Episode 01 - Pillaiththamizh - ChappaaNiP Paruvam.
ChappaNiP Paruvam
We move on to the next phase of this rapturous ‘PiLLaiththamizh’ - சப்பாணிப் பருவம் – ChappaaNip Paruvam. Let us recall what we noted about this phase while deliberating on what PiLLaithThamizh’s format grammar was:
This phase of play is associated with the ninth month of the baby, when it could sit up straight. Instinctively, the baby would clap its hands and finding the noise from it pleasing to it, would indulge in it with pleasure. Parents and other kin would engage the baby, prodding it for more and providing some verbal ‘come on’s ‘கொட்டுக சப்பாணி.
‘ சப்பாணி’ is lent a variety of meanings. One is to point to the two phonetic components - ‘சப்’ and ‘பாணி’ the first one denoting the noise from the clap and the second one the hands. The other version is that the sitting posture of the baby is called that name சப்பாணி.
(We used to hear children call out (in our times that is) - ஒப்புக்குச் சப்பாணி ஊருக்கு மாங்கொட்டை. The drift was – this one is useless but comes in for the count.
சப்பாணி here refers to a child (or even a person) who could not actively participate but would sit there and get counted; similarly, மாங்கொட்டை in this proverb would refer to a dry-salted mango pickle that has only the pit and no pith, but gets counted as a pickle serving – to be seen as a serving (ஊருக்கு). Handicapped children/persons would be called சப்பாணி as they cannot actively participate – the unforgettable சப்பாணி by Kamal Hasan in பதினாறு வயதினிலே? But here, in these poetic terms, சப்பாணி refers to the seated posture of the 9 months old child where it is called out and encouraged to clap his/her hands in tune with the rhymes voiced by the mother or other elders. கொட்டுக சப்பாணி)
தூ நிலாமுற்றத்தே போந்து விளையாட
வான் நிலா அம்புலீ சந்திரா வா என்று
நீ நிலா நிற் புகழாநின்ற ஆயர்தம்
கோ நிலாவ கொட்டாய் சப்பாணி
குடந்தைக் கிடந்தானே சப்பாணி
In the grand moon-terrace*, for the silvery ‘Ambuli’ moon to come and play with you, Oh! The One reclining in Kudanthai (Kumbakonam), Clap! CHAPPAANI! Look! Your father, the Lord of the Yadavas, Nanda Gopan, is looking on with pride and delight! Clap! CHAPPANI!
*The spacious forecourt or an open terrace or a courtyard adjacent to the living space within, could all be designated as நிலா முற்றம் – Moon-court or Moon-terrace, where not only the moonlight is let in abundantly, but those entering the court could have an unhindered view of the moon – of course depending on where the court is located and what the moon’s position in the skyline is. This space was also used for grand moonlight dinners. A luxury that we need to savour only in our literary flights? Your narrator recalls childhood memories of his extended family – about 10 or 12 in one go – enjoying at least two or three moonlight dinners every summer, when the skies were clear, there was no noise or air pollution (his home was a village then).
புட்டியிற் சேறும் புழுதியும் கொண்டுவந்து
அட்டி அமுக்கி அகம் புக்கு அறியாமே
சட்டித் தயிரும் தடாவினில் வெண்ணெயும் உண்
பட்டிக் கன்றே கொட்டாய் சப்பாணி
பற்பநாபா கொட்டாய் சப்பாணி
Oh! Padmanabha! One with a lotus sprouting from his navel that produced Brahma! You collect all the dirt around on your person during your endless forays of play and stealing; and in the exertion that causes sweat, that dirt turns into slush. And, Oh! The Delightful Kanna! You dump all that dirt and slush on to me when you come stealthily in and hug me from behind. Oh! The unbridled cavorting calf! Clap! CHAPPAANI! Clap! CHAPPAANI!
பட்டிக் கன்றே – An ‘honorific’ reserved for a young one that is beyond all disciplining.
குரக்கு இனத்தாலே குரைகடல் தன்னை
நெருக்கி அணை கட்டி நீள் நீர் இலங்கை
அரக்கர் அவிய அடு கணையாலே
நெருக்கிய கைகளால் சப்பாணி
நேமியங் கையனே சப்பாணி
With the vanaras helping you, you subdued and dammed the roaring seas (to cross into Lanka). And, with those hands that destroyed all the Rakshasas with your arrows – root and branch – Clap! CHAPPAANI! Oh! The One holding the Sudarsana! Clap! CHAPPAANI!
அளந்து இட்ட தூணை அவன் தட்ட ஆங்கே
வளர்ந்திட்டு வாள் உகிர்ச் சிங்க உருவாய்
உளந் தொட்டு இரணியன் ஒண்மார்வு அகலம்
பிளந்திட்ட கைகளால் சப்பாணி
பேய் முலை உண்டானே சப்பாணி
As Hiranya Kasipu smashed the well-constructed pillar, you grew in there as a Narasimham with sword-like claws; and with those deadly claws, you plunged into and touched his heart and then crushed his impenetrable, steely, broad chest. With those hands, Clap! CHAPPAANI! Oh! The One who sucked the life of Poothanai, Clap! CHAPPAANI!
The Azhwar asserts here: இரணியன் உளந் தொட்டு – Though this was ‘samhara’ of the most gory means, Sri Bhagavan first touched the heart of Hiranya Kasipu, converted him before giving him deliverance. How many evildoers had that unmatched privilege as this Asura had! He was held on the lap of Sri Bhagavan, like a mother holds a baby. But this one had to be ended, for his sake and for the sake of the rest of the world. Therefore, the conversion happens and then the deliverance. What flight of thought!!