Tirupavvai English Meaning

thiruppAvai
thiruppAvai
ANdAL – srIvillipuththUr
http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org 1 http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
dhivya prabandham – translations project

srI:
srImathE satakOpAya nama:
srImathE rAmAnujAya nama:
srImadh varavaramunayE nama:
dhivya prabandhams are the most essential aspect of srIvaishNava sampradhAyam.

AzhwArs who were blessed by srIman nArAyaNan’s causeless mercy, sung many
prabandhams in the ancient thamizh language which became to be known as dhivya
prabandham. The importance of dhivya prabandham is greatly highlighted by azhagiya
maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr in AchArya hrudhayam. AchArya hrudhayam fully reveals
the divine heart and emotions of nammAzhwAr. nAyanAr explains that one becomes
established in srIvaishNava principles by first learning the thiruvAimozhi text, then
understanding the meanings and finally living by the same. Here, thiruvAimozhi is
explained as upalakshaNam (example) for all dhivya prabandhams.
These dhivya prabandhams were greatly appreciated by our AchAryas and especially
srI rAmAnuja ushered in a new era of our sampradhAyam which fully focussed on
thiruppAvai
understanding the meanings of the dhivya prabandhams and living by it. srI rAmAnuja’s
1000th birth anniversary is approaching us soon in May 2017. To commemorate this
most glorious and auspicious occasion, we are providing simple translation of the
dhivya prabandhams in our http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org website. These
translations are done fully based on pUrvAchArya vyAkyAnams.
We pray to srIman nArAyaNan, AzhwArs and AchAryas to guide us in this effort and
make this kainkaryam a successful one which will benefit srIvaishNavas of different
regions (who are familiar with different languages, etc).
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
on behalf of http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org team
pramEyam (goal) – http://koyil.org

pramANam (scriptures) – http://srivaishnavagranthams.wordpress.com
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://guruparamparai.wordpress.com
srIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org.
thiruppAvai
Preface
srI:
srImathE satakOpAya nama:
srImathE rAmAnujAya nama:
srImadh varavaramunayE nama:
anju kudikkoru santhathiyAy

AzhwArgaL thamseyalai vinji niRkum thanmaiyaLAy
pinjAyp pazhuththALai ANdALap paththiyudan nALum
vazhuththAy manamE maghizhnthu
அஞ்சு குடிக்க ொரு சந்ததியொய்

ஆழ்வொர் ள் தஞ்கசயலை விஞ்சிநிற்கும் தன்லையளொய்
பிஞ்சொய்ப் பழுத்தொலள ஆண்டொலளப் பத்தியுடன் நொளும்
வழுத்தொய் ைனமை ை ிழ்ந்து.
About translation to English
When some sishyas approached emperumAnAr and requested him to do one more round
(uru) of kAlakshEpam of thiruppAvai, he said that only ANdAL can fully explain its
meanings, only little gOpikAs whom krishNan loved can better understand its meanings,
and only ANdAL can fully know its meanings. So, for the rest of us, we could somewhat
explain and somewhat understand the meanings of thiruppAvai, if we tried.
thiruppAvai
Of course, whatever adiyOngaL are able to write can only be an introduction, because
the best source to understand the meanings of thiruppAvai or of any other dhivya
prabandham is one’s AchAryan. With AchAryan’s blessings adiyOngaL would like to
write here a little about the meanings of thiruppAvai. If you are interested in knowing
more, kindly approach your AchAryan.
This effort of translating into English the vyAkyAnams (meanings) from our pUrvAchArya
granthams is to spread the awareness of the sweet existence of them, and to popularize
them among all srivaishNavas of all ages.
This is not a one-to-one translation of the vyAkyAnam, but tries to bring at least the
essence of them.
If you see any important points missing in this effort, kindly let us know so that we could
add them as appropriate.
Please continue reading and provide your feedback and comments.
About the vyAkyAnams for thiruppAvai
vyAkyAnams for thiruppAvai have been provided by several pUrvAchAryas.
3000 padi – by periyavAchan piLLai. (with 3 works by others that provide meanings for
difficult words (padha urai))
thiruppAvai
6000 padi – by azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr
thiruppAvai
2000 padi and 4000 padi – by thirunArAyanapuram Ay jananyAchArya
There are also svApadEsa vyAkyAnams (actual inner meanings) available, done by
thirunArAyanapuram Ay jananyAchArya , ponnadikkAl jIyar and sudhdha sathvam
dhOddachAryar. A list of pramANams (proof/quotes) from vEdham, etc., have also been
compiled by our pUrvAchAryas.
aithihya nirvAgam for thiruppAvai have been compiled by several swamis. This is about
incidents in our pUrvAchAryas time that are related to meanings of thiruppAvai pAsurams
(example: when sishyas approached emperumAnAr to do one round (uru) of kAlakshEpam on
thiruppAvai, he replied, ‘Even if anyone would be able to do that for thiruppallANdu, it would be hard
to find one for providing meanings of thiruppAvai’.)
vyAkyAnam for thaniyans have been provided by piLLai lOkam jIyar.
thiruppAvai
Without puthUr swAmi’s additional efforts to provide meanings for hard-to-understand

parts of the vyAkyAnam, one would not be able to understand the original vyAkyAnams
at this day and age.
There are a couple of other sources which were helpful in doing the translation.
- thiruppAvai viLakka urai – by AzhvArgaL amudha nilaiyam which is plain thamizh

translation of the 3000padi vyAkyAnam for the most part.
- vaiNava urai nadai varalARRu muRaith thamizhp pEr agarAdhi – by santhi sAdhana –
publishers, 125 Chamiers Road, Chennai 600 028, which is a GREAT resource to know
the translation of sanskrit words occurring in our granthams. It is in thamizh. (If
interested publisher’s contact number is 9940019804 in Chennai. (we are not associated
with them n any way other than as buyers))
Related aricles on thiruppAvai:
thiruppAvai sAram by azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr –

http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/12/thiruppavai-saram-by-nayanar.html
thiruppAvai – artha panchakam – http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2013/01/thiruppavai-artha-

panchakam.html
Our efforts cannot match all of their efforts to bring us this wonderful dhivya
prabandham. With our AchAryas’ blessings we initiate this effort, for the granthams to be
more useful for various srIvaishNavas.
thiruppAvai
English translation by adiyen Raghuram Srinivasa dasan
Web: http://koyil.org , http://ponnadi.blogspot.com,

http://guruparamparai.wordpress.com, http://pillai.koyil.org
jaya – thai pUrattAdhi – (January 24, 2015) – sottai nambi
ஜய – -
thiruppAvai
Topic of Contents
ANdAL ....................................................................................................................... 1
Preface ...................................................................................................................... 4
thaniyan .................................................................................................................. 12
avathArikai .............................................................................................................. 17
pAsuram - 1 - mArgazhi thingaL ........................................................................... 23
pAsuram - 2 - vaiyaththu ....................................................................................... 34
pAsuram - 3 - Ongi ulagaLandha .......................................................................... 41
pAsuram - 4 - Azhi mazhai..................................................................................... 51
pAsuram - 5 - mAyanai .......................................................................................... 59
pAsuram - 6 - puLLum silambina kAN .................................................................. 68
pAsuram - 7 - kIchu kIchu ...................................................................................... 79
pAsuram - 8 - kIzh vAnam ..................................................................................... 86
pAsuram - 9 - thUmaNi mAdaththu ....................................................................... 94
pAsuram - 10 - nORRu suvarggam ..................................................................... 100
pAsuram - 11 - kaRRuk kaRavai ......................................................................... 106
pAsuram - 12 - kanaiththiLam kaRRerumai ....................................................... 114
pAsuram - 13 - puLLin vAi kINdAnai .................................................................. 121
pAsuram - 14 - ungaL puzhaikkadai ................................................................... 127
pAsuram - 15 - ellE iLam kiLiyE .......................................................................... 132
pAsuram - 16 - nAyaganAi ninRa ........................................................................ 143
pAsuram - 17 - ambaramE thaNNIrE ................................................................... 152
pAsuram - 18 - undhu madhakaLiRRan ............................................................. 158
pAsuram - 19 - kuththu viLakkeriya .................................................................... 165
pAsuram - 20 - muppaththu mUvar..................................................................... 171
pAsuram - 21 - ERRa kalangaL ........................................................................... 179
pAsuram - 22 - angaNmA gyAlaththu ................................................................. 185
pAsuram - 23 - mAri malai muzhainjil................................................................. 192
pAsuram – 24 - anRu ivvulagam ......................................................................... 199
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pAsuram – 25 - oruththi maganAi ....................................................................... 209

pAsuram – 26 - mAlE maNivaNNA ...................................................................... 217
pAsuram - 27 - kUdArai vellum ........................................................................... 226
pAsuram – 28 - kaRavaigaL pin chenRu ........................................................... 236
pAsuram – 29 - chiRRam chiRukAlE .................................................................. 244
pAsuram – 30 - vangak kadal kadaindha (and vAzhi thirunAmam, etc.) ......... 255
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thiruppAvai
thaniyan
thaniyans appear before the beginning of a prabandham. They tell us about the author
of the prabandham and about praying and prostrating at the author’s feet.
parAsara bhattar‘s thaniyan
We first go to thAyAr, confess to her all our mistakes, and pray to forgive us. So with
thAyAr’s “purushakAram” (recommendation), we then approach perumAn. By the time
we go and stand in front of perumAn, our thAyAr who is always present in the divine
chest of perumAn would tell Him not to see our mistakes (pApam), and only see us as
His child and provide anugraham (blessings).
In case of krishNan, it is nILa dEvi thAyAr (nappinnai) that one approaches first, and
with her as the “purushakAram”, approach krishNa. That is what ANdAL also does in
her thiruppAvai.
Once when bhattar was feeling sad about being separated from emperumAn, his sishya
nanjIyar asked him to write a slOkam on ANdAL in order to feel better. bhattar with joy
wrote the following, which we recite as a thiruppAvai thaniyan.
nILA thunga sthanagiri thatI suptham udhbhOdhya krishNam

pArArthyam svam sruthi satha siras sidhdham adhyApayanthI |
svOchchishtAyAm sraji nigaLitham yA balAthkruthya bhungkthE
gOdha thasyai nama idhamidham bhUya aevAsthu bhUya: ||
Commentary:
krishNan who was sleeping keeping his head on neeLa dEvi’s chest, was woken up by
ANdAL; then ANdAL explained to him about her love and pArathanthriyam (living only
for doing kainkaryam to perumAL, and as per His wishes) which is one of the main
tenets of the vEdhAs.
Using the flower garland which was already worn by her she chained him by force and
enjoyed him.
We shall prostrate before that ANdAL forever and forever.
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thiruppAvai
Whereas rAmA (chakravarthy thirumagan) who was sleeping in the mountain ranges
was feeling sad because of missing sItA, here krishNan is sleeping on the mountain
range that is the chest of neeLa dEvi without any need for angst of separation. This is to
indicate that krishNa is sleeping with full happiness (when ANdAL comes and wakes
him up). Such happiness is a guNam (characteristic) of emperumAn.
ANdAL is special among the AzhvArs because she is a female – she possesses a more
natural love towards emerumAn, and since she married emperumAn, she has a much
higher and special place. Other AzhvArs and all AchAryas revere her in the same level
as other thAyArs.
So she, with force, tied krishNan with the garland (which she had already worn, out of
love for Him) so that He would stay with her, listen to her request for marrying him, and
for giving all of us the parama padham (srI vaikuntam, mOksham, peruveedu) to do
kainkaryam.
uyyakkoNdAr‘s thaniyans
This thaniyan asks the mind to pray to ANdAL who with her hands, body, mind, and with
the garland did kainkaryams to perumAL.
anna vayal pudhuvai ANdAL arangarkku

pannu thiruppAvai palpadhiyam
innisaiyAl pAdik koduththAL naRpAmAlai
chUdik koduththALaich chollu
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thiruppAvai
Commentary:
srIvillipuththUr (pudhuvai) which has got great green fields in which swans walk about,
is the birth place of ANdAL.
For thiru arangan she created the many pAsurams of thiruppAvai which is a garland of
poems that she gave to Him by sweet music, and (also) gave flower garland to thiru
arangan, but after first wearing it out of love.
[Chollu]: O Mind, pray to (such) ANdAL.

ANdAL walks delicately and beautifully like the swans walking in the green fields of
srIvillipuththUr. It also goes to show the beauty and richness of srIvilliputhUr.
She sang thiruppAvai on thiru arangan? Yes, arangan is periya perumAL of srIrangam
(kOyil) who is none other than krishNan. (whereas urchavar, that is namperumAL, is
chakravarthy thirumagan (srI rAma)).
Because of her ability to sing beautifully she is called as ‘பொட வல்ை நொச்சியொர்‘.
She sang many pAsurams in thiruppAvai (which everyone wants to learn, understand
and recite).
Her name (thiru nAmam) is more beautiful and prime, that is, a step above her
prabandham (thiruppAvai) itself. This is indicated in this thaniyan by
‘(chUdikodhuthALai) chollu‘.
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thiruppAvai
This thaniyan is asking ANdAL to help us have the love and subservience (sEshathvam
/ pArathanthriyam) towards her, at same level as what she prayed for towards
thiruvEnkata perumAL (srInivAsan).
chUdik koduththa sudark kodiyE!

tholpAvai pAdi aruLa valla palvaLaiyAy
nAdi nI vEnkatavaRku ennai vidhi enRa immARRam
nAm kadavA vaNNamE nalgu
Meaning:
O ANdAL who wore the garland first out of love before giving it to perumAL,
who is like the golden rope that can tie perumAL (by love),
who followed the nOnbu of the old times of AyarpAdi, which you gave for us to recite
and follow in the form of thiruppAvai,
like how you prayed for the love of thiruvEnkatam perumAn (thirupathi, srInivAsan),
please help us also to pray for your love and for being your sEshans.
sudark kodi – Since she had a nice long hair, she wore the garland not only around her
neck but also tied flowers around her plait/bun before giving it for krishNan to wear.
pAdi aruLa valla – ANdAL who can sing the pAsurams and give it, out of kindness, for
the people in the future to sing and follow them.
vEnkatavaRku ennai vidhi – ANdAL said that she would marry only the emperumAn;
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thiruppAvai
enRa immARRam – in the same way like what you said (above)
nAm kadavA vaNNamE nalgu – O ANdAL, please give us also the same kind of
strength in our bhakthi and sEshathvam towards you and emperumAn.
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thiruppAvai
avathArikai
Difference between rishis and samsAris is like the difference between a mountain and a
tiny pebble; that much is the difference between AzhwArs and rishis; that much is the
difference between periyAzhwAr and other AzhwArs; that much is the difference
between ANdAL and periyAzhwAr – Compared to other AzhwArs who were all males,
ANdAL being a female had a more natural love towards perumAL; she being the only
female, she is like a child to all AzhwArs who are ready to give all their wealth(bhakthi)
to get her married to emperumAn; (srIranganAthan is giving respect to his father-in-law
by having sayanam facing the South – that is srIvilliputhUr (but a son-in-law would be
shy to accept that fact, so it is widely known that He is facing south in order to honor
vibhIshaNan).
thiruppAvai is about praying to perumAL to give us the ability to serve Him as much as
possible, because that is the natural state for us. For that, ANdAL re-enacts the nOnbu
that the little gopikAs conducted in AyarpAdi to reach krishNan.
(Is it okay to pretend doing nOnbu (fasting, etc.,) when she is really not doing that?
Would it not amount to a lie? Since it is for getting krishNan’s thiruvadi, and as she is
saying she is repeating what the gopikAs did in AyarpAdi, it is acceptable to do that,
similar to how it is acceptable when trying to get someone married, or when there is
something life-threatening.)
As a child ANdAL learned so much from periyAzhwAr about perumAL. As a girl she
naturally felt love for emperumAn.
With so much love she went to the sannidhi of vadaperungkOil udaiyAn, to be with Him
(perumAL in the srIvillipuththUr temple). But he did not seem to reciprocate her
affection.
As a little child she then thought she could meet krishNan himself and be with Him. But,
as she learned, He came and lived in this world several thousand years ago, so it is not
an option now.
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thiruppAvai
Then she wondered whether any one has had the opportunity to be with krishNan and
enjoyed him. She got the answer that the small gopikAs in AyarpAdi got that
opportunity; but again that was long ago.
She then thought that at least she could touch the sacred sand where He walked, be
around the trees and cows which He was playing with, and touch the river yamunA
where he took bath – the kumkum and manjaL would still be mixed in that water, and
see the gOvardhana mountain which he lifted with his little finger, and touch the cows
whose ascendant-parents krishNan would have touched and played with. But all these
were in a faraway place in the North (India), and as a small girl from a small Brahmin
family there was no way for her to go there.
==> At that time an upanyAsakar who visited srIvilliputhUr narrated what once
happened in AyarpAdi:
Once, the gopikAs in AyarpAdi played and enjoyed with krishNan so much that
krishNan thought that excessive experience of him might cause trouble for the gopikAs;
so he hid himself away from them. Because they missed him so much, they started
playing among themselves, with one girl pretending to be krishNan, another girl
pretending to be kALingan, and so on, and they enacted krishNan, kAlingan and so on.
They did nOnbu to be with krishNan and enjoy him.
==> When ANdAL heard this story, she got a wonderful idea! She pretended
srIvilliputhUr to be thiru AyppAdi (gOkulam), her friends in her neighborhood to be the
gopikAs of AyarpAdi, with herself to be one among them, vadaperungkOil to be the
house of nandagOpan, and the perumAL vataperunkOyiludaiyAn (vatapathrasAyi) to be
her krishNan. Her mind started living this and she pretended to be living in AyarpAdi.
Her walk, her speech, her hair, all became one that of a cowherd girl; and what a
wonder, her body odour changed to that of a cowherd girl – what with those mixed
odour of milk, butter, ghee and so on! (முலட நொற்றம்)
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thiruppAvai
==> In AyarpAdi, all the gopikAs were always playing and enjoying with krishNan so
much. When they reached their young age, their parents said that krishNan is playing
with all these little ones all the time, and the elders thought that they should stop this.
They put all the girls inside their homes and did not allow them to go out and play
with krishNan. They also hid all the Butter away from krishNan. — So, the two
most important ones for krishNan were not available to him.
==> (Because of this) as there was no rain for a long time the gOpar of AyarpAdi
decided to get the little girls to do nOnbu (fasting, etc., in a prescribed way) and pray for
getting rain for their well-being. For this the elders determined that krishNan should help
the little girls by arranging for all the necessary items for the nOnbu. They approached
krishNan. At first krishNan disagreed (pretended?). They pleaded and compelled him
and then he agreed to help. The parents brought out all the gopikAs and told them to do
the nOnbu and be with krishNan to get his help. Day before the start of nOnbu, as
krishNan was with all the girls, he told them that since this is nOnbu nobody should
doubt about us so please go to your homes, come back Very early in the morning next
day to start the nOnbu. He went to nILA dhEvi’s (nappinnai) house to sleep (‘nILA
thunga sthanagiri thatI’ during the next morning).
==> The gOpikAs also went to their homes, but because of the excitement they could
not sleep, so even though they went to bed they were lying awake thinking about
krishNan. Early next morning, the gOpikAs who were able to wake up early went around
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to other houses and woke up the other gOpikAs also, and finally went to nandagOpar’s
thirumALigai to wake up krishNan and announce to him about their subservience to him.
==> ANdAL is enacting this same story and doing the same in her 30 pAsurams of
thiruppAvai created during 30 days of mArgazhi, and explaining what happened on that
whole nOnbu day.
During thirty days in the month of mArgazhi, she created the thirty pAsurams of
thiruppAvai.
In thiruppAvai she enacts committing to do the nOnbu, gathering all her friends, going to
nandagOpan’s thirumALigai, waking up nandagOpan and others, waking up krishNan’s
wife nILa dhEvi (nappinnai), and finally waking up krishNan Himself. She ends with
asking krishNan to give mOksham and the opportunity to be always subservient to him,
and that too for His enjoyment and happiness. (In the next month of Thai, she created
the prabandham nAchiAr thirumozhi).
perumAn asked that she be brought to srIrangam. She

was brought in a palanquin to srIrangam. At one point
near the temple, the palanquin suddenly felt very light.
Feeling that something is happening, periyAzhwAr
checked inside and found that ANdAL was absent there.
He pleaded to perumAn to know her whereabouts. The
place this happened is now called veLi ANdAL
sannidhi. periyAzhwAr then saw ANdAL kneeling before
arangan and vanishing from there into Him. ANdAL went
to srI vaikuNtam as a pirAtti (wife) of perumAn.
sthala purANam at srIvilliputhUr adds that periyAzhwAr

prayed to perumAn that He wed ANdAL in srIvilliputhUr,
and perumAn agreed and came there and married her on
a panguni uthiram. In srIvilliputhuUr there is no separate
sannidhi for ANdAL (thAyAr), but only a sannidhi where perumAn and thAyAr are
present together, along with garudAzhvAn who is getting pirAn and pirAtti to be married.
If this happened in srIvilliputhUr, shouldn’t the sthala purANam say that vatapathrasAyi
married ANdAL? Why then is ranaganAthan said to be married to ANdAL? AzhwAr saw
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thiruppAvai
Him as rangan only; as he also sang ‘கவண்லை உண்ட வொயன் அைி

அரங் ன்’ – one who ate butter, the one in arangam.
ramAnujar was devoted to understanding the meanings of thiruppAvai, so much so that

he was also called ‘thiruppAvai jIyar’.
perumAL gave ‘ையர்வற ைதிநைம்‘ (blemishless knowledge) to the AzhwArs

because of which they (without any effort of their own) wrote such wonderful divya
prabandhams. But, ANdAL, She gave ‘ையர்வற ைதிநைம்‘ to perumAL, by waking
him up and letting him understand about her subservience to him!!
==> lakshmaNan and most AzhwArs are of one type who wanted the experience
of perumAL and were devoted to perumAL.
bharathan and periyAzhwAr are of one type whose aim was the well-being of perumAL!!
BUT, chathrugnan, madhurakavi AzhwAr, and

ANdAL are of a different type and of a higher level
because their aim was doing kainkaryam to
bhAgavathas (to Devotees). chathrugnan was
devoted to bharathan, madhurakavi to
nammAzhwAr, and ANdAL to her
father periyAzhwAr as he is the one who taught her
about perumAn – if her father had asked her to fall
on someone else’s feet then that is what she would
have done – she knew only how to follow
periyAzhwAr.
ANdAL, with the front of doing nOnbu, wanted to

reach perumAL – as reaching Him and doing
uninterrupted kainkaryam to Him is the natural state
of an AthmA.
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thiruppAvai
Whereas nammAzhwAr spoke of association with bhAgavathas (Devotees) only in the

later parts of his 1000 pAsurams, ANdAL spoke of it in the first pAsuram itself, “nIrAdap
pOdhuvIr” (Requesting other devotees to join to go to krishNa).
Near the last pAsuram of thiruppAvai she says “unakkE nAm At cheivOm” [kainkaryam]
(upEyam) and she allotted the in-between time for ‘dhEha yAthirai (spending the
remaining time in this world doing kainkaryam to him)’.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 1 - mArgazhi thingaL
In the 1st pAsuram of thiruppAvai, the gOpikAs are celebrating that they got the month
of mArgazhi for doing their nOnbu. First 3 lines of the pAsuram are about prApyam
(means), [being together with bhAgavathAs], and rest are about prApakam
(destiny/purushArtham) [krishNan].
mArgazhith thingaL madhi niRaindha nannALAl*

nIrAdap pOdhuvIr pOdhuminO nEr izhaiyIr*
sIr malugum AyppAdich chelvach chirumIrgAL
kUrvEl kodun-thozhilan nandhagOpan kumaran*
ErArndha kaNNi yasOdhai iLam singam*
kAr mEnich chengaN kadhir madhiyam pOl mugaththAn*
nArAyaNanE namakkE paRai tharuvAn*
parOr pugazhap padindhelOr empAvAi. 1.
sIr malgum AyppAdi - (From the) wealthy place of AyppAdi,

selvach chirumIrgAL - O, the young gOpikAs who have the best wealth (which is
association with, and kainkaryam to, krishNan),
nEr izhaiyIr - who are wearing wonderful ornaments (keeping krishNan in mind),
mArgazhi thingaL - we got the best of all months – the mArgazhi month, and the good
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full moon day for doing the nOnbu (ceremony to pray for the rains)).
kUr vEl – (Standing with a) sharp spear,
kodum thozhilan – if any enemies come near his kutti krishNan he would be a person
doing cruel deeds (to those enemies) – that person is
nandhagOpan – nandhagOpan, whose
kumaran - dear son is krishNan;
Er Arndha kaNNi yasOdhai – the one who has got beautiful eyes,
iLam singam - her young lion-cub is krishNan,
kAr mEni, sengaN - (his) body is the color of dark (kind) clouds, he has got eyes lotus-
like,
kadhir madhiyam pOl mugaththAn - and his face is the bright light of the moon,
nArAyaNanE – and who is none other than srIman nArAyaNan,
namakkE paRai tharuvAn – only srIman nArAyaNan can give us (us who depend only
on him) the opportunity to do kainkaryam to him.
Al – So
padindhElOr - those who want to take a good (padindhu) bath please go with us,
pArOr pugazha - and the people of this world would celebrate that.
This first pAsuram is briefly indicating that what will be achieved (i.e.,
prApakam/upEyam) is parai (kainkaryam to perumAL).
Here is a bit more detailed meaning for the first pAsuram of thiruppAvai, as taken from
parts of vyAkyAnams, upanyAsams and other such sources.
mArgazhith thingaL:
They are celebrating that they got the good mArgazhi month for them to do the
kainkaryams to perumAL; like His lotus feet, mArgazhi is also not too hot or too cold;
krishNan also said in gIta that of all the months He is like mArgazhi, so this is the best
month for Him too; mArgazhi is the brAhma muhUrtham (serene/tranquil time) of the
year (not only for us but also for dEvas because, since our 1 year is 1 day for them, our
mArgazhi month is their 4-6am) – so it is a good month in that sense too [1]; the old
people of AyarpAdi would not come out early due to the mArgazhi month being cold,
which means enjoyment with krishNan as they pleased (தங் ளுக்கு
ிருஷ்ைமனொமட யமதஷ்டம் விநிமயொ ிக் ைொம் என்றபடி); people are
happy that this is the good month to do kainkaryams to perumAL, and perumAL is
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happy that he got an opportunity to take care of the people (‘ayana’ of the word
nArAyaNan as occurs in the pAsuram).
madhi niRaindha:
madhi: moon; niraindha: full (Full moon); Full moon being sukla paksham, is it a good
day for doing a good deed? When a person is doing a kainkaryam to perumAL,
vidhi/sAsthram will follow what s/he is doing and help her/him, so it is a good day; they
are happy about it being a full moon day also because the girls can see each other’s’
happy faces and can go together to wake up krishNan; wouldn’t it be better to go on a
dark day to be with krishNan? Since the people of AyarpAdi themselves agreed for the
gOpikAs to do nOnbu with help from krishNan, gOpikAs are okay with the place being
bright due to full moon; also madhi (another meaning: gnyAnam/wisdom) is being
complete for the people because this is the day they came along to go to krishNan.
nan-nALAl:
What a day, like a central piece of a month and fortnight! They are celebrating that it is a
‘good day’. How is it a good day? First, because it is a bright day, it brings more
happiness to the occasion; the gOpars had restricted them from seeing krishNan, and
today those same people have completely approved them to (do nOnbu and) be with
krishNan; a day marked for getting the experience of krishNan is a good day; for a
person who thought s/he was independent (svathanthran) till yesterday the good day
dawns only on the day s/he realizes that perumAL is our only saviour (and help us do
the kainkaryam to Him); day we do pancha samskAram is our birth day; day we leave
this samsAram is our wedding day (with Him);
What a desire in celebrating the month, fortnight, day, etc.?! This flow of affection for
these gOpikAs is because of their desire for Him (prApyam).
nIrAda
To reduce their viraha dhapam (because of not meeting krishNan for many days) they
want to take a dip (in connecting with krishNan); ‘neerada’ also means ைவி with
krishNan (in olden days thamizh people also used the word ‘(neer) sunai aadal’ to mean
ைவி),
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Among friends why did they not use the casual word ‘kuLikka’ for bath? It is due to the
bhagavath sambandham among them. They give such respect even when it is their son
or sishya – how srI parAsara bhattar‘s mother (named ANdAL) would take the sri
pAdha thIrtham (water that was used for washing the feet of a noble person) of
bhattar without thinking of him as a son – because of respect for bhattar as an
AchAryan and because he is in the sishya paramparai of rAmAnujar; and this
respect is also similar to how periya nambi who is an AchAryan of rAmAnujar
would prostrate upon seeing rAmAnujar with his huge gOshti of people because
periya nambi saw rAmAnujar as the person blessed by his own AchAryan
ALavandhAr for addressing his (ALavandhAr‘s) wishes. These are similar
because all of them are about a higher level deed related to kainkaryam /
bhagavath sambandham..
pOdhuvIr pOdhuminO
For low-level (materialistic, etc.,) goals itself one would have to gather and use a lot of
money/strength/bravery/good-luck, etc. If that is the case, would it require a lot more of
these and then some more, if one wants to enjoy krishNan?? No, only requirement is
the “Desire” to do so. By ‘pOdhuvIr’ they are calling the people who have that wish to go
with them to serve krishNan. The former ones are undesirable goals, so they required
us to gain eligibility;
As a chEthanan (subservient to perumAL) only the wish to do kainkaryam is required.

Parents and other elders, AzhwArs, AchAryas have already taken care of other things
required to qualify us to do the kainkaryam. All these days, only our wish was missing.
Now even that is present. So they are saying ‘those who have got the wish, let us go
and see krishNan’. For other low-level wishes one would want to go alone; since these
gOpikAs are going for bhagavath kainkaryam, they are calling their friends also to join
them, by saying ‘pOdhuvIr’.
Since it is clear that the girls are already interested, what is the need for saying
pOdhiminO, that is, pressing them to go? Like thAyAr (pirAtti) it is their nature to
correct/advise; it also means – ‘we want to live well so please move right now and
quickly let us go and meet krishNan'; also they want their friends to go in the front and
they want to walk behind them and enjoy that company.
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nEr izhaiyIr
“O girls who are wearing (neatly worn?) ornaments”. As they said pOdhuminO the ones
invited became like new.
When they are in a hurry to go and take bath, would they have taken time to decorate
themselves with ornaments??! They must have decorated themselves in a hurry and
must have worn ornaments wrongly, that is, meant for some other part of the body, so it
must have looked different and new, so they were addressed as ‘nEr izhaiyIr‘; or, since
they are always thinking of krishNan, and since they don’t know when krishNan might
come and fall on them (அவன் எப்மபொது வந்து மைல்விழும்?), they are in the
habit of always wearing ornaments, so that is why they were addressed as ‘nEr izhaiyIr';
or, because of the happiness that they have about their previous encounters with
krishNan they always feel and look great;
sIr malgum AyppAdi – wealthy place that is AyppAdi
Because of krishNan’s presence in AyppAdi, it is having the real wealth; krishNan’s

sowlabhyam (being easy to approach, being simple) is so wealthy that its waves are
going out from AyppAdi and reaching into srI vaikuntam. perumAn does not have any
need or way to show one of his kalyANa guNas – sowlabyam – when he is sitting in srI
vaikuNtam. That is because the AthmAs there are all muktha AthmAs full of gyAnam
etc., and perumAn is all available to them; so there is no opportunity to show his
sowlabhyam to them; So perumAL is more happy to be in AyppAdi among the common
people so that he can put that character of His in to good use.
Only in darkness the light would seem very bright, so perumAL is very happy to come to
this world to exercise the full power of one of his kalyANa guNas, that is sowlabhyam.
Because of his presence, AyppAdi is wealthy of his guNas; his guNas are wealthy in
AyppAdi. He, who is bigger than the three worlds, has made himself available for the
commands of the gOpikAs in this place – AyppAdi.
AyppAdi has been content and hence wealthy with cows that provided enough milk, so
they were all happy with getting the milk and making the butter ( றப்பன,
லடவனவற்றொல் குலறவற்றிருக்ல ).
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What is so special about AyppAdi? Isn’t it just some small place? It is the divine place
where one can go to without having to leave this body (which has to be done to go to srI
vaikuNtam); AyppAdi is not the place like ayOdhya where great saints/gyAnis like
vasishtar lived – it is just a place where gOpikAs live who are so innocent that they can’t
differentiate between their left and right arms; it is not a place that enjoyed the
wonderful characters of perumAL (rAmar), but the place that enjoys looking at all the
mischief of krishNan.
selva chirumIrgAL! – O, wealthy girls!
What is the wealth this is referring to? It is the association that all the gOpikAs are
having with perumAn. When lakshmaNan went behind rAman empty-handed, he was
referred by vAlmIki as ‘lakshmaNo lakshmi (wealth) sampanna:‘, because lakshmaNan
got the real wealth that is rAma kainkaryam. Similarly when vibhIshaNAzhwAn left
lankai and approached empty handed to do saranAgathy to perumAL, he was referred
to as ‘srImAn’ (wealthy), because only now vibhIshaNan got the real wealth – that is
association with rAman; gajEndran, the elephant, when he decided that there is no
own effort that can save his life, and called perumAn for help, gajendrAzhwAr was
referred to as ‘srImAn’ (wealthy) – again it is the association / surrender to emperumAn
that is shown as the real wealth for us. (This association is called ‘bhagavath
sambhandham’).
Difference among the above three association examples:
– lakshmaNan from birth did Not have any swAthanthriyam (any feeling of being
independent from perumAn), or anniya sEshathvam (being subservient to someone
other than srIman nArAyANan). So he was from birth fully subservient to rAman.
– vibhIshaNan did not have any swAthanthriyam either but he did have ‘anniya
sEshathvam’ that is, he was subservient to rAvaNan. When that was also lost, he
became wealthy because of attaining ananyArgha sEshathvam towards rAman.
– gajEndran had swAthanthriyam at first (when it thought it could save by Only on

its own efforts), but it did not have any anniya sEshathvam – it served garlands only to
emperumAn. But when gajEndran shed his swAthanthriyam by calling perumAL only to
help, he became wealthy too.
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The gOpikAs of AyppAdi are wealthy because of their association with krishNan – what
with krishNan not tolerating the separation of any of the 5 Lakhs gopikas of AyppAdi,
their playing together, and krishNan showing his kAruNyam (mercy/affection) when the
gOpikAs are not able to tolerate their separation from krishNan.
What is meant by ‘sirumIrgAL‘ – it is that all the gOpikAs are a match to krishNan in age
and ability to play (krishNan is also an iLam singam (lion-cub)); krishNan when seeing
the males and those who have become women will stay away from them as he would
from those who do poojas to other devathais (than nArAyaNan) or those who possess
swAthanthriyam (feeling independent from perumAn). This is to show that he is so much
fond of those young gOpikAs who are of good match to his age and ability to play. It is
also to show how gOpikAs are so innocent, so devoted to krishNan and his
chEshtithams (mischief), and making sure that without gOvindhan getting it first, they
don’t put anything into their mouth.
===> kUr vEl kodum thozhilan nandhagOpan :
Earlier nandhagOpan would be so careful to not even step on a fresh grass; like
bhattar’s sishya siriyAththAn he was also very kind; after getting these children, thinking
‘what danger might come to them’, nandhagOpan started standing with a well-
sharpened spear (சொலை பிடித்து).
(kodum thozhilan) – If he sees an ant down (near krishNan) , he would jump on it with
so much anger and vigour that is fit for attacking a lion; and get blood-stains on his
hands (from the blood flowing down from the spear!).
What about vEdhas saying not to hurt any living being? vEdhas say ‘sAmAnya
dharma’ – that which one should usually follow, and ‘visEsha dharma’ – like to save a
cow one could tell lies. In this case, nandhagOpan is doing this with fear of danger to
krishNan’s head (what with so many rakshasAs going into the one-way street that is
AyppAdi to try to hurt krishNan).
(nandhagOpan) – Why is ANdAL using this word in the pAsuram instead of just saying
‘kUr vEl kodunthozhilan kumaran‘? It is to imply that nandhagOpan is happy seeing his
son. Also, like how periyAzhwAr would be affectionate to her, she is using this name to
imply that krishNan’s father also will be affectionate to her and friends and will let
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krishNan be with them. That is the same reason for waking him up (in pasuram 17) by
saying ‘nandhagOpalA ezhundhirAi (nandhagOpa! please wake up)’, to imply that he
would help the girls to meet krishNan.
===> kumaran
When the people of AyppAdi go and complain to nandhagOpar, ‘He stole our butter, he
stole our girls, (made mess everywhere?)’, then nandhagOpar would say ‘If krishNan
comes anywhere near the vicinity of my eye sight I will set him straight (என் ண்
வட்டத்திமை வந்து மதொற்றினொனொ ில் நியைிக் க் டமவன்). But when
krishNan does appear in front of nandhagOpan, seeing krishNan’s disciplined and
innocent behaviour like a little lion cub (hence, ‘kumaran’), nandhagOpar would say “My
blunder! Did you say all these bad things about such a sweet boy?” – getting back at
those who complained. (க ட்மடன்! இவலனமயொ இங்ஙமன பழியிட்டது?).
===> Aer Arndha kaNNi yasOdhai
Beauty is resident in yasOdhai pirAtti’s eyes; since she is always looking at her son, it is
reflecting in her eyes as beauty (krishna darshan makes our eyes beautiful) ; aren’t
they the eyes that saw the little face which pretended to cry, look at her mother as if
scared, and with hands together plead her to untie him?
(yasOdhai) – she is amicable to them to wake her up ‘yasOdhAi arivurAi’ and get what
they wanted.
===> iLam singam
Since nandhagOpar tends to do corrections for making him good (as fathers do),
krishNan behaves like a little cub (hence ANdAL says ‘nandhagOpan kumaran’). But
since yasOdhai will treat him with affection only, in front of her – krishNan behaves like
a lion, and with a lot of pride (hence, ‘yasOdhai’s iLam singam’); yasOdhai would not
make him afraid by scolding (shouting) – she will let him do his mischief, going along
with whatever he did; if anyone comes and complains to her about him, (and only when
it becomes extreme) she might scold; iLam singam – age that matches those of the
little girls’ of AyppAdi; parAsara bhattar says he is a சிங் க் குருகு (‘மைகைழப்
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பறந்து பொயும் சிங் க் குட்டி’). kurugu refers to small birds; kutty refers to small.
singak Kurugu implies that krishNan is like a lion cub that jumps on you as if flying in the
air.
===> kAr mEni
kAr implies both black, and beautiful. He who was prayed by nammAzhwAr to come
and give darshan like a black cloud full of clean water (helps people), is the same boy
who is visible to one and all in AyppAdi. As much as the gOpikas’ parents tried to keep
them away from Him, he is so beautiful that it is impossible to be away from Him.
===> sengaN
– Beautiful eyes matching the beautiful thirumEni (divine body of krishNan);
– His affection from inside is showing through his eyes – his affection for we people,
without becoming angry at our mistakes which we make as human beings.
– He is the king. As he has got all that is wealth, it reflects in his eyes.
– He comforts us with his beauty, and looks at us with affection.
kadhir madhiyam pOl mugaththAn
– Face that is the moon that got its brightness from the sun and with its own nicety;
kadhir indicates that he provides brightness that helps and be accessible and enjoyable
to those who want to befriend krishNan; at the same time it would punish those who
want to oppose him (kamsan, the asuras, ..).
– To emphasize about krishNan’s face not being comparable to anything, ANdAL says
‘mugaththAn’ – uses a metaphor instead of a simile.
nArAyaNanE (all the descriptions above are about krishNan who is nArAyaNan)
- How do gOpikAs know that krishNan is nArAyaNan? This avatharam, by lifting

the gOvardhana mountain with its little finger and with other mischief which
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humans cannot do, has made it easy for gOpikAs to know that he is the
sarvEshvaran (god for all, that is nArAyaNan); also the people of AyppAdi do not
know other gods, they would use only this word as part of the nOnbu, as they know it is
krishNan that is nArAyaNan. Her (ANdAL’s) fathers (AzhwArs) also used this word only
in many pAsurams (nAn kaNdu koNdEn nArayaNA ennum nAmam, thiNNam naraNam,
nAraNanai nangu arindhEn); like how rishis also used this word (nArAyana
shabhdhamAthram, Esha nArAyaNa: srImAn, nArAyaNa parabrahma).
nArAyaNanE namakkE parai tharuvAn
nArAyaNanE implies that He by himself would show his love to us, even when we don’t
realize/accept that He is antharyami (he is inside our AthmA); this is because of his
affection towards us.
namakkE – only to us who have shed our swAthanthriyam (shedding any thought that
we are independent from perumAL) – shedding by deciding that it is against nature to
do something thinking that we did it all by ourselves (even if we have the wherewithal to
do something) (Akinchanyam); and the ‘we’ who do not have any power are looking for
only His helping hands (ananya-gadhithvam (no other place/devathai/strength to go to
for help, except Him for enabling to do kainkaryam to Him)).
parai tharuvAn – While the instrument ‘parai’ is to be obtained from krishNan to be

used in the nOnbu, they are actually talking about the ‘parai’ that is pArathanthriyam
(ability to be subservient to Him; kainkaryam). How do we know that that is what they
are actually talking about – they themselves say it in pAsuram 29 – iRRai parai koLvAn
andru kAN, gOvindha, etraikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum … (No, not this instrument parai,
hey gOvindha, but the subservience to you in all the births);
==> It says parai “tharuvAn” (he will give) instead of ‘koLvOm’ (we will ~take), because
they understand that even if they are eligible, or even if it is possible, only He should
give it out of his will and then they should get that (parai).
pArOr pugazha - for the people to appreciate/celebrate.
Those who had not allowed us and krishNan to be together, and also those who had
allowed, are now appreciating and celebrating about krishNan’s help of giving us the
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tools for doing the nOnbu, and us girls getting involved in the nOnbu (for praying to get
rains).
Even though they (the elders) don’t fully understand the experience of us girls being
together with krishNan, they still celebrate that togetherness. They would celebrate that
the whole AyppAdi got the rains and became fertile because of our nOnbu.
padindhu (this goes with ‘padindhu nIrAda pOdhuvIr – that is, take bath well.(or, fully
enjoy krishNan)
El – Listen (and)
Or – keep it in your mind (become determined/ committed),
Em pAvAi – our dear girl
-El Or EmpAvAi is also part of nonbu’s phrase (thought)).
-keep it in mind and follow.
-Since this is about getting together and enjoying krishNan, ‘pAvAi’ addresses rathi
dEvi.
The first pAsuram celebrates the good time that became available, talks about the
people who are eligible for doing kainkaryam (anybody who have got that ‘wish’),
explains the beauty of krishNan and how nandhagOpan and yasOdhai cannot hide
krishNan’s beauty from others, talks about upAyam/upEyam (Him and kainkaryam
respectively), and ended with saying that even those who did not want them to be with
krishNan are also celebrating their union with krishNan.
————–
[1] krishNa also says in ruthu He is vasantha ruthu – they are the months of chithra, and
vaikAsi – they are the thiru avathAra months of emperumAnAr and nammAzhwAr
respectively – kAnchi swAmi.
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pAsuram - 2 - vaiyaththu
In this pAsuram, in preparation for nOnbu, srI ANdAL is listing a few things that they
would do (what is good) and a few that they would avoid (what is bad).
In the matter of materialistic wishes, what is liked today won’t be liked tomorrow, what is
not liked today will be liked tomorrow – this is due to one’s own karma – so it is hard to
tell the difference between what is good and what is bad (since what is desired keeps
changing). But in the case of wishing to do kainkaryam to emperumAn, it is very clear
as to what is good and what is to be avoided. So, for the girls who (in the previous
pAsuram) made up their mind to devote to do kainkaryams, it would be easy to identify
good and bad and follow accordingly. Previous pAsuram talked about nature of
prApyam (goal), prApakam (means), and that of the adhikAri (person who wants to
achieve the goal). In this pAsuram, it talks about do’s and don’ts for such a person.
vaiyaththu vAzhvIrgAL nAmum nam pAvaikku

cheiyum kirisaigaL kELIrO
pARkadaluL paiya thuyinRa paraman adi pAdi
ney uNNOm pAl uNNOm nAtkAlE nIrAdi
mai ittu ezhudhOm malarittu nAm mudiyOm
seyyAdhana seyyOm thIkkuraLai sendru OdhOm
aiyamum pichchaiyum Andhanaiyum kai kAtti
uyyumAru eNNi ugandhElOrempAvAi
Meaning:
vAzhvIrgAL – O you who are born to have fulfilling life
vaiyaththu – in this world;
nAmum – we, who live thinking that we achieve our destiny because of Him;
uyyum Aru eNNi – we realize the means for achieving the destiny;
ugandhu – so with happiness
kELIrO – listen (to us about);
seyyum kirisaigaL – the tasks that we do
nam pAvaikku – for our nOnbu;
pARkadaluL – in the milky ocean;
paiya thuyinRa paraman – He who is lying down in there with scheming thoughts;
adi pAdi – we esing praises of His lotus feet;
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aiyamum – we give things to appropriate persons;

pichchaiyum – give biksha (alms) which given to brahmachAris and sanyAsis;
Andhanaiyum – till they are able to receive;
kai kAtti – we give;
nei uNNOm – we would not eat ghee;
pAl uNNOm – would not consume milk;
nIrAdi – bathe;
nAt kAlE – early in the morning;
mai ittu ezhudhOm – we won’t decorate our eyes;
malar ittu nAm mudiyOm – won’t decorate our hair with flowers;
seyyAdhana seyyOm – would not do what our elders/purvAcharyas did not do;
sendru OdhOm – would not go and tell emperumAn.
thIkkuraLai – any gossip that creates problems for others.
Detailed meanings follow.

vaiyaththu vAzhvIrgAL
– You the most fortunate people who are living in this world, the world to which the
sarvEswaran (god for all) has come to live among you as krishNan (as if he is a
layman).
– Specifically saying ‘vaiyaththu’ – to show that this place is better in many respects
compared to even srI vaikuNtam – because perumAL is able to show many of his
kalyANa guNas (his divine characteristics) only in this world and not in srI vaikuNtam
because in there every one is muktha athma with no pApams /mistakes etc., so it is
more exciting to see perumAL showing his guNas in this bhU lOkam; isn’t that why
nithya sUris come to this world, to enjoy emperumAn‘s guNas?
hanuman also did not desire to go to srI vaikuNtam where he won’t be able to see srI
rAman with all his glorious guNas which he had the opportunity to show us in this world
only; only in this world we could see krishNan praying – to his Mother, to untie him – we
won’t get that experience in srI vaikuNtam.
AzhwArs also have sung that they prefer less of srI vaikuNtam! (achchuvai perinum
vENdEn, kaNda kaNgaL maRRonRinai kANAvE, and more).
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thiruppAvai
Like water in a desert, in this world people drowned in samsAram got the wonder that is
krishNan and so they are fortunate to live in this world.
(Speaking of going to mOksham, once nanjIyar was thinking loud, how come
dasarathan went only to swargam (heaven) and not to srI vaikuNtam (mOksham).
bhattar‘s comment was “he should have actually gone to narakam (hell) – dasarathan
thought that his promise was more important (samAnya dharmam); he did not think
about how perumAL would walk in the forest with his soft lotus feet getting hurt (visEsha
dharmam). He might have gotten swargam because of the chakravarthy’s bhagyam to
have that thiru magan”.
vAzhvIrgAL – the gOpikAs of AyppAdi are the most fortunate because: they are of the
same age and so got the friendship of krishNan; they were born during the same time
period of krishNan (and not before or after his avathAr); and that too these gOpikAs
were born in the same AyppAdi where krishNan was born (and not in some other place
during the same time); how wonderful that all these good things came together for these
gOpikAs! Even being in the same place as His presence would be a blessing. Being
there and fulfillment of life are same.
While the gOpikAs who are saying vAzhvIrgAL are themselves enjoying this
opportunity, why are they celebrating only others (vAzhvIrgAL) as having the
opportunity – they are not satisfied with just their enjoying it, so they are appreciating
the others who are joining together and providing them the great krishNa anubhavam
(experience/enjoyment).
nAmum – we who are living with the thought the He is everything (upAyam (means),
upEyam (destiny) for us
nam pAvaikku – nam: our; pAvai: nOnbu;
Our nOnbu is special because it is for creating good for the people and the place, and
for those who are associated with them; with that goal waking up all the girls and
krishNan also in order to be with Him; asking to do this nOnbu (being with krishNan on
the pretext of doing the nOnbu) is like we are being paid to eat the sweet sugarcane;
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thiruppAvai
seyyum kirisaigaL – as part of nOnbu we will follow all these ten do’s and don’ts (as
part of being associated with perumAn); though we look for His hand for everything, we
do these for dhEha yAthirai/kAlakshEpam – until we get what we want.
kELIrO – would you listen
They are so happy when the people were previously saying No to krishNa and No to
gOpikAs for meeting each other, and now the gOpikAs are able to meet and enjoy
krishNan – so they are telling everyone to listen to their happiness.
==> Listening about perumAn is wonderful; whoever is talking about perumAn is not
doing that for feeling like an AchAryan (teacher/greater soul); who are listening are
doing that not because they don’t know about it. It is just to talk and listen about
perumAn that they are coming together for the conversation. (bOdhayanthah
parasparam (gIthA)).
When the girls asked her to tell them some good things to follow:
pARkadaluL paiya thuyinRa ((kshIrAbhdhi nAthan who is) sleeping in the ocean)
From srI vaikuNtam, perumAn came down and is lying down on Adhi sEshan, and
thinking deeply about how to help us.
paiya thuyinRa – Without enjoying with thAyArs, he is with kaLLam lying down with
closed eyes as he was mainly concerned about the well being of us samsAris.
Why are they referring to krishNan with the name kshIrAbhdhi nAthan? As they have
been suffering all these days because of not being able to meet krishNan, now they are
thinking that what god set up for them (meeting with krishNan as part of nOnbu), might
be disturbed somehow – so they are saying the name of the god (in sayanam lying
down on Adhi sEshan in the ocean) so that the elders would be committed for them to
do this nOnbu (with krishNan). They don’t want elders to say that they just sang about
krishNan when going for nOnbu; so they sing the equivalent of Him in ksheerAbhdhi.
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thiruppAvai
paraman
Referring to his beauty when seen lying down on Adhi sEshan (thiru ananthAzhvAn);
since he is here like this for thinking about the well-being of people, paraman refers to
his greatness also. great in every respect.
adi pAdi – will sing about his lotus feet
As perumAn is thinking about the gOpikAs’ well being, all that the gOpikAs can think of
is His thiruvadigaL (lotus feet) only, as that is where one goes for getting perumAn‘s
anugraham (blessing).
==> pAdi nei uNNOm pAl uNNom – Will not eat Ghee, Milk etc.
They are saying they would not eat such rich food, as they want to focus on the nOnbu
and on being together with krishNan; after eating krishNan’s friendship, they don’t feel
like eating anything else; why are they saying will not ‘eat’ milk/ghee, instead of saying
‘drink’ milk/ghee. It may be the way the cowherd girls speak – we also refer to him as
‘veNNai uNda vAyan’ (ANdAL automatically got that, similar to how her body odor
became that of cowherd girls!);
==> Another reason for saying ‘eat’ instead of ‘drink’ is that from the time krishNan was
born, others do not know how milk or ghee or butter would look like – because krishNan
eats all those things as and when they are made – (so the gOpikAs thought that it is
some (dessert) item to eat).
nammAzhwAr also said ‘ellAm kaNNan’, emphasizing that when krishNan is there, rich
food, etc., are not important;
If they don’t eat (they fast), it is krishNan who will look like he was fasting, due to the
care he has got for the girls.
nAtkAlE nIrAdi (take bath very early)
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thiruppAvai
Take bath early, in case he shows up; take bath early so that we can go and do
kainkaryam soon; take bath to quench the feeling of separation from him; bharathan
also, separated from perumAL, took bath very early to quench the feeling of separation.
mai ittu ezhudhOm (won’t apply mai (kAjal) to the eyes)
malar ittu nAm mudiyOm (won’t wear flowers)
If they don’t apply mai in their eyes, krishNan will not tolerate, and will feel that he
should take care of them. He would give us flowers to wear before, but now we won’t
wear during this nOnbu.
–> mai gives brightness to eyes; gyAna yOgam gives brightness to AthmA; she is
saying we will not follow gyAna yOgam for attaining perumAn. (They say – we have told
you that we are not capable of doing gyAna yOgam, that is the reason we surrendered
(samAsrayaNam) to you through our AcharyAn, saying that you help us, we don’t have
a way to reach you by our own efforts).
–> malar – bhagavath anubhavam – can imply bhakthi yOgam – we will not follow
bhakthi yOgam either, for reaching your lotus feet. Same reason as above, as we are
saraNAgathas.
If He comes and insists on putting the flowers on us, we would not be able to resist; we
would not wear them on our own.
seyyAdhana seyyOm (Won’t do what our ancestors did not do (even if acceptable to
vEdhas))
Will not do kainkaryams for other low benefits; will not go to krishNan without waking up
all the gOpikAs and getting together; bharathan also said I cannot do what our elders
have not done (to become a king when one is not the eldest son); even if vEdhas
allow us something, we will not do it if it is not followed by our purvAcharyas.
That is, even though we could, we would not go to Him directly, but only through
bhAgavathas as support.
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thiruppAvai
thIkkuraLai chenRu OdhOm (will not go and gossip or wrongly complain (about
others)); sItha dhEvi also hid from thiruvadi (hanuman) about rAkshasis giving so much
trouble to her; she did not say anything about that to srI rAman also even when they
were alone comfortable in their bed;
if we girls said something bad to each other due to circumstances/out of friendship, we

will not let perumAn know about it; on the same note,
we will avoid letting the deficiencies of others that we see in front of our eyes to reach
our heart – perumAn is antharyAmi – thinking is equivalent to telling him;
aiyamum pichaiyum – give to the deserving/respected people, and to brahmachAris

(will help people understand about krishNa anubhavam (experience) and bhAgavatha
(devotees) anubhavam (repectively).
Andhanaiyum – will help as much as they can take
kai kAtti – but without showing any sign of having helped, and without having any
thoughts that we did such help.
Also: aiyyam – knowledge about His nature and characteristics; pichai – knowledge
about nature of AthmA. letting others know about these as much as we are able to. kai
kAtti – even if we share our knowledge, we don’t feel that it is we who did it.
uyyumARu eNNi – by thinking that by following the above do’s and don’ts we will reach
our goal (krishNan), (uyyum ARu – 6 vArthaigaL by dhEva perumAL to emperumAnAr;
eNNi – think of that).
eNNi ugandhu – thinking about reaching this great goal and becoming happy (and
thinking about that goal we are happily doing the steps required for nOnbu, would you
listen about that? (that is, ‘eNNi ugandhu seyyum kirisaigaL kELIro?’)
El Or em pAvAi.
In this pAsuram, the gOpikAs talk about do’s and don’ts as part of nOnbu/kainkaryam,
and in general how we view srIvaishNavas.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 3 - Ongi ulagaLandha

This pAsuram is listing the benefits to the people who allowed the gOpikas to meet
krishNan (for doing nOnbu). Even if one devotee is present in a place the whole place
would live well; all the side benefits would happen by themselves; with so many (5
lakhs) gOpikAs being allowed to meet krishNan, there is no limit to how much good will
happen to this world.
Ongi ulagaLandha uththaman pEr pAdi

nAngaL nam pAvaikku chARRi nIrAdinAl
thInginRi nAdEllAm thingaL mummAri peidhu
Ongu perum sennel Udu kayal ugaLa
pUnkuvaLaip pOdhil poRi vaNdu kaN paduppa
thEngadhE pukkirundhu sIrththa mulai paRRi
vAngak kudam niraikkum vaLLal perum pasukkaL
nIngAdha selvam niRaindhElorempAvAi
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thiruppAvai
nAngaL pAdi -(if) we sing, (we who cannot live without singing His names)
pEr – the names
uththaman – of purushOthaman
Ongi – the one who grew tall
aLandha – and measured (with His lotus feet)
ulagu – all the three worlds,
nIradinAl – if we bathed
nam pAvaikku chARRi – with the front/pretense of a nOnbu
nAdu ellAm – the whole country
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thIngu inRi – without any bad

mummAri peidhu – would properly rain
thingaL – every month, and
kayal ugaLa – fish would jump around
(so) Ongu perum sennel Udu – between the tall and healthy grass,
poRi vaNdu – and beautiful bees
kaN paduppa – would sleep
pUm-kuvaLai pOdhil – in beautiful flowers,
thEngadhE – without hesitation
pukku irundhu – get to and try
vAnga – pull
sIrtha mulai paRRi – by holding with both the hands the big nipples of
perum pasukkaL – healthily grown cows
kudam niRaikkum – they would fill the containers
vaLLal – with generosity
nIngAdha selvam – (such is the ) wealth that can be sustained
niRaindhu – and be complete.
Meaning:
Note: Inner meaning about AchAryan/sishyan is interspersed in this text.
Ongi ulagaLandha
In previous pAsurams, they started with saying nArAyaNan (parathvam), then they said
about his next place for avathAra ideas to save us people, as kshIrabhdi nAthan in the
milky ocean and how gOpikAs were fond of his feet (vyUham); and now they are looking
at the lotus feet of thrivikraman (vibhavam/avathAr).
Ongi – as he was in sayanam in the milky ocean, on Adhi sEshan, thinking about his
avathAram for saving people, when dhEvas prayed to him about mahAbali’s troubles,
he got up and grew as thrivikraman; ‘uvandha uLLaththanAi ulagam aLandhu‘ because
of happiness to do the work for other people’s benefit; It is not ‘vaLarndhu
ulagaLandhu‘ but ‘ongi ulagaLandhu‘ – it is not like he has to grow now – Ongi implies
he is with affection and kindness getting up so fast, to help the dhEvas;
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thiruppAvai
When a samsAri, one with ahankAram, svAthanthriyam, etc., one day wonders who will
be the savior for him, perumAn takes that as a call for help and immediately rushes to
our heart to help us further to reach near his lotus feet for doing kainkaryam.
When he measured all the worlds (with his 3 steps’ land), his foot touched all the
people’s heads as he was fond of giving blessings to one and all. Even when some of
them were not understanding his love to them, he still was fond of touching everyone
like how a mother would hug her child sleeping next to her without thinking whether the
child will be aware of her hug or not.
Since he is similar in beauty and behavior to krishNan, they are enjoying thrivikrama
avathAram also.
uththaman
He lives thinking that helping these dhEvas is his pleasure/destiny; An adhaman is one
who troubles others to gain some benefits; madhyaman is one who thinks others should
live as well as he should live; but uththaman would even reduce himself for the benefit
of others. Such a great perumAn reduced himself (not only in size, as vAmanan), in
order to help the dhEvas.
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thiruppAvai
pEr pAdi
We do nAma sankIrthanam of such an uththaman. (saying his names (nAmam)).
The difference between his nAmam and himself is like the difference between Him and
others. Such is the wonder of his nAmam. If he is the gold bar, his nAmam is like gold
jewels. Even those who are not his bhakthAs, if they say his name it would benefit them;
there is no qualification needed to say his name – saying his name would be one’s all
the qualifications.
uthaman pEr – refers to thirumanthram; in 1st pAsuram it says ‘nArAyaNan’, in the 2nd
‘paraman’ that is His guNA as implied by the manthram, In this pAsuram, they refer to
thrivikraman which refers to omnipresence (vyApthi) which the thirumanthram reveals
which is represented by vAmana.
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thiruppAvai
krishNan in gIthA talked about 4 ways to reach him in srI vaikuntam – karma yOgam
(actions), gyAna yOgam (wisdom/knowledge), bhakthi yOgam (devotion) and
saraNAgathi (surrender). The first three require so much effort on the person’s part, that
krishNan suggested the last option that is saraNAgathi (surrender; samAsrayaNam) for
people like us.
Ongiyavan pEr pAdi – is telling the great people following the karma yOgam to recite
the names (pEr pAdi) of the perumAL who got up and grew fast (action).
ulagaLandhavan pEr pAdi – when ones learns more about how he covered so many
worlds with his foot, the gyAnam will grow – reciting his names in this way is for those
great people following the gyAna yOgam
uththaman pEr pAdi – when thinking how he is an uththaman, the person would get
more bhakthi – this is for the great people following the bhakthi yOgam to recite his
names (pEr pAdi)
so, what about the saranAgathAs (prapannars, mumukshus) who have done
samAshrayaNam through her/his AchAryan? Which words combine in the pAsuram for
them to talk about reciting his names? . . . . It is just ‘pEr pAdi‘! – saying his nAmams is
swayam purushArtham (that itself is the goal), because, for the goal of reaching Him we
have already surrendered to His lotus feet with the help of AchAryan (and rAmanujar).
nAngaL (‘we’) nam pAvaikku (For Our nOnbu)
‘We’ who won’t be able to bear it if we don’t say your nAmam;
they are happy about them being able to talk about and also meet krishNan as till
yesterday the elders were policing even their hearts;
The nOnbu that we are doing while at present when we are not able to be with the
prApyam (krishNan);
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thiruppAvai
pAvaikku chARRi nIrAdinAl
With nOnbu as the front/reason, if we take bath to quench the feeling due to our
separation from krishNan; with nOnbu as the front/reason, if we meet krishNan and
enjoy with him;
pEr pAdi – nIrAdinAl – if we mingle with krishNan with the knowledge of our (ever-
present) relationship with Him (sambandha gyAna pUrvakam).
thIngu inRi nAdellAm
(if we take bath – merge with krishNan) this place would get rid of all its problems and
bad things, all will live well with their people (as a side-benefit (where not the focus is),
of doing kainkaryam (where the focus is)); like how in rAma rAjyam people lived well not
because of their punniyams (good karma), but with the bhAgyam of perumAL (rAman),
ellAm: not only this place, but all the places associated to this place also would live
well.
thIngu inRi: feeling of svAthanthriyam (feeling independent of perumAn), giving too

much importance to body and material comforts, etc., will all be averted with His
blessings.
thingaL mummAri peidhu
Without drought or flood – three cycles in a month – of nine-days’ sunlight and 1-day’s
rain which would benefit the place;
we who are having the three characteristics of 1) ananyArha sEshathvam, 2) ananya

sharaNathvam, and 3) ananyabhOgyathvam; where it might suffice to have goodness
with just one such person, here we are so many of us with these characteristics making
all of us very happy.
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thiruppAvai
Ongu perum sennel Udu kayalugaLa
(because of good rains) the paddy crops would also quickly grow like the ulagaLandha
perumAL;
Udu kayal ugaLa – The fish having grown big like baby elephants would not be able
jump around easily as they are restricted in between the well-grown paddy; like how the
devotees who see the sarvEshwaran (god of all) the ulagaLandha perumAL, would be
awe-struck by his beauty and won’t move.
Like how mArIchA out of fear saw rAmA in every tree, after he was thrown far away by
rAmA, here the gOpikAs see vAmana when they see tall grass.
The paddy without the grain in its tip would stand straight; as it grows the grain, it would
bow down its head; when a sishyan first goes to AchAryan, his head would be straight
as he does not know what he does not know. As he gains bhagavath gyAnam from his
AchAryan, he would conclude that he does not know anything (reality/modesty), and his
head would bow down (to his achAryan).
pUnkuvaLai pOdhil poRi vaNdu kaN paduppa
With the lillies growing beautifully, the bees would happily drink the honey and lie down
on the bed in the flowers and sleep elatedly; as the big fish try to go in-between the
grass, the flowers would nicely shake along providing a comfortable bed for the bees;
as they get into the ‘pori’ (trap) of the flowers during their sleep as the sun comes up,
the male and female bees will complain to each other saying ‘you did not wake me up’,
‘no you did not wake me up';
perumAn loves to stay and relax in the hearts of his sEshans.
sishyan feels safe under AchAryan’s blessings after having done samAshryaNam.
(after describing about the richness of the paddy, now it is describing about the well-
being of AyppAdi)
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thiruppAvai
thEnagadhE pukkirundhu
Like how thiruvadi (hanuman) jumped across the ocean without any hesitation, the
people even after seeing that the cows are giving too much of milk they go and milk the
cow without any hesitation (the cows are so much healthy that an ordinary person might
hesitate to go near it for fear of not catching all the milk).
irundhu – milk is always available with the cows
thEngAdhE – without any hesitation a sishyan would
pukkirundhu – go inside the AchAryan’s thirumALigai (and learn)
sIrththa mulai paRRi
The cows are so healthy in AyppAdi that it is not possible for the people to milk the
cows just with their fingers – they have to use both their hands.
paRRi vAnga
Those cows are so healthy, they would give so much milk just with touching and
removing of the hands.
vAngak kudam niraikkum
Just by touching, the cows would fill the containers so fast, that one has to keep
changing those containers to catch all the milk; if they don’t change them fast it won’t be
the fault of the cows – perumAn is also pouring his love, it is for the people to catch it as
quickly and eagerly as they can.
AchAryan gives us the gyAnam, like cow’s udder for the people, of the lotus feet of
perumAn for the sishyan.
vaLLal (kind / generous)
– because of the above (giving milk)
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thiruppAvai
– these cows are like krishNan; how the gOpikAs would tie a letter around his neck and
tell him to go as messenger, the cows also are standing amicable for the boys to tie it,
direct it, etc.
– AchAryan is kind, who connects the sishyan with perumAn
perum pasukkaL
They are the great cows – they live not based on just the grass and water, but based on
kind and friendly touch by krishNan. They have listened to so much of krishNan’s flute
while casually chewing and digesting their food; this is how sathrunjayan the elephant of
chakravarthi thirumagan (rAman) also grew up.
nIngAdha selvam niRaindhu
(if we did the nOnbu), this place will get all the wealth, unlimited wealth, the wealth that
will always stay with the people; because it accumulated with the blessings of ANdAL.
(selvam: kainkarya selvam).
Unlike the limits placed by sarvEswaran on our good and based based on our puNya
and pApA, here we would get ever-lasting goodness through these gOpikAs, similar to
sItha pirAttiyAr saying ‘pApAnAm vA subhAnAm vA‘ (will be kind whether person has
done good or bad).
May we get the ever-lasting wealth that is AchAryan’s thiruvadi.
El Or em pAvAi – think about this and follow our path.
In this pAsuram, ANdAL says that as they do nOnbu, the whole place will become rich
with paddy crops, and other good things would happen for the people. She invokes
thrivikraman as having similar characteristics of krishNan, and emphasizes reciting his
Names as the sole purpose by itself.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 4 - Azhi mazhai

1st pAsuram – parathvam (nArAyaNan); 2nd pAsuram – vyUham (kshIrAbdhi nAthan);
3rd pAsuram – vibhavam (thrivikraman); In this pAsuram, they sing of antharyAmithvam
(inside varuNa dhevan the rain god).
sarvEsvaran (god for all) lowered his level on his own, to come and be born and live
here in AyppAdi. Here he is following the orders of gOpikAs, letting them make fun of
him, (bends to show his back as a table for these girls to write on; they try bangles for
size on his wrist), and they are together with krishNan all the time. It goes without
saying that the other dhEvathAs would want to help the gOpikAs as well, and take part
in their enjoyment of union with krishNan.
The dhEvathai of rain (parjanyan) comes and asks the gOpikAs “how do I do my part in
this togetherness so that my life is meaningful, and fits my nature of being subservient
to emperumAn; please give me orders to do anything you desire”. The gOpikAs reply,
‘people should say ‘these girls did nOnbu, and all the rains showered’ ‘, and they give
him their list of how he should rain for the well-being of the people.
This is also related to people who have done samAsryaNam (surrender) through their
AchAryan. When someone asked AzhvAn (kUraththAzhvAn), ‘what will you do when
you see dhEvathAntharams (other dhevathAs)’? AzhvAn replied, “your question is
wrong and against the words of vEdhAs. Ask instead what the dhevathAs should do
when they see us who are saraNAgathAs (done samAsrayaNam).”
Azhi mazhaik kaNNA! onRu(m) nI kai karavEl

AzhiyuL pukku mugandhu kOdu Arththu ERi
Uzhi mudhalvan uruvam pOl mei karuththu
pAzhiyam thoLudaiya paRpanAban kaiyil
Azhi pOl minni valampuri pOl ninRu adhirndhu
thAzhAdhE sArngam udhaiththa sara mazhai pOl
vAzha ulaginil peidhidAi
nAngaLum mArgazhi nIrAda maghizhndhElor empAvAi
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thiruppAvai
mazhaik kaNNA – O varuNa dheva, who is the head of rain gods

Azhi – who is majestic like the ocean
kai karavEl – without holding back
onRu(m) – anything
nI – you
AzhiyuL pukku – enter the ocean
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thiruppAvai
mugandhu kodu – drink entire water

Eri – rise in the sky
Arthu – with thunders
mei karuthu – become dark
uruvam pOl – like the divine body of
Uzhi mudhalvan – emperumAn who is the root cause of time and everything,
Azhi pOl minni – do lightning like the discus (in the right hand)
ninRu adhirndhu – stay and be thunderous
valam-puri pOl – like the conch (in the left hand)
pAzhi-am-thOL-udai – of the one with great and beautiful shoulders
paRpanAbhan kaiyil – of the one with beautiful navel;
thAzhadhE – without any delay
sArngam udhaitha sara mazhai pOl – like the arrows poured from the bow (of srI rAma)
peidhidAi – pour the rain
vAzha – for all to live
nAngaLum – so that we too (we who are doing nOnbu)
mArgazhi nIrAda – pleasantly bathe as part of mArgazhi
magizhndhu – with happiness
Meaning:
Azhi mazhaik kaNNA
emperumAn gave creating and destroying work to brahma rudhras, and kept the saving
work to himself; O! the parjanyan, you are also similar to him in helping the country as
he has given this good work to you of pouring the rains after considering your
goodness.
O! the parjanyan, to whom perumAL has given the job of pouring rains on this world,
and who has got a lot of rain in him, please, without thinking that we have done pApams
pour the rain on us so that the elders are happy about the result of our nOnbu. Be of big
heart and be kind and take care of these ordinary people’s requests – that is what
krishNan did by walking all the way to kauravAs for negotiating a land on behalf of
pANdavas.
(it is such a low-level task for krishNan, but he did that out of kindness towards these
people; not only that, he wants others to know about it too! – where did krishNan let
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others know about it? – go to thiruvallikkENi and he is proudly standing there saying
that I went as a messenger for the pANdavAs, I drove the chariot for them, and I got a
lot wounds in my face when helping the them in kurukshEthra).
onRu nI kai karavEl
They are asking the dhEvathai of rain to pour without holding anything back, without
changing generosity; nee – you who will become white when you don’t rain. Unlike
emperumAn gOshti that do good based on good and bad deeds, pour without any
partiality like how we accept everyone even considering their bad deeds as a good
reason for mercy, as part of the group of pirAtti.
Like bhattar said to emperuman that his eyes cannot match pirAtti’s always-kind eyes,
here the varuNa dhEvathai is not comparable to emperumAn’s ever generous nature.
Azhi uL pukku mugandhu kodu
Enter the middle of salty ocean all the way to the bottom and drink all the water and
take them and pour them as rain – we want it for the well-being of our AyppAdi. (and not
into the small holes dug by the sons of king sakara who sent his sons in search of the
horse used in asvamEdha yAgA).
Arththu –
When her son gets angry with her and goes to a choultry at the street-end and doesn’t
come home in the night, that mother would send food for him without letting him know
about it, and later when he returns she would not show any expression about having
given that food – emperumAn is also like this – he saves us but doesn’t show it in his
face; But we want you (parjanyan) to show it all – with all eagerness and happiness,
and with a lot of thunder and lightning – like how thiruvadi (hanuman) came back with
such an enthusiasm after locating and meeting sIthA, and like how the other vAnarams
were showing the enthusiasm upon seeing how thiruvadi was returning.
ERi – we and this whole world should see you coming with thunder and lightning like a
bow; should cover the whole sky with your dark clouds; like it is said in ‘viNNIla
mElAppu virindhArpOl‘ (nAchiAr thirumozhi 8-1) and ‘madha yAnai pOl ezhundha
mAmugil-kAL’ (nAchiAr thirumozhi 8-9).
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Azhi uL pukku mugandhukodu Arththu Eri – people who have surrendered to Him get
deep in to kainkaryam and get to AchAryan’s thiruvadi.
Arthu – fully into; ERi – AchAryan’s position; mugandhu kodu – achAryan due to his
abhimAnam/kindness towards even those who have done lots of pApams, by making
emperumAn be kind to them.
Uzhi mudhalvan
Like how emperumAn at the time before creation of beings (that time is called Uzhi;
mudhalvan: emperumAn), sees all of us who have not yet gained a body or life, and
feels sorry for us and with so much kindness starts his creation process with just his
sankalpam (thinking in his mind), and then he would get bright with happiness – You,
the rain dhEvathai, also should have similar kindness towards us. “gyAlam padaiththa
em mugil vaNNanE” (o the one who created the worlds, whose color is like dark clouds)
is what nammAzhwAr also said.
uruvam pOl mei karuththu
When emperumAn decides to create the worlds, due to his kindness filling his heart like
how a grown plant would be, the rain dhevathai, you also come with your body getting
dark (clouds).
‘mei’ ‘karuththu’ – they are saying only the body would get dark for the rain dhEvathai,
because unlike emperumAn‘s kindness which towards us comes from his inside, the
clouds will become white after giving rains; emperumAn is always having kindness
towards us.
pAzhi-am-thOL
pAzhi – lot of space available (in the shoulder); emperumAn’s shoulder is so big that
when people wanting to reach him who go under the protection of his big shoulders, will
look small compared to the shadow of his shoulders; that is, His longing for us is more
compared to all of our longing for him;w
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am-thOL – His shoulder’s protection is so sweet like the milk that is boiled off of its
water (சுண்டக் ொய்ச்சின பொல்). He is to be protected by us, and also our
enjoyment.
paRpa nAbhan
emperumAn with the beautiful nAbhi (navel; belly button); navel like a lotus flower; from
where He created brahmA (vyashti srushti), and is waiting with his large and kind
shoulder for us to be born and go to Him;
paRpanAbhan kaiyil Azhi pOl minni
If a king gets a child, because of his status he may not fully show all his happiness
outside; but all his people would enjoy the birth celebrating by throwing colors at each
other (like hOli).
Similarly, although emperumAn is not showing his happiness outside after creating
brahmA, since now brahmA would create all us (his children), his happiness is reflected
outside by the Azhi (chakram / discus) in his hand which is becoming bright and
dazzling. This is the reason for saying together in this pAsuram about ‘padmanAbhan’
(who made brahma to create us) and his dazzling Azhi (which is reflecting
emperumAn‘s happiness for getting His children).
valampuri pOl ninRadhirndhu
Like how in kurukshEthra the conch sounded by krishNan made the kauravas dead
scared, and pAndavas very happy, (what appears as deadly weapon for the enemies
looks like an ornament for us); O the rain dhEvathai make thunderous noise to raise and
pour the rain on us.
valampuri – the conch is very close to emperumAn; emperumAn gets to put it in his
wonderful lips. It has done bhAgyam. ==> ANdAL implies that they should get so much
rain, not like how much the people who pray other dhEvathais would get but like those
who get the sambandham of emperumAn (like the conch got the relationship with
emperumAn), that is us who have done samAshrayaNam.
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thiruppAvai
‘ninRru’ adhirundhu – unlike in kurukshEtram where the conch was sounded only once,
we want you (the rain dhEvathai) to stay put and pour a lot of rain.
the kindness of emperuman as sounded by the praNavam which announces about

sEsha-sEshi relationship, vAzha – for lowkIkas (samsAris) to be corrected with svarUpa
gyAnam (sEsha-sEshi bhAvam); ulaginil – where samsAris live; peidhidAi – pour the
nectar that is of bhagavath guNa anubhavam.
thAzhAdhE
we should not get less (rain) like what they will get who go to other dhEvathais; we
should get like how those who have done bhagavath samAsryaNam where perumAn
would rush to help us.
sArngam udhaiththa
sArngam: the bow of chakravarthy thirumagan (srI rAman). Like a snake which did not
get any prey, the bow would be idle with perumAL (srI rAman), but once perumAL gives
it the permission it would automatically pour the arrows on the enemies; once it leaves
the bow even perumAL cannot stop the arrow;
sara-mazhai pOl – like how perumAL‘s bow rains (the arrows) ..
vAzha ulaginil peidhidAy
Pour your rain, O the rain dhEvathai.
With those arrows of perumAL the rAkshasas were not saved; but you pour the rain for
the whole world / everyone to live well.
nAngaLum mArgazhi nIrAda, magizhndhu
Then varuna dhEvathai (rain) asks “அழ ிது! (nice!), I wanted to do something for you,
but you are asking me to rain which I have been already doing, as perumAL assigned
me that job. So what is new?”
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thiruppAvai
For this the gOpikAs answer, “Well, we and krishNan will bathe, you see that and
become happy; that will also get you to see krishNan.”
After seeing your big clouds and the sound of thunder, we are taking bath to reduce our
angst due to separation from krishNan. For the elders we have to bathe just as part of
nOnbu only; it is not necessary to do it happily; for you, we will happily bathe and be
with krishNan. This is how you are helping us.
ElOrEm-pAvai – commit to your mind and follow us
In this pAsuram, similar to how gOpikAs ask varuNan to do the task which he already
does as part of his work/kainkaryam, prappanas also do the nithya/naimithika tasks (like
sandhya vandhanam, srArtham) as part of following what is required of them.
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pAsuram - 5 - mAyanai
One of the gOpikAs of AyppAdi who has joined to go for the nOnbu asks, “We are so
eagerly preparing for the nOnbu; will we be able to complete it without any problems?
Wouldn’t the karmAs that we have accumulated over all these births give us difficulties
and prevent us from completing this nOnbu (getting together with krishNan)? vasishtar,
such a great gyAni, prepared and planned for the pattAbishekam for srI rAman to
become the king, but that did not happen at that time. We are such small people
compared to him, how will our plans for nOnbu be completed?
One of the girls who has the gyAnam (knowledge) on vEdhas replies as this pAsuram:
“it is not that we have to get rid of all the pApams/karmA before we start this nOnbu; if
we want bhagavath anubhavam (experiencing togetherness with and kainkaryam to
krishNan), these karmAs will go away by themselves; if we do kainkaryam (mAnasa,
vAchika, kAyikam) and saraNAgathy, all the pApams will go away by themselves; so do
not hesitate or discontinue by thinking about our ineligibility or karmAs. Say the name of
krishNan (who is described in this pAsuram), then all the previous karmAs, and, all the
new karmAs will burn to ashes like cotton balls in the fire. It is similar to how the illness
go away when someone happily drinks milk mixed with items/medicines in it.”
(krishNan did not care about his promise of not using any weapon during the
kurukshEthra war when bhIshma attacked arjuna; sr rAmar without getting crowned
went to the forest in order for mahArAjar (sukrIvar) and vibIshanAzhvAn to get their
crowns. For the saraNAgathAs (those who have surrendered to him, associated with
him), he will change our karmAs and help us be with him and do kainkaryams).
In the case of vasishtar he did the planning – in our case we have left it to krishNan to
help us complete this nOnbu – if krishNan plans then it will succeed.
“Say the name of mAyan, vada madhurai maindhan, thUya peru nIr yamunai thuraivan,
Ayar kulathil thOnrum aNi vilakku, thAyai kudal viLakkam seidtha dhamOdharan; (then)
past karmAs and future ones would be burnt like cotton on fire.”
This pAsuram has the inner meaning related to samAsrayaNam.
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thiruppAvai
mAyanai mannu vada madhurai maindhanai

thUya peru nIr yamunai thuRaivanai
Ayar kulaththinil thOnrum aNi viLakkai
thAyaik kudal viLakkam seidha dhAmOdharanai
thUyOmAi vandhu nAm thU malar thUvith thozhudhu
vAyinAl pAdi manaththinAl sindhikka
pOya pizhaiyum pugu tharuvAn ninRanavum
thIyinil thUsAgum seppElOrempAvAi
mAyanai – one who performs wonderful deeds

mannu vada-madhurai maindhanai – king of vadamadhurai that is having ever present
bhagavath sambandham
thUya peru nIr – one having divine and ever deep water
yamunai thuraivanai – who plays in the bank of river yamunA
Ayar kulaththinil thOnRum – who was born in the cowherd group
aNi viLakka – who is like a divine dhIpam
thAyaik kudal viLakkam seidha – who made his mother yasodhA’s womb meaningful
dhAmOdharanai – emperumAn who let himself be tied by a small rope
nAm – we who are open to Him approaching us
thUyOmAi vandhu – [to such emperumAn] (we) came with purity
thU malar thUvi – submit good flowers,
thozhudhu – and prostrate,
vAyinAl pAdi – sing his names to our mouth’s content,
manaththinAl sindhikka – meditate with our mind;
pOya pizhaiyum – and the pApams that we committed (before getting bhagavath
sambandham)
pugu-tharuvAn ninRanavum – (after such sambandham, the) pApams that we commit
without realizing
thIyinil thUsAgum – will all burn away like the cotton placed in the fire
seppu – so, sing His names.
Meaning:
mAyanai
Continuing with previous pAsurams in which they sang about perumAn in different
lOkams/avathArams/dhivya dhEsams, here they are singing about the mAyan that is
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referring to srIvaikuNtanAthan in paramapadham. This is parathvam (his Supremacy,

one of his kalyANa guNas).
perumAn who happily lives in srIvaikuNtam, with so much of aisvaryam that the dhEvAs
find it hard to see him directly, it is hard to explain or think about, he is such a mAyan;
he has now come and stayed here in dhEvaki’s womb for 12 months, and as a boy he is
playing with all the gOpikAs and the cows – that is the paramapadhanAthan’s simplicity
(sowlabhyam).
He was born here as krishNan with his changu and chakram.
(To avoid being scared of His parathvam, one could think of his sowlabhyam; in order to
avoid belittling His simplicity, one contemplates his parathvam).
mannu vada-madhurai
mannu – mathurApuri, has always had perumAn‘s sambhandam. srI vAmana

avathAram did a long penance in this place of sidhdhAsramam; chathrugnAzhvAn took
care ruling this place after winning lavaNAsura and other asurAs, and so perumAL is
fond of this place; (now krishNan – for butter, ghee, milk, and, the gopikAs).
vadamadhurai: like paramapadham this place is also famous because of perumAn‘s

association; since he came here out of love, they celebrate this place; this place is a
means (prApakam) to see him; this place itself can be the goal/prApyam (because of
perumAn’s presence).
maindhanai – (say the name of the) ‘son’ (krishNan) who is having majesty/strength.
(talk/sing the glory of) krishNa (avathAram) who had the strength by which he removed
the chains on his parents’ legs; he is the king; showed his beauty and pulled everyone
to his side; smart. Becoming younger every day because of happily helping the gOpars.
thUya peru nIr yamunai thuRaivanai
This great yamunai river can even let us forget about the virajA river (which is the river
one crosses near srI vaikuntam in order to go into srI vaikuntam); when vasudhEvar
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wanted to cross the yamunai river to go to thiru-AyppAdi, she after touching krishNan’s
lotus feet gave way for vashudhEvar;
With krishNan and gOpikAs doing rAsakrIdai in the yamunai river, playing near it,
gurgling and spitting in it, this river has become clean/pristine as well (thUya).
(this is unlike river gOdhAvari which due to fear of rAvaNA, did not reveal that sIthA
pirAtti was taken by rAvaNA, even though thAyAr had requested the river to inform
rAma).
yamunath thuRaivan – rAsakrIdai happened in this place; this is where gOpikAs get into
trouble by krishNan; his identity is associated with the banks of yamunA.
thuRaivan – the lead (krishNan) of that land; leader of the AyppAdi girls;
==> AchAryan srI parAsara bhattar said: They are referring to krishNan indirectly by
saying yamunaith thuRaivanai because the thiru-AyppAdi gOpikAs are afraid that if they
said the name krishNan then kamsan might hear it and might cause danger to Him.
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Ayar kulaththinil thOnRum (m)aNi viLakkai
Having mentioned ‘mAyan’ above in this pAsuram to imply perumAn in paramapatham,

now ANdAL is implying that krishNan in their cowherd crowd is better in displaying his
guNams – like the brightness of a lamp in a dark room; this also matches with ‘vada
madhurai maindhanai’ of this pAsuram;
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(thOnRum) He does not have the limit of being born out of a womb.
(thOnRum) – he was born in mathurApuri but he came here to thiruvAyppAdi (so Ayar
kulaththinil thOnRum).
(m)aNi viLakkai – he is a mangaLa dIpam (lamp) in thiurvAippAdi.
Ayar kulam – all the bhagavatha group who consider only Him as their means (to attain
Him).
thAyaik kudal viLakkam seydha dhAmOdharanai
People appreciate his mother yasOdhai for giving birth from her womb to such a
wonderful child; the child got that good name for his mother;
Women would have lines in their stomach after giving birth – here yasOdhai is having
such lines which is a great mark for having given birth to krishNan.
dhAmOdharanai: tied by the தொம்புக் யிறு – by letting her mother tie him with the
rope, he got the people to appreciate yasOdhai for giving birth to such a wonderful
obedient child.
Like how we cannot become independent of perumAn, perumAn too cannot untie our
relationship with Him. If we follow this relationship with perumAn, then we will be untied
from samsAram.
dhAmOdharanai: because of tying the rope in his hip, the marks are always present on
krishNan. When he jumps from one branch to another while playing, his dress moves
aside and the gOpikAs look at those marks and make fun of him; that is why
namperumAL (uthsavar, srIrangam, who is kaNNan himself) is always wearing dhOti
around his hip (to hide the lines/marks) – said AchAryan nanjIyar.
If we think of this simplicity of him, then the ties of our samsAram would be removed.
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The marks that sEshans (who have done bhaghavath samAsrayaNam) have their
marks on their shoulders (ம ொயிற் கபொறியொமை ஒற்றுண்டு); the sEshi (perumAn
to whom we are sEshans) has got his marks from the rope as he allows himself to be
tied by the sEshans’ bhakthi; he shows his marks and gets us to have and show our
marks (in our shoulders) – said bhattar.
thUyOmAi vandhu nAm
The gOpikai with the vEdha gyAnam says this: Do not see whether we are eligible/good
enough to go and do the nOnbu, to be with krishNan, to do samAsrayaNam through
AchAryan; Willing to come as you are is good enough, no need to search for any purity
than that, because bhagavath sambandham (association with perumAn) does not
concern your purity.
AyppAdi people don’t know how to fully bathe and keep themselves clean; they are
purer with krishNan’s friendship.
vibIshaNAzhvAn did not bathe in the sea before going to see chakravarthy thirumagan
to do saraNAgathi; arjunan in kurukshEthra did not bathe before getting charama
slOkam (sarva dharmAn…) from krishNan in the middle of the battleground; dhraupathy
did not bathe (she was in her monthly periods) when doing saraNAgathi to krishNan;
For doing saraNAgathi these are not important, nor one has to earn any qualification –
only the acceptance that we are ever dependent on perumAn, that we are his sEshans
is important.
(vandhu nAm) – the norm is for Him (krishNan) to come to us and save us from this
samsAram, but he will see us coming to him.
perumAL told guhan that He himself should have come to meet him instead of guhan
coming to Him; he told that he feels ashamed for letting the dhandakAraNya rishis (in
the forest) come see Him instead of him readily going t them and taking care of their
problems;
so why should the gOpikAs go to him instead of waiting for him to come? When being
confident about upAyam (the means – perumAn; he is the means, so he should try to
come and save us) it makes one think to stay put and wait for him; the desperation
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about reaching upEyam (goal/destiny – that is also perumAn) makes us to go to Him if

he has not yet showed up.
thU(ya) malar – (thUya: pure/noble; malar: flower) – The flowers given for kainkaryam
without expecting anything in return (ananya-prayOjanam); not bought from the store in
a plantain leaf, but by getting the flowers and putting some small effort to make it;
Like mAlAkArar’s flowers that he gave to krishNan in vada-madhurai.
Like AzhwAr said ‘sUttu nan mAlaigaL thUyana Endhi’, this is also given without
expecting anything in return.
perumAn also does not see what we give, but sees the affection in our heart for him.
pathram pushpam… He does not see the size of our kainkaryam because there is
nothing that is too big in this world for him, and mainly because no kainkaryam is small
for him. He only sees our affection/bhakthi/care.
thUvi – sprinkle/throw the flower in his lotus feet (without worrying about the
procedure?). [kAyika kainkaryam (one of the 3 types of kainkaryams)]. Can they throw
the flowers like that instead of properly submitting them to Him? Their love for Him
makes them not consider these formalities;
like how ALavandhAr also said that we do anjali just once with our hands without even
properly putting them together (ம ொைல் ைொைைொ ஒரு முலற பண்ைிய
அஞ்சைி), and perumAn accepts even that as an anjali and his heart melts for us.
thozhudhu – do anjali (joining both the hands, kai kooppi) – offering ourselves – such
that He would melt by seeing our affection. The reason for / use of, being born with our
arms and hands (is to do anjali).
dhraupadhi’s anjali made krishNan feel so much indebted that he was never satisfied
even after helping her so much;
Because he is such lover of us heroines, he would want to do anjali to us; or if He does

Anjali and we the gOpikAs don’t reciprocate, then the gOpars would fear that this
nOnbu is not happening appropriately; so for their sake the gOpikAs do the anjali.
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thiruppAvai
vAyinAl pAdi – The use of being born with our mouth and voice is to say his thiru
nAmams (perumAn‘s names). [vAkku kainkaryam].
In addition to going to you, we also sang your names;
Everything starts with thinking in the manas, but we praise you with all three apparatus,
hands, mouth, and manas; our hands and mouth are going to you ahead of manas –
such is our eagerness.
manaththinAl sindhikka – The use of having our manas (mind/thoughts). [mAnasa

kainkaryam]. It is important to use the mind when singing His names.
So it is talking about using all the three (hands, mouth, and mind) equipment and falling
on him.
pOya pizhaium(,) pugu tharuvAn ninranavum
The pApams of the past (before samAsryaNam), and the pApams of the future (from the
time of samAsrayanam) …..
thIyinil thoosu Agum – ( thUsu: cotton (ball) )
….. (pApams) will vanish like how the cotton (ball) will burn in the fire and vanish.
If we regularly drink milk containing all the required medicinal items we will get rid of
ailments. In the same way, as we keep doing bhagavath anubhavam, all our pApams
would vanish.
seppu: say. (connects to : thAyai kudal viLakkam seidha dhAmOdharanai seppu).

Say the name of dhAmOdharan. Relates to kAyikam, vAk, and manas kainkaryams,
and his sowlabhyam (simplicity).
ElOrEmPAvAi – think, and with the strong mind, follow us.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 6 - puLLum silambina kAN

This is the 6th pAsuram in thiruppAvai.
‘In ay ayndhum ayndhum (5*5 + 5)’, this is the start of the 2nd 5.
The first pAsuram of thiruppAvai (mArgazhi thingaL) is like an introduction to all the 30
pAsurams. The first five pAsurams of thiruppAvai are also like an introduction, talking
about nArAyaNan as our only savior, that the goal of every being is to reach Him, what
one would do and not do while living here, what good will happen to the world, how the
rain would help, and so on.
Summary of the first 5 pAsurams :
In the 1st song, goal is to be with emperumAn; he can be reached only by his help (he
is the means); those who are interested in that destiny are the eligible ones to be
involved in that ‘means'; so it showed the nature of destiny, goal, and the people
eligible for it.
In the 2nd song – for such people, it shows the activities that can be performed by them
who have got the karaNams (body, indhriyas, etc.,) that are always inclined to do some
activity; and for spending time meaningfully (kAlakshEpam), and what we should do
based on our interest in Him;
In the 3rd song – they wanted good things to happen to those who helped them in their
bhagavath anubhavam;
In the 4th song – it says that even dhEvathAs would help us who are dhEvathAnthara-
sparsa-rahithar (not having any association with demigods), ananya-prayOjanars like
this (not asking for any other things from Him, other than himself), bhagavathEka
pravaNar (belonging only to Him), and involved in the items related to bhagavath
anubhavam.
In the 5th song – says that the bhagavath anubhavam of ours itself would prevent the
enemies of such anubhavam.
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thiruppAvai
So, (ஆ ,), in the last 5 pAsurams, she talked about the ways and means of getting
immersed in the krishNa anubhavam; then in the next 10 pAsurams coming up, she
sings about those who use these ways and means for getting krishNa anubhavam.
In the next ten starting with this puLLum silambina-kAN pAsuram, ANdAL has written
the pAsurams as if she is waking up 10 gOpikAs of thiruvAyppAdi who wish to go and
do nOnbu with krishNan’s help.
Previous day evening krishNan had asked all the gOpikAs to go to their homes and
sleep and then meet early in the morning to start the nOnbu; he had also gone home
(nappinnai pirAtti thirumALigai) to sleep. ANdAL is pretending that some of those
gOpikAs who woke up very early next day are trying to wake up the remaining gOpikAs
to go with them. These gOpikAs who are inside their houses were just not able to sleep
as they are eagerly waiting to go to krishNan; thinking about how that experience would
be, finally they are just lying down in their bed and dreaming about it.
(ANdAL would have wished to wake up all the 5 lakh girls to go with her to be with
krishNan, and would have written 5 lakhs pAsurams too! We consider the Ten girls to
represent all of us) .
When anything is related to enjoying about emperumAn, and doing kainkaryam to Him
to make him happy, it is much better to go with all other people who have also accepted
the fact that they are the sEshans (devotees/slaves/subservient) of emperumAn.
~~~
When each one has got the main requirement of love for Him, and the means for doing
the activities/kainkaryam, and having access to krishNan for enjoying, and the time
being suitable and private, having permission from the elder gOpars, why should they
not just go alone and enjoy with krishNan? why are they waking up each other?
— Like one needs company when stuck in cyclone, they are immersed in the
anubhavam of krishNan (similar to AzhwArs singing: kAlAzhum nenju azhiyum – periya
thiruvandhAdhi-34), uyir kAththu Atcheymmin (thiruvAimozhi 10-7-1), and Azhiyodum
ponnAr-sArngam-udaiya adigaLai innAr-enRu-aRiyEn (periya thirumozhi 10-10-9), so
they are looking for help by waking up each other;
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thiruppAvai
— even for nithya sUris it is hard to enjoy Him without the company of others when they
see his greatness and simplicity – so it goes without saying that the gOpikAs, who don’t
know their left hand from the right, would need the company of other adiyArs for
enjoying Him;
— moreover, like it says in ‘Eka: svAthu na bhunjItha’, they wake up others because
they are not of the nature of enjoying such a nectar alone by themselves;
— moreover, they wake up others because of their attitude that others should not lose
such a great opportunity to enjoy Him;
— moreover, when having bhagavath anubhavam they think that one should not directly
do that but only with the recommendation of other bhAgavathAs.
(so) since the matter is hard to be enjoyed alone, and these gOpikAs are not capable of
enjoying Him by themselves alone, and since they think that those who are interested in
Him should not lose such opportunity, and since they would not go to him without the
help of other bhAgavathAs, they are waking up others.
If all the gOpikas would be having equal and indistinguishable motivation for enjoyment
of krishNa anubhavam, then does it mean those who are sleeping are having lesser
motivation? The enjoyable characteristics of krishNan would make some of the gOpikAs
be in a state like those who drank poison, while it would make some gOpikAs restless
and not able to stay in their place; so there is motivation of enjoyment in every gOpikAs;
so it is acceptable that some are awake and they are waking up others.
~~~
==> The inner meaning in these 10 pAsurams – she is referring to other AzhwArs as
those 10 gOpikAs whom she is calling to go and get krishNan’s thiruvadi, and to do
kainkaryam to him.
puLLum silambina-kAN puLLaraiyan koyilil

veLLai viLi-sangin pEr-aravam kEttilaiyO
piLLAi ezhundhirAi pEi mulai nanjuNdu
kaLLa chakatam kalakkazhiya kAlOchchi
veLLaththaravil thuyil amarndha viththinai
uLLaththu kONdu munivargaLum yOgigaLum
meLLa ezhundhu ari enRa pEr aravam
uLLam pugundhu kuLirndhElO rempAvAi
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thiruppAvai
padha-padhArtham
puLLum silambina-kAN – birds are calling while going (after waking up), and
kEttilaiyO – are you not hearing
pEr-aravam – the big sound
veLLai viLi-sangin – of white conch which is doing thirupaLLi-ezhuchchi (waking up
emperumAn)
puLLaraiyan koyilil – in the temple of perumAn who is garudan’s leader, [the garudan
who is the head of birds]
piLLAi – you young gOpikA who is new to bhagavath vishayam
ezhundhirAi – get rid of sleep and get up;
munivargaLum – adiyArs who meditate him
yOgigaLum – and adiyArs who do yogAbhyAsam
meLLa ezhundhu – they get up slowly without disturbing the emperumAn in their hearts
uLLaththu koNdu – they have placed in their hearts through thoughts about
pEi mulai nanju-uNdu – perumAn who drank phUthanai’s poisonous milk from her
nipples, (and killed her),
kaLLach chakatam – (who made the) the cunning cart
kalakku azhiya – go out of shape and get destroyed
kAl Ochchi – by kicking with thiruvadi (and finish it)
thuyil amarndha – (who is) gracefully lying down
veLLaththu – in the waters of milky ocean
aravil – on thiruvananthAzhvAn (Adhi sEshan)
viththinai – one who is root of the world
ari enRa pEr aravam – (munis and yOgis are thinking about such emperumAn and)
making big sound of the chanting of ‘hari’
uLLam pugundhu kuLirndhu – (please get up so that) we get that sound into our minds
and become happy.
Meaning:
The first gOpikA that ANdAL is waking up in this pAsuram is new to bhagavath
vishayam (matter related to perumAn kainkaryam) and does not know any details about
doing nOnbu.
In the first 4 pAsurams she talked about para, vyUha, vibhava, and antharyamithvams.
5th was out of pattern; and in this 6th pAsuram they sing about archAvatharam (in
statue form) as in ‘puL araiyan kOil’
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thiruppAvai
puLLum silambina-kAN
The gOpikAs who have woken up early go to the first gOpikA’s house to wake her up.
They tell her to wake up.
The girl from inside asks, “Shouldn’t the day first dawn for waking up?”.
They reply, “the day has dawned, so please get up”.
The girl asks, “what is the sign that the day has already dawned?”.
“We are here, isn’t that enough to tell that it is dawn?”.
“If someone has slept the previous night then you can say that their getting up is the
sign of dawn. You girls did not sleep at all, so I cannot take it as a sign”.
Then they reply with the first words of this pAsuram, “puLLum silambina kAN” – the
birds have woken up and they are going for gathering food (you come and see that)”.
She replies, “Is that a sign that the day has dawned?”,
“Is it not?”
“No” (ஓம், அல்ைவ)ீ
“How come?”
“You did not let those birds sleep, so they are also going without sleep. In the place
where you are born, even the birds are thinking about krishNan and they don’t sleep.
So, that is also not a sign for dawn. Tell me some other sign”. She keeps lying down on
her bed.
In this context, piLLai piLLaiAzhvAn would say that for this AthmA there is no good time
other than when we hear the bird that marks us the amicable time to do bhagavath
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thiruppAvai
samAsrayaNam. Here the sound of bird implies AchAryan’s word, and his waking up
those sleeping in ignorance.
Inner meaning for puL (bird) – the bhAgavatha bhakthas who have woken up early in
the morning, wanting to get dharshan of blackness of krishNan.
In the place where ANdAL was born, would there be sleep for the birds, said
nAlUrAchAn piLLai – based on ANdAL’s nAchiyar thirumozhi 9-8 – ‘kAlai
ezhundhirundhu kuruvik kaNangaL mAlin varavu solli maruL pAdudhal meimmai kolO’.
puL-araiyan kOyilil
The king of birds periya thiruvadi (garudAzhvAn) is there, his “kO” (king) sarvEshwaran
is there, ‘il’ his house (that is, kO’s house, that is, temple), koyilil – in the temple of
garudan’s king (that is, perumAn).
(When krishNan is here, and when everyone is immersed in his beauty and behave as
his bhakthas, can there be a perumAL temple in thiruvAyyppAdi? yes, similar to how
chakravarthy thiurmagan (rAman), along with his dharma pathni (wife who helps ramar
conduct the dharmams of living) and family had done pUjAs to periya perumAL
(srIranganAthan) when perumAn was in ayOdhi; similarly, for krishNan also there is a
perumAL kOyil here.)
puL-araiyan – His identity is based on those people who depend on Him; lakshmaNa
pUrvajam cha – sIta pirAtti also said that her being was in danger by yama in the form
of a deer as soon as she sent away lakshmaNan and his elder brother chakravarthy
thirumagan. She refers to srI Raman as based on lakshmaNan.
They are referring to perumAn through the name of periya thiruvadi (garudan) – one
generally goes to perumAn through the support of thiruvadigaL (AnjanEyar, garudan),
AchArayan, AzhwArs, and thAyAr.
veLLai viLi sangin pEr aravam
The gOpikAs are saying that the sangu (conch) is white. The gOpikA inside says,
‘conch is always white, it is not a good argument for saying that the day has dawned’.
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thiruppAvai
She continues, ‘every sAmam (every certain number of hours) they sound the conch in
the temple, so the sound of conch is not a sign of dawn.’
The gOpikAs reply, ‘pEr aravam’ (bigger sound) – the conch is being sounded with
higher volume, which they would do only at dawn.
viLi – calling. Calling at the auspicious time of brAhma muhuUrtham to do kainkaryam to

perumAL.
Inner meaning: the sound of praNavam coming from the temple, calling (viLi) the ‘உ’ of
the praNavam to come there.
pEr aravam – loud enough for you to get up; when talking about lakshmaNan going to
mahArAjar’s (sukrIvan) place and made loud sound with his bow (because he was
delaying in joining rAma lakshmaNA for finding sItha), ananthAzhwAn said ‘mahArAjar
who was holding on to the breast of thArai, his blindness (to the need of rAmA) was lost
when lakshmaNan made the sound.
kEttilaiyO – are you not hearing that sound (of conch). Are you going to lose the
bhAgyam of hearing that sound that is calling you to go to krishNan?
The gOpikA inside is not convinced.
piLLAi ezhundhirAi: piLLAi – ignorant
The gOpikAs ask, “O girl, who is new in bhagavath vishayam (related to perumAL), who
is new to the sweetness of doing kainkaryam to perumAL, without continued experience
in bhagavath vishayam you have not reached the level to understand the beauty of
being with other bhAgavathAs (devotees); should you not be interested in seeing us like
how we are interested in seeing you?”
==> The inner meaning of the 10 gOpikAs woken up in this and the next total 10
pAsurams – the gOpikAs being woken up refer to AzhwArs. In this pAsruam, the ‘piLLAi’
refers to ‘poigai AzhwAr‘. In his prabhandham mudhal thiruvandhAdhi, poigai AzhwAr
says ‘onrum adhanai uNarEn nAn’ as if like the girl who is new to bhagavath vishayam;
in various pAsurams of mudhal thiruvandhAdhi he uses words similar to ‘pEi mulai
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thiruppAvai
nanju uNdu’, ‘kaLLa chakatam kAl ochchi’, ‘veLLaththaravil thuyil amardha viththu’, to
enjoy krishNan’s amAnusha seshtithangaL (actions beyond human). ANdAL is using
similar words in this pAsuram, and referring to a similar gOpikA.
piLLAi – new in these matters; bhattar said ‘chinthayanthi was new to krishna gAnam,
otherwise she would have been used to the in-laws’ trying to stop her and she would
have gone ahead out of the house anyway’.
The gOpikA inside asks back, “who woke you up, you who know all the sweetness of
kainkaryam?”
They reply, “Nobody woke us up; we woke up hearing others doing their own chores” as
follows:
pEi mulai nanju uNdu
When he was alone when even his mother could not help, that phUthanai came near
krishNan to kill him, but she got killed.
inner meaning: ahankAram, mamakAram are related to swAthanthriyam – that is, our
wrong feeling that we are independent of perumAn; Because of our AthmA getting into
our body (pEi uNdu) we get the ahankAram and mamakAram (mulai uNdu ) which are
poisonous (nanju) for our AthmA, and we pray perumAn to get rid of those things from
us.
kaLLa chakatam
If it is someone like phUthanai, then it may be possible to identify as devil and protect
oneself; but his mother had kept the toy as protection, into which the asuran got into for
killing krishNan. (so ‘kaLLa’ chakatam).
kalakkazhiya kAl Ochchi
He kicked his legs because of delay in getting milk from his mother, and his lotus feet hit
the toy and killed the asuran who went inside that toy;
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thiruppAvai
==> The girls are talking about phUthanai and the asuran so that the girl who is sleeping
will get a jolt thinking about the dangers that came to her krishNan, and so she would
wake up.
Inner meaning: pray perumAn to remove from us the kAmam (our excess interest in
non-living things (that is materials, body, fame, gadgets,..) and krOdham (the anger
when we don’t get those things).
veLLathu aravil thuyil amarndha viththinai
They are happy that without all such dangers (from bhUthanai and others), perumAn is
safely lying on thiru ananthAzhvAn (Adhi sEshan) in thiru pArkadal (milky ocean).
veLLam – to indicate that perumAL with his gentle thirumEni is comfortably sleeping on
Adhi sEshan
aravil – on the snake – thiru ananthAzhvAn (Adhi sEshan); soft; his breath killed the
madhukaidavars, so there is no need to worry about any danger for perumAn;
thuyil – sleep – perumAn lying down on Adhi sEshan and deeply thinking about what
avathAram to take next for saving us; one who can come and comfortably live in a
bhaktha’s heart.
amarndha – as he wants to deeply think about ways of helping and saving us, he is not
getting distracted even if thAyArs hug him tightly on their divine chests.
viththinai – viththu – the source/reason for everything; kshIrAbdhi nAthan (perumAn in

the ocean) getting ready for the next avathAram, as if all the avathArams so far are not
enough.
uLLaththu-k koNdu
Keeping them in their minds and hearts (them = perumAn lying down on Adhi sEshan in
the ocean, and along with the thAyArs), where there is no danger of asurAs;
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thiruppAvai
munivargaLum yOgigaLum
the munis (who do deep thinking about perumAn), and yOgis (who do physical
kainkaryam to perumAn) [similar to the gOpikA inside who is lying down thinking about
perumAn, and the gOpikAs outside who are wanting to do kainkaryam to perumAn],
meLLa ezhundhu – the munis and yOgs get up very slowly
the munis and yOgis are getting up from their bed very slowly, like how a pregnant
woman would get up slowly and carefully, they are getting up without even disturbing
the garland in their heads; they get up very carefully so that the perumAn inside them
(antharAthma) would not be disturbed; (are there munis and yOgis in thiruvAippAdi? –
after krishNan has done the avathAram here, the munis and yOgis come to this place
that is full of cows, and labor themselves to enjoy krishNan).
ari enRa
ari – hari – nArAyaNan.
The munis and yOgis then say hari 7 times as soon as they get up; (when we wake up
we could say hari 7 times, and take about 4 steps in the direction towards srIrangam,
before carrying on with our morning activities).
Saying ari would get rid of all the hindrances in doing perumAL kainkaryam. It would get
rid of all our fears – what is our fear? that some danger would happen to perumAn. So
they pray that He himself should get rid of such dangers, that he saves himself for us.
Once he does that, we are again afraid that someone will see that greatness and He will
get kaN echchil ( ண் பட்டு விடும்) and we will start singing pallANdu for Him.
Before one gets the gyAnam of bhagavath sambandham we are afraid about dangers to
themselves; after getting the gyAnam of bhagavath sambandham one is afraid of
dangers to perumAn.
pEr aravam (big sound (of chanting hari))
Not only the munis and yOgis, but all the 5 lakhs houses are saying hari.
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thiruppAvai
uLLam pugundhu kuLirndhu –
“as we are feeling so much viraha thApam (missing krishNan), the sound of hari
nAamam went into our minds and hearts and helped us cool it down, so we are feeling
wonderful, so you wake up now.”.
That gOpikA finally gets up and joins other gOpikAs to go to the next house to wake up
another gOpikA.
ElOrempAvAi: get this cleared in your mind and follow our ways.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 7 - kIchu kIchu

In the second of 10 wake-up pAsurams, they are waking up a gOpikA (who represents
those) who knows bhagavath vishayam, but has forgotten about it now. She does not
know that there is something better than bhagavath vishayam (i.e., knowing about and
doing kainkaryam to emperumAn), which is bhAgavatha vishayam (i.e., knowing about
and doing kainkaryam to the devotees of emperumAn).
[ Once AtkONdavilli jIyar, who was a sishyA of emperumAnAr, had gone to see
nanjIyar; nanjIyar prostrated him and was standing, when this conversation happened:
“I have not truly developed taste in bhagavath vishayam”; “as an AchArya purusha, why
are you thinking like this?”; “true sign of interest in bhagavath vishayam is when we
become very happy when we see bhAgavathAs (devotees)”. ]
==> This pAsuram refers to pEyAzhwAr. (At the end of this text, there is a detail about
how this pAsuram refers also to kulasEkara AzhwAr)
kIchu kIchenRu engum AnaichchAththan kalandhu

pEsina pEchcharavam kEttilaiyO pEippEnnE!
kAsum piRappum kalakalappa kai pErththu
vAsa naRum kuzhal Aichchiyar
maththinAl Osai padhuththa thayir aravam kEttilaiyO
nAyagap pEN piLLAi nArAyaNan mUrthi
kEsavanaip pAdavum nI kEttE kidaththiyO
thEsam udaiyAy thiRavElor empAvAi
padha padhArtham
pEi peNNE! – you, the one without proper mind (even though you know the taste of
bhagavath vishayam)
Anai-ch-chAththan – bharathwAja birds named valiyan (king crows)
kIchu kIchu enRu – (birds) making kIch sounds
engum – in all the directions
kalandhu pEsina – and are talking among themselves
kEttilaiyO – (did you) not hear that
pEchchu aravam – sound due to their talking?
Aychchiar – (also) gOpikAs
vAsam narum kuzhal – (with) hair of the head with very good fragrance, (and with their)
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thiruppAvai
kAsum – garland made with the shapes kAsu (round coins-like) (அச்சுத்தொைி)
piRappum – and long garland made with the shapes of flower buds (முலளத்தொைி)
kalakalappa – they are making sound after mixing with each other
kai pErthu – (as the gOpikAs) move their hands
Osai padutha – and also noise is made
maththinAl – when using the churn stick,
thayir aravam – and the sound of curd
kEttilaiyO – (did you) not hear (them)?
nAyaga peN piLLAi – You who is the head of us gOpikAs!
pAdavum – as we sing
nArAyaNan mUrthy kEsavanai – about kaNNan who is the avathAram of nArAyAnan
nI kEttE kidaththiyO – are you still lying down?
thEsam udaiyAy – Oh the one with great thEjas,
thiRa – open your door.
Meaning:
The gOpikAs said “The day is dawning, so you wake up”, this gOpikA inside also asked
“How do you say it is dawn. I don’t see any signs”. Now they reply,
kIchu kIchu enRu engum Anai-ch-chAtthan
“The Anai sAtthan bird (sparrow) is making the ‘kIchu kIchu’ sound” (which sounds like
a baby’s sweet talk (ைழலைப் மபச்சு (அநக்ஷர-ரஸைொயிருக்ல ))
“Just one bird making noise doesn’t make it a dawn. It may be your house’s bird.”
“they are everywhere” (engum)
“you would have triggered them from their sleep”
“no, not because of us, they got up by themselves and they are making sound by
themselves”
“how do you say that”,
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thiruppAvai
kalandhu pEsina pEchchu aravam kEttilaiyO
“they are talking together, that is how we know. There are many birds and they are
talking to each other”
“the whole night they were together, why are they talking to each other now”
“they would be separated during the day, they are talking to each other so that they
could use that to sustain the day. Their sound makes it clear that they are not feeling
too good about the separation; Like how someone going away for 6 months into the sea
would want to spend more time with his wife, these birds are also talking and being with
each other. Have you not heard them? Dwelling in the thoughts of krishNan, you have
not heard the birds”
Inner meaning: If a bhAghavathar were to go somewhere from the group of devotees,

then these people would talk to each other to reduce their angst about that separation,
until that bhAghavathar joins back; have you not heard them talking to each other?
pEip peNNE
She does not get up, saying “you would always talk like this”.
They say “knowing about bhagavath vishayam and bhAgavatha vishayam, you are still
not getting up? You don’t have the gyAnam?”
“Instead of talking about what I lack, talk about the signs of dawning”
==> AzhwAr: In this pAsurm, pEi pEnnE refers to ‘pEyAzhwAr‘. With his ‘thiruk kaNdEn’
in mUnRAm thiruvanthAdhi he talked about seeing the nAyagan (perumAn); other
pAsurams of his talk about krishNan’s sEshtithangaL, and about krishNan marrying
nappinnai pirAtti after fighting with the bulls.
kAsum pirappum (chain/garland made of coins, chain/garland made of those shaped

like flower buds)
The coins, etc., from the chains worn in the women’s necks
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thiruppAvai
Inner meaning: thirumanthram, dhvayam and charamaslOkam (which we get from our
AchAryan during samAshrayaNam) are heard together, and people are realizing their
nature of being the properties of emperumAn.
kalakalappa
(gOpikAs) are making noise together when they are churning curd using the churning
rods.
kai pErththu
and they are getting tired after churning. Tired because they were so rich with a lot of
curd; due to their gentleness, it feels like churning a mountain; tired in their mind may be
because krishNan is not around; actually may be because krishNan says that he would
help them churn, and he sits opposite a gOpikA, and while the gOpikA tries to churn he
holds her hands and does not allow her to churn freely because he does not want her to
make curd as buttermilk (he likes curd; mOrAr kudam urutti), so her hands get tired.
vAsa narum kuzhal Aichchiyar
because of exhaustion, their hair locks get undone and that sends sweet fragrance to fill
everywhere
maththinAl Osai paduththa thayir aravam kEttilaiyO
like how the ocean was churned making big noise, these gOpikAs are churning the curd
and you are not hearing that great sound? The gOpikAs are losing themselves in the
beautiful eyes of krishNan and are singing in praise of that, and they are churning this
curd with all their efforts; their chains are making the clinging noise, and all these
sounds are becoming greater and greater and hitting the other worlds, and you are
saying you don’t see any sound!
Inner meaning for the above two phrases: srIvaishNavAs who are ananyArha
sEshabUthars (they know that they belong to nArAyaNan emperumAn, and to
emperumAn only), who understand the wonderful fragrance of bhagavath vishayam
(about perumAL), wish well for the samsAris who are the chEthanars (beings with
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thiruppAvai
gyAnam that they belong to perumAn) to recite the 4000 divya prabhandham – are you
not hearing them reciting the prabandhams?
The gOpikA still does not get up, and says, “In this thiruvAyppAdi the people’s nature is
to churn butter all the time, especially with krishNan doing avathAram here, there is no
dearth of cows or milk, so I don’t think this is dawn”.
nAyagap peN piLLAi
First they called her as ‘pEip peNNE’, now they are calling her as nAyagap pEn PiLLAi
– both of which imply the same, that she is loved by all these gOpikAs;
a high status rich girl who is talking against all their responses, and not getting up from
the bed, even though she is the center-piece of all these gOpikAs.
She still does not say anything, so they say:
nArAyaNan mUrthy kEsavanaip pAdavum nI kEttE kidaththiyO
as we are singing praises (pAdavum) about nArayanan (perumAn who without showing
himself is helping us and saving us),
who is born here due to his simplicity (mUrthy),
who being visible to us here in AyppAdi who is getting rid of enemies (anything in us
that prevents us from doing kainkaryam to him) [kEsavanai],
and listening to (kEttE) all the greatness of perumAn, you are enjoying our songs (like
patting in the lap when enjoying some songs), by lying down in bed (kidaththiyO)?
kEttE kidaththiyO – You are lying down as if our words are what would sustain your life;
They are using the word ‘kEsavan’ to get her to quickly get up in alarm, as ‘kEsavan’
would remind her of the danger that came to krishNan in the form of the asuran kEsi.
But she still does not get up, thinking that krishNan has killed that kEsi, so there is no
danger for Him.
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thiruppAvai
“We thought that if we sang about kEsavan, you would get up immediately, and how
janakan thirumagaL (jAnaki) went quickly and hugged chakravarthy thirumagan (srI
rAman)* we thought you would also quickly go with us to hug krishNan. But you are
feeling better because of realizing that there is no fear of kEsi, and sleeping with your
hands on your chest (that is, without any worry).
(* When living in the forest, when srI rAman killed kara-dhUshaNAs and 14,000
rakshasas and came back to their place in the forest, sIthai upon seeing rAman back
with blood/wounds all over his body, she quickly went and hugged Him with love and
affection).
(People who are following karma, gyAna, or bhakthi yOgas to reach srI vaikuntam have
to be very careful (so, they are worried) to make sure that they are following all the
procedures for the yOgas properly. If they are not followed properly, then they would
have to take another birth till they complete properly before they could reach mOksham.
But in the case of saraNagathAs (those who have done samAsrayaNam) they have left
all the efforts to perumAn himself (through their AchAryan) to take care of getting them
to mOksham, so they don’t have any worries whatsoever because they are assured of
mOksham – so they sleep with their hands on their chest (no worries)). [ைொர்பிமை
ல லவத்து உறங் ப் ப்ரொப்தி]
thEsam udaiyAy thiRa
o pretty and beautiful girl, o the girl who looks so bright due to thinking about krishNan,
please open the door for us to see that beauty and get the same gyAnam about
krishNan, and quickly join us. Open the door and let the flood of your happiness (of
thnking about krishNan) hit us.
(That gOpikA finally gets up and joins other gOpikAs to go to the next house to wake up
another gOpikA.)
ElOrEmpAvai – think clearly about this and follow us.
========================
How this pAsuram is also addressing kulasEkara AzhwAr:
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thiruppAvai
This AzhwAr was a king, with great devotion to srI rAman – when he listens to the story
of rAman getting ready for the war against rAvaNan, he would get up and enter into the
sea thinking that he should go and help rAman in the war. In his palace there were a lot
of srIvaishNavas taken care of by kulasEkaran. The ministers were jealous and they
stole some gold coins and put the blame on the srIvaishNavas; kulasEkaran asked to
bring a pot with a snake in it and put his hand inside the pot without any fear to prove
that the srIvaishNavas would have never done such a thing.
kalandhu pEsina pEchchu-aravam kEttilaiyO pEipeNNE (Hey kulasEkarA, the ministers

are talking among each other scheming to get these srIvaishNavas, do you hear that?)
kAsum piRappum kalakalappa kai pErthu (kudap pAmbil kai ittu) [you had put your
hands inside the pot that had the coins making noise and with the snake in it.
aravam kettilaiyO – aravam – snake
nAyagap peN piLLAi – the leader or the central person – kulasEkara AzhwAr is in the
middle of the list of AzhwArs.
kEsavanaip pAdavum (kulasEkarAzhwAr‘s first pAsuram was about kEsi as well)
pAdavum nI kEttE kidaththiyO (kulasEkarAzhwAr wanted to go join the fight to help

rAman). You would not sit idle after hearing about rAman.)
pEippeNNE – Azhwar has sung ‘pEyanE enakku yAvarum yAnumOr pEyarE evarkkum.
‘ in nAyikA bhAvam
thEsamudaiyAi – you who wants a thEsu (thEjas/ form) – kulasEkara AzhwAr wanted to
be in any form which would be related to perumAn – UnERu selvaththu udan piRavi yAn
vENdEn … emperumAn pon malaiyil EdhEnum AvEnE.
————
In this pAsuram, ANdAL and other gOpikAs wake up a girl who knows a bit of
bhagavath vishayam, but has forgotten about it and lying in the bed; gOpikAs come
there to wake her up and remind her about bhAgavatha vishayam; some gOpikas did
not get early as they were lying in bed and enjoying on their thoughts on krishNan.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 8 - kIzh vAnam

This pAsuram, the 3rd of the 10 wake-up pAsurams, is about a gOpikA who is full of
bhagavath abhimAnam (who is fully knowledgeable and who follows well about
bhagavath vishayam), who wishes for all, not just a few, of the gOpikas to come and
wake her up, and who is sought by krishNan.
The gOpikAs who got up first, those gOpikas too, instead of thinking that it is enough if
a few woke up, they want to wake up all of their friends to join them and go to krishNan.
This is related to bhAgavatha (devotees of perumAn) vishayam.
kIzhvAnam veLLenRu erumai chiRuvIdu

mEivAn parandhana kAN mikkuLLa piLLaigaLum
pOvAn pOginRArai pOgAmal kAththu
unnaik kUvuvAn vandhu ninROm
kOdhukalam udaiya pAvai! ezhundhirAi pAdipparai kONdu
mAvAi piLandhAnai mallarai mAttiya
dhEvAdhi dhEvanai chenRu nAm sEviththAl
AvAvenRu ArAindhu aruLElor empAvAi
padha padhArtham
kOdhukalam udaiya pAvai – O the girl who is of interest (to krishNan)

kIzh vAnam – the sky on the east side
veLLenRu – has dawned (became white),
erumai – buffaloes
siRuvIdu – released out for some time (in the early morning)
parandhana kAN – spread out (in the fields)
mEivAn – to grace (the grace with early morning dews),
mikkuLLa piLLaigaLum – (regarding) all other girls
pOgAmal kAththu – (we) stopped them from going
pOvAn pOginRArai – (who were) going, with going itself as the goal
vandhu ninROm – and came and stood steadily (in your door step)
unnaik kUvuvAn – to call you;
ezhundhirAi – please get up
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thiruppAvai
pAdi – (and) sing (kaNNan’s guNAs)

paRai koNdu – and get paRai (instrument/mOksham) (from him)
mA vAi piLandhAnai – who killed horse shaped kEsi
mallarai mAttiya – and who destroyed the wrestlers (chANUra-mushtika)
dhEvAdhi dhEvanai – who is the head of nithya-sUris
nAm chenRu sEviththAl – if we went (to Him) and give our respects to him
ArAyndhu – (he would) inquire (our needs)
A A enRu aruL – and He will say O!, and help us.
Meaning:
kIzh vAnam veLLnRu
“It is getting bright in the East, and you are still sleeping?” so saying the gOpikAs are
waking up this gOpikA.
“East has not become bright. You gOpikAs are looking in that direction, and the
brightness in your faces is reflected in there – you are ‘thingaL thiru mugaththu chEi
izhaiyAr (pAsuram 30) (faces are like the moon)’. So it is anyathA-gyAnam (mistaking
one attribute for another); Is there some other sign for the dawn?”
erumai chiruvIdu mEivAn parandhana kAN
“The buffaloes have spread out to eat the grass with dews in the early morning; srI
nandagOpar has got goats, cows, buffaloes etc. (if we delayed,) krishNan would go
behind them – then whom will we see? Please get up”.
Her father (all the AzhwArs are considered ANdAL’s father (anju kudikku oru
santhadhiyAy), here it is referring to thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr) sang to periya perumAL
(srI ranga nAthan) ‘mEttiLa mEdhigaL thaLai vidum AyargaL‘ (the cowherd boys are
taking care of the young cows), trying to wake Him up in thirupaLLiyezhuchchi. The
daughter is also saying that the cows are already up, but she is trying to wake up a
bhAgavatha (krishNan’s devotee); (better than AzhwAr waking up krishNan (periya
perumAL)).
ANdAL who is a Brahmin girl, is supposed to know about hOmam, etc., but she is
talking about the early morning dew-grass (nunip pul) eating habits of buffaloes – similar
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thiruppAvai
to how her walk, talk and odour changed due to pretending like a gOpikai, she with
perumAn‘s anugraham is also having the knowledge about these animals’ life.
The sleepy gOpikA replies, “It is the darkness that is spreading, and drowning because
of the brightness of your faces. They are not buffaloes; you are seeing that darkness
and thinking that they are buffaloes. This is your viparItha-gyAnam (mistaking one thing
for another); darkness would not be there in front of you who have sAthvIka guNa. So,
this is not a sign of dawn”.
The gOpikAs ask, “We accept that all the signs we told so far are because of our
misunderstanding; would you tell us why this is not yet dawn?”
“The gOpikAs from all of five lakh houses have not come here; only about a thousand
gOpikAs have shown up. The rest have to wake up and come here, and that would be
the sign of dawn of the day”.
In response,
mikkuLLa piLLaigaLum (all remaining gOpikAs of AyppAdi)
“Everyone except you, have been going”
“How come they did not call me”
“Because there were too many people, they did not know that you were not present;
they are all going quickly as they missed krishNan”
pOvAn pOginRArai (those who are going eagerly, and enjoying the journey)
“The srIvaishNavAs who after their life here would go in ‘archirAthi mArgam’, akrUrar
going to krishNa (for taking him to kamsa), and the people who go on thiruvEnKata
(thiruppathi) yAththirai (journey), like how they think that the going (journey) itself is the
prayOjanam (destiny), these gOpikAs are also going to krishNan.
“Where do I go if they all have already gone?”
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thiruppAvai
pOgAmal kAththu (we stopped them from going (without you))
all we had to tell all the gOpikAs was that You have not yet joined – they just stopped in
their tracks (consistent with what they said in the 2nd pAsuram: sEyyAdhana seyyOm –
won’t do what our purvAchAriAs have not done – will follow their ways), and they are
waiting for you
unnaikkUvuvAn (to call you)
We stopped them, and to follow the norm, we came in front of your door and called you.
vandhu ninROm – we came here, and we stood by your bed; like how vibIshaNan
came and stood steadily in the sky (to see rAmAn)
“When so many gOpikAs are waiting ready to go, why did you come and stand in front
of my house? You are Not ready to go Without me, but here I am not getting up from my
bed and showing my face (not entertaining your idea of waking me up); are you not
upset with me because of this?”
They reply,
kOdhukalam udaiya pAvAi
kOdhukalam: kudhUkalam (motivated/joyful/bhakthi about krishNan)
It is good for us to come to your house and go with You to see krishNan; you are one of
his favorite gOpikAs, so if we are with krishNan when you are also beside him, that
would make our being with krishNan meaningful; we will also be in the good books of
krishNan if he knows that we did not leave a devotee when going to Him;
pAvAi – we do these to that gOpikA who understands and also has got her mind
accepted to pArathanthriyam (subservience to perumAn).
==> AzhwAr: In this 3rd pAsuram related to referring to gOpikA being woken up as
AzhvAr – ANdAL saying ‘kOdhukalam udaiya pAvai’ is referring to bhUdhaththAzhwAr.
In his iraNdAm thiruvandhAdhi, bhUdhaththAzhwAr sang ‘dhEvAdhi dhEvan enap
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thiruppAvai
paduvAn mun oru nAL mAvAi piLandha magan‘, also ‘endhan aLavanRAl yAnudaiya
anbu‘. In thiruvAimozhi 5-2-2, nammAzhwAr sang ‘ mAdhavan bhUtham‘ which too
refers to kOdhukalam.
ezhundhirAi
Please give us the greatness that it is we who came and woke you up, and then you
woke up because of that.
Unlike that ‘peNNin varuththam aRiyAdhavan (nAchiAr thirumozhi 13-1) (He who does
not understand woman’s sadness), you who understands it, would you still be lying
down?
“What is it that we would do if I woke up?”
pAdip paRai kONdu
The wealth that we are going to get now (going to krishNan) is nothing like any other
wealth that we got till now; earlier the elders had said no to krishNa and no to gOpikAs
for meeting each other; we all had to hide within our minds and hearts our affection for
krishNan, and were very careful and afraid to show it out; but now all the people
themselves have given us permission and also have requested krishNan to help us in
this nOnbu. This is like opening the dam from our hearts – we are so thrilled and we
openly sing and praise about krishNan – there is no stopping;
paRai – the instrument that is used as part of the nOnbu – as far as the people are
concerned; for us it is the krishNA anubhavam.
“what would you sing about?”
mA vAi piLandhAnai
“We will sing about krishNan who split the mouth of asuran kEsi and saved us and
saved himself to give to us; the one who made himself available to us to make fun of
him and to enjoy him.
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thiruppAvai
mallarai mAttiya
In mathurApuri he killed the two big fighters (wrestlers) for all the gOpikAs there to see
and celebrate; we will also celebrate that here.
Inner meaning: the two fighters – our kAmam (our wants on materialistic things) and
krOdham (anger when we don’t get what we wanted). krishNan will help kill these two.
krishNan cleverly moved away and let the two wrestlers fall against each other and die;
srI rAmAnujar also would let the other sects argue against each other so that they would
decide their own fate, and let the final winner come to him and lose; this is so that he
would not have to waste too much time debating with each and every one).
dhEvAdhi dhEvanai
“He is the god for dhEvas, people, all beings, and non-beings; he went to mathurApuri
and killed kuvalaiyApIda, chANUra mushitkar, and got friends with the wealthy gOpikAs
of mathurApuri – would he come and befriend us poor cowherd gOpikAs who cannot
even tell the difference between their right and left hands?”
chenRu
We will go to him; he should have come to us and saved us (as a perumAn), but we will
go and show him how our viraham (missing him) has eaten our body; he will feel bad for
us and he will bless us;
chakravarthy thirumagan – only He went to all the sages, to mahArAjar (sukrIvan), and
to vibIshanAzhvAn to bless them; in fact He felt bad that He did not go all the way to
lankai to bless vibIhshanAzhvAn as they met only at the shore near thiruppullANi (divya
desam).
krishNan too, He only went to mAlAkArar in mathurApuri; we as the saraNAgathAs are

his property – only the owner worries about and cares for the property; the property
does not worry; when perumAn gets us, he the owner feels happy, the property does
not – in our case, since we are given gyAnam, we would feel happy when/that perumAn
is feeling happy.
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thiruppAvai
AzhwArs sent birds etc., as messengers to ask perumAn to come and see them; with a
very high level of bhakthi towards perumAn they even did Udal (showing their being
upset as part of being too affectionate) with perumAn asking him, the one who came to
them, to go away.
Given all this, ANdAL says, if We Go there to him, he will be so thrilled. He would not
reject us thinking that he is dhEvAdhi dhEvan. (Also, our going there to him is the first
stage, which we all will be in for a long time; as bhakthi increases and we get the stage
of a mature saraNAgathar, we will be like this sleepy gOpikA saying that let perumAn
come and bless me; crossing even that is the azhwArs’ stage).
nAm sEviththAl
“If we go to him (out of turn), will he avoid seeing us?”
“He would not (because of him feeling bad for us). But if he did, we shall suffer like
bharathAzhvAn did”.
(bharathan begged rAman to go back to ayOdhya and become the king – but rAman did
not agree; rAman felt bad for a very long time that he did not agree to bharathan even
when it is bharathan who came and saw Him).
” He will be kind like how he was to the crow”
(the crow – kAkAsuran did apachAram (mistake) by hurting sIthA pirAtti. rAman wanted
to kill him, but pirAtti made him do saraNAgathi and rAman cooled down and let him go
– out of his kindness).
He should bow his head for us because of his love for us, but if we did that to him
(அத்தலை இத்தலையொனொல் /aththalai iththalai AnAl) he would melt and accept
us.
AvA enru ArAindhu aruL
He would think “Aha! Aha! These gOpikAs live with the subservience that I would
provide them mOksham, and so they have been waiting for me to go and meet them – it
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thiruppAvai
is my mistake that I let them come here to see me instead!” and he would be so kind to
us and he would feel so happy to see us, and he would inquire (ArAindhu) about our
well-being. So there is not anything wrong if we went to him; only we have to hurry up.
So please get up and quickly join us.
(also read as – AvA enRu ArAindhu aruLuvAn, kOdhukalam udaiya pAvai ezhudhirAi).
(That gOpikA also finally gets up and joins other gOpikAs; they go to the next house to
wake up another gOpikA).
elOrEmpAvAi – think about it clearly and follow us.
In this pAsuram, ANdAL wakes up yet another gOpikA and explains to her that they
stopped many of the gOpikAs and came to her house so that they would be happy to
see her joining them for going to krishNan; and krishNan would be happy to understand
their eagerness that they came to see him, instead of the norm of waiting for Him to
come to them.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 9 - thUmaNi mAdaththu

This is the 4th of 10 wake-up pAsurams.
They are waking up a gOpikA who has the full gyAnam that it is krishNan’s duty to come
and get her to be with Him, as she understands that it is her nature to be subservient to
Him and it is His nature to save us (from samsAram).
thUmaNi mAdaththu chuRRum viLakku eriya

dhUbham kamazhath thuyil aNai mEl kaN vaLarum
mAmAn magaLE! maNik kadhavam thAL thiRavAi
mAmIr! avaLai ezhuppIrO!
un magaL thAn UmaiyO? anRich chevidO? ananthalO?
Emapperum thuyil mandhirappattALO
mAmAyan mAdhavan vaikunthan enRu enRu
nAmam palavum navinRElOr empAvAi
padha-padhArtham
thU maNi mAdaththu – In the house with naturally good ornamental stones embedded
in them
viLakku eriya – with sacred lamps glowing
chuRRum – in all the places,
dhUpam kamazha – and with scented smoke spreading around,
mAmAn magaLE – O daughter of (my) uncle
kaN vaLarum – who is sleeping
thuyil aNai mEl – on the bed (that makes one who lies down on it to sleep),
thiRavAi – please do open
maNik kadhavam thAL – the bolt of the door that is made of ornamental stones;
mAmIr – O aunt!
avaLai ezhuppIrO – please wake her up;
un magaL thAn – is your daughter
UmaiyO – dumb so cannot speak?
anRi – or,
sevidO – deaf so cannot hear?
ananthalO – (or) just sleeping (due to tiredness)?
EmappattALO – (or) is she being restricted/prevented (to come out)
perum thuyil mandhirappattALO – (or) under control of a spell that makes her sleep for
a long time?
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thiruppAvai
mAmAyan – he who possesses unfathomable abilities

mAdhavan – nAthan (husband) of lakshmI
vaikunthan enRu enRu – srI vaikunta nAthan, and similar and more
nAmam palavum navinRu – we chanted several of such divine names (still your
daughter is not waking up!?)
Meaning:
thUmaNi mAdhaththu
Using the jewels which did not have any flaw to begin with, which did not have to go
through the process of removing the flaws; like the difference between a samsAri who
then removed that samsAram and got mukthi, and those nithya sUris (like
vishwaksEnar, garudAzhvAn) who did not have the smell of samsAram to begin with;
The palace/room embedded with such flawless jewels; (krishNan would use the
flawless jewels for pirAtti’s palaces and for decorating other places he would keep the
ones that had had the flaws and then cleaned; it implies here that the gOpikA sleeping
is also a favorite of krishNan).
they are praising the house of this devotee; kUrathAzhvAn said, “if one thinks great of
other srIvaishnavas houses, that would help us go in the right path (to our destiny) .
chuRRum viLakku eriya
She has lit lamps in all the places where krishNan would walk with her holding her
hands;
eriya – while the lamps (and our hearts) are not lighted (because of separation from
krishNan), here she is, sleeping surrounded by auspicious lamps.
thUbam kamazha
with wonderful fragrance (which is soft and does not irritate the eyes) also surrounding
her. While we are not able to enjoy any good fragrance (due to separation), how is it
that you are able to relax with all these around you?
thuyil aNai mEl kaN vaLarum
while our beds feel like heated surface for us, you are feeling so comfortable sleeping in
your bed as if krishNan is with you; like iLaiya perumAL (lakshmaNan) we are not
sleeping, and you are sleeping so nicely;
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thiruppAvai
When it is krishNan who has to come and rescue us, why are these gOpikAs getting the
anxiety – was the state of mind of the gOpikA inside; when krishNan is the
purushArththam (upEyam / goal / one to reach) why is she being lazy lying in the bed –
was the stance of the gOpikAs outside.
kaN vaLarum – they are using gentle/sophisticated words to say that she is sleeping;
that is the respectful way to address about those who are involved in bhagavath
vishayam; when nambiyERu-thiru-udaiyAr-dhAsar left for paramapadham, nanjIyar said
we should use appropriate phrases about this depending on how they lived – in case of
those who were deeply involved in bhagavath-kainkaryam, we should say ‘reached
thiruvadi'; for those who were focused on bhAgavatha-kainkaryam, we say ‘ascended to
thiru-nAdu'; in case of those who were focused on AchArya-kainkaryam, we should say
‘reached AchAryan thiruvadi’.
mAmAn magaLE
ANdAL wishes to have the gOpikAs of thiruvAyppAdi as her relatives (translator’s

note: srIvaishnavargaLaik kaNdAl bandhukkaLai kaNdAR pOlEyum – srIvachana
bhushaNam. ஸ்ரீலவஷ்ைவர் லளக் ண்டொல் பந்துக் லளக் ண்டொற்
மபொமையும் – ஸ்ரீவசநபூஷைம்); ANdAL a small brahmin girl in srIvillipuththUr is
calling the cowherd girl who lived in the north in thiruvAyppAdi and that too in a different
yugam several tens of thousands of years ago; being included in the group of
bhAgavathAs who played and lived with krishNan is how she wants to be.
==> AzhwAr: By mAmAn magaLE, ANdAL is referring to thirumazhisai AzhwAr. Similar

to “thUmaNi mAdaththuch chuRRum viLakku eriya“, thirumazhisai AzhwAr in his
nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi says “en madhikku viNNellAm uNdO vilai“, “gyAnamAgi
gyAyiRAgi“. thirumazhisai AzhwAr had sung “mAdhavanai“, and “vaikunthach
chelavanAr“, and ANdAL also similarly “mAmAyan, mAdhavan, vaikunthan” in this
pAsuram.
The gOpikA from inside says “you open the door yourselves and enter my house”.
maNik kadhavam thAL thiravAi
“the crystals are so bright that we cannot see the lock of the door. So you get up and
open the door”
(only AchAryan can open and bring out our gyAnam; we go to perumAn through the
AchAryan only)
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thiruppAvai
The gOpikA’s mother who is also sitting inside asks her daughter “why are you being
quiet when they are calling you for this long?”
mAmIr! avaLai ezhuppIrO!
Hearing this, the gOpikAs ask from outside, “mAmIr! (dear aunt!) would you please
wake her up?”
srIvaishNavan looks to serve not only perumAn, not only His devotees, but also
devotees of devotees. ANdAL is calling the gOpikA’s mother as mAmi to gain
relationship not only with the gOpikA but also with her mother.
On the other hand, her mother might have felt bad for being addressed as mAmi – she
would have like to be addressed as an adiyAr (devotee) – this is similar to the following
from aithIhyam: thirumangai AzhwAr in ‘kaLvan kol‘ pAsuram where he is in nAyikA
bhAvam (considering himself as girl-lover of emperumAn), leaves her mother and goes
off with emperumAn; so her mother cries out that her daughter (AzhwAr) left her
considering her relationship as a mother and not as his devotee. So she preferred not
the relationship name but being referred to as a devotee. So kUraththAzhvan‘s wife
ANdAL used to refer to thirumangai AzhwAr as ‘vettimaiyar‘ (one who talks rough); and
she would refer to emperumAnAr as ‘kOyil aNNar’ (which is related to 100 thadA akkAra
adisil that emperumAnAr presented to thirumAlirunchOlai azhagar based on the wish of
srIvilliputhUr ANdAL, and when she came out of archai to thank emperumAnAr for that,
she called emperumAnAr as kOyil aNNar (brother from srIrangam)). So when
kUraththAzhvAn‘s wife ANdAL referred to emperumAnAr as kovil aNNar, he felt sad and
said, “am I not a devotee? you are calling me with relationship name of aNNar, because
of which periyAzhwAr‘s daugther also might forget about him in the name of
relationship.
The gOpikA is still not getting up, so..
un magaL thAn UmaiyO?
Is your daughter dumb that she cannot respond to our requests? Is krishNan keeping
her busy?
anRich chevidO?
a dumb could at least hear us and come open the door, so, is it that she did not even
hear us as she could be a deaf?
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thiruppAvai
ananthalO?
or did she play with krishNan for a long time and got tired and only now she lied down
on her bed?
==> (Above three relate to asking whether she is not getting ready for vAk, mAnasa,
and kAyika kainkaryams).
Emap perum thuyil mandhirap pattALO?
did some one (you) put protection for her to not be able to go out?
Or did perumAn put some spell (manthram) powder (கசொக்குப் கபொடி) on her to get
her to go behind him?
“This is not working. Please say some thiru nAmams to wake her up” says the mother.
“We say a lot of thiru nAmams”
“Good, what are those thiru nAmams?”
“They are..”
mAmAyan
With his surprising sEshtithams (mischief) he got all the innocent gOpikAs of
thiruvAyppAdi for himself
mAdhavan
The husband of pirAtti, to show his kindness/to-not-look-at-our-mistakes, is here in

AyppAdi. He might have done gurukulam (school) to learn from thAyar about these
qualities.
When pirAtti is around, perumAn is even more kind to us; chakravarthy thirumagan did
not kill anyone when pirAtti was near him.
vaikunthan
The creator of all the worlds; with the place (vaikuntam) fit for such a perumAn; not only
gOpikAs, all the men also wish to be subservient to him.
vaikunthan mAdhavan mAmAyan: A perumAn with such greatness has made him easily
available to you dear mAmAn magaLE!
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thiruppAvai
vaikunthan mAmAyan mAdhavan: With the names announcing his greatness, the
names announcing his kindness/simplicity, and between the two the one who stole the
hearts of the cowherd gOpikAs
enRu enRu nAmam palavum navinRu (reciting so many of his names)
mAmAyan enRu, mAdhavan enRu, vaikunthan enRu – Covering the range of three
sahasra nAmams (1000 names of Him).
Also read as: nAmam palavum navinRu, mAmIr avaLai ezhuppIrO! (saying so many
names of perumAn would you please wake her up, dear aunt).
Or, nAmam palavum navinrOm (we said so many nAmams of perumAn), still she is not
getting up, mAmIr could you please wake her up!
ElOrempAvAi – commit to your mind and follow us.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 10 - nORRu suvarggam

The love that all gOpikAs have towards krishNan and the effort they take to go behind
him – that is the effort Kannan takes to go behind this gOpikA – they are waking up
such a gOpikA in this pAsuram.
nORRu suvarggam puguginRa ammanAi!

mARRamum thArArO vAsal thiRavAdhAr
nARRa thuzhAi mudi nArAyaNan
nammAl pORRap parai tharum puNNiyanAl
paNdu oru nAL kURRaththin vAivIzhndha kumbakaraNanum
thORRum unakkE pErum thuyil thAn thandhAnO
ARRa ananthal udaiyAy arumkalamE
thERRamAi vandhu thiravElOr empAvAi
padha padhArtham
nORRu – (you) did nOnbu

suvarggam puguginRa – (and now) enjoying the heaven without any break,
ammanAi -dear!
vAsal thiRavAdhAr – you are not opening the door
mARRamum thArArO – would you not answer us at least?
nARRaththuzhAi mudi – One who is wearing fragrant thiruthuzhAi
nArAyaNan – one having the unparalleled name of nArAyaNan
nammAl pORRappaRai tharum – one who is sung pallANdu by us; one who gives us
our goal that is doing kainkaryam
puNNiyanAl – by (such) emperumAn who is dharmam,
kumbakaraNanum – that kumbakaraNan
paNdu oru nAL – once upon a time
kURRaththin vAi vIzhndha – fell on yama’s way
unakkE thORRu – (did he) lose to you
thandhAnO – (and) went away giving you
perum thuyil thAn – (his) big sleepiness?
ARRa ananthal udaiyAy – you who is having a nice sleep!
arum kalamE – you who is like a rare jewel
thERRamAi vandhu thiRa – get yourself together, and open (the door)
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thiruppAvai
Meaning
nORRu suvarggam puguginra ammanAi!
Since this gOpikA did not wake up even after dawn, they are being sarcastic saying ‘this
is nice, you wanted to do nOnbu and be happy'; also means that this gOpikA has
already achieved the benefits of nOnbu so she is in the position of not having to do
nOnbu.
This gOpikA has understood that he is the means (upAyam), so she is thinking she
does not have to do anything from her side, so she is just sleeping; if one understands
his nature of protecting us, then they don’t have to do anything to gain his protection; so
too if one understands their sEshathvam (servitude/secondary nature to emperumAn);
Is this not the nature of those gOpikas who are trying to wake her up? (How come they
are not just sleeping too?) – since they are having the anxiety of getting their goal, it is
making some of them not stay put in their place, so they want to hurry and get to
krishNan. For us who are having sidhdhOpAya nishtai (that He would come to us and
accept us) too there are karma, gyAna, bhakthi – for us the karmam would be about
doing kainkaryam; our gyAnam would be about understanding of our svarUpam
(nature/relationship with emperumAn), bhakthi would be about interest/eagerness about
the destiny that is emperumAn.
nORRu – you who said that we will all go together early in the morning, will do nOnbu
together, will get krishNa anubhavam together is now sleeping even after the day has
progressed; you are enjoying your early morning as if you have already done the nOnbu
and gained perumAn.
suvarggam – pleasure/enjoyment; suvarggam puguginRa – continuously enjoying the

pleasure (krishNan). (It does not refer to the lowly 3rd world sorggam (suva: ))
ammanAi – you are still sleeping, like you have to save us and we have to be saved by
you.
The gOpikA inside did not move, thinking how come you are calling me ammanAi, when
I am a devotee of you all; she is happy to be just hearing their voices;
The gOpikAs outside are thinking good about the one inside, that she is having krishNa
anubhavam and so she is keeping quiet.
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thiruppAvai
The gOpikA inside is so happy to receive athithi (guests – srivaishnavAs who visit our
house without looking for a thithi – good day/time) that she is not able to speak.
The ones outside tell her to speak because they are afraid that bhagavAn might
misunderstand the sleeping gOpikA to have done bhAgavatha apachAram by keeping
quiet to bhAgavathas.
==> AzhwAr: ammanAi refers to kulasEkarAzhwAr. In his perumAL thirumozhi, he said

“vaNdu kiNdu narum thuzhAi mAlai uRRavaraip perum thiru mArvanai” and ANdAL here
says “nARRath thuzhAi mudi nArAyaNan“; he is going ranga yAthrai (after doing
samAsrayaNam), and so ANdAL is calling him ‘nORRu, suvarggam puguginra
ammanAi“.
mARRamum thArArO vAsal thiRavAdhAr (you have not opened the door, would you
not reply even?)
They are saying this as they are not able to tolerate her silence; if the door is closed,
should the mouth also be closed? Can you not reply to the relatives even if you are
having a lot of wealth? Inside your house you have given yourself to kaNNan, but can
you not even give your talking to us? He is not letting you get up but can you not at least
say a few words to us? While looking at him, can you not lend your ears to us? You may
not want to give your krishNan, can you not give us yourself (for going to the nOnbu)?
The gOpikA replies, “You are blaming me that I am keeping kaNNan here. Do you think
he is here?”
nARRa thuzhAi mudi
“You may try to hide him and he may keep quiet too, but it is not possible like how you
cannot hide the fragrance of sandal.”
“If he hugs me just once, his fragrance will be with me even after bathing nine times; I
came to bed after meeting you all, and you all came to my door last evening itself to
wake me up. With so many of you standing there, and with elders’ protection of the
house, would He have been able to enter this house?”
nArAyaNan
“Does HE need the doors or entrance to enter your house, like we do? Is he not present
everywhere? If he is with you in your house, it is difficult for him to only leave your place
(not difficult to enter)”. He is nArAyaNan.
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thiruppAvai
He won’t leave even those who don’t show their affection to him, will he leave you who
is in love with him?
nARRath thuzhAi mudi nArayaNan – he is wearing the thuzhAi garland to save all the
people who want him.
“If I don’t open my mouth they would say that I am not talking. If I said anything they
would say I am giving answer for everything” – thinking so, she kept quiet lying in her
bed as if sleeping.
nammAl
He is such that even we raw cowherd girls could go and surrender to him, he is so noble
and simple.
pORRa
These cowherd girls’ surrender is not upAyam (means), it is done only because of their
interest in surrendering to him; as we are born like the way we are, he is also born like
that so that he is praised
paRai tharum puNNiyanAl
He gives us mOksham
He is the means and the destiny (both upAyam and upEyam; purushArtham); we enjoy
praising him.
Praise as we are his friends too.
By that perumaN,
pandu oru nAL (once upon a time,)
Once upon a time there was someone who kept sleeping; we had heard about that day,
but today we are seeing that here.
kURRaththin vAi vIzhndha
Who because of doing wrong in front of perumAL fell and died like an insect falling into
the lamp; like drowning in a lake created for drinking water;
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thiruppAvai
kumbakaraNanum
Has even that kumbakaruNan, who is the leader of sleeping, lost in a sleeping match
with you and went away after giving you his sleep also (that is, along with the
mistakes)? His – sleep; Yours – Big sleep (perum thuyil); He – separated one woman
(due to his association with rAvaNan); You – separating all the gOpikAs of this place
from you and sleeping in your bed; he slept for 6 months and was awake once in 6
months – you are sleeping till from the creation time (they are saying like this because
even one second away from kaNNan feels like a very long time for them).
“They are comparing adiyEn with that person who did asahya apachAram (doing wrong
even without reason)” – thinking so, the gOpikA inside wants to show them that she
should not be compared to him and that she is getting up quickly, so she says “krishNa,
krishNa”.
‘kumbarkaraNan’ indicates thamO guNam (other two being sathva gunam

(serenity/tranquility) and rajO guNam (action/anger)); thamo guNam is laziness. (You
are with a lot of sathva guNam – even without having the thamO guNam you are
sleeping so much; seeing this, kumbakaraNan accepted defeat and gave his sleeping
power to you)
ARRa ananthal udaiyAy
“Would we be able to see you getting up, so that we can live happily?”
Do we need to see Him wake up? we would be happy to do thiruppaLLiyezhuchi to you.
arumgalamE
As she got up quickly, they felt that she is the central jewel for them.
“You are the rare jewel that we can get”. [ like emperumAnAr] . (they are happy that if
she gets ready, kaNNan also will come and celebrate all their presence).
Listening to this she tried to walk hurriedly, so
thERRamAi vandhu thiRa (carefully come and open the door)
walk carefully without tripping over the steps or other bumps; keep in mind, we are all
assembled here including those who can scold you, so don’t come as is from the bed,
but get yourself composed and then come join us.
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thiruppAvai
ElOrEmpAvAi – commit to your mind and follow us.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 11 - kaRRuk kaRavai

If krishNan is there for all the girls, this girl is special among all. She is thinking “Do I
have to do nOnbu to get kaNNan? Let him do nOnbu and come to me”, and she is
sleeping early in the morning in her bed. All the girls are in front of her house trying to
get her up and join their nOnbu. They think she is equal to krishNan for them.
kaRRuk kaRavai gaNangaL pala kaRandhu

cheRRAr thiRal azhiyach chenRu cheruch cheyyum
kuRRam onRillAdha kOvalar tham poRkodiyE
puRRaravalgul punamayilE pOdharAi
chuRRaththuth thOzhimAr ellArum vandhu
nin muRRam pugundhu mugil vaNNan pEr pAda
chiRRAdhE pEsAdhE selva peNdAtti
nI eRRukku uRangum poruLElor empAvAi
padha padhArtham
gaNangaL pala kaRandhu – draws milk from several groups

kanRu (kaRRu) kaRavai – of young cows, and
chenRu – goes to the enemies’ places
cheruch cheyyum – and fights with them
cheRRAr thiral azhiya – such that the strength of enemies get destroyed
kuRRam onRillAdha – (but) not having faults like hitting an enemy who is showing his
back while running away, etc.,
kOvalar tham – O (sister) of (such) gOpAlars
poRkodiyE – who looks like a slim (and beautiful) plant made of gold
puRRu aravu algul – and having the back curved like the shape of head of a snake
living in its hole
puna mayilE – and like the peacock living in its place
pOdharAi – please get up and come here;
chuRRaththuth thOzhimAr ellArum – all of (your) your friends who are relatives
vandhu – have come (together)
nin muRRam pugundhu – into your thirumAligai’s verandah
mugil vaNNan pEr pAda – to sing the names of kaNNan who is of the color of dark blue
clouds
selvappeNdAtti nI – you who is all the treasure (for us)
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thiruppAvai
chiRRAdhE pEsAdhE – not moving, and not talking

uRangum poruL eRRukku – what could be there to sleep?
Meaning
kaRRu kaRavai
Cows that are looking young like calves – because they grow young with the fond touch
of krishNan;
gaNangaL pala
gaNam -> crowd/bunch; pala-> many
It is not possible to count the cows in a bunch, and cannot count the number of such
groups as well; there are so many cows, even higher than the number of stars in the
sky, the number of grains in the beach; the number of pApams in an individual; similar
to how there is not count for jIvathamAs.
kaRandhu
Like how one sarvEswaran is determining and controlling the actions of all the
jIvAthmAs, one cowherd boy is able to follow his varnAsramam and get all the milk from
all these countless cows; the cows, because of the wealth of kaNNan’s touch, are so full
of milk that the cowherd boy milks the cows fully to reduce the tension in their teats;
gaNangaL pala kaRandhu – AchAryan giving gyAnam to lots of groups of sishyas.
cheRRAr
enemies of such cowherd boys – those who are trying to create problems to krishNan
(that is kamsan, et al) [but krishNan would say that he does not have any enemies; only
those who are enemies to his bhakthAs are his enemies]
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thiruppAvai
sVapadhEsam: those who are upAyantharaparar (using some other means to reach
their goal, e.g., gyAna yOgam etc.,) and upEyAtharaparar (asking for some other
benefits/goals)
thiRal azhiya
kamsan and his group, who think that even dhEvas are not equal to them, cannot
intimidate these AyppAdi men and so their ego is killed.
svApadhEsam: thiRal – trying to put in their own efforts (and the accompanying
ahankAram) azhiya – for that attitude to be destroyed
chenRu seruch cheyyum
AyppAdi men cannot wait for the enemies to come to them and then fight, so they would
go to the enemies’ places, even if they have to cross the river, and fight with them to
save kaNNan; equal in valor to chakravarthy thirumagan who went to the enemy’s place
to fight him.
mathurA was very close to thiruvAyppAdi. How come vasudhEvar thought it was a safe
place for kaNNan? It is because kamsan is scare of the thiruvAyppAdi gOpars. He
Never entered that place. That is why he sent his asura servants instead of going there
by himself – that too he told them to go in other forms (ைொறு மவஷம்). And krishNan
said do we need these great gOpars to kill kamsan? Just the lowly me the cowherd boy
( லடயனொன இலடயன்) is enough. At the end too, kamsan sent akrUrar to bring
kaNNan. krishnan chenRu (went and) killed kamsan. He killed him so that he would not
commit more pApams.
svApadhEsam: the ones who keep Him as their means, would do vijaya yAthrai
themselves (to correct such people)
kuRRam onRillAdha
the thiruvAyppAdi gOpars who would not be idle if they see anyone coming to fight; and
would fight without breaking the rules, (when the enemy loses his weapon, they wait for
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thiruppAvai
him to gather one, and would not attack when he does not have a weapon to fight back)
– inRu pOi nALai vArAi – said chakravarthy thirumagan.
Because they have surrendered to kaNNan, even if someone complains to kaNNan

about something that they did, He would say, “Whatever they did was right”.
kOvalar tham poRkodiyE
Hey the (sleeping) girl,
kOvalar tham – the most favorite of this whole thiruvAyppAdi,
poRkodi – who has fully given her livelihood and well-being in her husband’s hands;
jIvAthmAs who have fully given their livelihood and well-being in the hands of perumAn;
like the vines that fully depend on their support; por kodi – soundharyam – samudhAya
sObhai – overall beauty; and lAvaNyam – avayava sObhai – beauty of specific parts.
poRkodi – hEma, lathA
poRkodi – possessing gyAna vairAkyam (small waist)
==> AzhwAr – In this pAsuram, ‘kOvalar thum por kodiyE’ refers to periyAzhwAr. In
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi he sang, ‘vittu chiththan manaththE kOil kONda kOvalanai
kOzhunguLir mugil vaNNanai‘, and ANdAL in this pAsuram is singing along those lines,
‘mugil vaNNan pEr pAda‘, and he was also fond of the the kOvalar (gOpars/gOpikAs) as
he sang many including ‘kaNNan kEsavan nambi piRandhinil‘.
puRRu aravu-algul
you who is slim and elegant like a snake entering its den; her beauty makes women to
wish to be men (like dhraupathi’s girl friends); similar to how His beauty makes men
wish to wear women’s clothes (rishis upon seeing rAman); This is consistent with how
srIvaishNavas should be interested in the wellness of AchAryan’s (and srIvaishNavas’)
thirumEni (divine body). vAzhi thirunAmams describe the thirumEni too; thirukOshtiyUr
nambi thinks of ALavandhAr‘s back (that is like turtle’s back) as his savior; pinbazhagiya
perumAL jIyar ate medicines so that he could be in this world to see the thirumuka
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thiruppAvai
maNdalam (divine face) of his AchAryan nampiLLai having water drops in it, as he
regularly did every morning after his AchAryan took bath in the river.
svApadhEsam ==> algul – para bhakthi
puna mayilE
like how the peacock in its home showing its beautiful tail feathers would attract the
other, you have a beautiful hair that is attractive to kaNNan and all the gOpikAs too.
about parama bhakthi
pOdharAi
you don’t have to help us be with kaNNan, at least, just for our benefit walk a few steps;
we want to walk behind you and see your beautiful walk; please go with us for our full
satisfaction; like how it was beautiful to see rAman going to the forest (sObhayan
dhaNdakAraNyam).
“Are all of you ready? Are you all here?”
suRRaththuth thOzhimAr ellArum
All the girls are her friends; all the people are her relatives; all her people are like her,
doing kainkaryam for the sake of doing it (not expecting anything in return / not doing for
any other reason).
ellArum vandhu
They are all here – they go to sleep everyday thinking that they live for your well-being
and your relationship.
nin muRRam pugundhu
nin muRRam – The verandah(?) of your house is the favorite place for kaNNan to come
and play; whenever he knows that all of us are going here to play, he immediately wants
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thiruppAvai
to join us so that he can be here; he would come stand here and look at us with his
happy and naughty smile;
When this place is kaNNan’s favorite, it goes without saying that it is our favorite too.
(muRRam pugundhu muRuval seithu nInRIr (periya thirumozhi 10-8-5); muRRaththUdu
pugundhu ninmugam kAtti (nAchiAr thirumozhi 2-9)).
vAlmIki writes ‘vibIshaNan ‘came to rAman’ instead of using the phrase ‘went from
lankA’. It was the place to be for vibIshaNan; your muRRam is the place to be for us,
say the gOpikAs.
“what are you going to do entering this place in my house?”
mugil vaNNan pEr pAda
we will sing his nAmams thinking about His beauty and kindness which you love of him.
chiRRAdhE pEsAdhE (you are not moving about or talking)
The girl inside was keeping quiet reminiscing the beauty of ‘mugil vaNNan’ (kaNNan
who is dark like the rain clouds).
chiRRAdhE – Not moving about to indicate that you have woken up; her mischief and
words are the food for the eyes and ears of these girls who are so fond of her. They are
feeling sad because of not getting these.
selvap peNdAtti nI
You are a girl with pArathanthriyam (subservient to perumAn), being with you is the
wealth for us.
You are fully in krishNa anubhavam, don’t we have to get that anubhavam?
“I am also missing kaNNan; am I enjoying here with krishNan?”
If not, then:
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thiruppAvai
eRRukku uRangum poruL?
Is there any use in lying down in your bed and not joining all of us?
Why are you delaying, without looking at your wishes, without looking at our anxiety,
and without realizing the benefit of enjoying kaNNan?
ElOrempAvAi - Think and follow us.
In this pAsuram ANdAL is waking up a gOpikA whose brother is duty-bound in getting

the milk from all the cows, and this gOpikA was thinking that perumAn should come and
see her as that is his nature. The gOpikAs outside are desperate to go see him, and
since they want to go with her, they wake her up. In this pAsuram it says that if one
does the activities following their varNAsrama dharmam with the thought of doing it as a
kainkaryam (instead of as a means), then there is no kuRRam (fault).
Additional details relating this pAsuram to mudhal AzhwArs:
kaRRuk kaRavai gaNangaL pala – mudhal AzhwArs gave lots of pAsurams made of
small veNbAs (as named in thamizh grammar).
chenRu cheruch cheyyum – they roamed around as yOgis;
kOvalar – who reached (thiru)kOvalur – mudhal AzhwArs. kuRRam onRillAdha –

without any defects – mudhal AzhwArs were born not from a womb; Of the three,
poRkodi is bhUdhathAzhwAr – ‘kOl thEdi Odum kodi … mAl thEdi Odum manam‘. For
him the chuRRaththu thOzhimAr – related friends – poigai AzhwAr, and pEyAzhwAr
(other Azhwars are friends); algul – small waist – indicates vairAkyam; gyAnam ->
poigai AzhwAr; vairAkyam -> bhUdhaththAzhwAr; bhakthi -> pEyAzhwAr;
mugil vaNNan – these words were first used by bhUdhathAzhwAr;
chiRRAdhE pEsAdhE – bhUdhaththAzhwAr - did not cry out or complain in his

pAsurams (unlike poigai AzhwAr and pEi AzhwAr)
selvap peNdAtti (dear wife) – bhUdhathAzwar was born in the same flower as thAyAr;
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thiruppAvai
this pAsuram is said to fit kUraththAzhvan as well. If anyone knows how, please
provide in comments.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 12 - kanaiththiLam
kaRRerumai
(In this article, look out for an explanation of how this pAsuram is talking about
rAmAnujar)
The gOpikAs wake up another gOpikA whose brother is always with krishNan, like
iLaiya perumAL with chakravarthy thirumagan. krishNan does not stand straight, he
always leans on someone. That someone is this gOpikA’s brother. Because of such
closeness, this gOpikA is not bothering much to get up early – just sleeping in her bed.
In the previous pAsuram it talked about a kOvalan (gOpan) who was following his
varNAsramam duties by milking the numerous cows; in this pAsuram, this kOvalan is
ignoring those duties, but it is justified when he is going behind perumAn to help him; to
do kainkaryam to krishNan.
kanaiththu iLam kaRRu erumai kanRukku irangi

ninaiththu mulai vazhiyE ninRu pAl sOra
nanaiththu illam sERAakkum naRchelvan thangAi
paniththalai vIzha nin vAsal kadai paRRi
sinaththinAl then ilangaik kOmAnaich cheRRa
manaththukku iniyAnai pAdavum nI vAi thiRavAi
iniththAn ezhundhirAi Idhenna pEr uRakkam
anaiththu illaththArum aRindhElOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
iLam kaRRu erumai – buffaloes having young ones

kanaiththu – are making desperate calls (because no one is there to draw out the milk)
kanRukku irangi – and being kind to (its) little ones
ninaiththu – they think of the little ones,
mulai vazhiyE ninRu pAl sOra – (and because of such deep thinking , they
automatically) pour out milk continuously from their nipples
illam nanaiththu – making the whole house wet (with milk)
sERu Akkum – and (due to mixing up) become slushy;
naRchelvan – (gOpan of such a buffalo; that gOpan is having – ) the best wealth that is
krishNa-kainkaryam
thangAi – (and you are) his sister!
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
nin vAsal kadai paRRi – (we are) holding the entrance beam of your (house)
thalai pani vIzha – and the mist/snow is falling on our head;
pAdavum – even though (we) sang about
manaththukku iniyAnai – srI rAma pirAn who is sweet to our hearts
sinaththinAl cheRRa – who killed (rAvaNan) due to anger (that he separated pirAtti)
then ilangaik kOmAnai – (that is) rAvaNan the wealthy king of lankai,
nI vAi thiRavAi – you are not opening your mouth and talking;
iniththAn – at least now
ezhundhirAi – please get up;
Idhu enna pEr uRakkam – what is this great sleep?
anaiththu illaththArum – all the people (of AyppAdi)
aRindhu – have known (about your big sleep).
Meaning
kanaiththu
(Since the gOpan has gone to krishNan), the buffalo, without getting milked, is finding it
hard on its nipples and is crying out.
(perumAn with so much of love towards us is not able to wait to help us.)
iLam kaRRu erumai
the baby of this young buffalo is not able to drink milk by itself
(samsAris are not able to fully recognize perumAn‘s love.)
kanRukku irangi
while its nipples are hurting, the cow is affectionately worrying about the state of its
child.
(perumAn is worried about our gyAnam, bhakthi, saraNAgathi so that we would reach
him in srI vaikuNtam.)
chakravarthy thirumagan could not tolerate rAvaNan hurting thiruvadi (hanuman).

krishNan could not tolerate the suffering of dhraupathi. vaikuNta nAthan could not
tolerate the state of all jIvathmAs looking like achith during praLayam, so he gave
gyAnam and equipment (body).
The gOpikAs are saying, “Like how the buffalo would suffer if the cowherd boy
(kOvalan) does not get the milk out, we suffer because of your delay”.
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
ninaiththu mulai vazhiyE
just by looking at its calf, the mother is thinking that it is trying to drink the milk, so it is
pouring out milk, even without the cowherd boy using his hands;
ninRu pAl sOra
Like the falls in thiruvEnkatam, this buffalo is continuously pouring out milk keeping its
child in mind.
Why is this gOpan not milking the buffalo? He is going along with krishNan and lending
his shoulder for krishNan to lean on. iLaiya perumAL too went along with chakravarthy
thirumagan and did not worry about his kshathriya duties. These duties are enemies for
their destiny.
nanaiththu illam sERu Akkum
Because of excessive milk pouring out, it flooded the floor in the house, and it mixed
with other dirt and has become mud. So it is difficult to get inside the house.
naRchelvan
not a temporary wealth, but strong and permanent wealth which is the dharshan of
krishNan’s lotus feet; kainkaryam is the permanent wealth for all jIvathmAs; because of
this cowherd boy’s wealth (srIvaishNavam), the whole world is getting the effect of it and
are becoming srIvaishNavas.
thangAi
As a sister of such a great srIvaishNavan, since females would be more loving towards
perumAn, the gOpikAs outside are saying that she is even better than her brother in
following srIvaishNavam.
[svApadhEsam: AchAryan becomes kind and lets the sishya and their children know
about bhagavath guNa anubhavam; and being thankful to AchAryan that he helped us,
sishyan’s mind is fully on bhagavath guNams through AchAryan’s blessings.]
paniththalai vIzha nin vAsal kadai paRRi
With rain/fog pouring on our heads, and milk flowing from the mud near our feet, we are
standing in front of your house holding the sides of your doors, like people standing on a
float would dearly hold on to their support – this is our precarious situation that you are
not understanding well.
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
panith thalai vIzha – AzhwArs got ையர்வற ைதிநைம் and from their prabhandham we
get bhagavath guNa anubhavam.
nin – ‘na-kaaram’ (of nama:) – we hold on (paRRi) to perumAn
Even after this, she was just relaxing inside on her bed, the gOpikAs continue..
sinaththinAl – In order to wake up this gOpikA, they set aside kaNNan who sits in their
hearts and who troubles them endlessly, and now they talk about chakravarthy
thirumagan whom any gOpikA’s parents would be confident about.
rAvaNan’s so many arrows on him did not make him upset, but when rAvaNan sent one
arrow hurting thiruvadi (hanuman) that is when chakravarthy thirumagan got angry
(perumAn gets angry when someone hurts his devotees- bhAgavatha apachAram) and
started pouring his arrows on rAvaNan. It was only that anger killed rAvaNan.
then ilangai
the place which houses the criminal who separated the perumAn and pirAtti; as if not
wanting to see in that direction, chakravarthy thirumagan went to fight
kOmAnai
as thiruvadi (hanuman) praised that place as wealthy. hanuman was glorified as great
renunciant. Even he was amazed by the wealth of lankA.
cheRRa
Instead of just cutting off rAvaNan with one arrow, he decimated the chariot, broke the
enemies’ bows, and the army, ego and everything, and then the heads.
destroys our ahankAram
manaththukku iniyAnai
chakravarthy thirumagan is sweet to our minds and hearts (unlike krishNan who attracts
us so much but does not show up, plays foul games, makes our hearts pain us due to
his separation, who does not let out a single drop of tear (as against chakaravarthy
thirumagan who cries even for his enemies)).
He killed rAvaNan and others, and he is sweet to our heart? He killed the enemies of
bhAgavathas, so he is sweet to our hearts; he kills our svAthanthriyam, so he becomes
sweet to our hearts.
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
pAdavum nee vAi thiRavAi
“You said that we kept driveling krishNan’s nAmam and troubled your heart, so we kept
his names aside and are singing the sweet name of chakravarthy thirumagan which
would soothe our hearts – still you are not opening your mouth”
“As you are singing perumAL’s names I am relaxing and enjoying it. Why do I have to
open my mouth?”
iniththAn ezhundhirAi
You are still sleeping, even after we explained you our angst. Please get up.
Idhenna pEruRakkam?
You are sleeping so much, in yet another way, even different from perumAn‘s sleep
when all the worlds slept, different from samsAris’ sleep that is out of thamO guNam
(laziness, etc.). Your sleep is so big that you make the sleep of the gOpikA of previous
pAsuram (who got additional sleep from kumbakarNan) look like just a nap.
You are so close to Him – he gets up quickly upon seeing his devotees’ worries, but you
are sleeping like this and not concerned about our worries?
samsAris’ sleep would end during the morning when there is more sathva guNam
(tranquility/peacefulness); Iswaran’s sleep would end when seeing others’ troubles,
because of his protectiveness towards the world; your sleep would end when seeing
eagerness of those having charama parva nishtai (living as per the last stage of being,
that is bhAgavatha kainkaryam); and since it is very difficult to see such people, your
sleep is not ending?
anaiththu illaththArum aRindhu (people of all houses in the neighborhood know (about
your sleeping late))
“If you wanted all the people to know about our standing in front of your house to wake
you up, then yes all the people now know about this, so please get up”
==> Another meaning: ANdAL is saying to the gOpikA inside, “If you are enjoying
bhagavath vishayam in secrecy (rahasyam), and if you think that nobody outside should
know, well, the truth is that bhagavath vishayam is now known to everyone, and it has
benefited everyone.”
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
==>The gOpikA inside is like thirukkOshtiyUr nambi. The gOpikA outside (ANdAL) who is
saying that everyone knows about the rahasyam is like emperumAnAr! What the one
inside was enjoying in secret, the one outside let everyone know. [As we know,
thirukkOshtiyUr nambi, an AchAryan of emperumAnAr, gave the rahasyams to emperumAnAr but
not before putting him through a lot of hardship and tests (that was the method used by AchAryas of
those days – OrAN vazhi); he instructed emperumAnAr to not tell the rahasyam to anyone without
putting them through similar tests. But emperumAnAr called up the bhAgavathas and gave them all
the meanings of the rahasyam he learned from thirukkOstiyUr nambi (so, anaiththu illaththArum
arindhAr! (everyone came to know!).
(When nambi reminded him that he would go to narakam (hell) for not following AchAryan’s words,
emperumAnAr replied that if all these people would go to srI vaikuNtam because of knowing the
rahasyam, then, I am just one person, I am ready to go to narakam.)
emperumAnAr then told his sishyas that if there are sishyas with samam and dhamam (control of
inner and outer faculties) have got just the interest to learn, then that qualification is enough to teach
them everything (krupa mAthram).
{{
Translator’s note: maNavALa mAmunigaL writes about this in upadhEsa rathinamAlai:
பொருை ில் ஆலசயுலடமயொர்க்க ல்ைொம் ஆரியர் ொள் கூறுகைன்று மபசி
வரம்பறுத்தொர் பின். எம்கபருைொனொர் தரிசனம் என்மற இதற்கு நம்கபருைொள் மபரிட்டு
நொட்டி லவத்தொர், அம்புவியயோர் இந்தத் தரிசலனத்லத எம்கபருைொனொர் வளர்த்த
அந்தச் கசயல் அறிகைக்ைோ. [pArulagil Asai udaiyOrkkellAm AriyargAL kURum enRu
pEsi vaRambaRuththAr pin; emperumAnAr dharisanam enRE idharkku namperumAL
pErittu nAtti vaiththAr, ampuviyOr indhadh dharisanaththai emperumAnAr vaLarththa
andhach cheyal arigaikkA]
So, ANdAL used the word: anaiththillathArum; mAmunigaL uses: ampuviyOr;

ANdaL used: ‘aRindhu’, and maNavALa mAmunigaL uses: aRigaikkA ]
}}
==> Another meaning: The gOpikA inside is like emperumAnAr. The gOpikA inside
possesses the greatness that her buffalo pours milk by itself to its calf. emperumAnAr, by
just the krupA (kindness/eagerness) gave all the meanings to all his sishyas – just
poured out all good things to all who were interested.
==> Another meaning: All the people are knowing bhagavath vishayam after ANdAL
nAchiAr’s avathAram.
ElOrempAvAi – Think about this, commit to yourself, and follow.
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
As a summary, In this pAsuram they wake up a gOpikA whose brother is not focused on
his duties like getting the milk, but is always with krishNan and lending his shoulder for
krishNan to lean on; the gOpikAs want to wake up a sister of such a gOpan, and they
sing about manaththukku iniyAn (sweet to think about) that is srI rAman, and they ask her
to get up as the neighbors are also coming to know that she is still sleeping. In
aithIhyam, ‘anaiththillaththArum aRindhu‘ is related to emperumAnAr telling the meanings of
rahasyams to all interested srIvaishNavas instead of restricting it to one at a time after
testing them several times.
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 13 - puLLin vAi kINdAnai

This gOpikA is thinking that if her eyes are beautiful enough (if we have the svarUpa
gyAnam (that it is He who looks for us)), then kaNNan would automatically come to her.
So she is just lying in her bed. She heard the gOpikAs singing praise of chakravarthy
thirumagan in the previous thirumALigai, and so decides not to keep quiet and asks the
gOpikAs when they came to her door, about the rAma nAma sankIrthanam. They reply,
yes we can sing about not only rAman, but also about our favorite krishNan.
puLLin vAi kINdAnai pollA arakkanai

kiLLik kaLaindhAnai kIrthimai pAdippOi
piLLaigaL ellArum pAvaikkaLam pukkAr
veLLi ezhundhu vyAzham uRangiRRu
puLLum silambina kAN pOdharik kaNNinAi!
kuLLak kuLiRa kudaindhu nIrAdAdhE
paLLik kidaththiyO pAvAi nI nannALAl
kaLLam thavirndhu kalandhElOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
puLLin vAi kIndAnai – (empirAn who) tore and threw away the mouth of bakAsuran who
came in the form of a bird,
pollA arakkanaik kiLLik kaLaindhAnai – who very easily/casually destroyed rAvaNan
who was bad deeds personified,
kIrthimai pAdip pOi – (we) go while singing of (such empirAn’s) brave deeds;
piLLaigaL ellArum – all the gOpikAs
pukkAr – entered
pAvaikkaLam – (to) the place marked by krishNan and us for nOnbu;
veLLi ezhundhu – sukran has risen, and
vyAzham uRangiRRu – guru has set
puLLum silambina kAN – (and) birds are spreading out (to look for prey);
nI – you,
pOdhu arik kaNNinAi – with the eyes like flower and deer,
pAvAi – (and) naturally having women’s greatness,
nal nAL – (we are going to be together with krishNan) in this good day,
kaLLam thavirndhu – (so) avoid the ill will (of being alone with krishNan)
kalandhu – (and) join (us);
kuLLa kuLira kudaindhu nIrAdAdhE – (you,) without taking bath well in the cold water
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
paLLik kidaththiyO – sleeping in the bed (instead)?

Al – surprised (that we got such a good day)!
Meaning
puLLin vAi kINdAnai
perumAn who killed the bird that was bakAsuran
For people who have surrendered to him, he helps them to get rid of their kAmam (lust)
and other dhOshams (ills) which come in the way of kainkaryam.
pollA arakkanai
Like the arakkan (rAkshasa) who separated pirAtti from perumAn; he is a bad arakkan,
unlike the good one like vibhIshaNan. Because he is so bad, they do not want to say his
name in the pAsuram; thirumangai mannan also said ‘mun poLa irAvaNan’ to say that
his main defect is his pollAngu (bad deeds).
Our ahankAram;
kiLLik kaLaindhAnai
Like how we snatch out the leaves affected by insects and leave the good ones in the
tree, perumAn saved vibIshanAzhvAn and snatched the head of pOllA arakkans like
rAvaNan.
pollA arakkanai (does not destroy the Good aspect of ahankAram, which is – when
‘aham’ (I), and ‘mama’ (mine) make us think that Iswaran and his belongings are liked
by us; srIvaishNavas living with the realization that being subservient to perumAn is
their nature. perumAn would help us keep this good thing.
pollA – Bad, ahankAram – feeling of an independence from perumAn, feeling that we

can do everything on our own – He helps us by snatching away only such bad aspects
without affecting the good aspects.
kIrthimai – greatness due to valor;
Enemies, and others who supported them, lost themselves to perumAn – rAvaNan for
perumAL’s valor, his sister melted for His beauty, and his brother became the target of
His kindness/greatness.
So it goes without saying that we his adiyArs would fall flat on his lotus feet.
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
pAdip pOi
Thing to do while on our way to go to him is to sing His names; they won’t go if they
don’t sing; singing itself is their goal; mukthan would be taking puNdarIkAkshan’s divine
names as the journey-food (food that is packed along for consumption during the
journey), while going to paramapadham.
piLLaigaL ellArum
even those little gOpikAs whom we have to wake up have already woken up and are on
their way for the nOnbu
pAvaik kaLam pukkAr
to the place where we and krishNan have marked to meet for doing nOnbu.
(bhAgavathas woke up early and went to the place of kAlakshEpam).
“Is it dawn already for them to be going now?”
veLLi ezhundhu viyAzham uRangiRRu
sukran (veLLi) has risen in the sky, and the bruhaspathi (vyAzham) is set.
(agyAnam fell and gyAnam about perumAn rose)
“Any star you see, you would think it is veLLi setting and vyAzham rising”, (because you
are always thinking of a reason to start going for the nOnbu)
They reply, “not only that sign, …”
puLLum silmabina, kAN
All the birds too – they have not only woken up, but are also making noise as they have
started going to find their food.
(remaining bhAgavathas have also gotten ready and gone to kAlakshEpam)
pOdhari kaNNinAi
O, gOpikA, whose eyes are like a flower (podhu: flower)
and like those of a deer (ari -> deer);
Or, like how a bee inside the center of a flower would look like. ( ari -> bee)
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
Or, your eyes are winning the competition against flowers for beauty.
We want krishNan to go deep in to the water that is the beauty of your eyes, and seeing
that, we want to go deep in to the water that is kaNNan’s beauty and your being with
him (உைிழ் நீர் உண்ைல்). (bhAgavatha sambandham);
The gOpikA inside is a deer with beautiful long eyes; krishNan is aravindhalOchanan
who owns the whole world; and we are the target of both your eyes.
(O the bhAgavathA who has the gyAnam and bhakthi to perumAn)
==> AzhwAr – In this pAsuram, ANdAL is referring to thiruppANAzhwAr by saying

‘pOdharik kaNNinAi‘. He sang so much about perumAn‘s eyes in his only prabandham
of amalanAdhipirAn: ‘adiyArkku ennai At paduththa vimalan‘, ‘en kaNNin uLLana‘,
‘koNdal vaNNanai kOvalanAi … en amudhinaikkaNda kaNgaL‘… so ANdAL is calling
him ‘pOdharikkaNNinAi’. He sang ‘chathura mAmadhiL sUzh ilangaikku iRaivan thalai
paththu udhira Otti Or vengaNai uyththavan‘, and ANdAL is saying here, ‘pOllA
arakkanai kiLLi-k kaLaindhAnai‘.
kuLLakkuLira
before the sun rises and water becomes warm
kudaindhu nIrAdAdhE
without bathing to reduce our thApam for not being able to see kaNNan, and making
sure we will never miss him, and that we would go and enjoy his anubhavam, you are
still sleeping;
(without entering the place of kAlakshEpam and enjoyng bhagavath anubhavam along
with other bhAgavathas)
paLLik kidaththiyO
you are lying down in the bed – you are just enjoying the fragrance of the bed that had
been touched by krishNan’s thirumEni (divine form), instead of going to krishNan – this
is like collecting and eating a few grains when there is so much of them available grown
in the paddies.
(doing bhagavath anubhavam staying alone?)
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
pAvAi nI
you are not of the nature to be alone, (you always want to join the other bhAgavathas
and perumAn for kainkaryam).
nan nALAl
The future from today are good days, unlike the rAvaNan days where there was
separation; we don’t know what the elders will say after this month – we got a good
month to be with krishNan, but you are smelling the bed lying down;
aithIhyam -> for vaikunta EkAdhasi, parAsara bhattar’s thiruththAyAr (mother) ANdAL
had done upavAsam (fasting), and next day she asked bhattar for thIrtham; since
vaikunta EkAdhasi comes during the great days of pagal paththu and rAppaththu
uthsavams, bhattar asked his mother, ‘why did you choose this EkAdhasi for doing
fasting?’ (this means, when one needs strength to enjoy the uthsavams, this EkAdhasi
is coming in between the uthsavams; or it means, when during uthsavam we should be
thinking of emperumAn all the time, where was the time to think of food and do
upavAsam to avoid the food? [explanation is taken from Sri u.vE. vEnkatakrishNan
swami’s “vAzhvum vAkkum”, item 88.]
kaLLam thavirndhu kalandhu
kaLLam – enjoying alone, thinking about krishNan’s mischief
thavirndhu – do not do KaLLam,
kalandhu – come and join us
Not showing us your face is like stealing (kaLLam) the jIvAthmA from paramAthmA.
Feeling of swAthanthryam (feeling that we are independent of perumAn) cannot not be

tolerated.
(read also as: kalandhu kuLLakkuLira nIrAdAdhE paLLikkidaththiyO?)
ElOrempAvAi – Think through and follow us.
In this pAsuram ANdAL is waking up a gOpikA who has got beautiful eyes (gyAnam), to
sing about the great deeds of krishNan, and calling her to go and bathe in cold water to
reduce their angst of missing krishNan (join with krishNan), asking her to join quickly.
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
bhAgavathas go to kAlakshEpams early and quickly to gain gyAnam, and get

anubhavam.
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 14 - ungaL puzhaikkadai

The one who was to organize everything about nOnbu, and who had talked about doing
all these wake-ups, is the one being woken up in this pAsuram. This gOpikA would
connect all the bhAgavathas with emperumAn; full in gyAna, bhakthi, vairAkyam.
ungaL puzhaikkadaith thOttaththu vAviyuL

sengazhu nIr vAi negizhndhu Ambal vAi kUmbina kAN
sengal podik kURai vEN pal thavaththavar
thangaL thirukkOyil sangiduvAn pOginRAr
engaLai munnam ezhuppuvAn vAi pEsum
nangAi! ezhundhirAi nANAdhAi! nAvudaiyAy!
sangodu chakkaram Endhum thadakkaiyan
pangayak kaNNAnaip pAdElOrempAvAi.
padha padhArtham
engaLai munnam ezhuppuvAn – would wake us (who are your friends) up first
vAi pEsum – mentioned so with your mouth (in passing)
nangAi – who is full of good qualities
nANAdhAi – not feeling guilty (that you did not wake us up as promised)
nA udaiyAi – having a tongue (that says sweet words)
ungaL puzhaik kadai thOttaththu vAviyuL – in the pond that is in the back of your house
sengazhunIr vAi negizhndhu – lotus flowers have blossomed
Ambal vAi kUmbina kAN – Ambal flowers have closed down; see!
sengal podik kURai – (also) one with clothes brick in color
veN pal – and having white teeth
thavaththavar – having the get up of sanyAsis who do thapas
pOginRAr – are going,
sangu iduvAn – to sound the konch
thangaL thirukkOyil – in their temples;
pangayak kaNNAnai – sarvEsvaran having lotus eyes
sangodu chakkaram – and conch and the wheel (sudharsanar)
Endhum – (which he) easily holds in both the hands
thadak kaiyan – (he) having big hands,
ezhundhirAi – please get up
pAda – to sing (about him, as a conduit of our love)
Meaning
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
ungaL puzhaikkadai ….
“The red lotus flowers have blossomed, and the Ambal flowers have closed themselves
(as it has become morning), and you are still sleeping?”
“Did you go to the fields?”
“No, we saw this in the backyard”
“You would have forced those flowers”
ungaL puzhaikkadai thOttaththu vAviyuL sengazhu nIr vAi nEgizhndhu Ambal vAi
kUmbina
“No, we are talking about the flowers in your own backyard, the backyard to which we
are not able to get into (because the entrance is still closed, and you are still sleeping)”
They are saying particularly in her backyard, to say that it is she who is still sleeping.
Not because of sunlight, but because it has become morning.
“When it is just about to open up their buds, you are saying they are blossoming fully. Is
there any other sign for dawn?” (In this pAsuram, the day has progressed even further
compared to that in previous pAsurams).
In the nama: that is in the middle of thirumanthram, pArathanthriyam became

pronounced, and svAthanthriyam diminished/went away.
sengal podik kURai veN pal thavaththavar thangaL thirukkOil sangiduvAn

poginrAr
The sanyAsis wearing clothes colored with sengal (brick color) powder, and with
clean/white teeth of brahmachAris, are going to their temples; sanyAsis have finished
their sandhyAvandhanam and are getting ready to do thiruvArAdhanam, the day has
progressed that much.
embAr nirvAham: even the people with thAmasa guNam (laziness, etc.,), who use
sangu (conch) for pouring water on their god have woken up; you with sathva guNam
have not yet woken up?
ananthANpillai who volunteered to go to thiruvEnkatam to do pushpa (flower)

kainkaryam to perumAn gives the meaning as: ‘jIyar swami is already climbing up the
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thiruppAvai
thirumalA mountain steps to open the temple (sangu also can mean key (for opening
the door to the temple)).
“those who are always thinking about perumAn might do thiruvArAdhanam even before
dawn; what the ones having thAmasam do, can be a pramANam? So can it be a proof
that it is already dawn”
engaLai munnam ezhuppuvAn
“Your sleeping here is also not a proof for your words yesterday that you will get up first
and wake up all of us. எல்ைொலரயும் நொமனகயழுப்பு ிமறகனன்று கசொன்னது
உன்பக் ல் ண்டிமைொைீ !”
vAi pEsum
They continue, “You are talking, but not implementing. You are a close friend of
krishNan – telling lies must be nothing new to you.”
Even before we ask you, you would make us gyAnis by telling us bhagavath related
special meanings.
nangAi
We see how you are following your words that you will wake up all of us, that you won’t
go without us, and so on. Would you do at least some of what you said?
ezhundhirAi
Please get us to save us from this (delay)
nANAdhAi
Are you not feeling anything about not following your plans?
Pumpkin’s skin has a certain roughness called suNai, without which it does not grow;
‘suNai’ also means being ashamed (for not keeping the word here). So periyavAchAn
piLLai says ‘does your place not grow pumpkins?’.
(AchAryan does not shy away from explaining us the meanings)
nAvudaiyAy
“Why are you coming here even when you are upset?”
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thiruppAvai
“To listen to your sweet voice and speech; how much ever hardship you give us, your
speech mesmerizes us”.
(AchAryan with his gyAnam corrects us into right path)
“What do you want to do now?”
sangodu chakkaram Endhum thadakkaiyan pangayak kaNNAnai
Because of carrying changu and chakram, perumAn‘s hands grow and appear beautiful;
his lotus eyes are so beautiful they have grown up to the changam and chakram in his
hands; young gOpikAs fall for his beautiful eyes; people who see the changam and
chakram which are like sun and moon, along with his eyes which are opening up like
lotus flowers would become mesmerized. First krishNan becomes dhAsan of gOpikAs,
and then with his eyes attracts them and makes them His dhAsar. Does krishNan have
those in his hands? Yes, but it would be visible only to some; He uses them to scare the
young gOpikAs while playing with them. (emperumAnAr asked whether embAr was
present in the back of the gOshti, when embAr showed the action of changu chakram to
araiyar when araiyar was showing a different action for krishNan scaring the young
gOpikAs, and then corrected it based on embAr‘s sign). krishNan showed them even at
the time of birth to his parents in jail – they pleaded him to hide them, fearing for his
safety.
pAda
sing kaNNan so that we who are like dry land would get the rain that is kaNNan’s
nAmams.
svApadhEsam: Singing thiruvAimozhi is the benefit by itself (please get up to do that)
ElOrempAvAi – think well and follow us.
AzhwAr ==> This pAsuram matches with thiruppANAzhwAr. puzhakkadai – ‘backyard’

to srIrangam is uRaiyUr where he was born; thirukkOyil sangiduvAn – for
thiruvArAdhanam, veN pal thavaththavar – lOka sAranga muni; munnam vAi pEsi – this
AzhwAr talked about bhAgavatha sEshathvam first – adiyArkkennai Atpaduththa; since
muni wished for AzhwAr to be in his shoulders and he agreed, even that is a
kainkaryam of AzhwAr to the adiyAr; (lOka sAranga muni is seen in the thiruvadi of
thiruppANAzhwar in the latter’s sannidhi at srIrangam).
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thiruppAvai
In this pAsuram, ANdAL wakes up an adiyAr whom the gOpikAs want to follow to
emperumAn, but who is having krishNa anubhavam and so not getting up from bed;
they ask her to go with them so that their anubhavam would be fulfilling. They want to
sing about the puNdarIkAkshan, who is holding majestic changu and
chakkarathAzhvars.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 15 - ellE iLam kiLiyE

This is the 15th pAsuram of thiruppAvai, and 10th and final of the ones that wake up
other gOpikAs.
==> This is also a nAyagak kal – main pAsuram, of thiruppAvai – “thiruppAvai Agiradhu
ippAttu” [this song IS thiruppAvai)]. (So) it is set in the middle of the 30 pAsurams
(exluding the last one where ANdAL sings that as herself and not as a gOpikA, and it is
pala sruthi pAsuram). In the 8 lines of this pAsuram, ignoring the last line of
ElOrempAvAi, in the 7 lines, the key phrase ‘nAnE thAn Ayiduga’ is in the middle line,
like a gem fixed in the middle of a central piece.
– mahAbhAratham was mainly for bhagavath gIthA; bhagavath gIthA was created for
charama slOkam;
– ‘mEmporuL pOga vittu’ is the central pAsuram of thirumAlai.
– ‘thanakkE Aga enaik koLLumIdhE’ – main central pAsuram of thiruvAimozhi.
– Here, thiruppAvai is for this pAsuram!
In this pAsuram they wake up a gOpikA who wants to see the whole crowd.
In the prior nine pAsurams, words of the pAsurams themselves were all those of the
gOpikAs outside only. The conversation was not explicit. vyAkyAthAs (commentators
like periyavAchAn piLLai) had added them due to their kindness, for our understanding.
The words in this key pAsuram are from both the gOpikAs outside, and the gOpikA
inside. There is a strong reason for that. ANdAL wants to actually show the gOpikA
inside as talking in order to tell us the ways of a srivaishNavar.
(Note: To get the deepest meanings of especially this pAsuram kindly attend
kAlakshEpams, and from your AchAryan).
ellE iLam kiLiyE! innam uRangudhiyO?

chil enRu azhaiyEnmin nangaimIr pOdharginREn
vallai un katturaigaL paNdE un vAi aRidhum
valleergaL nIngaLE nAnE thAn Ayiduga
ollai nI pOdhAi unakkEnna vERudaiyai
ellArum pOndharO pOndhAr pOndhu eNNikkoL
val Anai konRAnai mARRArai mARRazhikka vallAnai
mAyanaip pAda ElOrempAvAi
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thiruppAvai
padha padhArtham
iLam kiLiyE – O gOpikA, who looks like a young parrot (in speech and looks)
ellE – wow! (how sweet is your speech!)
innam – even after everyone has come and stood here
uRangudhiyO – you are still sleeping? (and so they try to wake her up)
nangaimIr – (gOpikA from inside says) – dear girls!
sil enRu azhaiyEnmin – please talk without fighting (with me);
pOdharginrEn – Will start (now itself)
vallai – (from outside:) you are smart (in talks)
paNdE aRidhum – we know for quite long
un katturaigaL – about your strong words
un vAi – and about your taking in length (but no action)
nIngaLE valleergaL – (from inside:) – it is you who can talk strongly/rudely (as you are
arguing with me)
nAnE thAn Ayiduga – (then truly accepts the fault as hers) – ok, I shall be the one who
is talking strongly/rudely
(what do you want me to do?)
nee – (from outside:) you
ollai pOdhAi – get up quickly;
unakku enna vERu udaiyai – what separate goals/plans are you having?
ellArum pOndhArO – (from inside:) – has everyone come (who are supposed to come)?
pOndhAr – (from outside:) – they have come
pOndhu eNNikkoL – (you) come out and count them
(from inside:) what do I need to do after coming out?
pAda – (from outside:) – to sing about
konRAnai – the one who destroyed
vallAnai – the strong elephant (kuvalayApIdam)
mARRArai mARRu azhikka vallAnai – and who can destroy the strength of enemies
mAyanai – that is, kaNNan, who does wonderful actions
(so please get up).
Meaning:
ellE iLam kiLiyE
When the gOpikAs asked the gOpikA of previous pAsuram to sing about kaNNan who
has got beautiful eyes and who carries changu and chakram in his beautiful hands, the
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thiruppAvai
gOpikA in this pAsuram heard that while lying down in her bed, and she started
humming that song.
That sweet sound reached the ears of these gOpikAs, and they came to this house and
now they are saying “ellE! iLam kiLiyE!”
kiLiyE – parrot’s sweet voice is like that of this gOpikA! (it cannot match this gOpikA’s
young beauty);
also: we are kiLi, you are iLam kiLi;
ellE! – Wow! (they are wowed by the sweetness of her voice)
ellE! – calling her; Like how the people from south like vAnamAmalai dhivya dhEsam
would address a girl, ‘yEdi’.
The gOpikA inside thought that they are scolding her as ‘while our lips and body are
pale due to separation from krishNan, you are like a parrot with green/fresh body and
red lips, thinking of krishNan?’. So she kept mum.
innam uRangudhiyO
Their calling her is disturbing her singing, so she is not responding to them. So, they are
asking, “Are you still sleeping!”
Due to missing krishNan we are all tired and – sleepless in AyppAdi – and standing
here waiting for your blessing, but you are not giving even that?
When we have got the best opportunity to get krishNa anubhavam (which we might lose
in a few days as our nOnbu would end), can you be sleeping?
When we are going to get what we wanted, would anyone sleep like this?
sillenRu azhaiyEnmin
These words are from the gOpikA inside.
Their calling her is disturbing her singing the nAmams, so she is saying, ‘Please do not
address me like this’.
Can their calling her be a disturbance? When emperumAnAr‘s sishyas were having
thiruvAimozhi kAlakshEpam, the selvar came with his vAdhya gOshti which disturbed
the kalakshEpam – similar to that, this gOpikA is feeling disturbed.
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thiruppAvai
nangaimIr pOdharginrEn
When they asked, ‘what is it with you, ignoring us and our words?’, she felt ashamed
and wanted to join them quickly. She replied,
“If you can keep your mouth closed, I will start now.”
vallai un katturaigaL paNdE un vAi aridhum
“You are curt/rude (vallai) – you are calling us ‘nangaimIr’ to imply some distance
between you and us (so, they are rash words). We know for long that you have the
ability to talk like this (katturai) and put the fault on us. You want to have krishNa
anubhavam by yourself inside the house”, say the gOpikAs waiting outside.
valleergaL nIngaLE
The gOpikA inside the house at first replies, “valleergaL nIngaLE (you gOpikAs are the
ones who are rude/curt. You first said, ‘are you still sleeping?’, ‘you talk smart’, etc., so
you are ones who are being harsh with their words.”
“you said that you will join once we closed our mouths – is it not your mistake to say
that?”
“no, it is not – instead of feeling happy that the gOpikA who is joyful to hear our voice is
now so involved in singing about krishNan, you gOpikAs found fault with me – so the
mistake is yours”.
(Till now even though it sounds like they are arguing, it is that the gOpikAs outside think
highly of the one inside, that she is having great krishNa anubhavam, singing about him,
etc. And, the gOpikA inside is also thinking highly of the ones outside as to their
enthusiasm to go and be with krishNan.)
The gOpika inside says – valleergaL nIngaLE – I too have come to your doors and got
words from you earlier; they reply – that was past; see the prathyaksham (what is
seen/now, we are here), instead of anumAnam (what can be guessed/ what happened
long ago). (that is how those belonging naiyAyika madham argue – they focus on
anumAnam and not prathyaksham – when they see an elephant they would not say
anything; but after it has left, they would look at its foot steps, etc., and say there was an
elephant here).
Even though the gOpikA inside said this, because the nature of a srIvaishNavar is to
accept mistakes (even if someone assigns that on the srIvaishNavar when there is
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thiruppAvai
none), [paraspara nIcha-bhAvai: – every srIvaishNava to have the attitude that we are
of lower level than other srIvaishnavas], the gOpikA says …
nAnE thAn Ayiduga
“Yes, (sorry), I am the one who is vallai’.
bharathAzhvAn too said that it is because of his own pApam that perumAL had to go to
forest, and did not assign blame on those who created the problem.
இல்ைொத குற்றத்லதயும் சிைர் “உண்டு” என்றொல், இல்லை கசய்யொமத

இலசல யிமற லவஷ்ைவைக்ஷைம். (illAdha kuRRaththaiyum silar “uNdu”
enRAl, illai seiyAdhE isaigaiyiRE vaishNava-lakshaNam.)
That is, even if someone assigns a non-committed mistake/fault on us, truly accepting it
(even in one’s own mind) without denying is what is the identification of a srIvaishNava;
this is the meaning given in vEdhas.
nampiLLai came and waited at thunnu pugazh kandhAdai thOzhappar’s thirumALigai, to

apologize, when in fact it was thOzhappar who was ready to go to nampiLLai’s
thirumALigai to apologize. And nampiLLai got the famous name of ‘ulagAriyan’ [என்ன
உை ொரியமனொ! O! you are the AchAryan for the whole world!] {and we got the
famous name in the great AchAryar – piLLai ulagAriyan, as the name was given to him
by his father vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai because of his love for his AchAryan
nampiLLai).
parAsara bhattar was happy when a (newly appointed) kovil kuRattu maNiyar (manages
some aspects of the temple) scolded bhattar without knowing about him, when bhattar
entered the sannidhi without any restrictions as usual (as he is the son of perumAL
thAyar themselves). bhattar was very happy at this scolding, and he was thankful to that
maNiyam for saying the faults in him which he himself was supposed to think about
everyday.
This is followed by what is said in srIvachana bhUshaNam – kuRRam seidhavargaL

pakkal poRaiyum, krupaiyum, sirippum, ugappum, upakAra smruthiyum nadakka
vENum – குற்றம் கசய்தவர் ள் பக் ல் கபொலறயும், க்ருலபயும், சிரிப்பும்,
உ ப்பும் உப ொரஸ்ம்ருதியும் நடக் மவணும் – towards those who did (the
mistake of) finding fault in us, we should show patience (poRai), be kind (krupai) to think
that perumAn might count his faulting us as his apachAram, laughter (sirippu) because
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thiruppAvai
they scolded our body which is our enemy; happiness (ugappu) because due to the
scolding our pApa karmA would reduce, and so be thankful (upakAra smruthi) to them.
If the svarUpam is bhAgavatha sEshathvam, then accepting the fault they assign as our
own is also part of that svarUpam.
Other side of the coin is that we should not expect/pressurize vidhwAns/srIvaishNavAs

to talk about our positive aspects.
The gOpikA thus showed this srIvaishNava attitude in anushtAnam (doing it in action);
She continues, “what do you want do now?”
ollai nI pOdhAi
Since we cannot be without you even for one second, quickly join our crowd.
Leave the krishNan in your bed as is (as she is doing krishNa anubhavam), and you
come and join us.
For the gOpikA too this crowd is what is needed for going to krishNan.
unakkenna vERudaiyai
Do you have anything to enjoy alone, like cooking and eating alone, that is not
available to enjoy for the gOpikAs from 5 lakhs houses of thiruvAyppAdi? [Note: 6000-
padi adds: adhAvadhu madhyama padhamum mUnrAm padhamum – if anyone could
give contextual explanation, please add it in the comments section] .
Goal is to be included in sAdhu gOshti (aruLicheyal gOshti).
There is no difference between dhEvathAntharam (praying someone other than

perumAL), and any perumAL vishayam that avoids other srivaishNavas; and no
difference between going after vishayam (materialistic), and any perumAL vishayam
that avoids other srIvaishNavas.
==> We think of kUraththAzhvan‘s words in the following incident – the kirumikaNda

chOzha king had ordered that emperumAnAr, and anyone associated with him, should
not be allowed inside kOyil (srIrangam). Not aware of this, when his sishyar
kUraththazhvAn was about to enter the temple, he was stopped by a guard and was
told “You cannot enter the temple because you are one of emperumAnAr‘s people”. But
then another guard said that kUraththAzhvAn is parama bhakthan of perumAL he is not
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thiruppAvai
an enemy to anyone, he is a good person, so it is okay to allow him inside the temple
(“நீ ஒருவர்க்கும் விமரொதியல்லை; நீ புக்குத் திருவடி கதொழு“). When
kUraththAzhvAn understood king’s order, he returned without going into the temple
saying “எம்கபருைொனொர் சம்பந்தமை மபொரும் – emperumAnAr‘s association is
enough for me. (Athma guNam helps in doing AchArya kainkaryam; if that guNam is
used for separating me from AchAryan, then there is no use of that.)
==> There was one subrahmaNya bhattar who was very fond of emperumAnAr and his
gOshti, and he worked for the chOzha king. When there was a flood that was going to
enter the temple premises, kUra nArAyaNa jIyar redirected the water – this affected a
neighboring village, chinthAmani. So the villagers were arguing about it with the
srivaishNavas. When subrahmanya bhattar was asked by the king to go as a mediator
to solve this issue, he refused: “If I went as a mediator then I would have to be mentally
separated from the two groups, which I cannot do because I don’t want to be separated
from srIvaishNavas even for half a second”.
So, no separate plans/goals that separates from other srIvaishNavas.
No separate path from what our pUrvAchAryAs have followed; not follow own mind.
(munnOr mozhindha muRai thappAmal kEttu pinnOrndhu; முன்மனொர் கைொழிந்த
முலற தப்பொைல் ம ட்டு பின்மனொர்ந்து).
The gOpikAs continue, “So immediately join us to pray the lotus feet”.
ellArum pOndhArO
When bharathAzhvAn came with the whole of ayOdhyA to get perumAL (srI rAman)
back to ayOdhyA, iLaiyaperumAL (lakshmaNan) mistaking that bharathan was coming
to kill them, had started preparing the bow and arrows; perumAL did not like this, and
told him “bharathan is not interested in ruling the kingdom; if you are interested, then I
will get it for you (from bharathan, and keep him here with me); iLaiyaperumAL bowed
his head down and calmed down – in the same way when gOpikAs asked whether she
is having her own plans, she bowed down her head, and immediately replied, ‘ellArum
pOndhAro?’
“Do I have any other happiness than joining you? I was just waiting for all the smaller
gOpikAs also to wake up. Have all the gOpikAs come here?”.
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thiruppAvai
pOndhAr
“yes all of them, who are tired due to separation from krishNan, are here in your door
step”
“you are saying this just to get me out of the bed. If they are here, why don’t you send
them all inside?”
pOndhu eNNikkoL
“You show your face to us and take attendance of them (we cannot go even if one
bhAgavatha has not yet joined); the benefit of that would be that you would touch and
count all of us, (koL) hug each and every one of us”.
“What would we all do if we get together?”
val Anai konRAnai
The one who killed kuvalayApIdam and gave the life, that is, himself, to us; kamsan
had set up the elephant near the entrance and was waiting to hear that the little boy was
killed, and was ready to behave as the boy’s uncle; but the boy killed the elephant and
made our life and his own life to be meaningful.
like how he killed kuvalayApIdam there, he killed our characteristics like shyness and
made us take up nOnbu (so that we could go see Him).
Like ‘venjina vEzham (elephant) marupposithha vEndhar kol, endhizhaiyAr (gOpikAs)

manaththai thanjudaiyALar kol’ (periya thirumozhi 9-2-6).
(“Or Anai kAththu, Or Anai konRu” (saved one elephant, killed one elephant) in
thiruchandhaviruththam talks about gajEndhrAzhvAn and kuvalayApIdam).
mARRArai mARRazhikka vallAnai
who killed without any effort kamsan and his rAkshasAs who came in front of Him, and
saved all the gOpikAs who were afraid of kaNNan’s safety,
Similar to that, he changed the minds of gOpars who had prevented him from seeing his
gOpikAs.
Unlike charavarthy thirumagan who said ‘inRu pOi nALai vA (go back today and come
tomorrow (for the war)’, krishNan did to kamsan and his group what they wanted to do
to him, and removed the chains from his parents.
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thiruppAvai
(rAmAnujar and other AcharyAs who killed the objections (mARRu azhikka) of other
schools and enabled those people to join him – (aruLALaperumAL emperumAnAr, and
others)).
mAyanai
what kamasan et al undergo in His hands, He undergoes in his gOpikAs’ hands, losing
himself to them – mAyan
pAda
Sing such a wonderful krishNan’s names; sing after how we are lost to the wonder of
His losing to us. Like how those who lost (arakkar) sang ‘EththuginROm nA thazhumba,
rAman thiru nAmam‘. This is the place where losing became victory. Please sing with
your sweet voice.
Sing about him who is hard to reach by own efforts, who can remove our ahankAram,
kAmam, krOdham, etc., and who is dear to his adiyArs.
Singing about Him makes other srIvaishNavas happy, and that is our kainkaryam to
them.
– – In pAsuram 5, vAyinAl pAdi – singing krishNan’s avatharam.

– – In 7: kEsavanaip pAda; – – in 27: pAdip paRai koNdu; and in – – 13: kIrthimai pAdi
– these phrases sing about his valor, getting rid of the enemies of bhAgavathas.
– – In 11: mugil vaNNan pEr pAda – sings about how all the people lose to His beauty.
– – In 14: changodu chakkaram Endhum thadakkaiyan pangayak kaNNAnaip pAda –
sings about how we are lost to his divya changu chakrAyudham and the beautiful parts
of thirumEni
– – and, in this pAsuram, they want to sing how kaNNan without any weapons in his
hands won kamsan et al, and how without any weapons He lost himself to the gOpikAs.
=> For the bhAgavathas who have come together, ‘uNNum sORu, parugu nIr, thinnum
veRRilai – ellAmum kaNNan‘.
ElOrempAvAi – Decide in your mind and follow us.
AzhwAr ==> In this pAsuram, ANdAL is calling thirumangai AzhwAr as ellE iLam kiLiyE.
‘iLam‘-> young -> thirumangai azhwAr is the youngest of AzhwArs; thirumangai
mannan sang in his periya thirumozhi ‘adigaL adiyE ninaiyum adiyavargaL tham adiyAn
/ அடி ளடிமய நிலனயும் அடியவர் ள் தம்ைடியொன்’ where he wanted to be like
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thiruppAvai
this gOpikA that is adiyArs’ adiyAr. He sang about himself pretending to be a gOpikA,
‘men kiLi pOl mig mizahRRum‘, ‘paN miLirak kiLi pOl mizhaRRi nadandhu‘)
(‘கைன் ிளிமபொல் ைி ைிழற்றும்’, ‘பண் ைிளிரக் ிளிமபொல் ைிழற்றி நடந்து‘),
and ANdAL is also saying ‘ellE! iLam kiLiyE‘. His words ‘kari munindha kaiththalamum /
ரி முனிந்த ல த்தைமும்‘ is available here as ‘val Anai konRAnai / வல்ைொலன
க ொன்றொலன ‘.
(Following are AzhwAr vishayam from srI U.Ve. M.A. vEnkatakrishNan swami’s
thiruppAvai upanyAsam)
– parrot would repeat words – thirumangai AzhwAr in his prabandhams gave the six
angams (parts) related to what nammAzhwAr gave us, about 4 vEdhAs;
Now an interesting conversation between ANdAL and thirumangai AzhwAr:
ANdAL to thirumangai AzhwAr – innam urangudhiyO – you who does srIvashNava

thadhiyArAdhanam, are still sleeping?
AzhwAr to ANdAL – sillenRu azhaiyEnmin
ANdAL to AzhwAr - paNdE aRidhum – we know about you even before your
avathAram (through this pAsuram!);
un katturaigaL – thirumangai AzhwAr is known for strong words like ‘vAzhndhE pOm
nIrE / வொழ்ந்மத மபொம் நீமர‘, etc.
Azhwar to ANdAL – valleergaL nIngaLE – it is ANdAL who used strong words in

nAchiyAr thirumozhi, that if she does not get krishNan then she will pull her breasts out
and throw away at His chest.
thirumangai AzhwAr – nAnE thAn Ayiduga
ANdAL – unakkenna vErudaiyai – whereas nammAzhvar only said that he would do

madal, thirumangai AzhvAr actually went ahead and performed madal twice
(siriya/periya thirumadal).
val Anai konRAnai - thirumangai AzhwAr‘s elephant is ‘kadamA kaLiRu‘; kaliyan is

capable of controlling the elephant;
mARRarai mARRazhikka vallAnai – AzhwAr can fight and win his enemies;
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thiruppAvai
mAyan – surprising aspects of thirumangai AzhwAr – given in ‘prapannAmrudham‘ –

when a ship came to shore with beetle nut (pAkku), AzhwAr asked for ‘1’ pAkku – he
took half of it, and gave the other half to the captain; He asked the captain to give in
writing that half of it belongs to AzhwAr. Then he claimed that half of the load of the ship
is his, and argued and got it, and used that amount for kainkaryam by doing gold plating
for thiruvarangan!
parAsara bhattar mentions in his srIranga sthavam about Azhwar getting the gold from
a budhist temple to do kainkaryam to emperumAn - so thirumangai AzhwAr is also
mAyan like emperumAn. emperumAn is also like AzhwAr in his valor – viRperu
vizhavum kanjanum mallum… விற்கபரு விழவும் ஞ்சனும் ைல்லும்…
ANdAL, in this key pAsuram, tells us about srIvaishNava lakshaNam, and has set this
pAsuram and these words in the middle of thiruppAvai to shows its significance.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 16 - nAyaganAi ninRa

nammAzhwAr sang ‘vEdham vallArgaLai-k koNDu viNNOr perumAn thiruppAdham
paNindhu’. (Through those who know/understand vEdhas, we pray unto the lotus feet of
the god of the dhEvas, nithyasUris, and mukthas).
ANdAL has laid out pAsurams in the same order of these words in thiruppAvai.
– vEdham -> first 5 pAsurams told us what the vEdham and upanishads have told:
nArAyaNanE namakkE paRai tharuvAn (only nArAyaNan will give us mOksham),
through, ‘pizhaigaL … thIyinil thUsAgum’ (perumAn would remove the sanchitha and
prArabhdha (accumulated and allocated) karmAs of those who have surrendered to
him).
– vallArgaLai-k koNDu (with the help of those who understand vEdham) -> In next 10
pAsurams (6 – 15), ANdAL and gOpikAs wanted the 10 sleeping gOpikAs to go with
them.
Do these thiruvAyppAdi gOpikAs know vEdham? When kaNNan is following these

gOpikAs, whatever these gOpikAs say, it is vEdham for Him. Even if one learns the
words of sAsthram by heart, there is a big difference between that and its meanings and
following in action. In thiruvanandhapuram, a bhAgavathar taught srI rAmAyaNam to
three students; at the end of it he asked them what they understood from rAmAyaNam –
1st student said that srI rAmAyaNam is about serving the father; 2nd student replied that
it says it is hard to be born and have relationship with this body, so one should remove
such relationship; 3rd student said ‘Unless we get chakravarthy thirumagan’s blessings,
there is no possibility of reaching our goal (Him); The bhAgavatha asserted that the 3 rd
student has understood rAmAyaNam well and asked him to do discourses on it from
then on”.
ANdAL is not getting up and directly going to kaNNan since that is not recommended in
our sampradhAyam – we go in the correct order, and through the correct people. Here
she is getting all the gOpikAs (bhAgavathAs) to go with her.
- viNNOr -> Those who are always living with perumAn in srI vaikuNtam. Here, in the
next 5 pAsurams (15-20) that we are starting, she talks to the people who are like them
– nandhagOpar, nappinnai, and so on.
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thiruppAvai
– perumAn thiruppAdham paNindhu -> finally in the last 10 pAsurams, she wakes up
and talks to kaNNan himself – the one for whom all the gOpikAs have been eagerly
doing this nOnbu.
~~~~~~~~
After the gOpikAs woke up and joined the whole of thiruvAyppAdi, In this 16 th pAsuram
they go together to srI nandhagOpa’s thirumALigai/palace (ANdAL is pretending the
vadaperum kOyil of srIvillipuththUr as this thirumALigai). They wake up the people who
protect the temple and guard the entrance. As they took oath not to do what their
pUrvars did not do (sEiyAdhana seyyOm), they show it in action, by getting helped by
those two bhAgavathas for going into the temple, and avoid going directly to
emperumAn. If they go to emperumAn straight without through adiyArs (devotees), they
would face what sUrpaNakA faced. After all, she (ANdAL) who sang ‘valla parisu
varuvipparEl adhu kANdum’, is periyAzhwAr’s daughter.
This is also a central / main pAsuram of thiruppAvai (pAsuram also starts with
‘nAyagan‘..)
nAyaganAi ninRa nandhagOpanudaiya kOyil kAppAnE

kodith thOnRum thOraNa vA(sa)yil kAppAnE
maNikkadhavam thAL thiRavAi
Ayar siRumiyarOmukku
aRai paRai mAyan maNivaNNan nennalE vAi nErndhAn
thUyOmAi vandhOm thuyil ezhappAduvAn
vAyAl munnam munnam maRRAdhE ammA
nI nE(sa)ya nilaikkadhavam nIkku ElOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
kAppAnE – You the protector of

kOyil – thirumALigai
nAyaganAi ninRa nandhagOpanudaiya – of nandhagOpar who is (our) swAmi
thiRavAi – open
thAL – the bolt
kadhavam – (of the) door
maNi – having gem stones embedded,
Ayar siRumiyarOmukku – for us small gOpikAs;
mAyan – kaNNapirAn with admirable deeds
maNivaNNan – whose color is like that of blue diamond
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thiruppAvai
aRai paRai nennalE vAi nErndhAn – promised yesterday itself that he would give the
paRai instrument that makes sound;
thUyOmAi vandhOm – we came with the pure mind
thuyil ezhap pAduvAn – to sing so that he would wake up from his sleep;
ammA – swAmi!
vAyAl munnam munnam mARRAdhE – do not refuse with your first words
nI – only you
nIkku – (should) open the
nEya nilaik kadhavam – door which has got the disposition of having love for kaNNan.
Meaning
nAyaganAi ninRa nandha gOpanudaiya kOyil kAppAnE (O the one who is

protecting the house of nandhagOpan who is our nAyagan)
They refer to srI nandhagOpa as nAyagan – Because he is a helper, AchAryan –

helping the gOpikAs to get krishNan.
kOyil kAppAnE – O the one who is protecting the thirumALigai – They are saying that
more than the main protector, the ones who are protecting (his) entrance are their
protectors.
bhattar told his sishyar nanjIyar – ‘think of those as your protectors who think
emperumAn as their protector’. (also) ‘live with the thought that perumAn is your
protector; since I taught you this, live with the thought that I (AchAryan) am your
protector’.
nandhagOpanudaiya kOyil – The one we have surrendered to is parathanthran (serves

his adiyArs; serves nandhagOpan); He took his avathAram to come to this place and
enjoy the company of his adiyArs who agree that he would be their parathanthran ; in
srIvakuNtam too he is a parathanthran, but the ones there don’t agree to that, so here
he is looking for his adiyArs to tell him what to do. Actually in srIvaikuNtam too, he
grows under the stick (scepter) of srI sEnApathi AzhvAn, in the lap of
thiruvananthAzhvAn, and under the feathers of thiruvadi (garudAzhvAn).
kOyil kAppAnE – as they are very little girls, they are calling him by the work he is
doing; that person also enjoys being addressed like that so they are using these words;
whatever name would indicate devotees’ progress of subservience, that is the name
that AthmA enjoys.
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thiruppAvai
It is also considering him equivalent to a bhAgavatha. பொ வதலன முன்னிட்டுக்

க ொண்டு கபருைொலளப் பற்ற மவண்டும்.
kOyil – the place where he resides; he resides also in thirumanthram; kOyil kAppAnE –
Oh the protector of thirumanthram from anadhikAris (those who do not have
inclination/qualification to learn thirumanthram).
==> rAmAnujar. This pAsuram is addressing emperumAnAr.
nAyagan -> udaiyavar holds the central place of AchArya guru paramparai.
nandha gOpan -> emperumAnAr protected us cows.
udaiya -> ‘udaiyavar’ (holds control of both the vibhUthis of emperumAn as bestowed by
Him to emperumAnAr).
‘kOyil kAppAnE’ -> protected kOyil (srIrangam) and many other temples; rAmAnujar
organized all the activities of many temples, how and who should do what and when,
and so on, which are followed even today. Because of him, our sampradhAyam and the
temples have been protected.
kOdith thOnRum thOraNa vAsal kAppAnE
The guard of the temple gives his permission signalling with his eyes, and the gOpikAs
proceed to the entrance door and wake up the guard of the entrance.
Thinking “someone might stop our goal!”, they are falling on everyone’s feet. They pray
even to other dEvathais to save kaNNan – wouldn’t they go pray to the guard who is
fond of kaNNan?
kodith thOnRum – since his thirumALigai looks similar to others’, nandhagOpa has hung
decorative flags in front of his thirumALigai. He did that also to make sure that if
gOpikAs came looking for kaNNan in the middle of the night, they would be able to
identify his house without any problems;
Those who arrange for water booth would erect tall poles with flags so that people
coming from afar could see this sign from a distance and feel better and rush to them
for water. nandhagOpa has erected these decorations for us to come here and enjoy
kaNNan. (so please open the door).
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thiruppAvai
vAsal kAppAnE – kodi and thOraNam are insentient things (achEthanam), they cannot
ask us to proceed. So you please let us inside.
Once, kaNNan had told the guards to allow arjunan to take away subhadhrA; to you
also kaNNan would have told to allow us inside if we showed up.
Oh you who protects the meanings of ‘a’ (‘அ’) and nama: which indicate his ability to
protect us.
=> rAmAnujar: kodi thOraNa vAsal -> Entrance to srI vaikuNtam -> emperumAnAr is
protecting that, and enabling anyone to reach vaikuntam who has done saraNAgathy
through AchAryans associated with him. { viNNin thalai ninRu vIdaLippAn; விண்ைின்
தலை நின்று வடளிப்பொன்
ீ }
maNik kadhavam
She sang ‘mAmAn magaLE maNik kadhavam‘ to gOpikas’ houses – this is krishNan’s
thirumALigai so she is even more enthusiastic to sing praises of the door.
This door would attract the adiyArs to go inside; once they are inside maNi vaNNan’s
beauty would make it impossible for them to go out, making us say
‘ைற்கறொன்றிலனக் ொைொமவ’ maRRonRinaik kANAvE – ((after seeing your
beauty), my eyes won’t see anything else).
maNik kadhavam thAL thiRavAi
“Please open this beautiful and attractive door with gems embedded”.
“This is an unsafe town (for kaNNan), and you are coming here in the middle of the
night and asking to open the door. Who are you?”
“In this place where kaNNan is there, who removes our fears, what is there to be afraid
of?” (prahlAdhan said to his father that there is no fear in him because he thinks of
ananthan who removes our fears).
“Is this thrEthA yugam, with the father (dhasarathan) very strong who killed samparan
an enemy of dhEvas, and with the sons growing like lions, with ministers like vasishtar,
and a country like thiru ayOdhdhi which other kings are afraid of? No, this is near the
end of dhvApara yugam rubbing shoulders with kali yugam, father is of soft nature, the
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thiruppAvai
kids here are very small and naughty, this place is not even a town, kamsan the enemy,
things that move turn out to be asuras bent on killing him. Can I be without any fear?”
“should you be afraid of us girls too?”
“sUrpaNakA was a girl too”
“She was a rAkshasi. We are small cowherd gOpikAs who are born to the gOpas who
fear for this boy’s safety (இவனுக்கு என்வரு ிறமதொ!)”
“After pUthanai I have to be afraid of even cowherd women”
maNik kadhavam thAL thiravAi: Please save us by removing any inclination towards
AthmAnubhavam which results in svAthanthriyam (feeling independent of perumAn).
rAmanujar – we request rAmanujar to open our minds to receive gyAnam.
Ayar siRumiyarOmukku
We are small little cowherd gOpikAs, too innocent to know even counting, we did not
come alone like phUthanai, we are the gOpikas from all of 5 lakh houses of
thiruvAyppAdi.
“Can I trust because something is small? (That asuran) came as a little calf too
( ன்றொயன்மறொ வந்து நைியப் பொர்த்தது). Tell me what you came here for, and I
will judge about you”
aRai paRai
“We came to get paRai (instrument) for nOnbu” – trying to say that it is an important
matter.
“For that I will ask when they wake up. You may wait.”
mAyan – kaNNan who seems to be under the control of the gopikAs
maNivaNNan
Even if he does not get under their control, they would not let go of him because of his
beauty
rAmanujar – he is the central jewel of the chain of AchAryas.
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thiruppAvai
nEnnalE vAi nErndhAn - You do not have to tell him about this, he promised us
yesterday itself that we can go to him at this time.
nennalE – not like today where we are begging you, it was the wonderful yesterday
when he was begging us
vAi nErndhAn
“How can I trust his words told in public”
“He gave his word to dhraupathi in public and it did not fail. What he promised us also
would not fail.”
nennalE vAi nErndhAn – rAmAnujar -> nammAzhwAr informed madhurakavi AzhwAr

quite earlier about bhavishyadhaAchArya (rAmanujar) when he asked madhurakavi to
boil water from thAmiraparani river. He also said long ago, ‘kaliyum kedum kaNdu
kONmin‘ about how rAmAnujar would help defeat kali by spreading the truth about
samskritha and thamizh vEdhams (prabandhams).
The guard continues, “Though he told you yesterday, shouldn’t there be some use of his
putting us for guarding here? Aren’t we here to refuse entry to some people; Is he
responsible for our duty? I need to know what you are thinking of doing. You are all with
the expectation of getting something from Him (paRai related to nOnbu)”
thUyOmAi vandhOm
“‘paRai’ is just a front. We are ananya prayOjanaigaL (not expecting anything except
perumAn). We want to do kainkaryam (mangaLAsAsanam) and that is the only thing we
want.
vandhOm – “what he should have done (come to us), we are doing.”
“What is the sign that you are ananya prayOjanaigaL?”
thuyil ezhap pAduvAn
“We came here to sing thiruppaLLiyezhuchchi for him (wake him up).” sIthA pirAtti
enjoyed how He was sleeping (when kAkAsuran troubled her, before she woke Him up).
Here these gOpikAs want to enjoy looking at him slowly getting up.”
These are the gOpikAs with the background of those who sang ‘arangaththammA paLLi
ezhundharuLAyE‘.
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thiruppAvai
Though he understood their hearts, the guard wanted to enjoy talking to them more, so
he has been trying to act strict. When he says “Okay, I will open; please wait”, they say:
vAyAl munnamunnam mARRAdhE
Even if you think in your mind negatively, please do not say it in words.– it might
become true and affect our goals. perumAL accepted vibIshaNan only after sugrIvan
agreed that vibhIshaNan should be treated equal to them.
rAmAnujar: unlike prior AchAryas who wanted to put people to a lot of test and then give
the meanings and rahasyams, emperumAnAr! You wanted to give those to anyone who
sincerely wanted to learn.
ammA
Making him feel special; Is the one inside kind to us, or are you the one who is kind?
The guard finally says, “pull the lock, and push the door open”
nee nEsa nilaik kadhavam nIkku
That door is even more affectionate (to krishNan). It won’t open if we pushed; only you
please open it.
All chEthanAchEthanams (sentients and insentients), all in thiruvAippAdi are for

kaNNan (unlike in kamsan’s palace where everything is for killing him).
As a protector of perumAn you are making sure that only the right people are allowed
inside; because of your extreme affection towards Him, you are not allowing those who
are fond of Him too? So you please get convinced and you open the door for us.
rAmAnujar/AchAryar: We the sishyAs know that our efforts won’t help, it is only YOUR
wish and your blessing / anugraham that will help us to be a srIvaishNava, and to learn
the meanings of vEdhams and prabhandhams (srI vachana bhUshaNam: sadhAchArya
prasAdhaththAlE varugiRa bhagavath prasAdhaththAlE enRu thuNindhu –
ஸதொசொர்ய ப்ரஸொதத்தொமை வரு ிற ப வத் ப்ரஸொதத்தொமை என்று
துைிந்து).
ElOrempAvAi – commit and follow.
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thiruppAvai
In this pAsuram, they get the permission of the guards of srI nandhagOpa’s
thirumALigai, to go inside and do the kainkaryam of singing thiruppaLLiyezhuchi
through adiyArs.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 17 - ambaramE thaNNIrE

As the guard of the thirumALigai of nandhagOpar removed the lock, opened the doors
and let them in, they are going inside and waking up nandhagOpar and others. First
they wake up nandhagOpar who was lying down in the front as he was wondering
whether the gOpikAs are trying to steal kaNNan. If women would steal
anirudhdhAzhwAn (grandson of krishNan), does it not go without saying that they would
steal krishNan from whom anirudhdhan came?
ambaramE thaNNIrE sORE aRam sEyyum

emperumAn nandhagOpAlA ezhundhirAi
kombanArkkelAm kozhundhE kula viLakkE
emperumAtti yasOdhAi aRivuRAi
ambaramUdarththu Ongi ulagaLandha
umbar kOmAnE uRangAdhu ezhundhirAi
sempoR kazhaladich chelvA baladhEvA
umbiyum nIyum uRangElOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
emperumAn nandhagOpAlA – O nandhagOpa who is our swAmi!
aRam – who donates
ambaramE – clothes
thaNNirE – water
sORE – and food (all the time, all of it),
ezhundhirAi – please wake up;
asodhAi – dear yasOdhai pirAtti!
kozhundhE – fine one among us
kombu anArkkellAm – women who are like vanji tree that is full of flowers
kula viLakkE – who is a bright lamp for the cowherds
aRivuRAi – please wake up!
umbar kOmAnE – O dhEva dhEva!
ambaram Udu aRuththu – who pierced the AkAsam (space)
Ongi – raised
ulagu aLandha – and kindly spanned/measured all the worlds,
uRangAdhu – without sleeping,
ezhundhirAi – please get up;
selvA – O srImAn!
baladhEvA – O baladhEvA!
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thiruppAvai
sem pon kazhal adi – (who is) having reddish gold thiruvadi (of wealth),
umbiyum nIyum – your brother kaNNan and you
uRangEl – please do not sleep.
Meaning
ambaramE thaNNIrE sORE
Clothes, water, food whatever is needed for people, nandhagOpar gives them all;
The ‘E’ and the end of these words is to question whether this is all what nandhagOpar
has learned to do; that it looks like as if he keeps doing each and every one of it only.
ambaram: saree; also means sky/space (this meaning is used in 5th line of this pAsuram
– ambaram Udu aRuththu).
aRam seyyum
he is giving all these things out of kindness, and as if that is his life, and without
expecting anything in return.
Like how you give the people what they need for life, please give us what We need for
our life – kaNNan!
emperumAn …
You give sarees/clothes (bhOgyam as it gives comfort), water (dhArakam, life-saving),

and sOru (bhOshakam, nurturing); go got us these things which is in one form that is
krishNan for us;
Can all the three be one krishNan? Yes, nammAzhwAr agrees! ‘uNNum sORu
(bhOshakam), parugu nIr (dhArakam), thinnum veRRilai (bhOgyam), ellAm kaNNan’.
[This applies to AchAryan as well – he can be many at the same time for sishyas: srI
vachana bhUshaNam of piLLai lOkAchAriAr: manthramum, dhEvathaiyum, palamum,
palAnubandhigaLum, palasAdhanamum, aihika bhOgamum ellAm AchAryan enRu
ninaikkak kadavan / “mAthA, pithA, yuvathaya:” engiRa slOkaththilE, ivvarththaththai
paramAchAryarum aruLich cheidhAr. (ஸ்ரீவசந பூஷைம்: ைந்த்ரமும்,
மதவலதயும், பைமும், பைொநுபந்தி ளும், பைஸொதநமும்,
ஐஹி மபொ முகைல்ைொம் ஆசொர்யகனன்று நிலனக் க் டவன். “ைொதொ
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thiruppAvai
பிதொ யுவதய:” என் ிற ஸ்மைொ த்திமை, இவ்வர்த்தத்லத பரைொசொர்யரும்

அருளிச்கசய்தொர்).]
Since you are intending to give kaNNan to us who are always living for him, you are our
perumAn.
As it seemed that nandhagOpar woke up and gave his permission, they proceed to
wake up yasOdhai.
Unlike how they are going to wake up nappinnai first and then krishNan, why did they
first woke up nandhagOpar instead of yasOdhai? Since she wanted to be near kaNNan,
she is sleeping inside.
This refers to emperumAnAr as well. [-Ar: adding Ar is to show more respect. (maman-
ar).]
svApadhEsam for the above lines: AthmA‘s nature of creating emperumAn’s happiness,
removal of bhOgam of our own when doing that, and because of that the kainkaryam –
our AchAryan gives these as if this is all he is going all the time for his sishyAs.
kombanArkkellAm kozhundhE
She (yasOdhA) is the head of all the people who have got daughters. She is the only
mother who had the joy of enjoying perumAn compared to all other mothers of various
avathArams of perumAn.
kombu – ‘vanji’ tree’s.
anAr – like the kombu
kozhundhu grows first out of the tree, so it is the head; if any problem happens to the
root, it is the kozhundu that would first look dull.
kozhundhE – if any gOpikA is having any problems, isn’t it your face that becomes
dull?
kula viLakkE – you are the light of the families of all these gOpikAs
emperumAtti – you got our krishNan for us, and so you are our swAmiNi!
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thiruppAvai
yasOdhAi – Unlike nandhagOpar, being the same gender you can understand our
angst; when nandhagOpar who is strict has himself woken up, but you who is kind (to
kaNNan) can still be sleeping?
like yasOdhai, prapannas also can tie Him – with thirumanthram (srI vachana
bhUshaNam: thirumanthram kai pugundhavARE Iswaran kai pugurum… prApaka
lAbham thirumanthraththAlE. ஸ்ரீவசந பூஷைம்: திருைந்த்ரம் ல புகுந்தவொமற
ஈஸ்வரன் ல பு ரும்… ப்ரொப ைொபம் திருைந்த்ரத்தொமை.).
aRivurAi – if you wake up then all our troubles will go away
After getting the acceptance from yasOdhai pirAtti, they proceed inside and wake up
krishNan.
svApadhEsam: Like how the vanji plant would bend and accommodate to the flows of
the river, of all the manthrams that make themselves appropriate based on the interest
of samsAris, thirumanthram is considered the head, like a lamp for the prapannas,
natural swami for them, which can give life in good ancestry and other benefits.
(mumukshuppadi: chEthanar ninRa ninRa aLavukku IdAyirukkum. முமுக்ஷுப்படி:
மசதநர் நின்ற நின்ற அளவுக்கு ஈடொயிருக்கும்.)
ambaram Udu aRuththu Ongi
For dhEvas, who come to you asking for their own benefits, you grew big and strong (as
thrivikraman) into all the space regardless of whether they are good ones or not;
You grew with your kindness, with your guNam of protection as the water for growing.
ulagaLandha
Like a mother who keeps her arm on her child while sleeping next to it, you grew while
placing your kind thiruvadi on everyone regardless of whether they were aware of it or
interested in it;
umbar kOmAnE
And by doing them the favor you got the dhEvas/nithyasUris under your spell. They and
these gOpikAs are lost to the simplicity/approachability of perumAn who used his most
supreme feet for small tasks like covering the forests and small places (and the whole
world).
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thiruppAvai
urangAdhu ezhundhirAi
Do we have to be men or be those who come to you asking for own benefits in order for
you to pay attention? Can it not be gOpikAs who came to you for doing only
kainkaryam? You touched your lotus feet on all the people, made it so easily available
to even those who did not realize your greatness – we know its greatness, can you not
show your feet to us?
Can you at least show us your face?
You who stole our sleep, is happily sleeping here? We had heard that you deeply
missed a woman and suffered with no food or sleep (anidhra: sathatham rAma:). We
thought that would happen here too, and what we see here is upside down.
அழ ிதொயிருந்தது!
The gOpikAs woke up and got their acceptance in this order:
adiyAr – nandhagOpar;
pirAtti – yasOdhai;
perumAn – krishNan.
~~~~~ praNavam.
Since He did not wake up even after saying all these, they realize their mistake that they
should have woken up nambi mUththa pirAn (balarAmar) first (that is, go to perumAn
through adiyAr), so they wake up balarAmar:
sem poR kazhal adich chelvA baladhEvA
krishNan came to this world after you – you were born here first blessing this place with
your golden feet; The wealth that iLaiya perumAL (lakshmaNan) got after being born
later, you got by being born earlier; Like lakshmaNan you also got the wealth that is
kainkaryam, shouldn’t you also be awake like lakshmaNan? Didn’t he stay awake to
protect pirAtti and perumAL when they slept! Aren’t you too great in getting krishNan
together with this gOpikA (ANdAL)? If so, is it acceptable for you to be sleeping now?
When AzhwArs are having Udal with perumAn they would refer to Adhi sEshan as ‘thI
mugaththu nAgaNai‘ (bed of serpent who emits fire from his face); when are happy
about perumAn they would be kind and say ‘nAgaNai misai nampirAn (perumAn who is
on a comfortable bed of Adhi sEshan)’. Here they are being nice and saying ‘sem poR
kazhal adi chelvA‘.
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thiruppAvai
[perumAL requested lakshmaNan (Adhi sEshan), “You are born as younger brother and
doing so many kainkaryams to me in this avathAram. During another avathAram please
be born as elder brother to me”. In krishNa avathAram, Adhi sEshan was born as elder
brother balarAmar, and did kainkaryams to kaNNan!]
umbiyum nIyum urangEl
(addressing balarAmar). “He is beloved to you and you are beloved to him, and both are
sleeping with legs on each other; He being younger brother is nice to you, you being
adiyAr (chenrAl kudaiyAm…) is nice to him and we in the middle are losing his time with
us as you both are sleeping”.
“Those who lie on the bed would sleep, but is there sleep to the bed itself? You
(balarAmar) who is his bed, please wake up, and also wake Him for us, we are his bed,
and give Him to us.”
OrempAvAi – think and follow us
In this pAsuram ANdAL wakes up nandhagOpar, yasodhai pirAtti, then both krishNan
and balarAman. They go through the proper order to krishNan.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 18 - undhu madhakaLiRRan

Since krishNan did not awake even after this, they try to awaken nappinnai pirAtti
(purushakAra bhUthai (one who makes perumAn understand about his guNams related
to accepting saraNAgathi, and mediates between us and perumAn). Since perumAn
has both kindness and svAthanthriyam, when we go in front of Him he might see our
pApams and take sAsthrams in his hands and tell us to exhaust our pApams first. It
would be better if his svAthanthriyam is kept at bay and kindness is brought up. Only
one person can do that – thAyAr. So we go through adiyArs, AchAryan, AzhwArs to
our thAyar, who will then make sure that perumAn‘s kindness is brought forth and He
will also forgive our pApams and accept us. They tried to wake up krishNan itself first
because they thought they are here not for AsrayaNam (surrendering) but to have
bhOgam (enjoy with him).
kAkAsuran, vibhIshaNAzhvAn lived because they had the blessings of thAyAr.

sUrpaNakai did not because she avoided thAyAr and went straight to rAman; rAvaNan
did not live because He went only to thAyAr and avoided perumAn.
undhu madhakaLiRRan OdAdha thOL valiyan

nandha gOpAlan marumagaLE nappinnAi
gandham kamazhum kuzhalee kadai thiRavAi
vandhu engum kOzhi azhaiththana kAN
madhavip pandhal mEl palkAl kuyil inangaL kUvina kAN
pandhAr virali un maiththunan pEr pAdach
chenthAmaraik kaiyAl sIrAr vaLai olippa
vandhu thiRavAi magizhndhu elOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
madham undhu kaLiRRan – strong like an elephant that is driven by fury producing
water in eyes,
OdAdha thOL valiyan – with strong shoulders so he does not run away from the battle
field,
nandhagOpAlan marumagaLE – O daughter-in-law of such nandhagOpar!
nappinnAi – who possesses the name of nappinnai!
gandham kamazhum kuzhalee – O who has got hair hair/tresses emitting fragrance all
around!
kadai thiRavAi – please open the door;
vandhengum kOzhi azhaiththana kAN – spreading in all four directions, the cocks are
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thiruppAvai
shrilling – please see.

kuyil inangaL – (also) groups of cuckoos
mAdhavi pandhal mEl – (sleeping) on the pandhal (structure for giving shade) having
plants of kurukkaththi
kUvina pal kAl kAN – calling many times, please see.
pandhu Ar virali – O you having fingers holding the (flower) ball (which gets kaNNan to
lose to you),
un maiththunan pEr pAda – (for us) to sing the names of your nAthan (husband)
krishNan,
vandhu – come walking
sIr Ar vaLai olippa – with your sweet bangles making jingling sounds
sem thAmaraik kaiyAl – and with your hands that are reddish like a lotus
magizhndhu thiRavAi – open the door happily.
Meaning
undhu madhakaLiRRan
Strong like the elephant that is pushed by musth;
AchAryan removes our aggressiveness.
OdAdha thOL valiyan
Strong, and would not back off when looking at the enemies;
Saying these things about nandhagOpan is to reduce their angst about dangers to
krishNan.
thOL valiyan – when we are afraid thinking about our pApams/karmas we think about
perumAn’s strength and reduce our fear.
OdAdha – such strength is not common in this place.
AchAryan havng the strength of gyAnam
nandhagOpAlan marumagaLE
Referring to nappinnai as the daughter-in-law of the great nandhagOpalan, instead of as

daughter srI kumbar. This is what she likes too – like how sIthA pirAtti is fond of
referring herself as dhasaratha chakravarthy’s daughter-in-law.
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thiruppAvai
nandhagOpAlan – AchAryan who saves us; marumagaLE – If emperumAn can be

amicable like a son to AchAryan, then there is nothing wrong in saying pirAtti as
AchAryan’s daughter-in-law.
nappinnAi
Since she (nappinnai) kept quiet thinking that after krishNan was born in this
thiruvAippAdi, every girl became a daughter-in-law of nandhagOpan, so there is nothing
about me, the gOpikAs say, ‘nappinnAi’.
gandham kamazhum kuzhali
Fragrance becomes meaningful on the day of joining nappinnai’s divine plait;
It is said that emperumAn is the source of all fragrances ‘sarva gandha:’, and her plait
gives fragrance even to Him.
She attracts emperumAn with this, encourages him to protect those who surrender to
him, and makes everyone appreciate and celebrate Him.
kadai thiRavAi
krishNan’s fragrance and your fragrance have mixed and its flooding your place, please
open your doors and let them out for us to quench our separation; please open the dam
for us;
Please remove our ignorance (agyAnam).
“why are you waking us in the mid-night?”
“it is dawned”
“how do you say that?”
vandhu engum kOzhi azhaiththana kAN
“The roosters are crowing”
“Just one of them doing that will make it a dawn?”
“engum kOzhi azhaiththana” (everywhere) – like tapping on our laps to wake us up.
mAdhavip pandhal mEl
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thiruppAvai
If the cuckoo birds which slept in a cozy bed have woken up and are cooing, then it is
not a sign?
“Just one of them does not make it a dawn”
palkAl kuyil inangaL kUvina kAN
“The one bird is calling so many times after not seeing you in the morning”.
“Just one calling many times would not make it a dawn”
“different varieties of them, calling you for a long time”
pandhAr virali
“It is our loss that we are not achEthanams (insentient)”
“why so?”
“then we would have been in your hands (like that ball)! ”
nappinnai won krishNan in playing the flower ball, and she is holding the ball in one
hand and hugging krishNan with her other hand; he is for enjoyment (bhOgam), and the
ball is for playing (leelai); nAram in one hand, and nArAyaNan in the other hand;
vibhUthi in one hand, vibhUthimAn in another hand. From this, with these two
relationships, her purushakAram is seen.
Flower ball is like devotees – pirAtti is holding us in one hand and perumAn in the other
and is always helping the two parties reach each other.
can you not include us in your game? and we will nicely play with you and krishNan.
“What have you come here for?”
un maiththunan pEr pAda
maiththunan: husband
When you have interesting arguments with your husband, we want to join your side and
say things that would support your side, and talk about his (mis)deeds; don’t the
children always side their mother when there are any arguments between parents? Like
how when sIthA pirAtti told iLaiya perumAL that she won the swimming race against
perumAL, then iLaiya perumAL also supported only pirAtti.
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thiruppAvai
when you are happy together, we will also go along with it.
un maiththunan – like it is phrased in the first part of dhvaya manthram.
pEr pAda – nAraNa nambi has got so many names; also he can be identified as this
girl’s adiyAn, and that girl’s adiyAn;
pEr pAda – when you both play with the ball and he loses, we want to sing his names
for that.
The girls tell nappinnai pirAtti that krishNan is common to all the girls in thiruvAyppAdi,
without us he is not complete, etc..
Hearing this, pirAtti says, “If so, krishNa! open the door”.
But, he says, “If they are on your side, would I open the door for them?”.
pirAtti tells the girls, “I have setup the doors to automatically open for you. Come inside”
==> ” We cannot get You by ourselves, we can get only by yourselves; we look for your
efforts”:
senthAmarai kaiyAl
pirAtti, we look for your hand – perumAn keeps his hand in the pose that says ‘anjEl’
(don’t be afraid) when we are worried about our pApams. Your hand says ‘anjEl’ – that
we shall not be afraid of perumAn’s svAthanthriyam. perumAn is also fond of your
hands;
Your hands which have become red due to playing with the Flower ball.
kai (hand) – implies gyAnam. (AzhwAr sang: gyAnak kai thA (thiruvAimozhi 2-9-2)
Flower’s attributes are beauty, softness, and fragrance. In svApadhEsam, these are:
beauty – reducing interest in other matters; softness – reducing enjoyment for self on
other matters; fragrance – love for him. kai – gyAnam with these understanding.
nappinnai tries to open the door but without her bangles making any noise as she had
raised them tight in her arms:
sIrAr vaLai olippa
open, with your bangles making sweet jingling sounds; like how the rain clouds would
thunder and rain; we would survive by hearing that sound of your bangles; since you
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thiruppAvai
are always with him – ‘agalagillEn iRaiyum’, those bangles stay in your arm – sangu
thangu mun kai nangai (thiruchchandha viruththam-57; it is unlike our arms that don’t
hold the bangles due to separation, like ‘iru kaiyil sangivai nillA’ (thirunenunthANdakam-
24). It would stay in their hands only if they both together put the bangles in their arms
(after the nOnbu).
with that sound krishNan also would wake up and we will live happily.
svApadhEsam – with ever lasting bhagavath sambandham, having the brightness due
to getting the meanings of rahasyams.
As nappinnai thought she should not be separated from krishNan, she tried to open the
door while lying down:
vandhu thiRavAi
Please give us the fame that “she walked a few steps for the gOpikAs”. Please walk a
few steps this way and that way and open the door – krishNan would enjoy the beauty
of your walk and so would we see that and live happily;
svApadhEsam – without considering our efforts, you please come and remove our
gyAnam related to obstacles related to svarUpam (our/his nature), upAyam (means to
reach him), and purushArththam (goal :- kainkaryam).
magizhndhu
without thinking of the dharmA like “when these gOpikAs are standing outside could we
have other anubhavam”, come and open the door with happiness in your mind, that it is
a blessing for you; show your happy face after being with him; we wanted to do nOnbu
to ‘magizhndhu nIrAda‘ (take bath happy / be with krishNan happily), and as a main
benefit we want to see you happy.
More than being with him, you are happy to see His adiyArs – we want to see that
happiness so please open the door.
The reason for doing kainkaryam is to see thAyAr perumAL’s happiness; (owner
becomes happy when he gets his properties that is we.)
svApadhEsam – purushakAram be yours.
vaLai Olippa – reduce the angst of ears

pEr pAda – reduce the angst of our tongues
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thiruppAvai
snthamarai kaiyAl – reduce the angst by touch

gandham kamazhum kuzhali – reduce the angst with smell
magizhndhu – with all the indhriyams becoming happy, your manas will get the
happiness.
==> emperumAnAr is very fond of this pAsuram.
206th item in vArthAmAlai by pinbazhagiya perumAL jIyar who is a sishya of

nampiLLai:
nampiLLai says, “As emperumAnAr was reciting this line from the pAsuram’s ‘sIrAr
vaLai olippa vandhu thiRavAi‘ (open the doors, with your bangles making sweet music),
he happened to come in front of thirukkOshtiyUr nambi‘s thirumALigai, and at the same
time nambi‘s daughter opened the door to go out, (with her bangles making noise);
emperumAnAr felt that this is nappinnai pirAtti herself and he prostrated in front of her,
falling on the floor; she got afraid and ran inside the house; when her father asked what
was the matter, she told her father that emperumAnAr fell on her feet; when
emperumAnAr came insde, nambi knowing the reason, asked
emperumAnAr,”iLayAzhvIr! Are you doing recital of undhu madhakaLiRRan?” ‘
(இலளயொழ்வர்ீ ! இப்மபொது அநுஸந்தொனம் உந்துைத ளிற்றமனொ?” என்று
அருளிச்கசய்தொகரன்று பிள்லளயருளிச்கசய்வர்.)
ElOrempAvAi – Think through and follow our path.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 19 - kuththu viLakkeriya

As she (nappinnai) tried to get up to open doors for gOpikAs, krishNan thought “She
shouldn’t open the doors for my adiyArs”, and so he hugged her and did not let her get
up. gOpikAs ask krishNan to please get up. But he doesn’t, so they ask nappinnai again
to get up and open the door for them. Both of them are important to adiyArs (devotees).
kuththu viLakkeriya kOttukkAl kattil mEl

meththenRa pancha sayanaththin mElERi
kOththalar pUnkuzhal nappinnai kongai mEl
vaiththuk kidandha malar mArbhA vAi thiRavAi
maiththadam kaNNinAi nI un maNALanai
eththanai pOdhum thuyil ezha ottAi kAN
eththanaiyElum piRivARRagillAyAl
thaththuvam anRu thagavu ElOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
kuththu viLakku – (with bright) lamp

eriya – lit up
pancha sayanaththin mEl ERi – climbing on to the mattress made of cotton
kOdu kAl kattil mEl – on the bed with legs made of elephant tusks,
meththenRa – and very soft,
vaiththuk kidandha malar mArbhA – O (krishNA) you have placed your broad chest
kongai mEl – on the divine chest
nappinnai – of nappinnai
koththu alar pU kuzhal – who is having hair that holds bunches of flowers,
vAi thiRavAi – open the mouth and talk;
mai thadam kaNNinAi – Oh (nappinnai) who is having broad eyes decorated with mai
(kAjal)
nI – you are
ottAi kAN – not agreeing
thuyil ezha – to wake up
un maNALanai – your husband kaNNan
eththanai pOdhum – even for a second;
pirivu ARRagillAyAl – you are not able to tolerate being separated from him
eththanaiyElum – even for a short time;
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thiruppAvai
thaththuvam anRu – (this) is not according to your svarUpam (your true nature)
thagavu anRu – and it is not matching your true behavior.
Meaning
kuththu viLakkeriya (with the lighted lamps)
While we are desperately waiting here, you (nappinnai) are having krishNAnubhavam.
Unlike we who had to wait for elders to give permission (for nOnbu, krishNAnubhavam),
(you) without any worry about dawning day, without having to look for dark for going
with krishNan (naLLirutkaN ennai uyththidumin – nAchiAr thirumozhi – 12-3); you are
enjoying with krishNan making this morning as a night; and with lighted lamps, you are
lying in the bed looking at krishNan’s face – what a wonderful opportunity for you!
(viLakku – gyAnam)
kOttukkAl kattil mEl
This bed is made of tusks of kuvalayApIdam; as a brave wife of krishNan you cannot
sleep in any other bed; unlike us who have to search for him all over brindhAvanam,
you are with him inside the house in the bed without any shyness. This is a great
blessing for you!
kattil – instead of saying to imply the bed’s greatness using respectful words like ‘thiru
paLLik kattil’ they say just ‘kattil’ – due to their belonging to cowherd clan (ஜொதிப்
மபச்சு).
svapadhEsam ==> The wild elephant is the ‘me/mine’ in us. The four legs of the bed
relate to four types of this ahankAram 1) – sEshathvE karthruthvam (when thinking that
we are the only good one who worships emperumAn; and we do it for our own benefit
only); 2) gyAthruthvE karthruthvam (when thinking only we have got a better knowledge
about emperumAn); 3) karthruthvE karthruthvam (when thinking that we are solely
capable and responsible for doing tasks); and 4) bhOkthruthvE karthruthvam (when
enjoying for our own sake).
meththenRa
While we are desperately waiting here, you are enjoying about the inner size and outer
size of the mattress and it is fitting you and you are sleeping happily!
pancha sayanaththin mElERi
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thiruppAvai
mattress made of soft cotton; decorated with five colors; bed having the five attributes,
being beautiful, cozy, fragrant, wide, and warm.
Like in srI vaikuNtam how we would step on your bed to climb to come to you, should
you not wish for us to climb on this bed and come to you?
While we are waiting, shouldn’t you feel the bed to be uncomfortable for you krishNa?
Parents won’t be comfortable in the bed that the kids did not jump and play on; you
would not be comfortable in your bed if we don’t come sit on your lap – like in srI
vaikuNtam; there also, you will ask “kOsi?” (Who are you?) and we will say “aham
brahmAsmi” (I am brahmam – i.e., your (bhagavAn’s) body).
svApadhEsam==>The four types of ahankAram are removed when we (climb) learn and
follow AchAryan’s words related to artha panchakam thus softening us like the mattress.
koththalar pUnkuzhal nappinnai
nappinnai with beautiful flowers in her thick hair; they blossom due to the contact with
her hair – she is vAsam sei pUnkuzhalAL (thiruvAimozhi 10-10-2) – her hair gives
fragrance to the flowers; whereas, we said ‘malar ittu nAm mudiyOm‘ (won’t wear
flowers) while doing nOnbu.
nappinnai kongai mEl vaiththuk kidandha
He has kept her divine breast on him; or, he has kept his face on her divine breast –
and sleeping happily instead of trying to open the door. (thiruppAvai thaniyan also
mentioned how ANdAL woke him up at this time).
breast -> bhakthi.
malar mArbha
They are addressing krishNan.
The safety she gets from his broad and soft chest. His chest is so broad that hers feels
so small (like in thirunedunthANdakam 19); he feels happy like a flower blossoming, and
his chest becomes even bigger because of her breasts felt on his chest. That is, He
becomes very happy to see our love for Him.
If we say that his chest becomes bigger, he becomes happier etc., would it not
contradict with what vEdhas say, that he (brahmam) does not change, it is complete,
etc.? The meaning of those words in sruthi is that he does not have such characteristics
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thiruppAvai
like us. If he does not melt for adiyAr’s bhakthi, that would become a drawback for him –
he would be no different that a stone, isn’t it?
This is the key phrase of the pAsuram’s actual meaning.
{malarndha mArbu of perumAn: perumAn‘s wide chest indicates his kind heart for his
adiyArs. First, pirAtti argues for us with perumAn and makes him accept us in spite of
our pApams. This was in the previous pAsuram – pirAtti has got the kind heart for us.
Once perumAn accepts adiyArs, even if pirAtti argues with him saying that we did a lot
of pApams and so He should leave us, perumAn would beg/argue with pirAtti in order to
keep us with Him. He would say that if He accepted someone who did not do any
pApam then what would be great about that.. only if He accepted people like us with
pApams would His greatness be visible. He would go another step further and say that
whatever we did is not pApam at all! It is like the kids would be quiet and obedient when
they go to a house of someone else – but they would do all sorts of mischief only under
the shadow of their parents in their house – likewise, these are all our children,
whatever they do is within the support of our shadow… so don’t make it a big issue, let
them be with me…. says perumaL. (mumukshuppadi: sErppArE pirikkum pOdhum vida
mAttAdhE rakshikkiRa ennai.. / முமுக்ஷுப்படி: மசர்ப்பொமர பிரிக்கும் மபொதும்
விட ைொட்டொமத ரக்ஷிக் ிற என்லன..). That is why ANdAL says here, that pirAtti’s
chest seems small when she is hugging perumAL – His kindness is so big.
(One more thing.. pirAtti is nudging perumAn to leave us – this is only to test Him to
make sure that He accepted us out of his own affection and not just because pirAtti
recommended us first. When perumAn pleads to her that He would not leave us, then
She becomes extremely happy and confident – similar to how one would shake a pole
after setting it to stand on the ground – they shake not to pull it out but to make sure it is
going to stay strong). }
What is said for nappinnai being with krishNan is applicable for all jIvAthmAs.
vAi thiRavAi
(krishNa!) Please open your mouth and say at least one word in your strong voice;
without wishing for anything else we are waiting for you to get up, can you not say even
a word? If she is not allowing you to get up, can you not say ‘mAsucha:’ from your bed?
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
maiththadam kaNNinAi
When He tried to say something to them, nappinnai pirAtti is now taking the turn to say,
‘you did not allow me, now why are you trying to open the door?”, and with that signal
from her eyes she is shutting his mouth; doing ‘vAi vAi’ (literal: mouth, mouth) -> (like,
‘chup! chup! in hindi, or, like ‘zip your mouth’).
Now he is in the middle of a beautiful and wide sea that is nappinnai – only when he
sees the end/shore would he be able to see us; we who said ‘mai ittu ezhudhOm‘ (won’t
wear mai in our eyes (as part of nOnbu)), can wear it only if you let us;
we thought it is our bhAgyam and were proud to see your (nappinnai) beautiful eyes –
but now those eyes are coming in the way of our krishNA anubhavam;
nI
The one who is supposed to join us with him, can you separate him from us? (ukAram
in praNavam).
un maNALanai - (not) letting your husband
We thought it is our bhAgyam to see krishNan doing the chores with bhavyam
(obedience) in the place that you looked at with your raised eye brows; we thought he is
lOka bharththA (common husband/protector to all); or, they are saying, we now think
that krishNan is yours (maNALan).
eththanai pOdhum thuyil ezha ottAi kAN
You are not letting him get up even for one second; you would get afraid and become
pale thinking that he is going away from you even when he is just moving away in the
bed a little in order to adjust himself as part of being with you in the bed.
eththanaiyElum pirivARRagillAyAl
But that is not your fault; it is your weakness of not wanting to be separated from him
even for a second. ‘agalagillEn iRaiyum‘ and you are enjoying him every moment, but it
is not helping us now.
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
thaththuvam anRu thagavu
thaththuvam, anRu thagavu: thaththuvam – sathyam (truth); thagavu anRu – not

dharmam. – Not saying out of our ignorance – really it is not dharmam that you are not
letting him open the door for us.
thaththuvam anRu: thathuvam – svarUpam (nature); thathuvam anRu – it is not your

nature to separate him from us.
thagavu anRu: it is not characteristic of you, and does not match your kindness, does
not go with your purushakAram bhAvam as well, to separate him from us.
ElOrempAvAi – Think and do for our nOnbu.
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 20 - muppaththu mUvar

Based on what the gOpikAs requested in the previous pAsuram, nappinnai pirAtti tries
to get krishNan to go and open the door, but he doesn’t move. So the gOpikAs tell
pirAtti – he does not belong to himself, you are the one for him and us, you please get
us the krishNa anubhavam.
muppaththu mUvar amararkku mun chenRu

kappam thavirkkum kaliyE thuyil ezhAi
seppam udaiyAy thiRal udaiyAy!
cheRRArkku veppam kodukkum vimalA! thuyil ezhAi
seppenna men mulaich chevvAich chiRu marungul
nappinnai nangAi! thiruvE! thuyil ezhAi
ukkamum thattOLiyum thandhu un maNALanai
ippOdhE emmai nIrAttu ElOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
kaliyE – O the strong kaNNa!

mun chenRu – who goes voluntarily/early (before any problem comes)
muppaththu mUvar amararkku – for all the dhEvas (muppaththu mukkOti dhEvas – 33
crore)
thavirkkum – and can remove
kappam – (their) fear,
thuyil ezhAi – please wake up;
vimalA – Oh the pure one!
seppam udaiyAy – (who is) honest (in protecting the devotees)
thiRal udaiyAy – (and) strong (to destroy the enemies of devotees)
kodukkum – (and who) can give
veppam – hardship
seRRArkku – to the enemies,
thuyil ezhAi – get up from your bed;
nappinnai nangAi – O nappinnai pirAtti!
thiruvE – who can equal periya pirAtti!
men mulai – (who has got) soft breasts
seppu anna – like a golden pot,
sevvAi – (and) reddish mouth/lips
siru marungul – (and) tiny waist,
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thiruppAvai
thuyil ezhAi – get up from the bed;

thandhu – give (us)
ukkamum – fan (Ala vattam, required as part of nOnbu)
thattoLiyum – and mirror
un maNALanai – and (give) him too who is your nAthan,
nIrAttu – (and) bathe (krishNA anubhavam)
emmai – us
ippOdhE- right away.
Meaning
muppaththu mUvar
muppaththu mukkOti dhEvar (33 dhEvA types like aswini kumAras; 33 crore dhEvas);
will you help only when it is these many numbers? Would you not bless and be with us if
the number is 5 lakhs? (number of families of gOpikAs in thiruvAyppAdi)
Would you not help those who are desperate to be with you?
Would you help only those who wake you up and get you hurt by arrows (chakravarthy
thirumagan), would you not wake up for us who are fond of just seeing your beauty?
[ mup-paRRu-mUvar – paRRu -> desires/wants. People with one of three types of

desires – aiswaryArthi – desires wealth; kaivalyArthi – desires enjoyment of his own
AthmA only; and prapannas – desires perumAn only. ]
amararkku – for dhEvas
What is the point of helping only those who don’t have death? Should you not be
helping us who would die out of desperation when you don’t see us?
Would you only help dhEvas and others who come to you whenever they have some
problems? Would you not help us innocent gOpikAs who want nothing but doing
kainkaryam?
[ AthmA never dies, so ‘amarar’ refers to jIvAthmAs too]
mun chEnRu – mun -> before/voluntarily
you would go by yourself and help them even before they feel the pain; we are feeling
the pain in our hearts because of missing you and can you not open the door for us?
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thiruppAvai
Will you only walk for those who wanted a piece of land? (achith). Would you not walk
and open the door for us who want a view of your beautiful divine face?
You stood in the front during kurukshEthra – even in the front of the great arjunan, as
his charioteer.
{
AchAryas go by themselves to sishyas for the well-being (gyAnam) of sishyas and their
families. emperumAnAr goes by himself to a sishyan if the sishyan is not attending
upadhEsams properly.
The story about rAmAnujar walking 18 times from kOvil (srIrangam) to thirukkOshtiyUr
is well known; but thirukkoshtiyUr nambi, his acharyan, walked many times from
thirukkOshtiyUr to srIrangam to meet srI rAmAnujar :
– sometimes to teach him rahasyams,
– once when rAmAnujar‘s food was poisoned by some people who did not like his
reforms in the temple, he went on a fasting – as he continued that for more than 3 days,
nambi came rushing to srIrangam – when rAmAnujar received him near the shores of
the river in the hot sand and fell on his AchAryan’s feet – nambi did not ask him to get
up for quite long… rAmAnujar was waiting for nambi to tell him to get up, so he
continued prostrating down in the hot sand… seeing this, rAmAnujur’s sishyan kidAmbi
AchhAn jumped under rAmAnujar to save him from the heat of the sand and raised
objection to nambi for not quickly asking emperumAnAr to get up.. Upon hearing his
words, nambi became very happy! He said that he waited so he could identify someone
who is very concerned about rAmAnujar‘s well being; and nambi asked kidAmbi
AchchAn to be in charge of preparing safe food for emperumAnAr from then on….
– nambi arranged for thirumAlai ANdAn to teach the meanings of thiruvAimozhi to

emperumAnAr; but since rAmAnujar was giving different meanings to some of the
pAsurams of thiruvAimozhi while attending thirumAlai ANdAn’s kAlakshEpam,
thirumAlai ANdAn got upset and stopped the kAlakshEpam for him.. Again, nambi came
from thirukkOshtiyUr to srIrangam, and convinced thirumAlai ANdAn that he himself had
heard those meanings from their AchAryan ALavandhAr, and also convinced him that
like how krishNan went to sAndhIpan for learning, it is just a formality that
emperumAnAr is our sishyar, said thirukkOshtiyUr nambi.
– There are many more such vaibhavam about how AchAryas ‘chenRu’ (went
themselves and) took care of their sishyas (maNakkAl nambi -> ALavandhAr; kUra
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
kuLoththama dhAsa nAyan -> thiruvAimozhippiLLai, etc)

}
kappam thavirkkum
kappam – kampam – shivering out of fear
You helped dhEvas (who lost their place to asurAs), rid their fear; would you not help us
little gOpikAs to avoid our shivering? Would you help only dhEvas who wanted to get rid
of their sadness? Would you not help us who wanted to see you get rid of your sleep?
[ AchAryan helps sishyas having the above three types of desires by highlighting the
wrongs of those types: For aishwaryArthIs he advises not to follow achith (matter); for
kaivalyArthis he advises that perumAn is much much greater than the jIvathmA; For
prapannas? What do prapannas need to avoid? He advises that prapannas should do
kainkaryam but avoid thinking that it is for her/his own happiness; prapannas should do
kainkaryam for perumAn‘s happiness only (may become happy at seeing perumAn‘s
happiness [padiyAyk kidandhu un pavaLa vAi kANbEnE / படியொய்க் ிடந்து உன்
பவள வொய் ொண்மபமன.])
kaliyE
Your smartness and style (ைிடுக்கு); your strength; for the poor and innocent gOpikAs
like us, that is what is lovable;
that is our protecting wall;
thuyil ezhAi
For dhEvas it is their comfort and their places (heaven, etc) that are important; for us it
is your waking up and opening the door that is important.
seppam udaiyAy
you who has the protection – you are our protection; you are protected by AzhwArs
(chankam, chakram; AzhwArs); being honest;
thiRal udaiyAy
you had promised not to peruse weapon in the war against kauravas; but when
bhIshmar hit arjunan, you forgot about the promise and got bhIshmar into the bed of
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
arrows; you made day as night to give advantage to pANdavas; You may show all your
smartness to them, but is it fair to show that on us poor little gOpikAs who just want to
be with you?
seRRArkku veppam kodukkum
seRRAr – enemies; there is none equal to or above Him; his enemies: none, but those
who are his devotees’ enemies are his.
veppam kodukkum – will create fear in his enemies’ hearts.
kodukkum vimalA
kodukkum – kind in giving everything to his adiyArs.
vimalan – pure heart; honest – gives the best to his adiyArs – he gives himself to them;
gave trouble to dhuryOdhanan; gave himself to arjunan (and gave gIthai).
thuyil ezhAi
They are saying again ‘thuyil ezhAi’ in this pAsuram as they are very desperate to see
kaNNan.
Please wake up. No need of throwing arrows for us, just wake up.
seppenna menmulai
Since He did not make any movement, they again ask nappinnai pirAtti (purushakAra
bhUthai [who can make perumAn realize his duty of being kind to us, and join us]).
She (nappinnai pirAtti) is the reason that he is not showing interest in us gOpikAs –
being with her is his life; (seppu) where he saves all his good things. Her mountainous
chest is where this lion lives in. Like how it is not easy to get jewels/money kept inside a
container, it is hard to get kaNNan out of pirAtti’s chest (mA kadal nIr uLLAn, malarAL
dhanaththu uLLAn (mUnrAm thiruvandhAdhi)).
menmulai refers to bhakthi and affection. Like a mother’s affection towards her children.
Now they talk about the places where He gets trapped / where He is usually found :
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
sevvAi
With the beautiful lips by which she gets kaNNan for herself; kaNNan fought with the
bulls to marry nappinnai so that he can enjoy her smile and lips; sem pavaLath thiraL
vAyan lost to these lips of hers;
vAi refers to gyAnam.
siru marungul
nappinnai with waist so slim that one has to guess it exists based on other parts above
and below the waist; ‘osindha nuNNidai mEl kaiyai vaiththu‘ (thiruvAimozhi).
marungul refers to vairAkyam (detachment/renunciation) – determination to ‘not have

much’ (like the waist) of desire on other things than kainkaryam to perumAn.
nappinnai nangAi
One who is complete in all the wealth, all the wealth we mentioned and failed to
mention.
thiruvE
nappinnAi, it is because of you that His greatness is shining.
He is caught in your beauty and is finding it hard to get out of it to save us.
We are calling you with the name of periya pirAtti – we want you to help us like how She
helps us to reach Him; Like how she did not have to sleep in a womb for 10 months, we
want you also not to be sleeping (now)
“I am not sleeping; I am thinking about how to get him up and give to you. Tell me why I
need to get up and what I need to do for you”
“so then here they are:”
ukkamum thattOLiyum
ukkam – Ala vattam (hand-held fan)
thattu oLi – mirror
also paRai (instrument),
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
and other equipment needed for our nOnbu.
[AchAryan gives us upadhEsam to reduce the angst of Athman, and the upadhEsams
act as clear as our seeing the face in a mirror]
Also implies removal of ahankAra mamakAram (me/mine) in kainkaryam, and svarUpa

gyAnam.
un maNALanai
(also (by-the-by) give your sweet husband) (include him in the list of things to give us)
Your husband who obediently follows and does all the chores for you just by looking at
the place you look towards with your raised eyebrows – we need your nice husband
also as part of nOnbu.
[AchAryan’s nAthan is perumAn, we ask AchAryan too to give perumAn]
They are asking for krishNan as if he is equivalent to a fan, a mirror, or an instrument.

When visvAmithrar asked chakravarthy to send perumAL with him to fight with the
rAkshasas, vAlmiki says that with the advice of his AchAryan vasishtar, this
chakravarthy ‘gave’ perumAL to the rishi – as if He is an achith (thing/non-sentient) –
both of these imply that perumAn makes himself so easily available to his adiyArs.
ippOdhE
we cannot wait for some other time; now itself;
emmai – us
They are pointing to their bodies that are destitute because of not seeing kaNNan;
though they differentiated the (representative number of ) 10 gOpikAs with ‘pEyp
peNNE‘, ‘nAyagap pEN piLLAi‘, etc., they are united and one here (emmai) when it
came to having nIrAttam with kaNNan.
nIrAttu
Please let us enjoy with krishNan; what they are happy about is krishNan – the one that
nappinnai gives to them. When krishNan’s beauty and affection is there, they are happy
that it is nappinnai who gave her krishNan to them.
[Immediately help us to get AchArya abhimAnam (liking / blessing from AchAryan)]
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
ElOrempAvAi – commit and follow our ways.
In this pAsuram ANdAL wakes up krishNan and nappinnai; she requests nappinnai to
give the items used for nOnbu and also give krishNan and let them enjoy with Him. She
goes through nappinnai as per the norm of getting the help of AchAryan/devotees to
reach out to emperumAn.
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 21 - ERRa kalangaL

Since krishNan did not get up and open the door even after everyone tried, nappinnai
pirAtti tells gOpikAs that she will also join them and plead krishNan to wake him up and
to enjoy him, if they have come here for bhOgam with krishNan.
In this pAsuram they list what those who are lost to his beautiful guNams would say,
and ask him to wake up.
eRRa kalangaL edhir pongi mIdhaLippa

mARRAdhE pAl soriyum vaLLal perum pasukkaL
ARRap padaiththAn maganE aRivurAi!
URRam udaiyAy! periyAy!
ulaginil thORRamAi ninRa sudarE! thuyil ezhAi
maRRAr unakku vali tholaindhu un vAsaRkaN
ARRAdhu vandhu un adi paNiyumApOle
pORRi yAm vandhOm pugazhndhu ElOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
vaLLal – generous
perum pasukkaL – big cows
pAl soriyum – can produce out milk
ERRa kalangaL – (such that) all the containers placed to get the milk (that is produced
out automatically)
edhir pongi – get filled out
mIdhu aLippa – and pour outside
mARRAdhE – without any break;
ARRap padaiththAn maganE – son of such a person having such cows
aRivuRAi – please wake up (thiruppaLLi uNara vEnum /
திி்ருப்பள்ளியுைரமவணும்)
URRam udaiyAy – vEdhas which are the top most reference/pramAnam talks about
your having the determination / enthusiasm
periyAy – (you) having the greatness (which the vEdhAs are not able to completely
determine)
thORRam Ay ninRa – did avathAram (for everyone to see)
ulaginil – in this world
sudarE – and are very bright in appearance
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
thuyil ezhAi – please wake up from sleep;

mARRAr – your enemies
unakku vali tholaindhu – lose (their) strength because of you
ARRAdhu vandhu – came without any other place/person to go to
un vAsal kaN – to the entrance of your thirumALigai (house)
un adi paNiyum A pOlE – and be praying unto your divine feet, (in the same way),
yAm – we
vandhOm – have come and reached (your thirumALigai entrance)
pugazhndhu – praising (you)
pORRi – and doing mangaLAsAsanam (to you)
Meaning
ERRa kalangaL edhir pongi mIdhaLippa
Any container kept under it will get filled up so quickly; there may be a limit to the
number of containers, but there is no limit to the milk from them; it would even fill the
sea; these cows have been touched by krishNan and they are like him – krishNan would
bless everyone; it is their mistake if someone doesn’t accept it well; He wants everyone.
ERRa kalangaL – sishyAs who are amicable to receive upadhEsam

(advise/rahasyams); he who is qualified to receive; qualification – the thought that He is
the means.
edhir pongi mIdhaLippa – sishyas have gained full knowledge due to AchAryan, such
that the knowledge pours out to the extent that people would say they are better than
AchAryan himself.
This makes AchAryan say to sishyan like – “vaLarththadhanAl payan peRREn

varugavenRu madakkiLiyaik kai kUppi vaNanginALE – வளர்த்ததனொல் பயன்
கபற்மறன் வரு கவன்று ைடக் ிளிலயக் ல கூப்பி வைங் ினொமள“.
(kAnchi swAmi’s): Even after arjunan was convinced during gIthai, bhagavAn kept him
listening and continued the flow of upadhEsam. Arjunan did not say ‘don’t continue’, so
krishNan used that as acceptance and continued.
maRRAdhE pAl soriyum
Even if someone does not put the container, it would not hesitate – would continue
giving milk.
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
Even when a sishyan/bhakthan is not interested, AcharyAn/perumAn would continue

giving their blessing/knowledge.
AchAryas follow and advise what they heard from their AchAryas, they do not change
(mARRAdhE). munnOr mozhindha muRai thappAmal kEttu / முன்மனொர் கைொழிந்த
முலற தப்பொைல் ம ட்டு பின்மனொர்ந்து
vaLLal perum pasukkaL
Cows are not helping just a few, but helping as if doing for nandhagOpa’s own benefit.
Like how krishNan made it easy for women and girls to hug him;
these cows are obedient like krishNan;
perum pasukkaL – with krishNan’s touch they are also big – like krishNan; like
sathrunjayan the elephant of chakravarthy thirumagan. AzhwAr says ‘sirumAmanisar‘ in
thiruvAimozhi 8-10-3.
perumAn thinks his adiyArs are vaLLal (udhArar / generous) for allowing Him to get the
name that he gives everything that his adiyArs pray for. Someone who is always looking
to provide thadhiyArAdhanam would praise if someone is available to eat.
vaLLAl – AzhwAr => enakkE thanaith thandha kaRpagam – He provided gyAnam to

me, he attracted and made me His, and now He is thankful to me as if adiyEn did all
these for Him.
ARRap padaiththAn
nandhagOpa, who has got fulfilling wealth (that is krishNan);
wealth of countless number of cows. We could count His kalyANa guNams, but not
nadhagOpa’s cows.
ALavandhAr had lots of wonderful sishyas like periya nambi, thirumalai nambi,
thirukkOshtiyUr nambi, thirumAlaiyANdAn, and more. So did piLLai lOkAchAriar.
padaiththAn maganE
The wealth nandhagOpa got working hard, krishNan got because of his birth to him.
maganE – calling krishNan who is the son (to get up).
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
krishNan is happy to be known as a son and not as nArAyaNan. pUrvAchAryArs also

call perumAL as chakravarthy thirumagan because that is how He liked to be called. He
enjoys saulabhyam (simplicity) more than parathvam (supremacy). Since as nArAyaNan
He does not have a father (தொன் மதொன்றித்தனம்), he is more happy to be
associated with the father he got during his avathAram.
[maganE – refers to an AchAryAn. ARRap padaiththAn is AchAryAn’s AchAryAn (periya

swAmi)].
AchAryAn becomes so much happy if his sishyan shows greater gyAnam and
anushtAnam; emperumAnAr -> AzhvAn (example, while returning from kAshmIr),
mudhaliyANdAn, and piLLAn; embAr -> bhattar; bhattar->nanjIyar; nanjIyar-
>nampiLLai …. maNavALa mAmunigaL who was the only AchAryAn who was in a
position to learn ALL of their pUrvAchArya’s granthams, because of which namperumAL
waited till then, and wanted to be mAmunigaL‘s sishyan.
edhir pongi-> sishyar knowing and following more than his AchAryAn.]
aRivurAi
Since He is in yOga nidhrA it is easy to awaken him (not actually sleeping, but enjoying
about the innocent gOpikAs that he already befriended, and deeply thinking about any
remaining gOpikAs).
He thought, ‘these cows were there even before I came here, they are saying that they
are like this because of my birth; does this say anything great about me’, and so he was
lying down and not moving.
Also they thought that he might think that they are talking about some other gOpar who
owns a lot of cows; so they decide to talk about his greatness in other ways..
URRam udaiyAy
you who is identified in the vEdhas; whom yasOdhai is fond of;
when you wanted to accept vibhIshaNan, you convinced mahArAjar (sukrIvan) and
others, and accomplished that. vibhIshaNan is like anRu InRa kanRu (new calf born on
that day) so he was more determined to accept him, against mahArAjar.
[AchAryAns’ enthusiasm to teach their sishyas]
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
periyAy
how much ever vEdhas tried to explain you fully, they finally gave up – you are bigger
than anything.
Even after doing everything for your saraNAgathas, you look as if you did not do much;
as if it is your pleasure/opportunity; blesses us with the greatness that matches his
greatness.
ulaginil thORRamAi ninRa
but without just stopping with the knowledge that no one can fully explain about you as
said in the vEdhas, you decided to come to this world to help the samsAris, for sAdhu
parithrANam, as you said ‘sambhavAmi‘. You came to this world for everyone to see.
You not only are, but you also make it famous about being, partial to those who
surrendered to you;
Like how you were partial to pANdavas because they depended on you and you made
that clear to dhuryOdhanan and his people and to this world.
sudarE
this guNam (characteristic) of yours shows brightly as/after you came to this world,
unlike that of samsAris’ births which make AthmAs more and more covered with
karmAs.
thuyil ezhAi
please wake up, don’t let your wonderful guNam sung as above become dull because of
your sleep.
mARRAr unakku vali tholaindhu un vAsal kaN vandhu adi paNiyumA pOlE
maRRAr – your enemies, that is those who are enemies of your devotees
vali – strength
You make your enemies lose their strength and come fall on your feet; they would not
want to go back after seeing you. They may die and thus be saved (from further agony /
to go to next birth/moksham, etc).
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
We are lost to your beauty and guNams, and we also come and fall on your feet; but we
cannot be saved if you don’t show us your face;
svApadhEsam – we are lost to your sEshithvam (lordship), got rid of dhEhAthbhimAnam

(giving importance to dhEham as if it is AthmA), svasvAthanthriyam (behaving as if
independent of you), anya sEshathvam (serving others), svAdhIna-karthruthva-
bhOkthruthvam (independent efforts and self enjoyment), upAyantharam (using other
means to reach you), and upEyAntharam (aiming for other benefits/goals); even if you
ask us to take up any of these again, we think of the sadness/emptiness of it all and say
“we don’t want them”, and come to the entrance of your thirumALigai, and say you are
all kinds of means and goals for us, and so praise your lotus feet, and we came to do
mangaLAsAsanam to you and surrender to you.
Also, people of other philosophies lose their strength after debate with sampradhAya
AchAryas and come to their thirumALigai.
pORRi
Singing thirupallaNdu for you (may you live forever). We came like periyAzhwAr.
yAm vandhOm
Like how he (periyAzhvAr) did not worry about his living but sang for you, we also did
not worry that we should wait for you to come and bless us, but we came here to see
you; we could not wait in our place because we could not bear the separation.
pugazhndhu
(we came) while praising your guNams that made us lose to you.
ElOrempAvAi – commit and follow our path
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 22 - angaNmA gyAlaththu

The previous pAsuram was about losing ahankAram (attitude of me-mine) – (mARRAr
vali tholaindhu un vAsal kaN). This pAsuram says that after coming here to you there is
no other place / person to go to. This is about ananyArha sEshathvam (subservience to
perumAn and perumAn only / no other place or person to go to).
angaNmA gyAlaththu arasar

abhimAna bhangamAi vandhu nin paLLikkattil kIzhE
sangam iruppAr pOl vandhu thalaippeidhOm
kingiNi vAich cheidha thAmaraippUp pOlE
sengaN siRuchiRidhE emmEl vizhiyAvO
thingaLum Adhiththiyanum ezhundhAr pOl
angaN iraNdum kOndu engaL mEl nOkkudhiyEl
engaL mEl sAbham izhindhu ElOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
am kaN mA gyAlaththu arasar – kings (who rule(d) the) beautiful, spacious, and big
world
abhimAna bhangamAi vandhu – come after losing their ahankAram
sangam iruppAr- and assembled in groups
nin paLLik kattil kIzhE – below your throne;
pOl – likewise
vandhu – (we) came (to your place)
thalaippeidhOm – and approached (you);
thAmaRai pU pOlE – like a lotus
kingiNi vAich cheidha – that is blossomed a little bit, like the opening of ‘kingiNi’ (metal
ball with openings like a half-open flower, with a metal ball inside it to make noise when
shaken),
sem kaN – (would you open your) reddish eyes
siRuchchiRidhE – little by little
em mEl vizhyAvO – and bless us (your devotees)?
thingaLum Adhiththiyanum ezhundhAr pOl – like how the moon and the sun rise
engaL mEl nOkkudhiyEl – if you would bless us
am kaN iraNdum koNdu – with the two beautiful eyes
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engaL mEl sAbham – our sadness

izhindhu – would get destroyed.
Meaning
angaN – beautiful place; nice that from brahma to a small ant (pipIlikai/பிபீைில )
could enjoy here with all comforts;
mA gyAlaththu arasar – kings of the beautiful big places on earth/world – kings with
the pride of ‘all these areas of this earth are mine'; like a king named pouNdarakan who
ruled kAsi who thought that the whole universe was his and was walking with changu
and chakram in his hands to compete with krishNan.
abhimAna bhangamAi vandhu – losing their svAthanthriyam; those kings come (to
you) after losing their kingdom, and become humble;
some kings were bhAgavathas (some of whom are also mentioned in some of the
prabandhams), and they came and surrendered to you even while being kings;
kUraththAzhvAn surrendered to emperumAnAr even when having everything (gyAnam,
lineage, wealth). kulasEkarAzhwAr and sIrk kaliyan too were kings!
nin paLLik kattil kIzhE – even if they (the former types) are given back their kingdoms,
they recall becoming humble and refuse to go away (from you), and stay under you
(‘under’ your safety). They want you and you only.
sangam iruppAr pOl – like those great kings we have also come to you after losing our
pArathanthriyam – like how significant it is for them to lose (because it is very hard for
such great kings) their pArathanthriyam, we have come losing ours; they came to you
because there was no other place to go to – we came to you for doing kainkaryam.
Like iLaiyaperumAL who was lost to chakravarthy thirumagan, we have come here after
losing to your guNams and becoming your sEshans.
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thiruppAvai
vandhu thalaip peidhOm
All the delays we endured till now in waking up every one, now we are relieved of all the
troubles after coming here. All these years (lives) we had lost the opportunity of this
sambandham (association) with you, and today we got the complete you after coming
here, and without doing anything on our part (nirhEthukam). We have shed our
dhEhAthmAbhimAnam (giving importance to bodily comforts), also our svAthanthriyam
(feeling of we can do everything by ourselves without His help) and have come here as
saraNAgathas to do kainkaryam only to you; and without any thought that it is We who
Did the kainkaryams.
When bhattar was asked, “vEdhas say that brahmA and other dhEvas are born 7 times,
they do very hard penance/tasks before they are able to get mOksham; but we, who are
so less able compared to them, have just done saraNAgathi and with all surety we are
waiting for this life to end for going to mOksham (like we have packed our bags and are
just waiting for His call, to go to mOksham); how come there is such a big difference in
the required efforts?”
bhattar replied, “There is nothing wrong in this; those dhEvas are trying everything out
of their own efforts, and they want to try like that because/thinking-that they have got
that ability. We, on the other hand, have accepted from the beginning that we cannot do
anything on our own to become eligible for mOksham, we have fallen on perumAn‘s feet
and have told him that we don’t have anything to show for becoming eligible – so since
now it is perumAn who is taking the efforts to provide us mOksham, we are assured of
it; but the dhEvas / rishis – they are trying with their own ability so it would take them a
long time before they get mOksham.
{ முமுக்ஷுப்படி – ஒரு பைத்துக்கு அரிய வழிலயயும் எளிய வழிலயயும்

உபமதசிக்ல யொமை, இலவ இரண்டுகைொழிய ப வத் ப்ரஸொதமை
உபொயைொ க் டவது / mumukshuppad – oru palaththukku ariya vazhiaiyum eLiya
vazhaiyum upadhEsikkaiyAlE, ivai iraNdumozhiya bhagavath prasAdhamE
upAyamAgak kadavadhu. }
(Also we are not supposed to go for other means (karma/gyAna/bhakthi) for getting
mOksham; only saraNAgathi is prescribed for us srIvaishNavas because it is against
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thiruppAvai
the svarUpam (our true nature) to try on our own even if we would be able to. Doing
saraNAgathy is also not the ‘means’, it is only an acceptance that He is the means.)
kingiNi vAich cheidha thAmaraip pUp pOlE
(please open your eyes) like the lotus that blossoms when seeing the sun; these flowers
blossom seeing our desperation; like how it slowly blossoms;
our desperation is like the sun, and you eyes are like the lotus – please open seeing our
desperation.
sengaN – your beautiful reddish eyes
red due to your affection towards us. Even that flower is not as red/beautiful as his eyes,
so they use the word as a metaphor.
siRuch chiRidhE
unlike flooding by suddenly opening a dam, the force of your kindness which we cannot
withstand if it is available all at once, open your beautiful eyes slowly.. slowly..
We want to enjoy from the beginning the whole process of your opening your beautiful
eyes;
we are like dry land which needs to be watered slowly and steadily.
svApadhEsam: please elevate us step by step; begin with:

– remove our dhEhAthmAbhimAnam (thinking of dhEham as Athma –
attachment/priority to physical comforts),
– as we accept it (accept this effort of yours), remove our svasvAthanthriya abhimAnam
(thinking that we are independent of emperumAn),
– as we accept it, do anya sEshathva nivruththi (getting rid of subservience to others),
– as we accept it, remove sva sEshathvam (kaivalyam – enjoying our own AthmA only),
– as we accept it, remove svarakshaNE sva anvayam (thinking that we can do things to
protect ourselves),
– as we accept it, remove us from upAyAntharam (using other means like
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thiruppAvai
karma/gyAna/bhakthi yOgams, or other ways, to reach Him),

– as we accept it, make us come to you as the only means (to reach you),
– as we accept it, remove the thought in us that when we carry out activities in our life it
is because of our efforts only,
– as we accept it, make us be a parathanthran,
– as we accept it, make us immersed in all of His divine characteristics
(ஸைஸ்த ல்யொைகுைங் ள்),
– then create anubhavajanitha prithikAritha kainkaryam (doing kainkaryam out of
affection that came out of experiencing him),
– and then remove the thought of doing that kainkaryam for own enjoyment.
— In the next phrase of the pAsuram when they say ‘after you open your eyes just
enough’ – it means that ‘after we reach such stage here’. To a dhEhAthmAbhimAni it
would not work if He tries to grant parama bhakthi straight away, would it?
em mEl vizhiyAvO – would you open your eyes and see us?
Like how desperate one would be when rains came for the dry land, like how the
sAdhaga bird would hope to get rain water (it drinks only rain water direct when the rain
drops falling from the sky), they are hoping for his blessings. {thurisaRRuch chAdhakam
pOl nAthan thandhu aruLE pArththiruththal kOdhil adiyAr guNam – gyAna sAram (2) /
துரிசற்றுச் சொத ம் மபொல் நொதன் தனதருமள பொர்த்திருத்தல் ம ொதிைடியொர்
குைம் – ஞொன ஸொரம் (2)}
Would you please give us parama bhakthi after we reached the stage as above?
thingaLum Adhiththiyanum ezhundhAr pOl
Adhiththiyan – sun – hot – your enemies cannot go near you
thingaL – moon – nice – your adiyArs find it nice and wonderful to approach you; they
find the moon (un)comfortable when they miss you.
Even though perumAn was fighting hiraNyan, he was kind to his son prahlAdhan.
perumAn considered hiraNyan as enemy only because hiraNyan was troubling his
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thiruppAvai
bhakthan. bhattar said: Even while the mother lion is fighting with an elephant it would
be kind to its cub that is drinking milk from her.
Also means, to remove our inner darkness (sun), and to make us feel better after having
gone through separation from you (moon).
angaN iraNdum kOndu
the sun and moon are not comparable to your anger and blessing; so they stop
comparing and mention his eyes itself – am kaN – beautiful eyes; with your wonderful
eyes (please see us)
As he opened just enough for them to to be able to bear it (where they had said siruch
chiRidhE), they ask him to look at them with both his eyes.
iraNdum kONdu – see with both the eyes – emphasizing with ‘both’ to imply that He
should see them fully with all of his kindness and love. (“நொன் என் கரண்டு
ண்ைொை பொர்த்மதன்” / I saw with both my eyes).
engaL mEl
See us – we who became desperate without your looking at us
nOkkudhiyEl
IF YOU see us – it is not possible with our efforts – You with your efforts please see us
and accept us.
engaL mEl sAbham izhindhu
sAbham – curse, or, what we HAVE to go through – because of your playing with us but
leaving us and hiding; and we cannot tolerate your absence. Separation from you is our
problem; since this trouble is having to be undergone, they use the word ‘sAbham’.
With your sight falling on us, our troubles from samsAram will go away;
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thiruppAvai
With those two beautiful eyes if you see us slowly but fully, our troubles will go away.
They mention thrice – em mEL, engaL mEL, engaL mEl in this one pAsuram itself (lines
5, 7, and 8) – the ‘em’ (we) in these lines relate to us who have got ‘poi ninRa
gyAnamum, pollA ozhukkum, azhukkudambum’ (thiruviruththam 1).
ElOrempAvAi – O girl, think about this and follow our path.
In this pAsuram, after krishNan opened his eyes, they told him that they came to get his
blessings to serve him forever.
We were having svAthanthriyam the size that of great kings and emperors.
After great difficulty we have lost all that and are here falling on your feet – ananyArha
sEshathvam.
If you would please slowly but fully open your kind eyes to look at us and give your
blessings,
then we will get the ever-lasting opportunity to always do kainkaryams to you.
We request Him to allow us to do kainkaryam to Him and Him only, so that we don’t
gain svAthanthriyam after doing kainkaryam (not having the feeling that We Did It).
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 23 - mAri malai muzhainjil

As krishNan realized that these gOpikAs woke up so early in the morning, and they
made all the gOpikAs who were still sleeping – to get up and join them, and they
pleaded with the guards of His house to permit them in, and through nandhagOpar,
yasOdhai, nappinnai, nambimUththapirAn (balarAmar), they have come to Him.
krishNan thought that if he had gone to them as per norm, then these little gOpikAs
would not have had to go through all these in the cold early morning;
so he calms them down with sweet words (madhura bhAshaNam) like he committed
mistake (like how he felt he committed mistake of delaying due to having to convince
sugrIvan to accept vibishaNan, spoke to vibIshaNan with sweet words) ; {so their
assertion of ‘AvA enRu Arayndhu aruL‘ (will happily inquire us ) became true }; he gives
his blessing to them by listening to their request of opening his eyes and looking at
them.
At this, the gopikAs request krishNan to listen to their requirements.
mAri malai muzhainjil mannik kidandhu uRangum

sIriya singam aRivuRRuth thI vizhiththu
vEri mayir ponga eppAdum pErndhu udhari
mUri nimirndhu muzhangip puRappattup
pOdharuma pOlE nI pUvaippU vaNNA
un kOyil ninRu inganE pOndhu aruLik
kOppudaiya sIriya singasanaththu irundhu
yAm vandha kAriyam ArAyndhu aruL ElOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
mAri – During the rainy season

malai muzhainjil – in a mountain cave
sIriya singam – majestic/angry lion
mannk kidandhu – which is deeply set (together with the lioness) and,
uRangum – sleeping,
aRivuRRu – (would) get up after waking up (after that season),
thI vizhiththu – open the flaming fiery eyes
pErndhu – and move
eppAdum – on all sides
udhaRi – and shake (its body)
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vEri mayir – (such that its) fragrant mane (hair)

ponga – (would) rise around,
mUri nimirndhu – (then it would) stand erect and straighten up its body, and
muzhangi – roar, and
puRappattu – exit (the den)
pOdharum A pOlE – and come out;
pUvaip pU vaNNA – (likewise,) Oh you who is of the color like kAyAmpU (flower)
nI – you
un koyil ninRu – (exit) from your temple (bed room)
inganE pOndharuLi – and come to this place
irundhu – and be seated
sIriya singAsanaththu – on the majestic throne
kOppu udaiya – that is having nice shape and set up,
ArAyndhu aruL – (and then) inquire about and fulfill
yAm vandha kAriyam – the requirements for which we have come.
Meaning
mAri malai muzhainjil
Like the kings who stay in a place and not go for wars during rainy season, the lion
would stay in the caves and not go out during that time.
Like how perumAL (srI rAman) stayed in the cave of mAlyavAn during rainy season
while sugrIvan stayed with his family, such rainy season is for the lovers to meet, and
for the ones who have met to enjoy their time together; this time is also such, but we are
at your door with the longing; you are wasting the minutes instead of to us and helping
us join you.
mannik kidandhu uRangum
Since you don’t have to be afraid of anyone, you are deeply set in your bed, like the
peak is well set on the mountain.
You are set in your bed together with your wife nappinnai pirAtti (like how they said
earlier ‘nappinnai kongai mEl vaiththu kidandha malar mArbhA‘), as if there is only one
thing together, or, like you are an ornament on nappinnai pirAtti.
uRangum – unlike samsAris who really sleep, you are just closing your eyes deeply
thinking about ways of helping the samsAris. They are reminded of such a sleep here.
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AchAryas and srIvaishNavas study vEdhas, upanishadhs, dhivya prabandhams,

granthams all their life, dwelling in their meanings.
sIriya singam
Lion having the greatness of valor, such that it is feared by other animals even when it
is sleeping. (as enjoyed by pirAtti), perumAL (srI rAman) is majestic even while
sleeping. They are reminded of such a sleep here.
aRivuRRu
samsAris wake up when realizing it is time; you wake up to accept adiyArs’ kainkaryam.
thI vizhiththu
When the lion first opens its flaming eyes it is scary even for the lioness to look at it.
They imply that in front of the thEjas of Iswaran the enemies cannot stand in front of
Him.
vEri mayir ponga
vEri mayir – fragrance (from your hair, smell that is present in lions)
ponga – shaking your hair;
They are reminded about emperumAn who is described as sarva gandha: (his body
contains all types of fragrances).
eppAdum pErndhu udhari
Since you don’t have to put any effort for doing anything, leisurely you shake your head
(and get rid of sleepiness).
udhari- shaking various parts of your body.
mUri nimirndhu
Straightening out all parts of your body together
muzhangi
Hearing your roar all other animals (enemies) would fear for their life.
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thiruppAvai
Please get up and come with all your power in front of us little girls, and ask us ‘Oh have
you girls come here?’ (“கபண் ொள்! வந்திம ொளொ“)
“Like a lion that would straighten up its body and start its day afresh, krishNA! you come
with full energy/enthusiasm and open your door for us”;
“Is lion the right comparison for me?”;
nI pUvaippU vaNNA
We compared it to you for its majesty, but, it does not match your beauty and color –
those qualities of yours are like the flower (called pUvaippU – blackish/bluish colored
flower). Isn’t only when the flower’s color would be an exact match to you, then the lion
also would be an exact match to you?
un kOilninru inganE pOndhu aruLi
please walk from your bed room (from antha:puram) (to your throne)
we want to see the four great types of your walk – your walk that is like a Bull’s pride, an
Elephant’s respect, Tiger’s anger, and Lion’s charisma. We can see these in the beauty
of namperumAL’s walk / நைக்கு இலவகயல்ைொம் நம்கபருைொள்
நலடயழ ிமை ொைைொம்.
ingane pOndhu aruLi – not become the words told from the bed – which can be lies; we
want the words from your majestic throne in your big reception.
kOppudaiya
the seat that you use for taking care of both the worlds, and for all beings.
Or, having the eight legs of dharmam, gyAnam, vairAgyam, aiswaryam (of directing
everything), (and their opposites) adharmam, agyAnam, avairAgyam, anaiswaryam.
sIriya singAsanaththu
Any decisions made from your throne will be final and good – like your words in the sea
shore (chakravarthy thirumagan’s words during vibIshaNa saraNAgathy that he would
protect (give mOksham) for all the related people of the one who does saraNAgathy
once), and from the charioteer’s seat (sarva dharmAn… by krishNan to arjunan). —
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thiruppAvai
Words from your throne would be wonderful / effective even with just krishNan and all
the gOpikAs too.
sIriya – even if it is for someone very small the size of an atom, this throne would give
then equal greatness of krishNan. even krishNan cannot tell lies when seated on this.
For AchAryas, the singAsanam (simhAsanam) is the wooden seat they use when giving
blessings to their sishyas; emperumAnAr establshed 74 ‘simhAsanAdhipathis’
(AchAryas). emperumAnAr is like a lion to those opposed to srIvaishNavam /
visishtAdhvaitham;
irundhu
In addition to enjoying the beauty of your walk, we want to see the beauty of your sitting
in your royal throne. To relax ourselves from our angst we want to see you sitting and
giving your word. In thirukurunkudi perumAn is in standing position, but nammAzhwAr
sings ‘kaNNiNai kuLirap pudhu malar Agaththaip paruga – irundhidAi‘ (thiruvAimozhi 9-
2-9), referring to sitting position.
yAm vandha kAriyam ArAyndhu aruL
Hear about the reasons for our coming here – reasons that are not for our own material
benefits; and bless for our success in attaining what we wanted.
chakravarthy thirumagan felt bad for not helping the rishis even earlier; krishNan too
feels bad that he did not quickly help these gOpikAs; From his bed, he asks them “what
do I need to do for you gOpikAs?”
“We cannot tell you while you are lying in your bed – because one could lie when they
are lying in their bed. We don’t have anybody else to go to. So you please come and sit
relaxed in your wonderful throne and hear us out”.
“When there is nappinnai pirAtti for you, you say that you don’t have any other place to
go to”, he feels bad that he did not hear them out early.
[We go to AchAryan for what kAriyam – for getting gyAnam; for bhagavath
samAshrayaNam (surrender)].
[emperumAnAr‘s sishya kidAmbi AchchAn went to thirumAlirunchOlai to do

mangalAsAsanam to azhagar perumAn. azhagar asked him to recite a slOkam –
kidAmbi AchchAn recited a slOkam from ALavandhAr‘s sthOthra rathnam – when he
recited the word ‘refugee’ in that sthOthram, azhagar objected to it and said that when
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thiruppAvai
there is rAmAnujAr for all of you {us?!}, one should not use that word anymore. “நம்
இரொைொநுசலன ஆசொர்யரொ உலடயொரில் ஒருவரும் அ தியில்லை
ொணும்”, “நம்ைிரொைொநுசலனயுலடயொயிருந்துலவத்து நம்முன்மன இப்படி
கசொல்ைப்கபறொய்” / nam irAmanusanai AchAryarAga udaiyAril oruvarum agadhi illai
kANum”, “nam irAmAnusanai udaiyarAi irundhu vaiththu nam munnE ippadi sollap
peRAi”.
There is another aithIhyam where a sishyan himself did not want to use similar words
after getting his AchAryan’s gatAksham (blessing): In ALavandhAr‘s sthOthram,
AlavandhAr had said very low of himself as part of being a sEshan to perumAn; But
ananthAzhwAn did not wish to recite that sthOthram to imply the same about himself
because he thought that as a sishyan, with his AchArya sambhandham, those things
would not be applicable to a sishyan!)]
In this pAsuram ANdAL does not give krishNan the details of their kAriyam (their
requirements). “She has kept that for chiRRam siRu kAlE (29) pAsuram” (வந்த
ொரியத்லத சிற்றஞ்சிறு ொலைக்கு லவக் ிறொர்).
Why are they not talking about it immediately but are keeping it for later?
bharathAzhvAn along with all the people of ayOdhyA went to chakravarthy thirumagan
thinking that if we all went to him and fell on his feet then He would be kind and accept
his request to go back to ayOdhyA; but since perumAL wanted to fulfill his father’s
words / busy, this request was not fulfilled immediately – He gave them His pAdhukas
only. So ANdAL thinks that she would not hurry but use appropriate time and make sure
that krishNan’s disposition is suitable for her to place her request.
ArAyndhu aruL – krishNan should ask “Oh how much you suffered, what all have you
done!! You woke up so early in this cold morning, argued with all the gOpikAs and woke
them all up, woke up nandhagOpar, yasOdhai, elder brother, nappinnai and me!? your
going through all this trouble is not fair on my part, I should have been the first to come
and help you”. எதிர் சூழல் புக்குத் திரியுைவனுக்கு, இலவகயல்ைொம் தன்
குலறயொ த் மதொற்றுைிமற / edhi sUzhal pukkuth thiriyumavanukku ivaiyellAm than
kuRaiyAgath thORRumiRE – For him who always plans to surround us and make us
(accept that we are) His, and who has come from paramapadham to here looking for
acceptance of Him from us, it would feel like a big mistake to have let gOpikas make all
these efforts.
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thiruppAvai
More then his providing what they require, they enjoy krishNan inquiring them like this.
“You and nappinnai pirAtti please go and be seated in the throne and listen to the
reason of our visit and hear our requirements”.
ElOrempAvAi – commit and follow our ways.
In this pAsuram, ANdAL and other gOpikAs finally see krishNan who has slowly opened
his eyes and seen them. He wants to know what they wanted, but they request him and
pirAtti to go and be seated in the throne and listen to their requirements. She describes
how he should get up and walk – the walk that would be so enjoyable to see (we can
see that walk even today in thiruvarangam – namperumAL)
This pAsuram advises us too to go to our AchAryan who is deeply knowledgeable about
vEdhas, upanishads, prabhandhams, etc., and to request him to give us gyAnam which
he will do sitting in his Asanam (seat).
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram – 24 - anRu ivvulagam

When they saw krishNan following their request by getting up from his bed to go to his
royal throne (singhAsanam), gOpikAs forgot what they came for and enjoyed his
beautiful walk; they start singing pallANdu (may you live forever) for that walk. Till
seeing him one may think – “I want this, I want that”; after seeing him all they can think
of is about him and his well-being.
As krishNan sits on the throne with nappinnai pirAtti, they touch His lotus feet and pray
to Him. Seeing his soft feet, they say that long ago for the dhEvas’ own needs these
feet walked and measured the worlds, and today we too asked him to get up and walk
and have we become same as those dhEvas in making him walk? – They sing pallANdu
to him – pORRi.
anRu ivvulagam aLandhAi adi pORRi

senRanguth then ilangai cheRRAi thiRal pORRi
ponRach chakatam udhaiththAi pugazh pORRi
kanRu kuNilAi eRindhAi kazhal pORRi
kunRu kudaiyAi eduththAi guNam pORRi
venRu pagai kedukkum nin kaiyil vEl pORRi
enRenRun sEvagamE Eththip paRai koLvAn
inRu yAm vandhOm iRangu ElOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
anRu – long ago that time (when indhiran and others suffered due to mahAbali)
aLandhAi ivvulagam – Oh you who measured these worlds! (with two steps)
adi – (those) divine feet (of yours)
pORRi – shall live for many years and more years (pallANdu pallANdu);
angu – in the place where rAvaNan lived
senRu – (you) went (எழுந்தருளி)
cheRRAi then ilangai – Oh you who destroyed the lanka of the south! (which is his
country)
thiRal – (your) strength
pORRi – shall live for many years;
chakatam – chakatAsuran
udhaiththAi chakatam ponRa – Oh you, who kicked that chakatam (chakatAsuran) and
destroyed!
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thiruppAvai
pugazh – (your) valor

pORRi – shall live for a long time;
kanRu – vathsAsuran who stood as a calf
kuNilA – was used as a throwing staff (pole),
eRindhAi – Oh you who threw (at the asura who took the form of a fruit (viLAnkani /
விளொங் னி) (எறிந்தருளியவமன!)
kazhal – your thiruvadi (lotus feet – which stood ground)
pORRi – shall live for a long time;
eduththAi – Oh you who lifted
kunRu – gOvardhana mountain
kudaiyA – as an umbrella / shelter!
guNam – your characteristics (like sauseelyam, etc.,)
pORRi – should stay for years together;
nin kaiyil vEl – the spear in your hands
venRu – that won (the enemies)
pagai kedukkum – and destroyed them (the opposition)
pORRi – should live for a long time;
enRu enRu – So doing such mangaLAsAsanam several times,
Eththi – to praise / sthOthram
un sEvagamE – about only your strength/valor,
yAm – we
vandhOm – came and reached
ingu/inRu – this place / today
paRai koLvAn – to get paRai (instrument (mOksham))
irangu – please show compassion (to help us).
Meaning
anRu ivvulagam aLandhAi adi pORRi
– (pallANdu to your feet which measured all the worlds that day (long ago))
anRu – that day (long ago) – when indhiran was suffering after king mahAbali stole the
worlds from him (they are actually yours)
inRu – today – when we are suffering because of separation from you; when we got out
of our sthrIthvAbhimAnam (from the thought that as woman one should not go to you
(you should have come to us))
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thiruppAvai
anRu – when you so easily made yourself available to everyone (as thrivikraman) by
touching everyone’s head – you did dhULi dhAnam to them all (when giving lots of
things to people one would shake their hands to give all the remaining small particles
sticking in their hands too);
inRu – today you have to do dhULi dhAnam to us your beauty and grace; that is how
krishNan and vAmanan would be similar.
ivvulagam aLandhAi – pirAttis would carefully touch your thiruvadi (lotus feet) treating
them like flowers, but you took pains to measure all of this world – this world containing
rugged land! That day you walked to mahAbali and got back the worlds for indhiran, and
today you are walking for us, saving us from our separation from you.
adi pORRi – just by our requesting Him, krishNan is walking to his royal singhAsanam
using his sukumAramAna thiruvadi (soft and pampered feet) – they are singing
pallANdu for his thiruvadi for walking to mahAbali and measuring the worlds;
you took only two steps when you measured the worlds, but today you are taking 8-10
steps for us! (பத்கதட்டடி). When you measured the worlds that day, indhiran went
back with some benefit (other than you), mahAbali got your generosity; we did not get
anything (that is, you) that day, so to reduce that angst we sing pallANdu today.
adi pORRi – they are of the type who say ‘un sevvadi sevvi thirukkAppu‘
(thiruppallANdu – 1).
senRu angu then ilangai cheRRAi thiRal pORRi
That is, whom you could not win by your beauty you won by your arrows.
senRu angu – like going to the place where a tiger is sleeping and then waking it up and
killing it, you went there to the place where that fellow was residing who separated
pirAtti from you.
senRu – also, while on his way to ilangai, like (easily) walking over sand castles and
destroying them, he killed other asuras like karan, kabandhan, and the like who were
troubling the sanyAsis in the forest.
The gOpikAs stare at kaikEyi who caused that walk by foot.
angu – unlike thrivikraman standing in one place and measuring all the worlds like how
a flower would blossom standing in one place, you walked in the dangerous and rough
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thiruppAvai
forest with your soft lotus feet?! “We are even more concerned about this than the
thrivikrama avathAram”; “எவ்வொறு நடந்தலன எம் இரொைொ! ஓ!” / evvARu
nadandhanai em irAmA! O! – (perumAL thirumozhi 9-2) – How were you able to walk
like that, Oh my dear rAmA?!) “. Fearing for His safety is in their lineage (AzhwArs).
then ilangai – with beautiful palaces and protections, a place of arakkars assembled like
a wasps’ nest, who trouble noble people.
cheRRAi – those who trouble your adiyArs are your enemies whom you win one way or
other.
(On the day before the last day of war, when rAvaNan lost his weapons, chakravarthy
thirumagan told him to go back for that day and come back next day (inRu pOi nALai
vArAi) – reason for this is that perumAL hoped that he would come next day realizing
his mistake and would come with anjali (kai kUppi /ல கூப்பி) – perumAn melts with
affection when he sees someone doing anjali to Him ] – but that did not happen from
rAvaNan next day, so perumAL had to kill him and release the AthmA from the body.)
thiRal pORRi – like building a protective wall for a compound wall, these girls are
singing thirupallANdu for his strength/valor (ைிடுக்கு). They sing pallANdu due to their
lineage who sang ‘mallANda thiN thOL maNivaNNA‘; they are the ones who sing
“ilangai pAzhALAgap padai porudhAnukkup pallANdu kURudhum”
Even maNdOdhari while having lost her husband, praised perumAL after seeing his
greatness and considered him as the protector.
ponRach chakatam udhaiththAi pugazh pORRi
There is even more danger to krishNan, compared to just saying about rAvaNan as
enemy. At least in the case of chakravarthy thirumagan, He had reached the right age
when he fought with rAvaNan. In this case, krishNan was just a baby which would not
even know what is going on. rAvaNan came in front of perumAL to fight, but here
everything is hidden in things, animals, toys, fruits, etc. So the gOpikas are much more
worried about this.
ponRa – unlike mArIchan or sUrpaNaka who created trouble for perumAL even after
their first encounter, krishNan completely finished chakatAsuran.
udhaiththAi – For perumAL the marks are in his hands holding his bows; for krishNan it
is the marks in his feet kicking the chakatam.
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thiruppAvai
pugazh pORRi – the greatness of casually kicking and killing chakatAsuran when his
dear mother could not help him (due to her absence) – pallANdu to that greatness.
Without inquiring about anything you kicked him and killed him. (Compare this to killing
the enemies with the help of a big army).
pORRi – this is about something even more dangerous to perumAn than the previous
case. In the previous case of rAma avathAram, the father was a great warrior who could
fight sambaran a dhEva; country the great thiru ayOdhyai; learned people like vasishtar
were present; ministers were like very wise sumanthirar; the boys there easily killed
many asuras; but, here in thiruvAyppAdi, parents, innocent cowherds; place, a small
village; ones who are there to give any advice, young cowherd samsAris; enemies,
kamsan and his asuras; in srI brindhAvanam even very small budding plants may turn
out to be rakshasas trying to kill dear krishNan; elder brother is of the type who in a
fraction of a second slips and falls inside the snake’s mouth; there is no dearth of
danger for krishNan from asuras – so the only protection for him is mangaLAsAsanam
(pallANdu / pORRi).
kanRu kuNilAi eRindhAi kazhal pORRi
At least in the previous one (chakatam), one might think that the baby did that by
accident/coincidence. But as you grew some more, you killed the asuran who came in
the form of a calf, and you made that act very famous (our worry is that if many people
come to know about it, it might reach kamsan’s ears and he might know where you are
living).
You used the calf (asuran who came in that form) as a throwing pole and threw it on the
other asuran who was in the form of viLA fruit and killed them both. These gOpikas are
getting afraid what would have happened if those two (vathsAsuran and kapiththAsuran)
had an understanding with each other to fall together on krishNan!
kazhal – kAppu for lotus feet. They are singing pallANdu to the feet which stuck to the
ground for killing the two asuras.
kunRu kudaiyAy eduththAi guNam pORRi
You lifted the gOvardhana giri to save the people from indhiran’s rain, but did not kill
indhiran (and forgave him) as you thought he is doing all these only because he is too
hungry – pallANdu to your guNam.
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thiruppAvai
In the first line of the pAsuram they talked about what perumAn did to help indhiran, and
in this line they are talking about how that indhiran forgot all that help and created
trouble for krishNan’s people.
At least in the previous cases it is the enemies that gave trouble; now the trouble came
from someone whom you had helped. This is even more dangerous to you; saying so,
they are even more supportive of perumAn‘s thiruvadi, and they sing pORRi. When it
comes to perumAn‘s pallANdu, there is no difference between how they see asuras and
dhEvas.
perumAn thought, ‘indhiran is not an enemy, he is pouring so much rain because he is

not able to withstand his hunger; let us protect these cows and people with the
gOvardhan”; pallaNdu to your great guNam of protecting those who depend on you,
with a soft heart (Anrusamsyam / ஆந்ருஸம்ஸ்யம்).
guNam pORRi – when it was raining you were holding gOvardhan for so long that your
hands would have become so tired – you stood there for such a long time – we sing
pallANdu to that great guNam. You patiently stood there holding gOvardhan thinking
that indhiran would get tired of pouring rain, like how when her baby pinches her she
would think that it would stop whenever its hands would tire, and so the mother would
give herself for baby to continue pinching.
that rain – our vishaya prAvaNyam due to ahankAram that comes from agyAnam
your lifting the mountain – creating in us the prAvaNyam (interest) in kainkaryams that
follow what is accepted in vEdhas, and he being the protector of such prapannas.
venRu pagai kedukkum nin kaiyil vEl pORRi
After the rain stopped, he put down the mountain and took the spear in his hands to
save the cows in case any lions came across. So they are supporting his act of taking
up the spear and saving everyone.
Fearing that others will put ‘kaN echchil’ (dhrushti – casting of eye – ‘being
jealous/upset looking at the greatness of krishNan’), they are now saying that all these
tasks were done only by that sharp spear in your hand – shifting those people’s
attention away from krishNan. ‘ivvEl anRO iv vyApAram ellAm paNNiRRu’ /
‘இவ்மவைன்மறொ இவ்யொபொரகைல்ைொம் பண்ைிற்று’ என் ிறொர் ள்.
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thiruppAvai
– This is what her father also said in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi (1-1-9) imagining himself
to be yasOdhai : first he sang: ‘kidakkil thottil kizhiya udhaiththidum‘, that is ‘this
kaNNan baby when lying down, kicks his legs So much that his bed (bassinet) might
tear’, but then to avoid others’ ‘kaN echchil’ about his strength and wellness (s)he
changed their focus saying ‘midukku illAmaiyAl nAn melindhEn‘, that is, “I don’t have
enough strength to handle all these and I became lean”.
vEl – like his father who is a ‘kUr vEl kodum thozhilan‘ (1), krishNan has got a spear too.
venRu pagai kedukkum – enemies of adiyArs are won over and demolished.
nin kaiyil vEl pORRi – since the spear is also His, they are singing mangaLAsAsanam to
it too (out of affection towards Him; for his safety). Father too sang, ‘vadivAr sOdhi
valaththu uRaiyum sudar Azhiyum pallANdu‘, that is, pallANdu to perumAn‘s
weapons/decoration.
nin kaiyil vEl – ‘while we are supposed to do Arathi (to remove ‘kaN echchil’/dhrushti) for
just your beauty even when you are not even holding anything in your hands, the beauty
is even more with how you are holding the spear’ so they sing pallANdu for that.
kaiyil vEl – it does not even have to touch the enemies, just your holding it will finish
them.
jIyar (nanjIyar) said: Like building a dam quite after the water has drained out of the
river, this father and daughter have taken up singing pallANdu for his avathArams that
happened long ago, long after perumAn had gone back safely to srI vaikuntam. This is
all what they know to do.
(srIvachana bhushaNam: / ஸ்ரீவசந பூஷைம்:
athItha kAlangaLil apadhAnangaLukku uththara kAlaththilE vayir eRivadhu… / அதீத

ொைங் ளில் அபதொனங் ளுக்கு உத்தர ொைத்திமை வயிகரறிவது..).
gyAna vibhAga kAryamAna agyAnaththAlE varumavai ellAm adik kazhanju peRum /

ஞொன விபொ ொர்யைொன அஞ்ஞொனத்தொமை வருைலவகயல்ைொம்
அடிக் ழஞ்சு கபறும்.
mangaLasAsanam svarUpa viruthdham anRo ennil, gyAna dhasaiyil rakshya rakshaka

bhAvam than kappilE kidakkum, prEma dhasaiyil thattu mARik kidakkum; avan
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thiruppAvai
svarUpaththai anusandhiththAl avanaik kadagAgak koNdu thannai nOkkum –

saukumAryaththai anusandhiththAl thannaik kadagAgak koNdu avanai nOkkum /
ைங் ளொசொஸநம் ஸ்வரூப விருத்தைன்மறொ கவன்னில், ஞொன தலசயில்
ரக்ஷ்ய ரக்ஷ பொவம் தன் ப்பிமை ிடக்கும், ப்மரை தலசயில் தட்டுைொறிக்
ிடக்கும்; அவன் ஸ்வரூபத்லத அநுஸந்தித்தொல் அவலனக் ட ொ க்
க ொண்டு தன்லன மநொக்கும் – கஸௌகுைொர்யத்லத அநுஸந்தித்தொல்
தன்லனக் ட ொ க் க ொண்டு அவலன மநொக்கும்.
enRenRun sEvagamE Eththip paRai kOLvAn
Singing pallAndu to you is the benefit we are seeking.
enRu enRu : Repeatedly; After saying ‘pallANdu’, these people want to say ‘pallANdu‘
again (thirupallANdu (1)). Even after going to srI vaikuntam, they would
‘sUzhndhirundhu (all staying there surrounding him)’ say the same thing (thirupallANdu
(12)). They too repeat pORRI in this pAsuram, ‘adi pORRi, thiRal pORRi, pugazh
pORRi, kazhal pORRi, guNam pORRi, vEl pORRi’.
samsAris like to get something from others, and also like to get something from
perumAn; but these srIvaishNavas won’t do anything to get something in return from
other people, nor would they do something to get something back from their perumAn –
instead they wish to do kainkaryam to perumAn, and ‘Andhanaiyum kai kAtti‘ (2) show
others too the way to get perumAn.
They will give one or hundred thousand to him (onRu nURayiramAk koduththu pinnum
ALum seivan – nAchchiAr thirumozhi 9-7), and when they see perumAn happily taking
it, they will do ‘Andhanaiyum kai kAtti‘ and pay him wages for accepting their
kainkaryam (srIvachana bhUshaNam - koduththuk koLLAdhE, kondaththukkuk kaik kUli
kodukka vENum; thAn kai ElAdhE avanaik kai Erkkap paNNugai. / ஸ்ரீவசந பூஷைம்
– க ொடுத்துக் க ொள்ளொமத, க ொண்டத்துக்குக் ல க்கூைி க ொடுக்
மவணும்; தொன் ல மயைொமத அவலனக் ல மயற் ப் பண்ணுல .)
un sEvagamE Eththi – to praise/highlight by telling the stories of your valor, to enjoy and
experience you.
Eththip paRai koLvAn – we get our wish (to be with you), and then the elders need to
get what they wanted (rain).
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thiruppAvai
singing about your parathvam and sowlabhyam is our kainkaryam.
inRu
Today, when we agree (that we are your property);
Today, when you are sleeping while we are awake and waiting for you; we didn’t come
to you all these days, but we are here today; did we come yesterday or all the days
earlier when the elders had separated us from you? we came only today when they
have allowed us to meet you (for nOnbu/kainkaryam). [We don’t know whether they will
allow tomorrow. We are here, Today.]
That day others (indhiran, pANdavas, and such) came to you asking for small things for
their own benefit – you walked with your pampered, divine, lotus feet for them; they did
not sing pallANdu to you. Today we think about those efforts of yours, and sing
pallANdu for that, and for your walking for us Today.
inRi yAm vandhOm – we came without any means/benefit on our side.
yAm
We, who were suffering for a long time because of the elders (who kept us away from
your thImbu (naughty activities)).
vandhOm
While the old women sleep, we came here due to our angst; our troubles will be
removed by you.
yAm vandhOm – you feel terrible that you should have come and seen us first, but we
came because of our angst.
irangu
Whatever efforts we took, nothing good would happen unless you take pity on us.
So is this the reason for doing pORRi six times in this pAsuram – to get him to take pity
on us and help us? No – taking pity on us is His nature; to worry what might happen to
Him is adiyAr’s nature (‘அவனுக்கு என் வரு ிறமதொ’).
anRu ivvulagam aLandhAi – inRu yAm vandhOm : That day you came searching for us
in all the worlds, today we came here searching for you.
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thiruppAvai
aLandhAi, then ilangai chERRAi, chakatam udhaiththAi – yAm vandhOm : Your pirAttis
(AzhwArs) said ‘if thrivikraman comes’, ‘if kAkuththan (irAman) comes’, and ‘if kaNNan
comes’. See the difference here – we came to you.
anRu ivvulagam aLandhAi, irangu – You happily measured the worlds that day with so
much enthusiasm (uvandha uLLaththanAi (amalanAdhipirAn)/ உவந்த
உள்ளத்தனொய்..(அைைனொதிபிரொன்)). Today for us even if you don’t happily take
us, please show at least your kindness.
aLandhAi, irangu; thennilangai cheRRAi, irangu; chakatam udhaiththAi, irangu; kunRu

kudaiyAy eduththAi, irangu.
They live with the thought that their mangaLAsAsanam cannot be used by Him as the
reason for helping them – it is not the means; only He should help, and that too only out
of His kindness and compassion.
ElOrempAvAi – dear girl, think through well and follow us.
In this pAsuram they sing pallANdu to krishNan: You took so much efforts and walked
everywhere to help dhEvas who came to you for their own benefit and who did not stop
to sing pallANdu to you after that; to support you we sing pallANdu; looking at your
beautiful and majestic walk we sing pallANdu for that; we sing pallANdu to your valor
which is actually for the spear. (They forget what they came for after seeing his
beauty… reminded of his efforts to save others, they sing pallANdu for his safety).
கபரியொழ்வொர் ை ளிமற. After all isn’t she periyAzhwAr’s daughter?
{Singing pallANdu for perumAn is one of the best kainkaryams that one could do. Doing
kainkaryams including singing and reciting AzhwArs‘ dhivya prabandhams in front of
him for making perumAn happy, without expecting any benefits in return, without the
thought that it is we who did it, is what ANdAL emphasizes in thiruppAvai.
This pAsuram is everyone’s favorite because people feel happy to say pORRi
(pallANdu) to perumAn, because their svarUpam is active when they sing pallANdu. }
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram – 25 - oruththi maganAi

When asked, “What do you want?”, they say, “Even if there are any obstacles you
please remove them yourself, and accept us so we can get rid of our sorrows (due to
separation from you).
oruththi maganAip piRandhu

Or iravil oruththi maganAi oLiththu vaLarath
tharikkilAn Agith thAn thIngu ninaindha
karuththaip pizhaippiththuk kanjan vayiRRil
neruppenna ninRa nedumAlE
unnai aruththiththu vandhOm paRai tharudhiyAgil
thiruththakka selvamum sEvagamum yAm pAdi
varuththamum thIrndhu magizhndhu ElOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
oruththi – for the one woman who is dhEvaki pirAtti,

piRandhu – (you were) born
magan Ai – as a son;
Or iravil – on the same unmatched night itself
magan Ai – (you) become a son
oruththi – for the one mother who is yasOdhai pirAtti
oLiththu vaLara – (and as you were) growing in hiding,
thAn – (kamsan) himself
dharikkilAn Agi – could not tolerate (even your growing in hiding)
thIngu ninaindha – (his) thoughts of bad deed (of killing)
pizhaippiththu – (you) wasted/nullified
kanjan – kamsan’s
karuththai – thoughts
neruppu enna ninRa – (and you) bothered (him) like a ‘fire’
vayiRRil – (in his) stomach;
nedumAlE – Oh you who loves his devotees
aruththiththu vandhOm – came begging
unnai – from you (for our needs);
paRai tharudhi Agil – if you would satisfy our wishes
yAm pAdi – we would be able to sing
thiruththakka selvamum – (about) your wealth (which pirAtti also would love)
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thiruppAvai
sEvagamum – and about your valor

varuththamum thIrndhu – (and our) sorrows (of separation from you) would end
magizhndhu – (and we) would become joyous.
Meaning
oruththi
– The woman who is special than anyone, giving birth to The One who is inside
everyone (as antharyAmi). She is matchless in that she controls Him who is the
controller of all the worlds.
oruththi maganAi
- The one who is the father of all living beings is a son of this woman!?
chakravarthy did thapas to get 4 children; here 4 people (both the parents) did thapas to
get a son?!
maganAip piRandhu
- followed his parent’s instructions as soon as he was born; chakravarthy thirumagan –

only after he had grown did he follow his father’s words. When krishNan was born he
showed his four shoulders, and the changu/chakrathazhvArs – his parents in the jail
feared for his safety and pleaded him to hide those and to look like any other child.
krishNan immediately obeyed by hiding those signs.
piRandhu –(born) what people go through due to their karmas, he was eager to go
through due to his krupai (kindness / wish). As dhEvaki wanted a child like Him, he
decided by himself to be born. (rahasyam: perumAn‘s avathArams are due to his own
wish unlike our births which are due to remaining karmas; perumAn‘s thirumEni is
different when doing avathAram – it is not made of panchEndhriyams like ours –
perumAn just goes back to srIvaikuNtam unlike our body which has to be cremated).
piRandhu – could he have not just come to this world without going through a birth, that
too not just for 10 months in his mother’s womb, but 12 months?? ‘periyAzhwAr
thirumozhi’ (3-2-8) had to say ‘panniru thingaL vayiRRil koNda‘. He did that due to his
kindness and simplicity – for people to relate to him.
rishi thought he should use the word AvirbhAvam (manifestation / rise) to describe his
birth (as sun is rising), because he thought describing it as ‘born’ would be lowly for his
parathvam; the gOpikAs think that describing it ‘AvirbhAvam’ would be lowly for his
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thiruppAvai
sowlabhyam; so they say ‘piRandhu’ (born). Since he liked to be born, they use that
word as it would make Him happy.
Our karmas would make us to be born and make him also to be born (to help us) and
thus make him equivalent to us; his kindness would help us be equivalent to Him (on
many qualities, while we are in paramapadham) – paramam sAmyamupaithi.
His birth for us would help us, as our birth-cycle would go through what the chains in his
parents’ legs went through (that is, we won’t have to be born again).
Our birth would be the reason (due to prakruthi) for separation from Him (emperumAn);
his birth would help us both to unite with each other.
Thinking about all of these they say ‘piRandhu’.
rAmAnujar => His ‘birth’ is when he first got upadhEsam from his first teacher that is
yAdhavaprakAsar.
Or iravil
On that night itself krishNan wanted to be a son of yasOdhai, and he went into thiru
AyppAdi.
Like how a dog cannot digest wonderful ghee, kamsan and his asuras were not
fortunate enough to have krishNan in their place even for a night. krishNan could not
stay in his birth place even for a night.
Or iravu – That was some night! – There was no such night before, no such night after;
the birth of krishNan, and what he went through.
The night that was so wonderful because of His birth; the night that was so cruel that a
new baby had to be taken out of the house of birth without anybody’s knowledge.
Or iravil – from the place where there is no use of time, what a wonder that he has
come born here in this ‘night’ (implies this world being controlled by time).
Or iravil – We samsAris would keep a new child safely inside the house for at least 10
days and not take anywhere. krishNan did not get that safety…
oruththi maganAi
One woman wanted Him to be born as her son, and He gave her his avathAram, and to
this other woman he is giving the enjoyment of his leelai.
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thiruppAvai
maganAi – like how there is nothing wrong in his being born as that woman’s son, there
is nothing wrong in his growing up as this woman’s son, since the latter also thought of
him as her son; and he could not get his milk there and got it from this woman only.
aithIhyam: Someone asked bhattar whether yasOdhA would have produced milk since
she is not his actual mother; bhattar replied, “as soon as she saw kaNNan she might
have produced milk and he might have drunk it, why do you have to research this / how
does it affect you?”)
Since we surrendered to you, you made it unnecessary for us to have mother’s milk
(since we would get mOksham).
[ AchAryas/sishyas : They are born when they learn thirumanthram, they grow reciting
dhvayam all the time.
rAmAnujar => his next ‘birth / mother’ was when he underwent samAsrayaNam from
periya nambi.
oLiththu vaLara
Growing without being sighted by kamsan’s poisonous eyes.
krishNan was not able to do everything that the people of this world could; he was going
through what thieves would go through (hiding). Even when he was here as an
avathAram, he was being like antharyAmi!
When he is inside itself as antharyAmi, people do not agree about his presence/control,
would they agree if they are able to see him? Reason for his being as antharyAmi – if a
mentally unstable son would hit her mother if he sees him, she would hide herself but
be somewhere around keeping him in her sight, because otherwise if he is alone he
might kill himself; she would be around (but out of sight) so that if at any time he
consents her and calls ‘ammE!’ (O mother!), then she would be there to ask ‘What?’.
Likewise, when we don’t consent that we are His, He hides himself within our
AthmA/heart but does not go away since we would be nothing if He is not there within
everything; and whenever we consent (இலசவு) to receive his grace, he is there
waiting and ready to protect us.
oruththi – instead of saying the name of the mother, ANdAL is saying ‘oruththi (one
woman)'; after all, ANdAL is the daughter of the one who sang ‘aththaththin paththA
nAL‘ (baby that was born 10 days near hastha nakshathram (star) – this was to create
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thiruppAvai
confusion whether it was plus 10 days or minus 10 days, so that kamsan or others
would not be sure of the exact day if they try to cast some evil spell (sUniyam) on
krishNan; and they would be not sure whether the song is about krishNan. AzhwAr was
born very long after krishNan’s avathAram. Here they don’t say the name so that
kamsan won’t be able to cast some spell on the name { not very long ago, people won’t
say their names or dear ones’ names easily, in fear of things such as this }.
[AchAryan/sishyas: They teach/learn rahasyams (oLiththu) and grow (vaLara) in their

gyAnam]
rAmAnujar => yAdhavaprakAsar who was an adhvaithi was not happy with rAmAnujar‘s
objections which were raised when he was teaching rAmAnujar – yAdhava prakAsar
planned to kill rAmAnujar by pushing him in to the ganges by taking him on a yAthra to
north. rAmAnujar came to know this and he had to hide himself (oLiththu) from yAdhava
prakAsar to travel back (pEraruLALan and perundhEvi thAyAr came as a hunter couple
and helped rAmAnujar reach kAnchi (oruththi maganAi oLiththu vaLara)) .
dharikkilAn Agi
(kamsan) who could not tolerate the news that krishNan is growing in some place when
nAradhA informed him. If someone tells him that perumAn is inside him as antharyAmi,
then he would not accept that.
[ AchAryan cannot withstand it when a sishyan is not getting gyAnam/samAsrayaNam;

emperumAnar could not tolerate when one of his sishyas stopped coming to his
kAlakshEpam; emperumAnAr went to the place where he was gambling in bad
company, and told him “Even if you leave me, I would not leave you. Come and join
us”.]
thAn thIngu ninaindha
These gOpikAs fear for the safety of his beauty and well-being and sing
mangaLAsAsanam to Him, but kamsan being the kind described above is creating
danger to Him, due to his bad prakruthi.
thAn – kamsan, who is asthiran (mortal), like any being, that is, he doesn’t know any
trouble that he might go through the next minute. (such a person is trying to create
trouble for Him).
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thiruppAvai
thIngu ninaindha – ANdAL is just saying ‘thIngu (danger)’ since it is unbearable to talk
about the exact danger of asuras like pUthanai who came to Him, and about the danger
of kamsan inviting him to his palace for the bow festival (வில் வழவு).
rAmAnujar => yAdhava prakAsar could not withstand the greatness of rAmAnujar, and
like the ‘thIngu’ that kamsan wanted to do to krishNan, he wanted to do to rAmAnujar.
karuththaip pizhaippiththu
pUthanai and others’ troubles were averted by krishNan, and he gave himself to us;
what kamsan thought of doing to krishNan, kamsan himself went through that danger –
got killed. Kamsan was planning to play the role of uncle and pretend cry when he
would hear his plan about krishNan would succeed; but krishNan played the role of
nephew.
kanjan vayiRRil neruppenna ninRa
(krishNA! you stood in front of kamsan and scared him to death)
All the pApams that kamsan had accumulated in all the births – he went through the
effects of those pApams just by the sight of you in front of him.
neruppu – fire – fear – The fiery fear created by kamsan in krishNan’s devotees and his
parents (vasudhEvar, dhEvaki) was transferred to kamsan by krishNan when kamsan
saw krishNan.
nedu mAlE (mAl – love)
You went through all that because of your love towards all your adiyArs; also because
of your love for vasudhEvar and dhEvaki.
rAmAnujar => As rAmAnujar‘s greatness grew in all directions, yAdhava prakAsar’s

mother advised him to go surrender to rAmAnujar and join him as a sishyan. yAdhava
prakAsar felt bad for his mistakes and told his mother that he too would like to do that,
but his pApams might make him ineligible – his mother advised that if he fell on
rAmAnujar‘s feet and went around rAmAnuar to do pradhakshinam, then all his pApams
would go away – he did that and rAmAnujar was very glad to take him as his sishyan.
unnai
You, who do not have any needs from anyone, came down to this place from
srIvaikuNtam and begged (for land, for butter..). Upon whose needs did you do all
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thiruppAvai
these? You came by yourself to help us. So you (who came by your own will) would
help us.
nedu mAlE unnai aruththiththu vandhOm
aruthi – pray/plead. We have come here to pray to you; actually we have come here to
pray and get you – we are greedy: we want you; and we pray you for that! But we know
that our praying/pleading is not the means for getting you – only your kindness and love
for us will get you for us.
unnai – You are already love sick upon us, and by coming and asking you, we are
creating more love sickness on your love sickness (பிச்சின் மைல் பிச்மசற்ற
வந்மதொம்).
When you see us you would understand the level of our pleading.
paRai tharudhiyAgil
IF you would benefit us by giving paRai : kainkaryam, krishNan, mOksham;
Agil – IF you did – our begging or pleading is from our side but it is your blessing and
your independent wish which would make it happen; please do not make your beauty
an obstacle and distract us, please help us to reach you.
[ rAmAnuja!, we surrender to you and you recommend us to perumAn to give us

mOksham (paRai).]
thiruththakka selvamum
(we will sing) about your wealth because of being the lord of thAyar (thiru);
About the wealth (which is yourself) that pirAtti herself loves!
sEvagamum
about your power to protect and enjoy such wealth.
yAm pAdi
we, who did not mention, not qualified enough to mention, your name and about your
wealth, are here today to sing about them
varuththamum thIrndhu
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thiruppAvai
Our suffering due to separation shall go away because of singing about you;
You don’t know how much that suffering would be because you have never been
separated from yourself.
Not only removal of suffering, but also:
magizhndhu
- We will sing your names and become happy (too);
Unlike kaivalyam (enjoying only the jIvAthama and not paramAthmA) which just
removes the suffering of this samsAram, we will not only remove our suffering of this
samsAram (varuththamum thIrndhu), but will also have the way to enjoy with you
(mOksham); not just removal of suffering but also enjoy.
rAmAnujar => We wish to be associated to rAmAnujar; he accepts us when we do our

saraNAgathi through our AchAryan; and the count-down starts – for our leaving this
samsAram at the end of this life, and reaching srIvaikuNtam and do uninterrupted
kainkaryam to perumAn and become happy to see him happy.
ElOrempAvAi – think through and follow our path.
In this pAsuram, after getting kaNNan to wake up and be seated in his throne, gOpikAs
pray to him to give them opportunity to do kainkaryam to Him;
to Him who was born in this world out of his own wish and love and performed so many
wonders;
to Him who was born for one, and grew up under another, by transferring himself the
same night he was born;
to Him who can bless us out of his own wish and love, so that our sorrows (samsAram)
would end and we would be happy too (in mOksham).
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram – 26 - mAlE maNivaNNA

“What do you need?” asks krishNan, and these gOpikAs ask for the things they need
for doing nOnbu. They who enjoy union with krishNan, why are they asking for these
things?
Since the elders asked them to do nOnbu, the opportunity which the gOpikAs have
utilized for being alone with krishNan to discuss about nOnbu; it would help them see
krishNan’s face outside (they had been kept inside their houses all these days); it would
help recite krishNan’s names to their mouth’s content (திருநொைங் லள வொயொரச்
கசொல்லுல க்கு); and due to their thankfulness towards gOpas (for letting the
gOpikAs meet krishNan).
{ We see very interesting conversation between krishNan and gOpikAs, in this pAsuram
}
mAlE maNivaNNA mArgazhi nIrAduvAn

mElaiyAr seivanagaL vENduvana kEttiyEl
gyAlaththai ellAm nadunga muralvana
pAlanna vaNNaththu un pAncha channiyamE
pOlvana sangangaL pOippAdu udaiyanavE
sAlap perum paRaiyE pallANdu isaippArE
kOla viLakkE kodiyE vidhAnamE
Alin ilaiyAy aruL ElOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
mAlE – Oh you who is loving (of your devotees)!

maNi vaNNA – having color like a blue diamond!
Alin ilaiyAy – (during praLayam) slept in a new banyan leaf!
kEttiyEl – if you inquire about the
vENduvana – needed items
seivanagaL – for actions done
mElaiyAr – by preceptors / earlier generations
mArgazhi nIrAduvAn – for bathing/nOnbu of mArgazhi
(we list those items)
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thiruppAvai
sangangaL – conches
pAl anna vaNNaththu un pAncha channiyamE pOlvana – like your pAncha janyam
(conch) that is white in color like milk
muralvana – which can sound (such that)
gyAlaththai ellAm – whole of the world
nadunga – (would) vibrate/be scared;
paRai – paRai instrument (drum)
pOi pAdu udaiyana – with enough space
sAla peru – (and) very big;
pallANdu isaippAr – people who sing thiruppallANdu;
kOlam viLakku – (lamps) auspicious mangaLa dhIpam,
kodi – dhvajams (flags),
vidhAnam – clothes (covering us) above;
aruL – kindly give them.
Meaning
mAlE - mAL: loving/affectionate (to His devotees)
Whereas earlier they said ‘nArAyaNanE namakkE paRai tharuvAn‘ (only nArAyaNan
would give us moksham / opportunity-to-do-kainkaryam) they sang about his greatness;
now after seeing him, they conclude that His nature is to be kind to us; that he is defined
by his kindness toward us.
pirAtti referred to Him as “saraNAgatha vathsalan” as the main aspect from the essence
of srI rAmAyaNam. For mahAbhAratham, they are looking at krishNan’s ‘mAm Ekam..’
in gIthA, and his desire to be with us; his love for us adiyArs (Asritha vyAmOham) as his
main guNam.
How did they come to that conclusion?
When they said ‘yAm vandha kAriyam ArAindhu aruL’, they saw that krishNan’s face
became brighter and glowing than before, and he walked to his simhAsanam with
eagerness to help and be with the gOpikAs, and being much more madly in love than
before.
‘mAlAip pirandha nambiyai….‘ in nAchiAr thirumozhi.
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thiruppAvai
maNi vaNNA – beautiful sapphire like blue colored form of Him
Even though he is supreme, he has made himself easily available to gOpikAs and is
following their orders. Similar to how we could handle a sapphire or pearl, he is being
very easy to have him in the tip of their sarees (mundhAnaiyil mudindhu ALalAmpadi
irukkai / முன்தொலனயில் முடிந்து ஆளைொம்படியிருக்ல ), wear, or even sell!
His desire for adiyArs they referred to is showing in his form too.
Even those who don’t like him are mesmerized by this beauty.
Even if he does not have his kindness, this beauty would not let them leave him;
His beauty which is the reason for these gOpikAs’ craze towards him.
‘mAlE seiyyum maNaLanai…..‘ (nAchiAr thirumozhi)
nOnbu and such would be the means for kAmyArthis (who do it for getting some other
benefit); it would be just the following of what is required in sAsthram for nishkAmar
(those who do not do it for any benefit), and would be a kainkaryam for prapannas.
==> “Why have you come here?”
They tell him what they have come here for:
mArgazhi nIrAduvAn
We came here to request the items needed for mArgazhi nIrAttam (nOnbu / krishNa
sambhOgam).
Even though they got what they wanted (krishNan) as the result of nOnbu, they are
asking him about the items needed for nOnbu – to help the elders get rain.
“What is this mArgazhi nIrAttam?”
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thiruppAvai
“Isn’t it well known?”
Even though elders have decided that the gOpikAs shall do nOnbu and krishNan shall
help them, He is asking these just for the enjoyment of conversing with these girls,
because conversing with them is His goal.
“Is it as famous as what vEdhas say about what one should do for various benefits?”
mElaiyAr seivanagaL
(what people have been doing for eons)
“No not like that, dear krishNa. This is even more familiar to everyone, as what one
does learning from their elders – sishtAchAram. seyyAdhana seyyOm (we would not do
what they have not done).
vEdhas say – “dharmagyasamaya: pramANam vEdhAscha” – the AchAram (behaviour,

activities) of those who know dharmam is (the main) pramANam (root for true
knowledge); (then) vEdhas are also pramANam.
“yadhyadhAcharathi srEshta: (whatever a noble person follows, other people also would
follow that; how much ever he does, that is how much the others would do)”
“If so, tell me what items you need”
vENduvana kEttiyEl
If you want to listen to what we need, if you can stop staring at us, then we will tell you
what we need. Your focus is somewhere else.
Why is he having some other focus?
Since all the girls from 5 lakhs houses are in front of him, he is dwelling on their breasts,
waist, eyes, and face, and sitting motionless like a chess player. So they pat him to get
him out of his trance.
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thiruppAvai
In svApadhEsam it is talking about gyAna, bhakthi, vairAkyams. These are the ones
that are apt for an adhikAri (eligible person);
since it helps to see things, “eye” is meant for gyAnam;
since it is for enjoyment “breast” is meant for bhakthi;
since it is very slim, “waist” is meant for vairAkyam; If asked whether slimness imply
vairAkyam, then, – slim due to virakthi which is about not being interested in worldly
things.
“Your form are feast to my eyes, likewise, aren’t your words sweet to my ears? So tell
me.”
“Are we here for your enjoyment? If you will listen without seeing parAkku (looking
around at things), then we will tell you”.
And they list the items they came for:
gyAlaththai ellAm nadunga muralvana
(first they ask for conch)
This whole world should hear its (sangu) sound and prosper.
They are the ones who sang “valampuri pOl ninRu adhirndhu (4)”.
pAlanna vaNNaththu un pAncha channiyamE pOlvana sangangaL
The sangu (conch) that is white like the milk collected together; we need many of them.
They said ‘maNi vaNNa‘ since it is what they like (his color), so it goes without saying
that they would like the color of the conch that is touched by him.
poippAdu udaiyanavE
sangu that is having the fame of being with you, having the fame of helping the ones
like rukmiNi pirAtti (when she was waiting for krishNan to come and take her, krishNan
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thiruppAvai
used the sound of sangu as a sign to let her know of his arrival, when she was
desperate and was ready to take her life).
==> Since the sound of conch is equated to praNavam, asking for conch is about asking
for ananyArha sEshathvam that is highlighted in praNavam.
“Found one. what else?” (ஒன்று ண்மடொம், பின்லனமயொகவன்ன,)
sAlap perum paRaiyE
For starting if we used conch, don’t we need to do ‘kottu’ (mrdhangam like drum) for the
purappAdu?
A big paRai (percussion instrument like drums), so big that it makes sound not for a
small gathering, but that which reaches everywhere; everywhere where the sound of
conch reached. paRai that makes such a sound when hit in the ‘middle’ of it.
==> Since paRai makes the sound from the ‘middle’, and the middle word ‘nama:’ in
thirumanthram is about pArathanthriya gyAnam (knowing about subservience) which
helps remove svasvAthanthriyam (thinking we are independent of perumAn) which is a
bhagavath-ananyArha sEshathva virOdhi (i.e., it prevents the above mentioned
anayArha sEshathvam to peruman), and helps remove svAdhIna karthruthvam &
bhOkyathvam (doing it for own benefit or own enjoyment) when doing kainkaryam,
which is the symbol of sEshathvam.
“what else?” (பின்லனமயொகவன்ன,)
pallANdu isaippArE
and we need ones who will be going with us singing thiruppallaNdu
==> we need sath-sahavAsam (association with adiyArs).
“what else?” (பின்லனமயொகவன்ன,)
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thiruppAvai
kOla viLakkE
Beautiful lamp; auspicious mangaLa dhIpam.
One who is singing would be able to see us and we would be able to see him.
==> need bhAgavatha sEshathva gyAnam which makes it enjoyable for perumAn when
we go with bhagavath-ananyArha sEshathvam.
kodi
We need flags to wave, to go in front of us and which would be visible from afar.
==> need kainkaryam that is the indication of sEshathvam.
vidhAnam
(cloth) covering (us) above (கூறொளம்) from the mist.
==> in that kainkaryam we need removal of doing it for our own enjoyment.
These are the things we need when we go for nIrAttam.
**** He starts replying about these items:
“I don’t have many sangams, you take pAncha janyam”.
Only if there is someone like him would there have been multiple sangams that are like
his pAncha janyam.
“When all the people were clapping around me when I was dancing while balancing the
pots (kudak kUththu), I was making the beats with a paRai tied to my hip
(pArOrgaLellAm magizhap paRai kaRanga / பொமரொர் களல்ைொம் ை ிழப் பலற
றங் – siRiya thirumadal) – take that one for paRai; for singing thiruppallaNdu take
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thiruppAvai
periyAzhwAr (because I cannot find anyone who cares about me like he does); for lamp
take nappinnai pirAtti (they too sang, ‘kula viLakkE‘) (nappinnai pirAtti would also be too
happy to help her adiyArs as it would help them reach perumAn), for flag take the one
that has got periya thiruvadi (garudan), for vidhAnam on the top take my uththarIyam
(white or colored cloth tied in the hip).
For vidhAnam why not give thiru ananthAzhvAn who covered him on the day of his birth
(when going to thiruVaippAdi)? Even though He asked others to go, since
thiruvananthazhvAn would not take even one step without perumAn with him (ozhivil
kAlamellAm udanAi manni vazhuvilA adimai / ஒழிவில் ொைகைல்ைொம் உடனொய்
ைன்னி வழுவிைொ அடிலை – thiruvAimozhi), He gave his uththarIyam instead.
His uththarIyam is also something we enjoy. (vAttam thaNiya vIsIrE / வொட்டம்

தைிய வசீீ மர)
After getting all of perumAn‘s dear items, the are like equivalent to perumAn having all
these items.
“One each is not enough; we need many of them like these”
“will I search for what is not there?” (இல்ைொதலதத் மதடப்மபொமைொ?)
“Is there anything that is impossible/hard for you?”
“Is it easy for me?”
==> How can I create what is not there?
Alin ilaiyAy..
You became very small, got all the worlds into your stomach, and you slept in a banyan
leaf – is there anything that is not possible for you?!
For us, you can create even something that does not even exist in this world.
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thiruppAvai
You possess agaditha gadanA sAmarthyam (smartness to connect/make things that

cannot be connected/made).
aruL
Even if we do not ask you might still help; you are not without ability to help; for our
goals your blessing is the means.
By ‘mAlE maNivaNNA‘, ANdAL talks about ‘mAm‘ (‘me’, the kind me); by ‘Alin ilaiyAy‘
she talks about ‘aham‘ (‘I’, the only one who can help you get mOksham (not other
means)) – from charama slOkam.
Since perumAn gives them his pAncha janyam etc., it goes with what
muNdakOpanishadh 3-1-3 says: “niranjana: paramam sAmyamupaithi” – in short: when
a gyAni sees perumAn (brahmam) then the gyAni (gains mOksham and) gains gyAnam
similar to that of perumAn.
ElOrempAvAi – commit and follow our ways
{ In this pAsuram, gopikAs take this great opportunity to talk to krishNan and to praise
his kalyANa guNams (divine qualities); they ask him to give the items needed to do their
nOnbu; those items would in fact help go in a procession and sing krishNan’s nAmams.
Doing nOnbu, and asking those items, are part of what the elders wanted them to do.
Their own personal agenda? Destination krishNan, be with Him as long as possible,
play with him, tease him, enjoy him, and do a lot of kainkaryams to him. }
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram - 27 - kUdArai vellum

“So, have you got all the items you wanted for nOnbu?”
They reply, “krishNa! what we asked till now are for nOnbu, but there are a few personal
ones that we need to ask you.”
After getting him they are talking about the rewards they would get for completing the
nOnbu (getting him). During union with emperumAn it would appear that the ornaments
are their aim.
kUdArai vellum sIrk gOvindhA

unRannaip pAdip paRai koNdu yAm peRu sammAnam
nAdu pugazhum parisinAl nanRAga
sUdagamE thOL vaLaiyE thOdE sevippUvE
pAdagamE enRanaiya palkalanum yAm aNivOm
Adai uduppOm adhan pinnE pAl sORu
mUda nei peidhu muzhankai vazhi vAra
kUdi irundhu kuLirndhu ElOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
vellum sIr – having the guNam of winning

kUdArai – those who are opposed,
gOvindhA – Oh gOvindha!
pAdi – (we would) sing (till we are content)
un thannai – about you,
paRai koNdu – and receive paRai (instrument)
yAm peru sammAnam – and the price we are going to get is
nAdu pugazhum parisinAl – that the villagers would appreciate/celebrate us,
yAm nanRAga aNivOm – we would wear (the ornaments) very well (as we are
decorated with them by you and nappinnai pirAtti), (ornaments such as)
chUdagam – ornament for the arms
thOL vaLai – ornament for the shoulders
thOdu – ornament for the ears
sevip pU – ornament for the upper part of ears
pAdagam – (pAdha kadagam) – ornament for the legs
enRu anaiya pal kalanum – and more such ornaments;
adhan pinnE – after that,
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pAl sORu – rice (in the) food made with milk

mUda – (which) would not be visible (due to)
nei peidhu – (lots of) ghee added,
muzhangai vazhi vAra – such that it would drip through the elbows,
kUdi irundhu – (we would) be together (and eat that)
kuLirndhu – and be happy.
Meaning
kUdArai vellum
krishNan wins those who don’t want to befriend Him; He will try as much as possible to
include everyone with Him. He would win the ones like rAvaNan who did not want to
bow his head till the end.
He loses to those who join/accept him.
parasurAman tried to fight with chakravarthy thirumagan, but after losing to Him, he
gave his bows and arrows and did anjali to Him and left; if he had done anjali even
when holding the bows in his hand it would have been chakravarthy thirumagan who
would have lost to that.
“We won’t fall on the feet of krishNan who is having friendship with arjunan” said
dhuryOdhanan, and you won him.
“We will do whatever you say” said pANdavas, and you did everything they said –
walking for them – to ask for a few small villages, riding a chariot in the war, bathing the
horses of the chariot, and so on.
AchAryas try hard to correct those who do not follow the sampradhAyam. They try
whatever is required to help sishyas understand bhagavath vishayams.
==> Once an elderly person, who helps with tasks related to writing copies of
granthams, came to kUraththAzhvAn and requested him to teach him some meanings
(do kalakshEpam). kUraththAzhvAn agreed to teach him. But that person put a
condition that nobody should know that he is learning from him – he probably thought it
is low of him to be learning because others might think that he does not know enough;
kUraththAzhvAn agreed not to tell anyone that he is teaching this person, since
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kUraththAzhvAn thought that it would any way help one person to gain bhagavath
vishayams.
So, kUraththAzhvAn took that person to an isolated place and started doing
kAlakshEpam, one on one. That person would hold the grantham in his hands and read
a phrase and kUraththAzhvAn would explain its meanings (as was the custom of the
time). This went on for a few days. One day when this was going on, kUraththAzhvAn
saw some people walking toward their location. That elderly man did not notice those
people. kUraththAzhvAn was concerned that this person’s condition of anonymity would
be in jeopardy if they came to know about this kAlakshEpam.
As those people came closer to the location, kUraththAzhvAn quickly took the srIkOsam
from that person’s hands and kept it in his hands, and as those people crossed them,
kUraththAzhvAn loudly said to the student, ‘please continue (teaching me)’ – pretending
to be learning from that old man. Those people might have thought, “we thought
kUraththAzhvAn knows everything, but looks like he is learning all of these secretly from
this old person”
kUraththAzhvAn is gyAna nidhi – seeing his gyAnam emperumAnAr himself has

wondered whether AlavandhAr has born in the form of this kUraththAzhvAn; there is no
end to talking about the greatness of kUraththAzhvAn — that kUraththAzhvAn is sitting
here pretending to learn from this person; he did not care what others would think of
him. That old person realized his mistake and fell on kUraththAzhvAn’s feet.
They try whatever is required to help sishyas understand vishayams.
sIr
perumAn wins all by his guNams.
perumAL won enemies just by the supreme way he held his bow. (chachAla chApancha
mumOcha vIra:) He won them by his guNam of valor.
He wins gOpikAs and adiyArs by showing his beauty and kindness (guNams).
He won AzhwArs by showing his svarUpa (true nature) rUpa (forms) guNa (auspicious
qualities) vibhUthi (wealth).
He wins people like us who don’t show interest in any of his qualities, by using our
sambandham with Azhwars as the front.
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thiruppAvai
==> One could take care of the target of his arrows by applying some medicine; there is
no medicine for the target of his beauty and kindness. “Wow! How can you be like that?”
say the gyAnis when looking at his simplicity (eththiRam! – thiruvAimozhi 3-1-1 /
எத்திறம்! (திருவொய்கைொழி 3-1-1)).
gOvindhA
You are so fond of the cows and you go behind them even though they don’t say they
want to be with you, nor do they realize that you are going behind them.
You are just happy that they did not say No to your relationship; they enjoy and grow by
your fond touch.
[ Another meaning for govindA – capable of speaking about great things. Our AchAryan
]
unRannaip pAdi
We are singing your names for the purpose of just singing your names.
You are ‘gOpi jana vallabhan‘; singing your names is our benefit of doing the nOnbu;
benefit of having a tongue.
paRai kONdu
They are talking about paRai (drum instrument) which is prApakam (means for nOnbu)
when they are already on to prApyam (krishNan); they are doing this is to help the
elders.
[Singing AchAryan’s greatness, doing saraNAgathi through him; ‘kurugUr nambi pAvin
(thiruvaimozhi) innisai pAdith thirivanE‘, said madhurakavi azhwAr. (I will go around
singing kurugUr nambi’s thiruvAimozhi); When others said “Since thiruvAimozhi is about
perumAn, you are singing about perumAn, not AchAryan”, he replied, “I don’t know what
is there in thiruvAimozhi, I only sing that because nammAzhvAr wrote it”.]
yAm peru sammAnam
the prize we get – is the flower garland from your shoulders, for you to place it in our
shoulders… like perumaL gave to pirAtti when going out of his palace to meet
chakravarthy during the day of his pattAbhishEkam.
yAm – we, who think that we are always under the blessing of perumAn, and all that we
have to do is accept that uninterrupted blessing.
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thiruppAvai
nAdu pugazhum parisinAl
you give… such that it is celebrated by everyone as “this one gave and all the girls got
the prize!”.
[ The award we get is what we learned from AchAryan’s gatAksham, our association
with our AchAryan. ‘thiruvadi sambandham’. ‘adiyen rAmAnuja dhAsan’]
nanRAga
(give us prize in the best way) like how perumAL and pirAtti together gave thiruvadi
(hanumAn) the chain given by indhiran. Unlike those going to srIvaikuNtam from here
who are decorated by apsara women, we want you and nappinnai pirAtti to decorate us;
we don’t want to be in the situation of decorating and waiting for your arrival; we want
you to decorate us and enjoy the beauty.
They ask krishNan the following five ornaments.
[ We get from AchAryan the ‘five’ – pancha samskAram, during samAsrayaNam – those
five are: poRi (thApa mudhrA) in shoulders, nAmam (puNdram) in forehead and other
places, a new name (nAmam) for us – ‘dhAsan’, rahasya manthram, and, about
thiruvArAdhana kramam(yAgam).]
chUdagamE
Jewels worn in hands – the hands of gOpikAs that krishNan would first hold when
touching; he would fondly keep their hands in his head and chest;
[[ thiruvArAdhanam, done by hands, is our ornament. AchAryan explains this to us

during samAsrayaNam ]].
thOL vaLaiyE
with that touch he would want to hug our shoulders – we need jewels for such
shoulders.
[ Jewels for our shoulders – thiru ilachchinai – the changu chakra poRi by our
AchAryan. ]
thOdE
even if we have already worn in our ear lobes, it wouldn’t be same as what you would
put on us.
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thiruppAvai
our ear studs would be a decoration to your shoulders when you hug our shoulders.
[==> The rahasyam we get in our ears from our AchAryan – thirumanthram.
During pancha samskAram, this is dhAsya nAmam from AchAryan; visible outside like
thOdu. ]
sevip pUvE
unlike other jewels worn by them which bother when He hugs them, these ornaments
and flowers worn in the upper part of their ear lobes would help him enjoy his hug.
[ ==> sevip pU – is bhOgam (enjoyment), that is, for our every-day recital, that we got
from our AchAryan : dhvayam ]
[[ rahasyams received during samAsrayaNam, not so visible outside, like sevip pU. ]]
pAdagam
Worn in their legs; after hugging and losing to them, he would press their legs –
ornament for those legs;
chUdagam for hands, pAdagam for legs – pressing their hands and legs is what He
does and accomplishes other related things from them.
[==> perumAn‘s thiruvadi is what we surrender to – he gave charama slOkam for that.
That is our ornament.
==> So, the above three are about rahasya thrayam. They are also about ‘gyAna,
bhakthi, vairAgyam’ that one would show towards perumAn. How? Since thirumanthram
is about the gyAnam of our relationship with Him, dhvayam’s 2nd line of kainkaryam is
based on our bhakthi towards him, and charama slOkam is based on vairAkyam to not
use other means to reach Him, they are about gyAna, bhakthi, vairAgyam.
pAdagam – perumAn‘s thiruvadi is what we wear as nAmam in our forehead -> one of
pancha samskArams during samAsrayaNam. ]
enRu anaiya pal kalanum
We will wear all types of ornaments that you know; you should know, you wear so many
ornaments; we will wear many of these and more like these.
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thiruppAvai
yAm aNivOm
They had said ‘malar ittu nAm mudiyOm (2) (won’t wear flowers (as they were doing
nOnbu)), but now they are saying they will wear all these jewels. Only till coming to him
were they to follow those things; now they want him to decorate them; he will do it if
they say they agree to wear it.
[==> without bhagavath sambandham, the gyAna, bhakthi, vairAgyam would not benefit
but would only create danger. For a baudhdha (follower of budhdha) too there would be
gyAna, bhakthi, vairAgyam, but what is the use?
As acharyan does pancha samskAram, we will wear those as our ornaments.]]
Adai uduppOm
Will wear clothes.. were they not wearing before?
They did not wear the ones which He wore first – so they don’t consider them as clothes
or as wearing.
His thiruppariyattam (cloth) worn in his head is what they want for their waist. In privacy
they would wear each other’s clothes; that is the kind of clothing they wish for. As they
are finishing nOnbu, they want a good thiruppariyattam.
They belong to the clan that sang ‘uduththuk kaLaindha nin pIdhaga Adai udhuththu‘.
His smell in what he wore first is what they enjoy when wearing it themselves.
gOvindhA, unRannaip pAdi, Adai uduppOm : Even when you were not near her she
said gOvindhA raising her hands and she got unlimited length of saree; we are near you
here, will there be any dearth of getting our clothes?
(But, when krishNan was near gOpikAs, he stole their clothes when they were bathing;
when he was away from dhraupathi he gave her enough saree when she said his name.
It looks like his name is better than him!). [mumukshuppadi: dhraupathikku AbaththilE
pudavai surandhadhu thirunAmamiRE / முமுக்ஷுப்படி: த்கரௌபதிக்கு
ஆபத்திமை புடலவ சுரந்தது திருநொைைிமற ]
==> sEshathva gyAnam; one who does not have any gyAnam/awareness (like a baby,
or a mentally challenged) would not worry about clothes; so gyAnam is equated to
having clothes worn. We get gyAnam from AchAryan.
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thiruppAvai
adhan pinnE pAl sORu mUda nei peidhu
adhan pinnE – After wearing clothes worn by you, we want to eat prasAdham eaten by
you.
adhan pinnE – If one goes to someone other than Him, they would not get those items
and they would not get Him. If they go to Him, they will get everything (Him).
We said ‘nei uNNOm pAl uNNOm‘, we did not eat ghee or milk all these days- seeing
that, krishNa! you also avoided those things; so there is so much of milk and ghee in all
of our houses. We will cook rice with milk, and will add a lot of ghee that covered its top;
one would have to search for rice in between ghee.
thiruvAippAdi that is having bhagavath sambandham with krishNan is wealthy and

loving.
==> pAl sOru: kainkaryam; mUda – but we will not think that it is we who did the
kainkaryam; nei peidhu – thus we will stick to our pArathanthriyam.
muzhankai vazhi vAra
==> Nambi thiruvazhudhi vaLanAdu dhAsar asked bhattar: “Wouldn’t the ghee go inside
their mouth? Would it only pour out in their arms?” bhattar replied, “kaNNan is their
food, water, and betel leaf (uNNum sOru, parugu nIr, thinnum veRRilai ellAm kaNNan
(thiruvAimozhi) / உண்ணும் மசொறு பருகு நீர் தின்னும் கவற்றிலை எல்ைொம்
ண்ைன் (திருவொய்கைொழி). These gOpikAs thinking about krishNan and his
leelais wouldn’t put food in their mouth, so there is no question of ghee flowing down in
their arms.”.
For nOnbu they had said ‘nei uNNOm, pAl uNNOm (2)’, but now, after joining krishNan,
they love to eat like this; enjoying food made of so much ghee and other tasty items,
which krishNan ate first.
===> [ When standing in a line to get water, if someone is extremely thirsty he would
drink the water pouring from the elbow of the person in front of him who is drinking
water; we are also drinking water (gyAnam/mOksham) from our AchAryan’s elbow who
is drinking from the elbow of his AchAryan, and so on. muzhankai vazhi vAra.].
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thiruppAvai
kUdi irundhu
They were separated from krishNan all these days; now they are with him, around him,
and they start feeling better after touching him, talking to him, and talking about him.
This is better than eating. Eating is not their goal – being together with krishNan and
touching the adiyArs is their wish.
[==> AdiyArs being together for talking, singing, thinking, and doing things about
AzhwArs, AchAryas, pirAtti, and perumAn – this is what will make them more dear to
krishNan. ‘andham il pErinbaththu adiyArOdu irundhamai’ (thiruvAimozhi).
aham annam – aham annAdha: : I am like food for paramAthmA. I the food of
perumAn, am enjoying perumAn who enjoys me as a food;
Here too they are bhOgyam to each other.
kuLirndhu
Be with krishNan, and cool down the hearts that were aching all these days due to
separation.
[==> Like how they conduct ‘namperumAL thirunAL’ to get all the srIvaishNavas
together and enjoy that sight.
kUdi irundhu kuLirndhu: sOshnuthE sarvAn kAmAn saha brahmaNA vipassthithA –

mukthAthmA gets all kalyANa guNams and enjoys them together with brahmam
(perumAn) in srIvaikuntam.
(with perumAn) perumAnudan kUdi irundhu kuLirndhu (in here as well as in moksham).
(with adiyAr) adiyArgaLudan kUdi irundhu kuLirndhu (in here as well as in mOksham).
Together with other adiyArs, we enjoy the wonderful prasAdham we cooked.
That will be our sammAnam (gift).
ElOrempAvAi – Enjoy this and follow our path.

In this pAsuram, through our AchAryan, through the link to srI rAmAnujar, we get
rahasya thrayam, gyAnam/bhakthi/vairAkyam, after samAsrayaNam we get mOksham
and be with perumAn forever.
Previous pAsuram ‘mAlE maNi vaNNa‘ highlighted “sAmyApaththi mOksham” – gaining

equivalent kalyANa guNams as perumAn. There, ANdAL asked many of the things that
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thiruppAvai
perumAn holds – his changu, flag, mukthAthmAs (pallANdu isaippAr), etc., gaining what
he has got.
This pAsuram highlights ‘sAyujya mOksham’ – being together with perumAn (kUdi
irundhu) and doing uninterrupted kainkaryams to perumAn (kuLirndhu) in srI vaikuntam.
With sEshathvam (servitude) we do kainkaryams to you for the sake of Your happiness,
and without any thoughts that it is we who did all the kainkaryams – everything is yours,
so whatever we give you is not created by us.
Doing kainkaryam is our nature; loving and blessing us is your nature.
It also highlights chakkarai pongal made with/of lots of ghee, milk, and some rice. When
we take it in our hand to eat it (or not), the ghee will flow in our muzhankai (arm; all the
way down to our elbow). We are happy to share the food with other adiyArs – other
adiyArs are happy to enjoy it together with us.
It is only because of our AchAryan we get sammAnam of sAmyApathi and sAyujya

mOksham where we can be with perumAn, and along with all mukthAthmAs together do
kainkaryam to perumAn for ever. The help of our AchAryan. AchAryan seidha
upakAram / ஆசொர்யன் கசய்த உப ொரம் (upadhEsa raththinamAlai).
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram – 28 - kaRavaigaL pin chenRu

1st pAsuram’s ‘nArAyaNanE namakkE paRai tharuvAn‘ talked about prApakam and
prApyam (means and destiny). They describe about those in this pAsuram and the next
pAsuram.
In this pAsuram, they say ‘For the elders to allow us to be with you, we used ‘nOnbu’ as
the front – nOnbu is not our agenda; it is only kainkaryam to your divine feet'; saying so,
with the absence of any efforts by them (Akinchanyam) for gaining any right to
mOksham, and with their wish to surrender to perumAn, they say ‘only you are the
means’, and say ‘please forgive us for our prior mistakes’, and finally with their prayer
for getting Him, they complete this pAsuram. It is only in the next pAsuram they pray
Him for getting mOksham, but here they mention it to as part of talking about the
absence of any means in them.
===> ANdAL is doing saraNAgathy in this pAsuram. After doing saraNAgathy here, in
the next pAsuram she talks about doing kainkaryam to him forever. (dhvayam)
kaRavaigaL pin chenRu kAnam sErndhu uNbOm

aRivu onRum illAdha Aikkulaththu
unRannaip piRavi peRunthanaip puNNiyam yAm udaiyOm
kuRaivonRum illAdha gOvindhA
unRannOdu uRavEl namakku ingu ozhikka ozhiyAdhu
aRiyAdha piLLaigaLOm anbinAl
unRannaich chiRu pEr azhaiththanavum sIRi aruLAdhE
iRaivA nI thArAi paRai ElOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
kuRai onRum illAdha gOvindhA – Oh gOvindha! who does not have any shortcomings!
yAm – we
kaRavaigaL pin chenRu – go behind the cows,
kAnam sErndhu – reach the forest/fields,
uNbOm – (we walk around while) eating;
aRivu onRum illAdha – (we are) not having any gyAnam
Aykkulaththu – (belonging to) the cowherd clan
un thannaip piRavi peRum thanaip puNNiyam udaiyOm – we are blessed (have good
karmA) to have you born;
iRaivA – Oh the almighty!
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thiruppAvai
unthannOdu uRavu – (our) relationship with you

ingu namakku ozhikka ozhiyAdhu – cannot be removed here by you or by us;
aRiyAdha piLLaigaLOm – we, the innocent little girls (who don’t know the norms of the
world),
unRannaich chiRu pEr azhaiththanavum – called you with an insignificant name
anbinAl – due to affection;
nI – you (who loves your adiyArs),
sIRi aruLAdhE – without blessing us your anger,
paRai thArAi – give (us what we) required.
Meaning
“Before I give you all the things you have asked till now and anything more you are
going to ask (their real requirement), can you gOpikAs tell me what you have done to
gain any qualification for getting something from me?”. He is trying to play with them.
If there are any other means that we followed, you would leave us to that and let us
continue on that path. We don’t have any such means.
(ALavandhAr asks ‘emperumAn! sisupAlan got mOksham because he said your names
many times, kAkAsuran got respite as he fell on your feet, etc.. – they did some
upAyam (means) and still you gave them mOksham, whereas I have not done anything,
so why can’t you give me mOksham?’).
karRavaigaL – cows, which don’t have any knowledge.
pin chenRu
We go behind cows. Our living is with the cows and going behind those cows.
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thiruppAvai
{ krishNan too loves to go behind cows. Cows and calves look at His divine and
mischievous face and grow happily. In the accompanying picture see krishNan standing
like this as srIvidhyA rAjagOpAlan in the abhimAna sthalama of mannArgudi, and see
how the calves are looking at him!}.
To gain gyAnam one has to go live with a guru. We follow the cows. In narasimha
purANam 16-13 it says ‘gyAnEna hIna: pasubhi: samAna:‘ (one who doesn’t have
gyAnam is equivalent to a cow). Such is our gyAnam learned from these cows.
Do we look like we have got some qualifications? Are the cows equivalent to sage
vasishtar? Even the cows imitate and laugh at our cowherd behavior.
kAnam sErndhu
We go to forest; unlike people with gyAnam who with their ability live in villages, towns,
and cities who would be able to gain some knowledge, we live in this small place and go
behind cows to forest for getting them fed; this forest is not where many saints lived like
in sALagrAmam etc., – this is one with just grass for the cows (so we don’t have that
benefit too).
sErndhu – Our legs won’t stay in the village; they would go and be in the forest. (so we
don’t have any qualification related to knowledge).
uNbOm
“for vysyas, taking care of cows is the varNAsrama dharmam, so you are all doing that?
Isn’t that a qualification?”
“No we didn’t go to the forest with any vairAkyam (to follow the dharmam) – we don’t go
there to do thapas like rishIs; we go there and we take care of ourselves–we eat. (Can
you count this as karma yOgam?)”
aRivu onRum illAdha
“You may not have any such gyAnam now, but in your previous lives you might have
gained gyAnam at the level of vidhurar or others”
‘onRum’ – (not even one/none of it) – no we don’t have any qualification in any life
whatsoever. We don’t have any Athma gyAnam that leads to bhagavath gyAnam, nor
do we have bhakthi which comes after gaining such gyAnam.
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thiruppAvai
Isn’t the gOpikAs’ eagerness to mix with krishNan a form of bhakthi? It is their nature to
be desparate to be with Him – they don’t consider it as a means for getting him.
=> So, with these, they say they don’t have any karma, gyAna, bhakthi yOgam which
can be used as a means for reaching him in srI vaikuntam.
nammAzhwAr said the same thing in the same order, “nORRa nOnbu ilEn, nuN aRivu
ilEn‘ (I don’t have any karmas(actions) that is karma yogam, or any gyAnam (and so nor
any bhakthi which is the next stage after gyAnam).
thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr too sang, ‘kuLiththu mUnru…‘ to say that he does not have
any karma/gyAna/bhakthi yOgams as means.
“You are also talking like those AzhwArs, so you do have such gyAnam”
Aykkulam (cowherds)
The cowherd community that you can be sure of that we won’t have any gyAnam;
Our kulam is such that all the lack of qualifications mentioned above are our
strength.(srIvachana bhUshaNam – uthkrushta janmamE srEshtam / ஸ்ரீவசந
பூஷைம்: உத்க்ருஷ்ட ஜன்ைமை ஸ்மரஷ்டம்)
“Even after seeing us you are saying that we have brains – this is your lack of gyAnam”.
“You don’t have any qualifications, but you still want mOksham?”
un thannaip piRavi peRum thanaip puNNiyam yAm udaiyOm
krishNan continues, “Those who don’t have any puNNiyam (good karmA), cannot wish
for mOksham”
“How can that be? We have got You. We feed food for the puNyam (you). That is, we
don’t say No to your accepting us as your adiyAr; so you feel fulfilled. You are the
means”.
piRavi peRum thanai – people go to perumAn and pray to him. Are we like that? You
were born among us, and mingled with us – that is what we have got.
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thiruppAvai
puNNiyam yAm udaiyOm – All gyAnis say that krishNan is The dharmam himself; we
have got you, we play with you, do what we want with you. (நிலனத்தபடி
விநிமயொ ம் க ொள்ளைொம்படி ல ப்புகுந்த உன்லன உலடமயொைன்மறொ?)
krishNan catches them: “You said you don’t have any gyAnam (so no puNyam (good
karmA), but now you are saying you have got puNyam. You are contradicting
yourselves.”
“See?! We don’t have gyAnam (to talk without contradicting!) [ periyavAchAn piLLai‘s
hAsya rasam].
“You don’t have any of the yOgams; only a lot of disqualifying aspects, so why should I
give you mOksham?”
kuRaivu onRum illAdha gOvindhA
We talked about lack of everything in us, did we say anything is lacking in you? You are
everything. Our lack of everything would match with your having everything. We are like
a deep pit and you are like a mountain that could perfectly fit into that pit; so we have
got a good match.
We will have to lose our prize due to our lacking everything, only if You lack anything.
We don’t have to lose you because of not having anything else. (no other means, only
you are our means to reach you). Thus this shows their upAya-nairapEkshyam.
gOvindhA
“Since you are saying that I am everything, then I can give you mOksham if I want to, or
I can deny if I don’t want to”.
“Did we come to paramapadham to ask you all these? You could not stay there without
us, so it is you who were born here to be with us, to be teased by us, and to do all the
chores we tell you to do – we are asking you only in such a place (here)”.
This name of gOvindhA shows perumAn‘s saulabhyam (being able to mix with small
level people (all of us)), which is one of the main guNams of perumAn that one
considers when doing saraNAgathi.
[ ANdAL used the name ‘nArAyaNA’ three times in prior pAsurams. In these three
pAsurams (previous one, this, and the next) she calls him ‘gOvindhA’. When she said
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thiruppAvai
nArAyaNA, perumAn did not seem to be happy – she realized that He is born here in
order to enjoy us and not be reminded of his greatness – so to make him happy she
called him as gOvindhA three times, but the meaning is same – perumAn with
saulabhyam for us to do saraNAgathi, and perumAn with swAmithvam for us to do
kainkaryam].
“only if there is any rule that the one with everything should give to ones who don’t have
anything”
“O, that?”
un thannOdu uRavu
“Aren’t you our relative? Don’t you have to take care of what we need?”
“Because of our relationship? That will end with a pot of water (last rites)”.
un thannOdu uRavEl namakku ingu ozhikka ozhiyAdhu
( namakku ) Our relationship cannot be broken either by us or by you. It cannot be

broken even if we tried together with an understanding between us.
“How can you say for sure?”
“thirumazhisai AzhwAr sang ‘nAn unnai anRi ilEn kaNdAi nAraNanE! nI ennai anRi illai‘
(I am nothing without you nAraNA!, and you are nothing without me) – that is our proof”
“But they are your parents, (they would only talk like that)”
“Also see in what you (in the form of our AchAryAn) gave in our hands as the first
pramANam – the source of all references (thirumanthram) – see its first word
(praNavam)”.
That is why we said ‘nArAyaNanE namakkE paRai tharuvAn‘. You are the savior, we
are the ones to be saved – that is our relationship, forever”.
“You are talking about our relationship, with you as gOpikAs, and me as your
gOvindhan; but you called me as ‘narAyaNan’ instead.
“Is it wrong to call you, who is (in) everything, as nArAyaNan?”
“My purpose of coming here was to be with you all; so I like it when you call me
gOvindhan”
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thiruppAvai
If a prince and a common man were in a prison, and after getting released if the
common man reminds of those days to the prince it would hurt the prince’s feelings.
perumAn was also having the same emotion.
ariyAdha piLLaigaLOm
“we did that because of agyAnam due to being ignorant and small”. Sorry that we
pushed you about our relationship with you and reminded you of your parathvam.
[When we do saraNAgathi to perumAn, we accept all our mistakes and shortcomings.

For example nAthamunigaL‘s and rAmanujar‘s slOkas related to their saraNAgathi]
anbinAl
“We called you nArAyaNA because of our agyAnam due to our love. So please bear
with us.
It is like when we are (wife is) in the same bed, you please do not complain that ‘the
legs hit me, arms hit me’ “.
arjunan pleaded to krishNan to forgive him (during bhagavath gIta) for having called him
‘hey krishNa!’, ‘hey yAdhavA’, ‘hey friend’ without realizing krishNan’s greatness.
un thannaich chiRu pEr azhaiththanavum sIRi aruLAdhE
When you have come to this world to enjoy earning your saulabhyam, we called you
with the name of nArAyaNan instead of gOvindhan by mistake due to agyAnam, small
age, and love. Please do not be upset with us.
iRaivA
We are asking Not based on thinking about the god of the dhEvas, but the god of us
cowherds.
Would anyone say that their legs and arms did mistakes and be angry with those
things? Since we are your property, if you don’t bless us then would it not be a loss for
you?
Since you have not learned from a teacher sitting under his seat, (as a sarvagyan (who
knows everything)), you do not know that it is not correct for you to be angry with us?
Your saulabhyam does not match with you anger.
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thiruppAvai
nI (you)
krishNan tries to back out saying that you have to go through thAyAr when doing
saraNAgathi.
They say that they have done all of that, and they are here only with thAyAr‘s
(nappinnai’s) blessings and recommendation.
So it is now You who have to act.
nI thArAi paRai
You, who hope that people would not say No when you bless them, please give us
paRai. Please allow us to surrender to you – please give us mOksham.
ElOrempAvAi – O girl, think, commit, and follow our ways.
This pAsuram is related to first half of dhvayam. Through AchAryan and thAyAr we
surrender to perumAn; we learn not to prevent him from pouring his love on us. First
half of dhvayam is about saraNAgathy. Next pAsuram is related to second half of
dhvayam which is about requesting to doing kainkaryam after saraNAgathy.
This pAsuram talks about doing saraNAgathy – 1) accepting that we are not capable of
doing karma/ gyAna/ bhakthi yOgams, 2) understanding that we don’t have any
qualifications, and don’t want any qualifications to be the means, 3) praising perumAn
who is complete in everything, 4) understanding our relationship with him, 5) accepting
and feeling bad for our mistakes of thinking that there are other means other than Him
for reaching Him, and 6) surrendering to Him through our AchAryAn; This thought is
saraNAgathy.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram – 29 - chiRRam chiRukAlE

In the previous pAsuram they said that He is the means for reaching Him. They said
that their agenda is to do kainkaryam. They said how we are inseparable from Him. It
talked about first half of dhvayam.
In this pAsuram, they talk about their interest in prApyam, what is that prApyam, that
only He can be the means for us to get that opportunity, and how they are
desperate/eager to do that. This pAsuram talks about second half of dhvayam.
thiruvAimozhi talked about prApyam first, in emmA vIdu, and then talked about charama
dhasai (final state) in nedumArkkadimai (bhAgavatha sEshathvam). ANdAL being ‘vinji
niRkum thanmaiyAL’ (better than other AzhwArs in many aspects), and since her focus
is on bhAgavatha sEshathvam, had talked about that first in the early pAsurams where
she addresses other bhAgavathas, and then to make it good and interesting, she gives
the ‘emmA vIttu‘ meaning of prApyam in this pAsuram and completes the goals of the
prabandham.
In this pAsuram ANdAL gives the reason for their coming to krishNan (which she said
she would do later, when in the pAsuram of oruththi maganAi … yAm vandha kAriyam).
chiRRam chiRukAlE vandhu unnaich chEviththu

un poRRAmarai adiyE pORRum poruL kELAi
peRRam mEiththu uNNum kulaththil piRandhu nI
kuRREval engaLaik koLLAmal pOgAdhu
iRRaip paRai koLvAn anRu kAN gOvindhA
eRRaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum
unRannOdu uRROmE AvOm unakkE nAm At cheivOm
maRRai nam kAmangaL mARRu ElOrempAvAi
padha padhArtham
gOvindhA! – Oh kaNNA!
vandhu – (we) came (here),
chiRRam chiRukAlE – very early in the morning
unnai sEviththu – and prayed you
kELAi – please listen to
un pon thAmarai adi pORRum poruL – the meaning/benefit of doing mangaLAsAsanam
to your golden lotus feet;
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thiruppAvai
peRRam mEiththu uNNum kulaththil piRandha nI – you who has born as cowherds,
who herd the cows and then eat
engaLai koLLAmal pOghAdhu – cannot be without accepting us in your mind
(thiruvuLLam)
kuRREval – (our) very personal kainkaryam (antharanga kainkaryam – confidential
service);
iRRaip paRai koLvAN anRu kAN – we did not come here for getting (this) paRai (drum
instrument) given today
eRRaikkum – for ever,
Ezh Ezh piRavikkum – how many ever births we go through,
uRROmE AvOm – (we) shall be related
unthannOdu – to you,
nAm – we
AL seivOm – shall be subservient
unakkE – to you only
mARRu – kindly prevent
nam – our
maRRai kAmangaL – interest in other matters.
Meaning
chiRRanj chiRu kAlE
Very early in the morning, the cold morning in which it is hard for little girls to wake up.
Due to our angst we did not mind that.
==> In brahma muhUrtham when we carry more sathva guNam (tranquility); this guNam
would help us have a clear mind to do kainkaryam to emperumAn.
In emperumAnAr‘s goshti a question came up: ‘what should we say/request when

standing in front of emperumAn?’. Some people said, we should say what
kshathrabandhu said (mUdOyam.. vishNu dharmam 98-33) – ‘I pray to you. please give
me mOksham’. emperumAnAr said that these words imply that our praying would be an
upAyam (means). That should not be the case. We will start thinking that I did
something and I got his grace because of that. More appropriate would be what kALiyan
said, ‘sOhamthE ..(srI vishNu purANam 5-7-10)’ where, even while he was holding
krishNan tight in his body, he requested Him to do all the help to him, that is, even
releasing krishNan from him also to be helped by krishNan. So asking for nirhEthuka
krupai like kALiyan is what we need to consider, said emperumAnAr.
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thiruppAvai
The time when darkness in minds got cleared and our mind got enriched with
bhagavath vishayam.
kAlE – in the morning
chiRu kAlE – early morning
==> chiRRam chiru kAlE – Very very early in the morning. ‘kAlE’ instead of pure
thamizh ‘kAlai’ is due to the slang of their cowherd clan.
krishNan’s dhinacharyai (daily schedule):
– Early morning (chiRu kAlE) krishNan would go out for herding his cows (periyAzhwar
imagining himself to be yasOdhai in ‘periyAzhwAr thirumozhi’, feels bad for sending him
like that instead of letting him go around to other people’s houses for doing mischief).
– He would enjoy herding cows during the day; play with them; his body would be
covered with dust.
– At lunch time he would wait for rishi pathnIs to bring him food – he will be eagerly
looking in that direction (nedu nOkkuk koLLum paththa vilOchanan), with his big
stomach yearning for tasty food;
– In the evening he will casually walk back coming behind all his cows and along with
other friends (kAlip pinnE varuginRa kadal vaNNan), enjoying the nice sunset; all the
gOpikAs would come out to their door steps to see his beautiful body covered with dust,
– Reaching home, without taking bath, he would eat food along with his father
(appanum uNdilan, unnOdu udanE uNbAn).
– Immediately after filling his stomach, he would go around to all the houses and try to
see which girls are available to play with. He would see one girl here, talk to one girl
there while giving signals to another, then would play with another, dance with yet
another, and so on.
– Very late at night (about 2 or 3am) he would reach home and go to bed.
So when can one meet him in his home??
The best time to get hold of him is very very early in the morning, about 3 or 4 am – that
is, chiRRam chiRu kAlE!!
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thiruppAvai
vandhu
Our mistake is that whereas You should have come to us to bless us, but due to our
desperation to see you we came here first. Please bear with us.
krishNan was so pleased and felt bad that he made these little girls get up so early; and
they cleverly caught him at the right time when he was not busy with other things.
perumAL praised guhan for walking from his place to see Him in srungibErapuram;
(never mind he had walked all the way from ayOdhya to see guhan).
unnaich chEviththu
He is enjoyable not only when we have achieved the destiny – even during the time we
consider him as upAyam (means). AzhwAr sang ‘pala mundhu sIril padimin
(thiruvAimozhi 2-8-4), that is before getting Him, enjoy the kalyANa guNams (divine
qualities) of emperumAn during upAya dhasai – while considering him as upAyam.
You would want to come to us and lose yourself in us (like how you walked for dhEvas,
pANdavas, and you did everything for them; you wanted mahArAjar (sugrIvan) as your
nAthan (master) because he was so dear to you), but instead we came here and we fell
on your feet, and not somebody else’s feet – unnai seviththu.
Not only that, we came here and did anjali too.
(( chEviththu – anjali – nama: – If one does anjali to perumAn (by hand, in mind, etc.),
He feels He is indebted to that person. How much ever He gives to that person, He
does not feel he has done enough. That person, if a srIvaishNava, also would be
satisfied only if perumAn gives the kainkarya prApthi (both here and in srIvaikuNtam). )).
un poRRAmarai adiyE
Your thiruvadi – divine golden lotus feet – which is priceless, enjoyable, and appropriate
– is the means to reach you, adiyE – we don’t get into any other means/destiny – other
than your lotus feet.
===> One of the reasons we say ANdAL has done something beyond other AzhwArs:
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thiruppAvai
As we know, only perumAn‘s feet (thiruvadi) is the means to reach Him. So we

surrender to perumAn‘s thiruvadi. After surrendering, we do kainkaryam – which is
again for his thiruvadi.
We know that dhEvas and others made perumAn walk with that soft thiruvadi to all
places, for their own benefits. What have we, as saraNAgathas, done? same thing? For
our saraNAgathy we made use of his feet?
We had to, because we don’t have any other means. So it is difficult for us also to be
reminded that we made use of his feet for doing our saraNAgathy. So when we go to
next step of doing kainkaryam to his thiruvadi we don’t want to be reminded about our
previous deed of using his thiruvadi (as the means).
So, in dvaya manthram’s first half: “srIman nArAyaNa charaNau saraNam prapadhyE“,
it talks about his thiruvadi (charaNau) when doing saraNAgathi (prapadhyE); but the
second half of dhvayam, “srImathE nArAyaNAya nama:” which is about doing
kainkaryam, the manthram does not remind us about his thiruvadi, so there is no
‘charaNau’ or something in the 2nd half. But it is understood that the kainkaryam
mentioned in the 2nd half is for his thiruvadi only. (dhvayam too is finding it difficult to
be reminded of our using thiruvadi (as the means)).
So, following the same way of dhvayam, whenever all the AzhwArs sing about doing
saraNAgathy, they too would mention perumAn‘s thiruvadi at that time (un adik kIzh
amarndhu pugundhu, and so on), but whenever they sing about doing kainkaryam, they
would mostly not mention about his thiruvadi (and it is understood that there also they
are talking about doing kainkaryam to thiruvadi).
But, ANdAL did not follow such a pattern. She is AzhwArgaL tham seyalai vinji niRkum
thanmaiyaL. She did not explicitly make use of the word thiruvadi when doing
saraNAgathi (even though that is the only option, and that is what is actually used by
her as the means), but she wanted to explicitly make use of the word thiruvadi when
doing kainkaryam pAsuram only:
In the previous pAsuram of ‘kaRaviagaL pin cheRru‘ which is related to first half of
dhvayam, that is, doing saraNAgathy, there is no mention of thiruvadi. But in this
pAsuram related to 2nd half of dhvayam, that is, doing kainkaryam, she is confidently
using the word thiruvadi, in the phrase of ‘un pon thAmarai adiyE pORRum poruL
kELAi‘. Nobody else has done it this way.
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thiruppAvai
pORRum
pray, and do mangaLAsAsanam.
poruL kELAi
Why are they saying ‘kELAi’ (listen) to the Him who is standing in front of them?
It is because he is looking around at all the gOpikAs.
Please stop your parAkku looking at us, and listen to us.
He too thinks “it is my dear girls’ talk, so let me listen to them”.
Even if we ask for other benefits/goals from you because of our rajas/thamas, you don’t
have to listen to that and you don’t have to give us those things.
peRRam mEiththu uNNum kulaththil piRandhu nI
Whereas you are known only through sAsthrams / vEdhAs, you came and be born
amidst us who cannot eat without herding the cows. (who do not eat unless our cows’
stomachs are filled). You are one among us, so you cannot avoid our subservience to
you. We want to achieve our goal because of your birth here too.
kuRREval
subservience – which is liked by us, which is our nature. Personal kainkaryams like
pressing your legs, you telling us rahasyams.
engaLai
Cows may get some other people to save them, but we cannot be saved by anyone
else – we have got only you as our savior.
koLLAmal pOgAdhu
This is a command for you. We were enjoying all material things and focusing on
samsAram, and you showed your beauty and changed us to think ‘uNNum sOru,
parugu nIr, thinnum vEththilai ellAm kaNNan emperumAn‘ – now after providing us
gyAnam related to our svarUpam, you cannot avoid giving us the opportunity to do
kainkaryam.
ANdAL is forcing him saying ‘you don’t have any other option; you have to give us
paRai’ (balAthkruthya bungthE – in thaniyan).
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thiruppAvai
As they said this, He says “For doing your nOnbu you take these items and instrument;
why are you talking about new things like being subservient and all that”, and he tries to
give them paRai instrument.
After listening to them, he thinks ‘They would not let me go. They would stop and
surround me and get what they wanted’, and so he says ‘take the paRai (instrument)’.
(இவர் ள் நம்லை விடொர் ளொயிருந்தொர் ள்; நம்லைத் தடுத்தும்
வலளத்தும் க ொள்வர் ள்)
iRRaip paRai koLvAn anRu kAN
See dear, we did not come here to get the instrument paRai or other things for
ourselves.
kAN – look, don’t you understand our intention?
koLvAn anRu – you have to get us; that is what we are here for. (not for getting things
from you).
You are just following the sounds/words (and not the intentions) of what we are saying.
gOvindha (you don’t have gyAnam, as you have been going behind the cows?)
Your janmam (birth as a cowherd boy) does not have the gyAnam about the intentions?
Can you not see the inner meanings of our requests? You go behind cows; you don’t
understand girls’ hearts? You were away from us for four days and you have become
like this.
bhattar said ‘keduvAi! nAngaL iRRaip paRai koLvAn anRu kAN! / க டுவொய்!
நொங் ள் இற்லறப் பலற க ொள்வொன் அன்று ொண்‘, where “keduvAi” implies
‘you are not having the brain to understand what we intended’.
Aren’t you the one who upon hearing ‘pOgu nambi / மபொகு நம்பி‘ (go away dear),
would come and stand around? (thiruvAimozhi 6-2-2 / திருவொய்கைொழி 6-2-2).
“I tried to use the word in the sense that is understood by most people, but you are
saying I don’t understand the intention. okay, I will spend the time with you today if that
is what you wanted”.
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thiruppAvai
eRRaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum
We want to do kainkaryam to you forever.
When you are in srIvaikuNtam we want to be in srIvaikuNtam with you;
When you take avathAram, we want to be born during the same time period and be with
you in the samsAram.
Like iLaiya perumAL who was with you when you were in the forest, and who was with
you when you were back in your kingdom (without wishing to enjoy as a prince).
Like how pirAtti is with you there in srIvaikuNtam, and does a suitable avathAram when
you do avathAram.
Any day, during any number of births, we want to be with you.
unthannOdu uRROmE yAvOm
This relationship of ours with you should be there forever. Can the body and its owner
be separate? Like how the body listens to its owner, we want you to take our services.
You be the swAmi and we be the belongings of you – this is all we wish for.
ANdAL does not specifically say which relationship – she wants all relationships to be
Him.
“Is that all? What else are you praying for?”
unakkE nAm At chEivOm
This relationship is not all. We want to do kainkaryam to you too based on the
relationship.
Unlike bharathAzhwAn who had to suffer because of separation, we would like to be

with you always like iLaiyaperumAL and do kainkaryam.
“So that is it?”
“unakkE – not for the enjoyment of both ourselves and you, but, just for you. (like how
we tell kids when we give them something ‘idhu unakkE unakku’ (this is for you and you
only)). It should not be just for our enjoyment, or for both our enjoyment – it should be to
make you enjoy it. Subservience that is mixed with ahankAram would not be
purushArththam (destiny)”.
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thiruppAvai
“Is that it? Let that happen. What next?”
maRRai nam kAmangaL mARRu
Please remove any thought in us that we do the kainkaryam for our own enjoyment,
AND remove any thought in You that you accept the kainkaryam for these people’s
enjoyment. These two are obstacles, so they ask Him to remove such thoughts in both.
kAmam maRRu – they are devoted to krishNan, always looking at his face to see what
he will want them to do next. Their kAmam is not like ours, the samsAris. Their kAmam
(hindrance) is what the elders wanted them to do – that is nOnbu – for material things.
They are praying that they want to do kainkaryam to him without any other agenda from
the elders or others.
“Sounds good; is that it?”
“That is not it”
maRRai kAmam mArru – When we are with you in srIvakuNtam amidst the nithya sUris,
you would have to talk to us respecting your office; instead it should be an exchange
like how it is here in our verandahs where you call us “gOpikAs! / கபண் ொள்!“ and we
respond “krishNa! / க்ருஷ்ைமன!” and we jump at each other and fall on each other.
As they talk about him as the means, him as the destiny, this place’s friendliness, and
preference to be in srIvaikuNtam and so on,
“Instead of one wish, your hearts are wishing for many things?”
“Since it is you who is prApyam, prApakam, and saraNyan, we wish for all of that. We
talked about this place because of this closeness; about that place because it would be
without any interruption – our hearts which is fixed on getting your thiruvadi won’t be
broken in srIvaikuNtam”.
maRRai kAmam – maRRu is similar to what is said in ‘maRROnrinaik kANAvE

(amalanAdhipirAn)‘.
govindhA-maRRai-kAmam-mARRu : What else are you going to achieve without giving

us mOksham?
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thiruppAvai
In previous pAsuram ANdAL said we don’t have any other ways/means to reach you;
you are the only means; she also apologized for all the mistakes of ours; it talked about
first half of dhvayam.
In this pAsuram, ANdAL talks about the beauty of prApyam that is perumAn thiruvadi,
our being desperate to reach His thiruvadi; she destroys any of our thoughts that are
against our nature of being a dhAsan of perumAn; This pAsuram talks about second
half of dhvayam – we are forever inseparable from perumAn‘s relationship; we are His
dhAsan; He always blesses us.
gOvindhA unakku – ‘akAram'; unakkE – ‘ukAram'; nAm – ‘makAram’ (praNavam).
‘unRannOdu uRROmE AvOm’ – means ‘nArAyaNAya’.
‘maRRai nam kAmangaL mARRu’ – refers to nama:
together, it is thirumanthram.
srI vaishNavas who have the taste of understanding their nature of doing kainkaryam,
would enjoy the beauty of perumAn‘s thiruvadi as their destiny; thinking about its safety
they would feel the angst, and would avoid thinking of anything other than Him itself as
the means; would have strong faith in the blessing they have got for doing kainkaryam,
without thinking of any benefits for themselves;
srIvaishNavas – Waking up very early in the morning, going to bhagavath sannidhi,

doing mangaLAsAsanam to perumAn, confessing to thAyAr our mistakes, talking about
the importance of perumAn‘s avathArams, telling him how we desperately want to be
with Him, letting Him know that we don’t want any other benefits, wanting the same kind
of conversation with Him that nithyasUris enjoy (in srIvaikuntam), and praying Him that
He should help destroy those guNams or thoughts that make us act against our nature
of being subservient to Him.
ANdAL and gOpikAs wish krishNan to understand all of their thoughts above, and so
they look at krishNan’s divine, beautiful, mischievous, and attractive face, and request
him for all these so that they can achieve the goal of doing saraNAgathy: uninterrupted
kainkaryam in srIvakuNtam.
ElOrempAvAi – Dear girl, think and commit, then follow our path.
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thiruppAvai
This pAsuram IS thiruppAvai, (thiruppAvai Agiradhu ippAttu) say our AchAryas. In

previous pAsuram ANdAL performed saraNAgathy; in this pAsuram she says that all we
want to do is kainkaryam to your lotus feet for ever and ever.
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thiruppAvai
pAsuram – 30 - vangak kadal kadaindha

(and vAzhi thirunAmam, etc.)
In this last pAsuram of thiruppAvai, ANdAL says that those who learn this prabandham
would get the katAksham of pirAtti and perumAn. She says that those who learn would
get the same benefit as those who actually performed (gOpikAs in dhvApara yugam)
the nOnbu and those who pretended to perform (ANdAL) the nOnbu.
Is it possible for us to get same benefit as them, by reciting thiruppAvai (while immersed
in its meanings)? A reply is provided as follows:
bhattar says that like how a mother cow would give milk out of love by looking at just the
skin of its dead calf shaped with the filling of straws, pirAtti and perumAn out of
kindness would give same katAksham to us, which they gave to those gOpikAs and to
those who pretended in thiruppAvai. Young cow -> emperumAn; lively calf -> gOpikAs,
and ANdAL; and the one filled with straws -> we are.
In the previous 29 pAsurams ANdAL pretended to be one of the gOpikAs in

thiruvAyppAdi, and followed the ways of them (anukAram – enacting) for reaching
krishNan. She is singing this last pAsuram as self, as she was living in the great
pudhuvai (srIvillipuththUr) as the daughter of great pattar pirAn (periyAzhwAr).
vangak kadal kadaindha mAdhavanaik kEsavanai

thingaL thiru mugaththuch chEi izhaiyAr senRu iRainji
angu ap paRai koNda ARRai
aNi pudhuvaip paingamalath thaN theriyal pattar pirAn kOdhai sonna
sangath thamizh mAlai muppadhum thappAmE
ingu ipparisu uraippAr Ir iraNdu mAl varaith thOL
sengaN thiru mugaththuch chelvath thiru mAlAl
engum thiruvaruL peRRu inbuRuvar empAvAi
padha padhArtham
thingaL thiru mughaththu chE izhaiyAr – gOpikAs having beautiful face like the moon,
and wearing rich glittering ornaments
chenRu – reached
iRainji – prayed/prostrated
mAdhavanai – sriya:pathi (thAyAr’s husband)
kEsavanai – kaNNan
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thiruppAvai
kadaindha – who churned (for dhEvas)

vangam kadal – the thiruppArkadal with ships in them (milky ocean),
angu – in thiruvAippAdi
ap paRai koNda ARRai – and about the way in which they got the (their) well known
goal (purushArththam), (as explained by)
pai kamalam thaN theriyal pattarpirAn – (the daughter of) periyAzhwar with freshly
blossomed lotus flowers,
kOdhai – (who is) ANdAL
aNi pudhuvai – (who) rose in the lovely place of srIvillipuththUr
sonna – (aruLich cheidha) and gifted
sangam thamizh mAlai muppadhum – these thirty pAsurams, which are to be immersed
in by groups of groups
thappAmE – without fail;
uraippAr – those who recite
ingu – in this world
ipparisu – in this way,
thiru aruL peRRu – would get the blessings of
Ir iraNdu mAl varai thOL – one having four big mountain-like shoulders
selvam – one having all the wealth
thirumAlAl – (that is) emperumAn who is srImAn
engum – and everywhere (in all the worlds)
inbuRuvar – (they would) be joyous.
Meaning:
vangak kadal kadaindha mAdhavanai
When churning the ocean in earlier avathAram he cleverly did that without shaking any
boats; he himself was like a boat; when he rotated while churning, he covered the whole
ocean; or when he churned, the whole ocean was pulling all the boats/ships around and
the whole ocean was full of it.
Are there boats/ships in thiruppARkadal? It is only to show the equivalence of the salty
ocean near us with that ocean; it is to say how well he churned that ocean.
He was helping dhEvas who wanted the lowly amudham (nectar), with his body aching
from the churning; they put the great perumAn through this for their vishayAntharam
(interest in other matters).
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thiruppAvai
Aren’t these gOpikAs about singing krishNan? Would it match for them to sing about the
one who churned the ocean?
perumAn had a different agenda when churning the ocean; from the ocean not only did
the nectar come out; it also brought out his dear periya pirAtti – he churned it only for
getting her, but used as front getting nectar for dhEvas (clue: why did he keep churning
even after nectar came out?).
==> So these gOpikAs are saying that this is nothing new to him. Like how he used
churning of ocean as the front for getting pirAtti, krishNan is born here and churned curd
to get these gOpikAs. Similarly, He used the elders’ nOnbu request as the front for
getting what he really wanted - all these innocent gOpikAs. So she sings kadal
kadaindha mAdhavanai…
[[ kadal kadaindha: vEdhas are like ocean; upanishadhs too; meanings in prabandhams
are like an ocean; AchAryan churns these oceans and brings out beautiful meanings;
vanga: perumAn; so AchAryan shows us perumAn by churning the ocean of vEdhas,

upanishadhs, and prabandhams.
]]
mAdhavanai – Husband of pirAtti. What is available for us to surrender to, and to enjoy
too, is available with pirAtti; he is near the one who will make Him forgive us, our
mistakes, and make Him realize His greatness to accept us.
We feel confident when pirAtti is there to support us.
kadal kadaindha mAdhavanai – one who churned the ocean and got pirAtti from that.
[ mA-thavan – AchAryan, who has the great thapas of having perumAn in his noble
heart; it refers to gyAnam as well; gyAnam anuttAnam ivai nanRAgavE udaiyanAna
kuruvai adaindhakkAl… said maNavALa mAmunigaL in upadhEsa rathinamAlai.]
kEsavanai – who gets rid of whatever is not good for his devotees; he who made us get
rid of our thinking that we are girls who should not get out of our house (to see
krishNan); he who makes all of us get rid of anyasEshathvam (sEshathvam (servitude)
for something other than naRAyaNan).
kEsavanai – one with beautiful hair; one who troubles the enemies of his adiyAr; one
who killed the asuran kEsi;
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thiruppAvai
kadal kadaindha kEsavan – When perumAn was churning the ocean, his hair was
waving in the air and it was such a beautiful divine sight. ANdAL feels terrible that
dhEvas were focusing on the lowly nectar and missed what was really really important –
seeing perumAn‘s divine face and his hair and enjoying that, and forgetting other things.
To feel better now, she sings, kEsavanai….
bhattar says: He ate the actual nectar (pirAtti) from churning ocean (mAdhavan), and
gave the residue (சக்ல / chakkai ) to those dhEvas.
mAdhavanaik kEsavanai – you got pirAtti, and you were kind to those who needed your
help (dhEvas).
mAdhavanaik kEsavanai – you are mAdhavan (pirAtti married you), because you are
kEsavan (have got beautiful hair).
kEsavanai – ANdAL referred to His thiruvadi in 2nd pAsuram – ‘paraman adi pAdi‘ and
in this last pAsuram is singing about his head, thus singing from His thiruvadi (lotus feet)
to thirumudi (lotus head).
{ srIvaishNavas always start mangaLAsAsanam to perumAn starting from thiruvadi, and

going up to thirumudi, when in temple, etc. }
[ kEsavan – perumAn who killed the horse asuran kEsi. In bhagavath gIthai perumAn
said that our indhriyas (senses) are like horses; AchAryan helps us control our
indhriyas, so kEsavan as well refers to AchAryan. ]
Now ANdAL talks about the adiyArs who want perumAn.
thingaL thirumugaththu
Like a pleasant moon, gOpikAs’ faces have blossomed due to joining krishNan,
His – ‘kadhir‘ ‘madhi‘yam pOl mugam – because he sees both puNyams and pApams
of ours, his face is like sun and moon.
gOpikAs’ faces – just nice like the moon. That is because they are with their krishNan.
==> Everyone who enjoys Him will have such a nice and happy face. So happy that
others would wonder where they have come from.
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thiruppAvai
As nammAzhwAr sang, those who enjoy him in srIvaikuNtam are too ‘madhi muga
madandhaiyar / ைதிமு ைடந்லதயர்’! (thruvAimozhi 10-9-10 / திருவொய்கைொழி
10-9-10). (women with beautiful faces like the moon).
chEi izhaiyAr
They had asked for ‘chUdagamE‘ (27), etc., ornaments, now they are here wearing all
the ornaments put on them by Him, while being together with krishNan.
They have got the ornaments that are krishNan’s fondness and his katAksham.
Because of this they got the briskness and looks like wearing one container (ஒரு படி)
full of ornaments.
[ thingaL thiru mugaththu sEi izhaiyAr – we sishyas are too; moon does not have its own
light. We sishyas get gyAnam from AchAryan. Moon is called ‘madhi’, which also
means ‘gyAnam’. With our AchAryan’s katAksham we would be filled with gyAnam. Our
AchAryan puts the ornaments on us which are Athma guNams.]
chenRu
gOpikAs went to him, without being able to do all these decorations with the ornaments.
[chenRu – we sishyas go to our AchAryan ]
iRainji
They did ‘thU malar thUvi thOzhudhu, vAyinAl pAdi, manaththinAl sindhiththu, anRu
ivvulagam aLandhAnai adi pORRi, sEnRu sEviththu, and all that mangaLAsAsanam.
angu – In thiruvAyppAdi
ap paRai koNda ARRai – the way they used ‘paRai’ instrument for elders as the front,
and surrendered and did kainkaryam to krishNan;
koNda – they asked ‘nI thArAi paRai‘, and he gave himself to them for eRRaikkum (for
ever).
ARRai – the way in which they did these.
[ ‘ap’ paRai – ‘that’ paRai – Going even beyond doing kainkaryam to perumAn,
ANdAL refers to AchArya kainkaryam, which is the ultimate kainkaryam – sishyas
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thiruppAvai
to do AchArya kainkaryam (kuRREval) while living here, and to continue the same
after going to srI vaikuNtam. ]
aNi pudhuvai – the main place for the people of this world, the beautiful srivillipuththUr
where vada perungkoil udaiyAn is also present for us;
Unlike for pirAtti or nappinnai, ANdAL‘s birth place is also her husband’s place.
The place decorated with periyAzhwAr, ANdAL and vata perum kOyil udaiyAn
(vatapathrasAyI – presiding emperumAn of srIvillipuththUr).
paingamalath thaN theriyal pattar pirAn
pain thaN kamala theriyal – lotus garland that is cool and nice to the core
pattar pirAn – periyAzhwAr (who is a brAhmaNOththamar with the beautiful garland),

who gave love and gyAnam to all the learned people (pattar) by singing thiruppallANdu
to perumAn himself, and hence was named the pirAn (leader/king) of pattars.
periyAzhwAr who gave her daughter in marriage to perumAn.
pattar pirAn kOdhai sonna
What periyAzhwAr‘s daughter ANdAL said pretending (anukAram) to be a gOpikA living

in thiruvAippAdi.
pattar pirAn kOdhai – If krishNan’s greatness is that he is ‘ARRap padaiththAn magan

(21)‘ (son of nandhagOpa), ANdAL is ‘pattar pirAn kodhai’ (daughter of periyAzhwAr).
sonna – as ANdAL listened to the upanyAsakar (vidhwAn) who came to srIvillipuththUr

explaining about nOnbu, ANdAL imagined everything, and after it filled her heart with
kaNNan, the thiruppAvai came pouring out due to bhagavath katAksham.
sonna – sruthi sathas siddham – what is told in vEdhAs, ANdAL sang them in simple
thamizh for everyone to understand.
[ pattar pirAn kOdhai – she says about her AchAryan – her father – periyAzhwAr.
Shows her abhimAnam towards her AchAryan]
sangath thamizh mAlai
This prabandham which has to be recited and enjoyed together in bigger and bigger
groups of adiyArs (devotees); (sangam); Isn’t this the prabandham that the gOpikAs
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thiruppAvai
from 5 lakh houses got together and enjoyed? (‘sangam iruppAr pOl vandhu
thalaippeidhOm’)
thamizh mAlai – like how bhUmi pirAtti came as ANdAL to help us, upanishadh became
thamizh.
thamizh – amizhdhu (amrutham) – sweet; simple. (sweet like krishNan; simple like
gOvindhan).
When perumAn came himself to the level of human form as krishNan, bhUmi pirAtti
came herself as ANdAL, but she went one step further as usual – as part of thiruppAvai
she pretended to be a cowherd girl. vEdhas wanted to do their part, and became
thamizh thiruppAvai.
mAlai : thiruppAvai. thiruppAvai like the flower/garland, is not only our medicine, but it is
also for enjoyment, to be carried in our head (sirObhUshaNam).
mAlai – periyAzhwAr named ANdAL as ‘kOdhai’ to mean mAlai (garland), as He was

into doing pushpa kainkaryam (flower) to perumAn. So, ANdAL herself is mAlai. And
she put together the mAlai that is this thiruppAvai.
==> mAlai kattina mAlai (thiruppAvai constructed by ANdAL)
==> mAl-aik-k-kattina mAlai (mAl -> perumAn. perumAn was tied down (koLLAmal
pOgAdhu) by ANdAL).
‘sevip pUvE‘ – krishNan gave one flower to her ears; ANdAL gave this big thamizh
mAlai to him and to us. With this mAlai she tied him and demanded paRai
(mOksham/kainkaryam).
muppadhum thappAmE (muppadhum thappAmal) – all 30 without missing any

pAsuram.
Like how when even one stone is missing in a priceless necklace it would not look
beautiful, it would not be complete. It would be a big loss.
ingu – ANY time in the future; in this samsAram (of ours);
ip parisu uraippAr
– whoever would recite these pAsurams
– ip parisu – with the same mind
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thiruppAvai
– In actual thiruvAippAdi, gOpikAs got Him and doing krishnAnubhavam; ANdAL got the
same by anukAram (pretending and following what the gOpikAs did earlier); So, we who
would learn these pAsurams also would get Him in the same way and at same intensity.
Ir iraNdu mAl varaith thOL
krishNan does not have to see our level, but as we sing following the ways of ANdAL,
krishNan’s shoulders would grow big out of love for her.
Those who don’t have love towards him will see only two shoulders;
For us who love ANdAL and krishNan, his shoulders would appear to grow as we recite
thiruppAvai and other prabandhams.
mAl varai – big like mountains; where pirAtti and gOpikAs can enjoy their krIdai
(playing).
sengaN thirumugaththu
The one with the divine face with the eyes that became red because of eagerness to
give katAksham and love as we sang thiruppAvai.
Whose is this thiru mugam?
selva thirumAlAl
Lakshmi’s husband.
with the katAksham of husband of lakshmi (thirumAl);
perumAn, the one who is the owner of all worlds (his selvam);
Like in dhvayam where pirAtti is mentioned in its first half and second half, this pAsuram
also mentions pirAtti in ‘mAdhavanai’ in first half, and here in ‘thiru mAlAl’ in second
half.
engum thiruvaruL peRRu
Both in this world and in srIvaikuNtam, pirAtti and perumAn‘s kataksham will be there
(for those who recite all the 30 pAsurams of this prabandham)…
inbuRuvar
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thiruppAvai
.. and they will become happy because of getting together with perumAn (and do
kainkaryam in srIvaikuNtam).
empAvAi – Think about our ways, commit in your mind, and follow our path.
empAvAi inbuRuvar - like how we girls were happy because of thirumAl, those who
recite all the thiry pAsurams of this thiruppAvai will also be happy in the same way.
bhattar: wake up very early in the morning and recite all the 30 pAsurams; if not doing
that, recite ‘chiRRam chiRu kAlE'; if not doing that, at least think about this gOshti (of
bhattar, with bhattar reciting thiruppAvai (and its greatness).
In this pAsuram ANdAL as periyAzhwAr‘s divine daughter says that those who would
recite all the thirty pasurams that she sung following the ways of gOpikAs of
thiruvAippAdi for reaching krishNan, would also get the same benefit that the gOpikAs
and ANdAL got: receive thAyAr and perumAn‘s katAksham and will live happily in this
world and in srIvaikuNtam. thAyAr and perumAn shall take turns to treasure us.
தொயொரும் கபருைொனும் ைொறி ைொறி பரியக் டவர்.
Recited along with thiruppAvai:
kOdhai pirandha Ur - where kOdhai was born

gOvindhan vAzhum Ur - where there is kOdhai there is gOvindhan
sodhi maNi mAdam thOnRum Ur – the place with beautiful gOpuram
nIdhiyAy nalla paththar vAzhum Ur - the place where honest devotees live
nAn maRaigaL Odhum Ur – where the four vEdhas are recited all the time
villipuththUr vEdhak kOn Ur – It is srIvillipuththUr, that is the place of king of vEdhas.
padhagangaL thIrkkum – will make all the karmas vanish

paraman adi kAttum - will show us perumAn‘s thiruvadi for surrendering and doing
kainkaryam
vEdham anaiththukkum viththu Agum – the one that is seed/extract of all vEdhas,
upanishadhs, and purANas
kOdhai thamizh ai aindhum aindhum – ANdAL‘s thamizh prabhandam 5*5 + 5
(thiruppAvai)
ariyAdha mAnidarai vaiyam sumappadhum vambu – (those who don’t know those
30 pasurams) are a trouble to this world since they would misunderstand vEdhas’
meanings and would debate or follow in wrong ways.
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thiruppAvai
thiru Adip pUraththu segaththudhiththAL vAzhiyE – Her thiru nakshathram is great

Adi pUram. bhUmi pirAtti was hidden away by hiraNyAkshan; perumAn assumed kUrma
avathAram, dug and brought out his wife bhUmi pirAtti and kept her in his lap. pirAtti
found herself to be safe, but she was concerned about us the samsAris; she asked
perumAn a simple way in which we all could reach perumAn in srI vaikuntam. He gave
varAha charama slOkam. bhUmi pirAtti wanted to simplify that further, so she came to
srIvillipuththUr as ANdAL, and sang thiruppAvai which explained in simple thamizh
about the simple way to reach perumAn : saraNAgathy.
thiruppAvai muppadhum chEppinAL vAzhiyE – She told us thiruppAvai having 30
pAsurams
periyaAzhwAr peRREduththa pEN piLLai vAzhiyE – The girl child of periyAzhwAr
perumpUthur mAmunikkup pinnAnAL vAzhiyE – emperumAnAr who was born in
srIperumbUthUr is like her elder brother because he fulfilled her wish of giving ‘nURu
thadA veNNai, akkAra adisil, etc.’ to perumAn. ANdAL came in front of him and called
him aNNar (since he fulfilled her wishes like an elder brother), even though she was
born much much earlier than emperumAnAr. So udaiyavar got another name ‘kOyil
aNNar’.
oru nURRu nArpaththu mUnRu uraiththAL vAzhiyE – ANdAL sang thiruppAvai and
also nAchiAr thirumozhi which contains 143 pAsurams.
uyar arangarkkE kaNNi ugandhu aLiththAL vAzhiyE – who gave herself, that is who
got married, to thiru arangan and increased his status.
maruvArum thirumalli vaLa nAdi vAzhiyE – Glory to srivillipuththUr that is filled with
fragrance of malli flowers everywhere.
vaN pudhuvai nagark kOdhai – malarp padhangaL vAzhiyE – glory to one from
srIvillipuththUr – Glory to ANdAL‘s lotus feet.
ANdAL thiruvadigaLE charaNam

uyyakkONdAr thiruvadigaLE charaNam
parAsara bhattar thiruvadigaLE charaNam
periyavAchchAn piLLai thiruvadigaLE charaNam
azhagiya maNavALap perumAL nAyanAr thiruvadigaLE charaNam
thirunArAyaNapuraththu Ayi jananyAchAriAr thiruvadigaLE charaNam
vAnamAmalai jIyar thiruvadigaLE charaNam
sudhdha sathvam dhoddAchAryar thiruvadigaLE charaNam
piLLai lOkam jIyar thiruvadigaLE charaNam
http://koyil.org
thiruppAvai
AzhwAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE charaNam

AchAryan thiruvaidgaLE charaNam
maNavALa mAmuniyE innum oru nURRANdu irum.
Note: Thanks so much to srI U.Ve. Vinjimoor S. Venkatachariar swAmi of srIvillipuththUr

for providing initial guidance when adiyen did the translation. As mentioned in the
beginning, our pUrvAchAryAs have provided so much of wealth related to thiruppAvai
that they all came in handy in doing the translations, in addition to upanyAsams on
thiruppAvai by many great swamis.
A lot of thanks to Sarathy Thothathri swami for encouraging adiyen to maintain

accuracy, consistency, and time. Every day he read through the whole text, made
corrections for above reasons, and then published to the group. His tireless efforts
made this much more readable than the original.
Finally a lot of praNAms to the adiyArs who read this translation everyday, and also to
those who provided comments and feedback for these posts.
In addition to the vyAkyAnams and upanyAsams, there are a couple of other resources
which were helpful in doing the translation.
- thiruppAvai viLakka urai – by ‘AzhvArgaL amudha nilaiyam’ which is a simple

thamizh translation of the 3000padi vyAkyAnam for the most part.
- vaiNava urai nadai varalARRu muRaith thamizhp pEr agarAdhi – by sAnthi

sAdhana – publishers, 125 Chamiers Road, Chennai 600 028, which is a GREAT
resource to know the translation of samskrutham words seen in our srIvaishNava
granthams. It is in thamizh. (If interested in purchasing the 3-volume set, publisher’s
contact number is 9940019804 in Chennai. (we are not associated with them in any way
other than as buyers))
http://koyil.org

Tirupavvai English Meaning

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Tirupavvai English Meaning

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thiruppAvai

dhivya prabandham – translations project

dhivya prabandhams are the most essential aspect of srIvaishNava sampradhAyam.

adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

on behalf of http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org team

pramEyam (goal) – http://koyil.org

anju kudikkoru santhathiyAy

அஞ்சு குடிக்க ொரு சந்ததியொய்

About translation to English

Please continue reading and provide your feedback and comments.

About the vyAkyAnams for thiruppAvai

vyAkyAnams for thiruppAvai have been provided by several pUrvAchAryas.

6000 padi – by azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr

2000 padi and 4000 padi – by thirunArAyanapuram Ay jananyAchArya

vyAkyAnam for thaniyans have been provided by piLLai lOkam jIyar.

Without puthUr swAmi’s additional efforts to provide meanings for hard-to-understand

- thiruppAvai viLakka urai – by AzhvArgaL amudha nilaiyam which is plain thamizh

Related aricles on thiruppAvai:

thiruppAvai sAram by azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr –

thiruppAvai – artha panchakam – http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2013/01/thiruppavai-artha-

English translation by adiyen Raghuram Srinivasa dasan

Web: http://koyil.org , http://ponnadi.blogspot.com,

jaya – thai pUrattAdhi – (January 24, 2015) – sottai nambi

pAsuram – 25 - oruththi maganAi ....................................................................... 209

parAsara bhattar‘s thaniyan

nILA thunga sthanagiri thatI suptham udhbhOdhya krishNam

We shall prostrate before that ANdAL forever and forever.

anna vayal pudhuvai ANdAL arangarkku

[Chollu]: O Mind, pray to (such) ANdAL.

chUdik koduththa sudark kodiyE!

perumAn asked that she be brought to srIrangam. She

sthala purANam at srIvilliputhUr adds that periyAzhwAr

Him as rangan only; as he also sang ‘கவண்லை உண்ட வொயன் அைி

ramAnujar was devoted to understanding the meanings of thiruppAvai, so much so that

perumAL gave ‘ையர்வற ைதிநைம்‘ (blemishless knowledge) to the AzhwArs

BUT, chathrugnan, madhurakavi AzhwAr, and

ANdAL, with the front of doing nOnbu, wanted to

Whereas nammAzhwAr spoke of association with bhAgavathas (Devotees) only in the

pAsuram - 1 - mArgazhi thingaL

mArgazhith thingaL madhi niRaindha nannALAl*

sIr malgum AyppAdi - (From the) wealthy place of AyppAdi,

As a chEthanan (subservient to perumAL) only the wish to do kainkaryam is required.

sIr malgum AyppAdi – wealthy place that is AyppAdi

Because of krishNan’s presence in AyppAdi, it is having the real wealth; krishNan’s

selva chirumIrgAL! – O, wealthy girls!

Difference among the above three association examples:

– gajEndran had swAthanthriyam at first (when it thought it could save by Only on

===> kUr vEl kodum thozhilan nandhagOpan :

===> Aer Arndha kaNNi yasOdhai

===> iLam singam

===> kAr mEni

– Beautiful eyes matching the beautiful thirumEni (divine body of krishNan);

– He comforts us with his beauty, and looks at us with affection.

kadhir madhiyam pOl mugaththAn

- How do gOpikAs know that krishNan is nArAyaNan? This avatharam, by lifting

nArAyaNanE namakkE parai tharuvAn

parai tharuvAn – While the instrument ‘parai’ is to be obtained from krishNan to be

pArOr pugazha - for the people to appreciate/celebrate.

Or – keep it in your mind (become determined/ committed),

Em pAvAi – our dear girl

-El Or EmpAvAi is also part of nonbu’s phrase (thought)).

-keep it in mind and follow.

vaiyaththu vAzhvIrgAL nAmum nam pAvaikku