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Subject: thiruppavai 5 english
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 00:10:59 +0530
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From: "Ramani Naidu"
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THIRUPPAVAI – DAY FIVE – SONG FIVE
Transliteration
mAyanai mannu vata mathurai mainthanai
thUyap peru nIr yamunaith thuRaivanai
Ayar kulaththinil thOnrum ani vilakkai
thAyaik kutal viLakkam ceytha thAmOthiranai
thUyOmay vanthu nAm thUmalar thUvith thoLuthu
vAyinal pAti manaththinal cinthikkap
pOya piLaiyum pukutharuvAn ninRanavum
thIyinil thUsAkum ceppOlOr empAvay/
Translation
When in all piety we shower pure flowers and pray,
Sing in praise and mediate in heart,
The Inscrutable, the Lord of the Yamuna of waters pure and deep.
The auspicious lamp of the herdsmen clan,
Damothiran who fulfilled the mission of his mother’s womb,
The sins of the past as well those imminent
Will be burnt like cotton in fire.
Let us sing the names of God.
The first song the Thiruppavai referred to Narayana, the transcendent
reality. The second song referred to His condescending manifestation on the
milky ocean. The third song referred to the deed of manifestation in the
form of Vamana. The fourth song was an appeal for the bliss of God’s grace
to be showered on the devotees. The fifth song speaks about impediments in
realising God.
In Vaishnava metaphysics, five kinds of impediments are named. They impede
communion with God. They are svarupa virothi, paratva virothi, upaya
virothi, purusartha virothi and praptha virothi.
The thought that this body is the soul and the thought that one is
independent of god make up the svarupa virothi.
Considering gods and devas as equal to Narayana is paratva virothi.
Considering means other than the Supreme to be better, to understand one’s
surrender of one’s self and soul to God and taking good deeds done by one as
means of salvation are impediments of means, upaya virothi.
Considering the worldly phenomena as the ideals of life is purusartha
virothi.
Offending in matters pertaining to God or devotees are impediments of duty,
praptha virothi. It is the last of these that is taken to be sin in the
Hindu context. The Christian equivalent may be taken to be blasphemy which
in effect is perverting the very purpose of having been created by God.
The fifth song expresses the conviction that all such sins of the past will
become nothing. All such sins that one is likely to commit wil also become
nothing. All that is required thus to negate acts of indirection is to sing
in praise of the names of God. And to sing in praise of the names of God has
certain prerequisites which are mentioned in the song.
The burden of the whole song is purity. Different phrases are used to mean
purity. Tuyap perunir yamunai means the yamuna of pure waters. Tuyom means
we the pure. Tumalar means pure flower. The essence of purity reiterated in
the song is purity achieved by acts of showering flowers at the feet of God,
making obeisance to God, singing in praise of God and meditating the names
of God. Thus do we get a series of the names in which we can pray to Him,
sing in praise of Him and meditate.
Mayan is the first name. Literally it may mean the deceitful. But the
connotation of deceit will not suit the context. God is not deceitful. God
is inscrutable. One can never understand the ultimate purpose of God’s
deeds. Therefore he is mayan, the God of inscrutable deeds.
Vata maturai mainthan refers to various associations of God in his different
manifestations in Madurai. As Vamana He had been there. The association of
Madurai with the Krishna Avatar is well known. Maintan means the son. But
the word has more meaning added to it. It means the son of accomplishments.
Krishna had freed his parents from the prison as soon as he was born.
Thereafter he had accomplished many a deed in Madurai – he had liquidated
Kalinga, the snake king; killed Kanja, the asura; killed Putanai, the devil;
the list is fairly long. So vata maturai mainthan means Madurai’s son of
accomplishments.
God is called the auspicious lamp of the herdsmen clan.
The womb of any woman completes its mission only when she begets a child.
When the child thus begotten is the best of all, the womb successfully
completes the mission. The very greatness of the womb is to be realised in
the greatness of the offspring. That way, the birth of Krishna had
gloriously completed the mission of his mother’s womb.
Damothira is a name given to Krishna. There is an interesting story behind
it. Krishna is supposed to have been very mischievous as a child. So to
contain him, Yesodha has fastened him on to a mortar with a rope tied around
his waist. The rope left a scar round his waist as he had strained the rope
to free himself. Uthiram means stomach, here the waist. Damothira means the
scarred-waisted.
The assurance that maintaining purity, offering flowers in prayer, singing
in praise of God and meditating the names of God at heart will dispel the
sins of the past and those probable in the future is a great assurance
indeed. In effect, salvation is inevitable to anyone who can get rid of the
impediments in the path of realisation of God.
One of the impediments, namely prapta virothi, can be easily dispensed with
through the acts mentioned in the song. Praptam is to be explained further.
The virtues and sins of the previous births decide the status and nature of
life in the present birth. Ordained as it is based on the virtues and sins
of the past, man is inevitably to add on to karma which lead to future
births. Insofar as the mission of life is to transcend such binding of
karma, it can be achieved only with divine grace which can be easily invoked
as indicated in the song. That is the ultimate message of the fifth song of
Thiruppavai.
The song also celebrates a particular aspect of God. God is humble to the
sincere devotee. This quality of God is called Sowlapya, God’s readiness to
descend in grace to the devotee. Even such simple acts of offering flowers,
singing in praise of Him and meditating upon His name are enough to invoke
God’s grace because God has Sowlapya.
_________________________________________________________
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