Pasuram 2.7.4

Tamil text and transliteration:

கோவிந்தன் குடக் கூத்தன் கோவலன் என்று என்றே குனித்துத்
தேவும் தன்னையும் பாடி ஆடத் திருத்தி என்னைக் கொண்டு என்
பாவம் தன்னையும் பாறக் கைத்து எமர் ஏழ் எழு பிறப்பும்,
மேவும் தன்மையம் ஆக்கினான் வல்லன் எம்பிரான் விட்டுவே.

kōvintaṉ kuṭak kūttaṉ kōvalaṉ eṉṟu eṉṟē kuṉittut
tēvum taṉṉaiyum pāṭi āṭat tirutti eṉṉaik koṇṭu eṉ
pāvam taṉṉaiyum pāṟak kaittu emar ēḻ eḻu piṟappum,
mēvum taṉmaiyam ākkiṉāṉ vallaṉ empirāṉ viṭṭuvē.

English translation of verse 2.7.4:

Kōvintaṉ, the pot-dancer, cowherd, the Supreme Lord,
So do I His glory sing and dance, by Him enthralled
And blest, my sins were chased out and those
With me connected for generations, recipients of His grace,
He has made; how potent is Viṣṇu, my benefactor great.

Notes

(i) The Āḻvār is lost in admiration of the immense prowess of Lord Viṣṇu, in redeeming him and placing him on a par with the Evcr-free angels in Heaven (Nitya Sūrīs), a literal transformation of a base metal into gold. All his sins destroyed, he has been endowed with a mind steeped in the hilarious enjoyment of the Lord’s glory. His amazing simplicity (Saulabhya) as Govinda and His transcendence (Paratva), side by side. And what more? All those connected with him, Seven generations, back and forth, have been blest likewise. They have been rendered worthy of His grace, looking upon Him as the Sole Refuge, true to their essential nature. Sage Vaśiṣṭa who accompanied Bharata to Chitrakūṭa to persuade Śrī Rāma to get back to Ayodhyā, told Śrī Rāma: ‘ātmānaṃ nāti vartetā’ This literally means ‘Don’t exceed yourself’. Some interpret ‘ātmānaṃ’ as Bharata, dear to Rāma like his own life. Śrī Parāśara Bhaṭṭar, however, interprets it as ‘Don’t exceed or give up your essential nature of doing the bidding of your devotees (āṣṛta pāratantriya)’.

(ii) ‘Govinda’ has been repeated twice in Śrī Viṣṇu Sahasranāma, yielding two different meanings, viz. (i) The recipient of praise and (2) The redeemer of the Earth (hidden by an Asura). The better known meaning is one possessing cows. Śrī Kṛṣṇa was coronated as ‘Govinda’ by Devendra, after the former’s glorious protection and preservation of the pastoral life of the whole community in tact, by holding aloft Mount Govardhana for a whole week. This is indeed a unique wealth acquired by the Lord, come down to Earth, which cannot be had even in the Eternal Land,. Śrī Vaikuṇṭha.

(iii) Pot-dancing: Even as the affluent Brahmins resort to the performance of ‘Yāgas’, the Shepherds, in affluence, indulge in sports like pot-dance-with pots piled one over the other, on the head and both the shoulders. The dancers will throw up pots alternately using both hands, without disturbing the equilibrium of the piled-up pots. Lord Kṛṣṇa, as a member of the cowherd community, naturally participated in all such sports and revelled, rather excelled!.