DEIVATHIN KURAL # 31 (Vol # 5) Dated 31 July 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 31 (Vol # 5) Dated 31 July 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 page No 187 of Vol 5 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)
GURU MURTHY & TRI MURTHYS
1. The sloka everybody knows or which I am assuming that everybody knows is: ‘gurur brhma gurur vishnu gurur devo maheswaraha I guru saatchaat parabrhma tasmai sri gurave namaha II’ It means that Guru is all the three Trinity in one. For him I pay my obeisance. Having given the three names of the Trinity as Brhma, Vishnu and Maheswara, and then separately mentioning Parabrhmam, it seems that they are not Parabrhmam, but only responsible for Srushti (creation), Stiti (maintenance) and Samhara (destruction or resolution). They have their roles cut out, but are not considered as the original basis of all existence for all actions, events and causes. Then why is it said that Guru is all these three as well as Parabrhmam.
2. Brhma is considered as the God without festivals and temples. Never has he been revered as the (muzhu muthar kadavuL) first complete God. For long, even as the Creator, he has not been eulogized much. In the Hindu calendar there are so many PaNdigais, that is, a particular day of celebration for a particular God based on the birth star or titi (day after new moon or full moon) such as, Rama Navami or Krishna Ashtami, PiLLaiyar Chathurthi and Varalakshmi Vratam or Sarasvati Pooja. Siva has a day/night of celebration every month as Siva Rathri and Vishnu has Ekaadasi (the eleventh) every fortnight! Thus in the whole year there will be something or the other. (Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Lovers’ Day, No–Tobacco Day and such, are all creations of the west, mimicking the Hindu calendar.) But in all this, there is no separate day earmarked for Brhma!
3. In your houses, you have various God’s statues and pictures. But do you have one for Brhma? If you have a Maha Vishnu’s picture, lying in the prone position on the thousand headed snake, you will identify Brhma seated on a lotus that extends out of Vishnu’s naval. If you have pictures of the marriage of Siva – Parvathi or Muruga with VaLLi / Deivayaani; you may see Brhma doing the job of the Purohit conducting the proceedings. Even there he will be one amongst the crowd. By tradition we do not consider him to be worthy of being prayed to though he is accepted as one amongst the Trinity!
4. The God for whom there is no Temple! Though India is full of temples with many Sannidy-s for many a God, where there are many celebrations for their birth day or victory day, there is no celebration concerning Brhma! Rarely after much search, you may find one such temple at Pushkar. Many people do not know that there is also one for Brhma at KumbakoNam. Kanchipuram and KumbakoNam are such places where there are temples in every nook and corner. (KTSV adds: Penukonda in AP, Chaul in Maharashtra and Uttar Kashi in Uttaranchal are also supposed to have 365 temples each, one for each day of the year, it seems. But I do not know if there is a temple for Brhma even in those places!)
5. In Kanchipuram there is a rare temple for Chitragupta, who is an official in Yama’s court. (Yama as you may know is the God of Death. Chitragupta is responsible for maintaining the individual account of Paapa and PuNya of each and every soul.) Similarly in KumbakoNam there is a rare temple for Brhma in Thirukkandiyur near Thiruvaiyaaru. It is the place where Easwara is said to have removed one of the five heads that Brhma originally had. The name of Easwara there is Brhma-Sira-Khandeeshwarar. In that temple, Brhma has a Sannidy. In Kongu Naadu there is one station Pandikkodumudi where there is a temple for three Gods of the Trinity. In Chidambaram , when you go around the Kanaka Sabha, there is a small cubicle where there is a sannidy for Chandiswara who is said to be Brhma. In Trichy, in the Uttamar Koil, there is one Sannidy for Brhma. All said and done it is only a drop in the ocean. The God who is supposed to write our fates known as our ‘Thalai Ezhuththu, does not seem to have taken care of his own fate thus!
6. There is one reason for this state of affairs, as per ‘Ideeham’, that is, what is traditionally believed to be so! This is said to have occurred in ThiruvaNNaamalai in Tamil Nadu. Once Brhma and Vishnu seem to have got into an argument as to who is more important and powerful. One is the Creator of the Universe and the other the Maintainer. To bring their fight to a close, Easwara stood between them as an effulgent spectre of light, the top and bottom ends of that effulgence were to be tracked by Brhma and Vishnu respectively. Whosoever returns having identified the ends first was to be declared the winner. Brhma got haughty enough as to why he should go to the feet. So he got up on his Hamsa Vaahana (that is the swan as his carrier) and flew up to locate the top. In all humbleness Vishnu started digging the earth in his Varaha Avatara (that is in the form of a boar). Neither of them was successful and returned without reaching the ends. Vishnu was humble enough to accept his defeat. Brhma was also unable to reach the top but asked the petal of Ketaki flower (known in Tamil as ‘Thaazham Poo’), falling from Siva’s hair to give false evidence on his behalf. When Brhma claimed that he had reached the top and that he has a witness, Siva emerged from the effulgent light. He cursed Brhma that he shall have no one doing pooja to him on earth and that he shall have no temples. He appreciated Vishnu for his truthfulness and gave him the Chakra Aayudha and gave his Left part of the body to be known and revered as ‘Ardha Nareeswara’ meaning, Easwara with half female body. As a punishment for having agreed to give false evidence the Ketaki flower is not considered to be sacred enough, that it is not included in religious functions. From being the Jyotir Lingam in ThiruvaNNaamalai Siva is said to have cooled down to being the hill of that name. This is the story from the Saivites’ side. Vaishnavites may not agree and may actually have objections.
7. There are some more stories about Brhma committing such faux paus. The story in Kandiyur is also like that only. Otherwise why should Siva remove one of his original five heads? This is also a story from the Saivites only. But one cannot help wondering as to why there is no temple and no celebrations for Brhma? When both the sons of Siva, GaNesha and Muruga have temples, festivals and all celebrations, why is that Vishnu’s son Brhma does not have any festival or a temple of his own?
8. There is a story with slightly different versions as per Vaishnava traditions about this. Brugu Maharishi is said to have tested the holy Trinity as to who is suddha-satva-murthy. (That requires an explanation. Suddha means pure and ‘satva – murthy’ can be translated as an embodiment of the Satva GuNa. Such a person should be calm and quite with love towards all even in very adverse circumstances, despite provocations!) To test this Brugu Maharishi tried to behave rudely with each one of them with much show-off. He first went to Brhma Loka with ostentation. Brhma did not get annoyed at once, but did not say welcome either. Brugu on his own pulled up a chair and sat down as an equal. Now Brhma got angry. Brugu asked, “When you give in to anger so easily, how can you claim to be much ‘suddha-satva-murthy’?” Brhma got more annoyed and so Brugu cursed that Brhma may not have any temples in his name on earth.
9. Then Brugu went to Kailasa. Easwara was quite quiet most of the time. But when Brugu over played his act of provocation, Easwara came to poke him with his Trishul. Brugu cursed that Siva may not have any statue of his own in his temples but only a stone sphere-head. That is why Siva is represented by Siva Linga in the sanctum sanctorum of his temples as per the story. Actually Linga is only a symbolic representation of Vayu (air), Jyoti (fire or light), Aakaasa (space), Prutvi (earth or matter) and Jala (water). Linga is a representation of ‘Roopa and Aroopa’ meaning both with form and formless. As the story is meant to praise and extol Vishnu as the foremost amongst the Trinity, Siva is depicted as not the ‘suddha-satva-murthy’. But Brugu’s curse has not been much of a curse really as far as Siva is concerned!
10. Finally Brugu went to Vaikunda. As Maha Vishnu was asleep, it pains me to say even, that Brugu kicked his chest with his leg. PerumaaL is said to have still not got annoyed but said ‘My dear Sir, I hope your feet are not hurt’ and massaged Brugu’s legs with loving care and complete self control! So, Vaishnavas hold the view that due to Brugu Maharishi’s curse, there is no temple for Brhma.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 30 (Vol # 5) Dated 29 July 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 30 (Vol # 5) Dated 29 July 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 para on page No 182 of Vol 5 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)
163. We do not have to even think of God as Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent and the Supreme Ruler of all the Universe and things like that. Even if we were to think of God as a close and intimate confidant, that is good enough. Without being selfish, if we learn to deal with Him with Love and genuine affection, He will grant all His largesse. Most importantly He will grant us a sense of understanding and clarity of comprehension! All the service we do for others will be taken as prayers and obeisance to God!
164. Without even knowing Him to be the Lord of past, present and future, here there and everywhere; without having to stand at awe at His beck and call; even if we treat Him like one amongst us, good enough. The women of Braj Bhoomi, the Gopikas moved with Him like that only. Their status is high above all devotees of God, as described by Narada too, who is an authority in Devotion having written the Bhakti Sutras! Sri Krishna Paramatma Himself celebrated their devotion and held them in such high esteem. They had no idea of any Paramatma at all. They knew him only as the stealer of their hearts! They knew him only as ‘Jaara Choran’, the Thief who having stolen their hearts makes them agonize and fret in deep love of longing. Still they sacrificed their all for his company. Respecting that He gave them all a place in Goloka as His Consorts!
165. Like that if we respect and hold our Guru in such high esteem; clarity, understanding, comprehension and Mukti, is all ours as sanctioned by God Himself! You do not have to pray for this or that. When looking at our karma Easwara does assess us, keeping some tests to evaluate as to what extent we have turned the corner and thus there is a delay. During such occasions Guru’s help will stand by us in a big way. That is, when the Guru’s mind is slightly different – in God’s Leela – even Gurus who are far advanced in their own progress in Adwaita Anubhuthi, may seemingly behave as though they have a mind of their own! So there will be less or more sense of duality experienced. Still, the Guru will pray for the devotee, take away the devotee’s sins by transferring some of the effects of past Karma to themselves, argue, cajole and fight with God on behalf of the disciple; as I have already explained in the stories about Thiru Mazhisai Aazhwaar and Somasi Maara Naayanaar.
166. (KTSV adds: This above point about the Guru taking away our sins will be quite clear by another anecdote explained by Krishna Bikshu in the book ‘Power of the Presence Vol Three’ by David Godman about Ramana Maharishi. Quote. Bhagavan was generally most tender with people who thought themselves for some reason or other to be miserable sinners, and who went to him torn by repentance. However, on one occasion he initially reacted in a very aggressive way to one such visitor. It was a summer evening, and we were all sitting outside in the open space by the well. Suddenly one of the visitors started weeping bitterly.
167. ‘I am a horrible sinner. For a long time I have been coming to your feet, but there is no change in me. Can I become pure at last? How long am I to wait? When I am here near you, I am good for a time. But when I leave this place, I become a beast again. You cannot imagine how bad I can be – hardly a human being. Am I to remain a sinner forever?’ ‘Why do you come to me? What have I to do with you?’ demanded Bhagavan. ‘What is there between us that you should come here and weep and cry in front of me?’ The man started moaning and crying even more, as if his heart was breaking. ‘All my hopes of salvation are gone. You were my last refuge but you say that you have nothing to do with me! To whom shall I turn now? What am I to do? To whom am I to go?’
168. Bhagavan watched him for some time and said, ‘Am I your Guru that I should be responsible for your salvation? Have I ever said that I am your Master?’ ‘If you are not my Master, then who is? And who are you, if not my Master? You are my Guru. You are my guardian angel. You must take pity on me and release me from my sins!’ He started sobbing and crying again. We all sat silently, overcome with pity. Only Bhagavan looked alert and matter-of-fact. ‘If I am your Guru, what are my fees? Surely you should pay me for my services.’ ‘But you won’t take anything!’ cried the visitor. ‘What can I give you?’ ‘Did I ever say that I don’t take anything? And did you ever ask me what you can give me?’ ‘If you would take, then ask me. There is nothing I would not give you.’ ‘All right, now I am asking. Give me. What will you give me?’
169. ‘Take anything. Everything I have is yours.’ ‘Then give me all the good you have done in this world.’ ‘What good could I have done? I have not a single virtue to my credit.’ ‘You have promised to give. Now give. Don’t talk of your credit. Just give away all the good you have done in your past.’ ‘Yes, I shall give. But how does one give? Tell me how the giving is done and I shall give.’ ‘Say like this: “All the good that I have done in the past I am giving away entirely to my Guru. Henceforth I have no merit from it nor have I any concern with it.” Say it with your whole heart.’ ‘All right Swami. “I am giving away to you all the good I have done so far, if I have done any, and all its good effects. I am giving it to you gladly, for you are my Master and you are asking me to give it all away to you.”’ ‘But this is not enough,’ said Bhagavan sternly. ‘I have given you all I have. I have given everything you asked me to give. I have nothing more to give.’ ‘Not true. You have more. Give me all your sins.’ The man looked wildly at Bhagavan, terror stricken. ‘You do not know Swami, what you are asking for. If you knew you would not ask me. If you take over my sins, your body will rot and burn. You do not know me. You do not know my sins. Please do not ask me for my sins.’ He wept bitterly. ‘I shall look after myself. Don’t you worry about me,’ said Bhagavan. ‘All I want from you is your sins.’
170. For a long time, the bargain would not go through. The man refused to part with his sins, but Bhagavan was adamant. ‘Either give me your sins along with your merits, or keep both and don’t think of me as your Master.’ In the end the visitor’s scruples broke down and he declared, ‘Whatever sins I have done, they are no longer mine. All of them and their results, too, belong to Ramana.’ Bhagavan seemed to be satisfied. ‘From now on there is neither good nor bad in you. You are just pure. Go and do nothing, either good or bad. Remain yourself. Remain what you are.’ A great peace fell over the man and over us all. No one knows what happened to the fortunate visitor, for he was never seen in the Ashram again. He might have had no need to come. Unquote.)
Guru – Disciple: Representing Two Aspects of Dharma
171. When the disciple regards Easwara and Guru as two clearly separately identifiable entities, (instead of regarding Easwara and Guru as one,) with his personal efforts (Saadana) and service to Guru; the Guru will be adding his Grace resultant out of his Tapasya like a bonus. But Guru’s help is more pronounced when the disciple is totally dependent on the Guru – as the destination of his one-pointed devotion. This is not due to any pride on Guru’s part, but as a duty of having to take care of those who have completely surrendered to the Guru. That is to live up to the ideals of the Saranaagata Dharma Paalanam. The disciple’s action of total surrender is based on the sense of gratitude he feels for the great help rendered by the Guru in his own refinement and ennoblement. So, amongst the three attitudes of the disciple that I spoke to you about (in paras 159 onwards), when the disciple’s devotion to the Guru is total, if the power of the disciples own efforts of Saadhana is one unit say, Guru’s power to lift him to the peaks of realization will become a hundred or even a thousand times more!
172. As people’s attitude differs, we cannot expect everyone to be the same way anyhow. Whether our attitude in devotion is one of only God or God and Guru or only Guru; how God responds to these three attitudes are based on our maturity and God’s Leela. To make this third attitude your way is the aim with which I have spoken for so long about Guru – Disciple relations, to make this idea your experience! Somehow I was impelled to talk to you about how the disciple should approach his Guru with ‘Ananya Bhakti’. But it should be clear that whether we approach our Guru as the direction post towards God or as equal to God or with the idea that, ‘I am not going to bother about God at all, but only be dependent on this Guru here’, with devotion all of us should try our level best to progress in the right path.
173. The Greatness of Going through the Guru. Better than going by one’s own individual efforts, that is by reading the biographies of great saints of the past and learning the scriptures, there is one main advantage in going through the Guru. In learning and progressing on our own, there is one major hazard. As we learn and progress on our own there is a certainty for it to go to our heads in a big way! Self study and practice (Swadhyaaya and Saadhana) are also required. Guru himself often quotes from the scriptures. He also advices us to read so and so books at various times and or tell us to chant so and so Mantra for so many times before the next move forward. The main aim of such Saadhana, we must understand is to make the theory become our practice and inhered in Anubhava. So, when we are under a Guru, serving him and the society as advised by him, Adakkam that is humbleness becomes our character which enhances control over our pride. Subservience to the Guru speeds up our ripening. More than any other logic, when ideas and concepts at the brains and intelligence level, especially when described and narrated to us by an experienced soul like the Guru, they become clearly inherent awareness. With this the disciple can never feel pride, but feel a sense of gratitude to God, Guru and Existence!
174. For our Ahankaara that is pride to be destroyed and for Aatma to become an Anubhava, let us all be devoted to the Guru and become worthy of Sreyas that is true praise!
(This chapter on Guru gets completed here.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 29 (Vol # 5) Dated 27 July 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 29 (Vol # 5) Dated 27 July 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 para on page No 176 of Vol 5 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)
154. When we do meditation on God in a particular form as Rama or Krishna, we go by the description as available in books and poems. There are slokas which describe their form from foot to head or from head to foot, known as ‘Paadaadi kesam and kesaadi paadam’. Starting from the feet continuously there is description of ankles, knees, thighs, hips, chest, shoulders, neck and face. Some of those deities are said to be having more than two hands, some with four and some with 18 hands holding so many things such as weapons and tools. Then the descriptions of decorations, for example having the Ganges River and crescent moon on their head, snake around their hands or the chest, dressed in tiger skin or yellow silk, various types of garlands, gold chains and necklaces; seated on Rishaba the Bull or Garuda or the Lion or even Mooshika the Rat! When you sit down and meditate instead of getting focussing of minds, it may get lost in details, remembering some and forgetting some!
155. At this point it is better to know what is said in the Saastraas about this also repeated by Sri Krishna to Uddhava in Skanda XI, Chapter 14, Slokas 42 to 46 in Srimad Bhagavata. “The resolute aspirant should withdraw the senses from their objects, in to the mind, and the mind, directed by its controller the Buddhi, should be made to dwell on my complete form with all its parts. The mind that is made to dwell on the total form must next be made to concentrate exclusively on one limb or part, preferably on the face illumined by a smile. When the mind is fixed there, there is no need to think of the rest of the form. When the mind has thus got one-pointedness, it can dwell on Me as the unrelated and absolute Being without any other thought. One who has thus ingathered and concentrated his mind will see Me, the Supreme Self (Paramatman) in the Self, and the Self in that Supreme Self without a difference, as when a minute point of light has merged in a very luminous light. For, a Yogi, who strives assiduously to practice meditation, will soon overcome the erroneous view of the absolute distinction between the seer, the scene and the act of seeing!”
156. But when we sit down to do ‘Dhyana’, within that short period, I wonder if we will be able to cover all the parts of the body! Then it is also doubtful if we can concentrate and stop at the smiling face. Then among so many details of arms, decorations, Vaahanaa-s, weapons, symbolic tools and so on; we are quite likely to get lost! You think of the Ganges and forget the Crescent Moon; or thinking of the third eye may miss out the ‘Neela Kanta’ of the blue throat of Siva where the Aalahaala poison was lodged; Thinking of the Koustuba MaNi the Sri Vatsam may be lost sight of; thinking of the lotus like eyes, we may forget the smiling mouth! Then we may wonder that ‘maybe we could have been better off without so much of description and details’!
157. Compared to the above the Dhyana on the Guru’s form should be easier as we move and interact with Guru on a day to day basis. When we think of our Father, Mother or a friend, do we think of their various body parts? Do we think of Mother with a ladle in her hands or if our Father is an officer in the Army, do we think of him holding a gun or something? It is only a totality of an idea, is it not so? We rather think of their ideas, views, their words, how they behaved on various occasions and our attitude towards them; all put together a wholesome picture is what we can dwell our minds on. That is how we can do the Dhyana on the Guru. Something very close, intimate and personal further embellished by their care and concern for our improvement and well being, completes the idea. Whatever be the figure, we could not care less. Do we bother about beauty or scholarly achievements of theirs, when we think of our own Mother? That is the sort of love that develops with a Guru. Mother gave us her milk and the Guru drenches us with the milk of human kindness and the milk of Gnaana! So, all said and done, Guru Smarana is that much easier to think of and feel happy about!
158. One important factor – God and Guru are not different entities. Further higher, even the disciple is not different. But that in our present state is only theoretical. Even for people who are far advanced, what has been said is that, “Have the Adwaita bhaava, that is, the feeling of Oneness with all other things, with one exception. With the Guru, never try to show off that you and He are one. That is one place where we should always show difference, respect and regards.” Nothing more need be said in this issue. Let there be Dwaitam (that is Duality) in that one relationship. There is nothing wrong in that duality, with the proviso that we should think of Guru and God as one and the same. God comes in our life as the Guru for our sake. Once we have that mentality, we can be certain of success.
Three Types of Bhaava or Attitudes.
159. Type One. We should be devoted to God and have the same devotion towards Guru. If we have that, then all the inner meanings of his Upadesa will be comprehensible and we will have the Anubhooti! That is what I said at the start of this talk on Guru. (Refer to Deivathin Kural # 14 of 27 Jun 2011.) In this, depending on the disciple’s mentality the sharing in devotion will differ. There will be some who will hold the view that, “It is important to develop absolute trust and devotion to God. As it is the Guru who shows us the way, we will be devoted to the Guru also.” For them the devotion towards the Guru will be as the helper who takes us from the side lines to the main chord line! Guru will respect that attitude also. Like when there is a creeper plant not finding a suitable structure to spread on, we keep a pole for it to catch on and move in the right direction. Similarly the Guru will enable that disciple to move towards God. That is the first variety.
160. Type Two. The second type of attitude is the firm conviction that God has arrived in our lives as the Guru. So, we have the same devotion to God and Guru – what I said in sloka that I quoted in the beginning – ‘yasya deve paraa bhaktir – yataa deve tataa gurow’. Though I made fun then as to how can the devotion be measured and or shared equally between Guru and God; in practice disciples with such a mentality will be able attain equal amount of concentration on God, as well as the Guru as the God in human form! God will grant them the Grace and Blessings as Easwara as well as Guru.
161. Type Three. The third Bhaava is total devotion, trust and faith in Guru with no thought of God whatsoever! Let God be whatever, all that we need is the Guru and His Grace, will be the firm conviction of these type of disciples. They will not even entertain any thoughts of God or Guru as God’s representative and so on. “Set all such ideas aside. My job is to be devoted and serve the Guru. Let him do whatever, whichever way. It is not my business even to assess him or worry about what happens to me at the end. It is his look out. Is it not pleasurable to be devoted to our Guru and serve him? That is an end in itself!”
162. Whatever the attitude of the disciple, whether he thinks of God or not and whether he desires to attain Moksha or not; the disciple through his devotion to the Guru will get Gnaana and Self Realization positively, undoubtedly. As God is the indwelling spirit in Guru and as all Namaskara-s to whomsoever goes through to the same destination; God will grant all that the disciple needs, holding nothing back, as long as the disciple’s devotion is total holding nothing back!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 28 (Vol # 5) Dated 25 July 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 28 (Vol # 5) Dated 25 July 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 para on page No 170 of Vol 5 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)
144. In the last edition we discussed the reason why it is better to go through Guru and leave it to him to deal with God as he finds it fit. Now let us relate to how Guru deals with us. When we make a mistake he promptly points out and corrects us. If need be he also does not hesitate to tick us off sufficiently strongly. This deters us from our tendency to go astray. We start thinking about the likely consequences that may happen, if the information reaches his ears. The more the Guru is advanced in his own refinement spiritually, his own powers of omniscience would be more and he would know even without being told by anyone! So, he would know without being told, if and ever we make a mistake. At times they may not reveal their super human powers fully. But the fear in our hearts that we cannot hide anything from him will save us from going astray.
145. Similarly, when we do something good he would also know without being told. Or we may ensure that it reaches his ears out of pride. Whatever way he gets to know, he will bless us and encourage us alright. However he is not likely to openly praise as that would cause ‘approval seeking behaviour’ in us and further boost our ‘ahankaara’ which is the main hurdle in our progress. He is likely to show his appreciation in a more subtle manner. Anyhow for our progress in the spiritual line, he is sure to encourage us to control our sinful activities of ‘Paapa’ with disincentives and increase our noble activities of ‘Punya’ with incentives! This sort of immediate double pronged approach of incentives and disincentives that is so apparent in our interactions with a Guru is not so easily discernible with God!
146. More than all this he can correct us better than we can do ourselves when it comes to control of our proclivity towards sinful behaviour. Actually he takes off part our load and prays for us. His prayers are more powerful and effective than what we can ever do. For our sake he prays, argues and even fights with God and goes to the extent of giving orders to God, as I explained with examples. That is why Guru is to be venerated as more than God as believed in certain circles in North India, known as ‘Guru – Vaad’. Those who have that type of deep love, unshakeable trust and faith in Guru know as to how peaceful they are in their devotion to Guru than devotion to God!
147. If you ask me as to how can that be so, we have to firstly understand that Guru and God are not in a popularity contest! When we do not know for certain as to whether God is listening to our prayers and watching over our good and bad actions or not; how can there be certainty that he will get us out of the rut of our existence? Though we believe that there is a God listening to all our prayers, we are also simultaneously having doubts about that very belief! Any Award, praise, pay and promotion that we get; we attribute to our own effort and greatness! When it comes to brick-bats, loss and failures, we blame the world and feel that there is no justice in this world and question the very existence of God! So, in our doubts, fears and sorrow the very foundation of our faith is shaken. But those who have entrusted their fate in the hands of the Guru are peacefully complacent and serene without any doubts.
148. In the case of God, he is one for all millions and zillions of life forms. So amongst such multitudes the question as to whether God will remember to do the needful for us or not, remains dubious and uncertain. It looks as though god is sitting in heavens unconcerned and impersonal. But Guru in contrast, seems to be there specially meant for us who evinces personal attention on us. Instead of being responsible for the whole world, Guru seems to be accumulating only those whom he will reform and ennoble. Thus this personal rapport between us and the Guru is what gives us the feeling that he is ours!
149. Whatever God does, in our ignorant perspective, it seems to be something done by nature mechanically. We do not get the feeling that he is the doer. Till we attain to gnaana, whatever God does seems to be more incidental than intentional, whereas in what the Guru does we see a personal touch, which gives us confidence and assurance. Let us say that the table is full of eats of all varieties. But if there is nobody to attend and serve, do we enjoy it when we have to fill our plates on our own? But, even if it is only some porridge, when given with loving care by our mother saying “Come my dear child have this”, does not that personal touch add all the charm? Can this pleasure be there in however elaborate be the arrangement for the feast laid out? May be somebody has obviously taken the pains to cook it and laid it out only for us to partake! When we do not know as to who has made it and there is no one to be taking care of us, the pleasure and thrill seems missing! That is the difference between the God’s largesse and Guru’s Anugraha.
150. Till we also become capable of experiencing God’s Grace, Bounty and Anugraha like Sundara Murthy Swami and many other devotees of God like him who could directly interact with God, we will be subject to repeated bouts of doubt and ambiguity. One more point of interest. People say that all the problems and difficulties are also from God only, to the extent that our Ahankaara and the Devil are said to be his creation and his play only! Parasakti is said to be forcibly subjecting even highly evolved souls (Maha Gnaanis) to delusion and confusion! (Durga Saptasatee: I. 55 – 6.) They end their statement with saying that, “We can never know, understand or comprehend God’s ways!” Bhagawaan Sri Krishna himself says in Bhagawat Gita (XVIII – 61) that, “Like the merry go round in an amusement park, God makes people chase each other in a never ending cycle of Maya!” So thinking of God one is likely to fear as to what further play is in store for us! I quote: “Easwara: sarva bhootaanaam hruddeshe Arjuna tishtati I bhraamayan sarva bhootaani yantraa roodhaani maayaya II” This means: “The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, causing all beings, by His illusive power, to revolve as if mounted on a merry go round!”
151. Guru is not like that. Easwara is for both Gnaana and Maya. Whereas Guru is for opening our eyes to Gnaana by removal of ‘Agnaana’ that is Maya. You can never say that he gets pleasure by playing around with us. His self appointed duty is to get rid of all our troubles, confusion and ignorance. So there is no question of doubt or fear in our dealings with him. That is why it is said that being devoted to the Guru is that is ‘Guru Smarana’ is more peaceful.
152. What is ‘Guru Smarana’? ‘Guru Smarana’ that is to meditate on Guru is to think of his form or Roopa, his actions and quality, thereby dissolve our own minds completely; that is to make our minds stand still, dwelling on the Guru. For so long I have been talking to you as to how advantageous it is to be devoted to the Guru as compared to devotion for God. Let me dwell on it a little more. All the doings of God remain beyond our understanding and comprehension. There is no direct contact or touch between us and God. We have to think of what He has done for so many other devotees. It is very good if that fills our minds and heart. The way God has helped his devotees such as, how Droupadi was saved from disgrace and humiliation when Duchasana was trying to disrobe her; or how Kuchela was boosted from utter penury to abundance and affluence; or how Gajendra was recovered from the mortal drag of the crocodile; and so on and so forth; are all examples of how God can help the devotee in trouble. There are many such descriptions of God’s actions in Puranas. Sri Krishna’s Raas Leela, His Gitopadesa on the Kurukshetra battle field, Easwara’s Aananda Thaandava, Dakshinamurthy’s Upadesa to Sanaka and others, Rama’s advices to various people on various occasions throughout the Ramayana, - like that there is an abundance of examples for our minds to dwell on during meditation.
153. But, in our half baked state of maturity, instead of going deep in to the excellent ‘Kalyana Gunas’ of God, our minds quickly find excuses to run away at a tangent somewhere else. The main stumbling block is our preoccupation with our own plight in life! Then we think, “It is alright if He did all that to so many others but what has He done for us? Where is God and where are we? Can we be so lucky enough to get God’s Grace flowing to us?” Like that we may have some unsubstantiated questions and doubts. That is not the case with Guru Smarana. Actually if we sincerely search our own minds, we will know how much we should be indebted. If we have even the least amount of a sense of gratitude we will know the depth of Guru’s kindness. How much he perseveres for the cleansing of our self and improvement! In addition there is the human touch on which we are so dependent. There is no gainsaying the fact as given in the sloka – “gurur brhma gurur vishnu gurur devo maheswara: I guru saalchaat parabrhma: tasmai sri gurave namaha”.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 27 (Vol # 5) Dated 23 July 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 27 (Vol # 5) Dated 23 July 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 para on page No 164 of Vol 5 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)
133. In Kaasi also known as Banaras, our AachaaryaaL Adi Sankara too had been tested by Siva, who had come in the form of a Pulaiya that is someone who normally works in the cremation grounds by assisting in disposing of the dead bodies. Initially our AachaaryaaL told him to keep off and not to come near. Then when that man started discussing as to who is telling whom and as to if it is the body or the inner being; AachaaryaaL realised his blatant faux pas! Here Somaasi Maaran realised the truth on his own! That is why and how Somaasi Maaran became Somaasi Naayanaar!
134. In Rudram, while saying all that is seen as so many second and third person people or things are all different forms of the same Siva, prostrations are offered to each one of them as another form of Siva. It further says that the cashier, shop keeper, thief, shepherd, fisher man, police man, archer and the maker of the bow and arrows, potter, the cheat and pickpocket and so on(the list is not complete here); are all also the same Rudra! Similarly the Bhagawat Gita says that the brahmin who sees the cow and elephant being revered by ‘Go Puja and Gaja Puja’ as well as the mongrel and the country brute who eats the meat of the dog as equal; is the one who is truly learned and realised, to be considered as divine amongst other human beings!
135. Somaasi Maara Naayanaar having sincerely waited for long, persevered in first cultivating friendship with Sundara Murthy Swami and then put in much effort in organizing the Soma Yaaga; when faced with this unruly crowd of country brutes was neither surprised nor disappointed. Being calm and pleasant; knowing the leader of the caboodle to be Easwara himself in another form; gave him the ‘Havis’. (The Havis is a word that has been used a number of times in this narrative. It means the essential material being offered in obeisance in the Yaaga.)
136. He told the other brahmins, “Please do not desert and runaway! It is the very God Rudra who has come disguised. Please believe me!” But they went away uncaring for his pleas. Then it is said that God cursed them to become untouchables and on the request of Somaasi Maara Naayanaar God relented to lessen the curse! The Saastraas do lay down as to who can participate and who is debarred from participation in a Yaaga. There is no crime on the part of the brahmins to have been surprised to see the seemingly unruly crowd of Pulayaas trespassing in to the Yaaga bhoomi with drums and what not. But when the man conducting the Yaaga, who was not only elder but had gone to much trouble in organising the conduct of the Yaaga and was known to be well versed in the rules and regulations; is pleading with them not to desert the conduct of a noble venture like this Yaaga; they should have had the sense to abide with his request! Had they waited they would also had the opportunity to witness the Darshan of God! But, since they ran away cursing Somaasi Maaran and their own fate, they had to undergo the ignominy of God’s wrath.
137. That part of the story is not very important to our narrative. When Somaasi Maaran brought the Havis, Siva displayed his Darshan seated on the bull Nandi with AmbaaL and all the Bhoota Ganaas. Somaasi Naayanaar’s life’s mission was complete and also ended there and then. He moved on to ‘Siva Loka Praapti of saalokam, sameepyam and saayujyam’! Those are the final three stages of ‘Saalokam – being in the same world as God, Saameepyam – being very close to God and Saayujyam – to merge in God with no trace of difference’! I told you this story to prove the point that even when we cannot have the vision of God on our own efforts, we can do so, with the help of those far advanced souls, who have an easy access to God!
138. Like inviting a cow nearer by showing some green leaves, by plucking and delivering the greens growing on the river banks wildly, Somaasi Maaran had obtained the gratitude of a man like Sundara Murthy who could ensure the arrival of God in his Yaaga! For this he had to first get hold of Sundara Murthy. After much deliberation he made use of what was the only thing available to him, the wild growth of greens on the river bank. May be the particular type of green leaves got the name ‘DootuvaLai or TooviLankeerai’ because that green was used as a courier! In the Vaishnava tradition also there is a similar story.
139. In Vaishnava Sampradaaya the Guru of Ramanujacharya was AaLavandaar. He was living a royal life of much involvement in the worldly affairs. MaNakkaal Nambi wished to turn AaLavandaar towards the spiritual way of life. Being a poor brahmin himself the only way he could attract this royal man’s attention was by sending DootuvaLai greens. The only difference between the two stories is that, there the sender of the greens was the one who became the Guru of the recipient! Whatever it is, the DootuvaLai was the go-between in that story too, in getting them together! Coming back to our point, we need not bother with Easwara. Guru will do most sufficiently, through whom we can get God also! All that we have to do in turn for Guru’s help is only being devoted to him. For everything the root is trust and faith that he will certainly do the best for us. That is what is known as ‘Bhakti – Sraddha’!
140. Even if the Guru is only human and so capable of erring, it is enough to be devoted to the Guru, without any need for separate devotion for God! There could be one objection to this statement. When can we have complete trust in someone that he will do the needful for us? When he is totally faultless, is it not so? He should be full of all appreciably good character qualities. Then we will be able to develop complete devotion towards him. In addition, he should be very capable of granting anything sans any weakness. Easwara we know is thus a repository of omnipotent and omniscient abilities. Nobody doubts this. Can we get such a Guru? Whosoever he may be, they are seen to be having some weakness such as being quick to take offence or open to flattery! They also seem to have some likes and dislikes. On the point of abilities, can we truly believe that this man whom we think of adopting as our Guru is all capable? Even in some of their plans we find that there are some failures or deficiencies. Even in their intensions we find that they are dependent on God’s Grace. So the question remains, to have him as our Guru or not?
141. Let it be that they are dependent on the Grace of God for their own plans and actions. Let it be that they have some chinks or mistakes in their personality. There is God in them too as the indwelling divinity, is it not so? So if we be devoted to the Guru, whosoever he is, as faultless, blemish-less and all capable; will not God do the needful for us through him? If the God is to be seen as the indwelling divinity in the dog and the one who eats dog’s meat too, I am sure it is easier to see the God in the man whom we are thinking of adopting as the Guru; who anyhow is far better educated, behaved and endowed than us! If our surrender is total to that Guru, then it is God’s onus and responsibility to take proper care of us, about which we need have no apprehensions!
142. Advantages in Guru Bhakti. OK, right! But when there is God who is beyond blame, faultless, capable and perfect; why should we be devoted to this man, with may be having some faults, whom we have to assume to be perfect and be devoted? I will answer this question, repeating some of the points that I have covered already. One, we can see the Guru and interact with, while we cannot see God and interact with. God does not directly point out our mistakes and faults, whereas Guru does that in all sincerity to correct us. Guru can act as our mentor and consultant. We can clear our doubts from him. Are we sincere enough to do all that ourselves truthfully?
143. Then as God is beyond the reach of our minds, while we cannot interact with him; he is the ever present witness known as, ‘sarvadhee saaktchi bootham’! So he will punish us for things where we are culpable! Though we know or fear that God is the ever present witness, we hope that we will get away without being punished! So, we tend to commit sins in the stupid belief that we will somehow evade being held responsible and tend to forget our faults. God will also reward us when we deserve to be rewarded. When we get those benefits, we think that we somehow deserve them and end up thinking too much of ourselves in the bargain! When it comes to doing some service or assistance to others, we do get any number of opportunities in our day to day lives. There, we do not do our bit on the grounds of not interfering in other’s lives! There is a proverb which says, “Arasan anru kolvaan, Deivam ninru kollum”, meaning that the King or the reach of Law will punish immediately, while God may do so at a later suitable time! Then as per the Law of Karma, the punishment for sins in one life may become effective later, may be in another life time! So, on the one hand we fool ourselves in hoping to avoid punishments for sins committed, while on the other hand the motivation is lacking for doing noble acts of help to others.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 26 (Vol # 5) Dated 21 July 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 26 (Vol # 5) Dated 21 July 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 No 157 of Vol 5 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)
122. Somaasi Maaran, now got the bright idea of taking some fresh and good quality greens from where he was collecting them for his own use. “It does not matter if I cannot get anything else, to give as a present to Sundara Murthy. These greens are really of a good quality and available plentifully. If I fetch these ‘DootuvaLai’ greens to his house every day, one day or the other he is likely to ask as to who is bringing these to his house and thereby I may get an opportunity to meet him, as he is likely to give me an audience! So, with subtlety he made the ‘DootuvaLai’ green go as a courier carrying his message. (In Tamil ‘Dootuvan’ means a person sent as a messenger!) Not only did he think about it, but put it in action too with utmost sincerity. Everyday not caring for his own discomfort this poor Brahmin walked his way to Thiruvaroor to deliver a wholesome bunch of this ‘DootuvaLai’ Keerai. (In Tamil ‘Keerai’ means edible green leaves.) He was resigned to the idea of waiting indefinitely. “We will quietly supply the greens. It is enough if it reaches the stomach of this noble great man, come what may!” That was the intension of Somaasi Maaran.
123. Sundara Murthy was residing in Paravai Naachiyaar’s residence those days. That place was always a beehive of incessant activities of many people arriving and leaving in an endless procession. In that dynamic hubbub Somaasi Maaran never went anywhere near Sundara Murthy. He would quietly leave the bundle of DootuvaLai greens in the kitchen under the care of the cooks and leave. Paravai Naachiyaar was noticing that some Brahmin gentleman was regularly bringing these greens religiously every day. The least she could do was to ensure that the DootuvaLai Keerai was included in the menu and served to Sundara Murthy every day. She never had time to specifically talk about this Brahmin gentleman to Sundara Murthy.
124. It was the custom for Sundara Murthy to have food with a big gathering of the devotees of Siva. Either he will eat in silence fully absorbed in ‘Siva Dhyana’ or sharing the greatness of Siva with the devotees, while the food will also be shared between them! Before food and after food there will be ‘Naama Sangeerthanam’ or ‘Dhyaanam’ or ‘Aalaya Darshanam’ or he would be composing new poems. There was no occasion when the topic under discussion could be the Keerai- greens or the Brahmin Gentleman bringing it! Days were running into weeks and months. Somaasi Maaran was on his mission of delivering the Keerai-Greens every day uncaring for any pain in his legs due to walking all that distance or the delay caused for his own lunch!
125. Some day or the other the matter had to come to a head! Somaasi Maaran was crossing the river to come to Thiruvaroor every day. Once there was a flood in that river due to which it could not be crossed for some four or five days. He was feeling bad that he could not take the greens across to Sundara Murthy Swami’s place. Somaasi Maaran remained at home very reluctantly. By this process I suppose Easwara was playing into the event. He always plays with his cards held very close to his chest! When for four or five days continuously the DootuvaLai was not to be found in the food, Sundara Murthy particularly noticed it!
126. It is often the case that when things are going on routinely we may not notice and do so when something is missing in the routine! When there is a breeze on, we may not take note of it. By the same breeze if the window gets closed and it is sultry, we will at once notice that there is no breeze. Similarly the absence of DootuvaLai greens was noticed when it was missing for a few days continuously. On enquiry, Paravai Naachiyaar clarified that one Brahmin was quietly but regularly delivering the particular fresh greens every day and possibly due to the floods the delivery has been interrupted.
127. “Oh! How sad that I never noticed this for so long! Was that gentleman so sincerely and regularly doing this service never looking for any recognition or even a word of thanks, is it? Next time he comes please send him inside to meet me and also inform me at once! We must help him in whatever way we can”, said Sundara Murthy Swamigal. As Somaasi Maaran was aspiring to meet Sundara Murthy SwamigaL all these days, it was now the other way totally! This is the play by God, called ‘Easwar ki Leela!’ The floods subsided in the river.
128. “Thank God! The floods have receded and so, I can resume delivering the bunch of DootuvaLai greens once again”, thought Somaasi Maaran and went to Sundara Murthy’s place with the greens. He felt thrilled when he was told that Sundara Murthy would like to meet him! ‘Great man who could directly talk to Easwara, like we converse with each other and so it is God’s grace that I am going to meet him’, with that thought he went and prostrated at the feet of Sundara Murthy! Sundara Murthy was very pleased to meet him. He asked, “Who are you me dear Sir? You are being kind enough to supply these fresh greens every day uncaring for the personal discomfort to yourself!”
129. Though Somaasi Maaran was waiting for this opportunity only, with natural diffidence and shyness requested for a private audience saying, “I need one help from you. But can you kindly give me a few minutes in privacy?” Sundara Murthy realised that there is something big for which this man is fishing for. He said, “Dear Brahmin, do not think that I can make the impossible, possible! If it is within my abilities, I will try. So please tell me.” Somaasi Maaran insisted that there is nothing impossible for him and told him his wish in privacy. Having heard his wish of conducting Soma Yaaga in which he wished that God Parameswara should personally come and receive the Havis from his hands, his reply was this. “For God to come personally to your Soma Yaaga and receive the Havis directly from you is not a small matter. But, since I am indebted to you I will try and recommend your case. To do so or not is God’s Grace. Please do not think otherwise if I fail, that it is due to my not being sincere enough!”
The Test by God Parameswara.
130. Then he went to the temple and told Thyagaraja Swami all the details of Somaasi Maaran’s request. For him to talk to God was quite a normal routine. Thyagaraja Swami’s reply was, “Sundaram! There is nothing that I will not do for you. Whatever you wish will be done. That too if someone has done you a favour of providing fresh greens for you to eat, I am indebted to do him not only to return a favour but also give him a bonus! So, for your sake I will go to receive the Havis personally myself. But, if this Brahmin desires this so much, it will not be correct to go only in this get up. I will go to him in any form. If he correctly recognises me in that form well and good, I will receive the Havis myself! Then saying, “That is OK by me”, Sundara Murthy went and told Somaasi Maaran that God had agreed to come to his Soma Yaaga and left it at that. Somaasi Maaran’s happiness knew no bounds. He was thrilled and returned to Ambar MaakaaLam. He organised the Soma Yaaga taking help from all and sundry. On a good day in the month of Maasi when the Aslesha Star was in the ascendant, he arranged the conduct of the Soma Yaaga.
131. The Homam was reaching the final stages when the Havis had to be given. Somaasi Maaran was anxious waiting for the God’s arrival, wondering whether he will or will not. Suddenly a crowd of seemingly poorly dressed, ill kept and stinking crowd of Pulaiyaas rushed in the Yaaga mandapa beating drums and blowing on horns! The crowd was going round a central figure, who was evidently their leader. He was having four dogs on leash. Near him was his wife carrying a pot of some liquor which was spreading a rank smell all around. The Brahmins who were conducting the Yaaga felt that it was stupid on their part to have agreed to help this poor Brahmin! They were about to take to their heels, saying that the whole function had been spoiled and desecrated!
132. Somaasi Maaran was the only one happily sitting there. His long time ambition to get Easwara to visit his Yaaga was about to become true. His long and arduous service to Sundara Murthy Swami in all faith was about to bear fruits. His sincerity and Sundara Murthy Swami’s Anugraha had opened his eyes at the right time. He had passed in the test by God Parameswara! “The central figure, the leader of these Pulayaas is none other than the Siva Perumaan! He is holding the four Vedas as four dogs around him in a tight leash. Next to him the Lady holding the pot of liquor is AmbaaL Parvathy herself! All the people around him are the Bhootha Ghanas!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 25 (Vol # 5) Dated 19 July 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 25 (Vol # 5) Dated 19 July 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 No 152 of Vol 5 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)
113. Thinking about the Van Thondar’s reputation, Somaasi Naayanaar decided that he was the man to be approached, especially because of the freedom and facility with which he could be so close and buddy-buddy with God! If Thiru Mazhisai Aazhwaar’s relationship with Bhujanga Sayana PerumaaL was such as to get the special name to PerumaaL as ‘Yatoktakaari’ here this Sundara Murthy SwamigaL’s relationship with Siva Perumaan was with equal facility and freedom! Our understanding and comprehension are rather limited about the ways of God and these great souls who are so friendly with God! We need not try to understand it also. It is enough if we avail the opportunity to cleanse our own minds and purify ourselves. Within our understanding and comprehension too our elders have shown many role models to follow in stories, Itihaasaas and PuraNas. It is enough if we draw the right lessons from them, like historical ideal characters such as Rama, Laxmana, Hanuman, Dharma Raja, Harischandra and such. One can always draw the right lessons from good and bad examples, as how to be and how not to be respectively!
114. If Sundara Murthy Naayanaar was in love with the girls Paravai and Sangili, we are not to immediately jump to conclusions and look down upon them. They were from other communities and one of them was from the community of prostitutes! Still we are not to see them in a poor light. From the beginning they have been referred as Paravai Naachiyaar and Sangili Naachiyaar with honour and respect! Who was Sundara Murthy Naayanaar? Who were those girls? At the time they were to be married legally as per the guide lines of Saastra why should this old Brahmin come and claim by an old worn out palm leaf that Sundara Murthy is his slave as per some undertaking by his great grandfather or somebody? Then why should this man happily follow him. Then it is further unexplainable that Easwara takes all that pain to get them together in wedlock! Then why should Easwara undertake to go as a deeply committed messenger on behalf of this Sundara Murthy to that woman of easy virtue!
115. The answer to all these questions is there in the early part of Periya PuraaNam! Either you take the whole thing as a Leela of God (known as ‘Thiru ViLaiyaadal’ by God) or believe you me that Sundara Murthy before his being born on earth was a Kinkara in Kailasa, the World of Siva! At that time he was known as Aalaala Sundarar and the two women in his life Paravai Naachiyaar and Sangili Naachiyaar were known as Kamalini and Aninditai, both maids as Parvathi’s servants. One day he came across these two girls and fell in love due to some residual tastes of their earlier lives! So they had to take birth on the earth to give fruition to the inexorable logic of balance Karma Vinai! But evidently they had the blessings of God to fulfil and enjoy their residual attraction for each other. That gets enacted on stage here on earth as part of Siva’s Thiru ViLaiyaadalgaL!
116. Like this, whatever is beyond our understanding and looks slightly out of the ordinary are explained with reasoning and logic in our PuraNas quite clearly. In our hurry with vested interest some of us are too quick to criticise on the one hand while on the other hand, innocent bystanders find it difficult to explain and feel diffident! When the reason has been given for some, it is in the rightness of things that we presume that there must be some logical reason for events and behaviour beyond our comprehension.
117. With regard to Paravai and Sangili Naachiyaar-s those who think less of Sundara Murthy should also take certain other details into consideration. Having legally wedded, when Sundara Murthy was about to start living with that wife, as a married couple, that this old man intruded in to their lives and claimed that Sundara Murthy was his slave. It was then that Sundara Murthy accepting his slavery went on visiting all the temple stations (kshetraadanam) behind the old man (whom he knew to be Parmaeswara himself, who had come to save him from worldly involvement as per his own request )! In one of those places, there was this Kotpuli Naayanaar who offered his two nubile daughters in marriage to Sundara Murthy. Those two girls Singadi and Vanappagai came in front and prostrated themselves in all humility to Sundara Murthy. Did he fall prey to the call of the flesh then? No. With equal humility and graciousness he accepted them as his two daughters! As further proof of this in the Padigam of that place he calls himself the father of Singadi, (as Singadiappan)! (Refer to Thiru Naattiyathaankudi Padigam starting ‘PooNaaNaavador’ in Tevaaram.)
118. Let me talk about this from another angle! In these stories of great people we see or hear or read about many of the events that are supposed to have happened in their lives. We also see as to how these events affected them and their minds. But in all this, we can never know as to what was the response and reaction in their hearts. What is revealed about that can only be limited. But their true response can be available only in the out pouring in poetical form arising from their very inner being!
119. Let Sundara Murthy Swami’s outer life be whatever, his true inner heart is revealed in his poems. They make us wonder as to how deep rooted can be the devotion of this man to be able to express such wonderful things that easily melt not only our hearts but our very being! For so many hundreds of years, so many generations of devotees have felt the intensity of his devotion through his songs! If we are not moved by those songs, it can only mean that we are dull idiots of the highest order! In one place he says, “...anne unnai allaal ini yaarai ninaikkene” meaning, ‘My dear Sir! If not you, whom can I think of?’ Another place he says, “...aththaa unakkaaLaai ini allen enalaame”, meaning that ‘I have become your man, can I deny this ever anymore?’ Then again he says, “...unai naan marakkinum, sollum naa namahsivaayave”, meaning ‘even if I forget you, this tongue of mine will continue to say only namasivaaya! It is anathema to think derogatively about him even for a fraction of a second! If he ordered or ticked off God even that was to show the world as to how easily God is accessible to the true devotee. Amongst the many paths of devotion there is one in which God is treated as a friend. In such a relationship along with love you could have some differences of opinion and some small tiffs. He had a special name as ‘thambiraan thozhar’. Thus while being the ‘Van Thondar’ who was harsh with God at times, goes on to sing ‘Thiruth-thondat Thogai’ in which he repeatedly says that he is subservient to every one of the 63 Nayanmaars! Now let us come back the Somaasi Naayanaar’s story.
120. Somaasi Naayanaar who was in search of a suitable person, who could be the Guru to enable him to fetch Parameswara in the Yagnam that he was intending to organise, identified Sundara Murthy SwamigaL as the right person worthy of being approached. It was easily said than done. Because, Sundara Murthy SwamigaL was always surrounded by a bevy of devotees of Siva and so many others, no one could go near him easily! Like a King he was ever covered by an assembly of high and mighty. Though he was born in the family of Aadi – Saiva – Brahmins of Archagas who work in temples, he was adopted, bred and brought up by the regional King of Thiru Munaippaadi. He was moving in the high society of Chera – Sozha – PaNdya Kings most of the times. The kings were his friends, especially the Chera King. He had visited many temples with all the three kings, together known as the ‘MoovendargaL’. So mostly he had as big an entourage as a Royal Personae would have!
121. Somaasi Naayanaar thought about the method of approaching Sundara Murthy Naayanaar. “I am a poor Brahmin. How can I approach him and attract his attention? What sort of a present or gift can I take to him?” He used to do his daily Karma Anushtaanaas and have his lunch only at about one in the afternoon. The lunch was not an elaborate one of many courses. Without ever giving a chance for anyone to feel, “yaar ivan Paarpaan pidungith thinnaraan?” meaning, ‘who is this beggar Brahmin pestering us like a parasite’; he used to live the most simple life as required of him by the Saastraas! Without troubling anybody, not expecting any alms or dakshina, he would go to the river side and pick up the greens growing there. This he would give his wife to cook. No picking on other people! Only picking the naturally growing greens from the river bank! Now he got a bright idea as to why not take some greens to present to Sundara Murthy Naayanaar?
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 24 (Vol # 5) Dated 17 July 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 24 (Vol # 5) Dated 17 July 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 No 147 of Vol 5 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)
101. I told you about the story of ‘Yatoktakaari’ PerumaaL to drive home the point that the disciple does not have to go to God at all. If he has complete faith in his Guru, the Guru will do the needful and ensure that the disciple is not only protected wherever he goes but also guided in the right path. For the disciple, the Guru has to only wish or give his blessings and God will get the needful done! If Guru says ‘get up’ God will do so; if he says ‘run’ God will run and stop only when ordered by the Guru! Knowing this, there are many who simply rely on the Guru for all their needs to be fulfilled.
102. Similarly, if the disciple wants the God, the Guru will fetch him for you. For that our power of faith, belief and devotion is not enough. All that is required is total trust in Guru. It does not matter as to how he does that, by prayer or fighting on our behalf. The end result will be positive. Thus, there have been many great souls who having physically been the Seer, have enabled their disciple followers to have the same vision, starting from Sri KrishNa who gave the Vishwa Roopa Darshan to Arjuna!
103. We see this in the story of Somaasi Naayanaar too. He went to Sundara Murthy Swami and complained that he is not able to fetch Easwara on his own and so got it done through Sundara Murthy Naayanaar, though the relationship between Sundara Murthy and Somaasi Naayanaar cannot strictly be considered as between a Guru and a disciple. That reveals that a Guru who is very close to God can bring closeness between God and disciple too. Let us look at that story! We have heard the story of an Aazhwaar. Do we not have to hear the story about a Naayanmaar also? Moreover this story concerns not one but two Naayanmaars!
104. Somaasi Maara Naayanaar. Let not the word Somaasi give you visions of an eatable! (The Somaasi and Samosa both are made with an outer layer of wheat batter enclosing some filling, fried in oil or ghee. They differ in the matter of what is filled inside. The first one Somaasi has a sweet filling of grated coconuts amongst other things, while a Samosa is a savoury filled with boiled and mashed potatoes!) Here the word Somaasi indicates that he or someone amongst his ancestors have conducted ‘Soma Yaagam’. He is given the title of ‘Somayya Ji’ which gets worn out by time, usage and changes in the languages and becomes ‘Somaasi’!)
105. Amongst Naayanmaar-s there are people from all walks of life, castes and creeds. From Nanadanar who was working in the farms as a pariah labourer, to KaNNappar a hunter, Adipatta Naayanaar from the fisherfolk, Thiru Neelakandar a potter; the list goes on to represent all the castes and clans including some kings and ministers amongst the 63 Naayanmaar-s! There are 12 Vaidic Bramins in that list, in which Somaasi Naayanaar is one!
106. There is a place by the name PeraLam in Tamil Nadu. A short distance away there are two villages close to each other namely, Ambar and Ambar-MaakaaLam. This Somaasi Maran is from the Ambar village. In his Thiru Thondattogai, Sundara Murthy Naayanaar refers to him as ‘Ambaraan Somaasi Maaran’. Between Ambar and Ambar MaakaaLam there is a Mandapam (stone building) which is said to be the place where ‘a Sukhla Yajur Veda Brahmin is said to have conducted a Soma Yaagam, available till date as a mute witness. Once a year in the Aayilyam star of the month of Vaikaasi they conduct a festival in memory of that Yaagam at that place. There are some interesting features in the story about that festival. I was intending to talk about those things only. When we cannot invite or invoke God’s presence on our own, we could do that through our Guru or any elder in that position’ is the message in that story.
107. In Periya PuraaNam it is mentioned that Somaasi Naayanaar had the opinion that simply through conduct of Yaagas alone, one could attain to the feet of Siva. Periya PuraaNam further says that he went to Sundara Murthy Naayanaar at Thiruvaroor and through his good offices attained to Siva Saayujyam, that is the exalted status of oneness with the Lord Siva. Those are the bare details in brief available in Periya PuraaNam. It is from the Sthala PuraaNam of the place where this event occurred that we get to know about how he conducted the Soma Yaaga. So despite not being very popularly known, since locally it is well known and since till date there are conduct of festivals in memory of the event, we can see that the story is authentic enough. Even when not popularly known the authenticity of the Sthala Puranaas are not in doubt. (For example Dr. U.V. Swaminatha Iyer was a great scholar in Tamil who has unearthed a whole world of Tamil literature from a scientific study of palm leaf scripts and restored them for posterity. He lived here in Madras in Thiruvanmiyur near the present day Adayar, as recently as the middle of the 20th Century! Luckily there is a Library of his books and research papers in Kala Kshetra, Adayar due to the efforts of Mrs. Rukmini Arundale. But for that, if you ask anybody in the environs of Thiruvaanmiyur today, you may not find a single person knowing anything about Dr. U.V. Swaminatha Iyer at all despite the fact that he is known by the popular title of ‘Tamizh Thatha!’)
108. “Through conducting Soma Yaaga we should please Siva. It is not enough to believe that our offerings go to Siva through the medium of the Fire God. Easwara himself should come and receive our offerings.” Somaasi Naayanaar was thinking on these lines and he was very keen that Siva himself should come to his Yaaga. But he was not very confident about his own worth and ability to make his wish come true. But he was also not ready to give up. Then he was in search of someone who was close enough to God Siva and wished to seek that person’s help in this effort of ensuring Siva’s presence in his Yaaga. It was then that he heard about Sundara Murthy SwamigaL!
109. Sundara Murthy SwamigaL was residing in Thiruvarur those days. The more he heard about this Sundara Murthy SwamigaL, more was the sense of wonder and awe! He was much different as compared to any devotee of Siva. Normally these devotees of Siva would be very economical about clothing and accessories. Lean and thin they will be almost undernourished. Never caring for wine, women and wealth, they will be all the time lost to the world in chanting of the Panchaksharam. Sundara Murthy Swamigal was much different from these norms!
110. He was more like a man about town, well dressed, well fed and attractively groomed! Known to be a regular visitor to women of easy virtue, he was not easily to be identified as to what type of a character he is! But reportedly he could get his wealth and women with the help of the very Easwara whom we find not so easy to even comprehend, let alone approach! Reportedly if the women get annoyed with him who else but Siva himself goes as a messenger on behalf of this Sundara Murthy SwamigaL! Then he resolves the misunderstanding or conflict and re-establishes the liaison! It seems in all freedom this Sundara Murthy SwamigaL could even talk flippantly, when annoyed with Siva!
111. Once he knowingly lied and lost his eye sight as a result. For that also he could get annoyed with Siva and say words to the effect, ‘vaazhndu podeere!’ that is to say,“That I have lost my eyesight, go and be happy now”! (Every fourth line in the Padigam named ‘MeeLaavadimai’ ends in this phrase ‘vaazhndu podeere!’) Thus this devotee of God could tick off at will. The more surprising thing is that God is ready to dance to his every whim and fancy! Sundara Murthy’s eye sight was restored in double quick time!
112. In another occasion there was a theft as a result of which Lord Siva was told, “What is the use of your being there at all? ‘Etthukirundeer?’” But God immediately rounded up the thieves and all the lost jewels and other valuables were recovered, much faster than modern day Police! Normally devotees of God are well behaved and soft of speech. But this man seems to have got all his wishes by being rough and tough enough with God that he got the sobriquet ‘Van Thondar’ to mean the ‘harsh devotee’! In his case God was always obliging enough too!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 23 (Vol # 5) Dated 15 July 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 23 (Vol # 5) Dated 15 July 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 page No 140 of Vol 5 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)
88. The Aazhwaar said, “Kani KaNNan is leaving. Do not keep lying down like this. I am a man who says with courage whatever is truth without adding or subtracting. I am a poet whose tongue is red due to always telling the truth and saying things as they are.” I quote, “KaNi KaNNan poginraan, kaamaru poongachchi maNivaNNaa! Nee kidakka vendaa! ThuNivonrich chennaap pulavon yaan selginren, neeyum unran painaagap paai suruttikkoL”.
89. “I fearlessly speak the truth. If you keep lying down without any responsibility, I will tell the whole world, you better watch out!” The song goes on as though Aazhwaar is giving a fair warning to God not to remain unaffected at this grave turn of events. “Poor child is going out of this town and Empire. Unable to bear it I am also leaving. What is the meaning of your lying about unconcerned?” Further raising his voice as though, he says, “You also get up fast rolling up your snake bed” – ‘neeyum unran painaagap paai suruttikkoL !’ This word ‘paai’ means a mattress on which people sleep. Here the ‘paai’ is made up of ‘painnaagap paai’ – that is the Adi Sesha, the thousand headed snake! (Saying this PeriyavaaL raises his voice, giving his narration a dramatic effort, giving the order to God in the tone and seriousness of a command!)
90. When God is lying, the Adi Sesha with thousand hoods is his bed. When God is on the move, this Aadi Sesha is the Umbrella giving adequate cover for God’s head. Poigai Aazhwaar’s Thiruvandaadi No. 53 says, “senraal kudaiyaam” – the mobile umbrella! When God came in to this world as KrishNa, within a few minutes of his birth the baby had to be taken from Dwaraka to Brindavan across the River Yamuna in torrential rains. At that time too it was Adi Sesha who acted as the mobile umbrella!
91. Even while ordering God the Aazwaar’s care and concern for God is no less! He did not simply order him to just get down from his bed and follow them. Instead, so that he may not be troubled by rain and Sun’s rays, with utmost care he is instructing God to roll up his snake mattress and bring it with him. Once ordered PerumaaL also did not wait for long. In a jiffy almost, he gathered his wherewithal, rolled up his bed / mattress and followed suit! ‘Doing as ordered – sonna vaNNam seidadu’ does not end there! By the time they started out, it was dark. They had gone hardly any distance, may be just the outer limits of the city proper! God also wished to play the human game I suppose. He said, “It is already dark and it is night time. Let us not travel now. Let us halt here in this very point in space tonight and after a night’s rest, commence our journey tomorrow morning!” Whether God said this or Aazhwaar said this, it is not important. God was after all displaying implicit obedience, did he not? They spent the night on the shores of the River Paalaaru under a tree, where there was a beautiful breeze blowing.
92. By this time there was total chaos in Kanchipuram. Since Bhagawan left the city, Maha Lakshmi who is forever on his ‘Vaksha-sthalam’ (the chest) also vacated the city automatically. When She leaves there is only darkness and desolation. The place known by the title of awe and admiration as, ‘Nagareshu Kanchi’ was a pale replica of its original splendour! It was total darkness. Lights and lamps refused to burn! In all the temples without lights there was no pooja! There was confusion, doubt and darkness in people’s minds too! Everywhere there was fear of the unknown and panic!
93. All the people rushed to the King and prayed. He was already in a state of collapse full of anxiety and consternation. From their complaints he realized that it is all due to PerumaaL leaving the town that all this disquietude had come about! He started out immediately saying, “Just now I will go and fall in PerumaaL’s feet and beg him to return to his abode!” It was a Herculean task to bring that King to the city limits, since a King is not permitted to move about without proper protection organised! By the time this caboodle reached the Paalaaru River bank where PerumaaL was staying with the Aazhwaar and KaNi KaNNan, it was morning.
94. Even then the King was not conscious of the fact that he was the culprit and cause for all the chaos! He was not thinking of apologising for having first made an undeserving demand for regaining his youth and then for having misbehaved with KaNi NaNNan in banishing him out of his country! He was simply unaware of his own ‘King-pin role’ in the episode! Whether the PerumaaL was in the Archai form or in the mobile form like any other human being of this world; is not very important. The King fell flat in God’s feet (Ashta Anga Namaskaaram) and prayed to God, “PerumaaL’s absence has rendered the temple desecrated! Similarly the whole town wears a look of desolation! All the people are in panic! Whatever may be the improper behaviour on behalf of anyone of us PerumaaL may kindly pardon us and return to your abode in Kanchipuram please!”
95. PerumaaL told him, “I did not start out on my own. Aazhwaar ordered and I simply obeyed. Unless he says so, I will not come back.” (If God was in Archai form, we can presume that there was an incorporeal voice from the heavens that answered the King.) Having no other recourse, the King fell in the feet of Aazhwaar now and requested him to tell God to return to his temple. Aazhwaar said, “I cannot live even a second without my God! So I cannot tell him to go with you and remain here.” The King pleaded again “Your Highness also is requested to come back please! I am waiting for that only.” Now Aazwaar also answered like God only. “I did not come on my own. When you banished KaNi KaNNan from your kingdom, he did not wish to continue staying in your lands even for a second more. He started out immediately and as I do not wish to be separated from him I followed him. So instead of falling in my feet, you better apologise to him for your behaviour and cancel your orders of banishment. Then if he agrees to return to Kanchipuram, I will come back and also tell PerumaaL to get back to his temple!”
96. Then what else? Raja fell in KaNi KaNNan’s feet in all repentance for his crudeness and requested him to come back. Being a kind hearted person KaNi KaNNan did not even let the King touch his feet but quickly lifted the King and agreed to abide by the King’s wishes. He immediately headed back home to Kanchipuram followed by Aazhwaar – he being followed by the Yatoktakaari PerumaaL – followed by the King and his entourage! The place where PerumaaL, Aazhwaar and KaNi KaNNan spent the night on the banks of the River Paalaaru got the name of ‘Oru iravu irukkai’ (that is ‘one night stay’), that over time became ‘Orikkai’, as it is known today! Once they returned to Kanchipuram, the place got back its resurgent liveliness and the fear and confusion from people’s minds vanished! After coming back to the temple PerumaaL was still standing. He had been told to roll up his bedding and start. Now having returned, he was waiting for orders to lie down again! So he continued to stand till told to assume the prone position. That is the seriousness with which he is bound by the words of the devotee! That is why, he is known as ‘Bhakta paraadeenan’!
97. Seeing this Bhagawaan PerumaaL who is the ultimate destination of all devotees, standing like this, Aazhwaar’s heart was moved to tears! Now he did not say, “Me who could never be without you, have come back is it not so? Why are you still standing? Why do you not spread Sesha Sayanam and lie down?” Instead he slightly changed the words of his earlier poem to mean that since after all KaNi KaNNan has returned you have to resume your original place and status to take care of him.
98. He said, “KaNI KaNNan pokkozhindaan”. Instead of leaving he has decided to stay here only. With a slight change in the words, he has turned around the meaning completely! “In the bargain, I am also back here and so you can also reopen your snake bed mattress.” Then he said ‘suruttikkoL’ meaning ‘roll it up’ and now he says, ‘virittukkoL’ meaning ‘reopen’. Earlier he said ‘nee kidakka vendaa’ meaning ‘you cannot continue to be lying around’ and now he says ‘nee kidakka vendum’ meaning ‘you have to please resume your Bhujanga Sayana posture’!
“KaNi KaNNan pokkozhindaan, kaamaru poonkachi maNi vaNNaa! Nee kidakka vendum! – ThuNi vonrich chennaap pulavon yaan selavozhinden, neeyum unran pai naagap paai virittukkoL”
99. “KaNi KaNNan has also returned and given up his idea of leaving. I have also cancelled my earlier decision to go! We are going to be here only. Looking at the shock and trauma that the people of this city have undergone, the King or the people or anybody is not going to ask us to leave here anymore. So now you can also unroll your bed with the mattress of Aadi Sesha snake and resume your prone posture happily. I feel bad for your quandary. May be you are wondering what further order this small human being is going to give you, that you are still standing with your rolled up mattress! Please lie down my Dear Sir! ‘pai naagap paai virittukkoL’!” Only now PerumaaL again lied down in his bed of Aadi Sesha. He is the one amongst many of the temples of Kanchipuram, known as the ‘Yatoktakaari’ or ‘sonna vaNNam seida PerumaaL’! There others known as ‘Pachchai VaNNa PerumaaL’ and ‘PavaLa VaNNa PerumaaL’ in Kanchipuram. This is the one and only ‘Sonna VaNNam Seida PerumaaL’!
100. Later Thiru Mazhisai Aazhwaar went visiting all the important such temple towns of Maha VishNu PerumaaL in a Kshetraadanam. Finally he reached KumbakoNam known as Thirukkudandai another of VaishNava Divya Desams and attained to Maha Samaadhi! As I said earlier, the Saivites call their sacred stations as ‘Paadal Petra Sthalangal’ and Vaishnavites call their important sacred destinations as ‘Divya Desam’!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 21 (Vol # 5) Dated 11 July 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 21 (Vol # 5) Dated 11 July 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 No 128 of Vol 5 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)
70. The Kailasanathar Koil statues are famous for being graphic depictions of PuraNaas, while Vaikunda PerumaaL Koil depictions have historical relevance. After Rajasimha’s tenure full of dramatic events fetching him much name and fame, there was a period of utter confusion prevailing. The Chalukhya King Vikrama Aditya came down south with his armed forces and captured Kanchipuram. Rajasimha’s son was also one Parameswara Varma. He ruled only for a short period and died issueless. As per our ‘Primogeniture’ custom, in the Pallava Lineage the middle clan that went from Simha Varma to Simha Vishnu, till Raja Simha’s son, ended there. Now the elders had to find someone suitable within relations who had the right to the throne as per the pecking order ‘Dayaadi / Gothra’. So HiraNya Varma’s son, also named Parameswara Varma was made the King. He was a trained wrestler (Mallan). He came to be known as Nandi Varma Pallava Mallan. In the temple named after him, ‘Parameswara ViNNagaram’ aka Vaikunda PerumaaL Koil, this information is carved on stone.
71. The historical importance of the Vaikunda PerumaaL temple that I mentioned earlier is due to the fact that, starting from Maha VishNu through Brhma all the stories of all the Kings of the Pallava Dynasty are depicted through sculptures in it, in a special enclosure! In addition to historical importance, the temple has much religious significance too. Here the sanctum sanctorum has been organized in three tiers. In the lower level there is VishNu in a standing posture, in the middle He is seated in a throne and in the upper level He is in prone posture! As per the Aagama rules the temple is supposed to have ‘Ashtaanga Vimaanam’, that is eight levels. To construct a temple in eight layers like this is quite rare indeed. In the Pandya Naadu, the Thirukkottiyur PerumaaL Koil, the Koodal Azhagar Koil in Madurai, Kanchi Vaikunda PerumaaL Koil and the one constructed by this Nandi Varma’s son Thandi Varma’s Sundara Varada PerumaaL Koil in Uttara Merur near Kanchipuram are the only four temples with this ‘Ashtaanga Vimaanam’ arrangement, though the order in which the sitting, standing and prone postures are not exactly the same in all of them between the three tiers/levels. (As per PeriyavaaL’s wish the Mahalakshmi temple in Besant Nagar beach in Adayar, Chennai has also been constructed in ‘Ashtaanga Vimaanam’ style, subsequently.)
72. Nandi Varma Pallavan was a contemporary of Thiru Mangai Aazhvaar, as seen from his Paasuram in which he has made references to that king. From here let us go back that incident I was telling you about how the Guru gave instructions to God to do certain things for the sake of his disciple. I hope that you remember that I was mentioning the Aazhwaar’s name as Thiru Mazhisai Aazhwaar and that he was residing in one of the temples in Kanchipuram. He used to live in one of the 14 Divya Desams known as Thiruvehkaa.
73. Amongst the 14 divya Desams, like Thiruvehka there is another place ThiruthaNka. ‘Kaa’ means forest. While Thiruvehka would mean a very hot forest, ‘ThaNkaa’ would mean the opposite as a cool place. In olden times Rishis searched for such lonely and secluded places to do Tapasya, which in later times became temple towns. So, there are many such place names with the suffix ‘Kaa’ and ‘Kaadu’ such as, Thiruvaanaikkaa, ThiruveNkaadu, Thirukodikkaa, Thiruverkkaadu, Thirumaraikkaadu (VedaaraNyam) etc. ThaNkaa was also known as Thooppul, meaning the place where the pure grass used in rituals known as ‘Darba grass’ was abundant. Amongst the VaiNavaas, you may be aware that there are two sects known as ‘Vadakalai’ and ‘Thenkalai’. The Aachaarya Purusha of Vadakalai VaiNavaas, Vedaanta Desikar was born here in Thooppul that is ThaNkaa.
74. Thirumazhisai Aazhwaar used to live in the temple in Thiruvehkaa. This place was famous as the birth place of Poigai Aazhwaar and it is here that the PerumaaL is known as ‘Yatoktakaari’! Before this name became famous, the presiding deity was known as Bhujanga Sayana PerumaaL. This God is said to be predated to Varada Raja PerumaaL. Because, Brhma did a Yaagam and in that Yaagam Maha Vishnu’s ‘aavirbhava’ (materialisation) took place as Varda Raja, to fulfil Brhma’s wishes. When that Yaagam was being conducted there was a tiff between Brhma and his wife Saraswathi. So he did the Yaagam with Savithri and Gayathri as his Yagna Pathnis. So Saraswathi rushed there in the form of Vegavathi river. To prevent her from flooding and disrupting the conduct of Yaaga, Vishnu physically lied on the way as the Bhujanga Sayana PerumaaL. So he took permanent residence there not only for fulfilling Brhma’s wishes but for all people for eternity!
75. (For the place name Thiruvehkaa, another interpretation is also there in view of the story of Saraswathi rushing there as the river Vegavathi. The rushing river was blocked by PerumaaL lying in the way like a huge dam and so the place got the name ‘Vega Sethu’ which in later years became simply Vehkaa.) The hero of our story, Thirumazhisai Aazhwaar was living in this Bhujanga Sayana PerumaaL Koil or somewhere nearby. It is then that he made the PerumaaL obey his orders thereby getting him to be known as Yatoktakari.
76. Including Varada Raja, in all the PerumaaL temples mostly the posture of the God is ‘Ninra Thirukkolam’ that is the standing one. There may be some who are in the sitting posture. Here in Thiruvehkaa however He is in ‘Kidanda Thirukkolam’ that is the lying posture, like the Sri Ranganatha in Sri Rangam, Padmanabha Swami in Trivandrum and SarngapaaNi PerumaaL in KumbakoNam. This PerumaaL is also famous for one more thing. In all these temples in which the PerumaaL is in the prone position, he would not be looking straight up towards the sky or ceiling. He would be slightly to a side facing the entrance towards the visiting devotees. Sri Ranganatha is facing South with his head in the West and legs towards East. So when we stand before him his head will be on our left and legs on our right. Sri Padmanabha Swami is facing East with his head in the South and legs towards North. Here too as we enter the Sannidy and face him, his head will be on our left and legs on our right, again. So also in KumbakoNam this Aravamudan aka SarngapaaNi is similarly with his head towards our left and legs towards our right.
77. Only in Thiruvehkaa the posture is the exact opposite. Let me explain. Here his head is towards South and legs towards in the North. But he is facing West and so when we stand in front facing East, his left is towards us and his right hand is behind the body. In all other places his ‘Abhaya Hastam’ that is the right hand will be nearer to us but used as a support for his head which would be slightly raised. ‘Abhaya Hastam’ is the right hand of God giving the devotees a message ‘not to worry’ and that He is there to give us solace! If the hand has to be doing its duty of ‘Abhaya Hastam’, it will have to turn around away from the body and be an obstacle in our efforts to look at His face. Also when the camphor is lighted the shadow of the hand will fall and cover the face of the statue! Even in terms of sculpting on the stone it presents certain additional problems. In Thiruvehkaa all this is obviated by the fact that the God’s right hand is behind and nearer the rear wall. His left hand is supporting the head. His right hand the ‘Abhaya Hastam’ is raised straight up giving ‘Aseervaadams and blessings’ to all the devotees! That is how this ‘Yatoktakaari’ is sleeping with His Abhaya Hastam doing its rightful job!
78. KaNi KaNNan – AruL Nenjum and Anjaa Nenjum. (That paragraph heading means, KaNi KaNNan – The Compassionate and Fearless Heart!) Even from before the PerumaaL in Vehkaa got this epithet ‘Yatoktakaari’, our hero Thirumazhisai Aazhwaar was regularly doing pooja, going in to deep samaadhi often and giving Upadesa to his disciples in that place. He had an intimate disciple by the name KaNi KaNNan. The very birth of this boy was his blessings only. His parents did not have any issues for long. They used to come and place some milk in front of Thirumazhisai Aazhwaar as their offering. He used to be deep in samaadhi mostly and open his eyes very rarely. He was not taking any food. On the rare occasions he opened his eyes, he would find some milk in front of him. He would drink some and leave the rest or give the balance to them, if they happen to be standing there. This would be taken by the childless couple as this Swami’s Prasaada. As a blessing of his this child was born. From his childhood this boy became a very intimate disciple of Thirumazhisai Aazhwaar.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 20 (Vol # 5) Dated 09 July 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 20 (Vol # 5) Dated 09 July 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 page No 123 of Vol 5 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)
61. Moksham for devotees of Siva, known as Saivites is said to be reaching Kailasam, representing an exalted place and or stage of existence. Similarly for the devotees of VishNu, known as VaiNavas, it is Vaikundam, similarly an exalted place and or stage of existence! In Kanchipuram we have both Kailasanathar Aalayam and Vaikunda PerumaaL Koil. Both are famous for excellent sculptural works of art! The Kings of the Pallava Empire were all staunch believers and followers of the Vaidic Hindu religion. Systematic followers of this religion were all believers of all the Gods, especially of the Trinity of Brhma, VishNu and Maheswara. As followers of Siva, they used to claim themselves to be ‘Parama Maheswaras’, while as followers of Vishnu, they used to claim themselves to be ‘Parama Bhagavathas’. Not wishing to leave Brhma ignored, they also used to feel pride in calling themselves also to be ‘Parama BrhmaNyas’! Actually in their temples in the earlier stages, they gave equal importance to Brhma also. But by custom and tradition, in the devotional sphere Brhma is not included; without intending any insult whatsoever! Then over time, devotion to BrhmaNyam evolved to mean SubrahmaNyam. So in their Siva temples it became the tradition to sculpt Parvathy – Parameswara with SubrhmaNya as a baby sitting on their lap, known as ‘Somaskanda Moortham’, on the wall behind the Shiv-Linga in the main Sanctum Sanctorum known as Moolasthanam, indicating their devotion for SubrahmaNya. (The word ‘Somaskanda’ is, ‘Sa + Uma + Skanda’; meaning ‘with Uma and Skanda’ as a prefix for Siva that is Easwara.)
62. One of the Pallava kings had the name of Skanda Sishya itself! They also had such names as, Simha VishNu, Narasimha, Parameswara Varma and Nandi Varma; indicating equal acceptance of both VishNavite and Saivite sides of Hinduism. Thus the Pallavas were basically true to the Vaidic tenets of this religion. Among the line of Pallava kings there was one Mahendra Varma who became a follower of the Jains. He too was reverted back to Vaidic religion by the efforts of Appar SwamigaL. Thus with a balanced attitude towards Saivam and VaiNavam, the Pallava kings were devotees of either VishNu or Siva by individual choice.
63. You may be aware that amongst the 63 Naayanmaars (a title given to some ardent and famous devotees of Siva), there were two kings of the Sozha dynasty by name, Cochengat Sozha and Pugazh Sozha; and one each from PaNdya and Chera dynasties respectively, namely, Nedumaaran and Cheramaan Perumaan. Nedumaaran’s wife Mangayarkarasi and minister were also part of the 63 Naayanmaars. Then there was one Aiyadigal Kaadavar Kon who was also a king. He is the one who has written and composed the ‘Thiru VeNpaa’ as part of the 11th Thirumurai. (There are 12 Thirumurais, which is an orderly collection of poems written by the 63 Naayanmaars.) He went to many of the Siva temples in South India and sang those VeNpaas on the name of Siva as applicable to that particular temple. He is confirmed to be a Pallava king as mentioned by Sekkizhaar in Periya PuraaNam. That means that amongst the Naayanmaars, like kings of the Chera, Sozha and Pandya dynasties, there was also a Pallava king!
64. The Narasimha the Second was known as Raja Narasimha. He was well learned in the Aagamas of Saivam. If Raja Raja Sozha was having title as ‘Siva Paada Sekhara’, this Raja Simha Pallava had the title of ‘Siva ChoodaamaNi’. He was the first one to construct temples using pieces of rocks as building blocks. Prior to his time, the method was to drill in to the hills and huge rocks to make beautiful carvings of temples. This Kailasanathar Koil in Kanchipuram was constructed by this Raja Simha Pallava. It is a temple abundantly filled with a vast number of sculptures very intricately carved. One can spend days together in studying these classic works of art and not get bored or satiated! The connoisseurs of art will give the pride of place to that temple amongst not only the temples of Kanchipuram but also if there were to be such an evaluation amongst all the temples of South India too! Those statues are depictions of various episodes in the PuraaNaas, mostly about Siva Leela. There also some depiction about events that occurred during Maha VishNu’s Avataras.
65. Next in line in terms of quality and quantity of sculptural works of art is the Vaikunda PerumaaL Koil. The old name of that temple was ‘Parameswara ViNNagaram’. This word ViNNagaram does not mean a city in the skies, though literal translation would mean that. It is the Sanskrit word VishNu Graham which has become ViNNagaram in Tamil. From the fact that the name of Simha VishNu has been inscribed in Mahabali Puram as ‘Simma ViNNa Potraadi Rajan’, we can derive that it is ‘Vishnu Graham’ which has become ‘ViNNagaram’! OK. What is that Potraadi Rajan? I am coming to that.
66. ‘Pallavam’ means the small leaf that is as yet not fully sprouted. Potam or patram also has the same meaning. As the story goes, Aswattaama begot a son from a celestial angel. She put the new born baby to sleep in a bed of tender leaves and went away to her heavenly abode. This baby continued to sleep in a bed of tender leaves and grew to be a leader of men and came to be known as the ‘Pallava’. The empire so created came to be known as the Pallavas’ Kingdom and that is how the Pallava Dynasty came in to being. In the land of Telugu speaking people, there is a place known as Amaravathi, where there is a Sanskrit inscription on stone, which gives this story in detail. Eight miles from ArakoNam Railway Station there is one Velur PaLaiyam, where a Copper plate was found with the inscription by the Third Vijaya Nandi Varma, in which also the same story is to be found. Aswattaama was a brahmin from the Bharadwaja Gothram. Actually his father Dronachaarya of the Maha Bharatha period used to refer to himself as Bharadwaja. So in various Pallava period stone /copper plate inscriptions, the Pallava kings used to refer themselves to be from the Gothram of Bharadwaja only.
67. Though the Pallava kings themselves have claimed all this as I described above, the Tamil researchers have another story to tell about the origin of the Pallavas. One of the Sozha king had a liaison with a Naga Kannigai (damsel) In Nagapattinam and begot a son. She the Naga lady used the ‘Thondai’ creeper plant to make sort of a life jacket and floated the baby in the ocean. That baby came ashore somewhere between Mahabali Puram and the present day Chennai. Later this boy went on to establish the Pallava dynasty that the epithet ‘Karaieri Thondaimaan’ (the man who came ashore covered in Thondai plant) came to be evolved. In Sanskrit this Thondai plant is ‘Tundeeram’, from which this general area came to be known as ‘Thundeera Mandalam’ and the Pallava kings were called ‘Thundeera Chakravarti-s’. Whether it was the celestial damsel who put the baby in a bed of leaves or the Naga lady, who put a Thondai creeper plant around her child; both the stories are in some way about tender leaves and that is Pallavam, from which the name of Pallavas evolved. This tender leaf is also called ‘potam’ or ‘potram’. In Tamil the small as yet not grown plant is called a ‘Naathu’ or ‘Pothu’. It is the ‘Pallava Maharaja’ that became ‘Potraadi Rajan’ or ‘Potharaayan’. That is how some who do not do any work except for eating and growing are known as ‘thindi pothu rajan’!
68. Our discussion that started in Vaikunda PerumaaL Koil, went to VishNu Graham, ViNNagaram, Simha VishNu, to how the Pallava name evolved and what not! Before going to the House of VishNu, I have taken you around on a wide voyage! (Somebody from the audience appreciated the fact that, similar to our going around the outer and inner circumambulatory ‘praharas’ in temple looking at various Gods before entering the Garbagraham (that is the main sanctum sanctorum), the wealth of information PeriyavaaL told us are all in the rightness of things and very appropriate!)
69. Raja Simha Pallava first constructed the Kailasa Natha Temple. The second monarch after him by name Nandi Varma constructed the Vaikunda PerumaaL Koil. That temple came to be known as ‘Parameshwara VishNugraham’. It is but natural to wonder as to how a VishNu temple should have a prefix of ‘Parameswara’! It is from the name of the king Nandi Varma. What was constructed by Raja Raja Sozha came to be called Rajarjeswaram and what was constructed by Gangai Konda Sozha, came to be called Gangai Konda Sozheeswaram. Similarly Parameswara Pallava Mallan Nandi Varma’s temple came to be called as ‘Parameswara ViNNagaram’ after his name only!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.