Courtesy: http://orkut.google.com/c38455594-tc33b8b648a3be4eb.html
Periazvar, otherwise known as Vishnuchittha was a great devotee of the Lord and the foster father of the great saint-devotee Godha, whom he found under a tulsi bush and who came to be known as Andal and sung more than 100 verses on the Lord of which the Thiruppavai consisting of 30 verses is most important and world famous. She wanted to marry only the Lord Ranganatha and she went to Srirangam and there she merged with the Lord.
Vishnuchittha lived in Srivilliputthur and the story goes that Vishnuchittha was asked by his friend Selvanambi who was in the employ of the King of Madurai to come for the debate with the scholars there, the winner being promised a bag of gold by the king. Vishnuchittha did not want to go saying that he knew nothing except preparing garlands for the Lord . But the lord Himself appeared in his dream and persuaded to go saying that He was there to help Him. Thus he went and argued in the court through the sheer will of the Lord who put the words in his mouth and won the bag of gold. The king mounted him on an elephant and set him out on a procession. When he came near the temple of Koodal Azagar in Madurai, the Lord Himself appeared to witness the glory of His devotee. Seeing Him Vishnuchittha sang ten verses known as PallAndu way of warding off the evil effect of the glance of anyone who may see the beautiful form of the Lord and cast an evil eye. Hence he came to be known as Periazvar because he sang the mangalavachaka to the Lord himself and also because he later had the good fortune of getting the Lord Himself as his son in law.
He composed more than 400 verse on the Lord describing His childhood till his marriage . He enjoys the Lord Krishna from his birth in each stage of childhood and describes all his exploits and hence the pasurams(verses asthey are called in Tamil) are beautiful. WE shall drink the nectar of the words of Periazvar starting from this janmashtami.
Vishnuchittha lived in Srivilliputthur and the story goes that Vishnuchittha was asked by his friend Selvanambi who was in the employ of the King of Madurai to come for the debate with the scholars there, the winner being promised a bag of gold by the king. Vishnuchittha did not want to go saying that he knew nothing except preparing garlands for the Lord . But the lord Himself appeared in his dream and persuaded to go saying that He was there to help Him. Thus he went and argued in the court through the sheer will of the Lord who put the words in his mouth and won the bag of gold. The king mounted him on an elephant and set him out on a procession. When he came near the temple of Koodal Azagar in Madurai, the Lord Himself appeared to witness the glory of His devotee. Seeing Him Vishnuchittha sang ten verses known as PallAndu way of warding off the evil effect of the glance of anyone who may see the beautiful form of the Lord and cast an evil eye. Hence he came to be known as Periazvar because he sang the mangalavachaka to the Lord himself and also because he later had the good fortune of getting the Lord Himself as his son in law.
He composed more than 400 verse on the Lord describing His childhood till his marriage . He enjoys the Lord Krishna from his birth in each stage of childhood and describes all his exploits and hence the pasurams(verses asthey are called in Tamil) are beautiful. WE shall drink the nectar of the words of Periazvar starting from this janmashtami.
Nrsimhabhrthya Dr. Saroja Ramanujam -
The birth of Krishna
The birth of Krishna is celebrated by people in Ayarpadi by spraying fragrant oil and turmeric etc. for auspiciousness and Periazvar says that the courtyard of the house of Nanda where Krishna was born became muddy with these thrown everywhere.
The people could not contain their joy and they were running to see Krishna and also to tell each other of his arrival and fell on each other in their excitement. Some were singing and others were dancing with happiness.
Those who saw him were saying that there could be no one comparable with this infant and he was surely destined to rule the world.
In their excitement they upturned the pots tied with ropes and placed above and were throwing the ghee and curd everywhere perhaps to indicate that after Krishna's arrival there will be abundance of these in ayarpadi. They did not even bother to tie their hair falling allover and behaved as though they have gone mad.
The mother Yasodha was bathing the infant with warm water and applying turmeric and opening his mouth to clean his tongue saw the whole world in there.
(Periazvar was not a historian but a devotee. So he all the time remembers the glory of the Lord. Hence the reference to the showing of the whole world in His mouth which happened much later than the time of birth.)
Those who saw the wonderful sight were saying that this was no ordinary son of a cowherd but the Lord Himself.' ஆயர்புத்திரன் அல்ல, அரும் தெய்வம்.'
On the twelfth day Krishna was placed in the cradle. He has grown enough (Periazvars's Krishna is no normal infant!) to kick his legs as though he wante to break the cradle and when taken on hand kicked the side of his mother or in her stomach and Yasodha is oimagined by Perazvar to exclaim that she was exhausted and lost weight because of the overactive baby Krishna.
The first ten verses describing the birth ends with a phalaSruthi that those who know these will be rid of sin.
In the next ten verses Periazvar describes Krishna from head to foot.
The birth of Krishna is celebrated by people in Ayarpadi by spraying fragrant oil and turmeric etc. for auspiciousness and Periazvar says that the courtyard of the house of Nanda where Krishna was born became muddy with these thrown everywhere.
The people could not contain their joy and they were running to see Krishna and also to tell each other of his arrival and fell on each other in their excitement. Some were singing and others were dancing with happiness.
Those who saw him were saying that there could be no one comparable with this infant and he was surely destined to rule the world.
In their excitement they upturned the pots tied with ropes and placed above and were throwing the ghee and curd everywhere perhaps to indicate that after Krishna's arrival there will be abundance of these in ayarpadi. They did not even bother to tie their hair falling allover and behaved as though they have gone mad.
The mother Yasodha was bathing the infant with warm water and applying turmeric and opening his mouth to clean his tongue saw the whole world in there.
(Periazvar was not a historian but a devotee. So he all the time remembers the glory of the Lord. Hence the reference to the showing of the whole world in His mouth which happened much later than the time of birth.)
Those who saw the wonderful sight were saying that this was no ordinary son of a cowherd but the Lord Himself.' ஆயர்புத்திரன் அல்ல, அரும் தெய்வம்.'
On the twelfth day Krishna was placed in the cradle. He has grown enough (Periazvars's Krishna is no normal infant!) to kick his legs as though he wante to break the cradle and when taken on hand kicked the side of his mother or in her stomach and Yasodha is oimagined by Perazvar to exclaim that she was exhausted and lost weight because of the overactive baby Krishna.
The first ten verses describing the birth ends with a phalaSruthi that those who know these will be rid of sin.
In the next ten verses Periazvar describes Krishna from head to foot.
Nrsimhabhrthya Dr. Saroja Ramanujam -
Description of baby Krishna
The next ten 21 verses describe Krishna as an infant.
Periazvar calls everyone to come and see the beauty of the infant krishna .
" Come and see, the lotus-like feet the baby is sucking. He is the one who has been given to Yasodha like the nectar from the cool sea by Devaki."
"The fingers of the hand and feet of Krishna are like pearls , rubies and diamonds inlaid in gold. Come and see the instep of this infant which bear the silver bands, when he is being breastfed by Yasodha."
The knees of the baby Krishna reminds azvar the time when he crawled away with fear when threatened with the churning rod when he tried to eat the butter from the pot in which his mother was churning curd. He says these are the knees that crawled away in fear later.
The thighs of Krishna reminded the Azvar of the time when he, in his incarnation as Narasimha, tore the chest of Hiranya placing him on his thighs. Azvar says this baby who feigned sleep while he sucked the life of Poothana, is the same who killed Hiranya.
See the hips of the baby, who is born to Devaki and Vasudeva on the tenth day after the star of Hasta.
Here the doubt arises as to whether the fact that Krishna was born on the tenth day after Hastam is right because it is tiruvonam which comes on that day and Krishna is said to be born with the star rohini. But Periazvar says 'atthatthin patthaam naaL which could even mean the tenth day before hastam in which case it is rohini alright. Or what he means may be that being the Lord Narayana himself his star is tiruvonam when he manifested as Vamana. Scholars are already debating on this!
The next ten 21 verses describe Krishna as an infant.
Periazvar calls everyone to come and see the beauty of the infant krishna .
" Come and see, the lotus-like feet the baby is sucking. He is the one who has been given to Yasodha like the nectar from the cool sea by Devaki."
"The fingers of the hand and feet of Krishna are like pearls , rubies and diamonds inlaid in gold. Come and see the instep of this infant which bear the silver bands, when he is being breastfed by Yasodha."
The knees of the baby Krishna reminds azvar the time when he crawled away with fear when threatened with the churning rod when he tried to eat the butter from the pot in which his mother was churning curd. He says these are the knees that crawled away in fear later.
The thighs of Krishna reminded the Azvar of the time when he, in his incarnation as Narasimha, tore the chest of Hiranya placing him on his thighs. Azvar says this baby who feigned sleep while he sucked the life of Poothana, is the same who killed Hiranya.
See the hips of the baby, who is born to Devaki and Vasudeva on the tenth day after the star of Hasta.
Here the doubt arises as to whether the fact that Krishna was born on the tenth day after Hastam is right because it is tiruvonam which comes on that day and Krishna is said to be born with the star rohini. But Periazvar says 'atthatthin patthaam naaL which could even mean the tenth day before hastam in which case it is rohini alright. Or what he means may be that being the Lord Narayana himself his star is tiruvonam when he manifested as Vamana. Scholars are already debating on this!
Nrsimhabhrthya Dr. Saroja Ramanujam -
The waist of Krishna is adorned with the girdle of corals and pearls and his stomach , beautiful and azvar remembers that it was the stomach which was tied to the mortar with the rope by his mother later, and his chest reminds azvar of his exploit of dragging the mortar and uprooting the twin trees.
Next he sees the shoulders of Krishna and draws attention of the onlookers to the valour of Krishna in destroying the asuras sent by Kamsa such as sakatasura.
Then he goes into raptures on seeing the hands of Krishna which are marked with the symbol of chakra and shankha and his neck which has devoured all the worlds. The reference is to the time of annihilation when the Lord absorbs all the worlds into Him. The mouth loved by the gopis is that of the man-lion, both of which are dear to the devotees
Next he sees the shoulders of Krishna and draws attention of the onlookers to the valour of Krishna in destroying the asuras sent by Kamsa such as sakatasura.
Then he goes into raptures on seeing the hands of Krishna which are marked with the symbol of chakra and shankha and his neck which has devoured all the worlds. The reference is to the time of annihilation when the Lord absorbs all the worlds into Him. The mouth loved by the gopis is that of the man-lion, both of which are dear to the devotees
Nrsimhabhrthya Dr. Saroja Ramanujam -
Yasodha is bathing the baby Krishna applying turmeric to his face and cleaning his tongue and the face with the sweet lisp and the nose and the eyes with his delightful smile is bewitching to azvar and he calls every one to come and see it. His eyes, brows and ears, forehead and the locks of hair, every thing is enchanting. Thus the azvar presents a beautiful picture of Krishna as an infant which can be enjoyed by all the devotees.
Krishna in his cradle
Krishna is lying in his cradle and Azvar enjoys singing lullaby to him.
The cradle was given by Brahma and was made of gold, says Azvar, and it was strung with precious stones and diamonds. "sleep well, you who took the form of a dwarf and became Trivikrama, the one who measured the whole world with His form.," says Azvar.
His waist ornament was given by Siva and the bells on his cradle was given by Indra. The devas gave the girdle and Kubera gave the necklace resembling the five weapons of the Lord. Usually it is the custom to put a necklace with miniatures of the five weapons, conch. disc, sword, mace and bow of the Lord on the infants to ward off the effects of evil eye. It is called 'aimpadaitthaali' in Tamil.
Varuna gave pearls and corals set in necklace and bracelet and Lakshmi sent garlands of Tulasi and flowers from the kalpataru. Bhoodevi not to be outdone by her other ornaments like the pendant at the top of the head,and bangles of gold etc. Goddess Durga sent fragrant turmeric and other powers to apply on his body and colyrium for the eyes and sindhoor to apply on his forehead.
This was supposed to have been the gist of the lullaby sung by the gopis when they placed Krishna in the cradle after he sucked the life of Poothana. Azvar ends the ten verses by saying that for those who read these will overcome all obstacles.
Krishna in his cradle
Krishna is lying in his cradle and Azvar enjoys singing lullaby to him.
The cradle was given by Brahma and was made of gold, says Azvar, and it was strung with precious stones and diamonds. "sleep well, you who took the form of a dwarf and became Trivikrama, the one who measured the whole world with His form.," says Azvar.
His waist ornament was given by Siva and the bells on his cradle was given by Indra. The devas gave the girdle and Kubera gave the necklace resembling the five weapons of the Lord. Usually it is the custom to put a necklace with miniatures of the five weapons, conch. disc, sword, mace and bow of the Lord on the infants to ward off the effects of evil eye. It is called 'aimpadaitthaali' in Tamil.
Varuna gave pearls and corals set in necklace and bracelet and Lakshmi sent garlands of Tulasi and flowers from the kalpataru. Bhoodevi not to be outdone by her other ornaments like the pendant at the top of the head,and bangles of gold etc. Goddess Durga sent fragrant turmeric and other powers to apply on his body and colyrium for the eyes and sindhoor to apply on his forehead.
This was supposed to have been the gist of the lullaby sung by the gopis when they placed Krishna in the cradle after he sucked the life of Poothana. Azvar ends the ten verses by saying that for those who read these will overcome all obstacles.
Nrsimhabhrthya Dr. Saroja Ramanujam -
Crawling Krishna
Krishna started crawling and comes out of the house and see the moon. He wishes tio call the moon to come and play with him. Azvar in the role of Yasodha chides the moon who does not comply with the request of Krishna to come and play with him, saying that the child is none other than the Lord Himself and the moon cannot afford to ignore Him.
Addressing the moon Yasodha says,
"Oh moon, if you have eyes on your face, see this son of mine who is crawling with his ornaments on his hair and ears moving delightfully and plays in the mud.
He, who is my child, the nectar of my life, is calling you with his small hands and you come and play and do not hide yourself among the clouds.
You with all your halo of light around you is not equal to the face of my son in lustre. Let him not strain his hands in calling you and come fast.
He is the one who wields the disc and he with eyes wide points at you and wants you to come. Do not delay and come quickly if you are not barren."
By mentioning the chakrayudha Yasodha warns the moon not to ignore Krishna.
Krishna is calling the moon with his lisping tongue. The words are indistinct coming out of his sweet mouth. Yasodha chides the moon saying,
" If you go along as if you have not heard him, your ears are futile and you are as good as deaf.
He who bears the chakra,disc, Sankha, conch, and Saarnga, the bow, is getting sleepy and yawns. He has to sleep so as to digest the milk he has drunk. So do not keep him waiting and come running to him."
The idea is that He is the Lord Himself who wields the divine weapons, chakra.shankha and shaarnga and instead of approaching Him in surrender the moon seems to ignore when he Himself is calling.
The moon does not seem to come and Yasodha is threatening him with dire consequences.
Krishna started crawling and comes out of the house and see the moon. He wishes tio call the moon to come and play with him. Azvar in the role of Yasodha chides the moon who does not comply with the request of Krishna to come and play with him, saying that the child is none other than the Lord Himself and the moon cannot afford to ignore Him.
Addressing the moon Yasodha says,
"Oh moon, if you have eyes on your face, see this son of mine who is crawling with his ornaments on his hair and ears moving delightfully and plays in the mud.
He, who is my child, the nectar of my life, is calling you with his small hands and you come and play and do not hide yourself among the clouds.
You with all your halo of light around you is not equal to the face of my son in lustre. Let him not strain his hands in calling you and come fast.
He is the one who wields the disc and he with eyes wide points at you and wants you to come. Do not delay and come quickly if you are not barren."
By mentioning the chakrayudha Yasodha warns the moon not to ignore Krishna.
Krishna is calling the moon with his lisping tongue. The words are indistinct coming out of his sweet mouth. Yasodha chides the moon saying,
" If you go along as if you have not heard him, your ears are futile and you are as good as deaf.
He who bears the chakra,disc, Sankha, conch, and Saarnga, the bow, is getting sleepy and yawns. He has to sleep so as to digest the milk he has drunk. So do not keep him waiting and come running to him."
The idea is that He is the Lord Himself who wields the divine weapons, chakra.shankha and shaarnga and instead of approaching Him in surrender the moon seems to ignore when he Himself is calling.
The moon does not seem to come and Yasodha is threatening him with dire consequences.
Nrsimhabhrthya Dr. Saroja Ramanujam -
"Do not neglect his wish thinking that he is only a child. He is the one, sleeping on a banyan leaf, contained all the worlds inside Him. If he gets angry he will leap to the sky and catch you. So you yourself come happily to him, if you do not want that to happen.
Do not consider my young lion as a mere child. You go and ask Mahabali about the greatness of this small boy. So apologizing for your negligence so long, you better come quickly. If you do not do so, it will not be long before He attacks you with His chakra as easily as he broke the pot of butter and ate it."
Thus in this decade Periazvar describes the soulabhya of the Lord as the child of a cowherd, as well as His original glory. He measured the whole world with His foot as Thrivikrama and swallowed the whole universe and slept on a banyan leaf as an infant, with the same ease with which he swallowed butter and crawled on the ground in Gokula.
Those who recite these verses in which Periazvar describes Yasodha calling the moon will be free from troubles of any sort.
Do not consider my young lion as a mere child. You go and ask Mahabali about the greatness of this small boy. So apologizing for your negligence so long, you better come quickly. If you do not do so, it will not be long before He attacks you with His chakra as easily as he broke the pot of butter and ate it."
Thus in this decade Periazvar describes the soulabhya of the Lord as the child of a cowherd, as well as His original glory. He measured the whole world with His foot as Thrivikrama and swallowed the whole universe and slept on a banyan leaf as an infant, with the same ease with which he swallowed butter and crawled on the ground in Gokula.
Those who recite these verses in which Periazvar describes Yasodha calling the moon will be free from troubles of any sort.
Nrsimhabhrthya Dr. Saroja Ramanujam -
Rocking Krishna
Krishna when he is crawling, rocks to and fro on his knees and hands. Yasodha is fascinated and asks him to do it for her. Periazvar enjoys the scene as Yasodha, and also as himself since he describes Krishna not only as a child but also as the Lord Himself.
This stage of child hood is known as 'sengeeraipparuvam,' in Tamil.
Azvar says, "Rock on for me once again," and describes the Lord in ten verses.
He is the one who has all the universe inside Himself and slept on a banyan leaf. His eyes are long and resemble lotuses and He has a dark hue. His chest is the place of Mahalakshmi and his ears are adorned by the eardrops in the shape of fish.
He is none other than Narasimha, who destroyed the asura by taking the form of man-lion. He gave salvation to Prahlada and protected the cattle and the shepherds from the torrential rain created by the angry Indra., by lifting the Govardhana mountain.
He is our saviour and He instructed the Vedas to Brahma, who came from the lotus rising out of the navel of the Lord. He is the one who pervaded the whole universe as Thrivikrama in His Vamanavathara whose form extended even beyond the stars and the celestial region.
He also as Krishna, vanquished the elephants set on Him by Kamsa and the seven bulls in order to marry Nappinna.
He killed the Sakatasura who came in the form of a wheel and Poothana who tried to kill Him by breastfeeding Him with poison. He killed the asuras who came as a calf and as a fruit by throwing one against the other. Not only that. He destroyed Denuka, Mura and Naraka.
Krishna when he is crawling, rocks to and fro on his knees and hands. Yasodha is fascinated and asks him to do it for her. Periazvar enjoys the scene as Yasodha, and also as himself since he describes Krishna not only as a child but also as the Lord Himself.
This stage of child hood is known as 'sengeeraipparuvam,' in Tamil.
Azvar says, "Rock on for me once again," and describes the Lord in ten verses.
He is the one who has all the universe inside Himself and slept on a banyan leaf. His eyes are long and resemble lotuses and He has a dark hue. His chest is the place of Mahalakshmi and his ears are adorned by the eardrops in the shape of fish.
He is none other than Narasimha, who destroyed the asura by taking the form of man-lion. He gave salvation to Prahlada and protected the cattle and the shepherds from the torrential rain created by the angry Indra., by lifting the Govardhana mountain.
He is our saviour and He instructed the Vedas to Brahma, who came from the lotus rising out of the navel of the Lord. He is the one who pervaded the whole universe as Thrivikrama in His Vamanavathara whose form extended even beyond the stars and the celestial region.
He also as Krishna, vanquished the elephants set on Him by Kamsa and the seven bulls in order to marry Nappinna.
He killed the Sakatasura who came in the form of a wheel and Poothana who tried to kill Him by breastfeeding Him with poison. He killed the asuras who came as a calf and as a fruit by throwing one against the other. Not only that. He destroyed Denuka, Mura and Naraka.
Nrsimhabhrthya Dr. Saroja Ramanujam -
But with all that He is the delightful child who devoured curd and ghee and let Himself be bound to the mortar and uprooted the twin trees by his arms and thighs. Yet he poses as an innocent child, with His curls adorning His forehead and a sweet smile about to appear.
He is dark like the kayaambu flower, and like the rain cloud. He is the same who danced on the hoods of the Kaliya and plucked the tusk of the elephant Kuvalayapeeta and wrestled with the court wrestlers of Kamsa.
He satisfied the condition that seven wild bulls have to be tamed and married Nappinna whose mother was the sister of Nandagopa. He brought back the sons of the brahmin, who were taken to the abode of the Lord of death.
But how delightful and innocent he looks as a child whom the gopis carried on their hips and took Him to their homes and played with Him, He who is worshipped in Thirukkurunkudi, Thiruvellarai, Thirumaaliruncholai and Thirukkannapuram and removes our sufferings.
He presents a pretty picture, smelling sweet, of milk, ghee, curd, sandal paste and the fragrance of lotus and camphor. His coral like lips open to show some tender milk-teeth which shine silvery. His chest is adorned with the ornament called aimpadaitthaali, consisting of the five miniature weapons of Himself as the Lord Narayana. The blue hued beauty that He is, when He laughs His saliva falls on His aimpadaitthaali. The one who is the purport of the Vedas thus disguises Himself as a sweet little baby.
He is the master of the Yadhavas and He is adorned with rich ornaments, anklets and rings on His lotus-like feet, on His fingers like the petals of flower, gold girdle on His hip, necklace of the flowers of pomegranate in gold, bracelets, armbands and earrings and pendant on His forehead.
Thus Yasodha asked Krishna to rock to and fro for her, says Azvar, and those who know these verses praising the Lord as the one who manifested as the Hamsa, Mathsya, Nrsimha, Vamana, and Koorma, will get world renown.
He is dark like the kayaambu flower, and like the rain cloud. He is the same who danced on the hoods of the Kaliya and plucked the tusk of the elephant Kuvalayapeeta and wrestled with the court wrestlers of Kamsa.
He satisfied the condition that seven wild bulls have to be tamed and married Nappinna whose mother was the sister of Nandagopa. He brought back the sons of the brahmin, who were taken to the abode of the Lord of death.
But how delightful and innocent he looks as a child whom the gopis carried on their hips and took Him to their homes and played with Him, He who is worshipped in Thirukkurunkudi, Thiruvellarai, Thirumaaliruncholai and Thirukkannapuram and removes our sufferings.
He presents a pretty picture, smelling sweet, of milk, ghee, curd, sandal paste and the fragrance of lotus and camphor. His coral like lips open to show some tender milk-teeth which shine silvery. His chest is adorned with the ornament called aimpadaitthaali, consisting of the five miniature weapons of Himself as the Lord Narayana. The blue hued beauty that He is, when He laughs His saliva falls on His aimpadaitthaali. The one who is the purport of the Vedas thus disguises Himself as a sweet little baby.
He is the master of the Yadhavas and He is adorned with rich ornaments, anklets and rings on His lotus-like feet, on His fingers like the petals of flower, gold girdle on His hip, necklace of the flowers of pomegranate in gold, bracelets, armbands and earrings and pendant on His forehead.
Thus Yasodha asked Krishna to rock to and fro for her, says Azvar, and those who know these verses praising the Lord as the one who manifested as the Hamsa, Mathsya, Nrsimha, Vamana, and Koorma, will get world renown.
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