Thirupavai Pasuram 13

 Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/01/thirupavai-pasuram-12.html

Picture: Namperumal lord Ranganatha of Sri Rangam

puLLin vaay keendaanai(p) pollaa arakkanai(k)

kiLLi(k) kaLaindhaanai(k) keerththi mai paadi(p) pOy(p)

‘We have been spending too much time trying to wake-up all the late comers. Let us start our Nama Sankeerthanam enroute to the next girl’s house. She may be ready for us if she hears our music,’ suggested a gopi girl to Nachiar.

‘The reason most of these girls refused to join us in the beginning was because we have been singing about Krishna. He plays pranks on us. He looks very pleasing to our eyes but He is not pleasing to our heart because He torments us with His pranks. If we sing about Lord Rama instead of our Krishna the girls will join us immediately,’ recommended another gopi girl to Nachiar.

‘How can you even make such suggestion?’ asked a third girl, ‘Krishna is very dear to all of us! He is present now at Gokulam whereas Lord Rama was only present in the past. It is not right to leave our Krishna because He is the one who is visible to our eyes!’

Nachiar noticed the argument between the two groups of girls. She decided to make a compromise.

‘Girls please stop arguing,’ said Nachiar, ‘we will sing one line about Lord Rama followed by a line about Krishna to make everyone happy.’

She started with “puLLin vaay keendaanai(p)” to sing the praise of Lord Krishna and His victory over Bakasura who appeared in the form of a heron.

Nachiar said, ‘One day the boys took the calves to their usual watering place. Unknown to them the demon Bakasura had come in the guise of a heron. He wanted to avenge the death of his sister Putana. He was waiting for Krishna near the shore. The boys jumped in the water and had swimming contests. Sridama was the first among the boys to spot a huge heron sitting on the opposite bank. It looked as huge as a mountain peak.

‘Look at that huge bird!’ he cried.

The boys screamed in fear. ‘Krishna watch out!’ they cried and to their horror the heron swooped Krishna in its beak and swallowed Him.

‘Alas!’ they cried. ‘What will we do without our Krishna, we may as well be swallowed by the bird!’

The heron suddenly felt a burning sensation in its throat as Krishna felt like hot embers. Unable to hold Him, the heron spit Krishna outside. Krishna immediately caught the heron by its beak and tore it into two by pulling the upper and lower beaks in opposite direction.

Thus He killed the demon called Bakasura who had taken the form of a heron.’

puLLin vaay keendaanai refers to Krishna splitting the heron in to two pieces by pulling it’s beaks in the opposite direction.

 pollaa arakkanai(k) kiLLi(k) kaLaindhaanai(k)

Next Nachiar sang about Lord Rama’s victory over Ravana.

‘Let us now sing the praise of Lord Rama;’s victory over the bad Rakshashan Ravana. Lord Rama killed him as if he was just removing  a small weed from the garden,’ said Nachiar.

‘Why did you say “bad Rakshashan”? Are there “good Rakshashans” as well? Aren’t all Rakshashas bad?’ asked a gopi girl.

‘Saying all Rakshashas are bad is stereotypical. Not all Rakshashas are bad. Vibhishana was a Rakshashan but he was the embodiment of Dharma,’ answered Nachiar.

‘Please tell us more about Vibhishanan,’ asked the girl.

‘At first when Surpanaka met with Lord Rama at His ashramam, she asked Him who He was. After the Lord introduced Himself and narrated His history. He then asked about her. Surpanaka introduced herself and mentioned about her brothers. She informed Lord Rama about the good character Vibhishana. ‘said Nachiar and continued with her narration, ‘I am sure you have all heard the phrase “Yatho Dharmam Tatho Jayaha”, No one was able to conquer Sri Lanka because Vibhishana was by the side of Ravana. Lanka was protected by Vibhishana and not by Ravana. As Vibhishana was the embodiment of Dharma, no one was able to conquer Lanka due to the presence of Vibhishana at Lanka. The three Rakshasha brothers Ravana, Kumbakarna and Vibhishana in their youth performed severe penance. Pleased with their penance Lord Brahma appeared before them wishing to confer boons on them. Ravanan was the first to ask for a boon.

‘I wish to be immortal. I should win death and be free from it. Please grant me this boon,’ asked Ravanan.

‘Unfortunately I am unable to grant this boon as even I cannot win death. I have a lifespan too though longer life compared to that of humans. Anyone who is born has to die one day. Hence, please ask another boon as I do not have the authority to grant this boon to you,’ said Lord Brahma.

Meanwhile the celestials gathered in the sky to watch the event. They were terrified. They knew about the evil minded Ravanan and wished that Lord Brahma wouldn’t grant any boons which Ravanan could use for his protection.

‘If you cannot grant me immortality then atcleast grant me the following,’ said Ravanan ,

‘I should not be killed by the Devas, Kinnaras, yakshas, Rakshashas, gandharvas,…’

Thus Ravanan listed almost all the living beings in the Universe and sought protection from them. He failed to list men and monkeys in his list as he did not think they had the capability to harm him. The Devas were appalled when Lord Brahma approved Ravanan’s boon. The Devas watched with apprehension as Lord Brahma turned to Kumbakarnan in order to ask what he wanted. The Devas approached Goddess Saraswati and asked her to do something as her husband Brahma was in a boon granting spree. They were worried that Kumbakarnan might ask a much worse boon compared to that of Ravana. Goddess Saraswati went and sat on the tongue of Kumbakarnan.

Kumbakarnan wanted to seek the destruction of all the Devas. He felt that if there were no Devas the Rakshashas could live happily. He wanted to ask “Nirdevam astu” which meant there should be no Devas in this Universe but as Goddess Saraswati was on his tongue, she made him mispronounce “nirdevam”. Kumbakarnan asked ,

‘Nidrastu’ and Lord Brahma said .’tatastu’ immediately granting the boon. The next second Kumbakarnan fell asleep as the word “nidra” means “sleep”. Ravanan rushed towards Lord Brahma.

‘How could you do this to my brother? What kind of a person grants such a boon?’

‘I only granted what he asked for,’ said Lord Brahma.

‘You are Lord Brahma not just an ordinary being. Why didn’t you use your powers to figure out what he really wanted?’

‘When I am granting boons I do not use my powers to see what the person actually wished for. I grant boons based on what they asked for. It is not my job to see what is in their heart.’

Ravanan knew that he couldn’t pick a fight with Lord Brahma. ‘Please help my brother,’ he pleaded.

‘I will amend my boon such that he only sleeps for 6 months at a stretch. Once every six months he will wake up. Please remember not to wake him up while he is sleeping as it will bring death closer to him’ said Lord Brahma and turned to Vibhishanan.

The Devas were even more apprehensive as Kumbakaranan had proved more dangerous than Ravanan. They looked at Goddess Saraswati for protection but she assured them that they need not fear Vibhishana.

‘Please grant me the boon so that I always stay on the side of dharma even when I am faced with life threatening danger,’ asked Vibhishanan.

Lord Brahma was surprised to see a Rakshashan ask such a boon. People usually ask boons for their protection and no one asks the boon to stay on the side of Dharma even when faced with danger. Lord Brahma granted the boon to Vibhishana. Lord Brahma felt very happy to see the good Vibhishana. He placed his hand on Vibhishana’s head and blessed that Vibhishana would be a “cheeranjivi”. Cheeranjivi is a person who does not die.

Ravanan felt very angry when Lord Brahma blessed Vibhishana. ‘This is an atrocity!’ he yelled. ‘You just informed me that you cannot make me a cheeranjivi!’

‘You asked for a boon which was beyond my capacity to grant. Vibhishana didn’t seek this boon but I merely blessed him.’

‘If so, bless me as well,’ asked Ravana.

‘Blessings are like a reflex reaction. They come automatically out of my mouth. I cannot control what I utter. As I have already granted your boon, I take leave of you now,’ said lord Brahma vanishing from view.

The above incident proves that Vibhishana never strayed from dharma. He abandoned Ravana and joined Lord Rama because Dharma was on the side of lord Rama. Lanka flourished because Ravana listened to the political counsel of Vibhishana. Ravana failed to listen to Vibhishana only in personal matters. When Ravana wanted to kill Lord Hanuman, Vibhishana deterred him. Since Ravana listened to the counsel of Vibhishana sage Valmiki called Ravana as “Mahatma”. The same Ravana refused to listen to the counsel of Vibhishana and return Sita Piratti to Perumal; sage Valmiki called Ravana “duratma” to indicate that he is a duratma because he did not pay heed to the advice of Vibhishana. Lord Rama considered Vibhishana as His brother which was confirmed by Bharatazhwan when he told Vibhishana that Vibhishana was their brother during the coronation ceremony of Lord Rama. Lord Rama asked Vibhishana to tell him about the powers of Rakshashas thus proving that He did not consider Vibhishana as a Rakshashan,’ said Nachiar.

‘We agree with you that not all Rakshashas are evil minded.’ Said a girl who was very fond of Lord Krishna and belonged to the Krishna goshti (not the Lord Rama goshti),’ but how can you use “kiLLi(k) kaLaindhaanai(k)” to indicate Lord Rama’s victory over Ravana? Lord Rama attacked Ravana with the help of a huge Vanara troops. Lord Rama fell unconsiouss when He was hit by nagasthram and brahmasthram. He had to be revived by Garudalwar and then by Lord hanuman when he brought the Sanjeevini mountain peak to the battle field. Lord Rama cut off the heads of Ravana 99 times and Ravana’s heads kept regenerating. Only after Lord Rama was informed that Ravana could only be destroyed with the help of a Brahmastra did He successfully kill Ravana. Lord Rama didn’t kill Ravana in just a few seconds for you to use the phrase  “kiLLi(k) kaLaindhaanai(k)”. Now you could have used this phrase for our Krishna because He destroyed the asuras Putana, Chakatasura, Trinavatra, Bakasura and et al in just a few seconds. Lord Krishna is just a child and yet He destroyed the asuras with ease.’

‘Lord Rama had the capacity to destroy Ravanan withi seconds. He didn’t kill within seconds because He had killed within seconds!’ replied Nachiar.

‘Your answer is confusing. Please explain.’

‘“kiLLi(k) kaLaindhaanai(k)” can be used for destroying Rakshashan with ease like pulling a weed or for killing a Rakshashan with nails. Lord Narasimha used His nails to kill Hiranyakashipu. As soon as He killed Hiranyakashipu, Thayar who never abandons Him stepped down from His chest. Perumal was very surprised and asked why she was leaving Him.

‘You killed Hiranyakashipu without giving Him a chance to turn good. You should have warned Him before killing you. As you killed Him without giving Him an opportunity to reform, your chest cavity has become very hot for me because of your anger. Hence, I am leaving you insearch of a cooler place.’ Said Thayar.

‘Give me one more chance; in my next incarnation I will make sure that I give the Rakshashans enough warning before destroying them,’ pleaded Perumal.

‘Till then I will sit on your lap. If you keep up your promise in the next incarnation I will return to your vakshashthalam.’

Thus Perumal had to give plenty of warning to Ravana. He went with a large troop of Vanaras to caution Ravana. He didn’t kill Ravana immediately in the battle field because He wanted to give Ravana a chance to regret his mistake and return Sita Piratti. He waited patiently with the hope that Ravana might perform Saranagathi at His lotus feet.  This is why Lord Rama didn’t kill Ravana immediately. During Vibhishana Saranagathi, Sugreevan refused to accept Vibhishanan in their fold and threatened to leave with his troops back to Kishkinda if the Lord accepted Vibhishana. Lord Rama said, ‘Sugreeva you say that the reason I shouldn’t accept Vibhishana is because he is a bad brother since he abandoned Ravana but all brothers are not good. The example of a best brother is my Bharata, the example of a best son is I and the example of a best friend is you.’ Said the Lord reminding Sugreeva that he too was a bad brother as he had asked Lord Rama to kill Vali but despite being a bad brother he had proved himself as a very good friend. Similarly Vibhishana might be a bad brother but like Sugreeva he too could be a good friend. Lord Rama continued, ‘Oh Lord of Vanaras, leave if you must for I can destroy any number of Rakshashas, yakshas , gandarvas etc with just the tip of my nails! I need your troops only to warn Ravana so that he may return Piratti to me thus avoiding this impending war.’

Lord Rama used the word “Hari Ganeshwar” to address Sugreeva. The Sanskrit word “Hari” is a homonym for the Lord, a monkey, a frog, as well as a lion. By using this tern the Lord wanted to remind Sugreevan about the Lord’s previous incarnation as Narasimhan.

The Lord felt that even if Sugreevan was unable to understand the hidden purport of the word “Hari Ganeshwar”, the intelligent Hanuman would definitely grasp the meaning and thus warn Sugreevan. Lord Hanuman had promised Lord Surya that he would always guide Lord Surya’s son Sugreevan as guru dakshina since Lord Surya had taught all the shastras to Lord Hanuman.’ Said Nachiar and she continued with her narration as the girls were listening to every single word with attention. ‘After killing Hiranyakashipu Lord Narasimha returned to Sri Vaikuntham with a smile on His face. He called for His weapons and assembled Lord Sudarasana along with the deities in charge of His conch, sword, mace and bow. He informed them, ‘I have just returned after splitting an asuran!’

The deities responsible for the weapons were confused because they had not been summoned to accompany the Lord.

‘With what weapon did you kill this asuran?’

‘With just the tip of my nails!’

‘Who was this Asuran?’ they asked thinking that the Asuran must have been a weakling.

‘It was Hiranyakashipu,’ answered the Lord as He noticed the look of amazement on the face of those gathered and continued, ‘you don’t give me power but I give you your powers by holding you in my hands!’

Thus the Lord is capable of destroying any Rakshashan with just His nails but He did not kill Ravanan with His nails because of His promise to Thayar.’

‘We understand the meaning now,’ said the girls.

‘I will let you in on one more interpretation,’ said Nachiar, ‘ “puLLin vaay keendaanai(p) pollaa arakkanai(k) kiLLi(k) kaLaindhaanai(k)” this entire verse refers only to Lord Rama. It means He killed Ravanan with ease. He killed Ravanan because he had killed Jatayu. Jatayu is the bird mentioned by the word “puL” in this verse. “puLLin vaay keendaanai” is Ravanan because he killed Jatayu when Jatayu attached ravanan to save Sita Piratti. Ravanan is a pollaa arakkanai(k) who had killed Jatayu. Previously I told that Ravana tried to carry Lakshmana but at that moment, Lakshmana thought about His adisesha amsam. As a result Lakshmana became very heavy. The Ravana who had lifted even mount Kailasha was unable to lift Lakshmana. At that instance Lord Hanuman fought with Ravana and chased him away. Lord Hanuman then very easily lifted Lakshmana and carried him away from the field. After Lord Garuda came and removed the snake poison from the nagasthra, Lakshmana regained consciousness. He enquired about his brother’s whereabouts. Lord Hanuman replied that Lord Rama had regained consciousness earlier and  was fighting with Ravana. Lakshmana asked Lord Hanuman to mention a manthram to Lord Rama. Lakshmana asked Hanuman to remind Lord Rama that this was the Ravanan who had killed Jatayu. As soon as Lord Rama heard this from hanuman, He fought aggressively with Ravana as Ravana had harmed His dearest devotee Jatayu. It is common to call Jatayu Maharaj as Periya Udayar which means the wealthiest person. We know that Jatayu was not wealthy but he is called as Periya Udayar because he breathed his last in the arms of Lord Rama. A person is considered rich by the shastras if he has good sons. Dasarathar performed puthrakameshti yagam and obtained 4 sons with excellent character but none of them were present when dasarathar died. Thus Jatayu got the opportunity of dying in the arms of the Lord which was not even available to Dasarathar. A person who dies in his son’s arms reaches good worlds in afterlife. Thus Jatayu reached the best of the worlds Sri Vaikuntham as Lord Rama Himself did the pinda pradhanams which were mixed with the tears of the Lord. Kings do not perform kaimkaryams to other. Therefore Lord Rama could have asked Lakshmana to perform the kaimkaryam but He volunteered to do the anthima samskaram because He loved Jatayu.

“puLLin vaay” also refers to Jatayu’s beautiful mouth. This does not refer to his physical beauty but to the beautiful words uttered by Jatayu. When Rama saw Jatayu lying on his death bed, Jatayu said , ‘Sita Piratti as well as my life has been taken by Ravana!’ Jatayu knew that he did not have time to go through all the details. Therefore he conveyed the message as quickly as possible. By stating that his life was also taken by Ravana he indicates to the Lord that he fought with Ravana.

Next Jatayu did not tell the Lord about the whereabouts of Ranava but said , ‘Rama, you will definitely find Sita and spend the rest of your life with her happily!’ Jatayu blessed rama out of affection. He said , ‘Rama, Ravanan kidnapped Sita Piratti during the muhurtham called Vindham. Anything stolen during this muhurtham will be returned to the owner.

Therefore don’t worry, you will obtain Sita Piratti!’ Thus Lord Hanuman reminded Lord Rama that this was the Ravana who had killed the affectionate Jatayu and now is attacking Hanuman. The moment the Lord heard this He fought aggressively and with just one arrow the Lord destroyed Ravana’s crown, chariot, charioteer, horses. He made Ravana bald headed and destroyed all the weapons of Ravana.’

piLLaigaL ellaarum paavai(k) kaLampukkaar

Thus the company went on their way. They addressed the next girl. ‘Come join us, we have almost reached the meeting ground’

‘It is still night time. In your eagerness you have arrived very early at the meeting ground.’

veLLi ezhundhu viyaazham uRangiRRru

‘It is not night time for Venus is seen on the sky and Jupiter has set,’ answered Nachiar.

Venus and Jupiter follow an astrological cycle. At the present time, Jupiter rises in the morning when Venus sets but during the time of Nachiar, Jupiter set in the morning and Venus was seen on the eastern sky in the morning.

‘As if you can identify stars! You are just a girl like me therefore don’t speak to me about Venus and Jupiter! Tell me something else which is believable.’

puLLum silambina kaaN

‘Listen to the chatter of the birds as they are leaving their nest in search of food,’ answered Nachiar. ‘Please don’t cause further delays as others have already gathered.’

‘If others have already gathered why wait for me? Leave me out of your group!’

pOdhari(k) kaNNinaay

‘You have beautiful eyes that look like large lotus blossoms with black bees in the middle! The Lord is attracted by your beautiful eyes. Hence we cannot leave you!’ replied Nachiar.

kuLLa(k) kuLira(k) kudaindhu neeraadaadhE

‘It is not right to experience the Lord in solitude. We have to go to Him as a bagawathar Goshti. He is like a cool pond. We should approach Him like a man suffering from heat wave who takes a cool dip in a pond.’

paLLi(k) kidaththiyO! paavaay! nee nan naaLaal

kaLLam thavirndhu kalandhElOr empaavaai.

‘Don’t continue to sleep! Taking a cool dip at Ushatkalam on at least one day during the month of Margazhi is equivalent to having taken a dip throughout the year at Ushatkalam. Those who get up early and take a cool dip will never see Lord Yama!’ said Nachiar.

‘She is only pretending to sleep!’ said a girl, ‘she is meditating upon the Lord!’

‘It is not right for you to meditate upon the Lord in solitude. Don’t cheat us by not joining our group. By this you are cheating yourself from getting the experience of experincing the Lord as a group!’

The girl immediately joined them.

Alternate Meaning:

 

This pasuram is about Thondaradipodi Azhwar. pOdhari(k) kaNNinaay gives us the clue about this Azhwar as he was always looking to gather flowers. The flowers are called as “podhu” in Tamil. He always has his eyes on the flowers. He called himself as Thondaradipodi thus stating that it must best to be with Bagawatha goshti and to do kaimkaryams to Bagawathas.

paLLi(k) kidaththiyO! paavaay! nee nan naaLaal

kaLLam thavirndhu kalandhElOr empaavaai.

He sang Tirupalliezhuchi to wake-up Lord Ranganathan. Thus Nachiar invokes Thondaradipodi Azhwar by stating that since he had already awakened Lord Ranganathan it is not right for him to sleep now.
Continued on: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/01/thirupavai-pasuram-14.html