Nirvedham

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Bhakthi Group :

 

Sri KrishNa Kalale's posting on his meeting with

his Acharya , the present Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt was indeed

a moving one. The follow ups on that posting from Sri Vijay

Srinivasan and Sri Sudarshan relating to Nirvedam brought

the memories of Saint ThyagarajA and Swami Desikan

as great BhakthAs going through this SanchAri Bahvam

known as Nirvedam during their SadhaNAs .

 

Swami Desikan in his Sri Ranganatha PadhukhA sahasram has

devoted the entire 31st Paddhathi to the subject of Nirvedham

and has named this Paddhathi as Nirvedha Paddhathi .This is

the penultimate Paddhathi . Until now , he was enjoying the

Maanasa SaakshAthkAram of the PadhukhAs and thier anantha

KlayANa guNAs . That ended suddenly and Swami Desikan

cried aloud in the Nirveda Paddhathi just as NammazhwAr

(SatAri Suri ) cried aloud , when the Maanasa Samslesham with

the Lord came to an end ; similar is the experience of Thirumangai

as ParakAla Naayaki in the ThirupullaNi paasurams. In the Oppiliappan

Paasurams , Thirumangai cries about his SamsAric sorrows and begs

the Lord in a state of Nirvedham : AandAi unai kANpathOr aruLenukku

ArulithyEl , vendEn manai vazhkaiyai ViNNahar mEyavanE " .This bhaktha

sanchAri Bahvam (moods ) of despondency , dejection and desolation is

a stage in one's SadhAnA with the help of a SadAcharyan. Let me list the

sanchAri BhavAs of a BhakthA as per Dr. V.Raghavan :

 

1.Autsukhyam (Longing) for the Lord's /AcharyA's sannidhi

(Constant company ) ; Darsanam ( Seeing Him and getting His

KataakshAnugraham ) ; Kirtana ( Eulogising Him ) ;

SravaNA ( Listening to His glory ) ; SambhAshaNA ( Conversing

with Him ) ; SevanA ( Serving Him ).

 

2. NirvedhA ( Dejection/Despondency on not being able to

have any one of the above blessings )

 

3. Atma GarhaNa & NaichyAnusandhAna ( Self-depreciation

and recounting of one's short comings ).The example is provided

by Saint Thyagaraja in his Gowlai pancha ratnam ( Dudukugala ) .

 

4. Amarsha , Rosa, RoshOkthi ( Anger , Remonstrance and

grievance at the Lord for notresponding to appeals ).

 

5. VitarkA ( Doubt , Cogitation )

 

6. SraddhA , ViswAsA ( Faith and assurance of help to be received

from the Lord )

 

7. NarmA ( Playful liberty with the Lord through praise, prayer

or remonstrance )

 

8. Sva-Yogya -KathanA ( Statement of one's claims and Qualifications

for receiving the Lord's mercy )

 

9. Bhaktha SodhanA ( Trails and tribulations experienced )

 

10 . Manasa SambhodhnA ( exhortation to the mind )

 

11. MangaLAsAsanA ( Pronouncing blessing on the Lord

out of affection and devotion like PeriyAzhwAr "s Pallaandu

and St.ThyagarAja's Bhairavi Krithi , Raksha PettarE )

 

12. Kruthaj~natA ( Expression of gratitude for the conferral

of the fruits of Prapatthi . The example is that of another

Bhairavi Krithi of St. ThyagaraajA entitled yEnAdi nOmu palamu ).

 

Daasyam , Archanam are considered as

the Bhakthi PrakaarAs . The higher states of Bhakthi like

Tanmayathvam or Taadaatmya Sakthi ( Feeling of oneness

with the Lord ) is the highest state of Bhagavadh Anubhavam

that the AzhwArs experienced and poured out in their Paasurams

for our benefit. Autsukhyam and Nirvedham are indeed the first

two steps in this well travelled road of the BhakthAs with

SadhAcharya Anugraham .

 

V.Sadagopan