maadhuryam

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8/12 maadhuryam

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In this continuing series of twelve posts, twelve of the

many guNaas that are innate to Brahman is discussed

with illustrations from aazhvaar paasurams. These

twelve guNaas demonstrate God's eternal love for us

jeevaathmaas. They are sowseelyam, vaathsalyam,

maardhavam, aarjavam, sowhaartham, saamyam,

kaaruNyam, maadhuryam, gaambeeryam, owdhaaryam,

chaathuryam, and sthairyam. The subject of this post is

maadhuryam.

 

maadhuryam: captivating and attractive, (thirumEni

azhagu)

 

In ten exquisite paasurams of amalanaadhipiraan

ThiruppaaNaazhvaar pays tribute to our Lord's

maadhuryam. Starting from the Lotus feet (thiruk

kamala paadham) and ending with the Lord's eyes

(periyavaaya kaNkaL) aazhvaar describes our Lord's

thirumEni azhagu in wonderful detail. After this

marvelous sight aazhvaar declares, "en amudhinaik

kaNda kaNkaL maRRonRinaik kaaNaavE." (my eyes

that have seen my Lord, the nectar of eternal life, will

not behold anything else.)

 

periyaazhvaar describes this beauty in twenty paasurams

in the third thirumozhi of the first (mudhaR) pathu. In

these verses, YesOdhai proudly shows off the beauty of

her divine baby to other women in her village, starting

from the Lord's lotus feet and ending with the beautiful

locks on His head. The first and the twentieth verses are

given below.

 

seethak kadaluL Lamuthanna dhEvaki

kOthaik kuzhalaa LasOthaikkup pOththandha

pEthaik kuzhavi pidiththuch chuvaiththuNNum

paadhak kamalangaL kaaNeerE

pavaLavaayeer! vandhukaaNeerE.

 

-- periyaazhvaar thiru mozhi (1.3.1)

 

A picture of baby KaNNan chewing on His foot is found

in many households. The above paasuram describes this

scene.

 

"dEvaki, who is equal in esteem to periya piraatti

(amritham) that came forth from the cool ocean of thirup

paarkadal, i.e. Laxmi, gave away her young and innocent

baby to yesOdhai, the one with beautiful locks. O!

women with coral like red lips, come and see the beauty

of this divine baby tasting his own lotus feet."

 

Azhvaar describes the facial beauty of young kaNNan in

the last six paasurams of this thiru mozhi. The last one

describes the beauty of the boy's locks of hair (kuzhal).

 

azhakiya paimponnin kOl angaik koNdu

kazhalkaL sathangai kalandhengu maarppa

mazhakan RinangaL maRiththuth thirivaan

kuzhalkaL_irundhavaa kaaNeerE

kuvimulaiyeer! vandhukaaNeerE.

 

-- periyaazhvaar thiru mozhi (1.3.20)

 

O! women with fine breasts, come and look at the beauty

of my boy holding a golden staff in his hand. The

bracelet (sathangai) in his feet make melodious sound.

As he rounds up young cattle look at the locks of hair, so

beautiful.

 

Being inspired by devotion it is not surprising that our

Lord's maadhuryam was readily apparent to aazhvaars.

But the effect of maadhuryam is not confined to such

great souls alone. It is not uncommon for us to be

awe struck by the sheer beauty of emperumaan when

we visit temples. It is with this maadhuryam that

Sri Ramanuja transformed piLLai uRangaavalli's

devotion to his wife ponnaacchi, into devotion for

kuzhalazhagar, vaayazhagar, kaNNazhagar, koppoozhil

Ezhukamalp poovazhagar (naacchiyaar thirumozhi 11.2

given below) "the one with beautiful locks, beautiful

mouth, beautiful eyes, and lotus like beautiful naabi."

 

ezhiludaiya vammanaimeer! ennarangath thinnamuthar,

kuzhalazhagar vaayazhagar kaNNazhagar, koppoozhil

ezhukamalap poovazhaga remmaanaar, ennudaiya

kazhalvaLaiyaith thaamum kazhalvaLaiyE yaakkinarE.

 

-- naacchiyaar thirumozhi 11.2

 

Further, our Lord's maadhuryam is irresistible even for

those who oppose Him. sisubaalan, the one who

dedicated his life for deriding Lord Krishna, attained

mOksham because he was captivated by our Lord's

maadhuryam in the last moments of his life . Of all the

adversaries sisubaalan was the worst. nammaazhvaar

describes him as "kEtpaar sevi sudu keezmai vasavukaLE

vaiyum, sEtpaaR pazam pagaivan sisubaalan." (See the

entire paasuram below.) "Sisubaalan was HiraNyakasipu

and raavaNan in his previous lives. Thus sisubaalan is

an old enemy. (sEtpaaR pazham pagaivan) His abuses

burnt the ears of everyone present."

 

Lord Krishna granted his thiruvadi mOksham to even

a scoundrel like sisubaalan. How come? It seems

during his abusive spree sisubaalan was looking directly

at the Lord. That, finally had its effect. Towards the

end, having gazed at the Lord for a long time, sisubaalan

simply could not resist the maadhuryam flowing out of

our Lord, and was overcome with love. Thus he secured

mOksham.

 

 

kEtpaargaL kEsavan than keerththiyal laalmaRRum kEtparO,

kEtpaar sevisudu keezmai vasavuka LEvaiyum,

sEtpaaR pazampagaivan sisubaalan, thiruvadi

thaatpaal ataindha thanmai yaRivaarai yaRindhumE?

 

-- thiruvaay mozhi 7.5.3

 

 

Our Lord's maadhuryam is so lovely that one can go on

and on. Let me stop here.

 

 

 

.... to be continued

 

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This and other posts to follow in this subject are based

on the aruL mozhigaL of the 45th azhagiya singar of sri

aHObila madam, sri vaN satakOpa sri naaraayaNa

yatheendhra mahaa dEsikan, published in sri nrusimhap

priyaa starting with bava varusham, chitthirai maasam,

(April 1994), and commentaries of aazhvaar

prabhandams published by The Visishtadvaita Pracharini

Sabha, 27, Venkatesa Agraharam, Mylapore, Madras,

600 004.