kIsu kIsu

SrI:

SrImatE rAmAunjAya nama:

SrImath varavara munayE nama:

In her seventh pAsuram, AndAL describes the cowherd damsels’ churning of yoghurt and butter. As described by periyAzhwAr, “muppOthum kadainthu Indiya venney…”, the cows of thiruvAippAdi were milked three times a day- early morning, afternoon and evening and the milk was churned for butter and yoghurt. This churning task was tedious and time consuming and the gOpikAs would get tired in the process. Per swAmi dhoddaiAchAryar’s svApadEsam, the phrase “kAsum pirappum kalakalappa kai pErthu” denotes that the SrIvaiShnavAs, by practice, constantly remember the rahasyArthas of the thirumanthram, dvayam and charama shlOkam. Below are glimpses of thiruppAvai vyAkyAnam relevant to this beautiful churning (thayir kadaithal).

Both kannan’s presence and absence- a hindrance

மோரார் குடம் உருட்டி முன் கிடந்த தானத்தே -

In siriya thirumadal, thirumangai AzhwAr sings, “mOrAr kudam urutti mun kidandha thAnaththE”- SrI kannan, who loved milk, butter and thick yoghurt, was so much not fond of buttermilk (mOr) that he would simply kick and break the pot at the sight of it. Since buttermilk is a natural byproduct of the churned whole milk, the gOpikAs feared churning in the presence of kannan.

கெண்டை ஒண்கண் மடவாள் ஒருத்தி *கீழை அகத்துத் தயிர் கடையக்

கண்டு * ஒல்லை நானும் கடைவன் என்று *   கள்ள விழியை விழித்துப் புக்கு **

வண்டமர் பூங்குழல் தாழ்ந்துலாவ *வாள்முகம் வேர்ப்பச் செவ்வாய் துடிப்ப *

தண்தயிர் நீ கடைந்திட்ட வண்ணம் *தாமோதரா! மெய்யறிவன் நானே** -

In perumAL thirumozhi, kulasEkhara AzhwAr sings, “keNdai oNkaN madavAL oruththi* kIzhai agaththu thayir kadaiya kaNdu * ollai nAnum kadaivan enRu”- SrI kannan approaches a beautiful eyed gOpikA, telling her, “if you would churn the milk, you would get no butter; so let me help you churn”. Quickly thereafter, kannan stares at her with His naughty eyes (kaLLa vizhiyai vizhiththu pukku). Seeing Him run into another home after this, she battles with kannan that He had promised to help her with the churning but has escaped now (thaN thayir nI kadaindhitta vaNNam * dhAmOdharA! meyyaRivan nAnE). In this way, kannan’s absence infuriated the gOpikAs, thus hindering them again from their thayir kadaithal.

The ornaments of the cowherd womenfolk

(காசும்பிறப்பும்) அச்சுத்தாலியும் ஆமைத்தாலியும். (கலகலப்ப) ஆபரணத்வநியு மிவர்களுக்கு உத்தேச்யமாயிருக்கை.

“kAsum pirappum” - the gOpikA sthrIgaL were dressed with ornaments of different designs and patterns of the olden days, which are described as achchuththAli and AmaththAli. These thiruAbharanangaL made tinkling noises as they churned for butter; such sound is much celebrated in the vyAkhyAnam.

Also, traditionally, whatever jewels were worn by the womenfolk were put on for their children. swAmi parAshara bhattar, in his SrI rangarAja sthavam, says “vaksha: sthalyAm tulasi kamala kaustubhair vaijayantI….kUrma vyAghrInakha parimalat panchetI yashOdA nadhdhA…”- the chest of SrI ranganathAr, the Supreme master of all beings, is adorned with thiruthuzhAi, the presence of periya pirAttiyAr, the kaustubha ornament and the vaijayanthi garland. Also visible to bhattar’s eyes were the ornaments put on perumAL by SrI yashOdhA pirAttiyAr. She had put on the Ama naga and puli naga for kannan as described in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi. 

The deep noise from the churning

As the gOpikAs churned the butter using a rod, in back-and-forth motion, a to-and-fro, loud noise was heard. This sound is compared to the following-

Churning the milk ocean:

ஆறு மலைக்கு * எதிர்ந்தோடும் ஒலி * அர வூறு சுலாய் * மலை தேய்க்கும் ஒலி **

கடல் மாறு சுழன்று * அழைக்கின்ற ஒலி * அப்பன் சாறு பட * அமுதம் கொண்ட நான்றே **

nammAzhwAr says “ara  vURu sulAy * malai thEykkum oli”. Coiling the serpent vAsuki around the mandhAra mountain as a churning rope, with emperuman at the center, the dEvAs and asurAs holding on to the two ends of the snake took to churning the ocean. While doing so, on one hand, the frothing and roaring sounds of the churning were heard and on the other, the gushing sounds of the waters rushing towards the mountain were heard. It is described that the same sound was now heard when the gOpikAs were churning the milk and yoghurt.

Summoning the nithyarsUrigaL:

“maththinAl Osai paduththath, thayir aravam kEttilaiyO?” Here, a beautiful shlOka from SrImad bhAgavath purANam is quoted:

“udgAyatInAm aravinda lOchanam, vrajAnganAnAm divam asprshad dhvani:

dadhnash ca nirmanthana-shabda misrita: nirasyatE yEna dishAm amangalam”

As the gOpikAs of vraja sang the glories of their lotus-eyed kannan, their sweet songs blended with the sounds of their churning ascended to the abode of paramapadham, summoning the nithyasUrIs to descend at once to thiruAypAdi to enjoy the pastimes of kannan, questioning what was up there when their kannan was right there with them at bhUlOkam.

Beckoning adiyArs for kainkaryam:

nammAzhwAr says, “thezhikural aruvith thiruvEngkadaththu * ezhil koL sOthi * endhai thandhai thandhaikkE”- the gushing sounds of the aruvi, namely pApanAsham and AkAsha gangai, flowing at the thirumalai, seem like a hollow noise for the common man. For AzhwAr, this sound was the calling for adiyArs to thiruvEngadam for kainkaryam. Such was the sound from the thayir kadaithal.

The beauty of such calling

சிலைக் கை வேடர் தெழிப்பறாத * சிங்கவேள் குன்றமே

In his pAsurams dedicated to the ahObhila thirukshEthram, thirumangai AzhwAr sings “silaik kai vEdar thezhippaRAdha * singkavEL kunRamE”. Seeing the yAthrIs in the forest on their way to the kshEthram, the dacoits exclaimed/shouted in happiness given their chance at hand to rob. nampiLLai, in his vyAkhyAnam, metaphorically questions that if the sound of joy for robbing someone was so fine then how wonderful would be the sounds summoning adiyArs for kainkaryam.

kannan in the end product “thayir”

vikrEthu kAma akhila gOpakanyA, murAripAdArpita chitta vrtti:

dadhyAdikam mohavashAdavochad, gOvinda dAmOdara mAdhavEti ||

There was a gOpikai who was always immersed in the thoughts of kannan (also known as murAri). The surrounding residents, thinking she would go mad in such immersion, always saying ‘murAri, murAri..’, feared she might not get married. She was thus given a basket with milk, butter and yoghurt and asked to go out on the streets to sell them. As she held the basket on her head and went out to sell, she began to scream out in ecstasy, “Are you not buying gOvinda? Are you not buying dAmOdara? ...mAdhava?” Her love for kriShNa was such that she saw Him in even the thayir, pAl and vennei padhArthangaL. Looking at this, the people whispered to themselves that her insanity was not only at home but was also revealed to the outside now!

TRANSLATED from the works of Mūāyirappadi (swAmi Periyavāchchān Piļļai, Ārāyirappadi (swAmi Azhagiya Manavāļā Perumāļ Nāyanār) and the kAlakshEpams of revered vidvAns.  

  

 AndAL thiruvadiklaey sharanam | emperumAnAr thiruvadikaley sharanam