coffee, AhAra-niyamam and Sriman Narayanan

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

Coming as it does in the wake of Sri.Anbil's very informative series on

"AhAra-niyamam" (dietary regimen) the recent posts of some members on

"coffee" are very interesting to read.

 

There are several members of family and many friends of mine too who simply

can barely survive the first half-hour of the waking day without

first downing the customary steaming cup of what they regard as the

life-giving brew.For many of them a cup of coffee is more

satisfying, more energising than full breakfast of any kind----

continental, tandoori, American, Buddhist..... or strictly SriVaishnavite!

 

In the days of my childhood, there used to be a different sort of brew

other than coffee which was made mandatory for young, school-going members

of the family. Very early office-goers too used to favour it. I am not sure

if Swami Desikan included it in his "AhAra-niyamam".... perhaps Sri.Anbil

can throw light on it.

 

The unusual cold brew is known even today in some Tamilian houses as

"pazhai-yathu".

 

"pazhai-yathu" has an exceedingly simple recipe.

 

In most households in those days, womenfolk always deliberately erred on

the safe side in cooking rice for supper. If they had 12 members in the

family to feed, the quantity of rice they cooked would actually be

sufficient to feed at least 20. The excess rice they reckoned would insure

them from the contingency of unexpected guests or up-country relatives who

in those days would suddenly drop by without notice.

 

More often than not such "excess rice" would remain unconsumed. Instead of

dumping it down the trash-can (as is done these days) the womenfolk used it

for preparing "pazhai-yathu"!

 

Before retiring for the night, the "excess unconsumed rice" would be

decanted into a large earthen pot. The pot would then be filled with water

to a level that ensured the rice lay submerged. The pot would then be

covered and left in a corner of the kitchen.

 

Overnight due to a process of mild fermentation the mix of "cooked rice and

water" will churn into a rich cold brew called "pazhai-yathu". The next

morning, the womenfolk will retrieve the brew from the pot, drain the

water away, rinse the rice with rarefied yoghurt and serve it with a dab of

salt and

generous dollops of delicious "lime-pickle"....

 

Believe me I have consumed lots of "pazhai-yathu" in my life... my paternal

grandmother, a devout SriVaishnavite all her life in Tirupati, was an

expert brewer of this home-grown specie of breakfast.... I have had lots of

"pazhai-yathu" and I can tell you from experience it is simply delectable

fare!

 

Because its ingredient is "cooked rice" carried forward from the previous

night, the cold brew is called in Tamil as "pazhai-yathu"..... literally

"old brew".

 

Now I don't know what is the respectability this "pazhai-yathu" commands in

the "AhAra-niyamam" of hallowed SriVaishnavism.... I suspect it has no

credentials whatsoever ....but I remember my "manaseega-Acharyan"

Sri.Mukkur Swami II once speak of the brew in highly reverential terms!!

 

"pazhai-yathu", according to him, is Sriman Narayana personified as a dish

....... "AhAra-rupan"!!

 

I was dumbfounded by this absurd assertion and asked him how this could be

so.

 

"WHy not," he replied," Narayana is "giri-rupi" in TiruvEngadam.... the

Tirumala Hills are said to be verily the terrestrial form of Sriman

Narayana. Similarly in Pushkaram in Rajasthan, The Lord is said to be

"jala-rupiyan".... the holy "teertha" there itself is said to be the form

of the Lord. Again in NaimishAranyam in Uttar Pradesh the form of Lord

Narayana is said to be seen in the dark, lush and lovely woods there.... He

appears to us as "vana-rupan" there. Lastly, in the holy streams of Gandaki

in Nepal, we know, Narayanan appears in the form of "salagrAma"..... So why

should it not be possible for the Lord to appear before us in the form of

"ahAra", too?".

 

I was stumped by this argument of Mukkur Swami. Deep down it made me

vaguely recall too the familiar Vedic incantation,

"aham-annam-aham-annam......", where it is said that the nature of

para-Brahmam is not dissimilar to the nature of "annam" ie. a sustaining

morsel of food.

 

"SIr, but why should "pazhai-yathu"," I continued querying Mukkur Swami,

"why should "pazhai-yathu of all "AhAra" be so ceremoniously coronated as

"narayana-rupam"? Does poor Narayana deserve the relegation of being

equated with such a lowly form of cold, SriVaishnava house-hold brew? Is it

not unpardonable "bhagavat-apachAram"?".

 

"Not at all," said Sri.Mukkur Swamy.

 

"How so?".

 

"If you compare the essential characteristics of Sriman Narayana and of

those of "pazhai-yathu" you will see they are both identical.Therefore I

conclude the brew is verily the form of the Lord Himself."

 

"Narayana is hailed as "purAna-purusha", is it not? ....He is known as the

"old-Groom" in SriVaishnava theology and poetry.... remember

Goda-stuti?..... "nAgEshaya-ha sutanu pakshi-raThaha kaTham thE, jAtaha

svayamvarapati-hi PURUSHA-HA PURANA-HA ! " .....

 

"Similarly, "pazhai-yathu", as the name itself suggests is "old"

too.....!!".

 

"The real worth of Narayana was known to AndAl. It is known to this day

only to "bhaktA-s" who are extremely few in number and rare to find in the

world.("durlabham"). Similarly, the numbers of people who truly know the

nutritional worth and delicacy of the "pazhai-yathu" are very scant

(durlabham")."

 

"Again, we all know that the deity of Narayana is fit to be worshipped

especially in the wee, early hours of the morning --- 'prAtah-kAla'.

 

"pazhai-yathu" too is fit to be consumed only in the morning....isn't it?

In the villages even today farmers are known to consume this brew in the

morning and proceed to their fields for harvest where they labour for hours

under

the scorching sun. It is the special nutritional properties of

"pazhai-yathu"

consumed by them which sustains them through the day and prevents

de-hydration. Similarly worship of Lord Narayana in the small hours of the

morning, we know from our faith, protects us from the "samsAric" heat of

the

day.....and from spiritual de-hydration; remember the Sri-Stuti verse ?....

the one which says,"GharmE tApa-traya-virachitE gADa-taptam kshaNam

mAm.....

(Shed thy coolness on me who am

scorched by the summer-heat of the 3 afflictions (tApa-traya) ...."

 

"Lastly, Sriman Narayana is known as the "jalE-sayAnin" .... the "Great One

that ever Dwells on Water". Your good "pazhai-yathu" too is a sort of

"jalE-sayAnin"..... the brew soaks in water all the time, after

all.......does'nt it?!!".

 

Ever since I heard Sri.Mukkur Swamy on the "pazhai-yathu", everytime I see

a bowl of the cold brew I am inclined to first worshipfully prostrate

before it ..... before I venture to consume it !!!

 

It is unfortunate one can never speak in the above terms about the most

popular hot brew

in the world --- your good old coffee.

 

adiyEn dAsAnu-dAsan,

sudarshan