sandhamalar

sandhamalar

Attachment to Krishna Avatar 1 : Inviting Lord Krishna to drink milk

The last two tirumozhi’s are on rAmAvatAra. This and the next are on kriShNAvatAra. The former two were sung by those rAkShasas who are the enemies of BagavAn and BAgavatas. These two are sung by those who love Him. It is thus indicated by AzhwAr that BagavAn can be enjoyed both by dvESha and Bakti. This should not be taken as to mean one should have dvESha on Him. It means only that what BagavAn wants from us is to sing Him and to sing Him alone.

yaSOda feels kaNNan must be hungry and it is time to feed Him. But He is playing outside. Like periyAzhwAr who calls Him ‘aravaNaiyAi AyarErE aNNamuNNa tuyilezhAyE’ tirumangai AzhwAr feels he is yaSOda and calls Him to drink her milk.

1. Sandamalar kuzhaltAzhattAn uhandODi taniyE
vandu en mulaittaDam tannai vAngi nin vAyil maDuttu |
nandan perapeTTra nambee nAn uhanduNNum amudE
endai perumAnE uNNAi en ammam SEmam uNNAyE || One ||

yaSOda says--‘Oh! kaNNa! Come running here! You can play afterwards. You must be feeling hungry. Let the other children play. Come and drink my milk’.

Sanda malar kuzhal— yaSOda has decked His hair with flowers. ‘SeNbagam malliyhaiyODu sengazhuneer iruvATchi enbahar poovum koNarndEn’ (periyAzhwAr)

kuzhal tAzha—When He comes running His long hair gets loosened and flies.

mulai taDandannai vAngi nin vAyil maDuttu—yaSOda likes her son to hold her breasts put them in the mouth rather than she holding them.

nandan pera peTTra nambee—When it is enough to say ‘nandan peTTra nambee’ AzhwAr adds the word ‘pera’. It suggests that BagavAn thinks He is honoured by being born as the son of nandagOpa. Whereas the latter feels he is honoured by getting kriShNa as his son.

2. vangamarikaDalvaNNA mAmuhilE okkum nambee
SengaN neDiya tiruvE Sengamalam puraivAyA |
kongaiSurandiDa unnai kooviyum kANAdirundEn
engirundu AyarhaLODum en viLaiyADuhinrAyE || Two ||

Oh! mA muhilE! Where are You? Oh! kaDal vaNNa! What are You playing there? Oh! Sengamala purai vAyA! My breasts are full with milk. Oh! tiruvE! Don’t You hear me? Come soon! It is time to drink milk.

3. tiruvil polinda ezhilAr Ayartam piLLaihaLODu
teruvil tiLaikkinra nambee Seihinra teemaihaL kaNDiTTu |
uruhi en kongaiyin teembAl OTTandu pAindiDuhinra
maruvikkuDangAlirundu vAimulaiyuNNa nee vArAi || Three ||

kaNNan is very handsome. His friends are equally so. Hence AzhwAr says ‘tiruvil polinda ezhilAr Ayar tam piLLaihaLODu’. He plays with them but does mischief too. The children come and complain to yaSOda about Him. Though angry, she is proud at the same time. She keeps calling them. The milk flows in plenty. She asks Him to hurry up.

4. makkaL perutavam pOlum vaiyattu vAzhum maDavAr
makkaL pirar kaNNukku okkum mudalvA madakkaLirannAi |
SekkariLam piraitannai vAngi nin kaiyil taruvan
okkalai mElirundu ammam uhandu iniduNNanee vArAi || Four ||

The people of the worlds especially women wonder whether this kaNNan is the very form of the tapas done to get a child. They are jealous that they have not children like Him. yaSOda calls Him and says ‘if You come I shall catch the moon and give You’. periyAzhwAr tirumozhi also says ‘tan muhattu chuTTi toonga toonga’ about the mother calling the moon when they feed the child.

5. vaittakarungunjimaindA mAmarudooDu naDandAi
vittahanE viraiyAdE veNNei vizhungum vihirdA |
ittanai pOdanri endan kongai SurandirukkahillA
uttamanE ammam uNNAi ulahaLandAi ammam uNNAi || Five ||

Oh! vittahA! You walked between the two maruda trees and felled them! Oh! karungunji mainda! You are dark and Your hair is also dark. People say You gulp the butter in their house in haste afraid of being caught by them. But I see You always eating butter leisurely enjoying every mouthful. Now You come and drink milk. It is secreting now. After sometime You won't get so much milk. Hurry up!

6. piLLaihaL Seivana SeyyAi pESil peridum valiyai
kaLLam manattil uDaiyai kANAvE teemaihaL Seidi |
uLLam uruhi en kongai OTTandu pAindiDuhinra
paLLikkurippu SeyyAdE pAlamuduNNa nee vArAi || Six ||

kaNNa! You are always naughty. But even the other children are also like that. The difference is Your mischief is of different kind. You are proud in Your heart and find out new ways of deceiving others. Even though the men and women of AyarpADi are ready to punish You, You do mischief in a way that they don’t know what You do. Hence they simply stare at You not knowing what is Your idea and what You are going to do. After you execute Your plan, they find out at last what You had been up to. Before they could catch You, You fly away. This is Your greatness. Well! Come soon to drink milk and then go to sleep.

7. tan mahanAha van pEichchi tAn mulaiyuNNa koDukka
vanmahanAi avaLAvivAngi mulaiyuNDa nambee |
nanmahaL AimahaLODu nAnilamangaimaNALA
en mahanE ammam uNNAi en ammam SEmam uNNAyE || Seven ||

Oh! nambee! You drank the poisoned milk of rAkShasi pootana. Instead of You getting killed, You killed her as a brave boy. Oh! maNALA of periya pirATTi and Boomi pirATTi! Oh! My son! Come and drink my milk.

nAnilam—There are four kinds of lands—mullai, kurinji, marudam and neidal. mullai—Those forest regions; kurinji—mountainous regions; marudam—cities; neidal—sea and the adjoining region. There is the 5th kind called pAlai—desert land. The desert is a place uninhabited by men. If any of the four regions lose its characteristic then it becomes a desert. It is region of no water and shade. nAnilam is the name of earth too.

8. undam aDihaL munivar unnai nAn en kaiyil kOlAl
nondiDa mOdavum killEn nungaL tam AniraiyellAm |
vandu puhudarum pOdu vAniDai deivangaL kANa
andiyam pODu angunillEl Azhiyam kaiyanE vArAi || Eight ||

Oh! kaNNa! You are very mischievous that nandagOpa gets angry at You. See I have a stick too in my hand. Hey! Don’t run away! I shall not beat You! kaNNa! It is getting dark. The cattle's will be returning from pasture soon. It is not a good time to be out. Come immediately inside. Whether You drink milk or not I shall not question You. But certainly it is not safe to stand outside. I request You son to come inside now.

unnai nondiDa mOdavum killEn—yaSOda carries a stick in her hand though it is not her intention to beat Him. She just threatens Him so that He will come inside. It is dusk and a good time. kaNNan runs away saying ‘I don’t want milk’. yaSOda says ‘O.K. Don’t drink milk. But You must come inside’.

‘Whether You drink milk or not I don’t mind’ this is suggested by the missing phrase ‘ammam uNNa’.

9. peTTrattalaivan emkOmAn pEraruLALan madalAi
SuTTrakkuzhAttiLangOvE tOnriya tolpuhazhALA |
kaTTrinam tOrum marittu kAnam tirindakaLirE
eTTrukken ammamuNNAdE emberumAn irundAyE || Nine ||

peTTra talaivan engOmAn pEraruLALan madalAi—Can be taken as one sentence. It can be split into three separate sentence.

peTTra talaiva—You are the leader who grazes the cattle. We are the sheep and You are the shepherd. You lead us and control us.

pEraruLALan mudalvA—nandagOpa was by His nature very soft. Even when he walks he would fear he may stamp on a tiny ant or worm and walk very carefully. He was very kind hearted, soft spoken and benevolent. But after kaNNan was born he, out of love for Him, would walk with a spear in his hand. Even if an ant is seen under the cradle he would jump with spear in His hand as if to kill a tiger. ‘koorvEl koDundozhilan nandagOpan’—tiruppAvai.

tOnriya tol puhazhALA—In rAmAvatAra You were reputed as an obedient son of Your father daSaratha. Even when asked to go to the forest You obeyed without a question. But now You are the most disobedient son.

kAnam tirinda kaLirE—Oh! kaNNa! You should be feeling tired after roaming the forest behind the cattle. Your legs must be paining. Therefore come and drink milk. You should be feeling alright.

10. immai iDarkeDa vENDi Endezhil tOL kalikanri
Semmaipanuval noolkoNDu SengaN neDiyavan tannai |
ammamuNNenru uraikkinra pADalivaiyaindumaindum
meimmai manattu vaittEtta viNNavar AhalumAmE || Ten ||

tirumangai AzhwAr has sung these pASuras as yaSOda who calls her son to come and drink her milk. This BAva if even a part of it is had in one’s mind and the love towards Him is felt as she feels them surely he would enjoy the bliss in paramapada like the nityasooris.

yaSOda pirATTi would not sustain her life if kaNNan had not drunk the milk. Likewise AzhwAr would not sustain his life if he had not sung on Him.