Pasuram 3.10.4

Tamil text and transliteration:

',பரிவு இன்றி வாணனைக் காத்தும்' என்று அன்று படையொடும் வந்து எதிர்ந்த
திரிபுரம் செற்றவனும் மகனும் பின்னும் அங்கியும் போர் தொலைய,
பொருசிறைப் புள்ளைக் கடாவிய மாயனை ஆயனை பொன் சக்கரத்து
அரியினை, அச்சுதனைப் பற்றி யான் இறையேனும் இடர் இலனே.

',parivu iṉṟi vāṇaṉaik kāttum' eṉṟu aṉṟu paṭaiyoṭum vantu etirnta
tiripuram ceṟṟavaṉum makaṉum piṉṉum aṅkiyum pōr tolaiya,
poruciṟaip puḷḷaik kaṭāviya māyaṉai āyaṉai poṉ cakkarattu
ariyiṉai, accutaṉaip paṟṟi yāṉ iṟaiyēṉum iṭar ilaṉē.

English translation of verse 3.10.4:

Distraction there’s none whatever for me,
The votary of the wondrous Lord, Accutaṉ, (the steadfast),
Ari, whose discus lovely destroys the enemies;
As Kṛṣṇa, mounted on that valiant bird. He made them all eat the dust,
(Śiva), the destroyer of Tiripuram, his son and Aṅki, ranged opposite,
As sworn allies of the demoniac Vāṇaṉ, in a distant past.

Notes

(i) The Āḻvār brings out here that the lesser deities can hardly protect their votaries while the Supreme Lord, ‘Accuta’ sure and steadfast, will never give up His devotees. The Āḻvār, therefore, feels he is in a very happy position, absolutely safe, free from obstruction of any kind.

(ii) Uṣā, the charming daughter of Bāṇāsura (Vāṇaṉ, in Tamil) fell madly in love with a very handsome youth during a dream, and insisted that her mate Citralekhā, of extraordinary occult powers, should arrange for the physical presentation of the youth of her (Uṣā’s) dream. The figure of the youth in question having been projected on paper from the canvas of Uṣā’s mind, Citralekha identified him with Aniruddha, the grandson of Lord Kṛṣṇa and managed to lift the youngster bodily, along with the cot on which he was fast asleep, and put him right in Uṣā’s private apartment. With her dream realised, Uṣā was in the land of ecstasy in the company of her lover but when Bāṇāsura came to know of this intrusion, great was his wrath and he bound Aniruddha by a ‘Nāgāstra’, a serpent-missile. The whole of Dwāraka, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s township got agitated over the disappearance of Aniruddha and when Sage Nārada acquainted Śrī Kṛṣṇa with the youth’s whereabouts, the mighty Garuḍa was commissioned from Heaven. Mounted on Garuḍa, Kṛṣṇa, accompanied by a host of others, sallied forth to Bāṇāsura’s citadel to recover the missing youth. But Śiva, his son, Subramaṇya, their attendants, Agni (Aṅki, in Tamil) and other Devas ranged themselves on the side of Bāṇāsura, having vouchsafed protection unto him. Śrī Kṛṣṇa put Śiva out of action through a missile (Jṛmbhanāstra [jṛmbhana-astra]) making him yawn all the time, drove the rest away and finally encountered the thousand-armed Bāṇāsura, lopping off his aims. A penitent Śiva then prayed to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and at the former’s request, Bāṇāsura was let off with a mere four arms, as against the thousand, he had before. The grateful Bāṇāsura gave his daughter in marriage to Aniruddha and ṭhe wedding was celebrated with great eclat.

Śiva’s part in this episode was indeed most unfortunate. When the milk-ocean was churned Lord Viṣṇu functioned in eight different forms. Likewise, when Śiva encountered Tripurāsuras and destroyed their flying citadels, Viṣṇu imparted the requisite strength to Śiva’s bow, toughness to the bow-string, sharpness to the arrow and above all, He was within him as the Internal Controller, as ever. But when Śiva was extolled by the ignorant poets as the destroyer of Tripura, he got infatuated to such an extent that he was impudent enough to think in terms of taking up arms against Kṛṣṇa, Lord Viṣṇu, incarnate and allying with Bāṇāsura. No doubt, Śiva had to repent for it, as seen from the episode cited above.

(iii) Distraction, there is none for me: Despite being Lord Kṛṣṇa’s grandson, Aniruddha had to suffer imprisonment at the hands of Bāṇāsura, as in the above episode. But, as the Lord’s ardent devotee, the Āḻvār doesn’t have to suffer any such indignity.