PeriAzhwar Tirumozhi - irandaam paththu

(Source: From Web. SriMadhavaKannan?)

AzhwArs enjoy the sowlabhyam of PerumAL more than Parathvam, as that is what
makes Him grander and greater.. Thus, AzhwAr sings the birth of the Lord first
before he starts rearing Him up with lullaby, bathing, dressing,adorning with flowers
etc. as YasOdha PiraaTTi..

1. vaNNamAdangaL soozh ThirukkOttiyoor

kaNNan kEsavan nambhi piRandhinil
eNNai suNNam yedhiredhi thUvida
kaNNan muRRam kalandhaLAyiRRE.

Sri KrishNAn, who resides in the divya desam of ThirukkOttiyoor, surrounded by

tall well decorated and painted balconies, - the chief of Chathurmukha BrahmA and
Rudran (Kesavan); the KalyANa guNa poorNan, [the reservoir of most auspicious
attributes]- when he was born (took His avatar) at ThiruAyarpaadi, the residents
there, were so overjoyous and excited about the Kutti KaNNan’s arrival, that they
sprayed fragrant oily, turmeric powders at each other (with joy), and the mixture of
all these powders falling on the ground made the large hall of Nadha gOpan appear
like muddy sandal paste.. (sERu..) on the floors.

Kesavan- ka + Isa + van- The Cause or Creator of Brahma and Rudhra; Or the One
who killed Kesi (asurA) Or One who has most beautiful Kesam (tresses);

Shanthi Parvam says A Blind who meditates and utters the name Kesavan (who has
the tresses like the Moon and the Sun- so resplendent); gets his eye sight even.

piRandhinil- pIRandhu + in + il- Since he was born; it became- in + il-

meaning, so sweet home. Nandhan’s mUrram (Nandha gOpan’s hall has become
KaNNan’s Hall, because He is Nandhan’s darling son.)

2. Oduvaar vizhuvaar uganthaalippaar

naaduvaar nampiraan enguRRaan enbaar
paaduvaargaLum palpaRai kotta ninRu
aaduvaargaLum aayiRR aaypaadiyE..

Nandha gOkulam – the Ayar paadi- where KaNNan was born; having heard that He
is born, running; (due to the excitement and haste), falling; (unmindful of the fall,
again getting up with happiness and zeal), shouts excitedly, searching as to “where
is He? Where is he?” where is our Swamy? (nambhi)”.; singing merrily and
vociferously with happiness, amidst the thunderous musical organs, standing and
dancing to the glory announcing His arrival. The entire Ayar paadi has become like
that, with no exception at all.

enguRRAn (where is He?) also can be read as “engutthAn” meaning: where ?

where? “.

3. pEni Seerudai piLLai piRandhinil

kaaNatthaam puguvaar pukkup pOdhuvaar
ANoppaar ivan nErillai kaaN thiru
vONatthAn ulagALum enbaargaLE.

In the sweet residence, where the darling (much desired and sought after) KrishNA
is born, those who want to enjoy seeing the Kutti KaNNan enters into the house,
and says, “who can be compared to this man? (None at all.) (Purushan- He is
Parama Purushan; Purusha Utthaman; Isn’t He?). Even the Lord VishNu of SravaNa
sta, who rules the worlds, can not be equal to him (KaNNan)- they affirm.

Here this man- who can be equal to Him? Is a sweet statement. He is not only the
Parathvam; he is also a Sowlabhyan unlike that VishNu (who rules the world).
Though they are one and the same, this is just to show greatness of sowlabhyam, he
is better than even VishNu. He is Seerudai PiLLai meaning- Sriman, One who is
with SrI. But He is better than that sriya: Pathi because He is the darling of cowherd
folks and is one among them. He stooped down to such a sowlabhyam that one can
not imagine. This also means, he is grander than other devathaas naturally. [We will
enjoy more of His sowlabhyam in the entire PeriyAzhwAr pAsurams ]

Also it can be inferred as: He is equal to that VishNu who is the ruler of all worlds.
Thus, He is none other than VishNu. He is only Man
(PurushOtthaman).

NammAzhwAr says, “Anallan; peNNallan; aliyum allan..” That means; he is

neither a man; nor a woman; nor a napumsakan. But then who is He? One can see
the gender sued by AzhwAr. He… meaning. He is “the Man” called
PurushOtthaman (and not like any other man).

4 uRiyai muRRatthu urutti ninRaaduvaar

naRu ney paal thayir nanRaaga thUvuvaar
seRimen koondhal avizha thiLaitthu engum
aRivazhindhanar aaypaadi aayarE..

[Beautiful scene..] The cowherd folks of Ayarpaadi, (after seeing the

darling Lord of theirs), in all their houses, they are so overjoyed and
excited that they throw the curd, milk, fragrant ghee one ach other and
smear on each other’s bodies; they dance singing with joy, letting their long hairs
untie and fall freely.. Forgetting materialistic / worldly pleasures (thus, becoming
insane:- )

aRivazhindhanar- means: lost their desire on materials and other worldly matters.

Srimad Bhagawatham mentions the same scene:

gOpA: parasparam hrushtA dhaDhi kshIra ghruthAmbubhi: |

AsInchanthO vilim panthO navanIthaischa chikshipu: || (X.5. 14)

The cowherd folks on one another, being happy (hrshtA), dhadhI curd; kshIra milk;
ghrthAmbubhi: butter milk; AsInchantha: sprinkling; vilimparantha: smearing;
navanIthai: butter; chikshipu: threw on one another.

5. koNda thAL uRikOlak kodu mazhu

thaNdinar paRiyOlai sayanatthar
viNdamullaiyarumpanna pallinar
aNdar miNdip pugundhu neyyaadinaar.

{At Ayar padi in the neighborhood of NadhagOpan’s home, the scene was
described. Now the scene shifts to those who went out for rearing the cows.]

The cowherd folks who went outside for rearing the cows, those who have the pot
tied with strong, long, stout ropes, (for milk and for their food?); who have the
sharp mace-like stick, who have the make shift arrangement of beds made of leaves
(to take rest); who have small white mullai flower like teeth (with absolutely no
kaLLam and kapatam- krithrimam illAdha bhakti- unalloyed devotion) ; entered
into Ayarpaadi town (where He was born) smeared themselves with ghee, as if they
are bathing with Ghee (due to their over excitement and extreme happiness).

{This pAsuram it is told brings us the Uriyadi uthsavam _Those who have
witnessed will enjoy)

The next sweet pAsurams (6-10) of PeriyAzhwAr Thirumozhi 1.2. for our
enjoyment:

6. kaiyum kaalum nimirtthu kadaara neer

paiyavaatti pasunchiRu manjaLaal
aiyanaavazhitthALukku angAnthida
vaiyam Ezhum kaNdAL piLLai vAyuLE.

[PeriyAzhwAr visualizes the miraculous even in which Yasodha perceived the

cosmic universe inside the mouth of the child as it opened its mouth. In the words
of the milk maids, who are also stated to have witnessed this event, AzhwAr
expresses with dismay that this is not an ordinary child but the very divine being. ]
Yasodha (with the help of few maids) perform the mangaLa snAnam (Bath) for the
infant KaNNan. She massages (or straightens) the short, stout hands and legs and
with the small coconut shell container (kopparai), takes the pure warm water to
bathe kaNNan. She also takes the small pasu manjaL (the fresh turmeric stone) to
clean the tongue. When she is ready, Kutti KaNNan opens (as a gesture of help),
[angAndhida] his small mouth. Yasodha could not belive her eyes. She could see the
seven worlds in His mouth straightaway.

Sage Sukhar mentions this incident only after few months, when KaNNan was
playing outside in the streets and was found eating sand. Yasodha rushes to the child
and asks the child “Open your mouth. You ate the sand. I need to remove..
hmmmm.. Open. “. The kutti darling KaNNan opens and she is shocked to see the
entire earth inside. Not just little sand.. The whole Universe is there. AzhwAr wants
to bring and enjoy that first and foremost. Perhaps Devaki enjoyed the
SarvEshwaran first and now wants to show Himself to Yasodha too.

Also one can se that there are other maids who help Yasodha and hence
someone else cleaned the tongue and Yasodha is just bathing Him. She
(Yasodha) saw the worlds when that milk maid asked Kutti to open mouth.

7. vaayuL vaiyagam kaNda madanallaar

aayar putthiran allan arundheivam
paaya seerudaip paNbudai bAlakan
maayan enRu magizhndhanar maadharE.

The innocent, good (mada nallaar) milk maids who have witnessed the worlds in the
Kutti KaNNan’s mouth, said, “this baby is not the son of cowherd folks. He is the
inaccessible, incomprehensible Lord who manifests everywhere, who has the most
auspicious attributes (kalyANa guNAs) in Him; who does greatest and grandest
deeds; who is the saviour for all (Sarva rakshakan); who is the mysterious Lord
(maayan)” – exclaimed joyously and excitedly.

He adores the milk maids as much as YasOdha PiraaTTi. So, they also get to se the
grand incident.

8. patthu nALum kadantha iraNdA naaL

etthisaiyum sayamarankOditthu
mattha maamalai thaangiya mainthanai
uddhAnam seydhu uganthanar aayarE.

[The infant kaNNan after 13 days (the child was born in the midnight- and hence
that night is counted as one day). Thirteen days vrutthi theettu- Asoucham. Hence,
after 12 days, the people, celebrated the 13th day, adorning the whole place with
flags and jaya sthambams (victory pillars). It appears they were just waiting for an
earliest opportunity to take the child in their hands. Thus, they celebrated to lift the
child in their hands. (uddhAnam seydhu- holding the child uthsavam)]. This is not
referred to as naming ceremony yet.

The cowherd folks, on the 12th day, celebrated with flags and pillars in all
directions, the uddhAna uthsavam of Kutti KaNNan who held the huge manthara
mountain on His back as Tortoise, for churning the milky ocean.

Mattha maamalai – can also be read for the Govardhana mountain which housed
even the elephants – The One who lifted and held the huge mountain with His little
finger.

kadhAchiththThAnikkauthukAplavE janmarkshayOgE samavaithaypithAm –

Srimad Bhagawatham also refers to this uddhAnam.

9. kidakkil thottil kizhiya udhaiithidum

yedutthuk koLLil marungaiyiRutthidum
odukki pulgil udharatthE paayndhidum
midukkilAmaiyAl naan melindhEn nangaay!

Oh good lady! (nangaay- poorNamaanavaL- A healthy one? )! This Kutti KaNNan

when lying in the cradle- kicks it so violently that the cradle appears to be tearing
off ; When lifted and placed on the waist, He makes the waist break off; With force,
when tamed and hugged to the chest, He kicks into the stomach and jumps off
(from us) With such trouble, due to lack of stamina, I have become thinner and
thinner (says the Lucky YasOdhA:- ) as I am not like you with stamina)

AzhwAr shifts from his role to Yasodha role.

Here, when lifted, he troubles; when hugged he kicks in the stomach. But, if He is
kept in the cradle, He kicks only the cradle. How does she get thinner? Reason:
when he is lying down, I go near Him to breast feed Him and He kicks (OR) I am
not able to control leaving him there lying down. Hence, I am tempted and lift Him.

Poorvacharyas have said beautifully (says Sri UttamUr swamy): When lying, lifting
and hugging, he kicks, jumps, moves violently. What will happen to this little
darling of mine?- woories YasOdhA and because of which she becomes thinner.

Nangaay_ Singular lady! Perhaps, a lady asked “YasOdhA! Why have you become
so thin?”YasOdhA answers the PAsuram..

Also each line can be to a separate lady.

One lady asks: You could have kept the baby simply in a cradle like me.
(kidakkil thottil kizhiya udhaitthidum..- )
Another one: Lift Him and place Him on your waist. He will be samarthu. (No…
yedutthuk koLLil marungai iRutthidum)

Third one: Hug him tighly to your chest and control His movements. (Hmmm.
Ivanaa? Odukki pulgil udharatthE paayndhidum)..(or even kept on the floor, some
insect may bite.)Thus, worrying about the Kutti KaNNan also, she thins down.

10. Sennelaar vayal soozh thirukkOttoyoor

mannu nAraNan nambhi piRanthamai
minnunool vittuchitthan virttha
pannupaadal vallaarkkillai paavamE.

ThirukkOttoyoor Narayanan – who is here now only took KaNNan avatar from
Milky Ocean. About that KaNNan- this ten was sung elaborately by Vishnu chitthan
wearing shining pooNool (sacred thread). Those who learn to read and recite this
ten, will have all their sins run away from them.

Pannu- composed (sung) set to music

Or it can also mean- appreciated by others – like Selva nambhi (ten that is
appreciated by others like Selva nambhi) and composed by VishNu chitthan.