Pasuram 1.5.5

Tamil text and transliteration:

மானேய் நோக்கி மடவாளை மார்பில் கொண்டாய்! மாதவா!
கூனே சிதைய உண்டை வில் நிறத்தில் தெறித்தாய்! கோவிந்தா!
வான் ஆர் சோதி மணிவண்ணா! மதுசூதா! நீ அருளாய் உன்-
தேனே மலரும் திருப்பாதம் சேருமாறு வினையேனே.

māṉēy nōkki maṭavāḷai mārpil koṇṭāy! mātavā!
kūṉē citaiya uṇṭai vil niṟattil teṟittāy! kōvintā!
vāṉ ār cōti maṇivaṇṇā! matucūtā! nī aruḷāy uṉ-
tēṉē malarum tiruppātam cērumāṟu viṉaiyēṉē.

Preamble

There are two Ways of looking at the background of this stanza. The first is: With the recession of his self-abnegating humility, the Āḻvār prays for the felicity of constant attendance on the Lord, in close proximity. The other is: Intent upon stabilising the Āḻvār’s longing for Him so that there is no slipping back again, the Lord intensifies the longing by keeping away from him for a while. Unable to stand this separation, the Āḻvār cries out his heart, invoking the Lord’s grace for reunion.

English translation of verse 1.5.5:

On your winsome chest, you hold doe-eyed Mother, Oh, Mātavā,
With perfect ease, you remove the hunch (i) off a damsel, oh, Kōvintā,
Your sapphire hue radiates the entire heaven, oh, Matucūtā (ii)
Your grace (iii), this sinner invokes to reach your lotus feet, shedding honey.

Notes

(i) The underlying episode could be either the one stated here, pertaining to Kṛṣṇāvatāra or yet another pertaining to Rāmāvatāra. The former is: As Kṛṣṇa was wending His way through the main road of Mathura along with Balarāma, Tṛvakrā, the hump-backed young woman with handsome features, was passing along with a vessel containing sweet-smelling sandal paste, specially prepared by her for King Kaṃsa. Kṛṣṇa accosted her and demanded of her some of that excellent preparation. Entranced by Their bewitching looks, she gave the Divine Brothers the thick aromatic paste, with all her heart. Greatly pleased with the service, Śrī Kṛṣṇa deftly transformed her at once into a straight-backed damsel, erect and elegant.

The episode in Rāmāyaṇa relates to Śrī Rāma having hit, out of a boyish prank, the hump on the back of the hunch-backed Mantarā, the maid-servant of Queen Kaikeyī, with unerring aim and caused her great pain. She then bore her suffering silently but wreaked her vengeance on Rāma, at the crucial moment, by poisoning the mind of Kaikeyī. But then, this mischief is attributed to Govinda, that is, Kṛṣṇa in this stanza, which is apparently a misfit. There is, however, the following explanation for this in Nampiḷḷai’s ‘Īṭu’: ‘Govinda’ could also mean, ‘Protector of the Earth’, in which case, the address could fit in with Rāma, as well. Alternately, Kṛṣṇa, with so many mischievous pranks up His sleeves, could easily be made the butt for each and every frolic, whether perpetrated by Him or not, even as the saying goes, “All sins shall be heaped on Amana’s head”. And now, who is this poor Amaṇa, earning such vicarious notriety? Amaṇa or Śamaṇā is an ascetic of the jain religious order. A complaint went to the King who was a simpleton. The complaint arose from the mud wall of a Brahmin’s house giving way and killing a thief who broke into it. When the thief’s friends demanded of the Brahmin compensation, both parties appealed to the King for justice. The King asked the Brahmin to pay compensation, as the thief died because of the wet wall. The Brahmin, however, put the blame on the mason who built the Wall. The mason appeared in court and pleaded that it was all the mistake of the waterman who had poured too much water. The waterman blamed the potter who had made the pot big. The potter excused himself by putting the blame on a dancing girl, who passed along and diverted his attention while making the pot. The dancing girl, in turn, blamed the washerman, who failed to bring her clothes in time, and necessitated her visit to his house. The dhoby too trotted out an excuse that the stone on which he washed the clothes was occupied by a Śamaṇa who wouldn’t budge from it for quite a long time, and so the return of clothes to the customers was got delayed. And now, the Śamaṇa kept quiet, on account of his vow of silence and the stupid King construed this silence as admission of guilt and ordered the Śamaṇa to be hanged. Our pity rather goes to Kṛṣṇa at whose door every fault is laid, in this fashion.

(ii) ‘Matucūta’, the Sanskrit word being ‘Madhusūda’ means: Slayer of the demon called Madhu.

(iii) The grace which could condone the sin of the Āḻvār, attempting to run away from the Lord like unto the ruthless rejection of the food served at the dining table.