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--- sampathkumar_2000 <sampathkumar_2000@xxxx> wrote:
> To: tiruvengadam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> From: "sampathkumar_2000" <sampathkumar_2000@xxxx>
> Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 06:50:47 -0000
> Subject: [tiruvengadam]
> "arivOnrum-illA".."pin-senru".."siru-pEr-azhaitu"- PART 1 of 2
> Reply-to: tiruvengadam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> 
> Dear friends,
> 
> The 28th Verse of the "tiruppAvai", meant to be
> recited by all of us today (12 Jan) in our homes and
> more importantly in our hearts as part of daily
> worship, constitutes the glorious culmination of
> "mArgazhi". 
> 
> The verse marks the grand finale of the "pAvai-nOnbu"
> ... the sacrificial labour of intense love which the
> "aayarpAdi" girls, those dear soul-mates of AndAl in
> Nandagopan's idyllic hamlet, cheerfully undertook in
> their burning desire to attain God.
> 
> In Stanza#28, our "gOdA-pirAtti" truly achieves the
> acme of her many-splendoured poetic gifts. 
> 
> ***** ****** *******
> 
> There are 3 splendid expressions 'pirAtti' uses in this
> 'pAsuram' which constitute its essence:
> 
> (1) "arivOnrum-illA"..
> (2) "pin-senru".. and,
> (3) "siru-pEr-azhaitu"(:
> 
> They can be studied first in their dramatic context
> and then in their philosophic context.
> 
> Let's look at the dramatic context:
> 
> "arivOnrum illa" is the term the girls use to describe
> their condition as simple cowherdesses.
> 
> "As members of a simple, naive and unpretentious
> bucolic community", they tell their Krishna, "Lord, we
> have no claim whatsoever to "gnyAna" ("arivu")...
> knowledge of things exalted in life. O Krishna, what
> do you expect of us? Great understanding of this Truth
> and that? You know quite well that we are all utterly
> unregenerate, down-to-earth creatures. Our moments of
> exaltation in life are not those spent in "high
> thinking" but in those moments of "simple living" when
> we stuff our bellies with food ("sErndu-unbOm!" or, in
> other words, "We live to eat no less than we eat to
> live!") How do you expect us then, O Govinda, O
> Supremely Impeccable One ("kurai-onrum-illAda
> gOvinda!"),how do you expect us to have knowledge and
> undersanding of matters concerning high Truth and
> "tattvam" ... matters quite beyond the ken of our
> minds?".
> 
> The Lord hears this and replies,"But if you are beings
> with lowly "gnyAna" you could always go to a "guru" or
> preceptor and follow him? You could gain knowledge
> thus?".
> 
> To which the poor girls reply, "O Krishna the only
> "gurus" who will allow "aayarpAdi" girls to follow
> them are our own cows... "karavaigal pin-senru"! We
> have no "gurus", O Krishna, worth the name, except the
> cows we graze and whose foot-steps (or rather, ""hoof-steps"!)
> we follow into the forests! We are
> utter ignoramuses, O Krishna... "ariyAda-pillaigal"...
> where can we go in search of a "guru"?"
> 
> The Lord listens to these extremely moving words of
> self-deprecation, nay, self-humiliation even
> ("naichhyAnusandAnam"), of the "aayarpAdi" girls, and
> then queries them further in mock consternation and
> seriousness:
> 
> "But my dear girls, this is getting ridiculous! First
> you ask me to fetch things for you, to help you
> perform your "nOnbu". Then you say you want precious
> "gifts" of "armlets", "anklets" and "feasts" in reward
> for the successful conclusion of your "vrata". Now if
> I ask you why I must grant you all your hearts'
> desires... and how you consider yourelves deserving of
> my generosity... all of you turn around and say you
> are simple, ignorant villagers! Then when I ask you to
> go and seek the help of a "guru" you turn around and
> say that you have none but "cows" to serve you as
> "gurus"! Now what's all this?! This is too much! What
> cheek, indeed! You must all take me for a complete
> fool or simpleton... not the Lord Almighty that I
> am... to grant you your wishes for the mere asking!
> Why should I? Why indeed? Give me one good reason why
> I should?". (In terms of the 'saraNagati" doctrine, the 
> Lord seems to be querying here Himself the justification for 
> "nirhetuka-kripa".)
> 
> When Krishna bursts out thus, the "aayarpAdi" girls
> reply immediately:
> 
> "O Krishna, if we make bold to demand your Grace and
> Generosity, knowing fully well that we are utterly
> undeserving of it, it is because of the liberty we
> take with one such as You who are one of our own kind!
> You too are one of our clan ("yadukula-nandanA"), aren't 
> you? Are we not blessed that You, O Lord of Creation, 
> freely chose to be "born" especially amongst us ...the 
> community of lowly cowherds and cow-maidens..."undannaip-
> piravi-perunndanai-punniyam-yAm-daiyOm"? It is because you
> are one amongst us, O dear Krishna, that we take these
> easy liberties with you.... like asking you to do
> errands for us or to bring us little gifts or even
> calling you by familiar nicknames
> ("siru-pEr-azhaittu") such as
> Narayana,("nAttra-tuzhAymudi-nArAyanan"), Son of
> Nandagopan ("nandagopan-kumaran") or O! lion-cub of
> YasodhA ("yasOdai-illan-singham")...etc.". (Here we are
> reminded about the 1000 sacred "nAmA-s" of the Vishnu-sahasranAMam
> which also for a pure devotee, such as an 'aayarpAdi' 
> cohwerdess, are nothing but "siru-peyyargal"!)
> 
> The Lord listens again to these wonderful words of
> love and sheer "bhakti" with inward joy he can barely
> conceal. And yet, playfully, He continues to maintain
> the severe facade that He presents to the poor girls,
> as if to say "All that you say...and you say such
> fine things indeed... will however cut no ice with
> me!".
> 
> At this point the "aayarpAdi" girls employ their final
> weapon of endearment. They invoke the nature of their
> relationship with Krishna. They swear by the eternal
> and unexcisable bond of kinship with their Lord and
> hail it as a knotted tie of love that will survive and
> sustain for now and for all times: "undannOdu utrayval
> namakku ingu ozhikka-ozhiyAdhu...".
> 
> "O Krishna, we may be ignorant, we may lack the grace
> of "gurus", we may be behaving improperly with you.
> You may think lowly of us, you may be annoyed with us
> and you may think of us as undeserving of your love
> and protection. But the fact of the matter is, O
> Krishna, no matter what offence we commit and what you
> feel about us, YOU HAVE TO GIVE IN to our heart's
> desire... which is nothing but You Yourself! You have
> no cchoice in the matter! And that is because You and
> We are bonded inextricably into a kinship that knows
> no time, no boundaries, no obstacles...Therefore, O
> Lord, please grant us our wish..."iraivA! nee tArAy
> parai!"...
> 
> (Talking of the "nitya-bandham", eternal bond, between Man 
> God, we are reminded here of the famous passage in the 
> "saranAgati-gadyam" where Udayavar also refers to un-severable
> kinship with God : "tvamEva mAtha, tvamEva pitA, tvamEva bandhu,
> tvamEva guru...etc.").
> 
> The Lord listens to this outpouring of "bhakti" and
> can bear no more to see the pain and pining of the
> "aayarpAdi" girls! 
> 
> At last He grants them the gift they seek... the Gift of
> Himself!
> 
> And the curtains drop on the final scene of the
> "tiruppAvai" !
> 
> ****** ******* *******
> 
> adiyEn has only explained the dramatic content and
> sequences of Stanza#26 and not the esoteric
> significance or "svApadesArtham". Let's do 
> so in the next accompanying post (2 of 2).
> 
> dAsan,
> Sudarshan
> 
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