En kaDavuLE - KaNNan on Garudan

In the third line of the Paasuram, Kaliyan salutes the Vaidhika and Loukika SrI of ThirunAngai KaavaLampAdi this way: “thada varait-tangu madam thagu pugazh KaavaLampAdi”. The houses (palaces) at this divya desam are tall and strong like big mountains. The residents of these mansions are the great Vedic scholars, who confer additional fame on the Lord’s divya desam through their presence. The Lord of KaavaLampAdi is not only their KadavuL but of all the sentient and insentient as well (akara mudhal yezhuttellAm Adhi Bhagavan KadavuL). He is the indweller of all (sarvAntharyAmi).

Kaliyan seeks the rakshaNam from this KadavuL and engages in SaraNAgati anusandhAnam (KadavuLE! kAvaLam taN pAdiyAy kaLai kaN neeyE”). Oh KaNNaa! Yen KadavuLE! KaavaLampAdi vAzh MannA! KaaLinga mardhana ViSAradhA! Thou alone art the object of adiyEn’s surrender”.

 

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PAASURAM 6

mallaraiyattu mALak kanjanai malainthu konRu
pallarasu avinthu vIzap bArathappOr muditthAy
nallaraN kAvin nIzhal naRaikamazh nAngai mEya
kallaraN kAvaLanthaN pAdiyAy! kaLaikaN nIyE.

MEANING:

Oh Lord of KaavaLampAdi! KaNNA! As You arrived at MathurA with the intention of destroying the evil minded Kamsan, who kept Your parents, Devaki and Vasudevan, in prison, there were one or two obstacles on the way to confronting Kamsan. The first was the mighty court wrestlers, ChANUran and his partner (Mushtikan). You fought with them when they challenged You for a fight and killed them. Before that, You had killed Kamsan’s powerful court elephant and then freed Yourself to punish Kamsan. You jumped from the floor on to the tall throne on which Kamsan was sitting and pulled him down, crushed him and dispatched him to yama lOkam. Kaliyan celebrates these heroic incidents of KaNNan of KaavaLampAdi this way: “mallarai maaLa attu malainthu Kanjanik-konRu”. As a small boy in the teens, You performed such miraculous deeds of bravery. Later you lightened the load of BhUmi Devi by conducting the 18 day war at Kuru KshEthram and used PaaNDavAs and their allies to destroy the evil forces of DuryOdhana aligned against them. You just watched these destructions sitting on the chariot of Arjuna. Your sankalpam preceded their destruction: “pal arasu avinthu veezha BhArathap-pOr muditthAy”.

Kaliyan salutes the GopAla KrishNan of KaavaLampAdi as One who is deeply attached to the densely wooded and fragrant groves of this divya desam “nal araN kAvin neezhal naRai kamazh nAngai mEya!”). This divya desam is impenetrable by the enemies of the Lord since the rampart walls are made of strong Granite stone (Kal araN kAvaLamtaN pAdiyAy!).

Kaliyan reminds the Lord of the passage in His charama slOkam, “mAmEkam Saranam vraja” and performs his SaraNAgati (kAvaLampAdiyAy! kaLai kaN neeyE!). I have none other than You as my Rakshakan and the burden of protecting me has been laid now at Your sacred fee.

 

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PAASURAM 7

mUtthavaRku arasuvENdi munpu thUthezhuntharuLi
mAtthamar pAgan vIzha mathakari maruppositthAy
pUtthamar sOlaiyOngip punalparanthozhugum nAngai
kAtthavanE! kAvaLanthaN pAdiyAy! kaLaikaN nIyE.

MEANING:

In this Paasuram, Kaliyan salutes the Lord of KaavaLampAdi as Sarva Rakshakan and recalls the upakAram He did for the eldest of the Pancha PaaNDavAs, Yudhishtran. Our Lord went to the court of DuryOdhanan as the messenger of Yudhishtran and asked DuryOdhanan to give at least a minimum five villages for the five PaaNDavAs. The haughty DuryOdhanan rejected that request of the divine messenger and the great war resulted. Kaliyan recalls the upakAram done by the Lord in the form of His initiative to go to DuryOdhanan’s court to seek a settlement on behalf of the PaaNDavAs this way: “mUtthavaRkku arasu vENDi munbu thUthu yezhunthu aruLi”. Yudhishtrar was the eldest among PaanDu PuthrAs and KauravAs, who was qualified to sit on the throne. DhrutarAshtran, father of DuryOdhanan was older than Yudhishtran but was disqualified to be the king since was anga heenan (blind). Hence in the hierarchy of succession, Yudhishtran was next in line. The jealous DhrutarAshtran and his sons however cheated PaaNDavAs in the game of dice and wanted them as losers to leave the kingdom. It is at this juncture, KaNNan went to the court of DuryOdhanan to reverse this situation and offered the minimal solution; even that was rejected and the great war followed and the Lord served His friend Arjunan as his Charioteer (PaarthasArati) during the 18 day war. Kaliyan recalls the Lord’s gracious gesture with the intent of protecting the PaaNDavAs this way: “mUtthavaRkku arasu vENDi munpu thUthu yezhuntharuLi kAtthanE!”.

Kaliyan is enthralled by another incident where the pride went before fall. This was the case, when the Lord went to MathurA to settle the score with Kamsan, His uncle. The mad uncle sent the gigantic royal elephant, KuvalayApeetam, with its mahout (Paakan). The mighty elephant charged at the slender KaNNan. Our Lord went in between its legs, broke its tusks and with those tusks killed the elephant and its mahout (mAtthu amar pAhan veezha, matha Kari maruppositthAy). The wrestlers who saw the destruction of the grand elephant by the little lad thought that they could handle KaNNan and teach Him a lesson. In the wrestling match that ensued, ChANUrkan and Mushtikan were crushed and destroyed by Our “little” Lord. Kaliyan points out that people (DuryOdhanan, the commander of KuvalayApeetam and the wrestlers) are blinded by their own conceit, when their time for destruction approached.

Kaliyan prostrates before the Lord Of ThirukkAvaLampAdi known for its groves full of flowering trees watered by the abundant waters of the tributaries of KaavEri and performs his SaraNAgati: “pUtthamar sOlai Ongi punal parantu ozhugu nAngai kAvaLam taN pAdiyAy! kAthanE! kaLai kaN neeyE”. Oh Sarva Rakshakaa! adiyEn is one with ananya gathi. Therefore, adiyEn seeks You alone as the object of my protection.

 

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PAASURAM 8

EviLang kannikkAgi imaiyavar kOnaiccheRRu
kAvaLam kadithiRuththuk kaRpagam koNdu pOnthAy
pUvaLam pozhilgaL sUzhntha purandaran seytha nAngai
kAvaLam pAdi mEya kaNNanE! kaLaikaN nIyE.

MEANING:

According to sthala PurAnam, a local king named Purandaran constructed the ramparts and VimAnam of this divya desam dear to KrishNan. AzhwAr is triggered now to think about another Purandaran, who is the king of Svarga lOkam. That is Indhran, who had a battle with KrishNan, when He visited Svarga lOkam to bring back the PaarijAtha tree to please His dEvi, SathyabhAma. Indhran is the lord of the DevAs (imayavar kOn). Lord went to Indhra lOkam, battled with the resisting Indhran, defeated him in battle, lifted the PaarijAtha tree, the treasure of Indhran’s nandhavanam and flew with it to DvArakA on the back of Garudan. Indhran did not recognize the Lord once again as His Master. Once before, Indhran threatened Gokulam with thunder, violent winds and ferocious rain, when BalagOpAlan advised the GopAs that it is not necessary to offer havis to Indhra. BhagavAn lifted the Govardhanam hills and held it on His little finger as an umbrella and protected all of Gokulam against the terror caused by Indhran. The humiliated Indhran recognized that BalagOpAlan was the Supreme Lord Himself and fell at the Govardhana Giridharan’s sacred feet and performed Govindha PattAbhishEkam for His Lord. Indhra seemed to have forgotten the lesson that he had received earlier and attacked the Lord, when He wanted to take the PaarijAtha tree to DvArakA. He lost that battle once again and lost the PaarijAtha tree.

Kaliyan salutes the Lord, who for the sake of the young wife of His (iLam kanniku aagi) fought with Indhra and won over him (Evu imayavar kOnai cheRRu) and pulled out the PaarijAtha tree to its roots (kAvaLam kadithu iRutthu) and carried the KaRpaga tree to DvArakA (KaRpakam koNDu pOnthAy) and planted it in the garden of His dear wife SathyabhAmA. Our Lord played however a trick on SathyabhAmA. He planted the tree in such a way that it was physically in SathyabhAmA’s garden but all the flowers went over the fence, when the wind blew and landed in the backyard of RukmiNi PirAtti. This way, our Lord pleased both of His wives feuding over the location of the tree. KaRpaga tree is recognized as the main treasure (kAvaLam) of Indhran’s Nandavanam.

Kaliyan compares the haughty behavior of one Purandaran (the King of DevAs) with another humble Purandaran (local chieftain of ThirunAngai), who built the MathiL, VimAnam and nandhavanam for the ThirukkAvaLampAdi EmperumAn (Purandaran seytha poovaLam pozhikaL soozhntha nAngai kAvaLampAdi). Kaliyan performs SaraNAgati at the sacred feet of the KaavaLampAdi mEya KaNNan (kAvaLampAdi mEya KaNNanE! kaLai kaN neeyE).

 

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PAASURAM 9

santhamAy samayamAgi samayavaim bhUthamAgi
anthamAy AthiyAgi arumaRaiyavaiyum AnAy
mandhamAr pozhilgaLthORum madamayilAlum nAngai
gandhamAr kAvaLanthaN pAdiyAy! kaLaikaN nIyE.