Summary
PeriAzhwAr beautifully depicts a scene whereinYasoda summons a raven to come and comb the hair
of Krishna, who perhaps, for obvious reasons,
remains elusive to her own efforts of tidying
His hair. A very down to earth situation that
transports us at once to the times of Krishna
and makes us relive the enchanting moments!
(1)
pinnai maNaLanaip pEriR kidanthAnai
munnai amarar muthal thani viththinai
yennaium yengaL kudi muzhuthAtkonda
mannanai vanthu kuzhal vArAya kAkAy!
mAthavan than kuzhal vArAya kAkAy!
Purport
O Raven, come and comb the hair of Krishna whois the beloved of Nappinnai pirAtti, who sleeps
at ThiruppEr divya desam, is the head of ever
devoted nitya soories, is the cause of everything
and who takes care of us and our cowherd clan.
(2)
pEyin mulaiyunda piLLai ivan munnam
mAyachagadum marudumiruththavan
kAyAmalar vaNNan kaNNan karunguzhal
thooythAga vanthu kuzhal vArAya kAkAy!
thoomani vaNNan kuzhal vArAya kAkAy
Purport
O Raven, come and comb the hair of this lad Krishna,who once sucked the breasts of evil Poothana while
killing her at the same time, smote the wheel to
kill a disguised demon, fell the yamaLarjuna trees
and whose body resembles a blue pearl and has
the hue of beautiful kAyAmbu flower!
(3)
thiNNak kalaththil thirai uRi mEl vaiththa
veNNai vizhungi viraiya urangidum
aNNal amarar perumAnai Ayartham
kaNNanai vanthu kuzhal vArAya kAkAy!
kArmugil vaNNan kuzhal vArAya kAkAy
Purport
Krishna manages to steal handful of butter storedin a secured container in the loft, eats it and
then dashes to His bed innocently, pretending to
be asleep. O Raven, come and comb His hair who is
the head of celestial beings, a friend of cowherd
community and whose body resembles a dark cloud.
(4)
paLLaththil mEyum paRavai urukkondu
kaLLavasuran varuvAnaith thAn kandu
puLLithuvendru pothukkOvAi kInditta
piLLaiyai vanthu kuzhal vArAya kAkAy!
pEymulai undAn kuzhal vArAya kAkAy
Purport
Once near a water body, bakAsura, a demon, camedisguised as a stork to kill Krishna. But Krishna
swiftly ripped apart its mouth with His hands, as if
it was just a bird and killed the demon. He is the
one who drank the poisoned milk from PoothanA's
breasts. O Raven, come and comb His hair!
(5)
katrinam mEiththuk kanikkoru kandrinai
patriyerintha paraman thirumudi
utrana pEsi nee Odith thiriyAthE
atraikkum vanthu kuzhal vArAya kAkAy!
AzhiyAn than kuzhal vArAya kAkAy
Purport
O Raven, Don't waste your time simply crowing andflying here and there! Are you not aware that once
Krishna, while grazing the calves, caught hold of
the feet of a calf and threw it up on a wood-apple
tree, achieving at once the destruction of the
demons residing in these. Come on now,
comb the hair of Krishna!
(6)
kizhakkiR kudimannar kEdilAthArai
azhippAn ninainthittu avvAzhi athanAl
vizhikkumaLavilE vEraRuthAnai
kuzhaRkaNiyAgak kuzhal vArAya kAkAy!
gOvindan than kuzhal vArAya kAkAy
Purport
In the wink of an eye, Krishna used His chakrAyudamand killed the evil minded kings of the eastern
sector who were plotting against innocent heavenly
kings like Indra. O Raven, come and comb the
beautiful hair of gOvinda, to beautify it further!
(7)
piNdaththiranaiyum pEykkitta nIrchOrum
uNdaRku vEndi nI Odith thiriyAthE
aNdaththamarar perumAn azhagamar
vaNdaththiruNda kuzhal vArAya kAkAy!
mAyavan than kuzhal vArAya kAkAy
Purport
Raven, don't hanker after the rice balls keptfor consumption of the departed souls or the
watery rice meant for the evil spirits.
Come and comb the hair of Krishna who is the
chief of gods, possessed of astonishing abilities
and whose curly hair resembled black bumble-bees!
(8)
unthiyezhuntha uruvamalar thannil
chanthach chathumugan thannaip padaiththavan
konthak kuzhalaik kuRanthu puliyatti
thanthaththin sIpAl kuzhal vArAya kAkAy!
dhamOdharan than kuzhal vArAya kAkAy
Purport
Krishna's hair has become matted due to applyingoil and subsequent bath with soap nut. O Raven,
you need to come with an ivory comb and comb the
matted hair of DamOdharan, who created the four
faced Brahma seated on a lotus!
(9)
mannan than dEvimAr kaNdu maghizveiTha
muuniv ulaginai mutru maLanThavan
ponnin mudiyinaip poovaNaimEl vaiththu
pinnEyirunThu kuzhal vArAya kAkAy!
pErAyiraththAn kuzhal vArAya kAkAy
Purport
Once during vAmanAvathAram, Krishna sought threefeet of mud from the asurA king mahAbali and later
assuming trivikrama avathAr, He, who is worshiped
with thousand names, measured the whole world
with His foot. Seeing His wonderful form, the
wives of mahAbali were thrilled beyond words.
O Raven, now place His golden hair on a
flowery bed and comb from behind!
(10)
kaNdAr pazhiyAmE yakkAkAy! kArvaNNan
vaNdAr kuzhal vAra vAvendra Aychi sol
viNdOi maThiL villiputhUrkOn pattan sol
koNdAdip pAdak kurugAvinai thAnE.
Purport
PeriAzhwAr, the administrator of Srivilliputtur,a city with walls looking to touch the sky, composed
these hymns wherein a raven is called upon by YasOda
to comb and tidy Krishna's unruly hair-resembling
dark clouds-to avoid ridicule by others.
Those who recite these pAsurams with
joy will get past all karmAs.