Abhishekam

[Guest guest]

Shakthi wrote:

* I was

* asked by my son why we do theseabhishekams with milk and dhahi etc .I could

* not give him a satisfactory answer. could somebody enlighten me on this

* subject. kanaka.v

*

 

Sri P.B. Annangarachariar explained the principle behind

the ArAdhana and abhiSekam in an upanyaasam of his. Why do

we ask the Lord to wake up, why do we bathe him, feed him,

etc.? Does he sleep, eat, or need to cleansed in any

conventional sense? Of course not! PerumaaL is the abode

of all purity and goodness, parama sattva samaaSrayaH

according to Sri Yaamunacharya. Sleep is only for those

who fatigue or are lazy; eating is for those who are

hungry or who are gluttons; bathing is for those who

need to be cleaned. PerumaaL is in no need of any of

these things.

 

So why do we do these things? Sri Annangarachariar

quotes a verse by Thirumalai AnDaan in praise of

Thondaradippodi Azhvaar:

 

tam eva matvaa paravaaSudevam

rangesayam raajavadarhaNIyam

 

Lord Vaasudeva is imagined to be a king of the highest

order. In Indian and specifically Tamil culture, kings

were bathed, woken up, fed, etc., by their loyal followers

and treated with the utmost affection and love. PerumaaL

is not just the lord of the temple or town but of the

entire universe -- so we follow the ancient custom of

treating him as befits a great mahaaraaja.

 

In doing this, we follow the example of many rishis and

Azhvaars.

 

Mani

[Guest guest]

On Fri, 3 Nov 1995 17:48:12 -0800 Mani said:

>

>Sri P.B. Annangarachariar explained the principle behind

>the ArAdhana and abhiSekam in an upanyaasam of his. Why do

>we ask the Lord to wake up, why do we bathe him, feed him,

>etc.? Does he sleep, eat, or need to cleansed in any

>conventional sense? Of course not! PerumaaL is the abode

>of all purity and goodness, parama sattva samaaSrayaH

>according to Sri Yaamunacharya. Sleep is only for those

>who fatigue or are lazy; eating is for those who are

>hungry or who are gluttons; bathing is for those who

>need to be cleaned. PerumaaL is in no need of any of

>these things.

 

 

Reading this I am reminded of the explanation given

by Sri Srivatsangachar for our Lord Sriman

Narayana's amalathvam. The amalathvam here

means not just that Lord is free of any and all

blemishes, but also He cleanses the blemishes of

all who surrender to Him.

 

 

-- Dileepan