February 3, 2020

Tiruppavai: Verse 20

By kshama

muppaththu mUvar

muppaththu mUvar amararkku munsendru

kappam thavirkkum kaliyE! thuyilezhAi

seppam udaiyAi! thiraludaiyAi! setrArkku

veppam kodukkum vimalA! thuyilezhAi

seppanna menmulaich chevvAi sirumarungul

nappinnai nangAi! thiruvE! thuyilezhAi

ukkammum thattoLiyum thandhun maNALaNai

ippOdhE yemmai nIrAttElOr empAvAi.

Word meaning

muppaththu mUvar amararkku

  • For the sake of thirty three crore celestial beings

mun sendru

  • You volunteer

kappam

  • The pressures on them

thavirkkum

  • You relieve

kaliyE

  • Mighty Krishna!

thuyil ezhAi

  • Awaken from slumber

seppam udaiyAi

  • Unfailing guardian!

thiral udaiyAi

  • Valorous one!

setrArkku

  • For the opponents

veppam kodukkum

  • You’re a terror

vimala

  • Blemishless one!

thuyil ezhAi

  • Awaken

seppu anna menmulai

  • (With) soft breasts like copper (note: seppu also means a receptacle holding treasure)

sevvAi

  • Crimson lipped

sirumarungul

  • Slim waisted

nappinnai nangAi

  • My lady, Nappinnai

thiruvE

  • Mahalakshmi (another name for Sri, also known as Periya Piratti, who is conceived as the consort of Vishnu, also known as Narayana)

thuyil ezhAi

  • Arise, awake

ukkamum

  • Hand-fan

thattoLiyum

  • Mirror

thandhu

  • Give

un maNALanai

  • Your consort

yemmai

  • And us

ippOdhE nIrAttu

  • Cleanse (Rid us of impurities) without further delay.

Commentary

The saulabhyam (accessibility) of Piratti and the svAmithvam (omnipotence) of Perumal are the highlights of this verse.

You provide succour to three crore divinities; as simple folks who are far less equipped than them we depend all the more on your support, says Andal. To ensure this support is guaranteed Andal appeals to Nappinnai to link them with Krishna. The support is not self-seeking, however. Rather, it is to help rid them of their impurities.

For humans, ignorance is the impurity which has to be cleansed, ignorance being the inability to distinguish between the perishable deha (body) and the imperishable atman (spirit) and the inability to recognise that, try as we might, we cannot hold on to even the atman that inheres in the body as true agency is not ours.

For Krishna, the cleansing is required to rid him of his forgetfulness, for in the joy of incarnating among simple folks who love him and mingling with them as one of their community, he even forgets the nature of his true self as the supreme entity

About kshama

I'm a writer of stories - for the young and the old, for children and adults. I write fiction and non-fiction: novels, essays, short stories. My recent writings are mostly on SriVaishnava literature and concepts. A subject very close to my heart is the education of the under-privileged and many of my earlier writings reflect this. The output of some of my work - stories, novels and essays - is available at http://revathikumaran.wordpress.com I also blog at http://kshama.wordpress.com View all posts by kshama
This entry was posted on Monday, February 3rd, 2020 at 2:44 pm and tagged with , , , and posted in Andal, Azhwar, Sri Vaishnava, Sri Vaishnava literature, Tiruppavai. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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