DEIVATHIN KURAL # 10 (Vol # 7) Dated 13 July 2013

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 10 (Vol # 7) Dated 13 July 2013

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavãL 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 going ahead from page No 65 of Volume 7 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 continually)

90.          All assembled and others who heard about it later on, accepted the 'Asareeri' announcement as a divine command without further ado! It is interesting to note here as to how this King responded to the situation and compare it with how the present day rulers do in the name of 'Rule of the people for the people by the people'!  In the name of ideology, are the present rulers not too keen on ad-hoc solutions and temporary advantages which are blatantly parochial and selfish?   As there was a hint about the way the future is likely to shape up, the King thought of making it more useful and beneficial for the future.  Even the 796 Padigam-s of 10 poems each (salvaged out of a huge total of some one hundred thousand plus,) may still be considered to be too much to bother with, in the likely scenario of the future.  So the King Rajaraja Sozha thought of classifying them in to groups of Thiru MuraigaL and requested Nambi Ãndãr Nambi to do so!  The first three 'திரு முறைகள்' were all poems written by Thiru Gnãna Sambandar.  The next three were poems written by Appar.  The Seventh Thiru Murai contains all the poems of Sundarar.  Thiru Vãsagam and Thirukkovaiyar by MãNikka Vãsagar comprise the eighth Thirumurai.

91.          The Ninth Thirimurai contained poems by, Thiru MãLigaithevar, Sendanãr, Kandarãdittar (one of the fore fathers of this Sozha King, as a Bhakta of Siva who has also composed poems), VeNattadigal, Chedirãyar and three others totalling nine, which were of the type of poems known as 'ThiruvisaippãkkaL'.  This was inclusive of the famous 'Thiruppallãndu' by Sendanãr.  Thiru Moolar's 'Thiru Mandiram' formed the Tenth Thirumurai.  In the last Eleventh Thirumurai, Nambi Ãndãr Nambi included his own composition known as Irattai MaNi Mãlai.  With that he added the poem starting as 'Oru Kodu, Iru Sevi, MukkaN' – 'ஒரு கோடு இரு செவி முக்கண்' known as 'Mooththa Nãyanãr Irattai MaNi Mãlai' written and composed by Kapila Devar, and the work of AdhirãvadigaL known as, 'Mooththa PiLLaiyar MummaNikkovai; thus comprising three main compositions on PiLLaiyar.  This naming of the poems as 'Iratti MaNI and MummaNi' is based on the fact that within such classification, the poems will alternate between two or three poetical metres, respectively.  As PiLLaiyar is the Gem like Crown Jewell of Siva and Parvathy, the primordial parents, three gems of poems in his honour have been included with variety of metric patterns in them.  Then true to the idea that the two brothers PiLLaiyar and Muruga are not to be separated, Nakkeerar's 'Thiru Murugartruppadai' has also been included in the Eleventh Thiru Murai.  Then in the 11th Thiru Murai are included, Nakkeerar's other compositions; the works of Royal Poet (like Kandarãdittar, a Sozha King included in the Ninth Thirumurai, was this) 'AiyadigaL Kãdavarkon' a Pallava King, who was a great devotee of Siva, included in the 63 Nãyanmãrs whose ThiruveNba; and the poems by Kãraikkãl Ammaiyãr, Seramãn a king of the Chera Dynasty and a friend and contemporary of Sundarar; Pattinathãr, Kallãdanãr and such totalling twelve poets; are included in the 11th Thirumurai!

அருள் மொழியும் இரு அருண்மொழிகளும்

AruL Mozhi & Two AruNmozhi-s

93.          As Nambi Ãndãr Nambi included the works of 12 devotees in the 11th Thirumurai, the whole of Thevãram got completed with the 12th Thirumurai, in the time of Anabhãya Sozha, one of the later day King of the Sozha Dynasty, when Sekkizhãr wrote the hagiographical literature of the life history as an incomparable master piece in its niche in the whole world, known as 'Thiruththondar PurãNam' or 'Periya PurãNam', that became the 'pannirandãm thirumurai' – 'பன்னிரண்டாம் திருமுறை'.  Sekkizhãr was the Chief Minister under this king Anabhãya Sozha, who is considered as the Second Kuloththungan, meaning the one who lifted his whole lineage to perennial heights of prominence.  An interesting sidelight is the fact that the name as given at the time of his birth for Rajaraja Sozha was 'AruNmozhi' and so was the name given to Sekkizhãr at birth!  So it comes to the fact that one AruNmozhi searched for and recovered all the 'AruL Mozhi' of Thevãram songs and another AruNmozhi serialised the hagiographical literature of all those who wrote the Thevãram songs.  The one who aided all this and made it possible to Tamil speaking world to benefit in both Iham and Param is that of PiLLaiyar undoubtedly!

Guru

The Guru – Sishya Connection

94.          I intend talking about the Guru, the stuff he is made of, how should he be, the role he has to play and about Sishya and their inter-relationship, based on what has been spoken by many saints and past masters such as those who have authored the Upanishads down to the present day.  Guru is described by many names such as Ãchãryãr, Desika, Adhyapaka, Upadhyaya, Adhyaksha – 'आचार्य, देसिक, अध्यापक, उपाध्याय, अध्यक्ष' in Sanskrit and Teacher, Tutor, Counsellor, Demonstrator, Instructor and Advisor in English!  The basic point is that he gives not only theoretical and practical knowledge but true and wholesome knowledge that is intrinsically good for the body and soul!  It has been traditionally emphasised that while imparting knowledge, the Guru has to ensure that the knowledge that he is imparting is used in morally sound ways that are useful to the society.  So the Guru's responsibility starts from removal of the student's ignorance and goes on till the utilization of such knowledge to the individual and the society at large!  So, with a shade of difference he may have to play every one of these roles.

95.          One definition fairly well known is the one about the fact that the Guru removes the darkness of ignorance and thus enlightens the student. "gukarast andakãrasyãt rukãras tan nivartaka: | andakãra niroditvãt gururuchyate budhai: ||" – "गुकारस्त्वन्दकारस्यात रुकारस्तन्निवर्तक: | अन्दकार निरोदित्वात गुरुरुच्यते बुधै: ||" As defined by that sloka, the letter 'gu' indicates the darkness of ignorance and the letter 'ru' is the redeemer enlightener.  In all these teachings, the highest is the removal of darkness of ignorance of 'who and what am I' and rekindling of the awareness of 'aham brhmãsmi' or 'I am that I am' and that is in other words 'Ãtma Gnãna'.  In other areas of knowledge such as arts and sciences, the Guru enlightens and brings out the student from the darkness of not being aware!  There is another definition known only to a few, which goes like this: - 'gakãra; siddhita: prokta: repa: pãpasya hãraka: | ukãro vishnu: avyakta: tritayãtma gurusmruta: ||'.  So, it says that being a combination of ga + u + ra + u; Guru is the combined form of meaning of these letters!   Now he goes on to explain the sloka further.

The letter 'Ga' Imparts Siddhi

96.          The letter 'Ga' imparts Siddhi meaning that which enables attainment of the aim and having attained, retains without any slip up.  These letters of the alphabet are known as 'Akshara' in Sanskrit which has another meaning as eternal without ever perishing!  While individual letters have such powers, an 'Akshara Kovai' that is a collection of letters as a Mantra has additional powers evidently.  Such being the case, the 'ga'-kãra is powerful by itself being, 'siddhita: prokta:' as the sloka confirms.  However it does not mean that if the teacher teaches haphazardly and the student learns indifferently; they will be successful in their endeavours just because 'ga' is said to be a powerful letter in the attainment of the goals!  The power of the letter adds to the human efforts.  There are occasions when even after a sincere effort on our part, there are slip-ups isn't it?  It is here that we need the help of divine grace and 'ga'-kãra helps, since it is 'siddhita: prokta:', meaning that it is 'pro-actively oriented towards achievement of goals'!

97.          As it is this 'ga'-kãra has some high-value as there are four people or things whose names start with that letter whom if you just think of, it ensures victory in the path of Moksham.  They are Gita, Ganga, Gayatri and Govinda; as the sloka says, 'gita, ganga cha gayatri govindeti hrudi stite' – 'गीता, गङ्गा च गायत्री गोविन्देति हृदि स्तिथे'.  In North India it is the custom to just take these four names in the morning on waking up as they are supposed to give the very purpose of being born, that is 'not to be born again'!  That in other words is to bring the cycle of repeated births and deaths to a halt, by the attainment of the Siddhi of Self-Realization!  In the Guru LakshaNa sloka that I quoted, 'gakãra: siddhita: prokta: repa: pãpasya hãraka:' – meaning the 'ga' letter fetches achievements while the letter 'ra' removes ones sins!

Sanskrit Letter 'र' and Tamil Letters 'ர' and 'ற' & English 'R'  

98.          As we say 'a'-kãra, 'ka'-kãra, we are not to say with the letter which has to be called the 'repa:', because it is not soft but rather rough!  In comparing these similar sounding letters of different languages, I get one more lesson of semantics in linguistics!  Normally in Tamil there are two letters of 'R' as 'ர' and 'ற', in which the first one is called 'mellinam or 'idainam' to mean that it is a little soft and the second one is called 'vallinam' to mean a little rough and tough.  In the colloquial it is called the 'chinna ra' or the small one and the other 'periya ra' or the big one!  Mostly we do not come across such letters in other languages except Telugu in which there is only the bigger or Vallinam variety!  Normally it (this differentiation between two 'r's) is thought to be not there at all in Sanskrit and so I have heard linguistic experts making such a statement!  But in fact, what I notice is that in Sanskrit the 'र' sounds more like the Tamil 'ர' as 'idainam' at the start of the word (as in 'Rama' – 'राम') and in the middle of the word or phrase it sounds more like the 'ற' as 'vallinam' (as in 'virama' – 'विराम' ).  Pronounce the words and feel the difference yourself!

99.          In Tamil both this 'ர & ற' with any of its variations with the vowels, will not be used at the start of words.  If there are such words starting with either of those letters, it is likely that the word is a borrowed one from other languages, like 'Rasta, Rail, Romeo or Rickshaw.  When writing them in Tamil, they are likely to add one of the vowels initially, like you have, 'Iraman, Ilakkuvan Ilakkiyam, Arangam & Urusi' – 'இராமன், இலக்குவன், இலக்கியம், அரங்கம் & உருசி'.  (This last one உருசி is the word for taste – ருசி, to which a 'உ' has been added!)   In Telugu without borrowing from other languages, there are words starting with 'R'.  Out of the 'Idai-ina' letters pronounced as, 'ya, ra, la, va, zha, and La',  – 'ய, ர, ல,வ, ழ, and ள', other than 'வ', none of the other letters with or without any of the vowels; are used for starting the words in Tamil.  The only exception to this is the words such as 'Yanai' – 'யானை' and the typical musical instrument 'Yazh' – 'யாழ்' and some similar variations.  Tamil scholars will start such words with a vowel like Yaksha or Yama will be written as Iyaksha – 'இயக்ஷா' or Iyama – 'இயம' and Yudhdham will be written as Uyuddham – 'உயுத்தம்'!

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva