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A very important and a nice aspect of krishNa leelAs is the relationship between krishNa and nappinnaip pirAtti. We can enjoy this through AzhwArs pAsurams nicely.
First, we need to know the answer for the question “Who is nappinnaip pirAtti?”. She is said to be an incarnation of nILA dhEvi. bhagavAn, SrIman nArAyaNan has three primary consorts. They are SrIdhEvi who is known as periya pirAttiyAr, bhUdhEvi who is known as bhUmip pirAttiyAr and nILA dhEvi. This nILA dhEvi incarnates as nappinnaip pirAtti. parASra bhattar in his thaniyan for thiruppAvai starts with “nILAthunga sthanagiri thatI suptham udhbOdhya krishNam” which means krishNa is reclining on the bosoms which are like mountain slopes, of nappinnaip pirAtti, who is an incarnation of nILA dhEvi. In the commentary for this thaniyan, piLLai lOkAm jIyar quotes a purANa SlOkam which explains that she is the daughter of kumbaka who is the younger brother of yaSOdhAp pirAtti, and is the king of mithilA. He also identifies that she is born in the cowherd clan.
In SrIrAmAvathAram, periya pirAttiyAr, in the form of sIthAp pirAtti, remains as the purushakAram (one who recommends the AthmA to bhagavAn). In varAhAvathAram, bhUmip pirAtti remains as the purushakAram. In krishNAvathAram, nappinnaip pirAtti remains as the purushakAram. Though rukmiNip pirAtti is the primary consort of krishNa, there is more importance for nappinnaip pirAtti. Even in AzhwArs’ pAsurams, while there are very few pAsurams for rukmiNip pirAtti and sathyabAmAp pirAtti, nappinnaip pirAtti has many pAsurams.
Her father decides to give her in marriage. He announces that whoever tames the powerful seven bulls he has, will get to marry her. As shown by nammAzhwAr that one of the two reasons for krishNa’s incarnation is to embrace nappinnaip pirAtti, krishNa set out to tame those bulls. He embraced the seven bulls at once in their necks and crushed them and killed them. nappinnaip pirAtti then happily married krishNa.
periyAzhwAr in his periyAzhwAr thirumozhi says “pinnai maNALanaip pEril kidandhAnai” (The husband of nappinnaip who is reclining in thiruppEr nagar). ANdAL in her thiruppAvai, tries to reach krishNa through nappinnaip pirAtti only. She showed nappinnaip pirAtti in three pAsurams consecutively in “undhu madhagaLiRRan“, “kuththu viLakkeriya” and “muppaththu mUvar“. nammAzhwAr shows nappinnaip pirAtti in thiruvAimozhi saying “pinnaikol nilamAmagaLkol” (Is she nappinnaip pirAtti or bhUmip pirAtti?). thirumangai AzhwAr in his periya thirumozhi says “Ayar pAvai nappinnai thanakkiRai” (the lord of the cowherd girl, nappinnai). Further, many AzhwArs have explained about nappinnaip pirAtti in many pAsurams.
Essence in this incident:
- bhagavAn is very loving towards nappinnaip pirAtti. He has so much love that this incarnation of krishNa is specifically for her. nammAzhwAr says in thiruviruththam “sUttu nanmAlaigaL thUyanavEndhi viNNOrgaL nannIr Atti andhUbam tharA niRkavE angu Or mAyaiyinAl Ittiya veNNey thodu uNNappoNdhumilERRuvan kUn kOttidaiyAdinai kUththu adalAyar tham kombinukkE” explaining that there are two reasons for bhagavAn amidst the thiruvArAdhanam (worship) by nithyasUris in paramapadham, descending to this world as krishNa – 1) To eat the butter prepared by devotees with their hands 2) To embrace nappinnaip pirAtti.
- In SrIbhAgavatham, krishNa taming seven bulls and marrying sathyA, the daughter of nagnajith is shown. But this incident is shown there as happening subsequently, that is after krishNa becoming older. But ANdAL enjoys nappinnaip pirAtti along with krishNa in SrIgOkulam. krishNa remained in SrI gOkulam and vrindhAvanam till he was ten years old, before getting upanayana samskAram done. After that, he leaves for mathurA and does not return to SrI gOkulam or vrindhAvana, Hence, this incident is said to be an amazing vision shown by bhagavAn to AzhwArs.
Source – https://granthams.koyil.org/2023/10/01/krishna-leela-24-tamil/
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