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Subject: thiruvempavai 16 english
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2001 21:20:24 +0530
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From: "Ramani Naidu"
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THIRUVEMPAVAI - DAY SIXTEEN - SONG SIXTEEN
Transliteration
munnik katalaic curukki eLunthu utaiyAL
ennath thikaznthu emmai ALutaiyAL ittitaiyin
minnip poLinthu em pirAtti thiruvatimEl
ponnancilampiR cilampith thiruppuruvam
ennac cilaikulavi nanthammai ALutaiyAL
thanniR pirivilA emkOmAn anparkku
munni avaL namakku mun curakkum innaruLE
ennap poziyAy maLai ElOr empAvAy.
Translation
Rain Clouds! You shall drink all the waters of the seas
And become black like our Lord’s Consort.
Let your lightning flashes like her hip.
Let your thunder roll like the anklets on Her feet.
Let your showers arch like Her brows.
Like unto the grace of our Lord
Who knows no separation from His Consort,
Should you shower on the world!
Thiruvalluvar who wrote his couplets several centuries ago had exclusively
celebrated rains in ten couplets. Should there be any other citation to
establish the necessity of rains for the sustenance of life on the earth?
Thiruppavai and Thiruvampavai are devotional. They adorn the department of
religion. But even the Pavai literature meant for praising God has not
forgotten to celebrate the rains. The reason is fairly obvious. It is not
only for the sustenance of life on the earth but also for the growth of
devotion that the rains become a necessity.
Thiruvalluvar has himself said,
If the skies were to go dry,
Even the gods will not get their pujas.
There is however a difference between the worldly celebration of rains and
the devotional celebration of the same by Andal and Manivacakar. We think of
abundance and unfailing rains. We are preoccupied with the worldly. But
devotees have their entire perspectives revolving around God consciousness.
Naturally their attitude is different from ours.
The maids of the pavai observance do not forget earthly well being. Nor do
they deny it. Andal has asked for rains for the prosperity of the world. She
would ask the clouds to raise up in dark colour, the colour of Thirumal; to
shine forth in lightning like the Wheel in His hand; to thunder forth like
His conch and to shower like arrows from His bow.
The appeal of the Thiruvempavai maids is similar to that of Andal.
In the Saiva tradition, any contemplation of the grace of God inevitably is
associated with prayer to His Consort, Parvathy. Civajnana Cittiyar would
declare,
His grace becomes Sakthi and without Sakthi as His grace
Siva has no manifest form.
Naturally, the thought of Parvathy remains uppermost in the hearts of the
pavai maids when they appeal to God for rains. Their appeal runs as follows:
“Rain Clouds! Drink the waters of the seas! Grow black like our Lord’s
Consort! Flash in lightning like her bright hip! Roll in thunder like Her
anklets! Arch your showers like Her brows! Like His grace, inseparable from
Him as His Consort, let your showers fall on the world!”
The Divine Consort is the channel for His grace to flow to the devotees. She
knows when to shower His grace on us. Rains expect nothing in return. So
also is the grace of God unmerited and expects no obligation in return. To
quote Thiruvalluvar again,
What obligation can the world have to the rains
That shower expecting nothing in return?
The fifteenth song of Thiruvempavai celebrates such unmerited bestowal of
God’s grace on man.
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