GeethA and Prabhandham

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Bahkthi Group :

 

There are indeed a number of references to the essence

of GeethOpanishad taught by " Arjuna SakhA " to KaaNdeevan

on the battle field of Kuru KshEthram . Srimans Sampath

RengarAjan , Ranganathan Venkatesan , Professor VasudhA

NaarAyaNan wrote earlier about some of the connections.

 

An abundance of " hyperlinks " are in NammAzhwAr's

Thiruvaimozhi paasurams . I was able to identify no less

than 61 elaborations of the thoughts of GeethAchAryan

in Thiruvaimozhi alone . These links have been cited by

the poorvAchAryAs like Namjeeyar, NampiLLAi, PeriyavAcchAn

piLLai , Vadakku Thiruveedhi PiLLai and other original

commentators in their eedus ( maNi pravALa granthams )

on Thiruvaimozhi .

 

It is not surprising that Thiruvaimozhi has such a rich connection

to the upadesams in GeethOpanishad . Lord ParthasArathy

Himself declared that He is of the form of Saama Vedam

among the vEdAs ; Thiruvaimozhi is generally revered as

the essence of Saama vEdam . Hence , the connections between

the doctrines elaborated by the GeethAchAryan and the paasurams

of NammAzhwAr in Thiruvaimozhi appear appropriate .

 

I will describe two examples of such connections outlining

the elaborations of the Lord's upadesam in the AzhwAr's

paasurams .

 

Example 1 : ThiruvAimozhi 3.2.3:

 

" kollAmAkkOl kolai seythu BharathappOr

yellA senaiyum irunilatthavittha YenthAi

pollA aakkayin puNarvinai aRukkalaRA

sollAi yAnunnai cchArvathOr soozhcchiyE "

 

(Meaning ) : " Oh , Lord ! Even as KrishNA , what miraculous

feats that You accomplished ! I missed them too . YOU SAT

AS THE DRIVER OF THE CHARIOT OF ARJUNA WITH NO

WEAPON . YOU ONLY HAD THE WHIP TO GOAD THE HORSES

WITH . And yet , You carried out the great MahA BhArathA battle ,

slaying all in a design , all Your own ; this physique of mine

is a heavy load that perpetrates the samsArA chain . Please

suggest a sure path of overcoming the sorrows of samsArA

and reaching You . "

 

The reference here is to the first verse of Bhagavadh GeethA ,

" Dharma KshEthrE Kuru kshEthre SamavethA yuyuthsava: " .

 

The two opponents were assembled for battle and were

facing each other .The Lord positioned the chariot of ArjunA

as his charioteer ( ParthasArathy ) in the middle of the two

armies . ArjunA was overcome by inconsolable sorrow.

AzhwAr is experiencing a similar mood of grief over the bonds

of SamsAra that has tied him down . He asks for relief from their

overpowering grip and appeals to the Lord like ArjunA .

 

Example 2 : ThiruvAimozhi 6.7.1

**********************************

 

" uNNum sORu paruhu neer thinnum VeRRilaiyumellAm

KANNAN , yemperumAnenruenrE kaNkaL neer malhi

maNNInuL Avan seer vaLam mikkavanoor vinavi

tiNNa menniLa maan puhumoor ThirukkOloorE "

 

" Here the mother of ParAnkusa Nayaki decribes the KrishNA-

conscious state of her daughter : " My dear young daughter

has gone to ThirukkOLoor . She would not have gone anywhere

else. To her , ALL is KrishNA . Food (eaten to satisfy the appetite),

water (drunk to quell the thirst ) and betel leaves (chewed for digestion

after partaking of food ) are all KrishNA only in her case. Saying KrishNA,

speaking of His (auspicious ) qualities , thinking (always ) of Him ,

she would feel she has eaten and enjoyed . She would not eat food at all

since KrishNA-consciousness is enough food for her . Reciting the Lord's

names and inquiring of every one that she comes across , " Am I on

the right track for ThirukkOLoor ? How far is it from here ? ,

she would be going. The very thought of the place (of the Lord of

ThirukkOLoor ) serves as her (total ) nourishment in her walking- journey ."

 

Sri GeethAcharyan's slOkam ,

 

bahoonAm JanmanAmanthE j~navAn maam prapadhyathE I

VAASUDEVA: SARVAMITHI SA MAHAATHMAA DHURLABHA : II

---- Srimadh Bhagavadh GeethA

7.19

 

Our Lord says here that rare indeed is that person , who believes

that VaasudEvan is the essence of every purushArtham , the goal,

the means , the nourishment and enjoyment . Such a rare person

reaches this state of J~nanam at the end of many births and secures

this level of wisdom that Kannan is his ALL .

 

I will list other selected instances of such echos between

GeethA slokams and Thiruvaimozhi Paasurams in

future postings .

 

Arjuna SakhAya Nama :

AzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan Kovil VaradAchAri Sadagopan