Chapter 26 - Thiruppainjeeli or Tiruppainnili (Hymn 36)

I

There have been recurring references to the Dancing and Singing Beggar in the previous hymns, revealing the esoteric significance of this form. In the last hymn, this Lord holding up the serpent in His hand, peeped in many a time. Though His form was not the central theme, yet it became the background, with the suggestion of the Beloved. The Beloved cannot raise the question, “Is there no other Lord but He?” (14). If it is taken as the speech of the Lady-companion as playfully putting aside the Lover, it may be fitting according to the conventions of Tamil erotic poetry. Therefore, the suggestion remains underground whilst our poet as Nampi Arurar sends up the cry of his heart. But he slowly gets immersed in that experience of Love of the Hound of the Heaven in the form of Bhikshatana, coming begging for our Love. In that overwhelming experience, he stands transformed, as the Vaishnavite commentators on Nalayiram usually explain, into a woman, the beloved of our Lord, one of the damsels to whose door, the Lord of a Beggar is said to have gone a-begging and he sings like those damsels. In the last verse of this hymn, our poet states that this hymn has been composed on the model of a dramatic speech of those many damsels of lightning-like subtle waists, expressing their love unto the Lord.

The Love is there in the hearts of the damsels; but there is also the fear and the sulking which prevent the complete communion. The references to the Bhikshatana form, in this hymn, has been discussed at length in our study of the delineation of Bhikshatana by Nampi Arurar. The form here, in this hymn, represents the Natural Beauty of the Forest and the Lord is addressed in every verse at its very end as “Aramya vitankare”.

“What is the use of your blue throat and the skull? Pray, accept alms in one house. Is that necklace of yours a serpent?” (1), asks one damsel in all love, at the last moment withar awing frightened by the serpent.

“Ah’ the bull looks terrible with its roar; the fiery mouthed serpent hisses. Pray, do not come my Lord, with the serpent in your hand!” (2) asks another terrified by the bull and the serpent whilst losing herself in love.

“Your form is pure; your mouth is pure; your eyes (look) are pure. But yours is a stitched up bit of a cloth. Pray, leave off dancing with the ghosts. My Lord, why this? \Are you mad?” (3) is another love speech of a damsel impressed by His purity but surprised by His mad dance.

“You sing. Are you a master of the beautiful Tamil tunes? What is this? You come and stand with the serpent of ruddy eyes dancing in your front arm. Our love cannot allow us to refuse the alms; but your serpent cannot allow us to offer the alms. Ah! Forest Beauty! Is the Heaven of the setting sun your form?” is another speech, expressing her love of His dance, song and form (4).

“The ash on your form shines white like pearl. You hold the skull in your hand and state that you are of Ppainjeeli [Painjeeli]. But you come with the Mother sharing your body and we cannot offer our alms. Pray, walk away. Are you of the mat-lock carrying the river?” (5), asks another in love but ashamed to confess her love in the presence of the Mother Goddess.

“Have you ordained yourself for stealing away the bangles of the damsels of beautiful tresses of hair smelling sweet with the fragrance of ‘kuravam’ flower. In this adventure or escapade, can you recognize this house even in the dark night? Are you capable of walking in and escaping from here? Pray tell me, are you an expert in making the serpent dance?” (6), is a damsel’s expression of love, a love which it has reached the stage of nocturnal clandestine escapade

“You wear beautiful flowers. But why then adorn yourself with bones? The graveyard is your city; the skull is all you possess. What then do your lovers get from you? You stand saying, ‘I am of Painjeeli’. Pray tell me, are you a master of music and dance?’ (7) is another dramatic speech of humour.

“All kinds of flowers, the river Ganges, the crescent moon, the skull and the feather of crane lie within your mat-lock. You stand, stating that you are of Painjeeli. Pray, tell, us, have you covered yourself with the flayed skin of the elephant?” (8). That is how the damsel impressed with divine harmony speaks.

“You dance singing, in accompaniment to the orchestra of all musical instruments and stand saying that you are of Painjeeli. What! pray tell us, why have you adorned yourself with bones and tortoise?” (9) is the loving speech of one taken away by His dance but startled by the bones and tortoise shell.

“A serpent on your arm, a serpent on your waist, a serpent on your neck—they hang loose and low on your back. You besmear this form of yours with ashes on. You sing the Vedas and music. You slowly come and stand across our path as though forcing yourself on our modesty and state that you are of Painjeeli. Pray, tell us, ‘What is this beggary of yours'” (10) is the final speech before denial.

These dramatic speeches express the beauty of this love scene—the eternal love scene of the Lord and the loving souls, marking various stages of love-making of the Lord and responses of the damsels till the stage is reached where the Beloved, as it were attempting on their modesty as is revealed in the last speech of the damsels.

III

That Nampi Arurar it is, who is singing this hymn is made clear by certain statements about the Lord which the damsels of the Ddrukavana could not have made. “The whole world praises and worships you alone falling at your feet. You cut away completely the attachment of the Karmas of those who sing and praise you every day”—these are the personal experiences of our poet, which he exclaims even when he becomes the Beloved Damsel.

IV

The beautiful place where this love scene is enacted must have been an area surrounded by forest—a place of flower gardens, fertile fields and waters. The poet sees surrounding this Painjeeli, the green waters teasing with their waves the sandali venkai. konku, akil and champak, which have stood in their way as though arrayed in war against them (2). The waters flow into the moat of the city full of lotuses. The cool and green ‘matavi’ and ‘punnai’ form the green gardens surrounding the city (3). These groves send up the fragrance from the great flowers cool and fresh (4), the groves where the singing bees hum their music (7) and where on all sides, sing the cuckoo (9). The swans flock together in the fields surrounding Painjeeli, (11) whose firm rooted fame is of the ancient variety.

V

The poet whilst singing this hymn experiences the divine peace and love, spoken of as the russet feet of the Lover of the Mother which, he assures those who sing to music these songs of his words of mouth concentrating on its meaning, will also attain (11).