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Subject: THIRUPPAVAI 6 ENGLISH
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 22:33:22 +0530
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From: "Ramani Naidu"
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THIRUPPAVAI - DAY SIX – SONG SIX
Transliteration
puLLum cilampinakAn puLLaraiyan kOvil
veLLai viLic cankin pEraravam kEttilaiyO
piLLAy ezuntirAy pEy mulai nancuntu
kaLLac cakatam kalakkaziyak kAlOchi
VeLLat tharavil thuyilamarntha viththinai
uLLaththuk kontu munivarkaLum yOkikaLum
MeLLa ezunthu ariyenRa pEraravam
uLLam pukuntu kuLirnthElOr empAvAy.
Translation
Listen! The birds have started chirping.
Hear the booming white conch beckoning
>From the temple of the Lord of the lord of birds.
Wake up lass! The munis and yokis
Wake gently up and in their hearts is the Lord
Who sucked away the life of the devil;
Who knocked away the wheel of the treacherous cart;
Who is the cosmic seed but lies abed
The snake on the milky ocean.
Listen!
Their call to Hari gathers to greatness
And fills the heart to soothe.
The first song of the Thiruppavai referred to Narayana, the transcendent
reality.
The second song referred to His condescending manifestation on the milky
ocean.
The third song referrred 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 and celebrates the
readiness of God to answer even humble acts of piety like showering flowers
at His feet, singing His praise and meditation.
Beginning the sixth song through the fourteenth song, such of those maids
who have got themselves ready for the pavai observance try to awaken the
lazy one who continues to lie asleep.
The sixth song is dominated by sound imagery. The chirping of the birds at
dawn, the boom of the conch, the invocation of Hari by munis and yokis
suggest the dawn and the characteristic sounds thereof. Interwoven are the
stories of extermination of the evil by God in his Krishna avatar.
Bhutanai was a devil who came to Yesoda’s house in the guise of a beautiful
woman. Her intention was to breastfeed Krishna with poison. Krishna sucked
away the life of Bhutanai pretending to suck milk off her breasts.
Kanchan the asura sent a monster to kill Krishna. Krishna was lying asleep
below a cart. The monster moved up the cart with the intention of pushing it
down to smother Krishna. But Krishna waited until the monster moved up the
cart. As soon as the monster was in the cart, Krishna kicked away one of the
wheels of the cart and brought him down and finally killed him.
Narayana is seen as the cosmic seed from whom everything and everybody have
grown. Though He is the primordial origin, He lies asleep on the thousand
headed adisesha, as if He is unaware of His own greatness.
Immediately after referring to the chirping birds, the song refers to the
beckoning of the white conch from the temple. The eagle is God’s mount and
is also the lord of the birds. Therefore the temple is called that of the
Lord of the lord of birds.
The song is the beginning of a series that dramatises several situations.
One of the maids is asleep. The others who have already woken up implore her
to get up and join them for the pavai observance. When the languid maid asks
for indications of the morn, the others sing this song.
The term muni has a special meaning. It refers to those devotees whose minds
are exclusively riveted on the experience of the Divine. So also is the word
yoki. It refers to those who show their devotion to God through their acts
of piety. There is a certain tenderness about the description of how the
munis and yokis get up. Their hearts harbour God. Lest God in their hearts
should in any way feel the jolt of their getting up, they are said to get up
gently. By extension the sound imagery in the song can be explained as
follows.
The reference to the chirping of birds refers to a physical sensation. The
reference to the beckoning of the booming conch is a call to the mind. The
invocation of the name of Hari by the munis and yokis is a call to the
spirit. Thus the call to the maid asleep is a call simultaneously to the
physical, mental and the spiritual.
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