Naama Mahima

[Guest guest]

Dear Naama SahasrAbhimAnis :

 

Sri Sudarshan's evocative essay on the mysteries of Naamaa

reminded me of PeriyAzhwAr's exhortation to us in his

Thirumozhi 4.6 .

 

This decad starts with the paasuram : " Kaasum

kaRayudaikkooraikkum ----- " .

Nine out of the ten paasurams

of this decad end with the refrain , " NaaraNan tam annai

naraham puhAL " .

 

In the previous decad , AzhwAr chastised those , who

run around with out performing kaimkaryam to the Lord.

Then he went on to cajole them to abandon their worthless

ways with his upadesam as an AchAryA out of his deep

compassion for them . He appealed to them to recite

the Lord's names atleast before their last moments .

 

His target audience was not paying much attention

even then . AzhwAr decided to encourage them by other

means to engage them in the recitation of the names of the Lord .

 

He came across another ruse to involve them in reciting

the puNya NaamAs of the Lord. He appealed to them

and asked them to consider naming their sons with

the names of the Lord . He asked them to enjoy the bliss of

calling their sons by those delectable and sacred names assoicated

with the Lord ( same line of reasoning goes for the naming of

girls with the thousand names of Maha Lakshmi ) . He coaxed

them to follow this practise and pointed out the benefits of observing

such a practise . He told them that the naming of the children

with the names of the Lord and calling them by those sacred

names such as NaaryaNA , Maadhava, GovindA and Kesava

with affection will save the mothers of the children from

entering Narakam and pave their way to Moksham . He repeated

this thought in every paasuram of this decad except the pala sruthi

paasuram . Azhwaar out of his infinite mercy for the suffering jeevans

pointed a way to escape the snares of the samsAric Taapam and

pointed a way out through the message enshrined in

these paasurams .

 

Paasuram 1 : Kaasum karayudaikkooraikkum-----

 

Oh, the mindless ones , who name your sons with lowly

and meaningless ( ungodly ) names out of your longing to

get a few pennies or out of your hope to get a pudavai with

golden border or out of expectation to get a sheaf of

grain ! Please name your son " Kesavan , the klesa naasan

( One who destroys the mental agitations ) ! Please experience

the bliss of calling your son by this delectable name of the Lord

all your life ! The mother of the child bearing Lord NaarAyaNA's

name ( Kesavan ) would never experience the pangs of hell

( narakam) .

 

Paasuram 2 : " Angoru kooRai araikuduppathan aasayAl--"

 

Oh , Ladies! Please name your children with the names of

the Lord such as Lotus eyed NedumAl ( SemkaNN NedumAl )

or Sridharan and call that son with affection by those names.

Please do not follow the path of those mindless ones , who out

of their greed for wearing a nice looking pudavai name their sons

with empty names associated with lowly men , who are

of low spiritual attainments and thus are degenerate .

If you name your son with names of NaarAyaNan such as

Sridharan or Ambuja Lochanan and accumulate your puNyam

by calling them by these names of the Lord with affection ,

you as the mother of this son bearing the Lord's name will never

be exposed to the sufferings of Narakam .

 

Paasuram 3 : Ucchiyil yeNNaium suttiyum vaLayum ---"

 

Oh , Ladies , who beget children out of your desire to

acquire the oil for rubbing your children's head , for decorating

the forehead of your child with a pendant or to decorate their arms

with pretty bangles ! Please name your child with the Lord's

names and call them by those sweet names , even if you

have to support them through the livelihood of begging in htis broad

land . You as the mother of the child bearing the Lord's

name will never enter hell and suffer its terrors .

 

Paasuram 4 : " Maanida saathiyil thOnRiRRu ---"

 

If you name the human being born in the species of

men with the names of those under the yoke of karmA

out of your desire to get worldly goods during this life ,

there is no reward waiting for you in the other world . Oh, Mothers !

on the other hand , if you name your sons with the names

such as MaadhavA and GovindhA , the names of NaarAyaNA

having GarudA as His vaahanam , you as mothers of the

sons with my Lord's name will never be scorched by the

flames of hell .

 

Paasuram 5 :

 

malamudai ootthayil thOnRiRRu ohr mala ootthayai

malamudai ootthayin pErittAl marumaikkillai

Kulamudai GovindhA ! GovindhA ! yenru azhaitthakkAl

nalamudai NaaraNan tammannai narham puhAL

 

Oh, Mothers ! If you name the lowly assemblage of flesh,

blood , fat , bile and other body fluids born out of a similar body

with the name of another unclean , lowly being , there is no

saving grace for the other world ! If on the otherhand , you

name your children with the name of the Lord born

in the kulam of the shepherd folks and call them repeatedly ,

GovindhA , GovindhA , our Lord , who has the natural inclination

to rush to the side of those , who address Him by His name

will make sure that you never will go near the gates of narakam

and suffer there .

 

Paasuram 6 : " Naadum Naharamum aRiya naatu----"

 

Oh , those , who name your children with the names of

lowly men for the sake of instant recognition by the rural and

city folks that your sons also have the name of these famous men!

Through this act , you lower yourselves at their feet and

show your reverence for them and thereby fall into

the same pit of their ungodly lives !

Oh , unwise people following this practise !

Please name your sons with the name of the Lord ,

who kicked SakatAsuran with His tender feet and

destroyed him , while He was a toddler resting in His cradle !

Please call your sons with the names

such as DaamOdharan and other names of NaarAyaNan .

The mothers of children with NaarAyaNA's name will never

descend into hell and undergo the tortures of Narakam .

 

Paasuram 7 : " MaNNiR piRandhu maNNAhum ---"

 

Oh, Unworried ignorant ones , who name your sons ( and

daughters ) with the names of the perishable humans born

of earth and becoming earth at the end ! Please name your

sons with the names of the Lord with the complexion of the

dark cloud of the rainy season and call them by those sacred

names with feeling ! If you do so , the mother of your sons will

never have to worry about the sufferings in hell .

 

Paasuram 8 :

 

Nambi pimbi yenru naattu maanida pErittAl

mambum pimpum yellAm naalu nALil azhungippOm

semperumtAmaraikkaNNan pErittu azhaitthakkAl

NambihAL ! NaaraNantammannai naraham puhAL

 

When deluded people name their sons with the name of

the local leaders and chieftains of villages in the hope of

securing some comforts in this world and call those sons

"this nambi" and " that pimbi " , should know that

the perishable glory of these people whose names

were given to the sons will disappear in a few days .

There is no lasting benefit in naming the sons with

the names of these people with alpAyus and alpa keerthi .

If on the other hand , those who give the name of the Lord

with beautiful, red lotus-like eyes to their sons have no

worry about the mothers of such sons suffering in hell .

 

Paasuram 9 :

 

ootthaikkuzhiyil amudham paayvathu pOl , unghaL

mootthirappiLLayai yen muhil vaNNan pErittu

kOtthukkuzhaitthu guNAlamAditthiriminO

naatthahu NaaraNan tammannai naraham puhAL

 

Just as the divine nectar fit for consumption by

the pure-minded falls into a dirty pit and sanctifies that

dirty and loathsome pit , the naming of the sons with the Lord's

names purifies them of their sukla sONitha PariNAmam

associated with the birth in human wombs . When the sons

named with the Lord's names are treasured and played

with by calling their names , the mothers of such sanctified

children will jump over the hazards of entering hell .

 

Paasuram 10 : Palasruthi Paasuram

 

seeraNi mAl thirunamamE idatthERRiya

veeraNi tol pugazh vittuchittan virittha

OraNi oN Tamizh onpathOdu onrum vallavar

pEraNi vaikunthatthu yenrum pENi irupparE

 

These ten verses composed by VishNucchitthA ,

who wears as jewelery , his valor associated with

the conquest of his IndriyAs list and describe

the lasting benefits arising from the naming of one's

children with the thousand names of the Lord ,

who is devoted to His devotees and has for

His jewelery , His own anantha kalyANa guNAs .

 

That VishNucchitthA known for his everlasting glory

for invoking pallANdu to the Lord composed these ten

Tamizh paasurams with clear meanings to serve as

the matchless jewelery for those , who wish to learn

and benefit from their mesages .Such people , who

recite these paasurams and reflect on their meaning and

implement their messages in their lives would have

the blessings of being permanent residents of

Sri Vaikuntam and offering nithya Kaimkaryam to

the Lord .

 

Sri PeriyAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan Kovil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

[Guest guest]

At 08:28 PM 7/10/97 EDT, Sri.Sadagopan wrote:

>Dear Naama SahasrAbhimAnis :

>

>Sri Sudarshan's evocative essay on the mysteries of Naamaa

>reminded me of PeriyAzhwAr's exhortation to us in his

>Thirumozhi 4.6 .

>

 

Thank you Sir, for referring us all to this most apt and thought-provoking

'pAsuram' of PeriAzhwAr's.

 

In the past few days I have been doubly blessed ! Readers on the list have

found in the findings of modern clinical pyschology (the two I had briefly

essayed in my posts) "echoes" of our great mystic "AzhwArs" !! One other

reader pointed out to me a "pAsuram" from the "tirumAlai" and the other one,

you have now pointed from the 'tirumOzhi' !

 

It all only shows that the "voice of the mystic" is no less convincing than

the "voice of the scientist".... if only we'd listen carefully.

 

Indeed, the former often "sees" the truth long before the latter can get

even a glimmer of it !!

 

Once again thanks for your most valuable feed-back, Sir,

 

adiyEn/dAsan,

sudarshan