Thiruppavai - Pasuram6

puLLum silambina kaaN puLLaraiyan kOyilil

veLLai viLi sangin pEraravam kEttilaiyO

piLLaay ezhundhiraay pEy mulai nanchundu

kaLLa(ch) chakatam kalakkazhiya(k) kaalOchchi

veLLaththaravil thuyilamarndha viththinai

uLLaththu(k) kondu munivargaLum yOgigaLum

meLLa ezhundhu ari enRa pEraravam

uLLam pugundhu kuLirndhElOr embaavaay

புள்ளும் சிலம்பினகாண்; புள்ளரையன் கோயிலில்

வெள்ளை விளிசங்கின் பேரரவம் கேட்டிலையோ?

பிள்ளாய்! எழுந்திராய், பேய்முலை நஞ்சுண்டு,

கள்ளச் சகடம் கலக்கழியக் காலோச்சி,

வெள்ளத்தரவில் துயிலமர்ந்த வித்தினை,

உள்ளத்துக் கொண்டு முனிவர்களும் யோகிகளும்

மெள்ள எழுந்து அரியென்ற பேரரவம்

உள்ளம்புகுந்து குளிர்ந்தேலோ ரெம்பாவாய்

---- MEANING ---

Awaken, Oh Young girl! Even the birds have woken up and are chirping about the arrival of the morning. Don't You hear the loud and sacred sound from the white conch being blown at the temple of our Lord, who rides on the divine GarudA? Oh Young girl! Wake up!. The Yogis and Sages with minds known for uninterrupted contemplation of our great Lord celebrated for His adhbhutha leelais such as: (1) destroying evil Poothanai by suckling her poisonous milk-bearing breast and at the same time sucking her life away (2) destroying a cunning asuran, who came in the form of a cart by splintering him into pieces with a swift kick from His tiny (baby) toe. He (Our Lord) is the primal cause of the whole Universe. He sleeps on AdhisEshan in Yoga NidhrA at the milky ocean. The Yogis and sages have now come out of their meditation slowly and are reciting the name of Lord Hari loudly for seven times. The crescendo of that Hari Naama UccharaNam resounds like thunder and enters into our hearts and pleases us. Doesn’t that aravam enter your heart too? Oh Young girl! Please Awaken and join us in the nOnbhu!

Hey children (piLLaay)! See (kaaN) the birds (puL) are chirping (silambina). Don't you hear (kEttilaiyO), the loud (pEr) sound (aravam) of the white (veLLai) conch (sangu), used for callings (viLi) the people, at the temple (kOyil) of the king (araiyan) of the birds (puL); The yogis (yOgi) and the saints (munivar) who are slowly (meLLa) waking (ezhundhu) with (kondu) the thought of Lord in their minds (uLLam) and uttering the name of the Lord. The Lord who ate (uNdu) the poison (nachchu) from the breast (mulai) of the raakshasi Bhutan (pEy); who kicked (kaalOchchi) and destroyed (kalakkazhiya) the asura Sakatasura, who came as a fake (kaLLa) wheel (chakatam); the source of all life (viththu), who is in yogic sleep (thuyil amarndha) over the snake (aravu) on the ocean (veLLaththu) of milk. The big (pEr) sound (aravam) of the name of the Lord (ari) has entered (pugundhu) our hearts (uLLam) and made it calm (kuLirndhElOr).

Purport

Young girls, don't you hear the chirp of the early birds? The beckoning sound of the white conch from the temple of Vishnu who rides on the king of birds, Garuda? Wake up, innocent girl! The sages and ascetics with their minds ever focused on the great Lord, who sleeps on the serpent-couch in the ocean of milk, have risen. These sages have started chanting the name 'Hari' over and over again, in a rising crescendo. While they chant His name, no doubt, they are reenacting in their own minds the deeds of the child-God who sucked the poison from the breast of the demoness Putana and who kicked to death, with his little toe, the demon that came to destroy Him in the guise of a cart. Don't you hear all the loud chanting which enters our hearts and makes them rejoice?





More Insight


The girls approach the mansion of a gopi and wake her up by indicating signs of early dawn, "Even the birds are up and chirping. Get up." The sleeping girl rejects this reason, "oh girls, you never allow the birds in your town to sleep, with your chanting of His names and making them chant too. This is no sign of dawn!" Then they mention a noteworthy sign," PULLARAYAN KOIL etc... The blowing conch in the temple of Vishnu for early morning worship, is inviting us all for His service. Get up."

Here the phrase PULLARAYAN KOIL brings out an excellent quality of the Lord: PUL is bird, here Garuda; ARAYAN king; KOYIL temple. The temple of Vishnu. But why this circumlocution? There is a reason. In Ramayana while narrating to Hanuman her abduction by Ravana, Sita says, "On that fateful day I was lured by that demon disguised as a deer, and was separated from Rama's younger brother and Lakshmana's elder brother (RAMANUJAM LAKSMANA POORVAJAM CHA)." Such phraseology is used for a purpose. The Lord feels happy when His name is coupled with His devotee's and so does the devotee when he is referred to as being subservient to the Lord. The message of Sita (Sri Devi) and Andal (Bhu Devi) to us is that when a Sri Vaishnava names his child he should follow this principle. ULLATHU KKONDU etc in this verse is noteworthy. The munis and yogins get up in the morning very slowly from their beds so that the Lord, taking eternal abode in their hearts may not be disturbed. Prahlada was pushed down from the top of a huge mountain, and while falling he held fast his bosom with great concern for Sri Hari living there never bothering about what was happening to himself. But the Lord waited for him at the bottom of the mountain and received him in his spread arms. Parasara Bhattar used to embellish his body with silken robe, ornaments, sandal paste etc, and when asked about its propriety in respect of the despicable body, he said in his view it was not despicable but adorable being the sanctum sanctorum of the Almighty. Andal also leaves this lesson in this verse: When you get up in the morning; chant the name of Hari (HARIR HARIR HARIRITI VYAHARET VAISHNAVAH PUMAN). Let us do so.

PiLLAi YezhunthirAi: Please discard your childish attitude that the Supreme Lord and You are one and the same and gain true knowledge about Your Master-servant relationship with Him and awaken!

MunivarkaLum YogikaLum: the two kinds of prapannAs practice Bhakthi Yogam ( Bhagavath guNAnubhavan and Kainkarya anubhavam ).

Hari YenRa pEraravam: approach the Lord and loudly request Him to eliminate the Paapams and PuNyams, which are the seeds of SamsAric afflictions (approach AchAryan as Moksha bheeja BhUthan)

uLLam Puhunthu: That aartha naatham (sufferer's loud cry) of the PrapannAs entered through the Lord's (AchAryA's) ears and reached His (their) heart(s).

KuLirnthu: That sound reaching the Lord's heart made Him happy and contented; That anubhavam of the Lord (Achaaryan) made Him PrasAdha-Visishtan for us. Hearing this uplifting message and its effect on our Lord (AchAryan), Oh Girl, please awaken and join in the Nonbhu!