ஆடுக செங்கீரை Yashodha yearns for her ‘Sundara’s’ crawling on the floor
Periyazhvar praises the child as one who, for millions of years, had reclined on banyan leaf in a yogic meditation posture and who during deluges swallowed the entire universe into his belly.
He describes the body of the child as having a darkish complexion, his eyes as large and like a lotus petal. The chest is so wide that Goddess Lakshmi finds it a safe place to reside forever. And what can one say about his ears. With Makara Ear Rings swinging from side to side as he dances away to glory (செல்வபொலிமகரக்காதுதிகழ்ந்துஇலக), he delights everyone with his Senkeerai dance. His crawling on the floor is a delight to watch.
To protect his devotee Prahalada he took the form of a lion to rip apart the chest of his devotee’s father. On another occasion when Indra, the king of Gods showed his anger and showered hail storms by bringing about a sudden cloud cover, he took the form of the huge mountain Govardhana and protected his dear cows (he describes this in detail in the third canto of the Periyazhvar Thirumozhi where he has dedicated 10 exclusive verses to the child effortlessly lifting the Govardhana mountain with his hand).
Periyazhvar describes more qualities of the Lord in the succeeding verses of this decad. He equates the child as being the very essence of the Vedas. He calls him ‘Our Lord’. When Asura Madhu took away the Vedas, he was the one who retrieved it all by himself. He so easily measured the whole earth and the heaven with two large steps as Trivikrama.
When confronted by Kuvalaya, he destroyed the mighty mad tusker. When he killed asura sakata, the entire Devas and Gods rejoiced. Further when he flung Vatsa into the trees disguised as a calf, apples fell down in heaps from the trees on the impact. With his mighty limbs, he felled the twin Marutha trees that were looking to cause him harm.
He sent many more asuras down the death path- he list is endless – Dhanuka, Mura, Narakasura the impact of which shook the whole earth (தேனுகனும்முரனும்திண்திறல்வெந்நரகன்என்பவர்தாம்மடியச்செருஅதிரச்செல்லும்).
Periyazhvar reminds once again of the child's special liking for curds, butter and ghee that were painstakingly made by Yashodha and other Gopis. He looks so beautiful with the smile and the dark curly locks.
In a contest held for cowherds, he bagged the hand of the beautiful Nappinnai by conquering the 7 bulls. In another instance, he rescued the songs of a Brahmin and handed over to the parents.
Yashodha calls him Sundara
Once again Periyazhvar extols the great physical strengths of the young child that were described in earlier verses. From atop the tree, he swooped down and danced on the head of Kaliya the snake, he rattled the mad Kuvalaya and wrestled so easily with those many times his size and beat them down. His beautiful complexion resembles the dark monsoon clouds prompting Yashodha to call him Sundara (கருமுகில்போல்உருவா….தூய நடம் பயிலும் சுந்தர என் சிறுவா).
He is seen in different temples
Periyazhvar says he is seen protecting us everywhere in Thiru Vellarai, Thiru Kurungudi, Thiru Maliruncholai and at Thiru Kannapuram (மன்னுகுறுங்குடியாய்வெள்ளறையாய்மதில்சூழ்சோலைமலைக்கு அரசேகண்ணபுரத்துஅமுதே).
Beautiful description of his features
He is the darling of everyone. He has all the time to be smeared with milk, curd and ghee. The fragrance of sandal camphor, lotus flowers are always on him. And it goes well with his beautiful rose lips. The tender teeth shine well and Kovai fruit nectar seems to ooze out of his mouth (பாலொடுநெய்தயிர்ஒண்சாந்தொடுசண்பகமும்பங்கயம்நல்லகருப்பூரமும்நாறிவர கோலநறும்பவளச்செந்துவர்வாயினிடைக்கோமளவெள்ளிமுளைப்போல்சிலபல்இலக).
The Child and his ornaments
While in the earlier decad, Periyazhvar described his physical features from head to toe, here he provides the ornaments worn by him from head to toe.
The feet are lotus red and the toes are like small petals. He is seen wearing matching rings on his toes that look like petals on feet of lotus (செங்கமலக்கழலில்சிற்றிதழ்போல்விரலில்). He has bells fitting perfectly the ankles that make the kin kini noise whenever he makes a crawling movement on the floor. He has golden thread fastened to his waist alternating in gold beads like pomegranate (தாளநன்மாதுளையின் பூவொடுபொன்மணியும்).
He has rings on his fingers and a bracelet on his wrist. And his necklace, shoulder rings, makara shaped ear pendants and a forehead jewel look beautiful on him as does the brow jewel, his armlet and the spear. All these make him shine in a sprightly fashion.
With these on him, it is only befitting that he dance his favourite number.
He manifested in many different avatars - Swan, Fish, Turtle, Manikin and also as a Man Lion. Through these he helped the pious by destroying evil. Yashodha walked everywhere behind him like a swan asking him if she did not truly deserve the gift of him dancing before her by crawling in style on the floor.