Thiruppavai - Pasuram17

ambaramE thaNNeerE sORE aRam seyyum

emberumaan nandhagOpaalaa ezhundhiraay

kombanaarkku ellaam kozhundhE kula viLakkE

emberumaatti yasOdhaay aRivuRaay

ambaram ooda aRuththu Ongi ulagu aLandha

umbar kOmaanE uRangaadhu ezhundhiraay

sem poR kazhaladi(ch) chelvaa baladhEvaa

umbiyum neeyun uRangElOr embaavaay.

அம்பரமே, தண்ணீரே, சோறே அறஞ்செய்யும்

எம்பெருமான்! நந்தகோ பாலா! எழுந்திராய்;

கொம்பனார்க் கெல்லாம் கொழுந்தே! குலவிளக்கே!

எம்பெரு மாட்டி! யசோதாய்! அறிவுறாய்;

அம்பரம் ஊடறுத் தோங்கி உலகளந்த

உம்பர்கோ மானே! உறங்காது எழுந்திராய்;

செம்பொற் கழலடிச் செல்வா! பலதேவா!

உம்பியும் நீயும் உறங்கேலோ ரெம்பாவாய்.

----- MEANING ----

In the previous Paasuram, the gatekeepers were requested to open the doors of NandagOpan's palace so that the Gopis can get inside and wake up King NandagOpan, Queen YasOdhA, Lord KrishNA and Prince BaladEvan, the elder brother of Sri KrishNA. The gatekeepers obliged and the Gopis stand now in front of the bed chambers of each of them and appeal to them to awaken.

Oh King NandagOpA, Our Sire and the one reputed for high charity in giving away many clothes, abundant water, and large quantity of food! Kindly awaken! Oh Queen yasOdhA, the foremost scion among women of sterling character (lit. who are slim and firm like Vanjik Kombhu)! Oh Devi, who is the beacon light (of the whole woman kind! Please rise up! Oh Lord of Gods, who grew (into a gigantic form) and pierced through the space, and measured (with two steps) all the worlds! Please refrain from sleep and get up! Oh Prince BaladEvA (the strong and powerful Lord) adorning the golden anklets of a Hero! May Your younger brother and yourself get up without prolonging your sleep (uRangEl).

Hey, our leader (em perumaan) Nandagopa! you, who gave to charity (aRamseyyum), clothes (ambaram), cool water (thaNNeer) and food (sORu), wake up (ezhundhiraay). Hey our lady (em perumaatti) Yasoda!, the leader (kozhundhu)of all (ellaam) the women folk (kombanaar), the light (viLakku) of the family (kulam), come to your senses (aRivuRaay). Oh Lord, you who split open (oodu aRuththu) the sky (ambaram), became a giant (Ongi) and scaled (aLandha) the world (ulagu); king (kOmaan) of the devas (umbar), stop sleeping (uRangaadhu) and wake up (ezhundhiraay). Properous (chelva) Balarama (baladhEvaa)!, whowears pure (sem) gold (pon) anklets (kazhal) on his feet (adi), you (nee) and your younger brother (umbi) wake up (uRangEl)!

Purport

Our Lord, King Nandagopa! You who are reputed for your magnanimity in presenting clothes, water and food to the needy! Kindly wake up! O, Queen Yasodha, the foremost among noble women, the beacon-light of our race, do wake up!
Our Lord Krishna! You who pierced the sky with your full stature (Viswaroopa) and measured the entire universe with your feet, the Lord of Lords, may you please wake up. Oh, the strong and powerful Balarama! May your brother and you please do wake up!


More Insight

Having entered Nandagopala's palace with the permission of the guards, the Gopis (Andal) wake up Nandagopa, yashoda, Krishna and Balarama, panegyrising their greatness.

Nanda has placed his bed near the entrance for fear that the gopis, like Usha in the case of Aniruddha, may steal Krishna; especially as Krishna is more handsome than His grandson! Andal glorifies Nanda as a munificent donor of clothes, water and food; but we do not come across any such reference elsewhere. The commentator says: "As Krishna was seen giving clothes to Draupadi to save her modesty; water to the chariot horses at Kurukshetra; and food to boyhood companions in the forest - it could be presumed that his qualities were inherited from His father."

But the gopis are not here for these items; they need only Krishna (VAASUDEVAH SARVAM).Yashoda gave birth to Krishna only to make Him their husband; and being a woman she knows their plight. So they next wake her up.

Sri Krishna in his past incarnation as Trivikrama had obtained Indra's kingdom for him. But the gopis do not want Him to do any such thing for them. It is enough if He allows them to do service to Him. Krishna does not respond.

Realizing their mistake in not approaching Him through Balarama, they do so now and ask him to help them as he had once done in the case of the gopis separated from Krishna when He went to Mathura.

Bhavam:

The gopis say: “Oh NandagOpA! You give away generously food, clothing and water to all those, who seek them. These are anithya (perishable items) vasthus. Please grant us as DhAnam, the food known as Kuttik KaNNan. He is “uNNUm sORu, Paruhu neer, Thinnum VeRRilai” for us. He is our Taaraka,

Posahaka BhOgya Nithya vasthu. The AaypAdi girls had great attachment to ThrivikramAvathAram. That is why they referred thrice in ThiruppAvai the

mysterious deeds of Thrivikraman



In the previous Paasuram, the three Sri VaishNava Rahasyams were referred to. In this Paasuram, the MEANINGS of the three rahasyams are alluded to. Amparam is PraNavam; sORu is “NaarAyaNAya”;

TaNNIR is Nama: Sabdham of the Moola manthram. ANDAL uses “Am”, the BhIjAksharam as a woman through choice of the word Amparam. TaNNIr can be split into TaNN + Neer (Cool water fall). Nama: sabdham includes SaraNAgathi. SaraNAgathi is an angam for Bhakthi and therefore the two upAyams of Bhakthi and Prapatthi are included by use of the word, “TaNNIr”. Our Lord is “SORu” in the spirit of Swamy NammAzhwAr's anubhavam (UNNum

SORu, Paruhu neer ---). From “AmparamE--NandagOpAlA”, AchAryan, who stands in the form of PithA is invoked. From “KompanArkkellAm-- --YasOdhA”, the Manthram that stands in the role of Mother is invoked. YasOdhA is the Yasas giving Mother. The Vedam says in this context: “YasO

Brahma:” In “SempoRRk Kazhaladi--Umpiyum Neeyum uRangEL”, anugraham from the Lord and His Tamar (BhAgavathAs) are beseeched.