Who is an untouchable? -- vaarththaamaalai 283

[Guest guest]

vArtAmAlai 283:

 

Nadadur Alvan was once walking down the street holding

the hand of a Sri Vaishnava. As they proceeded down

the street, a 'holy caste' (untouchable) Sri Vaishnava

approached. Seeing the caste of this person, the

Sri Vaishnava holding Alvan's hand yelled, "Go to the

side!"

Hearing this, Alvan fainted. As Alvan regained

consciousness, the surrounding Sri Vaishnavas asked,

"What happened?"

Alvan graciously said, "Tell me, is a great soul

who has taken birth in the 'holy caste' amidst the two

rivers (in Srirangam) the real outcaste? Or is it I,

who have for so long stolen my very self and gone about

my merry way -- am I not the outcaste?

 

Notes:

-----

1) Nadadur Alvan, also known as Varada Vishnu Acharya,

was the nephew of Ramanuja and one of the 74

disciples appointed to spread Ramanuja's philosophy.

2) 'holy caste' (tirukkulam) -- the name given by

Ramanuja to those who were considered pariahs or

untouchables.

3) 'amidst the two rivers' -- Srirangam is located

between two branches of the Kaveri river.

4) 'stolen my very self' (AtmA-apahAram paNNi) --

this refers to those such as ourselves who confuse

the body with the self and think that our AtmA (self)

belongs to us, when in reality it belongs to Sriman

Narayana.

5) This episode serves to show that "jaati nirUpaNam"

or caste discrimination has no place among Sri Vaishnavas.

It also demonstrates Alvan's utter humility, a

characteristic that all Sri Vaishnavas should have.

 

aazhvaar emberumaanaar dEsikan jeeyar tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

 

Mani

 

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Original (p. 308, puththUr svAmi's edition)

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nadaadhUr aazhvaan oru SrIvaishNavar kaiyaip

pidiththukkoNdu pOkaaniRka, naduvil thiruveedhiyilE

oru thirukkulaththil SrIvaishnavar aNugivara, kaikkoduththuk

koNdupOgiRa SrIvaishNavar avarai jaathi nirUpaNam

paNNi, "kadakkappO" enna, aazhvaan aththaik kEttu

mUrcciththaar; mUrccai theLindhapinbu aruguninRa

SrIvaishNavargaL "idhuven" enna; "thirukkulaththilE

thiruvavathariththu iraNdaaRRukkum naduvE varththikkap

peRRa mahaanubhaavanaa paRaiyan? nedunkaalam

aathmaapahaaram paNNiddhirindha naan anRO paRaiyan?"

enRu aruLinaar.