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.