PeriAzhwar Tirumozhi - irandaam paththu

(Source: From Web. SriMadhavaKannan?)

AzhwArs enjoy the sowlabhyam of PerumAL more than Parathvam, as that is whatmakes Him grander and greater.. Thus, AzhwAr sings the birth of the Lord firstbefore he starts rearing Him up with lullaby, bathing, dressing,adorning with flowersetc. as YasOdha PiraaTTi..

1. vaNNamAdangaL soozh ThirukkOttiyoor kaNNan kEsavan nambhi piRandhinil eNNai suNNam yedhiredhi thUvida kaNNan muRRam kalandhaLAyiRRE.

Sri KrishNAn, who resides in the divya desam of ThirukkOttiyoor, surrounded bytall well decorated and painted balconies, - the chief of Chathurmukha BrahmA andRudran (Kesavan); the KalyANa guNa poorNan, [the reservoir of most auspiciousattributes]- when he was born (took His avatar) at ThiruAyarpaadi, the residentsthere, were so overjoyous and excited about the Kutti KaNNan’s arrival, that theysprayed fragrant oily, turmeric powders at each other (with joy), and the mixture ofall these powders falling on the ground made the large hall of Nadha gOpan appearlike muddy sandal paste.. (sERu..) on the floors.

Kesavan- ka + Isa + van- The Cause or Creator of Brahma and Rudhra; Or the Onewho killed Kesi (asurA) Or One who has most beautiful Kesam (tresses);

Shanthi Parvam says A Blind who meditates and utters the name Kesavan (who hasthe tresses like the Moon and the Sun- so resplendent); gets his eye sight even.

piRandhinil- pIRandhu + in + il- Since he was born; it became- in + il-meaning, so sweet home. Nandhan’s mUrram (Nandha gOpan’s hall has becomeKaNNan’s Hall, because He is Nandhan’s darling son.)

2. Oduvaar vizhuvaar uganthaalippaar naaduvaar nampiraan enguRRaan enbaar paaduvaargaLum palpaRai kotta ninRu aaduvaargaLum aayiRR aaypaadiyE..

Nandha gOkulam – the Ayar paadi- where KaNNan was born; having heard that Heis born, running; (due to the excitement and haste), falling; (unmindful of the fall,again getting up with happiness and zeal), shouts excitedly, searching as to “whereis He? Where is he?” where is our Swamy? (nambhi)”.; singing merrily andvociferously with happiness, amidst the thunderous musical organs, standing and

dancing to the glory announcing His arrival. The entire Ayar paadi has become likethat, with no exception at all.

enguRRAn (where is He?) also can be read as “engutthAn” meaning: where ?where? “.

3. pEni Seerudai piLLai piRandhinil kaaNatthaam puguvaar pukkup pOdhuvaarANoppaar ivan nErillai kaaN thiru vONatthAn ulagALum enbaargaLE.

In the sweet residence, where the darling (much desired and sought after) KrishNAis born, those who want to enjoy seeing the Kutti KaNNan enters into the house,and says, “who can be compared to this man? (None at all.) (Purushan- He isParama Purushan; Purusha Utthaman; Isn’t He?). Even the Lord VishNu of SravaNasta, who rules the worlds, can not be equal to him (KaNNan)- they affirm.

Here this man- who can be equal to Him? Is a sweet statement. He is not only theParathvam; he is also a Sowlabhyan unlike that VishNu (who rules the world).Though they are one and the same, this is just to show greatness of sowlabhyam, heis better than even VishNu. He is Seerudai PiLLai meaning- Sriman, One who iswith SrI. But He is better than that sriya: Pathi because He is the darling of cowherdfolks and is one among them. He stooped down to such a sowlabhyam that one cannot imagine. This also means, he is grander than other devathaas naturally. [We willenjoy more of His sowlabhyam in the entire PeriyAzhwAr pAsurams ]

Also it can be inferred as: He is equal to that VishNu who is the ruler of all worlds.Thus, He is none other than VishNu. He is only Man(PurushOtthaman).

NammAzhwAr says, “Anallan; peNNallan; aliyum allan..” That means; he isneither a man; nor a woman; nor a napumsakan. But then who is He? One can seethe gender sued by AzhwAr. He… meaning. He is “the Man” calledPurushOtthaman (and not like any other man).

4 uRiyai muRRatthu urutti ninRaaduvaar naRu ney paal thayir nanRaaga thUvuvaar seRimen koondhal avizha thiLaitthu engum aRivazhindhanar aaypaadi aayarE..

[Beautiful scene..] The cowherd folks of Ayarpaadi, (after seeing thedarling Lord of theirs), in all their houses, they are so overjoyed andexcited that they throw the curd, milk, fragrant ghee one ach other andsmear on each other’s bodies; they dance singing with joy, letting their long hairsuntie and fall freely.. Forgetting materialistic / worldly pleasures (thus, becoming

insane:- )

aRivazhindhanar- means: lost their desire on materials and other worldly matters.

Srimad Bhagawatham mentions the same scene:

gOpA: parasparam hrushtA dhaDhi kshIra ghruthAmbubhi: |AsInchanthO vilim panthO navanIthaischa chikshipu: || (X.5. 14)

The cowherd folks on one another, being happy (hrshtA), dhadhI curd; kshIra milk;ghrthAmbubhi: butter milk; AsInchantha: sprinkling; vilimparantha: smearing;navanIthai: butter; chikshipu: threw on one another.

5. koNda thAL uRikOlak kodu mazhu thaNdinar paRiyOlai sayanattharviNdamullaiyarumpanna pallinaraNdar miNdip pugundhu neyyaadinaar.

{At Ayar padi in the neighborhood of NadhagOpan’s home, the scene wasdescribed. Now the scene shifts to those who went out for rearing the cows.]

The cowherd folks who went outside for rearing the cows, those who have the pottied with strong, long, stout ropes, (for milk and for their food?); who have thesharp mace-like stick, who have the make shift arrangement of beds made of leaves(to take rest); who have small white mullai flower like teeth (with absolutely nokaLLam and kapatam- krithrimam illAdha bhakti- unalloyed devotion) ; enteredinto Ayarpaadi town (where He was born) smeared themselves with ghee, as if theyare bathing with Ghee (due to their over excitement and extreme happiness).

{This pAsuram it is told brings us the Uriyadi uthsavam _Those who havewitnessed will enjoy)

The next sweet pAsurams (6-10) of PeriyAzhwAr Thirumozhi 1.2. for ourenjoyment:

6. kaiyum kaalum nimirtthu kadaara neer paiyavaatti pasunchiRu manjaLaalaiyanaavazhitthALukku angAnthida vaiyam Ezhum kaNdAL piLLai vAyuLE.

[PeriyAzhwAr visualizes the miraculous even in which Yasodha perceived thecosmic universe inside the mouth of the child as it opened its mouth. In the wordsof the milk maids, who are also stated to have witnessed this event, AzhwArexpresses with dismay that this is not an ordinary child but the very divine being. ]

Yasodha (with the help of few maids) perform the mangaLa snAnam (Bath) for theinfant KaNNan. She massages (or straightens) the short, stout hands and legs andwith the small coconut shell container (kopparai), takes the pure warm water tobathe kaNNan. She also takes the small pasu manjaL (the fresh turmeric stone) toclean the tongue. When she is ready, Kutti KaNNan opens (as a gesture of help),[angAndhida] his small mouth. Yasodha could not belive her eyes. She could see theseven worlds in His mouth straightaway.

Sage Sukhar mentions this incident only after few months, when KaNNan wasplaying outside in the streets and was found eating sand. Yasodha rushes to the childand asks the child “Open your mouth. You ate the sand. I need to remove..hmmmm.. Open. “. The kutti darling KaNNan opens and she is shocked to see theentire earth inside. Not just little sand.. The whole Universe is there. AzhwAr wantsto bring and enjoy that first and foremost. Perhaps Devaki enjoyed theSarvEshwaran first and now wants to show Himself to Yasodha too.

Also one can se that there are other maids who help Yasodha and hencesomeone else cleaned the tongue and Yasodha is just bathing Him. She(Yasodha) saw the worlds when that milk maid asked Kutti to open mouth.

7. vaayuL vaiyagam kaNda madanallaaraayar putthiran allan arundheivam paaya seerudaip paNbudai bAlakanmaayan enRu magizhndhanar maadharE.

The innocent, good (mada nallaar) milk maids who have witnessed the worlds in theKutti KaNNan’s mouth, said, “this baby is not the son of cowherd folks. He is theinaccessible, incomprehensible Lord who manifests everywhere, who has the mostauspicious attributes (kalyANa guNAs) in Him; who does greatest and grandestdeeds; who is the saviour for all (Sarva rakshakan); who is the mysterious Lord(maayan)” – exclaimed joyously and excitedly.

He adores the milk maids as much as YasOdha PiraaTTi. So, they also get to se thegrand incident.

8. patthu nALum kadantha iraNdA naaLetthisaiyum sayamarankOditthumattha maamalai thaangiya mainthanai uddhAnam seydhu uganthanar aayarE.

[The infant kaNNan after 13 days (the child was born in the midnight- and hencethat night is counted as one day). Thirteen days vrutthi theettu- Asoucham. Hence,after 12 days, the people, celebrated the 13th day, adorning the whole place withflags and jaya sthambams (victory pillars). It appears they were just waiting for anearliest opportunity to take the child in their hands. Thus, they celebrated to lift the

child in their hands. (uddhAnam seydhu- holding the child uthsavam)]. This is notreferred to as naming ceremony yet.

The cowherd folks, on the 12th day, celebrated with flags and pillars in alldirections, the uddhAna uthsavam of Kutti KaNNan who held the huge mantharamountain on His back as Tortoise, for churning the milky ocean.

Mattha maamalai – can also be read for the Govardhana mountain which housedeven the elephants – The One who lifted and held the huge mountain with His littlefinger.

kadhAchiththThAnikkauthukAplavE janmarkshayOgE samavaithaypithAm –Srimad Bhagawatham also refers to this uddhAnam.

9. kidakkil thottil kizhiya udhaiithidum yedutthuk koLLil marungaiyiRutthidumodukki pulgil udharatthE paayndhidum midukkilAmaiyAl naan melindhEn nangaay!

Oh good lady! (nangaay- poorNamaanavaL- A healthy one? )! This Kutti KaNNanwhen lying in the cradle- kicks it so violently that the cradle appears to be tearingoff ; When lifted and placed on the waist, He makes the waist break off; With force,when tamed and hugged to the chest, He kicks into the stomach and jumps off(from us) With such trouble, due to lack of stamina, I have become thinner andthinner (says the Lucky YasOdhA:- ) as I am not like you with stamina)

AzhwAr shifts from his role to Yasodha role.

Here, when lifted, he troubles; when hugged he kicks in the stomach. But, if He iskept in the cradle, He kicks only the cradle. How does she get thinner? Reason:when he is lying down, I go near Him to breast feed Him and He kicks (OR) I amnot able to control leaving him there lying down. Hence, I am tempted and lift Him.

Poorvacharyas have said beautifully (says Sri UttamUr swamy): When lying, liftingand hugging, he kicks, jumps, moves violently. What will happen to this littledarling of mine?- woories YasOdhA and because of which she becomes thinner.

Nangaay_ Singular lady! Perhaps, a lady asked “YasOdhA! Why have you becomeso thin?”YasOdhA answers the PAsuram..

Also each line can be to a separate lady.

One lady asks: You could have kept the baby simply in a cradle like me.(kidakkil thottil kizhiya udhaitthidum..- )

Another one: Lift Him and place Him on your waist. He will be samarthu. (No…yedutthuk koLLil marungai iRutthidum)

Third one: Hug him tighly to your chest and control His movements. (Hmmm.Ivanaa? Odukki pulgil udharatthE paayndhidum)..(or even kept on the floor, someinsect may bite.)Thus, worrying about the Kutti KaNNan also, she thins down.

10. Sennelaar vayal soozh thirukkOttoyoor mannu nAraNan nambhi piRanthamaiminnunool vittuchitthan virttha pannupaadal vallaarkkillai paavamE.

ThirukkOttoyoor Narayanan – who is here now only took KaNNan avatar fromMilky Ocean. About that KaNNan- this ten was sung elaborately by Vishnu chitthanwearing shining pooNool (sacred thread). Those who learn to read and recite thisten, will have all their sins run away from them.

Pannu- composed (sung) set to musicOr it can also mean- appreciated by others – like Selva nambhi (ten that isappreciated by others like Selva nambhi) and composed by VishNu chitthan.