Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Krishna Rama Praising their Achievements

பாடிப் பற  
Periyazhvar showcases the Lord’s achievements in the Krishna and Rama Avatara

After great decads where Periyazhvar shares the emotions of a mother in great depth taking us through the feelings of a mother whose daughter is being lured by a handsome boy, it looked like he wanted a breather or wanted to give the devotees a breather and had it easy.

In these verses Periyazhvar extols his achievements of the Lord in two of his avatars and alternates through the ten verses between Krishna and Rama Avataras.

After well over 250 verses of Pillai Tamil describing the childhood of Krishna, he praises some of the achievements of Rama and Krishna.

Garuda brings Kalpataru for Satyabhama
Having killed Narakasura at the request of Indra, Krishna, along with Satyabhama came to meet him. Satyabhama was suddenly excited on seeing the flowers from Kalpataru but was refused by Indra’s wife. But the Lord’s vehicle Garuda simply uprooted the entire tree in anger and carried it to Satyabhama’s garden while Indra could only watch in silence (என் நாதன் தேவிக்கு அன்று இன்பப்பூ ஈயாதாள் ..........வன்  வலியப் பறித்திட்ட).

When Parasurama arrogantly asked if he could wield his bow, Rama took it and sent a sharp arrow at Tataka that saw the end of the demon (This is once again endorsed in the Hanuman’s praise of Lord Rama in the last decad of the third canto)

Rukmini sent a message to her beloved about her impending wedding to Sisupala as ordained by her brother Rukmi and asked him to come there as early as possible to take her away. When Krishna was about to take Rukmini in his chariot, Rukmi stopped him only to be slain(உருப்பிணி நங்கையை தேரேற்றிக் கொண்டு விருப்புற்று அங்கு ஏக விரைந்து எதிர் வந்து………….).

And then Periyazhvar moves into an episode in the Ramayana. He obediently followed the instructions of his step mother and left for the forest. When his own mother called out for him and cried, his step mother asked him to proceed without stopping (மாற்றுத் தாய் சென்று வனம் போகி யென்றிட ஈற்றுத் தாய் பின் தொடர்ந்து எம்பிரான் என்று அழ).

He played the role of the messenger and when that failed, he donned the role of a charioteer guiding the Pandavas to victory. He had earlier killed the deadly Kaliya and danced atop the Serpent.

When Baratha followed his elder brother to the forest and offered him the crown, the Lord gave him his sandals. Then at the Dhandaka forest, he cut Surpanaka’s ear and nose. Later, he created a bridge across the huge ocean, defeated the Lankan King, who is stated to have misjudged the strength of his enemy and gave the crown to his younger brother Vibheeshana.

Periyazhvar reminds us of the story (that we saw earlier several times in his Pillai Tamil) of the cowherd boy uprooting the twin Marutha trees and the melodious music that emanates from his flute.

Through the verses, he asks the devotees to clap and sing praise of the Lord who destroyed the evil forces for the sake of the survival of the good and the noble.

Following this decad and the next, in the last 150verses, he is at his devotional poetic best trying to relate to God and providing practical prayers to devotees to try and reach God. 

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