thiruppAvai - 5

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Sri:

Sri Lakshminrusimha Parabrahmane namaha

Sri Lakshminrusimha divya pAdukA sEvaka SrivaNN-

SatakOpa Sri nArAyaNa yateendra mahAdESikAya namaha

 

namO nArAyaNA.

 

ThiruppAvai UpanyAsam of Sri U.Ve.VillUr KarunAkaran swAmi

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

 

In the previous posting, the complete transformation of

AndAL as the leader of gOpIs to perfrom the nOnbu was

discussed. Lets now get into the nature of the nOnbu

observed.

 

 

Did AndAL perform kAtyAyani nOnbu ??

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

 

In Srimad BhAgavatham, Sukabrahma maharishi says that

gOpIs observed "kAtyAyani nOnbu" wherein they made the

image of pArvati dEvi through sand (at the banks of

river yamunA) and worshipped her in the early morning

and prayed to obtain Krishnar as their husband. The

objective of AndAL and Her friends is also the same

thing and is also true that AndAL transformed Herself

as a gOpI.

 

Did then AndAL adopt kAtyAyani nOnbu ?? All the

paramaikAntins will in one voice say that AndAL didn't

observe kAtyAyani nOnbu. Though the desired objective

is very good, praying to anya dEvata (demi-gods) for

that is a _big_ minus point. ParamaikAntins never ever

pray to anya dEvatAs(*), whatever their objective may be.

For paramaikAntins, Sriman nArAyaNA Himself is the

upAyam and the upEyam. They act as a pati vrata sthrI

and do not pray to anya dEvatAs. This is also very

important for those who are desirous to obtain moksham

and perform eternal kainkaryam to the divya dampati

at Sri VaikuNTham.

 

Needless to say, AndAL is a paramaikAntin. So, AndAL

didn't pray to pArvati (**) and the prayer was to

PerumAL Himself, to attain Him ( "nArAyaNanE nammakku

paRai tharuvAn", "unnakkE nAm At cheivOm" etc).

Then, which nOnbu did AndAL adopt, if it was not

kAtyAyani nOnbu ?

 

This issue was settled once for all by the great mahAn

"abhinava dESika Uttamoor vAtsya VeerarAghavArya

mahAdESikan" in swAmi's wonderful commentry (prabandha

rakshai) on thiruppAvai.

 

Uttamoor swAmi gives the reference to skAnda purANam

wherein the mArghazhi nOnbu (mArgaseersha mAhAtmyam)

is explained by PerumAL Himself to chaturmukha brahmA.

 

PerumAL says that the mArgazhi nOnbu is a very great

vrattam; but dEvAs inorder to confuse people( so that

everyone won't observe it in the correct way and thus

won't proceed that quickly to Sri VaikuNTham) have

introduced many fake-mArgazhi vrattams.

 

PerumAL explains about the actual mArgazhi nOnbu.

Herein, snAnam, wearing of OordhvapuNdram, tuLasi

mAlai etc are also mentioned. Thirumanjanam to PerumAL

with the blow of conch will make the pitrus

(ancestors) attain svargam. Charity of cow, food and

performance of Uttsavam to PerumAL durinmg mArgazhi

pournami will immensely please Him ( AndAL refers

to them as "nAtkAlE neerAdi", "aiyamum pichchiyum

ANdanaiyum kaikAtti,"pAnchajanyamE pOlvana SankangaL",

"ambaramE, thaNNeerE, soRE yaRam seiyyum" etc ).

 

PerumAL gives a case study as that of gOpIs at gOkulam,

who observed this nOnbu ( by taking bath early in the

morning, performed worship, offered Him food (pongal)

etc) and obtained Himself.

 

When Lord BrahmA asked PerumAL about the place at which

this nOnbu has to be observed, PerumAL answered

"MathurA" !! This is the biggest problem with PerumAL.

He is the one who also told emperumAnAr to be at

SriRangam itself. This confused all the Sri VaishnavAs

as to whether everyone has to pack themselves and

settle at Sri Rangam OR is it allright to stay at other

divya dEsams etc. SwAmi Desikan in Srimad Rahasya Traya

sAram explains the thiru uLLam of PerumAL that

"Srirangam" is only a upalakshanam and that one can stay

at any place where ParamaikAntins(prapannAs) are present

and discussing about the glories of PerumAL.

 

Eventhough PerumAL will let out such statements, AndAL

won't. She made an amendment to the statement of PerumAL,

since it is not possible for everyone to go to mathurA

and perform the nOnbu. AndAL thus said "yengum thiru

aruL pettru inburuvar" and one can perform this nOnbu

from anywhere.

 

In skAnda purANam, it is not explicitly said that rain

will be one of the results of this vrattam. But, for

AndAL, the nonbu that she observes should result in rain

also (as per the wishes of village people). Uttamoor

swAmi says that may be AndAL knew of some pramAnam by

which gOpIs used this nOnbu (which can grant many a

wishes) to result in rain OR AndAL Herself had some

sAkshAtkAram of some aspects of the nOnbu OR introduced

some of Her own.

 

Thus, this nOnbu is _not_ that of kAtyAyani vrattam

and is very much different from it.

 

 

(*): Names of anya dEvatAs do appear in

sandhyAvandanam, yaj~nAs etc. But paramaikAntins do not

worship anya dEvatAs then also. They take the primary

meaning of those names which refers to Sriman nArAyaNA,

the parabrahman, and thus worship Him only. But, in

certain circumstances, a specific anya dEvata is

supposed to be meditated upon with the antaryAmi as

nArAyaNA - this appears in sandhyAvandanam ; there are

also brahma vidyAs like this. Since these are sAstric

injunctions which one has to perform while adopting it,

there is nothing wrong - still the worship is for the

antaryAmi only. But, there is no sAstric injunction to

pray to anya dEvatA for obtaining krishna etc. So,

paramaikAntins will not adopt it, even as a prayer

to the antaryAmi(nArAyaNA pervading the body of pArvati

dEvi and present along with the jIvAtmA having the post

of pArvati dEvi) of pArvati dEvi. what to speak of

praying to her directly !!

 

(**) : In nAchchiyAr thirumozhi, AndAL doesn't pray to

the anya dEvata manmadhan, rather to the manmadha

manmadhan kannapirAn (krishnar). Krishnar is the

kAma dEvan. Only paramaikAntins can understand the

thiru uLLam of AndAL. Refer to Uttamoor swAmi's

vyAkyAnam(ie.commentry) for a detailed discussion

on these issues.

 

 

-- to be cont --

AndAL thiruvadigaLE SaraNam

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan

ananthapadmanAbha dAsan

krishNArpaNam