In the previous tirumozhi, ANDAL pleaded with her elders to take her to all the places associated with kaNNan. In order to fulfill her wishes, first of all, they need to be strong enough to take her to all these places, given her condition. They need to physically carry her from place to place because of her weak condition; even then, they cannot be sure if in her condition she will be alive till they reach the destination. Knowing the cause of their hesitation, godai tells them “Knowing what trauma I am going through because of my separation from Him, if you really want me to be alive, as a minimum, bring me into contact with anything that has some association with His tirumeni. If I come in touch with things related to Him, I might survive this ordeal. If you keep on saying that I should not be bringing infamy to our kulam by pining for Him, that is not going to help me. Please get me in contact with something that He has touched, if your desire is to try to keep me alive under the circumstances”.

I am deeply involved with the dark-hued, divine kaNNapirAn, and am used to visualizing the scenes of my prior association with Him. When you keep advising me that my behavior is not right and that I should direct my mind towards things other than kaNNan, it is like pouring sour tamarind on a hurting wound. Even though kaNNan is very hard-hearted and does not know what a woman goes through in pining for Him, please do bring the beautiful pItAmbaram that He has worn on His sacred waist and use it to blow some air over me. Even the contact with the air that has association with His pitAmbaram will remove my viraha tApam or the torture of separation from Him.

kaNNan ennum karum deyvam: Even though the name of “kaNNan” is accepted as synonymous with One Who becomes subservient to those who worship Him, He is turning out to be a karum deivam (cruel, heartless God) as far as I am concerned. The situation now is that, even though He appeared in a human form in order to be easily accessible to everyone, He has become an unapproachable para-deyvam. We were under the impression that “kaNNan” is one who loves His dEvimAr and one who worships them out of love; instead, He “makes” them all worship Him. We thought “kaNNan” would wait at the house entrance of His dEvimAr to get their glances; but, He is now like the Gods who are invisible but fill their stomachs. He is like indiran and other dEvA-s who do not land their on feet on this earth but come and get their havir-bhAgam and go away. Even though there is this so called fame that “kaNNan” is One who belongs to those who love Him, the truth is that His paratvam is all that is making itself known.

karum deyvam: His dark hue has always been torturing me; that has not changed. That kRshNan is “kariyavan” - dark hued – that name is holding true. But He is kariyavan inside just as He is kariyavan outside. (He is “puRam pOl uLLum kariyAn” – NT 14.7). The saying that He belongs to those who love Him dearly has become as false as the false belief of those who feel that there are ghosts in Ala maram (banyan tree). He has been acting all along very nicely and has been faking it as if it is His Nature that He belongs to those who love Him.

kAtci pazhagik kiDappEnai: Thinking that I can survive by trying to remember the sweet memories of my past times with Him, I tried that. But that ended up in increasing my viraha tApam and now I am sick and in bed; so that path is useless now.

kiDappEnai: ANDAL is so sick and weak because of her viraha tApam that she is not even able to turn in her bed from one side to another. SrI PVP quotes a person by name akaLanka nATTAzhwAn for this phrase – “kiDanda kiDaiyilE pADoDik (oru pakkamAgavE paDuttuk) kiDandALAgAdE”. Her sick condition has turned her priority from embracing emperumAn to being able to toss and turn to the left and right in bed.

This is similar to the situation SrI rAmapirAn’s friends faced in ayodhyA when He was leaving for the forest.

“yEtu rAmasya suhrutas sarvE tE muDha cEtasa: |
Soka bhArENaca AkrAntA: Sayanam na jahus-tadA || (rAmAyaNam ayodhyA kANDam 41.20)

(When rAmapirAn left for the forest, all His friends were so grief-stricken and lost their minds, that they could not even get up from their beds).

puNNil puLi peydARpOla: The preaching of morals to ANDAL by the elders, when she is already suffering intensely from her viraha tApam, is like applying tamarind at the opening of a wound; such an act would only create an intensely irritating and burning sensation, instead of giving any relief.

puRam ninRu azhagu pESAdE: ‘puRam’ normally means ‘outside’; here it does not mean “don’t stand outside my door and talk’. The terms “agam” and “puRam” in our context are: agam refers to words that will lead to the union of ANDAL and kaNNan, and puRam refers to words that try to separate them away from each other. ANDAL is pleading with these elders not to talk words of “puRam”, and instead she would like them to talk words that would unite her with her kaNNan. She does not want to hear words that would kill her love for Him and separate her from Him.

azhagu pESAdE: The term “azhagu” normally refers to “soundaryam”. But these elders who are trying to convince her to forget kaNNan, are not talking about kaNNan’s soundaryam. The term “azhagu” in the context here is “what the elders consider as good for ANDAL”. ANDAL is pleading with the elders to stop talking what they think is good for her, and not to talk words to try to separate her from Him. This is only like pouring tamind extract on a ripe wound, as she mentioned in the earlier line. By “azhagu pESAdE”, gOdai says: “ do not keep telling me of the “good” that will come to you if I stop loving Him”.

pESAdE: If you talk “azhagu” words to me, they will be words that fall in deaf ears, since I won’t even consider thinking about the intent of your words.

In the second half of this pASuram, ANDAL tells them: “Instead of spending time in talking like this, spend the time usefully in doing parihAram for my sickness”.

peNNin varuttam aRiyAda perumAn: ANDAL is intensely longing for His union, and He is delaying this union; she is unable to tolerate this delay, and so she is saying that “He is One who does not understand the sorrow and longing of a devotee”.

It should be noted that ANDAL uses the term “perumAn” even though she is very sad that He does not understand her sorrow. SrI PVP explains this with an analogy from SrImad rAmAyaNam.

In rAmayaNam sundara kANDam 15.53, hanumAn refers to rAma by the term “prabhu”and links His prabhuttvam to His doing an extraordinary feat by being able to sustain His body and not destroy Himself in sorrow even though He is separated from pirATTi:

“dushkaram krtavAn rAmO hInO yadanayA prabhu: |
dArayayAtmanO dEham na SokE nAvasIdati ||

In the same way, ANDAL refers to kaNNan as “perumAn”, since He is able to keep Himself alive even though He is separated from her.

perumAn araiyil pIdaka vaNNa Adai koNDennai vATTam taNiya vISIrE: Since He is “perumAn”, He can live forever even though He is separated from us. But, we cannot sustain ourselves without Him; in fact, our very existence depends on Him. In order for me to enjoy His personal experience, He is physically needed; but, just for my existence or survival, it is enough if you can get me something that has had association with Him and throw it over me. What is that thing that is related to Him? In AyyppADi, when kaNNan used to go to the forest to graze the cows, He used to remove His pitAmbaram (and in the process, torment the gopi girls by wearing the garments made of skin like a cowherd). (SrI PVP gives reference to tirvAimozhi 4-8-4, where nammZahvAr describes kaNNan dressed in skin garments while going to the forest to graze the cows, and looking like a sanyasi - “kaRaiyinAr tuvar uDukkai, kaDaiyAvin kazhi kORkkac caRaiyinAr”). ANDAL tells the elderly women around her to get kaNNan’s pitAmbaram and blow the wind that has come in contact with that pitAmbaram all over her, so that she can feel somewhat comforted by that wind, even though she cannot have contact with Him physically.

araiyil pIdaka vaNNa ADai koNDu: ANDAL specifies that it is the pitAmbaram that He has worn around His waist (araiyil pIdaka ADai), and not just any pitAmbaram that He might have used to as the towel etc. BhaTTar’s aruLicceyal is: “a loyal wife yearns for the smell of sweat from her husband’s body. Since gOdai is uttama nAyaki, she longs for the smell for kaNNan’s sweat (sveda gandha lubdhai – one who longs for the pleasure of the smell of her nAyakan’s sweat) and asks for the “araiyil sAttiya pItAmbaram”, because the svEda gandham may not be found in the upper garment”.

ennai vATTam taNiya vISIrE: ANDAL tells the elderly ladies: “You are not able to help in materializing my union with kaNNan; but, at least you can try to reduce my suffering by creating an association of His pitAmbaram with me, and thus breathe some temporary life into me.

“I am used to the constant thought of this Supreme Being, kRshNa; kAtshi pazhagik kiDappEnai). But you are all foreign to this (puRam ninRu), and instead of talking something that will comfort me (azhagu pESAdE), you are talking things that are equivalent to pouring the tamarind extract in a severe wound (puNNil puLi peidARp pOl). Instead, please go and get the pItAmbaram that He has worn on His waist (perumAn araiyil pIdaka ADai koNDu), and blow the wind with that on me, so that I will have some relief of my separation from Him (vATTam taNiya vISIrE)”.

karum deyvam: karumai indicates black color or greatness. ANDAL says: “I thought kaNNan is One who would stand in front of His devotees happily. Only now I know that He is a “kiTTa oNNAda” – inaccessible – deyvam”.

kAtci pazhagik kiDappEnai: “I have been longing for the time when I will get to see Him” or, “Having received His sight before, and suffering now for not getting to see Him”.

puNNil puLi : “When you know that I am severely being tortured by not being with Him, you are aggravating my pain by keeping on arguing with me instead of relieving my sorrow”.

puRam ninRu: “Instead of coming inside and sitting by my side (while I am lying down in agony) and thinking about how to help in solving my problem, you are talking casual talk to me just for the sake of enquiry, with the intent of leaving this place as fast as possible”.

azhagu pESAdE: “Don’t talk as if you have the best interest on me and my health and welfare”.

aRiyAda: BhagvAn is sarvag~nan, and still ANDAL refers to Him as “ariyAda perumAn”. How is this justified? ANDAL feels that even He knows everything, His actions are inconsistent with His knowledge, and so it is as good as His being ignorant on this issue.

In the second pAsuram, ANDAL does mangaLASasanam to ArAvamudan, who is lying on AdiSeshan in tirukkuDandai on the banks of hEma pushkariNi.

Once this emperumAn was lying on a tender banyan leaf, tasting His own toe and doing mAyA jAlam as if He is ignorant of everything else that is going on around Him. I am caught in the net of this paraman and there is no way for me to escape. Do not use words as you please that painfully pierce my body like spears. That kaNNapirAn who played the role of a cowherd boy and played the kuDak-kUttu when He was in AyarpADi, is reclining in tiruk kuDandai on the AdiSeshan. Go there and have the darSanam of ArAvamudan/hEmarangan and then tell Him this. “Oh kaNNA, who performed the kuDak-kUttu! We have come all the way from srIvilliputtUr in the interests of gOdai’s welfare; she has become unconscious because of unsurpassable love for You; she wants us to get from You the beautiful, green, cool, tulasi garland that you are wearing, and put it on her thick, soft hair. By this alone can she be saved.”

This wonder is described in BhAratam AraNya kANDam 188-94:

“katham nvayam SiSuh Sete loke nASam upAgate |
SAkhAyAm vaTavRkshasya pallavE tu sucismita: ||

(Even after the whole world is destroyed, how is this baby with the sweet smile, lying down on the young leaf of the banyan tree?).

tuyil koNDa: He is sleeping just as He was when yasOdA put Him to sleep in a safe crib. Anyone else would have been scared to lie on a young leaf thinking what is going to happen next; but, He is sleeping on this tender banyan leaf that has no support, without the slightest fear whatsoever.

paraman: This vaTa patra SAyI is far above par when compared with the aghaTita ghaTanA sAmarthyam of yaSodA’s kaNNan. It is true that yaSodA’s kaNNan did a lot of unbelievable things such as killing pUtanA, SakaTAsura, bearing the govardhana, etc. But what are those things compared to this young child sleeping peacefully on a tender, unsupported banyan leaf, after swallowing all the seven worlds?

“bAlan tanaduruvAi EzhulaguNDu Alilaiyin mElanRu nI vaLarnda mei enbar – AlanRu, vElai nIr uLLadO viNNadO maNNadO” – It is said that you were truly floating on the lonely tender banyan leaf, even though everything had been swallowed by You and nothing was left except this banyan leaf. We wonder whether this banyon leaf was supported by the waters, the earth, or the air.

valaip paTTu irundEnai: She is the daughter of peiryAzhvAr, who sang “pallANDu” to perumAL when there was no reason for him to be worried about His safety and welfare. Befitting this connection to periAzhvAr, gOdai is worried about the safety of this Alilaip perumAn - who is lying on an Alilai that has no stability, and there is no one to sing “pallANDu” to Him. Since her heart is with this perumAn, she is not able to take her thoughts anywhere else and is thus entrenched.

vElAl tunnam peydARpOl : Making it painful, as if by making a hole (causing a wound) with the vEl (spear).

vElAl tunnam peidArp pOl: (SrI T. S. Rajagopalan comments that pouring tamarind extract on a wound will only cause a severe burning sensation, but drilling on the wound with a sharp pointed spear will also make the wound bigger, in addition to causing severe pain. )

SrI PVP gives an alternate interpretation: Taking Al to mean “on top of” or “place”, it can mean “making a hole on the body of a sharp spear that has already penetrated the body, and that is lodged inside the body – thus causing even more intense pain. In the last pAsuram, gOdai talked about “hurting the wound more by placing tamarind on it”.

In this pASuram, she is describing the pain as even more severe – the pain of piecing the wound with a spear instead of just pouring tamarind extract on it. Here she is, worrying sick about His floating listlessly with no one to care for Him, and all that the old women folk do is talk whatever comes to their mind, unconcerned about her state of mind. That is causing her even more intense pain and suffering.

kOlAl nirai meyttu AyanAi: Instead of asking me to forget about Him, you should be comforting me, as I am concerned about His safety, by reminding me that He is His own Protector. After all, when He was protecting the cows in the forest, no one was protecting Him except Himself. He did not even have a bow and arrow like rAma when He was protecting the sages in the forest.

kuDandaik kiDanda kuDam ADi: My kaNNan also performed kuDam ADu kUttu, and let everybody enjoy His beauty, and to rest after the playing, He went to tirukkuDandai (kumbakONam) and is resting there on AdiSeshan. His kuDam ADu kUttu is described in SiRiya tirumaDal: “sIrAr kuDam iranDu Endic cezhunteruvE ArAr enac colli ADum”.

nIlAr taNNam tuzhAi koNDu en neRi men-kuzhal mEl SUTTIrE: Go and get the tirutttuzhAi from His tirumEni from tiruk kuDandai, and place this fresh, green tiruttuzhAi on my hair. The reference to “green” implies that the tiruttuzhAi has been offered to Him by those that seek no benefit from Him in return. SrI PVP distinguishes between three categories of tonDargaL – toNDar, SIrttoNDar, and mikka SIrttoNDar.

1. toNDar – those who love emperumAn for some favor in return – “kUzhATpaTTu ninRIrgaL” (tiruppallANDu 3).

2. sIrttoNDar – upasaka-s who practice bhakti in order to obtain mOksham.

3. mikka sIrttoNDar – those devotees like periyAzhwAr who do not even think about mOksham and sing pallANDu to perumAL.

SrI PVP’s anubhavam is that ANDAL is referring to the “nIlAr taNNan tuzhAi”, that can be fresh and green only when it is offered by the mikka SIrttoNDar, or the likes of periAzhvAr. If it had been offered by someone less, such as the ones who make the offering with the attitude of “I will offer You this, and You give me that in return” -

“dEhi mE dadAmi tE” ( yajur vEdam 5.3) (I will give you havis; give me the fruits of my labor), then the flaw associated with that kind of offering would have already tarnished the tiruttuzhAi, and it won’t be fresh and green anymore.

neRi men-kuzhal: The term “men” can mean either soft (menmai), or lean (melliya) - 1. Dense, soft hair or 2. The hair that has become thin because she did not take care of it due to her neRi (kaRpu).

pAl Alilai: Even if the leaf was a thick, mature one, it would have been impossible for anyone to lie on it and make sure that it does not drown. This child is a Wonder that is lying on a very soft, young, tender leaf.

paraman: He is paraman because He is Only One who remains after everything else is destroyed, and He is paraman because He is the Only One who has periya pirATTiyAr as His Consort – One who is equal to Him in all respects.

taN tuzhAi: Since the tuzhAi has the ability to remove her tApam, it is “cool”.

One day, kaNNan looked at me with the corner of His eyes. His glances reached me like arrows, and pierced through my thoughts. The heat of passion from the thought of these arrows has been frying my thoughts ever since. My mind is totally devastated by not being able to reach Him, and this condition is further worsened since this destroyer of kamsan does not even care to say to me not to grieve, and does not give any indication that He will be with me soon. That handsome emperumAn, who drowned me in the sea of sorrow, is now lying in vaThapatra SAyI temple, feeling ecstatic about having subjugated one more girl in His net. If you feel that tirukkuDanthai is too far for you, you do not have to go that far; you can go to the vaTha patra SAyI’s temple nearby, and request Him to please give His vanamAlai that He is wearing on His chest without cheating. Then please carry the mAlai on your head, bring it to me and roll it over my chest so that the wounds that have been caused by His sight at me will be healed. As soon as anything that has had contact with His tirumEni comes into contact with me, I will recover.

ka’njanaik kAinda: kamsan arranged a “vil vizhA” as a pretext to kill kaNNan. He arranged for the elephant kuvalayApIDam, fighters like cANUra and mushTika etc., to destroy kaNNan so that he could pretend to grieve over kaNNan’s “wrongful death”, typical of a dear uncle. Instead, kaNNan killed kamsan, and along with it He killed kamsan’s wicked dreams also.

karuvilli: A man with a great bow. Since kaNNan came to the vil vizhA, gOdai is describing Him as One with a big bow. The term “karu villi” can also be a reference by ANDAL to His bow-like eyebrows whose main purpose seems to be to cause suffering to girls born like gOdai.

(The reference to bow is appropriate when taken with ka’najanaik kAinda, and the reference to His eyebrows is appropriate when taken with kaDaik kaN ennum SiRai kOlAl).

kaDaikaN ennum: Those in love will only cast stealthy side-glances at those who are the objects of their love; They will look straight at the face of only those with whom they are not in love. kaNNan used surreptitious side-glances when He looked at gOdai.

[kaDaik kaN ennum SiRai kOl: Because of the speed with which His side glances impact gOdai, they are like arrows that reach their target and pierce through, before you can even see them - SrI T. S. rAjagOpAlan.]

SiRaik kOlAl: SiRai refers SiRagu or wings. kOl is a rod. SiRaik kOl here refers to the arrow with wings. When an arrow with spread-out wings is coming towards a target, it is hard to see the target of the arrow clearly and thus avoid it. Similarly, since He is looking at her through the corner of His eyes, it is difficult for her to escape His glances; if He tried to look at Her straight, at least she can move away and thus escape His eyes.

ne’nju UDuruva – The arrow of His side glances did not just stop at ANDAL’s skin level; it went right through her mind, and lodged inside.

EvuNDu or vEvuNdu – Evu refers to an arrow; vEvu refers to being scorched by intense heat. Because of His side glances, she is struck with an arrow that went deep into her mind (EvuNDu); Or, (vEvUNDu) - because of the arrow of His side glances, she is intensely tortured.

nilaiyum taLarndu: When one is hit with an arrow, sometimes this person may be able to struggle and cover a few feet before collapsing. The power of His glances is such that she could not walk even four steps, and is faltering right where she was hit. Just as there are upAsaka-s known as sad-vidyA nishTha-s, dajara-vidyA nishTha-s, etc., it seems like kaNNan is a practitioner of nOkku-vidyA-nishThai (practitioner or expert at falling His victim through nOkku-vidyA).

naivEnai: The word “nai” in tamizh means “to be crushed”. ANDAL describes her state as one who had been crushed and with shattered bones as a result of the glances from Him.

anjEl ennAn avan oruvan: As soon as He knew that I have been badly hurt because of His glances, should He not have rushed to me and embraced me and consoled me and told me not to be afraid? No, He did not do that. Contrast this with that great Lord rAma, who rushed to vAli after shooting an arrow at him, because He could not bear to see vAli’s suffering.

“On hearing the words of sorrow from vAli’s brother (sugrIva), rAma the conquerer of His bold enemies, had tears welling in His eyes, and for a moment felt extremely distressed”.

Contrast that with this merciless kaNNan who does not even say a word of comfort after hurting me thus, and instead feels joy at His accomplishment.

avan mArvu aNinda vanamAlai: It is not enough for her to get any mAlai; her desire is for the mAlai that He wore on His chest with great desire.

[[The bees think otherwise though – they enjoy hovering over the gOdai-cUDikkoDutta-mAlai that has been first worn by godai, and then only reaches the tirumEni of emperumAn, reflective of His love for her: “tvatbhukta mAlya surabhI-kRta cAru mauLeh tava patyuh bhujAntara-gatAm vaijayantIm” (SrI dEsikar’s SrI gOdAstuti 14) - KK]]

va’njiyAdE tarumAgil: He cheated me with His sweet smile and kaN pArvai; He might try to trick you and make you forget your goal of getting His vanamAlai. So be single-minded in your objective, and don't get tricked by Him.

mArvil koNarndu puraTTIrE: My heart has been severely wounded because of the arrows of His glances, and is scorched with pain (recall EvuNDu/vEvuNDu). Place His vanamAlai on my wounded heart and rub it back and forth like applying oinment to the wound. Sri PVP exclaims here: “tannuDanE parimARa ninaittu AsaippaTTadellAm mAlaiyil iTTuc connApaDi entAn!” – “Look at the nayam of ANDAL in conveying her desire to be in His arms and rolling to her heart’s content, through her expression of her desire to be united with His vanamAlai in the same way!).”

ka’njai: kamsan; gOdai is referring to kamsan with contempt by using as little of his his name as possible (note that ka’nju even sounds like a reference to something in neuter gender, instead of the word ka’njan, which refers to kamsan). Even as kaNNan salughtered kamasan, godai is slaughtering kamsan by slaughtering his name. [[ refer to “ka’njanaik kAl koDu pAindAi” periyAzhwAr tirumozhi Anirai – 6 – KK]]

SiRaikkolAl: the eye lashes are compared to feathers of the arrow, since the eyes are compared to the arrows. (Conventionally, the eyebrows are compared to a bow, and the eyes to arrows. Here is an extension to the wings of an arrow).

anjEl ennAn avan oruvan: You are all trying to comfort me saying “do not fear”; In reality, your kRpai has to come only though Him; He is the refuge for one and all. It is very sad that He doesn’t come and say “Do not fear”.

vana mAlai: The use of the term “vana mAlai” by ANDAL is significant. Just the tulasi mAai is too short for decorating her chest, and is good instead only for decorating her hair. The long and thick vana mAlai is what is needed for rolling in her chest.

tarum Agil: He may be willing to part with a tulasi mAlai, but will He be willing to part with His vana mAlai? He seldom parts with His inseparable vanamAlai, but it is possible that He might be willing to give it out of love for me and out of respect for you.

SrI UV weaves a beautiful anubhavam using the words “kAinda”, vEvuNdu”, and “puraTTIrE” in this pASuram. Even the ever-fresh vana mAlai may get dried (kAindu) when it comes into contact with my body which is severely tortured and scorched (vEvuNDu) because of separation from Him. Because the vana mAlai will thus become dry as soon as it touches my body, you have to roll it front and back (puraTTIrE), and turn it around inside out, in order to cool my body using the vana mAlai.