Episode 01 - Pillaiththamizh - Calling the crows to groom Kannan's tresses.

Calling the crows to groom Kannan's tresses

குழல்வாரக் காக்கையை வா எனல் – Yasodha inviting the crows to come to help her groom Kannan’s lustrous, unruly, tresses.

Periyazhwar ought to have been very keenly observant; his grasp of all the growing phases of little children, their mental development, what would attract them and what would distract them, what would comfort them and what would scare them, what would lure them and what would not, the woes of the mother in having the child come to terms with her norms of conduct and upkeep she prescribed. This is an amazing characteristic of a person so highly evolved who had elevated himself and his mind above matters mortal and transient. And, the marvelous ability to infuse Kannan’s divinity in all these mundane, earthly behaviour, childish pranks. And in that stunning projection of imagery, he out mothers Yasodha.

Here, in this episode, he inducts the common crow as the riveting attraction for Kannan, for him to let his lustrous tresses groomed.

Having a formal, elaborately administered, healthy bath was anathema for Kannan and He had to be offered a vast bouquet of incentives for Him to let His mother do it to Him. Loathing an elaborate bath schedule is a normal component in a child’s approach to his or her day’s business. It cuts into his or her play time or time with his or her engagement in exploring the world outside. The child is yet unaware of the health dividends or hygiene dictates of a bath. It is OK for the child to frolic in water – but an elaborate bath, an oil bath at that, with astringent soapnut washing to contend? The child wants to run from this imposition. We saw that Kannan belonged to the top end of the scale of this aversion for a child. Yasodha had repeatedly to beseech, plead with Kannan – Please, please, I pay obeisance to you, do not run. சோத்தம் பிரான்! ஓடாதே! வாராய்.

The child similarly looks askance at the chore of grooming of his or her hair. Grooming of the hair, especially when it is thick and unruly, is indeed painful. And it bottles up play time. The child is tugging at the leashes all the time. The mother is at her wits end. She calls in help. Who could help with this? The child has begun to explore the world outside. He or she has seen birds, beasts, insects – all of them enjoying a freedom that the child thinks he or she is entitled to but denied. There is thus a longing bond between the child and the more free and happier creatures. The mother uses that bonding, that longing as the help. She infuses that help with a grandly attractive engagement for the child by informing the child about the creatures; the child is all ears; he or she is now more engrossed in the birds or beasts that the mother has called in and the stories she is telling the child about those lovable, but yet unapproachable, friends.

We have seen a mother getting the child to consume food without protesting, when she points to a crow, throwing a few morsels for the crow to pick on and telling the child absorbing stories about the crow. The story popular with very young children are - காக்காயும் நரியும் – the crow and the fox, the child learning the harsh truth of the world – the deceiver being deceived: a crow plucks a ‘vadai’ from the basket of an old lady hawking vadais in a moment of her distraction; and a fox longing to have that delicious prize, flatters the crow: ‘I have heard people say that you sing very well, please do sing for me.’ The crow, falling for that fox trick, in flattered pride, opens its beaks to blare out its ‘song’; the vadai falls down and the fox runs away, laughing, with the prize.  The mother (or elder) punctuates the narrative with dramatizations, drawls and animation and the child, having heard the story before, joins in, interacts and supplies his or her own lines in the narrative in enchanting child gibberish. Before the whole story is completed, the mother would accomplish her task of feeding, with the child still wide-eyed and absorbed, with a crow right in front of him/her to infuse physical form to the drama, not realizing that he / she had finished his/her (unwelcome) lunch without a murmur of protest.

Here in the following verses, Yasodha inducts the help of a crow for grooming Kannan’s thick, lustrous tresses; Kannan does not place too much value on this grooming. He thinks he is doing fine with his tresses as they are – unkempt and dusty. Yasodha would too, deep In her heart, adore the child in that unkempt condition; she would imagine that that the dusty overlay does her divine child a good turn – spruced up and glowing, the child would attract evil eyes ( கண்ணேறு படும்). புழுதி அளைந்த திருமேனி காணப் பெரிதும் உகப்பன் – but is concerned about what the world outside would think of her child. Hence she is driven to this exasperating task of bathing Kannan, grooming his tresses and keeping him in a presentable state in the eyes of the community.

“குழல்வாராய் அக்காக்காய்   “ “Oh! Crow! Come and groom Kannan’s tresses!”

பின்னை மணாளனை பேரிற் கிடந்தானை

முன்னை அமரர் முதற் தனி வித்தினை

என்னையும் எங்கள் குடி முழுது ஆட்கொண்ட

மன்னனை வந்து குழல்வாராய் அக்காக்காய்

      மாதவன்தன் குழல்வாராய் அக்காக்காய்  

Oh! Friendly Crow! Come hither! Come and please groom these lavish tresses of our Kannan, the beloved of Nappinnai, the One who is reclining in ThiruppEr, the One who predates all the celestials, the One seed from which all this creation manifested, One who captivated me – nay all this tribe of ours – this little, captivating, Lord of ours.

பேரிற் கிடந்தானை – The Azhwar invokes the presiding deity of ThiruppEr – different from Then ThiruppEr which is near Azhwar Tirunagari. This shrine is in Chola territory – on the banks of Kollidam. The shrine is more widely known as அப்பக்குடத்தான் temple. Though the ancient name for the place is ‘ThiruppEr Nagar’, it is now known as ‘Koviladi’.

We would have the Azhwar dedicate several delectable verses adoring the presiding deities in this sacred Vaishnava shrine – one among 108 – the presiding Moolavar being அப்பக்குடத்தான் The Utsava Murthy carries an interesting Telugu name – Appala Ranganathar. This shrine, along with Sri Rangam, Sri Ranga Pattinam (Karnataka), Kumbakonam and Thiru Indalur (Mayiladuthurai) comprise the ‘pancharangam’ the five shrines where Perumal is reclining. Periyazhwar would adore this Perumal thus:

 அம்பொனா ருலக மேழும் அறியஆய்ப் பாடி தன்னுள்,

கொம்பனார் பின்னை கோலம் கூடுதற் கேறு கொன்றான்,

செம்பொனார் மதிள்கள் சூழ்ந்த தென்திருப் பேருள் மேவும்,

எம்பிரான் நாமம் நாளும் ஏத்திநா னுய்ந்த வாறே!

கொம்பனார் பின்னை கோலம் கூடுதற் கேறு கொன்றான் – Kannan destroys the mighty bulls in order to gain the hands of Nappinnai – is the legend.

The words தென்திருப் பேருள் – could cause the impression that the Azhwar was singing about Then ThiruppErai near Azhwar Tirunagari. However, his adoring the presiding deity as

பெருவரை மதிள்கள் சூழ்ந்த பெருநகர் அரவ ணைமேல்,

கருவரை வண்ணன் தென்பேர் கருநிநா னுய்ந்த வாறே!

Would confirm that he was invoking அப்பக்குடத்தான் – the reclining deity in ThiruppEr in Thanjavur district. In the verse presented in the beginning too, the Azhwar invokes Kannan as பேரிற் கிடந்தானை – one who is reclining in ThirupEr.

Sri Periyavaachaan Pillai in his celebrated vyakyanam also confirms this:

“பின்னைக்கு மணாளனானதுக்கும் பேரில் கிடந்ததற்கும் ஒரு சேர்த்தியுண்டே. நப்பின்னைப் பிராட்டியைத் திருமணம் புணர்ந்து பின்பு அவளொடே கூடவந்து கண்வளர்ந்தருளிற்று த் திருப்பேரிலே போலும்”

கிழக்கிற் குடி மன்னர் கேடு இலாதாரை

அழிப்பான் நினைந்திட்டு அவ் ஆழிஅதனால்

விழிக்கும் அளவிலே வேர் அறுத்தானைக்

குழற்கு அணி ஆகக் குழல்வாராய் அக்காக்காய்

      கோவிந்தன்தன் குழல்வாராய் அக்காக்காய்

கிழக்கிற் குடி மன்னர் கேடு இலாதாரை – The kings of the eastern kingdoms who thought that they were so powerful that no enmity towards them could be entertained in this world – and who because of that arrogance harassed and pummelled Indra and the other celestials – these asuras had to be annihilated in order to restore peace and satva in the world. The reference here is to Narakasura and his clan (and his son Bhagadatta) who ruled a region in the east known in ancient times as ‘Pragyajyothishapuri’ – possibly corresponding to the ‘Kamarupa’ kingdom of the Mahabharata times and now a part of the north eastern states of India.

 Sri Bhagavan made that ‘sankalpa’ – lthese ‘dhushta asuras must go’. Sudarsana, the disc held by Sri Bhagavan in his right hand, has among his divine traits, his Lord’s resolve ‘dustha nigraha’as an uppermost one; that trait is ingrained in Sudarsana and he therefore does not need an articulated, explicit command from his Lord. All that he needs is the signal flowing from His eyes. He proceeds to accomplish that ‘sankalpa’ of his Lord in a trice. அவ் ஆழிஅதனால் விழிக்கும் அளவிலே வேர் அறுத்தானை – Sudarsana severs the heads of the offending adversaries even as his Lord looked at him and signalled a ‘go’ விழிக்கும் அளவிலே. That magnificent Lord is here as little Kannan. Oh! Friendly Crow! Come hither! Come and groom Kannan’s cloud-like dense tresses and make them scintillatingly lovely.

பிண்டத் திரளையும் பேய்க்கு இட்ட நீர்ச் சோறும்

உண்டற்கு வேண்டி நீ ஓடித் திரியாதே

அண்டத்து அமரர் பெருமான் அழகு அமர்

வண்டு ஒத்து இருண்ட குழல்வாராய் அக்காக்காய்

      மாயவன்தன் குழல்வாராய் அக்காக்காய் 

“Oh! Friendly Crow! You need not be wandering around looking for the ‘pitru pindas’ that are offered at sraddha ceremonies and the cold rice that people throw for the elements – in order to fill your belly. Come hither! Come and groom the bumble-bee complexioned lovely tresses of this little one – who is none else than the Lord of all the celestials’ groom the captivating tresses of this one who could hold all of this Universe in a thrall.”

The Azhwar implies that the crow would be delivered from its pathetic, degrading life struggles if it would once – just once – get to help Yasodha in grooming Kannan’s tresses.

உந்தி எழுந்த உருவ மலர்தன்னில்

சந்தச் சதுமுகன்தன்னைப் படைத்தவன்

கொந்தக் குழலைக் குறந்து புளி அட்டித்

தந்தத்தின் சீப்பால் குழல்வாராய் அக்காக்காய்

      தாமோதரன்தன் குழல்வாராய் அக்காக்காய் 

“Oh! Friendly Crow! Who do you think this little one is? He is none other than that Sriman Narayana, who created the creator, the four-faced Brahma, - one who has ‘chandas’ as his inner breath – himself.  Come, these tresses are getting to be a bit unruly after the grand ‘thirumanjanam’ that Kannan has had just now. Do apply some ‘punugu’ paste lending the tangled tresses more comfortable to groom; and groom with this magnificent comb made of ivory. Groom the captivating tresses of this Damodaran, oh! Friendly Crow!”