Sri Ramanuja and Rajasthan/Gujerat Region : Part 1.

[Guest guest]

Dear Prapatti group members:

 

I will be out of the country for the next wo weeks and particularly

during Sri Ramanuja Jayanthi. Inview of my absence to

celebrate that holy day here, I thought I would offer my

salutations to Sri Ramanuja through

a posting on his influence in spreading his

Siddhhaantham beyond the Tamil speaking part of the country .

 

Sri Keshava Prasad posted an article recently on

Sri Ramanuja"s influence in Karnataka Desam

and his contributions to spread Sri Vaishnavism from

the base of Melkote. Sri Bhardwaj Jaganath

referred in an earlier posting to the similarity

in the thoughts of AndAL and Meera Bhai of Rajasthan,

who lived in the Sixteenth century.

I thought it might be a good topic to reflect on the wide

impact of Bhagavat Ramanuja Siddhaantham in

the land of Narasimha Mehta, Meera Bhai and Mahatma Gandhi ..

 

A compartive analysis of the literary works of

AndAL and Meera Bhai reveal clearly that they wanted

the close presence (Sampoorna Saanidhyam) of the dark-hued

Lord of their heart of hearts. They both craved for him , pleaded to

him to come to them and cried out, when he left them.

Both wanted him as their husband. Their deep emotional

attahment (Raagthmaka Sambhandham) to the Lord of

Brindhavan and Govardhan is unmistakable .They were blessed with

Vaishnava Samskaaram quite early in their lives.

Meera"s grandfather , Rao Doodaji brought her up

in the Vaishnavite tradition. AndAL ofcourse was heir to the

rich devotional Bhakthi of PeriyaZhwAr , who adored

Krishnaavatharam.

 

Both surrenderd their womanhood(Naaritvam )

at the lotus feet of their Lord and chased away

those , who even dared to mention their

marriage to anyone other than their chosen Lord.

Their Bhakthi is unparalleled and different than that of the

Male Azhwaars, since they were more natural and less

self-conscious in their role as women to love the Parama

Purushan. Hence, their Viraha Taapam is a little more convincing.

The only difference between Meera Bhai and AndAL is that

the latter is the consort of the Lord and she took the Avatar

on this earth as the daughter of PeriyAzhwAr.

 

During the time of Meera Bhai(16th century) , the Bhakthi/

Saranagathi aspects of the Azhwaars as established by

Bhagavad Ramanuja Siddhantham had spread to the

northern and western parts of the country and especially

to Rajasthan and Gujerat. It is not therefore too much of a stretch of

imagination to assume that the teachings of Sri Ramanuja

had " an indelible Impact " on Meera"s life as suggested by

Professor Seshan of Vaishnava College , Madras .

 

I will compile a few items of comparison of the Bhagavt

Anubhavam of Meera and AndAL as culled form the work of

Professor Seshan and the Padavali/Bhajans of Meers . The

passages from these outporings of Meera echo the sentiments

of AndAL as expressed in her MangalAsAsanam in Thiruppavai and

the stanzas of NacchiAr Thirumozhi. Sri Lakshmi Tatachar of our

group has written on the MangaLAsasanam aspects of AndAL's

work earlier in a monograph dedicated to AndAL in 1986. Sangeetha

Kalanidhi Srimati M.S.Subbulakshmi"s recording of Meera Bahjans

are brilliant evocations of Meera's devotion and dedication to her

Lord Giridhari .

 

In her Bhajan " Chakar Rakho Ji ", Meera appeals to her Lord

to appoint her as a maid servant in His palace

so that she can grow an arbour for Him and sing of Him.

She expresses her confidence here that the Ocean-hued Lord

of hers will show up on the banks of the river of love

in the depth of the dark night. In her Thirumozhi,

AndAL expresses a similar sentiment to serve her Lord

(Pada Sevanam ) this way:

 

KESAVA NAMBHIAI KAAL PIDIPPAAL

ENNUM IPPERU YENAKKU ARULUKANDAAI ( NT 1.8)

 

In her Bhajan , "Mai Haricharan Ki", she affirms her

total sarangathi at His feet. She appeals to her Lord

to come to her, here and now. AndAl describes her total

surrender to Her Lord, complains about his indiffernce

inspite of her many sincere appeals to Him to come

to her rescue . She requests Manmatha, Nightingales,

Fast moving clouds to intercede on her behalf and to

bring Her Lord to her in many verses of her Thirumozhi.

 

The sentiments expressed by AndAL in her Mega Vidu Thuthu

pasurams take a slight twist in Meera"s Hari Awan Ki Awaz

Bhajan. Here, Meera experiences the rainy season and

the movements of dark blue clouds swiftly in the sky.

She sees the peacocks dance to the song of the nightingale.

She suffers from her separation from Her Lord and

appeals to the King of Rain (Varuna) to shower his love on

Meera and breathe new life in Meera to prepare for her

Union with the Lord . She appeals for rejuvenation ,

just as the timely rains would bring the life back to

a dried up creeper scorched by the heat of the Sun.

 

Both Meera"s and AndAL's fascination with nature

and the world around them as the objects reminding them

of their Lord during his separation from them are tender

moving experiences articulated in sublime poetry .

(to be continued in the second posting ).