DEIVATHIN KURAL # 4 (Vol #4) Dated 30 April 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 4 (Vol #4) Dated 30 April 2010.

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from the last paragraph on page 21 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com constantly

40. Keeping in mind this idea of closeness between the maternal uncle (mama) and nephew, I quoted to you some time back that sloka about, “sri kanto maatulo yasya” = ‘one whose mama is lakshmi pati’! I am reminded of how there is a tradition known as ‘marumakkattaayam’, by which the wealth of the family naturally accrues to the ‘maru mavan’, that is the nephew!
41. Having given the pride of place to maternal uncle, next mentioned is the sister, that is, the mother of PiLLaiyar, that is AmbaaL. “janani sarva mangaLaa”. Who is PiLLaiyar’s mother, janani? She is ‘sarva mangaLa’ whose form, quality and characteristics are all totally salubrious, the Para Sakti herself! A sloka normally known to all and sundry calls her ‘Sarva MangaLa’ only, to start with! “sarva mangala maangalye sive sarva artha saadhike I saraNye triyambake gowri narayaNi namostu te II”
42. Amongst all the names of Mahavishnu, Sri Kaant is slightly more beneficial than others, due to starting with Mother’s name of Sri. Simi-larly, having started with ‘sarva mangaLa’, the father’s name is men-tioned, still retaining that order of, first mother’s and then father’s name! It says, ‘janaka: sankaro deva:’, meaning that his father’s name is Sankara the Paramasiva. Again like the selection of ‘sri kaanto’ and ‘sarva mangaLaa’, the word selected for Paramasiva is, ‘sankara’ – the one who causes the pleasantest feeling of happiness. Thus the sloka taking the name of maternal uncle, mother and father in that order, giving out the fact that he is highly connected ends with, ‘to him who has the face of a baby elephant, I pay my obeisances, ‘tam vande kunjaraananam’.
“sri kaanto maatulo yasya janani sarva mangaLaa I
janaka: sankaro deva: tam vande kunjaraananam II”
43. Maternal grandfather, father, mother, maternal uncle are all great. Not only that, the younger brother is also rather famous! That automatically means that, he does not have an elder brother. He is the elder or ‘mooththa piLLai’. There is one Tamil song on him called, “mooththa piLLaiyar mummaNikkovai”. He is the eldest of all children in the whole world or even the whole of existence! So the Veda-s themselves have given him a title as ‘jyeshta raajam’. He is the aNNaa for all. He has only younger brothers!
44. If either of the brothers is famous, it has normally been seen that the one who is not famous, exploits the situation to his advantage. Here is a case where, both the elder brother and younger brother are rather famous and mighty capable! So, while talking of PiLLaiyar, we have to talk about the younger brother too.
45. PiLLaiyar has 16 special names known as ‘shodasa namaas’. Even if we were not able to chant all the 108 names of Ashtotra, we should at least chant these 16 names, whenever possible. They are:-
Sumukhaschcha ekadantaschcha kapilo gajakarNaka: I
Lambodharachcha vikato vignarajo Vinayaka: II
Dhoomaketur gaNaadyatcho paalachandro gajaanana: I
Vakra tuNda: soorpakarNo heramba: skanda poorvaja: II
The last name is ‘skanda poorvaja:’ – that is, born before Skanda, the name giving cognition for the elder brother through that of the younger brother!
46. Thus looking at all his relatives, we know that this PiLLaiyar is highly connected. So, it is essential that we should keep him happy and pleased. We should not get him annoyed. That child God PiLLaiyar who is the first of all existence in all the three worlds, has a kind heart and is so easily pleased. We should be interested in making him happy through which we can have a direct access to his parents, Parvathy and Parameswara.
47. Generally children of rich and powerful families are seen to be spoiled brats. But this boy from the highest reference point is tops in all his physical and mental capabilities. He is physically very powerful, mentally sharp, intellectually brilliant and lovingly kind hearted! That is why we add a respectable ‘yar’ (similar to Esquire’ in English), after his name. (This ‘yar’ is not to be misunderstood as an equivalent to the Hindi word, meant to be a way of endearment between friends.)
48. Normally, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, elder brother or elder sister and such respectable people only are addressed like this with a suffix of ‘yar’ added to their names. A child that is a ‘pillay’ or son, is never given this suffix, except for this one PiLLaiyar!
49. I said that, if we get PiLLaiyar’s Anugraha, we become automati-cally entitled to the Love and Grace of Parvathy & Parameswara. Since we in India are mostly devotees of theirs, I said that through PiLLaiyar, we can have a direct access to them! But, this does not mean however that PiLLaiyar by himself cannot grant us all our wishes. He is equally capable and all powerful. There are those followers of GaaNaapatyam, who think of him as not only the elder child of Parvathy and Parameswara, but as the whole and only God too! Those devotees are known as ‘GaaNaapatyas’ or ‘GaaNaapathas’. When they talk about the greatness of their ‘Upaasanaa Murthy’, there is one, not so easily disputable logic that they can put across.
50. “When you start the pooja of any of your Gods,” they say, “ you first make a representative symbolic GaNesa with turmeric powder and pay your obeisances to him before proceeding with your pooja, don’t you? We do not make such initial prayer to any other God, as you do for PiLLaiyar! From this you can make out that, our PiLLaiyar is much more powerful than all your Gods! Even Vaishnava-s do pooja to PiLLaiyar in the name of Vishvaksenar or Thumbikkai Aazhvar. Anyway, he gets the first Pooja as the foremost in the protocol. Just because there is mention of Easwara, AmbaaL, Vishnu and Murugan in the sloka-s about GaNesa, it does not mean that his fame is due to them. But actually if you see the purana-s, you will notice that, some time or the other, all these Gods have had to seek his support and achieved their aims with his assistance only!” You can never be able to prove them wrong!
51. Yes there can be no comparative study of Gods. We just cannot think of one God as superior and another as inferior. They are all for the playful satisfaction of the One Paramatma and enable in his efficient functioning. They are there to suit the variation in human preferences and attitudes. So as to focus their devotion, the mythological stories may depict one in a more favourable light sometimes. This is not to mean that there is a competition on, between Gods, for gaining popularity and gain our votes as though! But, in all of them there is never a story depicting GaNesa in an unfavourable light. There are many stories about the other Gods, when they have had to gain his favour and support, at some time or the other. We will see some of them in the next e-mail.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 3 (Vol #4) Dated 28 April 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 3 (Vol #4) Dated 28 April 2010.

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from the last paragraph on page 14 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com constantly

25. Much before the advent of Krishna, NarayaNa who is the basis or origin of Dasa Avatara and Parvathy, have been known to be brother and sister. Neither have parents. They are both essentially Para Brhma Swaroopa. But if Siva is the end, peaceful, static point of all creation when it has all been cancelled out after Samhara; NarayaNa and Parvathy as NarayaNi are both the male and female form of intense participation in re-creation of the functional (vyavaharik) universe, by their power of Maya!
26 Actually there are no separate Gods. There is no two or three or multiplication and proliferation, but only one! But to make what is be-yond comprehension and words to explain, a whole galaxy of Gods are imagined. That one divinity is said to be Sivam, when as yet untouched by the drama of creation (srushti ) and functioning ( vyavaharikam ) of the universe. When involved in this drama of a functional world, in the male form it is assumed to be NarayaNa and in the female form it is thought of as NarayaNi or Parvathy! This NarayaNa and NarayaNi are considered as brother and sister. They also look, dress and decorate alike with similar character qualities! So they are said to be brother and sister. Brhma & Lakshmi and Siva & Saraswathy are similarly related.
27. I was talking about how the sister’s son (nephew) is known as, ‘maru magan’ in Tamil, (meaning another son), is also son-in-law, in the case of Murugan, son of Parvathy. He is nephew of Vishnu and is also the son-in-law. Both VaLLi and Devasena were originally Mahavishnu’s daughters, who later were brought up by different foster parents. They are the two wives of Subrahmanya or Murugan, as the story goes. So Mahavishnu as maternal uncle is also father-in-law!
28. Contortion by the Uncle Vishnu. Though not related like this by a marriage, this uncle Mahavishnu and nephew PiLLaiyar are very close. The best way of getting close to children is through, mimicry and buffoonery. Some contortions of the body or at least the face will do wonders with them. In the traditional approach to PiLLaiyar, one such gimmick that his uncle Vishnu did, is important. When we think of PiLLaiyar, we do think of ‘dobir karNam’, catching hold of one’s ears on opposite sides, by the hands across the chest while standing and then sitting on your haunches. You have to do so three times! Nowadays this has been included in Yogasanas.
29. Unlike other Gods, PiLLaiyar is not a punishing God! If you go to PerumaL, you have to do ‘anga pradakshinam’, in which you have to lie flat with your hands joined high above your head and role. Thus you have to go around the temple in the outer ‘prahara’ which may be anywhere from 400 to 800 metres, one side! Or you have to climb a mountain known as ‘muzhangal murichchaan’ or the ‘knee breaker’! For Murugan you carry the milk or sandal paste, in two containers hung on either side of a pole. The pole is carried on the shoulder by the devotee. This is known as the ‘Kavadi’! Some people take this to extremes of physical torture, by piercing their body parts with small and big spears to represent the ‘Vel’, the weapon of Subrahmanya. For Easwara you have to fast and keep awake the whole night on ‘Maha Siva Rathri’! Without any such difficult efforts, PiLLaiyar gives us the least amount of trouble. That too in jest! I am talking about this practice of, ‘knocking on the high forehead with the knuckles (known as PiLLaiyar Kuttu) and this you do as you go on your haunches and getting up three times, while catching hold of the ears’! If a child watches some elder doing this, it will look at it in wonder and will mimic that with a smile on its face.
30. This practice of ‘thoppu-k- karNam’ as known in Tamil was origi-nally started by Maha Vishnu only! Once, as the story goes, Maha Vishnu visited his sister AmbaaL in Kailasa, to meet his brother-in-law and play with his nephew. He happened to show some tricks with his ever present ‘chakra aayudha’ to the baby PiLLaiyar. The child ex-tending its trunk picked up the ‘chakra aayudha’ and put it in his mouth. Maha Vishnu had to do some monkey tricks to get the thing out, before the child swallows it, as it normally happens with children.
31. It was then that, Maha Vishnu quickly thought of this contortion of the body, doing ‘thoppu-k-karNam’! PiLLaiyar, this child of ‘prasanna vadanam’, felt thrilled and laughed repeatedly. When he did that, the ‘chakra aayudha’ of Vishnu fell out from PiLLaiyar’s mouth and Vishnu quickly picked it up. This since then, became a method of showing our regards to PiLLaiyar as well as remind him of this above incident, I suppose!
32. Mahavishnu catching hold of his ears with his hands across his chest, is ‘dhorbi: karNam’, in Sanskrit. ‘dhorbi:’ means, by hands; ‘karNam’ means ears. This action in Tamil has become, ‘thoppikkarNam’ or ‘thoppuk-k-karNam’ poduvathu. It is not ‘karaNam’, but ‘karNam’ only. The evidence for the fact that this was not just started by any other human being but by Mahavishnu himself, lies in the word, ‘dhorbi: karNam’, itself! To make you understand that, I have to teach you some Sanskrit grammer!
33. In Tamil and English, we have the singular and plural only. We consider that more than one is plural. In Sanskrit there are three ‘ekam, dvi and bahu vachanam’ for singular, dual and plural respectively. In Tamil, they are, orumai, irumai and panmai respectively. The underlined ‘dual’ in English and ‘irumai’ in Tamil are words coined now, to make it clear to you. Only in Sanskrit, we have a ‘dvi vachanam’, between the singular and plural. Depending on this, the verbs in Sanskrit undergo changes, much more than it happens in other languages. May be because there are many pairs in existence, such as, male - female, good - bad, inside - outside, sivam - sakti, paramatma - jeevatma, sati - pati, bhagawan - bhakta, guru - sishya and so on! So this has been given a special place in Sanskrit grammer.
34. If this action of catching the ears had been started by human be-ings, as the human being has only two hands, the changes to the verb should correctly have been as done for the dual variation. To catch the ear with one hand would have been, ‘doshaa karNam’ and with two hands, ‘dorbyaam karNam’. That phrase in Tamil usage would have become, ‘toppaang karNam’ and not, ‘toppik-karNam. Since Mahavishnu has four hands, the verb would have undergone variation as applicable to ‘bahu vachanam’ as, ‘dorbi: karNam’! This phrase would have undergone changes in Tamil usage as ‘toppik-karNam’, as is obtaining today! So, it is to be understood that the phrase in its original form was not the creation of a human being! The very phrase is evidently coined by someone with more than two hands. That too, the action of catching hold of the two ears by hands crosswise and doing sit-ups, much liked by PiLLaiyar and all children, was inaugurated by the uncle Mahavishnu originally.
35. Now about this sloka starting with ‘suklaambaradaram’, which we all say to start with any of our religious and ceremonial ‘karya’, though thought to be addressed towards PiLLaiyar; does not contain any reference to PiLLaiyar, surprisingly! None of his names such as, GaNapathy, GaNesa, Vinayaka, and or words such as, Gowrisuta or Sivatmaja; have been used in the sloka. His ‘vahanam’ (carrier – mooshika the rodent rat), or favourite weapon (paashahastha), or favourite dish (modaka) find a mention in that sloka! None of his physical identifications such as, gajamukha (elephant faced), ekadanta (whose one tusk had been broken thus giving him the name of ‘single tusked’); or lambhodara (whose tummy is big); are referred! Not mentioning even a single one of his famous exploits!
36. The sloka is as follows:- “shuklaambaradharam, vishnum, sasi varNam, chaturbhujam I prasanna vadanam dyaayet sarva vigna upa saantaye II” ‘shuklaambaradharam’ = wearing white dress; so do all males. Those who wear other colours are referred as ‘pitambaradhari’ or ‘raktambaradhari’ wearing yellow or red dress respectively. So, the first word does not refer to only PiLLaiyar! Next word is, ‘vishnum’! This means, ‘Omni present’, especially known as a name for PiLLaiyar’s uncle and not him! So, the nephew gets the name of his maternal uncle and we also are reminded of him only and not PiLLaiyar!
37. Next is, ‘sasi varNam’ = of the colour of the moon; so is Easwara and Saraswathy! This is followed by ‘chatur bhujam’ = four armed; this is the common characteristic of all deities! So, again it does not necessarily refer to PiLLaiyar! Then the sloka talks of, ‘prasanna vadanam’ = smiling faced; can you think of a God who is not having a pleasant smiling face? Except for KaaLi, Nrusimha Murthy, Veera Bhadra and such Ugra Swaroopa-s, all Gods are pleasant faced only! But, more than any other God, in one way, it will be agreed that PiLLaiyar has a smiling face dripping happiness, with a broad countenance of a baby elephant!
38. For each of the above five words, we have to knock on the fore-head with our knuckles, known in Tamil as ‘kuttik-koLvadhu’- five times! Then we have to do ‘dhyaayet’ that is think deeply of, ‘sarva vigna upa saantaye’! Having not mentioned a word of his name or any of the known characteristics, now you have to deeply think about that special ability of that God, who can get all your trouble cancelled! That is PiLLaiyar! Before starting on any venture or endeavour, think of him and pray – say this sloka and at least once do the ‘kuttu’!
39. Even before the child grows up to be able to learn any of these sloka-s by heart, the child is told, “Son, before starting anything, think of PiLLaiyar and pray to him to obviate all sorts of problems”. Then as he grows up, the moment he hears the words, ‘sarva vigna upa saantaye’, he knows that we are praying to our PiLLaiyar. The word ‘vishnu’ in the sloka is indicative of the very closeness between the uncle and nephew!

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 2 (Vol #4) Dated 26 April 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 2 (Vol #4) Dated 26 April 2010.

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from the last paragraph on page 8 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com constantly updated.)
12. In the early part of ‘Vishnu Sahasranama’ in a sloka about Veda Vyasa, it starts with his great grandfather Vasishta and goes down to, Vyasa’s son Sukacharya. Had he a son, may be it would have gone down from generation to generation, in that order, may be! Suka was a ‘Nitya Brhmachari’ (lifelong celibate) and so had no son of his own. From him it goes down the channel of disciples!
13. Suka’s disciple was Gowda Paada. Gowda Paada’s sishya (disciple) was Govind Bhagawat Paada, whose sishya was Our Adi Sankara Bhagawat PaadaaL, the SankaracharyaL! At the start of anything and everything, it is good that we have come to remember the Guru Parampara (lineage). Especially while talking of Vigneshwara, it is good to remember Vyasa; who dictated the whole of Maha Bharatha and our PiLLaiyar wrote it all down on the Meru mountain with one of his tusks. So, I am happy to be able to remember Vyasa at this point in time.
14. I quote that sloka referred in para 12 above. “vyasam vasishta naptaaram shakte –p-poutram akhalmasham I paraasara + aatmajam vande suka taatam taponidhim II” vasishta naptaaram = great grandson of vasishta; sakte-p-poutram = Sakti Maharishi’s grandson; parasara aatmajam = Parasara’s son; suka taatam = Suka’s father; tapo nidhim = rich in austere observances; akhalmasham = faultless; vyaasam = (such a person ) Vyasa, him I; vande = revere.
15. Now let us go back to that introductory ‘pravaram’ of PiLLaiyar, quoted in the last paragraph of the last e-mail. “matamaha maha sailam mahastat apitaamaham I kaaraNam jagataam vande kantaad upari vaaraNam II” In it the first reference is that of the maternal grandfather! Normally in ‘pravaram’ only the paternal forefathers of up to three generations back will be mentioned. Only in Pithru TarpaNam, the maternal forefathers and grandmothers are mentioned! But, here the problem is different. Our PiLLaiyar has a Father and Mother. But his father Easwara is ‘swayambu’, that is, self created and so is the Mother! So there could not have been any grandparents! To be like everybody else, the Mother of all is said to be the daughter of the Himalayan Mountain Ranges! So, ‘matamaha mahasailam’ = maternal grandfather is the big mountain. No ‘pitamaha’ that is, paternal grandfather!
16. In actual fact there is no birth, no father or mother for AmbaL. She is the original cause of creation. She is the source of all. For the sake of ‘Leela’ the play, she has also come as, daughter of Daksha as DaakshayaNi, daughter of Himawan as Parvathy, daughter of Malayadwaja as Meenakshi and daughter of Kaatyaayana as Kaatyaayani!
17. The moment we take the name of Paramasiva, the name that comes to our mind is that of Parvathy, as the daughter of Parvata the mountain. That was later, much later, after she had been Daakshayani, attended Daksha Yagna uninvited, felt ignored and insulted by her own father, sacrificed her life not wanting to continue bearing the name of DaakshayaNi. Then she is born as Parvathy and attains to Siva after much Tapasya of austerities! Melting the heart of Siva, who had burnt cupid the God of Love Manmatha out of existence, caused Siva to become a householder and beget children! With this Parvathy in mind, the sloka says that ‘the maternal grandfather is maha sailam, the mountain!
18. If your objection is about first mentioning the maternal grandfather’s name against all tradition, asking us to talk about the paternal side, the answer comes promptly, ‘mahastat apitaamaham’. This great being is ‘apitaamaham’ = sans paternal grandfather! “You know how great this boy’s background is? I do not have to talk about his parents at all. His mother’s father is the Himawan, the great huge Himalayas! He had do tapasya to get this boy’s mother as his daughter! He has no paternal grandfather, which evidently means that this boy’s father is self created!” That is the message of the first line of the sloka, “maataamaha maha sailam mahastat apitaamaham”.
19. Having said so in the first half of the sloka, in the second half it says, “Do not think that this boy is really the child of a father and mother only! He is also a Brhmaswarupa of immortal existence! He is the causal truth of all existence, because of whom everything else exists”. “kaaraNam jagataam vande” meaning, I bow to that causal reason for all that exists.
20. That causal thing for our sake is of the human form. Above the head it is of the form of an elephant! To make us keep looking at it with love and wonder, it has the face of a baby elephant! That is what the sloka says completing the second line, “kantaad upari varaNam”.
21. Uncle’s Greatness. Having the Himalayas as the maternal grandfather is one feather in his cap. Having no paternal grandfather is another. This PiLLaiyar has some more merits to be mighty proud of! There is another sloka in which our PiLLaiyar’s greatness as accruing due to his being related to his maternal uncle Maha Vishnu has been praised. “sri kaanto maatulo yasya janani sarva mangaLaa I janaka: sankaro deva: tam vande kunjaraananam II” Contrary to normal practice, I was talking about how in the previ-ously quoted sloka, maternal grandfather has been mentioned first. There is some logic in such changed order too. When referring to parents singly, we say, “matru devo bhava, pitru devo bhava, aachaarya devo bhava, atiti devo bhava;” in which mother is mentioned first. Similarly in Tamil too, “annaiyum pitaavum munnari deivam”, mother is mentioned first. Going one step beyond, in this above quoted sloka, even before the parents, maternal uncle gets mentioned first!
22. “sri kaanto maatulo yasya”, means, ‘The one whose mother’s brother is Sri’s Husband, Maha Vishnu’! ‘Matular’ is Mama, Uncle, that is as related to mother. PiLLiyar loves the Matulam Pazham, the pomegranate and is adored by his Mama the Matular. Sri Kaantan means the husband of Lakshmi, the Sri! By taking her name the sloka starts with an auspices beginning, with not only the name of the uncle but that of auntie’s too.
23. Maha Vishnu amongst the trio has the job of governance with Maha Lakshmi as the presiding deity of all wealth. So our PiLLaiyar as their nephew, is shown once again as highly placed and highly connected! A truly ‘a peria Idathu piLlai’! His younger brother Subrahmanya is more closely connected as the son-in-law of the Maha Vishnu family. In most of the Thiruppugazh songs, he is repeatedly addressed as ‘murugone and marugone!’ Sister’s son is known as ‘maruman’ who is also the rightful claimant of the uncle’s daughter.
24. Maha Vishnu is AmbaaL’s sibling. She is called ‘Narayana sahodari’ to mean, sister of Narayana. Though there are stories about her being born as DaakshayaNi, Parvathy and Meenakshi; there is no story or PuraNa of her such birth as the sister of Vishnu! Their birth or coming into being is not to be crudely thought of on the lines of mortal human existence. During Krishna Avatara, there was just a semblance of their being born as a brother and sister! When Krishna Paramatma was born as a baby for Vasudeva & Devaki, simultaneously, AmbaaL was born to Nandagopa & Yasoda. When the whole of the world was in the grip of their Maya, Vasudeva carried the new born Krishna across the Yamuna river to Brindavan, left him beside Yasoda and brought back AmbaaL back to the jail as per orders of Bhagawan. When Kamsa came to kill the new born, he was nonplussed to see a female baby. When he lifted it to smash it on the ground, AmbaaL slipped out of his hands and was air borne. She laughed and told him that his nemesis is elsewhere. Having made this statement, she disappeared in to thin air! So goes the Bhagawata narrative.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 1 (Vol #4) Dated 24 April 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 1 (Vol #4) Dated 24 April 2010.
(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from page One of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com constantly updated.)

MANGALA AARAMBAM – AUSPICIOUS BEGINNING

1. Peria Idathu Pillai. (The child from the big place!) Even if the baby is too small, if it happens to be from a rich family of high status, people will try to be very kind to it and do all sorts of antics to evoke a smile form that baby! Earlier on they used to say, ‘Prince of Wales, or Raja ka Beta’. Later possibly ‘Zamindar’s or Mirasdar’s or Collector’s son’ and may be nowadays, they are saying ‘the child of an M.L.A. (a political big wig)’! Even if that child is not being very attractive or is being difficult, people will act as though he or she is the darling of all connoisseurs!
2. Do you know the reason why? Through being not very pleasing towards the baby, they do not want to antagonize the father, who can prove to be a pain on the side, for the visitor! Mostly people may accept being berated. But they are likely to react negatively if their child is looked down upon! There is a saying in Tamil that even for the crow, its offspring is golden (kakkai-k-kum tan kunju pon kunju). So, if a man higher in status and social standing gets annoyed, just because his child has been ignored or not praised, it may adversely affect the visitors job in hand! So, it is better to show a bit of assumed affection and appreciation of imaginary good qualities in that child.
3. As against this, the shortest route to a parent’s heart is through praising of their child! They will be happy, their hearts thrilled. By this process, one can get anything out of them. It is always difficult to satisfy the elders. But to win the heart of a baby is ever so easy. A toffee or a doll will do. If nothing else, some monkey trick will do most sufficiently! The child will be happy and so will the parents be in the bargain.
4. Now if you go about asking successively as to who is that ‘piLLai (son) + yar (who)? = piLLayar’, son of a Mirasdar, a Zamindar, an M.L.A., Minister, Chief Minister, Prime Minister, President of the Nation and so on. The quest will have to lead you on to the Supreme Ruler of all Universes, the God. Now has he got a son? Yes! He is the same one you have been searching for, He is one known as ‘PiLLayar ‘Himself!
5. Above all Kings and Presidents, He is the Son of Lord God of them all. He is the elder son. The first child is ‘Saadhu’, quiet and well behaved. He is easy to be pleased. But that is not to mean that you can afford to be careless. He has a mighty impressive look of an elephant, capable of putting hurdles in the way, if you are not careful. He has shown that He could put some blocks in the way for His own Parents! Thereby he warns us not to be flippant about Him! If you do some pooja to please Him as ‘chinna ejamaan’ or ‘Chota Saheb’ or the ‘Young Lord’; He is pleased and Parvathy Parameswara are pleased too!
6. After all, they are the Master and Mistress of the whole worlds of moving and non-moving, animate and inanimate life forms. We can get all the benefits from them. But, to do Siva Pooja or Am-baaL Pooja is full of too many procedural difficulties. They are called ‘aasu toshi and kshipra prasadini’ to mean, ‘those who are easily satisfied and grant plenty of benefits’. However, there are too many Do’s and Don’ts when you go to their temples, stand here only, do Namaskarams here, don’t use so and so flower, and so on! In Sri Chakra Pooja, if you make a mistake in ‘Madi / Aachaaram’ (in observance of the rules and regulations,) it can have adverse effects on generations yet to be born, we are told. They say that if you misuse Siva’s property, your progeny is ad-versely affected! Such things are fearsome to even think of! Re-lated to all this it is certainly easier to take refuge in our PiLLayar.
7. He is easily approached and satisfied. He is there everywhere. We only have to pull a clutch of the ubiquitous ‘Arugam Pul’, the grass that grows everywhere and put it on Him and He is happy with that! Out of all flowers, you need only the ‘Erukkan Poo’, that is not sold, that nobody decorate their hair with, available in plenty in the wild; if you pick up a few of them and offer them at His feet, with no expenses involved, you have done it! He is not very choosy about the fruits too! Some ‘pirappam(small fruits 7mm thick with a slightly hard skin, whose name I do not know in English!) or some jam fruit; will fit the bill. If you can get some banana and jack fruit to thrill Him, you can get a coconut that will chill Him!
8. Even that coconut, you may smash it on hard ground so that the pieces scatter in all directions, making children happy to pick up the pieces. With that, PiLLayar is very happy because He is a fan of the children who are His fans. Breaking coconuts like that is known as ‘Chidaru Thengai’! (Refer to Deivathin Kural #1 to 4 of Volume 3 dated Oct 2008.)
9. If you are a man of further means, then you can specially make some ‘Modakam’, (cakes of rice paste with fillings of shredded coconut sweetened with jaggery, sealed with the same rice paste and steamed), instead of toffees. You only have to show him all this and eat and share with others. ‘Modakam’ means ‘happiness’! He looks as though bubbling happiness has taken a form, as a baby elephant. So we do not have to do something to tickle Him. If we go to Him and stand beside Him, He is happy. Thus we can earn His goodwill and through Him the blessings of His parents!
10. There is no problem in going near Him. We do not have to take pains to go somewhere. Every nook and corner, river bank and on the side of a pond or a lake, under a Aala Maram (banyan tree) and Arasa Maram, (king of trees) He is there everywhere, with or without a roof over His head! No rules and restrictions such as, ‘you cannot go that side of the flag pole; we should not walk between the Nandi and Siva; we cannot enter inside the sanctum sanctorum; and such regulations’. All that He has is one room or in the open air with the sky for a roof or just under the canopy of the tree! He does not differentiate between the castes. No special effort need be made to enter the temple. All open spaces are His!
11. If a child has to respected specially and show all difference as due to his status, the custom was to give a formal introduction known as, ‘pravaram’. There is a sloka of ‘pravaram’ for PiLLayar as under:- “matamaha maha sailam mahastat abhitaamaham I kaaraNam jagataam vande kantadu pari vaaraNam II” As per tradition, ‘pravaram’ should be talking about the great-grand-father too! But, here it stops with the grandfather of the Mother side first, that too!

(Let us continue with the introduction that is ‘pravaram’, in the next e-mail.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 215 (Vol #3) Dated 22 April 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 215 (Vol #3) Dated 22 April 2010.

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from page 1010 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com constantly updated.)

MANGALA AARATHIE

1. For the weaklings the support is Sri Ramachandra Murthy. “nir bal ke bal ram” says Surdas. When one is overwhelmed by bad times, who can be our saviour? It is Sri Rama only. We chant, “aabadaama apahartaaram”, then “agrata: prushta: cha eva, paarsvatasva maha bhalou”; (1.2.3. Dwadasa Nama Panjaram Uttara Bhagam), thereby meaning; at the time of grave difficulties, the protecting force in front and rear, on all sides, below and above, the most able, powerful force is Bhagawan Sri Ram! He is ever ready with the strings of His bow Kodandam stretched taut to shoot an arrow at our enemies and weaknesses. His younger brother Lakshmana is equally ready to follow suit, never leaving the elder brother alone! “aakarNa poorNou dhanwaanou rakshetaam Rama Lakshmanou” says the sloka, meaning thereby that ‘those with their bow strings stretched taut up to the ears, Rama & Lakshmana take care’. But this Avatara Purusha, the best amongst humans, this Veera (brave) Raghava, this Vijaya (victorious) Raghava, has clearly indicated that, He could complete the purpose of His coming to this earth as a human being, successfully because, He was so ably supported by the Maha Veera Anjaneya Hanuman!
2. He assumed the human role to perfection. When He acted so truly as though He was just not aware as to where Sita had been taken away and hidden, it was Anjaneya who searched for the Mother and located her whereabouts! More than He suffered by separation from ‘viola’, Sita suffered ten million times more! Rama’s problem was that His devoted wife was not nearby. But she had to suffer separation as well as bear with constant entreaty by that Raktchasa who had nothing else to do than pester Her!
3. Woman is known as ‘abala’, meaning powerless! The very Mother of all existence Maha Lakshmi, having come to the earth as Sita had to suffer all that threat and insult at Ashoka Vana! She was seriously deliberating committing suicide, by hanging from the branches of that very tree, at which she was looking up to, when She saw and heard Anjaneya chanting the name of Her beloved, ‘Ram, Ram’, by which She was saved! (It is interesting to note by the by that, the name of that forest or garden as ‘Ashoka Vana’ was a misnomer! Ashoka means, ‘devoid of sorrow’!)
4. There is no end to Anjaneya Hanuman’s exploits, not just one or two! But, out of all of them, the peak of His achievement was to arrive at the right point in time and space to be of help to Mother of all! What was Her condition at that time? She was like the plant which was shrinking dry unto itself, due to absence of rain. At that precise moment, He arrived ‘as the man on the spot’, like the monsoon clouds bearing rain and sustenance! That is why we emphasize this service of His saying, “anjana nandanam veeram janaki shoka nasanam”!
5. Having been born as the son of a monkey mother Anjana, he gave immense pleasure to her. There is nothing great in that! However much a son may be mischievous, he always gives happiness to his mother! At least till he is a child! That is why the child is known as ‘nandana’ to mean ‘the one who gives happiness’ like, Dasaratha Nanadana, Devaki Nandana and Anjana Nandana! That is alright. But the fact that, Hanuman not only made his mother happy, He made the Mother of all existence happy. Sitamma, the ideal for generations of mothers yet to be, it was Her great sorrow that He removed! For this act of His, we have to prostrate before Him repeatedly!
6. At that time inside Sita, the fire of sorrow was festering. When they lighted up Hanuman’s tail by tying a cloth around and dipping it in oil, it was not that fire which burnt the whole of Lanka. It was Sitamma’s Shoka Agni, which was inside the fire on His tail! Valmiki the author says this. “ya: shoka vanhim janakaatmajaayaa: aadaaya teneiva dadaaha lankaam”. ‘janaka aatmajaayaa:’ = Janaka’s daughter’s. ‘Shoka vanhi’ = festering fire of sorrow. ‘teneiva’ = by that only. ‘lankaam dadaaha’ = burnt the Lanka.
7. ‘When Anjaneya’s tail was lighted up, it did not affect him in any-way, because of Sita’s wishes.’ We all know this. But that He could act as the ‘incendiary bomb’, was the power of Her sorrow! It was that ‘shoka agni’ that Ravana put in the tail of Hanuman. Who gave him the idea to do so? When Ravana got that idea, it was a situation of the end of tethers for Janaki. The one man who came to help her was a prisoner. That was the ‘last straw ‘ so to say ‘on the camel’s back’! The world could not have borne Her sorrow anymore! It was like the volcano about to burst. Somebody had to bear it and let it off. Who could it be other than Anjaneya Hanuman?
8. No one else could have done that. That is why, Ravana got the idea to do so. It did not make any difference to Hanuman. He felt, “How does it matter if they light up my tail. They do not know what I can do with it!” It was Janaka Aatmaja’s fire of sorrow that He took upon Himself to light up the whole of Lanka. It was the fire of discrimination which punished only the wicked and spared the good people. Because it was the fire of Her sorrow, it did not hurt Her husband’s messenger and support!
9. The greatest assistance provided by Anjaneya was to find and tell Him the whereabouts of Sita. The greatest assistance rendered to Sita was the assurance that Rama will come to save Her! That too when she was seriously thinking of committing suicide. His coming to Ashoka Vana was the silver lining on the otherwise dark perspective! Thus Anjaneya proved to be the tangible support for both Rama and Sita. But how could He do all that? He could do all that by the power of Rama and by the power of Rama Nama!
10. He jumped over the ocean between Lanka and the southern reaches of the Indian subcontinent. He could do that by chanting the Rama Nama, by the power of those two words! When Sita was ready to give up life, how did He save Her? Not by prostrating before Her and begging Her not to die! She would have thought of him as another trick of the Rakshasa’s maya. Once bitten twice shy, the saying goes. Having been duped by Ravana once by presenting Mareecha as a golden deer, she was not going to be duped anymore. Everything looked like a magic trick for Sita. Hanuman knew this. By his perfect celibacy of years of Brhmacharya he could read other’s minds crystal clear! So what did He do when Sita was about to give up Her life? He simply started chanting the Rama Nama. He started saying the ‘Rama Katha’ with reverence. Rama Nama by the mouth of Hanuman had the power to chase away all duplicity and delusion of Maya. The fire of Sita’s sorrow was quenched by being drenched by the sprinkling of Rama Nama Amirta! In gratitude, She granted that the fire should not scorch the giver of Amirta.
11. Both Sita and Rama often spoke about their gratitude to Hanuman for being kind enough to save them from certain death. Saving Sita when She was about to give ‘prana aahuti’, saving Rama and Laxmana (who was dearer to Rama than even Sita), by bringing ‘sanjeevani oushadi’ at the most opportune moment; Rama felt indebted to Hanuman, that can never be paid for! Both Rama and Sita were forever looking for opportunities for returning the compliments!
12. How did they reciprocate for their indebtedness? Once the coronation of Sri Rama took place, after a gap of 14 years, Rama was giving away prizes to all the people who had assembled there. He had given a beautiful Pearls necklace to Sita. She had removed it from her neck and was keeping it in her hands. She glanced all over the assemblage and looked at Her husband again. As a couple with complete unity of perspective, they both made a plan to felicitate Hanuman in front of all the assemblage. It is as though Sita asked Sri Rama, just by her looks as to who should this pearls necklace be given to? The answer was given by Rama that, the Pearl Necklace be given to the one who has indomitable power, wide range of abilities, discerning intelligence, analytical brains and sincere humility!
13. Sita gave it to Anjaneya. As the award is given immediately after the citation has been read, without mentioning the name when Rama listed the qualitative requirements, She gave the Pearl Necklace to Anjneya Hanuman. Had He said give it to so and so, there could have been some reactions as to why! Since Hanuman had all these qualities and all were aware of the same, the award was well received by the assemblage!
14. In the ambient atmosphere of the Pattabhisheka (corona-tion), this was a grand gesture by Sita and Rama. The way the pearl necklace rolled on his massive chest, it looked like some white cloud had come to rest on a mountain valley highlighted by a full moon above (his face)!
15. First time when Sri Rama met Hanuman in Rishya Srunga mountain range, it seems that Rama had already decided that the story of Ramayana was going to proceed further with this man playing an important role! At that time despite having Hanuman as his friend and guide, Sugriva was in a bad state, having lost his wife and suffering due to Vali’s domination. He had carefully investigated Rama and had identified that He was good, powerful and worth cultivating a friendship. He had sent Hanuman to Sri Rama for this purpose only. But Rama could easily foresee that Hanuman is going to be a ‘king pin’! After all, the same Hanuman as Easwara had pre-decided that the drama of Ramayana should unfold in such and such a manner!
16. So by the very way Anjaneya enquired about them, he could correctly assess His capabilities and shower encomiums of praise on Anjaneya while introducing Him to Laxmana as, “New master of grammer, scholar of philology (‘sollin selvan’) and so on. Do not think of Him as only good in talking. He is a multi faceted personality of many capabilities. If the world is a chariot, He is the pin on either side of the axle, holding the wheels in place! In other words, He is the ‘king pin’! Though you may not know him now, one day or the other, you will know Him in all truth!” I quote, “aaNi ivvulagukku ellaam.......pinnark kaaNudi meymmai”.
17. Due to the ‘shaapam’ (curse) of a Rishi, Anjaneya was temporarily unaware of His own capabilities and greatness. It was during that period that, despite having Him as his friend, Sugriva had lost his ‘wife and kingdom’. Very soon Jaambavaan was to remind Hanuman of His powers, thereby annulling the effect of the Rishi ‘shaapam’! Hanuman was yet to do the ‘saagara dharaNam, Lanka Dahanam’ and such exploits! That is why Rama tells Laxmana that ‘you will see for yourself as to how great Hanuman is’!
18. Ramayana is a world by itself. It has seven cantos with seven worlds. This chariot came to a standstill – when Sita had been taken away and Rama started searching for her! The mo-ment Rama met Anjaneya, He knew that He has found the ‘king pin’! The chariot of Ramayana starts running again at once! Sugriva who was in a slump wakes up and challenges Vaali. Rama kills Vaali with His arrows. The monkey teams start a search for Sita in all corners of the globe. Location of Sita in Lanka, the great fire of Lanka, construction of the bridge on the ocean –‘setu bandanam’, Rama – Ravana Yuddham (war), fol-lowed by Pattabhishekam (coronation); the epic moves on inexorably only after that. In all this, the major share of action is that of Anjaneya Hanuman!
19. Till half of Ramayana was over, nobody knew this Hanu-man at all. He enters in Kishkinda Kaandam and becomes more important than the Hero of the epic (kavyam). Then the whole of Sundara Kaandam is all His play. The ardent devotees of Rama will still do ‘paaraayanam’ of this chapter Sundara Kaandam only when it comes to using such action for success in their endeavours! Thus, once Rama met Anjaneya, it was as though, Rama handed over the control of the chariot and told him to take it wherever He wants to! Rama Nama was His. But He used Anjaneya to wield the Rama Nama for saving Sita! He got Anjaneya to fly to Lanka by the power of Rama Nama, while He had to walk the distance!
20. “Whatever I do is all Rama’s Grace”, thought Anjaneya. He also knew that, “It was all Sita’s Anugraha”. He never took pride for having done ‘sagara dharaNam’ and ‘Lanka dahanam’. He knew that it was the power of Rama Nama, that He could fly across the ocean and that it was Sita’s agony that burnt Lanka. He was thankful to Sita and Rama, that they were kind enough to make use of Him for their intended purposes!
21. We generally compete with each other in all our endeavours for getting aids, bonuses, prizes, awards and free dole! Then we have the feeling that we have done so much for others and that we have been dealt badly! But Sita – Rama – Anjaneya, all three of them, have the feeling that they can never be able to pay back properly for the favours received! This is a big lesson for all of us in Ramayana.
22. Anjaneya who was mighty powerful felt that Rama was the cause of his powers. Directly proportional to His powers, He was humble to the core! Generally as the saying goes, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely!” In the case of Hanuman, He was absolutely powerful and also absolutely ‘vinay sheel’! We have neither power nor humility! Let us all pray to Rama to endow us with the capacity for diligent work and lack of pride!

(MangaLam. With that we come to the end of Volume three of Deivathin Kural. We will be starting with the Volume IV from the next e-mail onwards!)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 214 (Vol #3) Dated 19 April 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 214 (Vol #3) Dated 19 April 2010.

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from page 1010 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com constantly updated.)
25. There is a custom of not mentioning the name of persons who are very respectable or loved as a show of difference, like saying ‘His Highness’ in English. Similarly in Bhagawatam, without mentioning the name of Radha, it has been indicated obliquely, they say! Followers of the sect of Radho-Shyam would say that, Radha is ever so slightly superior to even Sri Krishna. They will point out the fact that when they had a tiff of love, Sri Krishna had to clutch her feet and beg her pardon! So, they would say that, Her name has been kept in the back ground, so as to maintain the aspect of mystery!
26. When Sri Krishna is dancing around with all the Gopika girls, suddenly Krishna disappears. They all search for Him. Then they notice two pairs of foot-steps leading away. They identify one pair of foot marks as that of Krishna. The other is presumed to be of someone who specially adored Krishna (Bhagawatam 10.30.28). Similarly, by not mentioning the name of Meenakshi directly, its value has been enhanced.
27. So OK! Where is the indirect mention of Meenakshi occurring in Lalita Sahasranaama? In the beginning, in the line 12 it says, “vaktra lakshmi parivaaha chalan meenaabha lochana”. ‘vaktra lakshmi’ means the brilliance of AmbaaL’s face, which is like a flood. ‘parivaaha’ means a ‘pravaaham’, a flow. In such a flood, there has to be fishes. Where is the fish in this flood of facial brilliance? Her long eyes ‘lochanam’ are the fish. The word ‘look’ must have evolved from that word ‘lochanam’, that is the tool for seeing, from which is arrived at, the whole world of ‘lokam’! In Tamil too, ‘paar’ means to ‘see’ and its other meaning is the ‘world’. The world = ‘lokam’ = ‘paar’ and it has no reality other than the reality that is seen as appearance. So, Her eyes are ‘meenaabha lochana’ that is, the eyes of shape of the fish! So, all said and done, one complaint is over. There is a mention of Meenakshi in Lalita Sahasranaama.
28. Now let us look at Soundarya Lahari. There are many sloka-s describing the beauty of Her eyes. I am quoting the first two lines of one of them (No. 56). “tavaparNe karNe japanayana paisunya chakitaa: nileeyante thoye niyatam animeshaa: sapharikaa:” ‘ tava’ = you; ‘aparNe’ = One of AmbaaL’s name is AparNa, meaning leafless like some of the plants and trees in the fall season. He is just addressing Her by that name ‘Aparne!’; ‘japa nayana’ = the eyes which seem to be talking (to); ‘karNe’ = the ears; what are they saying? ‘paisunya chakitaa:’ = seemingly complaining about them; about whom? ‘saparikaa:’ = the female fishes; ‘animeshaa:’ = with unwinking eyes, that is, keeping their eyes watchfully open; ‘niyatam’ = surely; ‘nileeyante’ = submerge.
29. Fishes are mostly swimming under water. They rarely come up to the surface. Even if they do, they will quickly go back diving. Here Adi Sankara is giving a reason for their doing so! The fishes observed the Mother’s eyes stretching up to the ears. The eyes of the Mother of the whole universe, is keeping a track of the welfare of all the life forms all the time. So they are flitting about in all directions. Sometime in a side long glance, they seem to be stretching up to the ears on either of the sides, as though touching them and telling them some secret! What secret could it be?
30. The fishes do look like the eyes only. Are the eyes complaining to the ears that these fishes are trying to mimic them and compete with them? If Mother the supreme power decides to take any counter action, where will they go? So the fishes are trying to hide under water! Like Duryodana after losing went and hid in the lake under water, having lost to the Mother’s eyes in a beauty competition, the female fishes are going and hiding deep in the water!
31. ‘saparikaa:’ are the female fishes. ‘paisunya’ means, to back bite. ‘chakitaa:’ is to shiver; this shivering could be by being afraid that Mother may take some offensive action against them. It could also be due to being ashamed that they are not able to match Mother’s eyes in beauty as well as in their ability to flitter! In Madurai Meenakshi Koil, in the pond of golden lotus (por-tamarai-kulam), the fishes are plenty, but not to be seen easily. (KTSV adds. There is another Meen Kulathu Bhagawati Temple, also known as Pallasena Bhagawati Temple, in Chithoor near Palakkad, in Kerala. Many devotees of Tamil Nadu migrated to other states such as Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, mainly because they felt suffocated by a wave of anti-Brahmanism and anti-religious movements during the later part of 19th century. They created replicas of the temples they left behind, in the places where they migrated. Meen Kulathu Bhagawati Temple is a version of Meenakshi Amman Koil of Madurai.)
32. I hope now it is clear that Meenakshi has been mentioned in Soundarya Lahari too. There is another inner agenda in comparing Mother’s eyes to that of the fish. Human beings and most of the animals are mammals. They suckle their young. Birds and some crawlers are those that lay eggs, hatch them and nurture their young by feeding them with worms and insects.
33. What does the fish do? It lays the eggs, but does not hatch them. It neither suckles them nor does it feed its young. Let the scientists of Zoology and Biology say whatever. As per traditional belief of ours, the mother fish hatches the eggs by her sight. Then she feeds the young also by her mere look! The eyes of Mother Meenakshi do not only look like a fish, but they hatch the young by a look and feed and take care of them by a mere look! Who are Mother’s children? From the germs to insects, weeds to plants, everything of creation are her children only! In one sense, even Parameswara is considered as Her child only. As the fish feeds its young by just a glance, AmbaaL fills us with energy, sustenance and knowledge, by a mere look of Hers!
34. Soundarya Lahari does make a mention of AmbaaL Meenakshi by this word “animeshaa:” = ‘the non- winking being’, that is the AmbaaL who never sleeps! The time taken to wink one’s eyes is a ‘nimisham’. It is this word that has corrupted in to ‘minute’, like ‘Madurai’ has become ‘Marudai’, over time! The traditional belief is that the fish never sleeps. For that only our AachaaryaaL has given the logic of the fishes fearing that Mother’s eyes may be complaining against the fishes to the ears. Mother’s eyes never close even for a wink, because of Her care of the all the life forms. The eyes of the fishes too never close because of fear!
35. There is one more connection between Meenakshi and the fish. The Vaigai River in the past used to be known as Krutamaala. It is on the banks of this river that Vaivasvata Manu had his Kingdom. For him Vishnu took Matsya Avatara as the Fish! Neelakanta Dikshidar has referred to this incident humorously in ‘Siva Leela ArNavam’. “Maha Vishnu took so much pain to locate the Veda-s which was lost in the floods of (pralaya) dissolution of the world. Those Veda-s themselves are in search of your feet!” I quote, “aavishya kinnam nigamaan aseshaan amee na meenam pratamam smaraama: I aavishya maanam nigamair aseshai: amba snumaste vayamaakshi meenam II” .
36. There is a poem in Paripaadal which says that, “In Vanji the capital of Chera-s and in Uraiyoor the capital of the Chozha-s, they get up in the morning to the sounds of the cock; whereas here in the capital of Pandya-s, we wake up to the sounds of the chanting of the Veda-s! I quote, ‘naanmarai-k-kelvi navil kural eduppa ema vinruyil ezhudal alladai vaazhiya vanjiyum kozhiyum pola-k-kozhiyin ezhaadem peroor thuyile.”
37. AmbaaL has a tall edifice of Gopuram here. What is a Gopuram? Is it just a construction only? It is the fruit of the eternal tree of Dharma (sanatana dharma vruksham). If the tree is so tall, its roots must have gone deep underground! The roots are the Veda-s. In Madurai the roots of the Veda-s have gone far deep underground as well as in the conscience of the common man’s mind! She is the very personification of Naada (sound), Sangeetha (music) and Veda-s!
38. Wherever AmbaaL’s divine glance falls, that place becomes sweet. Sugar and honey are not as sweet as the nectar of Amirta the very look of Love and Compassion! While man is ever running after happiness, the sweetest happiness for all living beings is to realise one’s own completeness, that is, ‘pari poornatvam’! The fruit of neem which is bitter initially, becomes sour and then sweet. So does the bitter gourd! For all living things the sweetest experience is to set aside our separateness and realise our oneness! That sweet amirta is given by Meenaakshi’s eyes! Devoid of mundane attachments, we experience the happiness of release, moksha!
39. Muththuswami Deekshidar was granted that Moksha by Meenakshi who is also called Meenaambikai. That was an Amavasya and night was DeepaavaLi the festival of lights. Muthuswami Deekshidar had finished his pooja and was singing in praise of Meenaambikai completely lost to the world. He was describing AmbaaL’s brilliant emerald green colour saying, ‘maragatha chaaye’. He was saying ‘meena lochani (with eyes of the fish), paapa mochani’ (who gives release from all sins) and so on. As he kept singing, he totally dissolved himself and the presiding deity of music Meenakshi gave him what he had asked for – release from mortal existence!
40. Because her sweetness is pronouncedly apparent, the very name of the place became ‘Madurai’. Because the nectar of her Grace is spreading all around like the waves of the ocean, it should be called an Ocean of Anugraha. We noticed earlier that Her eyes are twinkling like the fishes in the ocean. Now we notice that there is an ocean of Grace emanating from Her eyes! So, inside the fish like eyes, there is another ocean, an ocean of compassion!
41. It is not as though, She is far off and only Her glance of Love falls on us, it is more intimate like the Mother on whose lap the babe is finding solace and protection, being able to hear Her sweet voice and lullaby, is available to all Her children. Her very look is giving us all ‘Nayana Deeksha’, which makes every resident of Madurai , lucky in-deed!
42. The fact that all of you residents of Madurai have come to have my ‘darshan’, makes me thrilled to have your ‘darshan’, as you are all the recipients of Mother Meenaambikai’s ‘kataksham’. This is a drop of that ocean of the Grace of Her eyes! Let us pray at Her feet for this Grace to spread all over the whole world encompassing all living beings in Her Love! Let us pray:- “maturapuri naayike namaste maturalaapa sukabhirama haste I malayadwaja pandya raja kanye mayi Meenakshi krupam videhi dhanye II” (The Empress of Maturapuri, who is holding the sweet sounding parrot in your hands, the daughter of the king of Pandyas who has the flag with the emblem of a mountain, prostrations to you while beseeching you to grant your grace on us!)
43. Let us happily keep singing Her praise with this clarity that we are all Her children, all over the world! (He gave this speech when he visited Madurai in April 1961.)

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 213 (Vol #3) Dated 17 April 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 213 (Vol #3) Dated 17 April 2010.

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from page 1004 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com constantly updated.)
11. In Tamil, there is a traditional name for AmbaaL as, ‘Ankayark-kaNNi’, which is ‘am (beautiful) + kayal (fish) + kaNNi (eyed)’ = with beautiful eyes like that of a fish. That is the Tamil name for Meenakshi! That is why all the young girls in Madurai are addressed as ‘ankachchi, ankachchi!’
12. There is another anecdote that occurred during the reign of this king Thirumalai Nayakar. There was one Neelakanta Deekshidar functioning as the Prime Minister who has written a sloka on Meenakshi by the name of ‘Ananda Sagara Sthavam’. He was the grandson of the younger brother of Appayya Deekshidar, considered to be an ‘amsa avatara’ of Siva. He was a man of erudite scholarship and devotion. There is a story of how he happened to write this.
13. Pandya kings have traditionally done much for the Meenakshi Koil over the years in terms of social service, repair and maintenance of the temple premises and contribution of a variety of ornaments to the temple and such. Under Neelakanta Deekshidar’s supervision a new building (mandapa) was being added. Sumandira Murthy Achari was the chief architect or Sthapati or Shilpi. He was getting some statues made of the king with his consorts, to be displayed in the new construction. While making the statue of the Queen, there was a small minute aberration on her right leg just above the knee that happened accidentally. In what was otherwise a beautiful statue, it became well neigh impossible to hide it! The Sthapati went to Neelakanta Deekshidar and cried about the mishap. After some deep deliberation he told the Sthapati, “It is alright, do not you worry. To make the statue absolutely real, AmbaaL Herself has made this happen. We will install it in the new Mandapa as it is. Let it be!”
14. At that specific point in her body the Queen had a mole. As per Samudrika Lakshanam (classical definitions of human physiology), uttama stree (a woman of sterling character) is supposed to have a mark at that spot, which she had! This occurred as a flash of revelation in the mind to Neelakanta Deekshidar, when the Sthapati came complaining to him, about the unintended occurrence of a blemish while sculpting. Achari obeyed as instructed.
15. Now in the new hall under construction, there were these statues depicting the King Thirumalai Nayakar and his seven queens. The King came inspecting the preparations. He observed the blemish and asked the Sthapati as to why he is not correcting the blemish, easily noticeable in the leg of the Patta Mahishi (the Queen Number One). Sthapati replied, “Sir! Ayya Dikshidar told me to leave it as it is because he said that the blemish is in the right place.” (This ‘Ayya’ was a respectable prefix for the Prime Minister.)
16. The King was shocked as to how could the Prime Minister know that the queen had a mole at that particular spot in her anatomy? He got annoyed and sent his soldiers to the Prime Minister’s residence. At that time Dikshidar was involved in his daily routine of doing Pooja, Japa and Tapa. When the soldiers’ arrival was out of the ordinary, Dikshidar could discern the reason why. He put the burning camphor of the Deepa Aaraadhana (waving of burning camphor before the Gods!), against his eyes and told the soldiers, “Go and tell the King that I have inflicted on myself, the punishment that he wanted to impart”.
17. Like the way that Appar felt cool inside the boiling cauldron of a lime kiln, by the grace of Meenakshi AmbaaL, Deekshidar’s eyes were not hurting, but he became blind! The King got the reply and was told about what Dikshidar had done to his eyes. He regretted his immature reaction in wrongly suspecting his Minister and Queen; as compared to the evident greatness of Dikshidar! He felt as bad as Ari Mardana Pandyan did one day in the past, when he punished Maanikka Vaachagar wrongly.
18. He came running to Deekshidar’s residence and apologised for his blunder. Dikshidar told him that there was no great mistake on his part and that his doubt was in the rightness of things and that he does not have any grudges against him the King. The King beseeched Dikshidar, “It is alright that you have pardoned me. But till you remain blind, I can never be at peace. Please do something to get your eye sight back!” It is then that Dikshidar started singing this ‘Ananda Sagara Sthavam’!
19. Though the occasion was very sad and he was representing the complaints of people at large, his inner self was happily floating in the ocean of AmbaaL’s Grace. The end destination of all approaches of Karma, Bhakti and Gnaana is to completely resign to whatever happens in one’s life, accepting it as Mother’s Will. Surrender of one’s will to the divine dispensation as the right attitude of the devotee, as it happens in Islam, Vaishnavism of Visishtadwaitam and some of the sects of Christianity, is the reiterated idea in this work by Neelakanta Deekshidar. It will sound as though he is directly conversing with Mother, throughout the series of sloka-s. In sloka number 32 he says, “saraNam prapadye Meenakshi viswa jananeem; jananeem mameiva”, meaning, ‘surrender to you the Mother of the whole universe; my Mother too’!
20. This Sthuti Ananda Sagara Sthavam containing more than 100 sloka-s has a similar format as that of Soundarya Lahari. In Soundarya Lahari the first 41 sloka-s are about the principles of Sakta worship (Ananda Lahari), followed by a description of AmbaaL from head to foot (Soundarya Lahari). Similarly, here too the first half is about the principles of surrender, known as ‘Prapatti Dharma’ and the second half is a ‘Kesaadi Paada’ Varnana!
21. It is here, that having started AmbaaL’s description from head to foot, he inserts a question as to, though she may show her feet, with which eyes could he see them? “drashtaasmi kena tadaham tu vilochanena?” This is the Sloka number 61, which is also the internal evidence of the story, I told you earlier! As he sang this, Meenakshi granted him eye sight again. With that, Neelakanta Deekshidar decided that he should put a full stop to his service to the royalty. He took Sannyaasa and went to a place by the name of Palamadai (or is it Balamadai) on the banks of TamrabharaNi river. So, that place came to be known as ‘Neelakanta Samudram’. The Samudram experienced by Neelakanta Deekshidar was the Sagara, Ananda Sagara of Meenakshi’s Grace.
22. That was the fame of this AmbaaL Meenakshi, who gave Her Grace abundantly to not only Kumara Guruparar and Neelakanta Deekshidar; but also to a white district collector Mr Rose Peter, who questioned the local devotees impudently, “What is the power of your Mother? What can she do to me?” That night he went to sleep in a nearby bungalow. That night there was thunder and lightning. AmbaaL appeared in his sleep and asked him to get out of the building. As he rushed out, the lightning fell on that bungalow and flattened it against the ground! Mr. Peter Rose became an ardent devotee of AmbaaL and presented a golden stirrup to the temple, as part of the jewels for Her decoration!
23. It is a bit of a disappointment for the devotees that, Meenakshi who is famous for beauty and grace, well known especially for the beauty of Her eyes, is not referred in the two Stotra-s, Lalita Sahasranama and Soundarya Lahari, which are like the two eyes in the body of devotional literature. But on a careful study we notice that, though not directly mentioned, she is being alluded to in a subtle way! As we know the subtle reference enhances the importance more than a direct mention. How is that?
24. If you have a very valuable gem, where do you keep it? Not in a place where all and sundry can see it, but in a safe and secure place, do we not? So also Meenakshi is secretly mentioned in both Lalita Sahasranama and Soundarya Lahari, thereby enhancing Her value!

(We will see as to how Her name occurs in Lalita Sahasranama and Soundarya Lahari, in the next e-mail. To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 212 (Vol #3) Dated 15 April 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 212 (Vol #3) Dated 15 April 2010.

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from page 999 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com constantly updated.)

MEENAKSHI
1. Meenakshi is the name of AmbaaL in Madurai. Her name means that She has the eyes of the Fish. If you think of AmbaaL’s stotras, two things come to the mind. One is Lalitha Sahasranamam and the other Soundarya Lahari. Amongst the forms of AmbaaL the three that are famous are Kanchi Kamakshi, Madurai Meenakshi and Kasi Visalakshi. In Sahasranama it occus “...kamakshi kama dayini...”. In Soundarya Lahari, though this word ‘Kamakshi’ does not occur, In the Dhyana Sloka to start with, there is mention of ‘kvanat kanchi dhama’, it is describing Kanchi Kamakchi’s form – Dhanur (Bow), BhaNa (Arrow), Paasa (binding rope which keeps you tethered in this world) and Ankusam (the short sharp hand held instrument that the elephant’s handler uses to poke the elephant’s side to make him obedient). ‘Kanchi dhama’, literally means the golden belt worn over the saree. As a second meaning, one can be reminded of the place Kanchi as the destination! There is no mention of the name Meenakshi in either ‘Soundarya Lahari’ or in ‘Lalita Sahasranama’. This is rather surprising!
2. She is world famous for being a great benefactor of devotees granting boons aplenty. With kindness and grace, she also has power to govern. For six months in a year the ‘senkole’ or sceptre of state, is in her hands and for six months it is in the hands of Sundareswara. Here She is equal. In the matter of daily pooja and neivedyam, she is a step higher it seems. It is symbolically shown to Her first and later to Him as though, He is number two in the pecking order. This is a tradition peculiar to Madurai only.
3. ‘Dwaada Saantam’, a concept extolled in Saakta Tantra, has become a synonym for the city of Madurai. Here I am reminded of an incident. When I was in Rameswaram, one of the visitors had a name, Dwaada Saantam. His father had prayed in the Meenakshi Amman temple, to grant him a son. Similar to people naming their child on fructification of their prayers, such as Chidambaram, Pazhani, Thirumalai and so on, they had named him ‘Dwaada Saantam’. I asked a pundit there as to, “what is the meaning of this phrase ‘Dwaada Saantam’”? He absent mindedly answered that amongst the twelve Siva Lingas in Rameswara Sankara Matam, the south most is the ‘Dwaada Saantam! That is not correct.
4. We look at the human body from three different perspectives as made of the Sthula, Sooktchma and Kaarana Sarira-s. The Sooktchma Sarira is made of various power centres in the body. Starting from Mulaadhaaraa at the lower tip of the spinal cord, there are six power centres known as Chakra-s. Successively along the spinal cord, there are Swaadishtaanaa at the lower abdomen, Manipuraka near the naval, Anaahata near the heart, Vishuddhi near the thymus and Aagna near the third eye, at the centre of the two eye brows. Now between this Aagna Chakra and Sahasraaraa at the peak of the head, there are supposed to be 12 points. This Dwaadasa (12) + antam (end of it) = Dwaada Saantam, that is the peak of the human body as well as well as the peak of your experience or Anubhava, the place of the unity of Jeeva & Brhma at ‘Brhma Randram’! Tantra Saastraa-s talk of the end stage of Yoga Saastraa-s spatially is Madurai and calls that place ‘Dwaada Saanta Ksetram’. Here at the ‘Brhma Randram’ of the whole Universe that is Madurai, is Meenakshi as the indicator of the Oneness & Bliss of Brhma – Atma – Ananda!
5. With massive edifices and wide open vistas of go around-s, that is praahaaraa-s, the temple is one of the architectural beauties of the world. There is no end to the artistic treasures of sculpture to be found on the walls of the temple. In other places, the temple will evolve its name from that of the Easwara there and people will say that so and so AmbaaL Sannidy is there. Thus the very living beauty of BalAmbaaL is the AmbaaL’s sannidy in Muthu Kumaraswamy (or Vaidya Natha Swamy ) Temple. KarpagAmbaaL is in Kapaleeswarar Temple and MangalAmbaaL is part of Kumbeswara Swamy Temple. But in Madurai, the name of the temple is in Her name as Meenakshi Amman Koil.
6. Sundareswara is like a guest artist there. But, it is in Madurai that Siva has played His 64 divine episodes known famously as Thiru ViLai AadalgaL. It is here that Thiru Gnaana Sambandar prayed and got the Vibhuti from Sundareswara, with which he cured the Koon Pandyan of his disease known as ‘Veppu Noi’ and regained him back from Jainism(with a simultaneous correction of his crooked back)! Lord Sundareswara has thus been historically the reason for re-establishing the Vedic religion in South India. Still nullifying all that, it is Meenakshi who is the Presiding Deity here.
7. In the general area of Kanchipuram, in none of the temples of Easwara, is the sannidy of AmbaaL to be found! As a contrast, only Kamakshi is there sans Easwara in Her temple. So it is alright for that temple to be called Kamakshi Amman Koil. But the classic Sundareswara Temple constructed exactly as per the Saiva Aagamaa-s, being called the Meenakshi Amman Koil is a rarity. In Jambukeswaram for example, though the temple is known by the Mother’s name as Akhilandeswari Aalayam, the township is called by the Easwara’s name as Jambukeswaram only!
8. From pre-historic times many great saints and poets have sung in praise of Meenakshi. The famous ‘SyamaLa Dandakam’ is on her only. Meenaakshi is Shyamala, Maatangi, MantriNi. They are all Her names. She is the Mother of Mantra and Tantra Saastraa-s. As the Presiding Deity of Music, She is playing on the MaaNikya Veena all of the time! She gets you the nectar of Moksha through the nectar of Music
9. She is of the colour of emerald green. She stays in the Kadamba Vana, the forest of an abundance of a variety of flowers. In Tamil they would call it the Kadappa Vana. “maataa maragata syaamaa maatangi madasaalini I kuryaat kataaksham kalyaaNi kadamba vana vaasini II” In Navaratna Maalikaa too Kaalidaasaa describes Her as the Mother of Music only. The Mother is holding a parrot on her hands instead of VeeNa, the musical instrument. “onkaara panjara sukheem”, he starts off saying that, ‘She is the parrot in the cage of the form of Onkaaraa!’
10. Adi Sankara, our AachaaryaaL too has written the ‘Meenakshi Pancha Ratnam’. Thiru Gnaana Sambandar while addressing ‘our source which resides in the South Aalavaayil, that is Madurai’, ‘then aalavaayil uraiyum em aadiye’ starts off with Her in the mind when he says, ‘paadi maadudanaaya paramane’! This means that, ‘our God who is having his consort as half of His body’.
11. Thus She has inspired many great poets and devotees. Kumara Guruparar sang the ‘Meenakshi Ammai PiLLaithamizh’, in which He has described her as a tiny toddler. This work was presented in an august gathering in the very space in front of Her Sanctum Sanctorum. The King at the time was Thirumalai Nayak. While the presentation (known as, ‘arangu erram’) was going on, the temple priest’s daughter came running in front of all those seated there, before anyone could react, she came to the King, removed the pearl neck lace from around his neck and placed it around the neck of Kumara Guruparar and vanished walking into the Garba Gruha of Meenakshi AmbaaL! Everyone was convinced that it was the Goddess Herself who had done this!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 211 (Vol #3) Dated 13 April 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 211 (Vol #3) Dated 13 April 2010.

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from page 993 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com constantly updated.)
33. It was written in the palm leaf that, ‘there is nothing above Siva’. Koorathu Aazhvaar wrote, ‘Yes. There is dronam above Siva, so, that is param’. “asti dronam ata: param”. Now, what is this ‘dronam’? Before that, let us look at the meaning of the word, ‘Siva’, (which I had given in detail in the para 13 of Deivathin Kural # 209). Siva is not only the name of Parameswara, it has another meaning too.
34. Like you have Litre as a measure of volume, we used to have Aazhaakku, Padi, Marakkal and Padakku. Marakkal was probably a measure made of the trunk of a tree cut in such a manner to hold a volume equal to 16 Padi-s. This Marakkal was also called Siva, in Sanskrit. The measure bigger than Siva was Padakku, known as Dronam in Sanskrit. So, above Siva was Dronam. That is what Koorathu Aazhvaar wrote. In the august company of the King, his office bearers and learned luminaries, this was a rather frivolous reply. Koorathu Aazhvaar was roundly criticized and suitably punished, as the story goes.
35. What I think about this is that, Koorathu Aazhvaar did not give a playful reply. He said something acceptable to the Veda-s and devotees of Siva. When he said, “asti dronam ata: param”, he further made a word play! Dronam has to be understood as the white flower, which is as small as a speck, called ‘Thumbai’ in Tamil. Amongst leaves Bilva is most favoured for offering to Siva, so is ‘Oomathai’, ‘Erukku’ and ‘Thumbai’! (Not being a student of Botony, I will not be able to give you exact translations.)
36. There is no one greater as a devotee of Siva than Appayya Dik-shidar. He has written a work called, ‘Aatmarpana Stuti’, also called ‘Unmatta Panchasat’. In one of the sloka-s “arkka-drona-prabruti kusumai: archanam te videyam prapyam tena smarahara phalam moksha saamraajya Lakshmi: I”, he says. It means, ‘Oh Parameswara! If someone places before you in humble offering Erukku and Dronam that is, Thumbai; that is enough to give him the empire of release!’
37. On Siva when Archana of Thumbai is done, then that small white flower goes and sits on Him! If you place a Thumbai flower on Siva Lingam, some of them fall around. But a few of them remain on top of Siva Lingam. ‘How can you now say that there is nothing on top of Siva? On top of Siva is Thumbai or Dronam!’ That is what Koorathu Aazhvaar said emphatically, that this small bit of a brilliantly pure white flower is sitting on top of the Siva Lingam. Starting with, “asti”, he said, “dronam ata: param”.
38. ‘Taram’ means better as a matter of comparison. So when we say that ‘sivaat para taram naasti’, what we mean is that, in matters of quality and intrinsic value, there is nothing greater than Siva. So, we can say that this bit of a Thumai flower sitting on top of the Siva Lingam is higher than Siva. But how can we say that it is better than Siva? This can also be done!
39. Veda mantra, a sentence of Sri Rudram itself is the supporting authority. At the end of ‘Sri Rudram’ this statement is there. It says, “Here this my hand is also Siva. Why, It is even slightly higher than the very God Siva – ‘bhagawat tara:’, it uses the comparative term only! How can this hand be better than Bhagawan? “Because this hand does Abhimarchanam, it is higher than Siva!”
40. ‘Abhimarchanam’ is to touch, clean, apply oil, sandal wood paste, honey and such things, finally decorating and doing archana with flowers and leaves. All this time this hand is higher, is it not so? It is enough to touch Him. It is enough to fall on Him. It is more than sufficient to fall on His feet. So, our hand becomes ‘bhagawat taram’! So this bit of a Thumbai flower does not have to be on top of Him. Even if it falls around the Siva Lingam, it is ‘sivaat para taram’.
41. Keeping all these ideas in mind, while simultaneously not deviating from the teachings of his own Guru Ramanujacharyar, Koorathu Aazhvaar said, “asti dronam ata: param”, possibly with the idea that if some get the correct meaning it is OK and even if they do not get the message, it is still OK! I will gladly accept any punishment on behalf of my Guru. That was Koorathu Aazhvaar’s logic. We can look at the episode as proof of the fact that, this devotee of Vishnu, spoke highly of Siva’s expansive nature of making even a small flower that comes to Him, greater than Himself.
42. But, how can you be doing Siva’s pooja touching Him all of the time? Will everyone get such opportunity to do so? Even Thumbai flower is not available, in all the months of the year. So this touching, adhering and embracing is to be done by words only. For this there can never be any restrictions. Chant His name, through which He can be down loaded into your heart. Then we can be one with that divinity. For this you need no equipments, procedures and preparations.
43. So we do not have to feel bad that we are sinners. There is a simple method of writing off all our sins in one stroke. We do not have to go far off. We can create the means just here and now. Just two syllables, “SI VA”. As the life in the body, as the Siva Lingam in the sanctum sanctorum, as the centre piece of all Veda-s, that gem of our existence, that jewel of our very being; does not require too elaborate formalities. Do we need all the Pooja Dravyani? No. Do we need a variety of delectable dishes to be prepared to be offered as Neivedyam? No. This tongue of ours which is endlessly twisting and turning on unnecessary ventures, has to be made to chant His Name!
44. Only Man has this birth right! We use or rather misuse this phrase ‘birth right’ for so many good-for-nothing-useless things. This power of speech has been given to Man for this purpose only. If we do not correctly use this capability, He is likely to come to the conclusion that, since this man has not made correct use of this facility, let us role him into a life where he will not have this capability at all! But if you say ‘Siva’, all sins are cancelled and the kingdom of liberation is all yours.
45. Can we see God? Even as a statue you cannot have it with you all of the time. But this name of His, this Siva Nama; is virtually Himself! We can call for it whenever we wish. So, whenever we can, let us say ‘Siva’ and fill the universe with Sivam, Mangalam and Kalyanam!

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 210 (Vol #3) Dated 11 April 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 210 (Vol #3) Dated 11 April 2010.

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from page 987 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com constantly updated.)

18. When Thiru Moolar says that the one who does not take the name of Siva is a ‘thee vinai aaLan’ means that, he has done a lot of wrong things. He is a sinner. When you say ‘Siva Siva!’ it means that your sins are annulled, cancelled, erased. You will take His name only when you have already been so cleansed! Knowingly or unknowingly, we have been responsible for many blunders of commission and omission! The whole world is a system in which the rules of science as well as some rules as yet unknown to science, apply. It is our past actions which are a block in our progress. Chanting the Siva Nama is the pass word, for the removal of all those hurdles.
19. There are many people from other religions who say, “There is no method for annulling the past sins, in your religion. Come to us. We have perfected these methods. We will sprinkle some water over you and pronto, you will be sanctified, rid of all your past sins!” They call us as though, there is no method to get rid of our sins in our religion! Whether our sins were committed knowingly or not, once you repent them and think of mending your ways, you have already turned the corner. Then, by the time you are knowingly chanting God’s names, you have progressed far on the path of recovery. Not knowing anything about our religion, there are many who are converting to other religions. Cash incentives play a major role in this!
20. In actual fact all the ‘karma anushtaana-s’ required to be done are all meant to wean us away from our tendency to sin. Before any action, we take a ‘sankalpa’ – a sort of declaration of intentions! In it we say, “mamopatta samasta durita ksahyatwara” to start with. In this ‘durita’ = ‘paapam’. The incomplete sentence means, ‘by the process of reducing all the demerits collected by me till now’. (It goes on to say, ‘parameswara preetyartam’ = for the sake of pleasing Parameswara, ‘sandya vandanam’ or whatever, ‘karishye’ = I shall do! Thus all the actions done as Karma Anushtaana, are so as to reduce the load of ‘paapa’ = demerits.)
21. Bhakti marga, the path of devotion is for reducing this load only. When Bhakti matures, ‘prapatti’ = ‘saraNaagati’ or surrender takes place. At the end of Bhagawat Gita, Sri Krishna exhorts Arjuna to ‘surrender leaving all other means’. I quote:-
“sarva dharmaan parityajya maam ekam saraNam vraja I mokshayishyaami sarva paapebhyo maa sucha: II He says, ‘leaving all your rules and regulations aside, surrender unto Me. I will release you from all your sins, don’t worry!’ It is a promise by God in the form of Sri Krishna. We do not have to go to anybody else for this!
22. Dharma, Bhakti, Gnaana et al, is all meant for reducing the sins and recovering. ‘dharmeNa paapam apanudati’ says Narayana Upanishad {79.7}. In that Upanishad, repeatedly the concept of undoing the ‘paapa’ is mentioned. In Gita too, Sri Krishna says that, ‘even if you were the worst sinner, by the boat of Gnaana, you will cross the ocean of sins!’ { 4.36 }.
23. More than all these methods of, karma anushtaana, dharma anushtaana, prapatti, gnaana and so on, to get rid of the load of de-merits accumulated over many a life-times; the easiest method has been suggested now, by Ambal Herself in Bhagawatam, that is to simply chant the name of Siva! So, whosoever calls us to their religion with the promise of washing off our sins, we can clearly tell them, “We have so easy a method of erasing our sins, which is not available with any other religion. So first of all you go and absolve yourself of this sin of trying to convert us to your religion and then come and talk to us!”
24. Siva Nama in Veda-s. If we have a valuable diamond, where will we keep it? In the front room or in the out-house in the garden? With all security, we will keep it in a safe box of steel, at the centre of the house. Will we not? Same way the most precious Siva Nama has been kept at the safest place in the Veda-s. There are four Vedas. Half of that is two. So, Siva Nama has its place in the Second, that is, Yajur Veda. Not including the fourth Atharva, the other three Veda-s are called the Thrayee. The centre of that is again the Second Veda the Yajur. Like you have Science and Applied Science, the fourth Atharva is more of Applied Veda-s. Sometimes, there is a fivefold division of the Veda-s, Rik, Sukhla Yajus, Krishna Yajus, Sama and Atharva. Again the Krishna Yajus is the centre piece! It is there, in the centre of Krishna Yajus, in the fourth canto. In the centre of that fourth canto is the fifth Prasna. Again in the centre of that fifth Prasna is Sri Rudra Sukta. In the centre of that Sri Rudra Prasna, is the Panchakshara, whose centre is adorned by the two syllabled SI VA!
25. In Tamil the body is called ‘mei’. That word also means ‘truth’! God the Paramatma is called ‘mei-p poruL’ (in Tamil) = the true thing = ‘sad vastu’ (in Sanskrit). What is called ‘sad vastu’ in Vedanta, is referred as ‘mei-p-porul’ by Thiruvalluvar too. If you take the human body as ‘mei’, then the true thing in it as the Life of all living things is God or the Name of Siva. That is what Gnana Sambandar says, “veda naankinum meipporuLaavadu naadan naamam namahsivaayave”, meaning the “Real thing in all of the four Veda-s is the name of our Lord Siva only!”
26. As the precious stone in the house is kept well protected, the life of the body of the Veda-s is the Name of God and it is preciously guarded! Appayya Dikshidar says the same thing in Brhma Tarka Stava “yaj jeeva ratnam akilaagama laalaneeyam”! (Sloka No.27.)
27. One of Avvai Paatti’s works is known as ‘Nal Vazhi’ or the Good Path. Without any reference to name, caste, creed or religion; it lists all the moral guiding principles applicable to all the human beings. In such a really secular book, it says, “sivaya nama enru sindittu irupporkku abaayam oru naaLum ilai”. It means that, ‘for those who deliberate on prostrating to Siva, there is never any danger’! So the Siva Nama is meant for all type of people including the one who has been expelled from his caste. In Sri Rudram Parameswara is described as being amongst so many things, including for example, as the dog and the one who eats dog; it is clear that the Name of Siva is everybody’s property!
28. VaishNava Praising Siva Naama. As the greatness of the Name of Siva has been mentioned in the middle of Bhagawatam, a highly respected Aazhvaar has also extolled the greatness of Siva. Though the story tellers of Purana-s known as Pouraniks, talk about this, as though berating Siva, to me it sounds differently. One of Ramanujacharya’s disciples was Koorathu Aazhvaar. His name was actually, Sri Vatsaangar. In Tamil it was known as ‘Thiru MaRu Marban’. Since he was from a place known as Kooram near Kanchipuram, he got the name Koorathu Aazhvaar.
29. Till the time of Ramanujacharya, almost all people were followers of both Siva and Vishnu. If there is a village or hamlet, on the West was the Vishnu Temple and on the North East was the Temple for Siva. Mostly in the morning people will go to the Vishnu temple and in the evening to the Siva temple. Even those who were purely Saivites or Vashnavites, never stooped down to decrying the other based on their beliefs, because while adoring their Ishta Devata, they did not believe in ridiculing other Devata-s! After the advent of Ramanujacharyar, things changed. He preached that Vishnu is the only God and that his followers should not go to the Siva Temples!
30. The Sozha (also known as Chola) King of that time called for a meeting of the Vidvat Sabha, for consultation and clarification. They decided to call for Ramanujacharyar from Sri Rangam. The King at that time was in Gangai Konda Sozhapuram, ten miles north of Kumbakonam. He sent his messengers to fetch Ramanujacharyar. At that time Koorathu Aazhvaar was with him. He told his Guru, “Swami, This King is a hardened devotee of Siva. We cannot believe that he will be fair in his dealings. You are preaching that real devotees of Vishnu should not go to temples of Siva at all. Having called you on the pretext of discussion, we never know as to what he will do! It is better that you put on whites like me and make yourself scarce. I will wear your ochre robes and go as Ramanujacharyar! Let us see what happens!”
31. Overnight, Ramanujacharyar went to Thiru Narayana Puram, which is 28 miles away. In the next few days, he went away to another place of the same name in Mysore! Koorathu Aazhvaar landed in Gangai Konda Sozha Puram.
32. The learned people there had discussed and come to this opinion. “It is alright to praise any God as equal or as good as Siva. But to bring in the idea of comparison and say one is too good and the other is lower
or bad is not acceptable. If he still insists upon his point of view then, let him prove it by quoting the Saastraa-s. So, they wrote one sentence on the palm leaf saying, “sivaat parataram naasti”, meaning that there is nothing superior to Siva. If it is agreed, it should be signed. If you disagree, then you have to argue it out quoting evidence from the Saastraa-s. Koorathu Aazhvaar was shown the palm leaf. He did not sign it. He wrote, “asti dronam atha: param”, meaning, ‘Yes. There is Dronam above and so param!”
(In the next e-mail, we will see the meaning of what Koorathu Aazhvaar wrote and continue from there.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 209 (Vol #3) Dated 09 April 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 209 (Vol #3) Dated 09 April 2010.

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from page 980 of Vol 3 of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too, mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com constantly updated.)

GREATNESS OF SIVA’S NAME & HIS GRACE

1. If Siva’s name is extolled in Siva Purana-s, Aagama-s, Tevaaram-s and such Saivite oriented scriptures, it is only to be expected and nothing special. But, when Vaishnavite scriptures do so, then it is something to be noted. Similarly, if an ardent devotee of Vishnu talks about the power of Siva’s Grace, then it is to be given serious attention! Siva’s Grace and His Name have plenty of the above two attributes.
2. Bhagawatam came into being with the purpose of establishing the superlative importance of Vishnu’s exploits, power and message. In the middle of Bhagawatam is the story of Dakshayani. In it through Her words, the value of the Name of Siva, has been explained by the author Suka Acharyal. He is Brhma Swaroopam, known as Sukabrhmam. His words have special value as the all knowing repository of knowledge in almost all the Purana-s. Then, the one extolling the values of the Name of Siva is Dakshayani Herself, the wife of Siva! Then, it is worth the while to note the context in which she praises the Siva Nama!
3. She came there because, it was Her Father who was conducting a great Yaaga. She came uninvited. She was Dakshayani, a name derived from the fact that she was Daksha Prajapathi’s daughter. Actually Her name was Sati. That was previous to Her being born as Himavan’s daughter named Parvathy. Parameswara Her husband told Her, “It is better not to go there, as you are uninvited!” Without listening to Her husband’s advice, She came there, because of Her being Daksha Prajapathi’s daughter.
4. Parameswara lived the life of a recluse, neither respecting nor disrespecting others! Daksha was one of the Brhma Putra-s as a Prajapathi, who is a head of people’s clans. He always had much pride of office, authority and position. He always looked forward to people extending him much respect. People also did so. Siva was a different type of being, who did not display much of respect for Daksha or anyone else for that matter. Somehow, obedient to Brhma’s words Daksha got the marriage of his daughter done and sent her to Kailasa. The father daughter relationship was cut off since then. It was Her nostalgia for her childhood home and relatives that was possibly the cause of her coming uninvited, despite Her husband’s advice, not to go! Having invited 330 millions of Devata-s, Daksha did not invite his daughter and son-in-law that is Siva!
5. Having arrived, once She saw all the invited guests, the fact of Her Husband Siva not being invited, hurt Her the most! This maha pativrata (woman who is truly faithful to her wedded husband) was completely shattered. The recurrent thought in Her mind was one of repentance for having committed the mistake of visiting. Then, not only that Her Father did not welcome Her, he started talking ill of his son-in-law! She could just not control her sorrow or anger!
6. She thought, “Should I go away from here? If so, go where? Should I go to Kailas, my Husband’s place? There can be no better place than that for a wife! O K. Then why don’t you go there? If, by chance if, He were to say, ‘Despite my warning, you have gone there and earned fat lot of disrespect! Now, why do you come here?’, then what will I do? Is this the thought? No, no. He is the very embodiment of Love. He is compassion personified. He will not ask such questions. It is my mind that will raise these questions and accuse me.
7. One more thing. In future when He is playing around with me, even if He inadvertently happens to call me ‘Dakshayani’, that is enough! Do I need any more punishment? It is a name that I have inherited for being the daughter of someone who talks ill of Siva. There is no bigger punishment than to continue to carry the burden of that name! Better than this is to give up this body, which is due to him, who is Anti-Siva! Let this body be destroyed. I thought of where to go. Now I have the answer. Let us leave this body and go back to Siva and merge in Him without a second!”
8. ‘Near the Yagna Kundam (dug out place for the purpose of lighting the fire of oblation), She sat with these thoughts and got herself sublimated’, says the Bhagawatam. Other Siva Aagamaa-s and Puraanaa-s, talk of her jumping into the Yagna Kundam and immolating Herself. Before such self immolation, in Bhagawatam, there is a description of what she told Her Father Daksha, in praise of Her Husband Siva! This is the ‘Siva Nama Mahima’, that I have mentioned in the title for to-days talk.
9. As it is, because it is Mother Ambal’s statement, it has much value. The occasion when these words were spoken, further adds to the value. Then it is not a Saivite text, but a Vaishnavite scripture! So the speech gains in value successively till it reaches the highest pinnacle of Glory and Value!
10. In the olden days, if someone immolated themselves on the pier in which her husband’s body was burnt, the saree (cloth) worn by them would remain untouched by the fire, in pristine form. People used to recover the cloth and preserve it in the pooja room of their homes, as the thing to be venerated. For generations, such a cloth has been handed over as a valuable thing to be bequeathed. If that is the value given to a piece of cloth, think of the value of the words of the Mother who was about to immolate her body, in a state of intense faith and loyalty to Her Husband!
11. Though, here Ambal is not doing ‘saha gamanam’ that is, (‘giving up her body on the pier of her husband’s cremation’), such an act came to be known as ‘Suttee’! Her actual name was ‘Sati’. The act of self immolation, on the pier of one’s husband, was called ‘Suttee’ in the spelling as given by British of the Raj! The couple are rhymingly known as Sati-Pati. Thus the word Sati has become synonymous for an ideal wife. Our Aachaaryal says in Soundarya Lahari sloka 96, “...sati sateenaam acharame...”, meaning ‘ Sati, the foremost among all wives who are devoted to their husbands’. Such a Lady to have sacrificed Her life is great! The words She spoke at that time are just too great!
12. Now I am going to quote Her statement, which is the sloka occurring at Bhagawatham 4.4.14. “yat dwayaksharam nama gireritam nrunam sakrut prasangaat agham aasu hanti tat I pavitra keertim tam alankya saasanam bhavaan aho dweshti sivam sivetara: II” The last word is, ‘sivetara: = siva +itara:’, means something other than Siva, something like say, Non-Siva! Ambal is ticking off Her father Daksha, in the subtlest manner. With due respect as though She is saying, ‘Bhavaan’! As he stands on formalities, She is addressing him respectfully, while berating him as ‘non-Siva’!
13. Siva is a synonym for everything auspicious, benign, gracious, lovely, good, salutary, prosperous, kind and friendly. This is what is said in ‘amara kosa’ which is the Sanskrit dictionary: “sva: sreyasam, sivam, bhadram, kalyanam, mangalam, subham”. If, somebody is non-siva, then He is the opposite of all the above qualities!
14. Appayya Dikshidar has written a grantha named ‘parimala ‘. Someone who had his objections to that, wrote a critique of that article. On hearing about that, it seems, Appayya Dikshidar caught hold of his nose tightly. ‘Parimala’ means sweet smelling. An article against that must smell bad, is it not so? Ambal who detested Her very name Dakshayani, as it is derived from her father’s name, renames Her father as ‘sivetara’ or non-siva!
15. She says, “Aho! = Oh! God! You are such an Anti-Siva Sivetara! Siva is so faultlessly famous( pavitra keerthi ). All the Deva-s do His bidding ( alankya saasanam ). You are the only exception!” These are the later part of the sloka. In the earlier part, She says, “this two syllable name Siva’ ( yat dwayaksharam naama ), if uttered by humans, ( nrunaam eeritam ), even if uttered accidentally in passing ( sakrut prasangaat ), removes sins that very second ( agham aasu hanti )!”
16. The point to understand is that, we do not even have to say it as the five syllable ‘ pancha aktchari ’ with a ‘Ohm’ as a prefix and then with a ‘nama:’ as a suffix, making it ‘ om-si-vaya-na-ma: ’ How is it to be uttered? Any rules about it? No! No breath control. No bathing and cleansing procedures. You do not even have to concentrate your mind on Siva and meditate and do any such thing. Even if you happen to utter His name, without intending to do so, just in passing, as part of two different words, one ending in the syllable ‘si’ and the other starting with the syllable ‘va’; good enough; it is as good as chanting His Name!
17. Then what happens? Then all your sins are no more! When you by chance happen to take His name, ‘agham’ = all demerits of Paapa, ‘aasu’ = that very second, ‘hanti’ = is destroyed. It is enough to just say those two syllables, ‘si va’ and ‘you are done!’ As a statement of the highest truth, Suka Aacharyal confirms that Ambal has said so, just before sacrificing Her Life. Thiru Mandiram by Thiru Moolar also confirms that, those who are corrupt will not be saying it, “...siva siva engilar theevinaiyaaLar...”.

(We will continue from what Thiru Moolar said!)

Sambhomahadeva.