So far gOdai has used the nAyaka-nAyaki bhAvam to show that the sole purpose in life is for the jIvAtmA to seek union with the paramAtmA and attain brahmAnandam only after reaching paramAtmA. She has outlined in detail the sorrow that the jIvAtmA goes through until this union happens. This is the only and the supreme goal. Sri SadagOpan quotes SrImAn Justice rAmAnujam: “All the wealth in nature are God’s blessings; these are meant to be used by people as fertilizers in growing the bhakti in the society” - (i.e., to be used in His service and nothing else). That is what ANDAL is pointing out through her aRuL mozhigaL. gOdai who showed us that the only goal of life is to be united with emperumAn, sang the praise of “Ongi ulagaLanda uttaman” and got the greatness of being permanently united with Him.
To show that reaching His kaimkarya sAmrAjyam is a herculean task, she sang the first one hundred and thirty three pASurams of nAcciyAr tirumozhi depicting the viraha bhakti (tApam), UDal (fight representing the temporary frustrations) etc. In the last 10 pASurams, she describes with great glee how her kaNNan, who was playing hide and seek with her, finally showed Himself up and gave her a sight where He revealed Himself to her and her friends in AyarpADi and removed all their despair. Thus ends the viSlesham (the separation and the longing associated with it), and the samslEsham (the brahmaAnda anubhavam associated with realizing Him) is attained.

gOdai started with the realization and declaration: “nArAyaNanE namakkE paRai tariuvAn” in the first pASuram of tiruppAvai. Here, nArAyaNanE refers to the upAyam or means, and “namakkE paRai taruvAn” refers to kaimkaryam as the benefit to be attained. Since she had not succeeded in attaining this, she proceeded in nAcciyAr tirumozhi with falling at the feet of kAman (1), performing SiRRil (2), resorting to observances such as taking bath before dawn in the river (3), playing kUDal game (4), and conversing with the cuckoo and desiring to see Him in person (5). Since she did not succeed yet, she tried to live with just the dream of her marriage with kaNNan (6). Since the dream anubhvam was not enough, she asked pA’ncajanya AzhvAn for the means to attain Him (7), then she was reminded of Him by the clouds because their color resembled His nIla mEni (8), and used them as messengers just like sItA pirATTi sent word through hanumAn to Lord rAma. Being reminded of His soundaryam because of the things she saw in the rainy season, she started losing herself (9). She starts the tenth tirumozhi with further expression of her intense pain of separation from Him, and in pASuram 10-4, she expresses her losing faith in His word “na tyajEyam” (I will not forsake My devotees). She then starts feeling that even her AcArya sambandham (association with periAzhvAr who was very dear to Him) was not sufficient for her to reach Him. But by the end of the 10th tirumozhi (10.10), she reaffirms that even if His words (na tyajeyam) turn out to be false, her AcArya sambandham will definitely yield the result without fail. By the end of the 11th tirumozhi, ANDAL again declares that His words cannot after all be untrue, because priAzhvAr trusts in His words; even otherwise, if He decides not to keep His word, who is there in this universe who can question Him any way? But neither her trust in her sambandham with her AcAryan, nor her trust in His words, have yielded the result as yet. She is becoming weaker every second, and she decides to try to reach Him by her own efforts; and since she is too weak to undertake any effort by herself, she asks her elders to take her and leave her in any place which has His sambandham (12). In tirumozhi 13, she pleads with her elders that if they cannot do that, then they should at least bring any material that has had association with Him, and establish a connection of that object with her self, so that she can sustain her life (13).

Thus, ANDAL’s life was one of being born in a prapanna kulam that had nArAyaNa as the sole object to be attained and to be worshiped, and nArAyaNa as the means to be attained as well as the end to be attained. Even so, she could not just sit around for Him to unite her with Him, and she resorted to all means at her disposal to attain Him, and could not sustain her life until she attained Him.

While ANDAL was thus going through intense pain because of her separation from Him, emperumAn wished to transform her love for Him into parama bhakti – the stage where bhakti overflowed beyond limit and she could not see herself alive without Him even for a second any more, and then only He wanted to reveal Himself to her. The bliss of this union with Him is such that the person who is not prepared to receive it will not be able to enjoy that experience. Just as food given to persons suffering from indigestion might result in danger to their life, the great bliss of union with Him might not be digestible if a bhakta has not matured to the stage of parama bhakti. Now that ANDAL’s devotion to Him is at its ultimate limit, He decides to shower this great bliss of union with Him on her. Just as nammAzhvAr (tiruvAimozhi ) received a blessing “en avAvaRac cUzhndAi”, gOdai also is showered with His Grace. Finally, gOdai’s kaNNan ennum kAdalan, her kaNNil ADum mAyavan, her “kuRai onRum illAda gOvindan”, shows Himself to her.

Since the parama bhakti that is needed for reaching Him, and the pErinbam that results from reaching Him, are both limitless and beyond description by any one individual, ANDAL captures this anubhavam by presenting these two aspects through pASurams involving conversation between two sets of people. It can also be said that it is difficult to find a cEtanan who has both parama bhakti and also the pErimba experience at the same time in this world. For this reason also, one can say that the pAsurams of this current tirumozhi (paTTi mEyndu) are presented in two parts – in the form of a conversation between two sets of people. The first part starts with the question from the seekers asking whether they have seen emperumAn – this represents the seekers’ ‘parama bhakti’; the second part is the response of those who have had the pErAnandam of having attained Him – this represents the ‘pErinbam’ of those that have attained Him after seeking Him with parama bhakti.

C. Additional thoughts from SrI PBA:

For all the suffering that ANDAL went through as conveyed from “tai oru ti`ngaL” up to “kaNNan ennum”, she now concludes with the great blessing that she received from kaNNan by His appearance to her. This is analogous to the experience of nammAzhvAr in “en ava aRac cUzhndAyE”. Unlike nammAzhvAr who describes his realization in first person, ANDAL chooses to present her realization in the form of a dialog between two groups of gopi-s.

D. Additional thoughts from SrI UV: gOdai decides to forsake all her own efforts “ciru mAniDivar nAm Seyvaden” and leaves it all to her father “villipuduvai viTTucittar tangaL dEvarai valla pariSu varuvipparEl adu kANDumE” (NT 10.10). When vishNu cittar understands through gOdai’s folks her pitiful plight of pining for her gOvindan, he decides to bring Him to her using his prabhAvam. To show that, gOdai uses the term “viTTu cittar viyan gOdai” (NT 13.10). In order to please periyAzhvAr, kaNNan shows Himself to her with His parivAram in brindAvanam. Becoming ecstatic with the sight, gOdai shares her delight with all her friends and composes this last tirumozhi to describe that event.

There are three interpretations for the way the pASurams are arranged with “kaNDIrE” in the first half and “kaNDOmE” in the second half.

First interpretation: the tirumozhi is a dialog between two groups of gopi-s – one set representing the overflowing prama bhakti towards Him and the resulting search for Him, and the other set

Second interpretation: In the first two lines of each pASuram, seeing kaNNan and being excited by His sight, she asks the gopi-s around her whether they are seeing Him the way she is seeing Him, and then in the next two lines, she describes what she is seeing – her anubhavam.

Third interpretation: ANDAL had pleaded with her elders to bring anything that belongs to Him and associate them with her so that her grief will be removed. Now she has found kaNNan, and she is showing Him to those surrounding her, and confirming that they see Him also, so that they will believe her at least now. In order to ensure that all those surrounding ANDAL trust her and heed her words in future, kaNNan reveals Himself to them also. She is repeating their responses in the affirmative – that they are also seeing kaNNan in bRndAvanam in their midst, in the last two lines of each pASuram. This is similar to kaNNan showing His viSva rUpam to the deva-s also, in addition to showing the viSva rUpam to arjuna, to ensure that the deva-s will treat arjuna with the proper respect.

This third interpretation gains credibility because mostly in the first two lines of most pASurams, we find the words that refer to ANDAL (“ennai” etc.), whereas the last two lines invariably end with “bRndAvanattE kaNDOmE”. The reference to bRndAvanam here confirms that the gopi-s are not really in bRndAvanam, but that kaNNan is showing Himself to them along with bRndAvanam, with all the specialities of brindAvanam.

In NT pASuram 10.10 (‘nalla en tOzhi’), we see the reference to “kANDumE” – in plural. The intent is that because of the blessing of, and association with, periAzhvAr, not only ANDAL but all the other gopi-s are blessed with His appearance. What gOdai wants to stress here with the plural of “adu kANDumE” is – with just her way alone, even she cannot see Him; but, if the same is a present from vishNu cittar, everyone can see Him.

sundarAngan kaNNan gives gOdai several, wonderful sights (sEvai) and gives her paramAnandam. In the first pASuram, gOdai indicates how kaNNan is independently roaming around in brindAvanam area, while acting as a good brother to balarAman and being mischievous at the same time with the AyarpADi girls and pleasing all His friends.

- “Did you see a dark-hued, bullish personality, who is balarAman’s brother and who goes around playing and grazing cows to His delight?”

- “Yes, we did; we saw that gOpAlan in brindAvanam, looking after His most beloved cows with great joy, lovingly calling them by their names, feeding them water and letting them graze the grass happily.”

paramapadanAthan was like a “vAn iLa araSu” (periyAzhvAr tirumozhi 3-6-3), “appointed” by nitya sUri-s (“viNNATTavar mUduvar” – tiruviruttam –2) who were like wise, elderly ministers. He considered them dear to Him and accepted their offerings – “cUTTu nan mAlaigaL tUyana Endi” (tiruviruttam 21). Consistent with their true nature as His Sesha-s, they offered tirumanjanam to Him daily and offered dhUpam etc. But then, one day, He found out that there was lot of butter stored in the houses of the gOpi-s in AyarpADi, and that nappinnai had become of age. Suddenly, He lost interest in paramapadam and took incarnation in tiruvAippADi as kaNNan, started roaming around like a bull in AyarpADi at will, and attained great luster as a result of this incarnation. This is what is described in this pASuram.

paTTi mEyndu : When He was in SrI vaikuNTham, He was a Bull all right, but a tied Bull. BhaTTar used to say often: “In parama padam, SrI vaikunTha nAthan is destined to be an eternal prince - growing on the lap of tiru anantAzhvAn, under the care of vishvaksEnar or sEnai mudaliyAr and under the wings of periya tiruvaDi (garuDan) – just as periAzhvar has said: vAn iLavaraSu”. Since He was constantly watched, He was like a bull that is tied, with the controlling rope always held by others. When He came to tiruvAippADi, He transformed into a new shiny hued bull that gallivants around as it wishes. After He made His appearance in gOkulam as kaNNan, He had no one to control Him, and so, He started performing mischiefs at His will like an elephant that has entered a sugarcane grove. In paramapadam, He could not do anything against His svarUpam and was acting “normal and decent”. Here, in tiruvAippADi, there is talk everywhere of “kaNNan stealing butter”, “such and such a girl has been abducted by kaNNan ” etc. He did not abide by any “accepted rules” or “norms”. This is what gOdai means by “paTTi mEyndu”.

kAr Eru: “Dark-hued Bull”. In Ayar pADi, He got His natural hue by running around hither and thither according to His own sweet will with a majestic gait, like an unrestrained bull. In contrast, He was probably pale white in color in paramapadam (“paramapadattil uDambu veLuttup pOlE kANum iruppadu”).

baladEvarkku Or kIzhkanRAi: He was willing to be under the control of baladEvan, who was His elder brother. In paramapadam, He was used to being pampered on the lap of tiru anantAzhvAn and because of that sweet memory, He is letting Himself be controlled by baladEvan now (who is the avatAram of tiru anantAzhvAn). Thus, even though He was full of mischief when it came to the young girls of AyppADi, when it came to balarAma, He behaved like a sweet little younger brother. Also, whenever the girls got mad at Him and refused to talk to kaNNan, balarAman acted as a mediator between the two parties and made them friends again; so, He always remained under the control of balarAman.

SrI PVP explains in detail the significance of the term “baladevarkku Or kIzhk kanRAi”, by pointing out the intimacy of their relationship in their other incarnations as well.

During SrI rAma avatAram, when perumAL and pirATTi where resting in the parNa SAlai, iLaiya perumAL was standing guard without even winking, bow and arrow in hand, and protected them. It was as if lakshmaNa had an intimate part of, and was sharing in, whatever comfort rAma and sItA derived in being together.

“ramyamAvasatham kRtvA ramamANA vanE traya: |
dEva gandharva sankASAs tatra tE nyavasan sukham ||” (rAmAyaNam bAla kANDam 1-29)

Those three (rAman, sItai and lakshmaNan), who looked like dEva gandharva-s built a parNa sAlai and lived happily in the forest. iLaiya perumAl was sharing the happiness that rAma and sItai experienced by being together and helped them more and more to experience that happiness.

So also, in the balarAma incarnation, balarAma derived great satisfaction by increasing the happiness of kRshNa and the gopi-s by mediating between them, as and when the gOpi-s were hurt because of the mischief of kRshNa.

“sandeSais sAma madhurai: prema garbhaih agarvidai: |
rAmENa ASvAsitA gOpyO hariNA hRta cetasa: || “ (vishNu purANam 5-24-20)

Those gOpi-s who had their hearts stolen by hari (kaNNan) were consoled by balarAman’s sweet and kind words and thus felt comforted. periyAzhvAr in his tirumozhi 1-7-5 talks about how kaNNan normally acts subservient to His brother balarAman (“balaDevan ennum tan nambiyoDap pin kUDac celvAn”). And balarAman always watched out for kaNNan and made sure that no danger befell Him.

iTTiRu iTTu viLaiyADi : iTTIRu means “action proceeding from one’s haughtiness or arrogance”. iTTu means “on account of” – e.g., adai iTTu vandAn. (He came for that or on account of that). So in this pASuram, this phrase means that kaNNan did everything He could to create havoc to express His arrogance or haughtiness. He is making noises to show His happiness and independence. This is like a muktAtmA (a realized soul) going to SrI vaikuNTham and chanting sAma gAnam loudly to show his extreme delight and ecstasy on being able to do kaimkaryam to bhagavAn eternally from then on.

(muktAma reaches paramAtmA and sings – ‘hA vuhA vuhA vu – I am the food for paramAtmA; I am food; I am food; I am the enjoyer of food (in the form of paramAtma’s love); I am the enjoyer of food; I am the enjoyer of food).

In a similar fashion, paramAtma came here and because He gets a chance to show His sousIlyam, soulabhyam etc by sharing Himself with folks, He becomes so ecstatic and makes noises.

SrI PVP refers to pUrvAcArya-s wondering aloud that the paramAtmA Whom the upanishad declares as “avAkya anAdarah” (chAndogya. 3.14.2) – He Who is without speech because He has nothing to gain and has all the Glory – this para tattvam is now behaving in such a way that He has come to the “iTTIru iTTu viLaiyADum” stage.

viLaiyADi: shows His leelA vyApAra-s. After all, the whole purpose of His incarnations is leelA.

i’ngE pOdak kaNDIrE: have you seen the acts that we cannot get to see even if we go to paramapadam?

Thus far, we have enjoyed the first two lines that are from those who are asking the question, in SrI PVP’s mode of interpretation, and ANDAL’s question to her friends, in SrI UV’s mode of interpretation.

iTTamAna paSukkaLai: The cows that are dear to Him. It is only the AyarpADi girls who are very dear to Him; how is it that the cows are termed as dear to Him? Just as young lovers love the mediators who try to unite the lovers together very much, this kaNNan also loved the cows more than the gOpi-s, because they gave Him the excuse to go after the girls. He will make sure the cows wander away towards where the girls are and then try to call for the cows by playing on His flute (with the hidden intention of calling His lovers!). tiruvAimozhi 6-2-2 talks about this “AgaL pOga viTTuk kuzhal Udu pOyirundE”. The cows helped Him in another way as well. When He returned home late in the evening after playing with the AyarpADi girls, if the parents enquire as to why He was late, He could say “These cows wandered away a long distance; I had to go and round them up and that is why I am late”! Thus, there were at least two reasons why the cows were very dear to Him.

iTTamAna paSukkaLai: In tiruvAImozhi 10-3-10, nammAzhvAr says that for kaNNan, looking after these cows is more enjoyable than being in His paramapadam : “tivattilum paSu nirai mEyppu uvatti”. SrI PVP’s anubhavam is that even in paramapadam, He only dreams about the cows he looked after in His kRshNa incarnation, and speaks incoherently about them, as in delirium, in His sleep.

inidu maRittu : Calling each cow sweetly by its name. How could He have remembered the thousands of names of those cows? Obviously, it is not difficult for Him who gives a name and form to countless cEtana-s during the time of sRshTi (creation).

nIrUTTi: When the cows and calves need water to drink, He will find a water pond of the right size for them and demonstrate to them how to drink the water - He will hold both His hands on His back , bend down to the water, and sip the water with His mouth; the cows and calves will imitate Him and thus quench their thirst. tiruma’ngai AzhvAr describes this in periya tirumozhi 2-5-3 - “varaimI kAnil taDam parugu karu mugil” (that cloud-hued perumAn pretended to drink water from the pond in order to make the young calves drink water).

SrI PVP continues his anubhavam of the term ‘nIr UTTi”, by referring to bhagavAn’s words in the gItA, where He indicates that He believes in setting an example for the others (in this case, SrI PVP’s anubhavam is that He is setting an example for the cows!).

(People without the requisite knowledge will perform only those karma-s that those with knowledge will perform; they will perform the karma-s only to the extent that the knowing people perform). Consistent with this, kaNNan performed the act of drinking water from the pond, so that the cows could follow His example. And He enjoyed looking after these cows - “kanRu mEyttu inidu uganda kALAi” – (tiruneDum tANDagam 3-16).

viTTuk koNDu viLaiYADa: Thus leaving the cows to graze (viTTuk koNDu), He went around sporting Himself (viLaiyADa). How can He play when the cows are grazing in the meadows? That is the whole purpose of His taking this incarnation. So He is relishing in that, without minding His greatness, ignoring the care of His hair, not washing His clothes, and wandering hither and thither according to His will. After the cows have finished grazing and had enough water to drink, there is nothing else to do. Then, there is only playing for Him. He appeared in the earth only to do leelA or playing.

virundA vanattE kaNDOmE: this kind of scene cannot be had in SrI vaikuNTham or even in tiruvAippADi; the anubhavam that kaNNan had in SrI brindAvanam is similar to the practice the kings had in building secret palaces in secluded spots so that they can enjoy time with their wives in seclusion.

iTTIRiTTu: Recall that SrI PVP had interpreted this phrase as “As a result of the display of His arrogance or haughtiness”. SrI UV gives a different interpretation.

iDudal is ‘doing’ or ‘giving’; IRu is ‘finishing’; “iTTIRiTTu” means “Having fulfilled all that He was thinking about”. It can even refer to the jagad vyApAra leelan’s sRshTi, sthiti and samhAram.

1.when the nAyakan is late in coming to her, the nAyaki usually is mad and uses chiding remarks. This anger is reflected in the first two lines of this pASuram. gOdai is referring to kaNNan as a ‘kArERu’ that has been gallivanting around stealthily, and the stealthiness is taking a dark-hued form. Doesn’t baladEvan make sure that He does not lose His dEvatvam even though He is strong? This kaNNan is subservient to baladEvan and yet is committing atrocities.

2.The second interpretation is that gOdai is full of respect for emperumAn, as reflected in her earlier reference to Him as “kaRRinam mEykkavum mEykkap peRRAn” (NT 12-8). Even though He is doing “paTTi mEyndu” now, He is one who has no comparison [oppillA appan] and one with no blemishes. He has so much soulabhyam that He raises even His subordinates to a level higher than Himself; and elevates the devotees who are dear to Him. This respect of gOdai to Him is reflected in the first two lines of the pASuram. Listening to this, gOdai’s elderly folks who did not have any interest in Him earlier, now form great respect for Him, which is reflected in the next two lines.

SrI UV notes that a similar bhAvam can be assigned to the remaining pASurams also.

“Did you happen to see that young bull by name gOvardhanan, who made me suffer by leaving me alone, has completely taken over AyppADi, is enjoying every bit of it, smells of butter all the time, and looks after the cows?” “Yes, we have seen that kaNNan who wears vanamAlai and plays with all His troupe in vRndAvanam. Watching the beautiful vanamAlai on His dark-hued tirumEni is like watching the lightning in the midst of the clouds”.

gOpAla tApani upanishad talks about His garments which shine like lightning and His wearing the vanamAlai:

“sat punDarIka nayanam mEghAbham vaidyutAmbaram |
dvibhujam gnAna mudrADyam vanamAlinam Isvaram ||
“

(“We should meditate on SrI kRshNa paramAtmA who has eyes resembling the blossomed red lotus flower, a hue like that of the blue color of the clouds, garments that shine like lightning, two hands, and who is rich in knowledge and is wearing a garland made out of forest flowers”).

anu’nga ennaip pirivu Seidu: anu’nga – such that I suffer intensely. He left me to suffer and die. When He was with me, He said “I will not separate from you, if I do, I shall not live”. Saying thus, He left me. Because of this, I have to continue to live, in the hope that may be I will get to see Him yet, while suffering intensely because of the separation. Thus, I cannot totally destroy myself in sorrow. gOdai refers to this kind of a death-like torture “anu’nga”.

ennai - Did He think that like Him, I will also grow with separation, with separation as the ‘fertilizer’ for my growth?

Ayar pADi kavarndu uNNum: SrI PVP gives the meaning “Akramittu” – forcibly invading, seizing, for the term kavarndu. He made girls like me (who loved Him) suffer in separation, but abducted those who did not have as much love for Him as I have, imprisoned them in their homes, and enjoyed spending time with them. If only I had stayed away from loving Him, I would not have had to experience this kind of pain.

anu’nga ennaip pirivu Seidu, Ayar pADi kavarnudu uNNum – He left me to suffer through separation, and He is enjoying Himself with the other girls in Ayar pADi.

kuNu’ngu nARi: ‘kuNu’ngu’ means “smell of cattle, butter, etc.”. gOdai loves to enjoy the smell of butter on kaNNan.

Has there been anyone else who had such kind of a desire? sItApirATTi says :

“I am devoted to You, wearing dIkshai and special deer skin, doing vratam, very pure and having a deer’s antler in hand”. When rAma was preparing Himself for the yAgam, sItai was very impressed with her husband, who was wearing butter on His tirumEni and doing yAgam wearing deer skin. If His teacher vasishThar says that He has to observe fast for one day for the vratam, He will abstain for two days. If vasishThar says that He should not touch any one else but sItai, He will keep taking bath again and again even if He touches sItai.

kaNNan is the direct opposite of this AcAra picture! parA’nkuSa nAyaki falls in love with the anAcAra vEsham of kaNNan (tiruvAimozhi 4-8-4 ): “kaRaiyinAr tuvar uDukkai kaDaiyAvin kazhi kOl kaic caRaiyinAr kavarAda taLir niRattAl kuRaivilamE” (He is wearing a dress made out of tuvar – skin; that dress has a lot of stains! He is having a stick in His hand to manage the cows and wearing a string of bells – caragai maNi – around His waist in order to make the cows follow Him; what is the use of my fair hue if He does not look at me?”).

In the same way, gOdai falls in love with the butter-smell coming from kaNNan.

kuNu’ngu nARi – He Who is known as sarva-gandhan, has now willingly taken an incarnation so that He can have kuNu’ngu nARRam – the smell of butter and cattle (SrI T. S. Rajagopalan).

kuTTERRai: “kuTTERu” literally translates to “kuTTi ERu – Young bull”. Since He has seized AyarpADi at will and is enjoying everything as He pleases (Ayar pADi kavarndu uNDu), He is acting like a young, proud bull.

gO-vardhananai: One who takes care of cows, and makes them grow from one to one-hundred-thousand. He is used to make sure girls do not survive, but at the same time takes good care of hundreds and thousands of cows.

gaNa’ngaLODu: With His thousands of friends. “tannErAyiram piLLaigaLODu taLar naDai iTTu varuvAn “(periyAzhvAr tirumozhi 3-1-1).

min mEgam kalandAR pOla vanamAlai minu’nga ninRu: The vanamAlai that He is wearing looks like lightening on the cloud-hued kaNNan. The vana mAlai on Him looks like the combination of the lightning in the dark cloud. Imagine the beautiful shining vana mAlai dangling back and forth on His dark tiru mEni, to capture the anubhavam of PVP.

vanamAlai minu’nga ninRu: In mathurai, He went after the mAlAkAran, who presented Him with a mAlai or garland with great enchantment; that is why the mAlai that He is wearing is shining. That mAlAkAran is like a “garbha dAsar “– one who is subservient to perumAl even in the womb of his mother; periyAzhvAr is also a mAlAkArar like him and gOdai thinks that since she is his tirumagaL, He will wear gOdai’s garland and play happily.

viLaiyADa virundAvanattE kaNDOmE: If He wears that mAlai and comes to vrindAvanam, the girls in tiruvAippADi would swoon because of His exquisite charm and so He cannot play there. Instead, He plays with His sakA-s as long as He wants in SrIbrindAvanam and enjoys leelA rasam.

virundAvanattE kaNDOmE: We found kaNNan with vana mAlai, a sight that is normally to be found in SrI vaikunTham, but we found Him with this vana mAlai here in brindAvanam, easily, as a feast to our eyes (SrI T. S. Rajagopalan).

C.Additional thoughts from SrI UV:

anu’nga ennai pirivu Seidu Ayar pADi kavarndu uNNum – He left me, and instead went after the cowherd girls in the SEri (the locality where the cowherds live), just so that He can consume butter without being obstructed. He enticed the AyarpADi folks so that they will feel enchanted and not stop Him from eating butter.

kuNungu: periyAzhvAr refers to this also in periyAzhvAr tirumozhi 2-4-1 “veNNai aLainda kuNungum”. He attracts the folks and eats the butter and yogurt and in that process obtains a distinctive smell on Himself.

“Did you see the one who is the embodiment of Love, the one who entices all the girls with His soundaryam, the one who is meant to be my maNALan and the one who goes around throwing lie after lie, go this way?” “We saw a wonderful sight; we saw that kRshNan playing in vrindAvanam. vinatai’s son, garuDan was flying up and down following His path just so that rAja-vENUgOpAlan will not be affected by the hot sun’s rays”. (For a change, instead of SenrAl kuDaiyAm AdiSEshan being an umbrella for Him, here, periya tiruvaDi – garuDan feels happy that He gets to do this kaimkaryam at least now, because AdiSEshan has made His avatAram as balarAman).

mAlAip piRanda: mAl = love. He was born as the incarnation of love (towards the girls of AyarpADi). The Sruti declares that in SrI vaikunTham, bhagavAn is of the form of satyam, j~nAnam, etc., as we see in the following mantra from taittirIya AraNyaka 1.1:

“satayam j~nAnam anantam brahma |
yo vEda nihitam guhAyAm paramE vyOman |
so’Snute sarvAn kAmAn saha brahmaNA vipaScitEti ||

{Whoever sees in his heart-cave, the Brahmam that has the form of truth and knowledge and is endless, that person enjoys in paramapadam, the association with that sarvaj~nan with all His kalyANa guna-s.) Thus, while the vEda declares that He is of the form of satyam, j~nAnam, etc. in SrI vaikunTham, , ANDAL declares that He is of the form of pure love in His incarnation here. She called Him “mAlE” in tiruppAvai-26 too.

nambiyai : The word nambi literally means “a person who is eminent among men”, and is used as a reference to bhagavAn. By referring to Him as “mAlAip piRandavan”, ANDAL only covered one attribute or guNa of kaNNan. Since He is full of endless kalyANa guNa-s, she now adds the word nambi.

mAlE Seyyum: One who was dedicated to showering His love on others. Lord rAma was known for showering His affection and love on all people of all age groups, young and old, men and women, spontaneously first, and this generated their love towards Him.

“sarvEshAm hi sa darmAtmA varNAnAm kurutE dayAm
caturNAm hi vayassthAnAm tEna tE tamanuvratA: “ (ramAyaNam ayodhyA kANDam 17-16)

Our kaNNan similarly showered His love on the AyarpADi girls first, and thus ensured that it generated their love towards Him!

maNALanai: He is the only maNavAlan who can rule over my feminine charm.

ElAp poygaL uraippAnai : He says lies which do not make sense. One gOpi saw kaNNan having turmeric and sandalwood on His tirumEni one time and asked Him “From which girl did you get these marks?” He lied through His teeth “Would I have gotten these from anyone else but you? Do I even know any other girl?” If one wants to listen to truth, one has to go to rAma avatAram. He is “priyavAdI ca bhUtAnAm satyavAdI ca rAghava: “ (rAmAyaNam ayodhyA kANDam 2-32). rAman will speak very sweetly to all beings and He will speak only the truth.

perumAL’s words always reveal the truth and does good for everyone. Since rAma always spoke the truth, His words were always internally consistent, and were true even as they were uttered. kaNNan’s words were always contradicting each other and always appeared as lies. But, His lies also ended in good for everyone, and had the same effect as truths. Thus, for devotees, truth was the refuge in rAma avatAram and lie was the refuge in kRshNa avatAram.

rAma protected His devotees by coordinating His mind, body and words; kaNNan protected His devotees by lessening His own greatness and lying, if only it could protect His devotees. He said that He will not take up any weapon during the war, but took it anyway; He made day time appear like night time, and protected the pANDavas by revealing to them the secret for killing duryOdhana and other enemies.

poygaL uraippAnai: it is not just one or two lies; He has said hundreds of thousands of lies, and made them all sound like truth.

i’ngE pOdak kaNDIrE?: Did you see this great liar go this way? ANDAL considers that His characteristic of lying should be obviously noticeable to everyone as a great way to identify Him!

Now comes the reply from the respondents.

mElAl paRanda veyil kAppAn vinataic ciRuvan ciRagu ennum

mElAppin kIzh varuvAnai : garuDan was spreading his wings in the sky in such a way that kaNNan will be in the shadow of his wings and not be affected by the direct rays of the sun. SrI nampiLLai used to enjoy the words “vinatai ciRuvan” used by ANDAL:

1. ANDAL has chosen the word “ciRuvan” to refer to garuDan in a very meaningful way, clearly revealing that garuDan is Seshan for her also. (“What a wonderful choice of words by ANDAL!” – nampiLLai used to exclaim and enjoy). One who serves as the umbrella for Him is by birth a dAsan for her also.

2. mahAbhAratam talks about kadru (garuDan’s step mother), who made vinatai (garuDan’s mother) her servant and made her stand in the direct sunlight. garuDan protected her at that time from the direct sunlight by giving her shade by spreading his wings in the sky. gOdai might be referring to that also by ‘vinatai ciRuvan’ – the ‘child’ of vinatai, who cared for his mother.

mElAppin kIzh varuvAnai virundAvanattE kaNDOmE: Just as sampAti protected his younger brother jaTAyu from the direct sunlight by spreading his wings, garuDan also made his wings into an umbrella and gave kaNNan shade from the sun. We saw kaNNan as He was playing under those spread wings in bRndAvanam.

C.Additional thoughts from SrI UV:

mAlAip piRanda nambi – He is the incarnation of love and affection to His devotees without distinction; He showered His love and affection even to the uneducated and simple folks of AyarpADi (Our AcArya-s describe these folks as ‘ones who do not even know the difference between the left and the right hands – such simple people). Thus this term is an indication of His guNa paripUrNatvam.

poygaL uraippAnai: Sri UV indulges in this phrase with enjoyment. A ‘good liar’ will lie such that it seems like he/she is telling the truth. All that is said should be internally self-consistent, so that the whole story sounds true. If someone is trying to go up a coconut tree and if he is asked “why are you going up the tree?”, and if he says “I am trying to get some grass from the top of the tree for my calf”, anyone can definitely determine that he is lying, and that his intent is to steal the coconuts. No one will believe him. Our kaNNan is a skillful elder brother to this kind of a liar (“avanukku aNNan ikkaNNan”). If kaNNan was going up the coconut tree, He can also say that He is looking for grass; and if asked to explain how He is looking for grass on a coconut tree, He would say “coconut trees are tRNa-vRksha (the name for a coconut tree in samskRt), and where else will tRNam (the term for grass in samskRt), if not on a tRNa-vRksham? kaNNan would skillfully play with words, will sound with all sincerity and feign truthfulness. If kaNNan is caught while stealing butter from the pot, and if asked “what are you looking for in the pot?”, kaNNan will say “I am looking for my lost calf”. If somebody asks Him how a calf be found in the pot, He would say “I am not looking for the calf in a small pot; I am looking for it in a big pot which looks like a cave”. If some gOpi confronts Him and asks Him why He is torturing her like this, He would say “the woman who is on my chest is making me torture you like this; what can I do?”.