DEIVATHIN KURAL #182 (Vol #4) Dated 26 Apr 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL #182 (Vol #4) Dated 26 Apr 2011

(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 number 1,018 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
206. As omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent being God is like an emperor cum executive for the whole universe. Still He comes down to this land of Gopikas and Gopalas on the banks of the Jamuna River with infinite kindness as a simple shepherd taking care of the cattle and the folks. That is the occasion when He got the Naama as Govinda. Bhagawatam describes this story in detail, what is referred in that fourth sloka of Shatpadi starting with the words, “ud-druta-naga”
207. Indira is the King of Devas and is the God of rains. He started feeling too proud of the fact that people of this world are dependent on his mercy for the essential requirement of water. This was the time when Vishnu was in Gokulam in his Avatara as KrishNa. He wished to teach this Indira a lesson. The people in Gokulam used to do a pooja in celebration of Indira. He suggested to them that they should stop the pooja for Indira and instead celebrate and venerate the Govardhana Giri, the mountain located close by. He said that it is the mountain that stops the clouds and causes the rain fall. It is the mountain that harbours all the flora and fauna and birds! When they did so, Indira was very annoyed. He wished to teach these Yadavas of Gokulam a lesson forever! He caused a torrential rain to fall flooding the whole area. That is the time when Sri KrishNa became the ‘Giri Dhara Gopala’, lifting the Govardhana Giri like an umbrella protecting all the people and the cattle from being washed away. Then the Devendra ran out of ideas and pleaded to be excused for the mistake of a display of his anger.
208. This word ‘Go’ does not only indicate the cows but all animals including human beings and all living forms. He the God is the protector of all and so is called ‘Govinda’. Devendra so named Him in a public function accepting his fallacy that KrishNa is the ‘Indira of all living forms’ the Govinda. The word ‘vinda’ also means the final refuge of all. As all Gopalas, Gopikas, animals and birds of Gokulam took refuge in Him with all love and adoration. So ‘Go’ here does not only stand for the animals but the earth, air, space, speech and the five senses, as the aim and mission of all! They all search for Him and finally end up in Him and hence the name Govinda was endowed on KrishNa in a public function of celebration known as, ‘Patta Abhishekam’ (Coronation), presided over by Indira, the King of all Devas.
209. “Kurai Onrum Illaada Govinda!” In Ramayana Sri Rama was given Patta Abhishekam with which the epic comes to a conclusion. But in the case of Sri KrishNa, He never took over the reins of any state or country. But this coronation gains in added importance because of the fact that, it was done by the very King of all Devas! So we add a Raja to the word Govinda and say, Govindaraja! Amongst many names of KrishNa, it is only with this word we add this Raja as the King!
210. One thought occurs to me. In AandaaL Thiruppavai, she addresses KrishNa as “kurai onrum illaada govinda” to mean, ‘you Govinda who has no deficiencies or complaints’. Can anyone ever think of God having a complaint? Only man is forever cribbing and complaining. So, it would be in order to say ‘kurai onrum ilaada manushya’ if you ever come across a rare human specimen like that! So, why should we be saying such a thing about God, who possibly could never have a crib any how!
211. By calling God as the one with no cribs, it seems as though, he has one! Father and son were at home. The man who had given loan was coming to ask for return of the loan. Father not finding a suitable place to hide, got in to the huge drum known as ‘kudir’ in which normally they used to store the grains, telling the son to say that he has gone out. So, when this gentleman enquired the whereabouts of the Father, the son replied, “My Daddy has gone out somewhere,” he further added in all his innocence, “He is not in the Kudir!” Similarly, when you say “kurai onrum ilaada Govinda” it looks as though he does have a complaint! On deeper analysis it became clear that He did have a complaint in the past and it got cleared many eons later when he did become the Govinda!
212. What was God’s complaint about? I mentioned about the conduct of ‘Rama Pattabhishekam’ after Rama’s return from Sri Lanka. That is when there was a ‘kurai’ felt by Rama. The problem was in the way the event has been described by the author Vaalmeeki! There were eight Rishis who did the Pattabhishekam ceremonies to Sri Ramachandra Murthy. The eight Rishis were, Vasishta, Vaama Deva, Japali, Kashyapa, Kaathyaayana, Suyagnya, Gowthama and Vijaya. You know how it was? It was like the way the eight Vasus who supervised the conduct of Indira’s coronation! He said, - “vasavo vaasavam yataa”. This comparison did the damage.
213. In the Bala Kaandam of the same Ramayana, Vaalmeeki describes the ‘fall from grace’ of Indira, when he out of sheer lust went and misbehaved with Gowtama Rishi’s Patni Ahalya, who should have been treated with the same respect as one would towards one’s own Mother! He got a curse to have a thousand female genitals all over his body and so hid himself in some odd corners of the nether world. Sri Rama then stumbled over the stone form of Ahalya whose curse and stigma was then revoked for Rama to get the epithet as “pateeta paavana sitaraam” by which he is praised for generations to come.
213. When such is the story, to be compared with Indira’s coronation was a bit too much, that too when he was going through the Pattabhishekam ceremony after waiting for more than 14 years of living in forest and that too, when Sri Rama has been so firm in his devotedness to the idea of being a ‘one woman man’! Then, in the whole episode of Ramayana, that elusive Pattabhishekam was being consummated and at that juncture to be compared with the ancient offender whose stigma was erased by the dust of Rama’s feet; was a bit too much. Since after all, despite being God, Rama’s portrayal of his role in the Pattaabhi Rama Avatara was his acting as a true human being! So, even in his acting there was cause for true grievance!
214. There is one more cause for the grievance. All the Devatas including Indira were fed up of Ravana’s constant offending behaviour. Their complaint was the direct cause of Rama Avatara. Ravana’s son Meghnatha had defeated Indira and got the title as ‘Indirajit’! Despite defeating that Ravana, and despite the fact that his younger brother Lakshmana it was who defeated Indira’s victor; such a victorious Rama, when he was about to be coroneted; to be compared with his enemy’s, son’s, enemy’s Pattabhishekam was a bit of an undercut to say the least!
215. Vaalmeeki cannot be blamed also. He did not compare the characters really. Possibly he got carried away looking at the grand celebration going on in Ayodhya and felt the urge to draw a parallel to a celebration in the heavens. There were eight Vasus there in Indira’s Pattabhishekam and here there were eight Rishis. In his exuberance he simply wrote, “vasavo vaasavam yataa”! It was this unintended insult by the Epic Reporter Vaalmeeki that was offset when Indira fell at His feet accepting his defeat, eons later during the KrishNa Avatara after he lifted the Govardhana Giri. It is this that AandaaL was indirectly suggesting when she said, “kurai onrum ilaada Govinda”!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.