthy buffaloes, which call their progeny to feed  early in the morning. In their anxiety to wake their own calves, the  buffaloes moo in stentorian voices, waking up everybody in the vicinity,  willy-nilly. All they do is just clearing their throats noisily and, lo!  the concerted effort of these hefty creatures creates a roar, which is  difficult to sleep through -- "Kanaitthu iLam kattr-erumai".

Adding to this racket is the raucous and shrill "music" issuing from the  flutes of young cowherds taking their bovine charges out for grazing.  Inspired by the delectable strains of Sri Krishna's kuzhal, these cowherds  too try their hands at it, with mixed results. The resultant din is enough  by itself to wake up the soundest sleeper.

As if all this were not enough, the early-rising Yadava ladies churning  curds for butter with wooden implements fills the air with a clamour ("Aycchiar matthinAl Osai paduttha tayir aravam kEttilayO"). One might think  lightly of the noise of curds being churned. However, imagine this  operation being carried out in all homes simultaneously at TiruvAippAdi,  and you have a tremendous body of sound, to which the numerous bangles  adorning the wrists of Gopis add their own music due to the constant  movement of the owners' shapely hands. Women are generally not known for  their reticence (with due apologies to the lady readers) and the Gopis are  no exception. While their hands are busy with churning, they exchange  pleasantries with one another and swap tales of Sri Krishna's latest  misdemeanour, all of which adds up to a tidy volume. According to one  version, the cumulative uproar was enough to pervade Sri Vaikuntam - " udgAyateenAm aravinda lOchanam vrajAnganAnAm dhivam asprusat dhvani:"

  The moment we come awake, we are supposed to sit up gently in bed and  chant the Hari nAma seven times, meditating on the Lord and His attributes.  What a wonderful chorus this would make if hundreds of people, holy men  that too, were to chant "Hari: Hari:" simultaneously! Would this not be  enough to enter the ears of even sound sleepers and wake them up instantly?  This incredibly sweet and sanctifying BhagavannAma samkIrtanam enters not  only the ears but the soul too and cures one of all maladies, says Sri  Andal-

"munivargaLum YOgigaLum meLLa ezhundhu ari endra pEraravam uLLam pugundhu  kuLirndu".
The reference to "KuLirundhu" indicates that Hari nAma samkIrtanam cures  one of the three types of heats (Tapatrayam" -- AdhyAtmikam, Adhidaivikam  and Adhibhoutikam.

  The concerted boom of the conches being blown in various temples of the  Lord, inviting the devout for the morning prayers, ensures that any  stragglers sticking to their beds despite all the aforesaid uproar leap out  and get ready for Bhagavat kaimkaryam.

  We really envy the inhabitants of Gokulam. What pleasant days they must  have had, waking up day after day to the music of birds, bees, buffaloes,  jingling bangles, devotional songs in the Lord's praise, nAma samkIrtanam  and conch-blowing!  With all this auspicious beginning, it is little wonder  that their days and lives were peaceful and prosperous, with disharmony and disgruntlement totally unknown to anyone. And after waking up, they could  look forward to spending the day in the enthralling company of Sri Krishna, who was everything to everybody.

  We do wish, with overwhelming wistfulness, that we didn't have to wake-up  tomorrow to the piercingly strident tones of the Alarm Clock.

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka
SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

Dasan, sadagopan.