thiruththAy

thiruththAy

Lament of her who is separated from Him

The last tirumozhi was tAyAr’s tirumozhi. This tirumozhi is of parakAla nAyaki herself. There are birds like SembOthi, vane etc., in the forests chirping happily. She tells them ‘Oh! Birds! You chirp and call emberumAn to come here and have samslESha with me’.

1. tiruttAi SembOttE
tirumAmahaL tan kaNavan |
maruttAr tolpuhazh mAdavanai vara
tiruttAi SembOttE || One ||

SembOttu is a kind of bird. It it flies on your right it brings a sign of good omen and wish fulfillment. nAyaki is asking the bird to fly to her right and ask emberumAn, tirumAmahaL kELvan, to come to fulfill her wish (samslESha).

The truth is the bird should fly on the right accidentally not manipulated. People manipulate good omen by asking a sumangali to walk before them and so on. The omens are indication of future events, they are in no way powerful to cause events. But parakAla nAyaki in her anxiety to be with emberumAn is deluded to think that the bird flies on her right by asking him to do so He will come’.

AzhwAr is blessed by BagavAn Himself. Hence he is ignorant like an ordinary man is improper. The samAdhAna is immersed as he is in Bagavat Bakti he forgets himself and also all the norms and laws of nature. ‘jnAna viBAga kAryamAna ajnAnattAlE varaumavai ellam aDikkazhanju perum’—Sree vachana BooShaNa.

2. karaiyAi kAkkaippiLLAi
karumAmuhil pOl nirattan |
uraiyAr tolpuhazh uttamanaivara
karaiyAi kAkkaippiLLAi || Two ||

Crow is a bird which when cries on a wall or terrace signs the arrival of some guests. Hence parakAla nAyaki asks him to cry so that emberumAn will come. She says kAkkai piLLai instead of kAkkai to show respect to him who signs good omen. He is dark like cloud and You are dark like Him. So You must have affinity to Him.

3. koovAi poonguyilE
kuLirmAri taDuttuhanda |
mAvAi keeNDa maNivaNNanai vara
koovAi poonguyilE || Three ||

Oh! Beautiful cuckoo! You should coo so that emberumAn comes here. Who is He? He is the one who held the gOvardhana mountain like an umbrella to protect them from the heavy rain caused by indra. It is He who tore the mouth of kEsi, a horse haunted by an asura sent by kamsa to kill kriShNa. Or is He who is as beautiful and bright like sapphire.

4. koTTAi pallikkuTTi
kuDamADi ulahaLanda |
maTTAr poonguzhal mAdavanai vara
koTTAi pallikkuTTi || Four ||

It is commonly believed that when the lizard makes a sound, the thought of desire we have at that time becomes true. ‘palliyin Sollum SollA koLvadu uNDu paNDu paNDE’—tiruviruttam. Here parakAla nAyaki out of anxiety about emberumAn asks the pallikkuTTi to make a sound when she is thinking of His arrival.

5. SollAi paingiLiyE
SuDarAzhi valanuyartta |
mallAr tOL vaDavEngaDavan vara
SollAi paingiLiyE || Five ||

Oh! Green parrot! You should ask Him to come here. Don’t repeat silly word. Instead You ask Him to come here.

‘Doesn’t He carry the brilliant chakrAyudha which can cut asunder anything? Doesn’t He posses mountains-like arms. In fact He was on His way to come here but has stopped in tiruvEngaDam. He is still standing there. Call Him to come here’.

6. kOzhi koo ennumAl
tOzhi nAn en SeihEn |
AzhivaNNar varum pozhudAyiTTru
kOzhi koo ennumAl || Six ||

It is His habit that He comes to a gOpi’s house when the cock crows and leaves at the second sound. Hence parakAla nAyaki who feels happy at the first sound since it indicates His coming feels bad at the second sound. First she says ‘kOzhi koovennumAl tOzhi Azhi vaNNar varum pozhudAyiTTru’. Then on hearing the second sound she says anxiously ‘Oh! tOzhi! kOzhi koovumennAl nAn en seihEn!’ ‘pala pala oozhihaLAyiDum anri Or nAzhihaiyAi pala pala kooviTTa koovAyiDum’—The time seems long like yuga when there is vislESha and it is like a fraction of a second when there is samslESha.

BaTTar while explaining this pASura comments,’ I think when the kOzhi koovum for the first time He enters. As soon as He comes the kOzhi koovum for the second time and He leaves immediately. How is it possible to happen so? Perhaps He has hidden a kOzhi under His peetAmbara!’

7. kAmarku en kaDavEn
karumAmuhilvaNNarkallAl |
poomEl aingaNai kOttu puhundeyya
kAmarku en kaDavEn || Seven ||

parakAla nAyaki says—karumA muhil vaNNan en kaNNan is my husband. Whatever He does to me I bear with patience. But when kAman tortures me with his five arrows of flowers thrown at me, why should I not lose patience?

It is said pradyumna is the son of kriShNa and rukmiNi and is the incarnation of manmatha. kaNNan is called ‘kAman tAdai’ (kAman’s father). parakAla nAyaki says I can bear with patience whatever done (whether good or bad) by my husband. But I cannot be patient when ‘my son’ kAman tortures me with his bows and arrows.

It is said manmatha carries a sugarcane bow and flower arrows.

kaNNan who caused love in me is keeping quiet while this fellow manmatha, who is he to cause agony by his mischief?

aingaNai—The five flowers are—mullai, aSOka, muzhuneelam, mango and alli.

8. ingE pOdum kolO
inavEl neDungaN kaLippa |
kongAr SOlai kuDandai kiDandamAl
ingE pOdum kolO || Eight ||

‘Oh! emberumAn! tirukkuDandai perumAn! Will You come here?’ Will He make my eyes see Him and feel happy?

It is best befitting that the nAyaka should come where nAyaki is. If it is otherwise it is dishonour to both of them.

When hanumAn saw seeta pirATTi in aSOka vana he asks her if willing she can sit on his shoulders and he will take to rAma. But seeta refuses to do so and tells him ‘Oh! hanumAn! Let rAmachandra come, destroy lanka and rescue me. If He does so that befits His valour and my honour’. (saraistu sankulam krutva lankam parabalArdana: mAm nayEt yadi kAkutstah tat tasya sadruSam BavEt).

Here parakAla nAyaki says ‘ingE pOdum kolO’? Why should He come? Only to see and be pleased. But nAyaki will not stop at that. She wants Him to embrace her and wants no obstacles to separate them etc. This is the nature of true love.

9. innArenru ariyEn
annE AzhiyoDum |
ponnAr SArngam uDaiya aDihaLai
innArenru ariyEn || Nine ||

In the last pASura she said ‘kongAr SOlai kuDandai kiDanda mAl ingE pOdungolO’. He appeared before her as an illusion. He was carrying a SArnga bow and chakra in His hands. He was effulgent like a dEva. He was simple as a human. Therefore she could not say who He was. In fact riShis and brahma find it difficult to describe Him because of His extraordinary nature. Even vEdas say only in vague expressions who He really is. So what to talk of parakAla nAyaki who says ‘innAr enru ariyEn’?

10. toNDeer pADuminO
SurumbAr pozhil mangaiyarkOn |
oNDAr vElkaliyan olimAlaihaL
toNDeer pADuminO || Ten ||

Oh! BAgavatas! There are people in this world who sing the praise of others for the sake of food, clothes and such petty things. Let them do so. But we are the dAsas of BagavAn. we should sing Him alone which gives pleasure to us as well as to Him. The fruit of which is that pleasure alone.