SRIJAYANTI

[Guest guest]

Ref: messages of Sri Satyan Nagu,

Smt Parimala Rangarajan, and

Sri V. Sadagopan.

=======================================================================

SrImatE rAmAnujAya nama:

 

SRIJAYANTI

 

(T.S. Sundara Rajan)

 

According to the Srirangam kOyil vAkya-panchAngam,

'SrI-pAncharAtra kOyil kaNNapirAn SrIjayanti'

falls on Tuesday (AvaNi/simha 10) August 26 1997.

The asterism is indicated as 'rOhiNI'.

 

On this dear day in Srirangam, namperumAL visits

the SrI-bhaNDAram 'manDapam' in the morning and

is offered 'tirumanjanam' and there is a day-long

'sEvai/darSanam' [can someone please suggest the

English equivalent for this word-and-concept?]

for the sEvArthi/devotees. The dusk of SrIjayantI

in SrIrangam cannot be replicated elsewhere.

Every home here, except one of recent grief or

disability, would put out a krshna-pagoda [designed

and decorated over days of excitement] taken

in procession in the chitra and the uttara streets.

 

This is followed by the 'uRiyaDi' festival

[on Aug 28 this year]. This seems to be a folk

theatre blending two themes. The first is, of

course, the celebration of Nativity of the

endearing God-as-Child, SrIkrshNa, as joyously

described in periyAzhvAr's

 

"eNNei-SuNNam edir-edir tUviDa,

kaNNan muRRam kalandu aLar AyiRRE", and

 

"ODuvAr vizhuvAr ukandu AlippAr etc".

 

The second theme is the butter-gorging pranks of

SrIkrshNa.

 

The SrIkrshNa shrine in SrIrangam is situated in

the south-eastern corner of the second enclosure

(sEnai-mudaliyAr pradakshiNam, or, rAjamahEndran

tiruc-chuRRu). The chubby krshNa in this shrine

[in 'tribhangI' pose] is indeed an enchanter,

"madhurAkrtih". On the uRiyaDi morning, krshNa

romps around the chitra vIthi with brief stop-overs

for the 'oil sport' of scaling the 'greasy pole'.

In the afternoon, krshNa as well as namperumAL with

ubhaya-nAcchimAr visit the yAdava-manDapam on the

banks of tirumanjana-kAvEri. The return is by the

chitra-vIthi where the 'uRiyaDi' is enacted.

 

The bhAgavata-purANam describes the birth of

krshNa in a soft metaphor:

 

"dEvakyAm dEva-bhUtAyAm vishNuh sarva-guhASayah

AvirAsIt yathA prAchyAm diSInduriva pushkalah"

 

(vishNu, the ultimate Mystery, occurred in dEvaki,

a divinity in herself, as the bright moon on the

east.)

 

On the occasion of christening the Child, the

yadu-preceptor, SrI garga, remarks:

 

"bahUni santi nAmAni, rUpANi cha sutasya tE,

guNa-karmAnurUpANi, tAnyaham vEda, no janah."

 

[Your son verily has numerous names which do

describe his characteristics and deeds; I am

aware of this, not so the people of the world!]

 

SrI bhIshmAchArya will, in his time, administer

these names ['yAni nAmAni gauNAni'] to yudhishThira;

Sri garga's "tAnyaham vEda" reminds one of

viSvAmitra's "aham vEdmi mahatmAnam rAmam" and

the purusha-sUktam "vEdAham Etam purusham mahAntam".

 

The vishNu-purANam verse,

 

"Esha nArAyaNah SrImAn kshIrArNava-nikEtanah

nAga-paryankam utsrjya-hyAgato mathurAm purIm!"

 

registers the wonder that the Lord should at all have

stirred out of his serpent-couch in the milk-ocean

to opt for the city of Mathura (i.e.to be incarnated

as krshNa). The same kind of wonderment as is echoed

by periyAzhvAr in the line,

 

"panik-kaDalil paLLikOLaip-pazhakaviTTu ODi-vandu

en manak-kaDalil vAzha-valla mAya-maNALa nambI!"

 

[Lord, that thou should have quit your repose in the

cool waters ~~ of kshIrAbdhi ~~ to come and dwell in

the waves of my heart!]

 

We would have some glimpse of our SrIvaishNava heritage

when we remember that, apart from the vishNu-bhAgavata-

harivamSa purANam, periyAzhvAr tirumozhi is the very

first 'kaiSOra-sAhityam' [poesy on the Child] in any of

the Indian languages. The combination of the several

excellences [viz., the AzhvAr, antiquity of the'piLLait-

tamizh', Tamil language, and the krshNa theme] makes it

nonpareil.

 

'karshati iti krshNah' [enchanter, therefore krshNa].

Who can ever have his heart's content in speaking of

krshNa? To think of krshNa is like spending an evening

on the sea-shore; one cannot measure the sea nor know

everything about it, but facing the sea of an

evening yields its own fulfilment. Some of the Lord's

roles came to my mind vividly, and I composed a modest

'anushTubh' which I offer humbly to the bhAgavata-s:

 

"krshNAya vAsudEvAya gItA-SAstra-pradAyinE

dEvakI-priya-bAlAya rukmiNyAh patayE nama:"

 

vAsudEva was not only His name as the Absolute, it was

the name most dear to Him too: "vAsudEvas-sarvamiti

sa mahAtmA sudurlabhah!"

 

The Lord's gift of the gItA is forever, and would be a

single sufficient gesture of His love for His creatures.

The SrIkrshNa-charama-SlOkam [sarva-dharmAn parityajya]

should be the anchor-sheet of our career through life.

 

The sacred name of dEvakI establishes the Lord's

"paratva" identity itself in the ChAndOgya upanishad

[3:16:6]: "ghOra Angirasa said, Be it for krshNa the

son of dEvakI, and became rid of his cravings." Hence

the sahasra-nAma listing of this name,

 

"Atma-yOnih svayam jAtah vaikhAnah sAmagAyanah

dEvakInandanah srashTA kshitISah pApanASanah."

 

The 'rukmiNi sandESam' in bhAgavatam is precious in

itself (just like "vAraNam Ayiram..."), but doubly so

for containing ['mA vIrabhAgam abhimarSatu'] a nugget

of nAcchiyAr tirumozhi ['vAniDai vAzhum av-vAnavarkku'].

 

-o0o-

 

SrIjayantI [AvaNi-rOhiNI] happens to be the

tiru-nakshatram also of the 'vyAkhyAna-chakravarti',

SrI periyavAcchAn piLLai, who was named 'krshNa' for this

reason. He is the only AchArya to have written

commentary for the entirety of aruLiccheyal/

divyaprabandham; his 'SrIrAmAyaNa-bhArata taniSlokI' is

a precious work offering rare insights into our two great

'itihAsam'. There are some who feel that he immortalised

himself even with his miniscule work, 'SrIrAmAyaNam

According to the divyaprabandham Verses'. piLLai's

shrine is a few steps to the east of svAmidESikan's

shrine facing tAyAr sannidhi in Srirangam. The temple in

his birth-place SanganallUr (district tanjAvUr) has been

renovated recently. His 'taniyan' is ~~

 

"SrImat-krshNa-samAhvAya namO yAmuna-sUnavE

yat-kaTAkshaika-lakshyANAm sulabhah SrIdharas-sadA."

 

==============================================================

 

Sotto voce to Sri V. Sadagopan. Hats off to you for your

knowledge of astrology! I was never good at reading the

stars. And, I believe, the stars have equally reciprocated

the indifference!

 

aDiyEn rAmAnuja-dAsan, T.S. Sundara Rajan.