DEIVATHIN KURAL # 19 (Vol #4) Dated 01 June 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 19 (Vol #4) Dated 01 June 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 119 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.)

38. Mukhopaadyaaya has become a sub caste as though, amongst Brahmins in Bengal! It means actually, ‘a teacher of Vedas’! Mukha is the face or the word, which is a synonym for Vedas. He is a teacher or Upaadhyaaya in the Vedas. Similarly, the four Vedas in Sanskrit would be ‘Chathur Veda’. This with some modification over usage, translation and time, becomes ‘chattar’ or ‘chatter’. Do not ask me how? With an Upaadhyaaya added, it becomes ‘Chattopaadhyaaya’ as though it is some special caste amongst the self same Brahmins. For all you know that man with that name to-day, may not know even a portion of a Shaka of a single Veda!
39. RamakrishNa Paramahamsa was born in a Chattopaadyaaya family. He was married to Sarada Devi from Mukhopaadyaayas. Bandopaadyaaya means, ‘a respectable (vandya) Upaadyaaya family’. So, somehow or the other, Upaadyaaya has become a synonym for respectable almost! That is how, during the Britisher’s time, well read respectable people were given a title ‘Mahamahopaadyaaya’. Many amongst them were those who had conducted such Veda Paata Shaalas, uncaring for name, fame and wealth, eve spending their own money in running such an organization!
40. Work as Worship of God! There are many professions, businesses, jobs and avenues. All of them are ways of earning one’s keep. No one considers it as something to be ashamed of. But, to make an earning out of worshipping God and teaching children was ever looked down on! Well that was the ethos existing in this land where, to feed others was considered a privilege and to charge money for that was considered anathema! To educate was another ‘Upaasana’ of the Vidya, equivalent to worshipping God. To present a bill of charges for that ‘Upaasana’ was unthinkable!
41. Everyone had to do their own ‘Thozhil’, that is his appointed part of the job in the society, to which born, to make a living as per the Saastraas. If you ask as to what is the ‘Thozhil’ of a Brahmin, refer the old Tamil Literature and you will know that they had six clearly defined duties to perform. The Brahmin was called ‘aru thozhilor’ in Tamil and ‘shat karma nirata:’ in Sanskrit. What were they? One is ‘Adhyayanam’, that is to learn the Vedas. Here there could be no income!
42. Second duty is to teach, that is ‘Adhyapanam’, not only the portion of Vedas, that he was required to know but also other jobs. He could not be expected to know all of them. Other than his expertise in the portion of the Vedas in which he was required to be well versed, he may know one or two of the other 14 Vidya Sthanas. It may be as varied as Archery or Carpentry or Ayur Veda or Artha Saastra or Music or Dance and so on! He was supposed to have specialized in those lines and have such knowledge as may not be available with the one practicing that profession! He could clarify doubts of the practicing professional and so would act as a consultant whenever required. But for all this he was not to be paid or expect to be paid! The professional receiving the advice may pay something as ‘DakshiNa’. The BrahmiN should be satisfied with that, whatever it is! He should never endeavour to convert his knowledge and advice in to getting involved in running an industry and or charge any consultation fees! Basically his aim should never be making money but, spreading knowledge as an offering to God!
43. Not knowing such noble intensions of the Brahmin community and then to accuse him of having written the Saastraas for his own personal aggrandisement, is exhibition of ignorance! If you look at it with an open heart, you will see that, the BrahmiN never retained any privileges for himself. Rather, he put himself under any number of self restrictions and disadvantages, so as to persevere with greater intensity towards perfection. Some aberrant behaviour on the part of some should be correctly seen as exceptions and not the rule!
44. Erpadu Igazhchchi. In the six fold duties, leaving aside the Adhyayanam and Adhyaapanam, the balance four were Yajanam, Yaajanam, Daanam and Pratigraham. These are conducting Yagna oneself, conducting Yagna for the sake of others, giving alms to poor people and receiving alms, respectively. In this you will note that Yajanam and Daanam involve only expenditure and no income. When you conduct Yagna for others, you may get DakshiNa from the one for whom you are conducting the function. Similarly, Pratigraham means that you are the recipient of Daanam from others.
45. But here too, you are cautioned on the one hand that to accept Daanam is a bit of a come down. You are encouraged to learn to beg, so as to kill the sense of pride in you during your Guru Kula days. Then, if you receive from some unworthy individuals as listed, there is a whole lot of expiation required to be done! Who has made all these restrictions? These are all restrictions self imposed by the Brahmins on themselves and put them down on record in the Saastraas! Since Yaajanam is a duty, while doing it, they would prefer to get the minimum as DakshiNa and spend that amount in their own activities of Daanam!
46. So though they have six professions or jobs, in three of them namely, Adhyayanam, Yajanam and Daanam, there is no scope of income at all! They are all outgo only. In Yaajanam and Pratigraham, there is some scope for income with many ifs and buts! The only area where there can be income is Adhyaapanam! That is also considered as Vidya Daanam and not to be viewed as a source of revenue! This is the sort of self imposed restrictions the Brahmins subjected themselves to!
47. Even though the Guru may accept whatever the disciple gives unasked, even here, some teachers have kept a premium on the timing. When the Guru was fully satisfied that he had done his all for student’s education and he was convinced that the disciple has learnt it all, only then was he prepared to accept the DakshiNa offered!
48. There is an occasion in Brihad AaraNyaka Upanishad, Fourth Adhyaya, First BrahmaNa. Yagnavalkya is the Guru. King Janaka is the disciple. After every portion of the teaching is over, Janaka offers some DakshiNa. Every time, the Guru refuses to accept saying that “My Father is of the opinion that, till completion of the Upadesa, no DakshiNa is to be accepted!”
49. A Value not to be Found Elsewhere in the World Easily! This is one area of a vast difference between the way a teacher is perceived by the student in India and elsewhere in the world! The teacher, Guru or Aachaarya is God or God’s representative in India. The student is supposed to forsake all other relations for the sake of this one relationship. He is to become a ‘sarva sanga parityaagi’! This concept was not known elsewhere! They stopped at knowing the subject well and good instructional ability. Nothing more! They themselves did not know better and so were not looking for more in the student either!
50. Let us look at this difference between the Indian concept of what is a Guru or Aachaarya and how the rest of the world looked at a Teacher or Instructor! We did not stop at the depth of knowledge of the subject matter and instructional ability! We went far beyond to the highest pinnacles of human existence! With these two qualities of knowledge and ability to impart that knowledge, the guru should have lived a life of exemplary quality and character. He should not only know the Vedas, but should have lived as per that, going into the impeccable Karma Anushtaana and Aachaaraas, unsullied over a life time.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 18 (Vol #4) Dated 30 May 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 18 (Vol #4) Dated 30 May 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 113 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.)

26. In the way of life of a Hindu, that is a person who believes in the eternal Sanaatana Dharma, there is a meaningful symbolic ritual for all the important events of one’s existence. He just does not have sex like any animal does. There is a ritual function known as ‘Garbaa Daanam’, meaning donation of the pregnancy, in which a new life form is created. After pregnancy, before the child is born, ‘Pumsavanam’ is done. Then when the child is born there is ‘Jaata Karma’, welcoming the new Jeeva and casting the horoscope, followed by ‘Naama Karma’ the naming ceremony. Then before the child is three years of age, the child is given ‘mottai’, that is, a clean shave of the hair on the head, two or three times at the family deity’s temple, may be in different locations. The next important function is the ‘ChowLam’, in which the child is given a hair cut officially. Actually the head is clean shaven and a tuft of hair at the rear apex is left untouched. This later on becomes his ‘Kudumi’. All this is done (or got done) by the father of the child.
27. Such a father is the child’s Guru. Then the person, who carries out the Upanayanam and teaches him the Vedas, is the Aachaarya, as per the Manu and Yaagnavalkya Smruthies! The present day father however neither does the rituals of the first part, of the Guru nor the second part, that of the Aachaarya. He is simply the biological father, who happens to be not doing the things that a Guru is required to do, nor fulfil the duties of an Aachaarya. Possibly in the past as the boy was sent to live in another household other than his own, so that he may not feel alienated, he was told that the other gentleman was ‘like a father only’ and that is why, he was also given the same name as a Guru and his household was called the Guru Kula, possibly!
28. The High Position in which the Parents were Held! Even if he does not give Vidya Abhyaasam, the ‘Pita’ that is, the Father was given a high status in Manu Smruthi, even higher than that of an Aachaarya! It says that Aachaarya is ten times higher than the Upaadhyaaya who teaches for an income. The Father is regarded higher than 100 such Aacharyas. The Mother is regarded higher than 1000 Fathers!
29. In Yangnavalkya’s time, either the father or elder brother got the Upanayanam done. Only when these two were not there, others could take over that responsibility. The father or elder brother should however be qualified to initiate the boy in Brhmopadesa. The qualification is that, they should have done Adhyayanam in their part of Veda Shaka and should be capable of teaching others, that portion of the Veda that is Adhyaapakam. Then he should not be doing any job that is taboo for a Brahmin! I wonder as to how many of the present day fathers will be able to foot the bill as above!
30. In some Smruthies, Guru is used as a common name for all elders. Elders such as, father, elder brothers, grandfathers, uncles, father-in-law, village elders, the king, elder statesmen, even elder ladies such as mother, grandmothers, mother-in-law, stepmother and so on, have all been referred as Guru! Here Manu says that though the word Guru refers to many elders as given above, it mainly points to the biological father, who having sired the child, brings up and educates. Actually the word ‘gourav’ available in some form or the other in most of the Indian languages, means that it rightfully belongs to the Guru. Since the Aachaarya gives the child the wealth of education, he becomes equally respectable as the Guru, the father! So it becomes applicable to all those who teach us something or the other. The subject could be as varied as the contents of the encyclopaedia! Whosoever is a tutor or teacher or trainer or mentor is a Guru! “Amongst them all, we can never fully appreciate the ‘Gourav’ or greatness of a Guru who teaches us ‘Atma Gnaana’ in its completeness”, says Manu!
31. Younger Guru. Once you have accepted someone as a Guru, it makes no difference if that person is younger in age! He should be respected as being a Guru. When it comes to learning, the teacher’s age is of no relevance. Dattatreya while listing 24 different things as his Guru includes animals and birds, in the list! For this Manu tells us a story.
32. Angiras’ son was taking a class for his own brothers. He started with a, “Listen Children!” address. His elder brothers did not like this and complained. They were told, “When you do not know something, let it be any portion of Vidya / knowledge, the one who knows is the elder and you are only students. He has every right to call you as, “Children! The one who knows is the elder! Not just someone who has gray hair”!
33. Aadi Guru Dakshinamurthy is young, teaching by intense silence! His students are ripe old ancients! Picture this awesome scene in your minds says the sloka! Under the banyan tree, look at them sitting there! Despite the silence, the doubts of the disciples are being blown to smithereens! I quote the sloka. “chitram vata taror moole vruddhaa: sishya: gururyuvaa I gurosthu mounam vyaakyaanam, sishyaasthu chinna samsayaa: II”
34. There are five methods of considering someone as elder to oneself. Wealth automatically has its effect in all walks of life in all the countries. Whether the person is a Lord or Millionaire or political bigwig, people respect them, without being told to do so! Even younger persons, if in a higher ranking relationship such as, elder brother’s wife, or parents’ brother or sister, get their respect. Then those who are really old, from whatever status, get respected as senior citizens! Fourth is the one who has done some great achievement such as having done Maha Yagna or winner of the Noble Prize or Padma Bhooshan and so on. Then is the really learned one being respected for his scholarly accomplishments! Evidently the respect is successively higher in that order!
35. Between mother, father and teacher, we should not be trying to compare and contrast, as they are all worthy of all our respect and regards. I told you elsewhere as to how the Mother is considered as being thousand times higher than the Father. Still the Guru is to be considered in a higher status! By devotion to the parents if a man is worthy of the heavens, by devotion to the Guru, he becomes worthy of Brhma Gnaana and so is to be considered as the highest! To serve them is very beneficial. We are also warned that treachery or mischief against them can be very damaging!
36. Correcting the student can be of three types. One is by Teaching as to what he is doing wrong. Second is by the power of one’s grace. The third is by way of Veda Samskara function of a ritual for cleansing the errant student. The second method cannot be brought within the purview of Saastraas. The Aachaarya teaches and corrects the student using the other two methods, thereby becoming an Adhyaapaka. Upaadyaaya (or Vaadyaar) is the one who works under him.
37. Upaadyaaya or the Vaadyaar got a boost in position and reputation, when each and every teacher in all walks of life got that name and title! As the number of real Aachaaryaas who did not bother about an income but did their teaching as fulfilling their duty to which born, started dwindling down and teaching became a profession for livelihood, the Vaadyaar as a professional title started gaining in stature in the society. People started trumpeting the fact that they were teachers earning a livelihood! What was simply Mukerji, Chatterji and Bannerji, started calling themselves with pride as Mukhopaadhyaaya, Bandyopaadyaaya and so on!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 17 (Vol #4) Dated 28 May 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 17 (Vol #4) Dated 28 May 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 second paragraph on page 108 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.)

13. Even in the olden days, evidently there were some who took to teaching as a profession so as to earn a living. Possibly everyone could not have established a Guru Kula Paathashaala. In them some teachers were employed. That is why there is mention of that in the Dharma Saastraas. The important point is that with change in circumstances, over time, these words have undergone subtle changes.
14. Dharma Saastraas have given clear definitions as to who is a Guru, Aachaarya or Upaadyaaya. In Upanayanam / Yagnopaveetam, the one who gives the ‘Brhma + Upadesa = Brhmopadesa’, that is the one who initiates the young boy in chanting the Gayatri Mantra and teaches him up to Vedanta Darshana, is the Guru. The one who does not happen to give the Brhmopadesa, but teaches the boy some or all the Saastraas, is an Aachaarya. Like Sri KrishNa was given the Brhmopadesa by Garga Aachaarya. All other education was given by Sandipani in a Guru Kula run by him.
15. There is another way of looking at it. Generally Guru as a word is applicable to anyone who, without coming into traditional boundaries, imparts wisdom through his touch (sparsha deeksha) or look (nayana deeksha) or spoken word (of mantraopadesa)! His presence and proximity showers grace on the visitor, borne out of his personal, intrinsic awareness and self realization! His advice could be in any language, as the message is not bound within the parameters of human verbal communication!
16. (KTSV adds. I will give you one example from the life of Ramana Maharishi. Everyday Ramana used to go for a walk up the hill in Thiruvannamalai, accompanied by one or two of his helpers. There was this girl of four or five years of age, who followed the elders and was noticed only after some distance. So, one of the helpers pointed out to Ramana, that this small girl was following them. Ramana stopped, turned back and waving his walking stick told the girl, “Go back to where you came from!” That was Upadesa from a Guru, sufficient enough to show the way back to her Self!)
17. Guru, like Dattaareya, without being bound by any tradition, is capable of imparting ‘Atma Gnaana’, by whatever means as he pleases! Whereas Aachaarya comes within a disciplined tradition, teaching a well established collection of concepts, like Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva AachaaryaaLs! That is why we say, ‘Datta Guru’ and not ‘Dattaachrya’! Even those who taught the ways of ‘Atma Gnaana’, by a systematic logical analysis, like Sankara AachaaryaL, could be considered as a Guru. So teaching by systematic means does not preclude being a Guru. But to be a Guru, they were not necessarily adherents of any established traditions.
18. So, going back to the definition of a Guru as the one who, starting with giving the disciple Ygnopaveeta and the Gayatri mantra, goes on to teach him all the Veda Saastraas. The same definition is also given to an Aachaarya, in the Manu Smruthi! “upaneeyatu ya: sishyam vedam adhyaapayet dvija: I sakalpam sarahasyam cha tam aachaarya prasatchate II” Please do not jump to the conclusion that there is any confusion! I will solve the riddle shortly.
19. Giving the word much divine meaning, there is another meaning or interpretation. Parabrhmam is something, which is not a thing and which does not have a name or form or quality! How to bring that into one’s mind? That Parabrhmam comes in front out of its extreme compassion and kindness with recognizable Guna (gu) and Rupa (ru), which becomes the Guru!
20. In very old times, it was the father who gave his son the Poonool or Yagnopaveeta, initiated him in the Gayatri Mantra that is gave him Brhmopadesa and taught him all that he knows, in terms of Vedas, Saastraas and Vedanta of Upanishads! At that time, the knowledge base was limited. Possibly each family stuck to its own branch of the Vedas known as Shaaka and did not go far afield! So the Guru and Aachaarya was the biological father himself! In period literature of Treta Yuga for example, the Guru would have meant the father only.
21. Later, for reasons of knowing the other branches of the Vedas of other families, learning more than one’s own particular branch of the Veda Shaska, came in to vogue. So the son started to go to approach other religious teachers. So also for purpose of avoiding, ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’ situations of over indulgence, it was thought better to take the son to other teachers. So Brhmopadesam he got from his biological father and went to other boarding cum lodging schools of Guru Kula! While doing so, the child was encouraged to adopt begging for his food, to overcome pride and imbibe humility! When this happened, the complete responsibility from Brhmopadesam to teaching and training all the Vidya Sthanas, inculcating of attitudinal and behavioural principles and instilling Atma Gnaanam, became that of the Guru!
22. Learning at home could lead to taking liberty on the part of the child and being liberal and not strict on the part of the father. So Guru Kula Vasam was correctly identified as the best for the students learning and growth as well as advancement to higher and higher levels of learning. There were Guru Kula run by great sages, whose biological son also participated in the same setup! We also see that despite running their own famous Guru Kula, renowned teachers sending their own son to other teachers. It is surprising to note, as to how keen people were in both their own son’s progress and in the advancement of knowledge per se!
23. In today’s world this is not the concern of parents at all! How well can he earn more and more is the only concern, it seems. It does not matter what or how he learns. How much he earns seems to be more important than even how he earns! Lure of the lucre has so much pull! There was a time when the parent’s main concern was the son’s name, fame and reputation! Virtually sacrificing the baby’s childhood company, they sent him to Guru Kula Vaasa. ThiruvaLLuvar has a couplet of Kural for each and every occasion! Here he says, “eenra pozhudinum peridu uvakkum than maganai saanron enak-ketta thaai”, meaning that, ‘the mother gets a greater thrill than even when she gave birth to her child, when she hears that he is a good man’!
24. Later on it somehow came back to the father conducting the ritual of Brhmopadesam, as though to complete a formality. In the olden times despite their own level of knowledge, the fathers were prepared to sacrifice much for the sake of the son’s education. That is why this Brhmopadesam was considered as a prerequisite before the boy was taken to Guru Kula for Vidya Abhyasa. That is how this function came to be known as ‘Upanayanam’, as an act of fetching him closer to a Guru! If the boy was to learn from his own father, there could not have been an act of ‘Upanayanam’ as he was already there!
25. First the father takes him nearer a Guru. Then the Guru takes him closer to God! That is the second ‘Upanayanam’. Then finally, when he approaches the Ultimate, he enters the Sanyaasa Aashrama, when he is required to remove the outer symbols of religion, including the Poonool given to him, during the first Upanayanam!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 16 (Vol #4) Dated 26 May 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 16 (Vol #4) Dated 26 May 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 first paragraph on page 103 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.)

GURU

1. We use the words Guru and Aachaarya at a high level only. Normally somebody who teaches us anything, we call him as ‘Vaadyaar’ or Teacher or Instructor. But someone who initiates us in some ritual procedure of mantra, Yagna or homa, is referred to as an Aachaarya. The gentleman who comes to our home and helps us in conducting a tarpaNam, divasam, chathurthi pooja or dwadasi pooja and such things is called a Vaadyaar.
2. When we learn music or dance from a teacher for a number of years, then that person is called a Guru. In schools and colleges the teacher who imparts education on any subject gets the prefix of a Teacher or Vaadyaar or Aasiriyar or Upaadyayar. In normal talk we call him as Vaadyaar and formally refer to him as Aasiriyar.
3. Somehow only in Tamil Nadu, even reporters and editors are referred as Aasiriyar. As the teacher in the school who introduces as to the written word is called the Aasiriyar, anyone connected with the print media have come to be known by the same word, Aasiriyar. May be the intension originally was that they should have the same commitment towards educating people of good knowledge and not any scrap! Upaadyaaya is the Sanskrit word from which is derived this word Vaadyaar. This should remind us of Adyaayam as a name for chapter or canto.
4. Your interpretation of Adhyayam is likely to be the chapter added to the story every week or month, in a serial novel, in a periodical. This name Adhyayam for each subsequent chapter is a recent nomenclature. In olden times, in the study of the Vedas, which was heard, repeated and committed to memory, these words of Adhyayam, Adhyayanam and Adhyaayam were being used. Later these words found their place in all written and printed materials of science, literature and philosophy! Come to think of it, there are many such synonymous words such as, section, sub-section, kaanda, canto, sarga, padala, parva, parichcheda, uchchavasa, ullasa, anga, prakaraNa, skanda and so on! Amongst them all, the word Adhyaya is basically from the Vedas.
5. That way, I will tell you one more example about how every word in Sanskrit is connected to the Vedas! Lesson is known as Paatham, in whatever the subject. The schools are known as Paathasaalai, including the one where you are taught not to follow the Vedas! Actually this word has evolved from the action of reading the Vedas. One of the daily activities of Brhma Yagnam is known as Patham with emphasis on the syllable ‘tha’ to sound something like, ‘tta’. The one who is learning the Vedas by heart is the, ‘Paathi’, from which words such as ‘tripaathi’ and ‘trivedi’ have emerged, to indicate someone who has learnt three Vedas! Someone who has learnt the Vedas in a form known as ‘Ghanam’ is called a ‘Ghanapaathi’. Another person who is learning the Vedas as a co-student similarly is called, ‘saha paathi’. This word ‘saha paathi’ has come to mean a colleague in any walk of life! Similar words are to be found in all the languages in India, clearly indicating as to how wide spread were all these customs and traditions related to learning of the Vedas!
6. The fact that these words are equally to be found in the oldest of Tamil literature proves on the one hand as to how deep rooted were the Vedic customs and traditions in Tamil way of life and on the other hand, disproves yet another canard created by the erstwhile rulers of India and reiterated by the proponents of Aryan Vs Dravidian divide, with their own axes to grind!
7. We were discussing the origin and meaning of the words such as Vaadyaar, Upaadyaar and Adhyaayam. To teach Veda is Adhyaapana and to learn Veda is Adhyayana. The one who teaches Adhyaaya of the Vedic lessons is the Adhyaapaka. So, the teacher is Upaadhyaapaka, but came to be called in usage as Upaadhyaaya. ‘Upa’ has many meanings. But mainly it has come to mean the secondary or assistant or subordinate, a step lower than the main one! For example, angam – upaangam; puraaNam – upapuraaNam and so on!
8. So, Upaadhyaaya is an assistant to the teacher, slightly less or inferior to the teacher. I will tell you why. Amongst teachers of Veda, there are two types as per the Smruthies. One is the Aachaarya and the other is the Upaadhyaaya. The difference between the two is clear from the Manu Smruthi, which is considered the most important reference book out of all Smruthies! Aachaarya is not one who teaches for the sake of earning a livelihood!
9. It is the duty of a Brahmin to ensure that what he knows and has learnt of the Vedas does not die with him. Instead, it should be taught to as many students as possible, to make the learning eternal! So, he would start a Guru Kula Pathasaala and teach his disciples. He would not demand any fees from those students. If the disciple offers something on his own, when he completes 12 years of learning, the Guru may accept. There will be no discussion, hassles, bargaining and regrets.
10. The interesting thing about Guru Kula Vaasa is that it is not like the day scholars of schools and colleges today! For 12 years, the student lives in the teacher’s household! He not only learns the Vedas, but also, manners, good behaviour and respect for elders! He lives with equal rights and privileges and helps in all activities as he would in his own house! The teacher takes the responsibility not only for educating him, but also for his thoughts, actions and attitudes! The Guru did not consider educating the disciple as services rendered; and so, did not expect to be paid for it! What he gets as ‘Guru Dakshina’ is treated as God’s blessings and not as ‘quid pro quo’ or with the idea of, ‘daaniki deeniki sari poyindi’!
11. One can feel proud that there were such institutions spread out in the nook and corner of this country, in every township and village! “The hungry ends up auditing the past”, says a proverb! That is why, I am telling you all these things that, such was our noble past, to re-establish which we should be straining our minds and resources.
12. Manu Smruthi makes a difference between such Aachaaryas and the (future, that is the present day) Upaadyaaya who would be educating the young of the next generation for a livelihood. Manu Smruthi calls such teachers ‘bruthaka adhyaapaka’, that is, one who works for wages, an employee! The Smruthi says that he will do a contract job of teaching a portion of the Vedas, for a pay! I quote:- “ekadesam tu vedasya vedaangaan api vaa puna: I yo adhyaapayati vrutyartam Upaadyaaya: sa uchyate II”
(To be continued)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 15 (Vol #4) Dated 24 May 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 15 (Vol #4) Dated 24 May 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 first paragraph on page 94 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.)

114. All that happens to Avataras will finally turn out to be good and beneficial to people of the world, because the very purpose of their coming into being in this world is, ‘Loka KalyaN”! For getting rid of negative publicity and the curse of seeing the fourth crescent of the moon, even if you are not able to reread the whole of the story of Syamantaka MaNi, think of it in the mind. When KrishNa was play acting as though he was investigating the death of Prasenan, Jambawathy revealed the whole story by that one sloka as a lullaby for her brother. We should at least chant that sloka.
115. “simha: Prasenam avateet simho Jambawataa hata: l
Sukumaraka maa rodhee: tava hyesha Syamantaka: ll” While chanting it, we will automatically review the whole ‘Upakhyanam’. The second line, though addressed to Sukumara the son of Jambawan, it sounds as though telling us not to cry! We are also Sukumaras only, that means ‘good boys’! “The Syamantaka MaNi is for you only”, she says. We know that we have two gems of PiLLaiyar and KrishNa to bless us! This sloka can be included in formal pooja, as given in ‘vrata choodaamaNi Kalpam’.
116. As blessed by PiLLaiyar, the scandal about KrishNa was erased in a few days. Dwaraka was affected by the onset of bad times. Rains failed. Trade and commerce was badly affected. People were falling sick with disease and poverty! Simultaneously in Kaasi, there was all round bounty of well being! Information was received that Akrura was there and doing a lot of social service, such as building of temples, free food camps, free medical service and so on! When you put two and two together, you make either 4 or 22! One could easily deduce that, Akrura and Syamantaka MaNi were together there!
117. Omniscient Bhagwan KrishNa did not need the news papers or the support of Press Trust of India or Reuters or any of the news channels of the Tele Vision! Still, as he was playacting as a human being, he sent some messengers to contact Akrura, with the following message. “Dear Sir! Without your august presence, Dwaraka is not a fraction of its past glory! So you must come back to Dwaraka, to be a friend, guide and philosopher of the Yadava community! It is alright, if the gem happens to be with you. That is not a problem at all! Instead of its being in the possession of anyone else, it is best to be in your hands as a man of principles, high discipline and morality! (Though he had every right for the gem, he is showing the least interest in it!) Satrajit, after all is no more. My elder brother has some doubts about me with regard to the Syamanthaka MaNi. Jambawathy could start doubting me about that gem. In turn, SatyaBhama too may start wondering about my integrity! All these doubts can trickle down to the general public of Dwaraka. So, it is best, if the gem happens to be in your hands. You can continue to have it and in the bargain, I am sure the rainless drought conditions in Dwaraka will be removed if you come back with the gem! So, I sincerely wish and pray that you find it convenient to return to Dwaraka and that hopefully the gem is with you!”
118. With sincere love and affection, the message also contains diplomacy! Though Akrura had some confusion, since he is basically a devotee of KrishNa, the moment he got a call from him, he immediately came back to Dwaraka and surrendered to Bhagawan. (Note that we are talking about times when the speediest was a horse and Dwaraka and Kaasi are geographically about 1,000 miles apart! So, months must have passed in sending a message and getting a reply!) Though Bhagawan had told him that he could keep the MaNi, all wealth belongs to that Lakshmipathi (husband of the Goddess of wealth) only. Akrura was feeling very guilty about the whole series of incidents! So, he respectfully offered the Syamantaka MaNi to KrishNa, immediately on return to Dwaraka.
119. But, KrishNa forcefully insisted that the gem should remain with Akrura only. He told him, “Please think that I have given it to you! I should get rid of the doubt and suspicions about that gem and me, in the minds of all. I am especially concerned about getting back into my elder brothers good books! Then my main interest area is the welfare of the people of Dwaraka! The influence of the gem will make an immediate effect in the social and economic well being of the country, I am sure!” Thus, he ensured that the gem remained with Akrura.
120. As the founding father of Dwaraka, as the King maker who re-installed Ugrasena after deposing Kamsa, as a leader of Yadu Kula and so on, KrishNa had an important role to play in the public life of that period. Such people have to live a life of exemplary cleanliness and transparency above all suspicions. In the case of a normal suspect, the crime has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt. In the case of public figures, the onus to prove their innocence lies with them, as the famous idiom goes, “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion”! KrishNa took a lot of pains to maintain an above board record, free of blemishes. Not that he was worried really. He was rather setting himself as a role model to be emulated!
121. Part of that drama was the scarcity conditions that were obtaining in Dwaraka and subsequent period of abundance, after the return of the gem! When the repository of all value as KrishNa was available, it is of little consequence as to where a stone or a gem is located! It was all part of his ‘Leela’, the Lord’s wish and play. Akrura stayed in Dwaraka with the gem. Bad times hovering around Dwaraka slowly but surely lifted, along with all the doubts about KrishNa’s name and reputation!
122. Once Balarama came to know about that, he also returned to Dwaraka from Videha Rajyam. He expressed deep regrets for having doubted KrishNa’s integrity! KrishNa told him not to feel bad. “It is none of your mistake at all”, he said. “The reason is that I happened to see the chathurthi Chandra, in the month of Bhadrapada; which initiated all these events. But all that, has ended in underlining the powerful influence of Vigneshwara and the need to take his protection only! It is all for the good!” This is the story of KrishNa worshipping PiLLaiyar!
123. One great advantage experienced by the Tamilians who follow the Souramana Panchangam. For them, in the month of AvaNi, both Gokulashtami and PiLLaiyar Chathurthi, occur within a gap of 12 to 13 days; celebrating the birth-day / Aavirbhaavam of both KrishNa and PiLLaiyar. For others, Gokulashtami occurs in the month of SravaNa and Vinayaka Chathurthi in Bhadrapada!
124. The special vegetable of AvaNi is the VeLLarikkai, the cucumber! This is the only vegetable which does not become over ripe and can be eaten raw without cooking. It is a vegetable truly indigenous and endemic to South India! Moreover, it is the most ‘saatvic’ of all vegetables! Like both KrishNa and PiLLaiyar won over people’s minds for thousands of generations by their endearing childhood pranks and exploits; the ‘veLLari pinju’ the baby of this vegetable, should be offered to these Gods in their pooja and partaken! They will bless us with wisdom through this raw vegetable!
125. Conclusion. Thus PiLLaiyar, other than being from the ‘big place’ of highly connectedness, has proved himself to be the Yelder to his own Father, Mother, Younger Brother anyhow and Uncle; on various occasions! They have all (Parameswara, AmbaL, SubrahmaNya and Sri Rama,) worshipped him for removal of obstacles and Sri KrishNa has prayed to him for erasing innuendo and safe guarding his reputation! Let us also make him our constant companion, as a Baby God to be cherished, for removal of all the obstacles in the path of our lives too and for the wisdom of understanding that He can endow!

Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 14 (Vol #4) Dated 22 May 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 14 (Vol #4) Dated 22 May 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 first paragraph on page 86 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.)

101. Chandra was sincere. He was genuinely repentant. PiLLaiyar listened to his plea with his big ears and obligingly pardoned him. He rescinded the curse that whosoever looks at the moon should be subjected to scandal and ridicule! He did not totally do what the gunners in the Artillery do and give a command such as, ‘stop – cancel - last order!’ Once a word issues forth from his mouth, it can never go waste completely. Pride in whatever form is to be abhorred. So, people should forever remember that being proud of your beauty, wealth, knowledge or anything for that matter, will lead to their downfall! So, I declare that on my birthday of sukla chathurthi every month, people are forbidden to see the moon. From thirty days of the month, he reduced it to one day a month and that being a chathurthi, the aim is for people to remember this incident and forsake pride!
102. Having condoned the severity of the punishment, he gave some privileges to Chandra with love. He lifted him and put him on his head.
Like Parameswara, AmbaL and Vigneswara too, have the crescent moon on their head as an ornament. For this PiLLaiyar has a name as Bhalachandran. Some people wrongly mention Balachandra, as in their interpretation that it is applicable to Vinayaka and or the crescent Moon, as Baala means a child or baby. But this is wrong. Bhalachandran is the correct word as Bhaalam is the forehead. This is one of the 16 names of Gajanana, occurring in that sloka, that I quoted earlier, when talking about how he helped his younger brother get married. Siva having the crescent moon on his head is called Phaalachandra. Some people mistakenly use this word also for GaNesha.
103. It is not great for Parameswara to have exhonerated Chandra, as it was only like a punishment meted out by a judge in the court! He misbehaved with his wedded wives, apologised and so lightly dealt with. But, in the case of PiLLaiyar, it was a personal insult and affront. Despite that, PiLLaiyar was prompt enough to excuse Chandra, when he apologised!
104. If someone pays encomiums of praise for another, it is the custom to pull that person’s leg by saying, “What is the meaning of your putting him on your head and dancing?” That is how you carry the God’s idol or statue, when you take him around temple premises during festivals. PiLLaiyar carried Chandra literally on his head and danced. That is how he got the name as, ‘nrutta gaNapathy’ , the dancing PiLLaiyar! When you are looking at the moon, you will never feel like taking your eyes off. So also, one can never be over satiated, looking at the endearing form and qualities of PiLLaiyar! So, for Chandra to find a place on PiLlaiyar’s head is like decorating the beautyful!
105. He gave Chandra another feather in his cap! Normally for each deity, there is one ‘thithi’ (a day in the fortnight) that is important, during the waxing or waning moon. Murugan is revered on Shashti, that is only Shukla Shashti and not during the waning moon fortnight. For Siva, it is the fourteenth day before Amavasya, known as Masa Sivarathri. Rama Navami is always in the waxing ninth and Krishna Ashtami is always in the waning eighth. AmbaaL’s special day is the PourNami of the full moon. Only PiLLaiyar has both waxing and waning fourth days of Krishna and Sukhla Paktcha chathurthi as important days / nights.
106. He was born on Sukhla Chathurthi. We do not use the word ‘born’ for our gods as they are forever. But we use a word, ‘aavibhaavam’ to mean, ‘coming into being’ or manifestation! That is in the sukhla (waxing) chathurthi, when they keep ‘vratam’ every month. There is another chathurthi that is, the krishNa chathurthi, known as ‘Sankata hara chathurthi’, when people should specially organize prayers addressed towards PiLLaiyar, when we should also pray to Chandra with RohiNi, as per directions of PiLLaiyar! Thereby even the special love that Chandra has for RohiNi over the other wives is also excused!
107. KaNNan and Chandran. In Gokulashtami, when we offer special prayers to KrishNa, we are required to offer ‘argyam’ to Chandra also! Later in our story, you will see that this special privilege is in difference to PiLLaiyar only, that Chandran is honoured thus, it seems.
108. Rama and Chandra. There is one more story. Rama was born in the Surya Vamsa, that is the family of the Sun and got the name of ‘Ravi Kula Thilaka’! Seeing this, the Moon was much saddened! He went and complained to Sri Rama, that he has been showing much favouritism and partiality to the Sun Dynasty! So Sri Rama promised that in his next incarnation, he will take birth in the Chandra Vamsa! That is what he did in the KrishNa Avatara. As an immediate sop for Chandra, he added his name to his own and got the name of Ramachandra published in the official gazette, as though!
109. In the waning fourth ‘thithi’ thus, seeing of the moon which was banned has become a worshipful activity as Sankata Hara Chathurthi! In addition, if you happen to see the moon the previous evening, that is the third ‘thithi’ of ‘thrithiyai’, it is considered as so good that, all your other sins are also absolved! In the Panchangam it will be marked as ‘Chandra Darshanam’! (People may not normally be aware of what is ‘Thrithiyai’. But in India almost all are aware of ‘Akshayya Thrithiyai’, when everyone buys Gold, due to the efforts of the business community to sell!) Thus, after PiLLaiyar softened his draconian curses into moderated blessings, Chandra restarted his daily orbit around the earth, to everyone’s satisfaction.
110. Having told KrishNa the story of how Chandra’s behaviour was moderated by Vigneswara, Narada said, “You happened to see the moon on a chathurthi, that too the most important one of Bhadrapada Chathurthi at that! That is why you are finding yourself on the wrong end of the bargains repeatedly. So please do Maha GaNapathi Vratam and worship him!”
111. Instead of thinking of PiLLaiyar to be only his nephew after all, KrishNa did the required pooja on both KrishNa and Sukhla Paktcha Chathurthi, as per customs and traditions, without any let! If you think of keeping the vratam on one and leave the other, then during practice, one may miss one and keep the other and then a time may come when you skip both, as most of the aachara anushtaana-s are nowadays, going by default mostly, by most of the people! So let us say that KrishNa observed both the chathurthi vratam and was blessed to have the darshan of Vigneshwara! He told KrishNa, “Since you have come in human form and living the life of a model ideal to be emulated, my curse seems to have affected you also! Now that you have shown the way out of the bind, your problems will vanish and you will come out shining brilliantly like the moon coming out of the clouds!”, said the nephew to the uncle!
112. KrishNa put up another request. His mind was always on ‘loka kshemam’, that is the welfare of the world at large! Though temporarily his mind was possibly affected by the personal loss of name and fame, like the crystal clear water of a spring is ever so fleetingly turbid due to algae, it sprung back to its original clarity! He said, “Your darshan has cleared the confusion in my mind. It shows your big heart and liberal mindedness. It is not enough, if I am the only one benefitted by this series of incidents. Please be kind enough to say something for the benefit of the public at large!”
113. It suited PiLLaiyar’s intention too. Earlier, in the context of Chandra, people of the world had been debarred from looking at the Moon. As a counter to that, in the context of KrishNa, he wished to grant a boon to people in general! “Earlier I had said that, seeing the moon on sukhla chathurthi will entail much inconvenience, which can be got rid of by making amends only after seeing the ‘moonraam pirai’ or the crescent moon on the third evening after new moon, that is the ‘thriteeyai’! That comes only after the passage of a month! Now I declare that whosoever hears the story of Syamantaka MaNi and thereby are reminded of KrishNa and his experience, will get rid of the stigma of seeing the crescent of the moon on the evening of the ‘waxing fourth’ and attain much relief and peacefulness”!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 13 (Vol #4) Dated 20 May 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 13 (Vol #4) Dated 20 May 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 78 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.)

Question & Answers: Stories within Stories!

82. In PuraNas, all narration is in the form of one person asking a question and another answering them. That evidently means that they have done all their other activities for creature comforts and are at ease, being able to give all their attention to what is being said! Almost all PuraNas are in the form of the assembled ascetics of NaimisaraNya asking questions and Suta answering them. That in turn will be presented as having been enquired by one and answered by another. For example, though Bhagawatam is as instructed by Suta to the Rishis of NaimisharaNya, we receive it as a reply from Sukha to Parikshit.
83. Looking at the Itihasas, Maha Bharatam too is in the form of Suta’s reply to the assembled sages of NaimisaraNya. Only RamayaNa is different. Valmiki, who was disgusted with his way of life of dacoity, asked Narada as to, “Who is the ideal human being full of all admirable character qualities?” Narada’s reply was a narration of Sri Rama’s life history. This was later composed in poetical form by Valmiki, taught to Lava and Kusa, the two sons of Rama, who presented it by singing, in the presence of Rama and his courtiers in Aswamedha Mandapam, that became an epic!
84. Maha Bharatham was once again, as instructed to the Rishis of NaimisaraNya by Suta. Then the same story was retold to the grand son of Pandavas, Janamejaya by Vaisampayana Rishi. What was till then in ‘karNa parampara’ that is, verbally told and repeated, was written down by Vigneswara our PiLLaiyar, on the rocks of the Meru mountain with one of his tusks, broken by himself, to be used as the pen!
85. Branching of the stories takes place in between these PuraNas and Itihasas, when any one of the characters in the story would ask questions and Narada or Agasthya or Markandeya or such sages who were authorities of the past, would be clearing their doubts, through yet- another historical narration. Within RamayaNa too, in the Uttara Kaanda (that is canto), the life history of RavaNa and his relatives is narrated, as told to Rama by Agasthya.
86. This Agasthya is the one asking question, which is answered by Hayagreeva, that is the Lalithopakhyanam in the Brhmanda PuraNa! In Maha Bharatham too, there are many such instances when, many Rishis have clarified the doubts of Pandavas, during their 12 years of ‘Vana Vasa’ that is, stay in the forest! Exactly similarly, here in Skandam, KrishNa Paramatma is told by Narada, as to why the waxing moon is not to be seen on chathurthi! This is depicted as told by Nandikeswara to Sanat kumara.
87. Chandra’s Pride! Maha GaNapathi used to ride his Mooshika Vahana and roam about happily all over the worlds. During such visits everywhere, he once visited the Chandra Loka or the world of the Moon. He was the baby God of the colour of the Moon as he is known as, ‘sasi varNa’. More over any child loves the Moon.
88. Chandra always had a haughty pride about his own beauty, as he is much extolled and admired by all lovers, poets and lovers of poetry! That praise of the bards went to his head and he started looking down on all others. When a sense of pride comes over you, it is but natural that your perspective gets blurred.
89. PiLLaiyar’s elephant face dripping with love and compassion, the wide ears fanning about, his body of chubby cheeks, well filled belly indicative of wholesome baby fat, with the fifth hand of a proboscis or trunk mischievously touching all things around, while the legs look rather puny by contrast; he is a source of endless mirth and pleasure to the onlooker! For Chandra the Moon, he looked funny enough to be laughed at with derision! PiLLaiyar can take a joke, but not derision and ridicule! He was angered, since discipline of the deities is like a duty of his. Not because he felt personally insulted.
90. He told the Moon the following words. “Hi! Mr. Moon! You seem to be rather haughty, due to your apparent beauty. Your complexion is pleasantly fair alright. But, hope you remember that your light is actually only reflected glory! You seem to be forgetting that the parts of your body which does not receive the Sun’s light are dark and murky! Even when you are in your effulgent glory as a full moon, there are blotches and smudges!”
91. “Let it be so. Who is interested in appearances? Looking at your character, it leaves much to be desired! Because of the aberrations in your character, you were too partial to one wife RohiNi as compared to the 26 others! So your father-in-law Dakshan cursed you to loose your power of even reflecting the Sun’s light! When you were a negligible sliver of your original being, it was my father who gave you back great honour and prestige, by wearing you on his head!”
92. “Then it was his kindness that you were permitted to grow to your full potential of complete roundness. So as to remind you of your disloyalty to your other wives, you were made to wane and by the grace of Parameswara you were enabled to grow, as a cycle alternately! In addition to all this, people are ignoring the fact as to how you behaved in a despicable manner with your Guru’s wife! People look at you only because of your cool nourishing light, in the night time. Because of your this behaviour of disrespect to me, I curse you that nobody may look at you even for your beauty anymore! Anyone looking at you may be subjected to doubt and innuendo!” This was the curse by PiLlaiyar to Chandra the Moon!
93. The best method of punishing someone too proud of their beauty and their make-up is, not to give them attention and to ignore them! This is what PiLlaiyar did. Instead of cursing Chandra, he caused others to purposefully ignore him. Those who accidentally notice his presence in the sky and then suffer some bad luck are likely to direct their curses at Chandra. Thus he will end up getting light from the Sun and curses from the onlookers! One more thing, the world normally shows difference to people who may be of awful character, but if they are good looking, wealthy and in position of authority, he or she is much appreciated and admired. The purpose of PiLlaiyar’s curse is to curb this tendency also.
94. To ignore people who are proud of their beauty is the right punishment. Those who ignore bad behaviour in others and are respectful only towards beauty, position, power and status, are best punished by slander caused to them! Chandra was afraid about the likely curses he would have to suffer from those who become victims of slander, just because they looked at him! With this double dilemma, he hid himself deep inside the ocean!
95. The world suffered a lot due to the absence of the moon at night! The herbs get their nourishment from the moon light only. They were all starving and wilting. The diseases were on the increase due to absence of medicinal herbs. Lovers and poets were badly affected. All the divine beings and Rishis went and complained to Brhma. On such situations people always used to go to Brhma first. Either he will solve the problem or gradually raise the level to Vishnu, Siva or AmbaL successively. In this case however the consensus was to go back to PiLLaiyar himself. 96. So they were all advised accordingly to pray to Maha GaNapathi in the proper manner. In his favourite chathurthi, they all fasted and prepared all sorts of eats that PiLlaiyar is fond of, such as Modakam (mix of grated coconut with jaggery as a filling inside a receptacle made of a thin layer of rice powder kneaded with some water. A number of such Modakams are steamed together to complete the process); Appam ( a paste of rice with jaggery fried in clarified butter); fruits that would be available in the forests, like plantain and jack fruit, sugarcane and such things. ‘More than the items offered, it is your sincerity that is important’, said Brhma.
97. Normally ‘vratam’ means having one meal in the day and fasting at night. In this case, since the moon will be seen only at night, it would have been in the rightness of things to fast throughout the day and finish the same after a proper celebration of devotional procedure at night. That is why it is called a ‘nakta vratam’! Naktam means night and ‘nocturnal’ the word in English is derived from this word ‘naktam’ only!
98. Each God is fond one particular ‘upachara’ (courteous action of reverence). Siva is said to be ‘abhisheka priya:’, that is fond of being bathed and anointed. Vishnu is ‘alankara priya:’, that is fond of being decorated with flowers, leaves, garlands and jewels! PiLLaiyar is very pleased with offerings of eats, like any child should be. If you give anything to it, its immediate reaction would be to test its, softness, hardness, taste etc., by putting it in its mouth. So would this baby God be easily pleased with’neivedyam’, offerings of food! So he should be offered plenty of Modakam or Kozhukkattai, Appam, Pongal, Coconut, Bananas, Sugar Cane, Pineapple, honey and such things!
99. That is why Avvayar starts of her prayers to PiLLaiyar with, “paalum, theli thenum (honey), paagum paruppum, ivai naangum
kalandu unakku naan tharuven, kolam sei thunga-k-karimugaththu thoo maniye, nee enakku sangath thamizh moonrum thaa.” With apparent mastery and ease over her language, rhyming and rhythm, she tells PiLLaiyar, “I will give you four things namely, (one) milk, (two) clear honey, (three) the thick paste of dissolved jaggery and (four) dry fruits such as cashew nuts and almonds”. Then with equal mastery over the situation and child psychology, as to how attract the baby by puzzling it with some simple arithmetic, she says, “You give me three things, namely, Iyal, Isai and Natakam of the Sanga Thamizh”! That is poetry, music and dance/drama of the authority of Tamil culture!”
100. AruNagiri Natha in Thiruppugazh, in the very first song addressed to PiLLaiyar is saying, “kaithala nirai kani appamodu aval pori...” meaning, ‘hands full of fruits, appam, aval (beaten rice), pori (popped rice)...’ and so on. So also all the deities and other living beings and flora and fauna went to PiLLaiyar and sincerely prayed to Him, including Chandra!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 12 (Vol #4) Dated 18 May 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 12 (Vol #4) Dated 18 May 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 second paragraph on page 73 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.)
69. On receiving the information about the return of KrishNa to Dwaraka, Akrura who would normally look forward to the company of KrishNa as insurance against fear, was in a dilemma. He thought it better to vanish from the scene! He literally went away from Dwaraka! In his ‘Bhaja Govindam’ song our AachaaryaaL says, ‘artham anartham bhaavaya nityam’, meaning, ‘at least once a day think in your mind that material possession (artham) would automatically lead to conflicts and chaos (anartham)’! So material should become immaterial in our lives, as otherwise, we will be in a similar quandary as Akrura found himself in.
70. Though Akrura need never have had these doubts and distrust about KrishNa, a friend in whose good books he had always been; his natural bent of mind towards devotion to God and dharma, did not desert him. So, though he left Dwaraka, he went on Kshetraadana that is, visiting holy places of religious interest! Finally he reached Kaasi!
71. Once he had reached Kaasi, his mind was peaceful and light. He had no personal selfish interests to exploit the fact of having the Gem in his possession. It started giving him Eight Weights (bharam) of gold every day! He spent all the money in getting many temples of God constructed. That sacred gem seemed to have finally arrived at the suitable destination! So while pouring all the wealth, the gem caused that in its proximity there will not be any disease, sadness, floods or drought like conditions!
72. Here in Dwaraka, Bhagawan was brooding as to how this gem has caused all types of troubles! “It had taken the life of three people, Prasenan, Satrajit and now, Satadhanva. First it got me against Satrajit and now my own elder brother is alienated and migrated on some misunderstanding! Akrura’s absence is indicative of the fact that the gem is possibly in his hands. His going away from Dwaraka is also due to the gem only! While Satyabhama has been grieved by the demise of her father, the world is still suspicious of me, my behaviour and my attitude! Why am I being the target of so much distrust and misunderstanding?”
73. Then Narada came there. Narada Maharishi always knew as to when to enter any story and how his entry will cause a major turn in the narrative! His opening statement addressed at KrishNa was, “Swami! You seem to be much lost in thoughts. What is the matter?” Bhagwan Sri KrishNa narrated all the twists and turns that had taken place since the arrival of Syamantaka MaNi in Dwaraka. With sheer humbleness he asked Narada, “There is nothing that is not known to you in all the three worlds of space and time! So, you have to tell me as to why, I am subjected to so much of public distrust and innuendo!”
74. “Oh! That? I will tell you. On bhadrapada sukhla chathurthi, you have seen the crescent of the moon. That is the reason for all of your troubles, as you have been subjected to the curse by Vigneshwara!” Now that statement needs much explanation! We have to know, firstly as to ‘what is meant by bhadrapada sukhla chathurthi?’, secondly ‘what is wrong in seeing the crescent of the moon on that day?’, thirdly ‘what is Vigneshwara’s curse?’ Then the readers would have now noticed as to how far we have got away from the story of PiLLaiyar and got too involved in that of KrishNa!
75. We are going to tackle those three questions, one by one. First is, ‘what is meant by bhadrapada Sukhla chathurthi’! For this we have to know something about ‘panchangam’ that is Indian Calendar and Indian astronomical calculations of ‘Jyotisham’! Within that also there are two lines of calculations based on the movement of the Sun or Moon as related to the stars and galaxies (Raasi).

Bhadrapadam – Differences in Panchangam.
75. Bhadrapada (also known as Proshtapada), is a double star known as, Poorva Bhadrapada and Uttara Bhadrapada. Generally when referring to the month in which the full moon occurs, in one of these stars, the month is called Bhadrapada and while referring the star itself, it is called Proshtapada. Thus the star could be Poorva Proshtapadee or Uttara Proshtapadee, known in Tamil as Poorattaadhi and Uttirattaadhi. The month Proshtapadhi (that is, the month in which full moon happens to be on the day of one of these two stars), is called in Tamil as Poorattasi!
76. (KTSV adds:- Are you thoroughly confused? I am. So do not blame me if I am making any mistake in my translation. But the fact remains that, Jyotisham is all logic, maths and science. It is worth its while to make a hobby that could be very interesting! Even if you are not interested in the aspect of making predictions, the study of the astronomical aspects could be very interesting by themselves. Of course, you could make a profession of it with some additional income after retirement, reading horoscopes and or matching them!)
77. Then there are two schools of thoughts on this. In Tamil Nadu they follow the ‘Souramaanam’, that is the calculations of the first day of each month of the calendar is based on the entry of the Sun in a particular Rasi and its exit. Looking at the Sun from the Earth, it will be found to be aligned with a particular galaxy of stars called Rasi, during that period.
78. People in Kerala, Andhra, Karnataka and all other parts of North India, follow what is known as, ‘Chandramaanam’. Their month starts on the first day/night after the Amavasya (New Moon), that is known as Sukhla Paksha Prathama. The first day/night after a full moon, on the other hand is known as KrishNa Paksha Prathama. The name of the month in this method will be that of the star occurring on the Full Moon day / night in that month. All festivals in India are based on this system of Chandramaanam.
79. So PiLLaiyar Chaturthi will occur in the month of Bhadrapada, on Sukhla Paksha Chathurthi, uniformly for all the followers of the system of Chandramaanam, such as for Keralites, Kannadigas, Andhrites and North Indians. For the followers of Souramaanam, PiLLaiyar Chathurthi could be in the month of AavaNi or Purattasi. I hope you grasp the difference. Let me put it in other words.
80. The day after Amavasya the next month is born. So the fourth day of any month is the Sukla Paksha Chathurthi. (After full moon the waxing moon is the KrishNa Paksha.) But in the case of Souramaanam, the month of Purattasi occurs only when the Sun enters the Kanya Raasi from Simha Raasi. That could happen in AavaNi or Purattasi! Similar thing happens in the case of Sri Rama Navami, Gokula Ashtami, Nava raathri and so on! That is the festivals as per these two methods of calculations could and do differ! (Please refer to Deivathin Kural # 125 to 145 of (Vol # 3) for further comprehension of the Souramaanam and Chandramaanam systems.)
81. It was in one of those ‘Bhadrapada Sukhla Chathurthi’, that is PiLLaiyar Chathurthi evening that Sri KrishNa had seen the waxing crescent moon! Having gone for a hunt with Prasenan and having waited for him for long, he saw the moon and thinking it to be rather late, returned from the hunt, without being able to locate Prasenan! That is the occasion that Narada was referring to! Naturally the question arises as to, why is it so bad to see the crescent moon on PiLLaiyar Chathurthi? That is the question of KrishNa that Narada answered.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 11 (Vol #4) Dated 16 May 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 11 (Vol #4) Dated 16 May 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 second paragraph on page 67 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.)

54. Akrura was an ardent devotee of KrishNa and Krutavarma was at least a friend of KrishNa. They were openly anti-Satrajit and spoke in support of KrishNa. But, the scenario changed when Satrajit became the father-in-law of KrishNa, giving his daughter Satyabhama in marriage to him and also gave him the Symantaka MaNi as a dowry almost. Though KrishNa did not accept the Syamantaka MaNi, the attitude of Akrura and Krutavarma changed completely. All devotion turned into one of hate and jealousy. The story teaches us as to how the best of intensions can change when pride and prejudice comes into play!
55. When KrishNa went to Hastinapura, it gave an opportunity to Akrura and Krutavarma to hatch a plan of deceit! Having lost the girl Satyabhama anyhow, they thought of getting at least the gem! They even thought of doing away with Satrajit! Not having enough courage to do it themselves, they approached Satadhanva to act as the hired killer! As aspirants for the hand of Satyabhama, they should have been mutually at logger heads with each other. But as they say, ‘enemy’s enemy is a friend’, the three of them having a common enemy in Satrajit, were thrown together by the circumstances! Knowing that Satrajit did not have KrishNa’s immediate support, they thought that the time to strike was when Krishna was still away in Hastinapura.
56. Satadhanva killed Satrajit by using deceit in a despicable manner and not by direct fight. He grabbed the Syamantaka MaNi. Satyabhama came to know about this and was grieved. She was waiting for the return of KrishNa to punish Satadhanva. Though it is said that due to the power of Syamantaka MaNi, the one having it will have access to all riches and that it will be a source of happiness and good health! What we have so far seen is the opposite! Nothing is free in life and there is always a cost.
57. In this case the cost was physical and inner cleanliness, as clarified by Surya Bhagawan initially, while handing over the gem to Satrajit. In this Strajit failed badly because, he was suspicious of everyone including KrishNa, as far as the Syamantaka MaNi was concerned. This distrust in the heart is dirt! If Prasena had to give his life because of physical lack of cleanliness, Satrajit was nursing doubt and distrust for long, ending in his having to die for it, at the end.
58. Even ‘chiran jeevi’ Jambavan could not keep the gem for long with himself! Under these circumstances, how long could the gem have lasted in the hands of the cruel and scheming Satadhanva? Would it have let him live for long? When KrishNa returned, his loving wife cried her hearts out as to how Satadhanva had killed her father by deceit! KrishNa had decided that her father’s death will be avenged!
59. The moment Satadhanva had knowledge about KrishNa’s decision to avenge the death of Satrajit, he started shivering in mortal fear. Only recently, KrishNa had defeated Jambawan in physical combat over 21 days, as known to everyone! Once he knew that, such a great warrior’s attention was focussed on the killer of Satrajit, Satadhanva’s courage deserted him. He ran away from Dwaraka.
60. Before that, he dropped the Syamantaka MaNi in the hands of Akrura! He could have surrendered it to KrishNa and begged of him to spare his life. But that would have been tantamount to acceptance of the crime of killing Satrajit, on the one hand! On the other, his devious mind wanted to deny KrishNa a double victory of defeating him as well as getting his hands on the gem! Another way of looking at it was that, as he had known as to how, whosoever became owners of that gem Symantaka MaNi had suffered, he wished Akrura to suffer the same fate! Evil minds work in deviously evil ways! May be this tactic would divide the attention of KrishNa in two different directions!
61. KrishNa came to know that Satadhanva was getting away on a fast moving horse. He was neither annoyed nor furious. Satadhanva who had murdered his father-in-law by deceit, had to be punished. It was his duty to do so. With his brother Balarama, he chased Satadhanva on a chariot. The horses of the chariot started at a gallop. After much chasing, Satadhanva and his horse were seen at a distance, losing speed. His horse physically carrying Satadhanva’s weight, was visibly in its last legs, virtually. It stumbled and fell down dead, foaming in its mouth.
62. Satadhanva started running away. KrishNa thought that it was not fair (not ‘dharmam’) to chase a man running, on a chariot. So he got down from the chariot and started running himself! Balarama remained seated in the chariot, as he considered that it was not in the rightness of things for one opponent to be attacked by two! Bhagawan cought hold of Satadhanva. There was a fight. Who can last long against the might of KrishNa? Satadhanva was killed and attained to heavens as all his sins were done away with by the grace of KrishNa. As it happened with Jambawan, KrishNa proved to be the stronger and got the name and fame for that, as an effect of the Symantaka MaNi. He searched for the gem in the dead man’s body in vain. With name and fame, he was also due for an equal amount of blame!
63. Talking of His Omniscience, Bhagawan Sri KrishNa says in Bhagawat Gita, “I know all that happens in the past, present and future, Arjuna; at the same time, it is true that nobody can ever know me”. Such an omniscient being only play acts as though that, he did not know about the whereabouts of the Syamantaka MaNi. He had brought his elder brother with that expectation that the gem was probably to found in the person of Satadhanva. Balarama, who was also another Avatara of the ultimate only, was equally omniscient about everything including the gem’s location.
64. Having subjected himself to much unfounded accusations and going through the human foibles and fallibilities, KrishNa seems to have placed himself in a quandary, as far as his relations with his elder brother is concerned. He told Balarama, “Brother, I have killed him but, could not locate the gem in his person!” Balarama played his part in the drama equally well!
65. He told KrishNa the following words, “KrishNa, you have always been a double dealing rogue! You are afraid that I will ask for the gem. So you have already played your trick! There is no doubt that you are bluffing. I am ashamed of having you as a relative and live with your pranks!” This ‘PoorNa Avatara’ of the Parabrhmam in human form, without losing his balance, calmly replied with due respect, “My dear Brother, you should not doubt me like that. You can check me thoroughly, if you want!”
66. Balarama’s anger was not to be so easily appeased. However much KrishNa pleaded, he was no convinced. “There is no meaning in checking you in person. You have always been a master of illusion and magic. You will use ‘thiraskaraNi vidya’ to hide the location of the gem from me. It is no good to keep your company. I will not wish to be seen with you anymore.” So saying he walked away from the scene to Videha Rajya, a neighbouring state.
67. KrishNa came back with much anxiety. As though he had not suffered enough, the public ire was again directed against him. They accused him of having killed again for the sake of the gem. They also accused him of antagonising his own elder brother and expelling him from the country, for the same reason!
68. It is the human tendency to look at the mistakes in others than the good points. What somebody could have done or not done, with all possible combinations, fill up the gossip pages of newspapers. Then there is much discussion on individual opinions and interpretations! More than praising the good qualities in our leaders, we show more interest in their weaknesses and fallibilities! The PuraNas bear out that such has been the case always!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 10 (Vol #4) Dated 14 May 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 10 (Vol #4) Dated 14 May 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 61 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.
42. Not only Jambawan, all the sages in DandakaraNya, who were all ascetics beyond any flimsy desires of the flesh, when they saw Sri Rama for the first time, were so attracted by that noble form, that they wanted to hug him in a total embrace! As deserving matured souls, they put up their this wish directly to Sri Rama. His reply was that in his incarnation as Rama, only Sita was entitled to embrace his 'sareera', that is his body. In his next incarnation as Sri KrishNa he will fulfil their desires, he promised. So it seems that, all those Rishis were born as Gopika-s, the women of Brindavan!
43. That being the case of the Rishis and their wish, what is to be done with the wish of the bear who had been rendered immortal! How will he be ever able to fulfil his desire of embracing that divine noble body of Rama, even if he gets to know that KrishNa is none other than Rama! He was likely to hide his desire to himself, especially as it was unthinkable to embrace the flower like body of Rama / KrishNa, with that hirsute blanket like body of his own! So it was the secret plan of God to enable him to catch hold of him and role any this way and that, to his hearts content, in the pretext of fighting! Within the 'this worldly drama', there are so many divine plays known as, 'Bhagawan ki leela' ! Exactly similarly Siva as the 'Ishta devata', that is preferred deity of Arjuna, gave an opportunity to his devotee to get in to fisticuff with himself, when he came as a hunter and instigated his devotee in to a fight!
44. Days rolled in to weeks as KrishNa and Jambawan kept up their combat! The Yadava-s who were waiting outside, were fidgety! There was no sign of KrishNa. They were away from their own families, going hungry in the forest. It can be quite dangerous and lonely in the forest at night! In ones and twos they all returned to Dwaraka after a day or two or may be three! They did not want to get into any more trouble than what they were already in, however much they might have been beholden to Prasenan or Satrajit!
45. The fight / combat went on for 21 days! Though totally tired and worn-out physically, Jambawan was getting some thrill out of that physical touch of KrishNa's body! That is how he somehow continued to survive. By the end of the third week however, Jambawan could not continue anymore. He knew that it was the power of 'Sri Rama' that had sustained him for so long. Chanting aloud the name of 'Sri Rama' he was beating the next Avatara of Rama only! Jambawan started wondering as to who this man could be, who could withstand his strength combined with that of power of Rama Nama? "Evidently he can just not be a normal person! Who can this man be? And most importantly, why is his physical contact giving me so much of pleasure and thrill?", he thought! The answer just occurred to him in a flash.
46. KrishNa also thought, "How long do I have to go on playing this game? I have so many more commitments, after all!" So we should take it that Krishna caused Jambawan to realize! Jambawan thought, "Oh! God! How more bearishly foolish can I ever become! My very Ishta Devata has come calling on me in this forest after all these years and I am fighting with him!" He felt thoroughly ashamed at his lack of sensitivity. He fell at the feet of Bhagawan and begged his pardon! There is a colloquial phrase in Tamil, 'poosai koduppadu' which would mean literally to give a thorough thrashing, while sounding as though to worship! May be that phrase evolved after this incident, when Jambawan beat up the very favourite God that he wanted to worship! KrishNa picked him up and consoled Jambawan lovingly.
47. Jambawan pleaded and prayed, "I am myself your slave only! There is nothing of mine which is not yours. I offer back to you, your Syamantaka MaNi. With that, I offer to you this Kanya MaNi (gem of a girl), my daughter Jambavathy also. Please be kind enough to agree!" (Women are addressed and referred as, 'peNmaNi and nareemaNi', as per customs and traditions of this country, as a 'gem of a girl and or gem of a woman'!) Jambavathy’s love was also fulfilled when KrishNa accepted her along with the gem Syamantaka MaNi!
48. KrishNa returned to Dwaraka with the newly wedded wife and the gem Syamantaka MaNi. First thing he did was to restore the gem to the original owner Satrajit. Satrajit had given it to Prasenan from whom the lion had got it. Jambawan took it from the animal. KrishNa had got it from Jambawan after a fight. So legally, KrishNa could have claimed the gem as his! But having proved that he was not a criminal, with a liberal heart he gave it to the one who had got the gem after much worshipful Tapasya to the Sun!
49. Now, this MaNi did not give any great satisfaction to Satrajit, but was only a reminder of his fallacies, that was more of an irritant! He felt bad about having subjected innocent KrishNa to false accusations! He wanted to make amends. The best method he thought was to offer his daughter Satyabhama, in marriage to Sri KrishNa! That he did. Satyabhama was the only child of Satrajit. She was the Avatara of Bhu Devi. RukmaNi was Sri devi. So finally it came about that, the Syamantaka MaNi caused KrishNa to face trumped up charges of accusation initially, ending in his acquisition in marriage of Jambavathy and Satyabhama! That was not a bad bargain!
50. Like Jambawan, Satrajit also offered the Syamantaka MaNi along with the Kanya Daanam of Satyabhama. But KrishNa, having accepted the hand of Satyabhama, refused to accept the gem Syamantaka MaNi. He told him that, it was in the rightness of things that it should be with Satrajit, as a gift from the Sun God! Anyhow, Satrajit thought that, as she was his only daughter, all his wealth and property would anyhow accrue to her and KrishNa. So he did not press the point further.
51. After this in a few days, there was news about PaNdava-s, that they were all burnt off when their palace made of 'Arakku', a type of cieling wax, was reduced to ashes in a conflagration caused by deceit at the behest of Dhuryodana. That is a different story of Maha Bharatha, which we are not going into now! We are concerned only to the extent that KrishNa went to Hastinapura to convey his condolences for the tragedy. The fact that the Pandava-s had escaped by an under ground passage from the palace, was not known to the world. Krishna's absence from Dwaraka, led to great grievances to Satyabhama.
52. There was one Satadhanva, a very rough and tough character amongst the Yadava clan. There were two other people of the Yadava clan, involved in this ensuing drama, Krutavarma and Akrura, who were much closer to KrishNa. Actually this Akrura was a devotee of Krishna. He was the one who took KrishNa and Balarama, from Brindavan to Mathura, before Kamsa was sorted out! The common factor between these three personages is the fact that they were all in love with Satyabhama, whom in one stroke, KrishNa had wedded and taken away! Some time or the other, all three of them had asked for the hand of Satyabhama in marriage and Satrajit's answer to each one of them was positive but indecisive. Syamantaka MaNi further complicated the scenario and KrishNa had got wedded to Satyabhama.
53. We are yet to come to how KrishNa worshipped Vigneshwara that is, PiLLaiyar. We have to wait a little more for that scene! In the meantime, Satadhanva, Krutavarma and Akrura, all three of them had their genuine hate and complaint against Satrajit! He had given away not only the girl whom they loved, but also given away the Syamantaka MaNi to KrishNa. Though KrishNa had returned the gem to Satrajit, the three came together on a common platform of hate and frustration! Passion and pride for women and wealth, leading to hate and frustration; can even annul one's devotion to God and noble causes', is the warning that we should all draw from this story!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 9 (Vol #4) Dated 12 May 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 9 (Vol #4) Dated 12 May 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 para on page 53 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.

26. Having decided to investigate, KrishNa went to that part of the forest where Prasenan had gone, with some close friends of Satrajit. They virtually followed the hoof marks of the horse ridden by Prasenan. After some distance there were no hoof marks. Extensive blood stains and some bones of a horse and a human being were seen. Some pieces of clothing worn by Prasenan, his ornaments and some of the equipment used in riding the horse, like the saddle and stirrups were noticed. One could easily make out that both the horse and the rider had been attacked, killed and eaten by one or more than one carnivorous animals, from the fact that all the flesh and meat had been licked clean!
27. This was not conclusive proof still. Human beings could have been killed and then animals could have eaten the meat. The doubting minds of the persons who had accompanied KrishNa were still not convinced, especially because of the fact that the Syamantaka MaNi was missing from the scene! Luckily, they happened to notice the spoors of more than one animal, prominent amongst which were the spoors of a Lion leading away from the scene. They followed that. After some distance, they came upon the carcass of a lion! Around that were the marks of the feet of a bear!
28. Bears are normally vegetarians, at least Indian ones used to be. Even carnivores normally would not eat the flesh of another carnivore. That is the reason for the lion’s whole carcass lying there still, without much of degradation. Bear’s foot marks are bigger than other animals. Bears and chimpanzees stand on two feet and so their impression on the ground is rather deep, since they bear the whole body weight. Then after all, the bear we are talking about is the mighty Jambawan!
29. So, they easily followed the foot marks of the bear from there. Those marks led them in front of a cave and went inside. The cave was deep and long. After some time, others gave up the pursuit and said that they will wait outside. As friends of Satrajit, they were still doubtful of KrishNa! They naturally doubted that after some drama, he may get them lost forever inside the cave and escape himself, this trickster KrishNa!
30. KrishNa was of such an attitude that, instead of exposing others to dangers, he would accept the challenges himself! He told the people accompanying to wait outside the cave and went inside with his body generating a blue light all around! After some distance the cave expanded in to a well spread out hall, brightly lit! I am sure that you would have correctly guessed that the source of light was the Syamantaka MaNi!
31. It looked like a well furnished house. In the centre of the hall was a cradle (with four chains from the roof), in which there was a baby sleeping. The first thing noticed was the brilliant gem Syamantaka MaNi, which was hung over the cradle. Rest of the space in the whole cave was lighted by that gem. You could then hear a lullaby being sung in low tones by a beautiful girl, who was rocking the child’s cradle.
32. During those days it seems that monkeys and bears were capable of communicating with each other and human beings. So, they could talk, dance and sing! May be human race was probably still evolving and the separation from its origins was as yet not so pronounced, as now. Darwin and his followers may be able to explain this.
33. The lullaby that she was singing was not an already existing song probably because, the song was about how the Syamantaka MaNi happened to be present there in that grotto, hanging over that cradle! It was revealing enough to solve the puzzle for KrishNa and whosoever were listening. I do not know how to sing. But I will quote to you the words. This sloka is not to be found in Bhagawata but, is to be seen in both Vishnu PuraNa and Skaandam. (KTSV Adds: PeriyavaaL could sing very well, as he had been trained in classical music. What he says here is in all humility and fun, that instead of singing a lullaby, he would just quote the words! The lecture was in the evening / night. He would not have wanted his audience to go to sleep!)
“simha: prasenam avateet simho jaambavataa hata : I
Sukumaraka maa rothee tava hyesha syamantaka : II ”
34. The meaning is that, “The lion killed Prasenan, and then that lion was killed by Jambawan. You! Baby with the name of Sukumara do not have to cry anymore because, the Syamantaka MaNi is all yours now! ” She was thinking that it is all his, the baby’s! She could not have known as to what was KrishNa’s view on the subject! KrisNa entered the scene hearing the song and for him the mystery was solved. One look at him and this beautiful girl was in love with him! She was overflowing with love and fear. Not afraid of him but, afraid that, her father Jambawan may hurt this new found love of her life! Her name was Jambavathy. She thought, “Our father who has made this cave a well protected fort-like thing is likely to get annoyed with this handsome intruder and punish him!”
35. Jambawan was sleeping at that time. She asked him in subdued tones as to what is the purpose of his visit. He gave a detailed reply. She said, “As it is our father will be annoyed at your uninvited presence. Then if he gets to know that you are here to take away the Syamantaka MaNi, there will be hell to pay! So you better take the MaNi now itself and quietly vanish from the scene!” She did not have the heart to tell him to go. But her nascent love for him caused her to talk like this!
36. One woman ( peNmaNi – in Tamil )who had fallen in love with KrishNa – by name RukmaNi – gave a message to him, that he should kidnap her away! This other woman prayed to him to take away this rarest of gems – Syamantaka MaNi - despite the penchant that women normally have for gems and jewels!
37. But this Bhagwan instead of keeping quiet about the secret wish of hers, laughed loudly. He said, “Enough is enough of titles as a thief and thug that I have been unduly given. I am thankful to God for having found a way out of being called a liar and thief by Satrajit! You want me to be called a thief by your father too? No chance whatsoever! Let him give it to me on his own or I will fight him and take it away!” He said.
38. “I know my father’s nature. As it is there is a saying about the grip of a bear as what is not easily pried open! (They call it karadippidi in Tamil!) You can never take away this rare gem that he has obtained for his favourite son, at this old age! You cannot get it by begging. If you have to take it, and then better fight for it and take it”, said Jambavathy. Already she had started feeling responsible and capable of sharing in his earning or loosing name and respect! So, this Bhagwan who was till now playing a rather subdued role, picked up his conch Panchajanya and went “boom, boom” on it!
39. Jambawan got up from his sleep. Once he realised that KrishNa was challenging him, he came out beating on his chest, “Oh! I see! You are thinking me to be an old fossil? A has been? So, you have the audacity to come in to my den challenging me? O K. I will show you!”Really he handled Bhagwan very roughly. Bhagwan parried. His ulterior motive was of course, to reveal to the world at large, the might of this old bear, as to what a great fighter he is!
40. Jambawan was not aware of the fact that, this warrior in front of him was none other than his own ‘Ishta devata’ Sri Rama! Though fully aware of his own prowess and his opponents, Bhagwan kept his own at parity with the opponent, like a father playing with his own son! They were conducting an unarmed combat of a combination of boxing and wrestling. The aim of KrishNa was to get into much physical contact.
41. From the time of Rama Avatara, it was the wish of Jambawan to come into physical contact with Bhagwan! He really wanted to embrace Rama! But he was shy of expressing his wish! The body of Rama was of the colour of emerald green, hard as a rock, with the skin softer than silk, being an embodiment of love and compassion. Who would not like to embrace that body! But this huge bear was naturally not able to tell anyone about his, this wish! Had he ever wished to express his wish, Sri Rama would not have agreed. Because, he had entrusted his body as the property of Sita his wife. None else could have come anywhere close! He was too strict about his ‘eka patny vratam’, meaning being a one woman man!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 8 (Vol #4) Dated 10 May 2010.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 8 (Vol #4) Dated 10 May 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 middle of page 47 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.


16. Not only he distrusted KrishNa, but he was also afraid of him. His analysis was like this. 'This KrishNa has killed great wrestlers such as ChaNoora and Mushtka, even in his teens. He made a mince meat of Kamsa. Jarasandha who was so powerful, was beaten and chased around17 times by this KrishNa. Then, he is also capable of much magic and tricks! How to avoid antagonizing him and if he does become an enemy, how to tackle him?' He did not have the heart to give away the Syamantaka MaNi, while at the same time he was in a quandary as to how to retain that precious stone! This story really teaches us as to how inert material can torture us, even after it's becoming our property!
17. As a stop gap arrangement, he gave it to his younger brother Prasenan temporarily! The younger brother was more intelligent and stronger too. The younger brother happily wore that Syamantaka MaNi and set out on a hunting trip to the forests. (As per Skaandam, Prasenan is supposed to have gone in the company of KrishNa. As per Vishnu PuraNam and Bhagawatam, Prasenan went on the hunting trip on his own!)
18. I hope you remember that the one wearing the Syamantaka MaNi, is required to maintain high standard of physical and moral cleanliness! But Prasenan had to attend to nature's call and there was no water available! He could not clean himself properly. He was attacked by a lion, killed and eaten up! Night enveloped the forest. But the lion catching hold of the Syamantaka MaNi by its mouth was going unaware of the brilliant emanation of light from its mouth, making the night as bright as the day!
19. In that forest , in a mountainous cave, there lived Jambavan. That leader of bears was the same, who had assisted the monkey army of Sri Rama, eons before! Finally Sri Rama, when he gave up his mortal coil and ascended to the Vaikunta, had virtually taken all the people with him. But he left Anjaneya and Jambavan. They both had the worth to prove the point that, as long as you are chanting and thinking of Rama Nama, for him this world of misery and sorrow itself will be heavens! To show the world this truth, they remained behind in the earth. VibhishaNa in Lanka too continued as a 'Chiranjeevi', that is an immortal being!
20. We think of the human being as highly evolved towards perfection. But after Rama Avatara, it was a Monkey, a Bear and a Rakshasa; who were left behind as the eternal examples of the highest levels of devotion! "aswattaama balir vyaasa krupa parasurama hanumanscha vibhishana: iti saptaite chiranjeevina: " says the sloka, describing the seven everlasting souls! Though Jambavan's name is not there, he is worth being included in this list! It is part of folk lore to call any expert in any field, who has seen it all, as a 'Jambavan'! Is it not so? To name a few more who are not included, but should be included in this list, I should point out, Agasthya and the for ever sixteen years old Markandeya! Rama's time was during Treta Yuga. This event under consideration, occurred at the end of Dwapara Yuga. (More than 300 thousand years must have passed between the two, during which Jambawan must have been alive!)
21. Jambawan saw the lion with the brilliant Syamantaka MaNi in its mouth. At that time he had baby boy by the name Sukumara. Do not ask me as to how he could live for more than three Lac years and then have a baby boy! He wanted the brilliant gem for his son, as a play thing! As a mighty warrior, he fought with the lion and killed him. Picked up the gem and made it hang above the baby's cot with some toys. (That reminds me as to how Vali made RavaNa hang as a ten headed insect, over his baby's cot!) The gem despite its brilliance was like a torch light for modern day children!
22. Here is the deviation to the story as given in Skaandam. I hope you remember that as per Skaandam KrishNa was accompanying Prasenan in the hunt. Somewhere along the way, they were separated and Prasenan was killed by the lion and the Syamantaka MaNi landed up with Jambawan. KrishNa searched and searched for Prasenan. Soon it was getting to be dark. By chance when he looked up at the sky, he saw the fourth crescent of the moon. After the new moon, the first and second night, anyhow we will not notice the moon. Third night the sliver of the crescent, is in the sky only for a short period. On the fourth night however, it is more easily noticeable, because it is there in the western sky for about an hour plus after twilight. So, thinking that it would not be prudent to remain in the forest any further, he returned with his followers to Dwaraka.
23. When Prasenan did not return with KrishNa, Satrajit suspected KrishNa of foul play! As per Bhagawatam, Satrajit suspected that KrishNa had dispatched some of his men to follow and kill Prasenan in the forest! In his view, KrishNa already had an eye for the gem and got an opportunity to dispose off Prasenan and grab the gem! When God takes birth in the form of a human being, he has to undergo all the tribulations that man has to face. After all, the purpose of taking Avatara is to show by example, as to how the human being should behave, when faced with difficult situations! “KrishNa has murdered Prasenan, stolen the Syamantaka MaNi gem from him and hidden it somewhere.” These were the two false criminal charges leveled against the innocent KrishNa. He went about everywhere talking about this falsehood!
24. The public mind is very easily swayed and corrupted by rumor and innuendo. One day they will be praising you to high heavens and the very next day they may not hesitate to think twice about letting your name besmirched. We see this often, do we not? To some extent, it was allways like that only, even in Treta Yuga! It was only after the disposal of Kamsa that the Yadava community as a whole had come out of their doldrums and seen some better days of prosperity. It was KrishNa's kindness which saved them from great threats and hazarda. Those very people were talking ill of KrishNa joining hands with and adding their voices to that of Prasenan. One could hear them talking, “Even when he was only a child, we knew that he was a regular thief. Thieving and duplicity, seem to be innate characteristics for him! He could have done this killing of Prasenan and snatching of the Syamantaka MaNi and or even more!” They had forgotten the fact of being saved from Kalinga the poisonous snake and the event in which they were all saved from utter destruction at the time of torrential rains, when he lifted the Govardhana mountain and held it like an umbrella under which the whole lot of people of Brindavan were assembled.
25. Sri Krishna felt very grieved of being accused of offences which he could never have even thought of. He was not grieved really! He was beyond such human foibles and weaknesses. He just acted as though he was much affected! He acted as though, he had lost his omniscience and omnipotence. He decided to investigate and prove to the whole world as to how Prasenan died and what happened to the Gem Syamantaka MaNi! So he started snooping like a C.I.D. Of Police!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.