Tiruppavai: Verse 5

Maayanai

mAyanai mannu vadamadhurai maindhanaith

thUya perunIr yamunaith thuraivanai

Ayar kulaththinil thOndrum aNiviLakkaith

thAyaik kudalviLakkam seidha dhAmOdharnaith

thUyOmai vadhunAm thUmalar thUviththozhudhu

vAyinAl pAdi manaththinAl chinthikka

pOya pizhaiyum pugutharuvAn nindranavum

thIyinil dhUsAgum seppElOr empAvAi.

Word meaning

mAyanai

• One who performs exceptional feats

mannu vada madhurai maindhanai

• The pride of hoary Mathura of the north (of India)

thUya peru nIr

• Of pure and deep waters

yamunai thuraivanai

• That river Yamuna – he who lords over it

Ayar kulaththinil thOndrum

• He who appeared amidst a cowherd clan

aNi viLakkai

• An auspicious light

thAyai kudal viLakkam seidha

• Who brought inner fulfillment to his mother (Yashodha)

dhAmOdharanai

• (For instance) by allowing himself to be tied up by her with a frayed rope (A rope much too small to hold back the Lord of the universe, much too weak to hold he who was omnipotent.)

Note: With a frayed rope, knotted in many places, and much too small to hold him back, he allowed himself to be held back – Oh! The incredible simplicity of the incomparable one, exclaims Madhurakavi Azhwar (kaNNinuN chiruththAmbinAl kattuNNappaNNiya perumAyan: Kanninun Chiruththaambu: verse 1)

nAm

• We who are blessed to approach him (as he is so accessible)

thUyOmAi vandhu

• With piety we approach

thU malar thUvi

• Shower fresh flowers

thozhudhu

• Worship

vAyinAl pAdi

• Sing heartily

manaththinAl chinthikka

• Holding him in our heart

pOya pizhaiyum

• Our past misdemeanours

pugutharuvAn nindranavum

• And wrongs we may commit in the future

thIyinil dhUsAgum

• Will be burnt to cinders

Seppu

• On uttering his name

El Or empAvAi

• Hear and resolve to do as said, my girl.

Commentary

Andal introduced Krishna as the son of Nandagopa and Yashodha in the first verse, highlighting the accessibility of the supreme entity, Narayana, who incarnated as Krishna and grew up in a cowherd clan. She then recalled his Vamana-Trivikrama incarnation, to underscore his humility (See Verse 3). In this verse Andal talks of the Paramatma’s qualities of svAmitvam (omnipotence) and saulabhyam (simplicity). Her purpose is to convince her peers to go with her to Krishna and submit themselves to that supreme soul (Paramatma) who had come to live as a cowherd amidst them, in their pastoral village. (Though Andal was living as the foster-daughter of saint Periazhwar in the temple town of Srivilliputtur, her Tiruppavai composition is sung from her imagined position as a cowherd maiden in a pastoral village, a throwback to the time when Krishna lived as one of them in a cowherd clan in Gokulam, in Mathura).

Krishna, the omnipotent one, amuses himself playing with village boys and girls on the banks of the river Yamuna, he feigns helplessness when tied up with a tattered rope by his mother, Yashodha, who, tired of hearing villagers’ complaints about her son being a menace decides to confine him to a corner.

Krishna did all this out of his compassion for us, simple folks, says Andal. He is the Original Cause, the protector of all of existence, yet none, including himself has a measure of the extent of his prowess, she says.