"Cleanliness in temples" and TiruppAn-AzhwAr

[Guest guest]

Dear members,

 

In last post adiyen reported some members' private

comments on subject of "cleanliness in temples, DD,

mutts etc." that adiyen had earlier posted. The

following is my reply to them which adiyen is also

sharing with you all just for your interest:

 

"dear sirs,

All of you are saying that "cleanliness" is such an

ordinary and self-evident subject that it needs no

great amount of "prachAram" (holy propaganda) by

present day achAryAs and pontiffs like

Azhagiya-singar, Andavan swami, Jeeyar amd munitreeyam

acharyAs. You are all saying that I am unnecessarily

"exaggerating the commonplace" and trying to turn

"cliche into great cause."

 

Sir, you are also asking adiyen where in our

'sampradAyam' there is philosophical inspiration

behind the stress that I am unduly laying on the

importance of "shuddhi-kainkaryam" in temples, dd,

mutts etc. You are asking adiyen to show if there is

some "siddhAntic" weight behind the call to bring

"cleanliness" into our temples again.

 

Sir, adiyEn is boldly saying without iota of doubt

that just as "samAshrayanam" and wearing

"urdhva-pundhram" is part of sri-sampradAyam so also

performing cleaning or janitor service in temples, dd

etc. is very much part of a good vaishnavan's way of

life. This is the truth and this is what we must let

our children understand too at a very early age.

 

Sir, to support my above statement I do not have to go

to any 'pramAnam' in the Vedas, 'smriti' or 'purAna'.

I only have to draw your attention to the life-story

of our great and beloved achAryan, the Saint of

Nichulapuri (Uraiyur), 'tiruppAn-azhwAr".

 

Who was "tiruppAnazhwAr'? What was his message to us?

What did he achieve in his life? What lesson or

inspiration we get from his deeds in life?

 

If we answer above questions truthfully and with

proper understanding we will clearly know that

tiruppAn's whole life is one big message that we

should spare no effort to constantly ensure there is

"cleanliness" in perumAl's temples.

 

tiruppAn's celebrated "amalan-adi-pirAn" (10

pAsurams) is the azhwAr's claim to immortality, no

doubt. But Sir, I am saying that "amalan-adi-piran" is

only climax in the azhwAr's life and it happened when

he was nearly 50 years old. The question to ask is

what did the azhwAr do for 50 years before the climax

in his life? What did he do for fifty years that he

came to deserve that beatific moment of Ranganatha's

vision and Grace? How did the ecstatic stanzas of the

"amalan-adi-pirAn" pour forth from the azhwAr's heart

and why? Did he, like Peria-AzhwAr officiate as

venerable Vedic head-priest at SriRanganatha's temple?

No. Did he like Tondar-adi-podi tend to the flower

orchrds of the Srirangam temple? No. Did he like

Tirumangai-mannan go about raising resources to feed

brahmins and bhagavatA-s? No. Did he like Madhura-kavi

completely surrender himself to a superior vaishnavan

like maran-sadagopan? No.

 

Sir, we all know that the Saint of Uraiyur, was born

into backward circumstances of life. He was from

"panchama" descent ...(what in those times used to be

called "chandAla" or "paraya" castes.) TiruppAn lived

on the southern banks of Kaveri and as a young boy

used to gaze from a distance across the river at the

northern banks stretching across Kolladam beyond the

temple of SriRangam. The sight of the temple bewitched

him and it strangely stirred his soul in a way that

nothing else in life did.

 

tiruppAn's father was low-caste street minstrel

("pAnnar") who taught his son too early in life to

play the lute and sing folk and doggerel verse.

However, when father and son were not performing in

the streets and in the villages, they managed to eke

out a living by sweeping the outer "prAkAra-s"

(concourses) of the great temple of Ranganatha.

 

Thus from a very young age tiruppAn was engaged in

cleaning, clearing rubbish and debris from the temple

precincts at SriRangam.

 

One day tiruppAn while cleaning the temple outer areas

asked his father if they could also enter the inner

temple to clean. The father told him that they could

not.

 

Young tiruppAn asked why.

 

"Because, my son, inside the temple there is no

rubbish to clean. It is the abode of our beautiful

King, SriRanganathan. He is mighty and good. There is

no need to clean anything in the Lord's presence for

he is Purity ("shudda-sattva") Himself. On the other

hand, if you and I enter the temple, far from clearing

out uncleanness, we might only end up defiling Lord

Ranga's sacred soil."

 

Little tiruppAn then began to wonder,"If there is such

a place on earth as Lord Ranga's which, as father

says, is Purity itself and needs no cleaning, one day

I must see it."

 

His father told tiruppAn,"Perhaps one day you will be

able to see Him, my lad. But for now let's get on with

our job of clearing Ranganatha's doorstep of any

rubbish."

 

For the next fifty years tiruppAn did nothing else but

what his father said he should do if he really wished

to one day "see" Ranganatha by entering into His

Presence.THUS, whenever he was not engaged otherwise

in the day-to-day occupation of his "pAnnar" caste,

the azhwAr took up a broom and kept cleaning the outer

"prAkAram-s" of the great Srirangam temple.

 

Sir, fifty years of performing janitor service

("shuddhi-kainkaryam") to a temple did not go waste.

One day, the chief temple priest, Loka-sAranga-muni,

came up to him and told tiruppAn that Ranganatha

Himself was summoning him. THe azhwAr protested saying

that he could not enter the temple of Ranga as he

would never tread on the holy soil there for fear of

defiling it with his soul. Saranga-muni told him that

in that case Ranganatha had bade him carry the azhwar

on his shoulders into the Deity's presence.

 

tiruppAn thus placed his feet on the body of

Saranga-muni and climbed onto his shoulders. The chief

priest thus conveyed tiruppAn into the presence of

Lord Ranganatha inside the temple.

 

The azhwAr was so embarrassed and overwhelmed by all

these events. He closed his eyes. He did not open it

until Saranga-muni had carried him right into the

Presence of Ranganatha and then asked him to open his

eyes and behold the Lord of ALL creation.

 

tiruppAn opened his eyes and he saw God Almighty!

 

And the immortal verses of the "amalan-adi-pirAn"

burst forth from his lips in divine ecstasy.

 

tiruppAn lost himself in beatific contemplation. The

Universal Spirit embraced him.

 

Sir, what are the lessons in this story of Saint

TiruppAn? What are we to learn from the life of a

"panchama" who did little more in life to deserve

spiritual exaltation other than carry out the

caste-duties of a street-minstrel and to sweep the

floors clean in Ranganatha's temple exteriors? What

are we to understand of Rangantha's command to

Saranga-muni that he should let tiruppAn set foot on

his shoulders if that were the only way to convey the

azhwar into his presence in the temple? What are we to

gather from this event where a "chandAlA's" feet that

were considered unfit to set foot on the soil inside

the Lord's temple was however ultimately given the

privilege of using a "muni's" Vedic head-and-

shoulders as both foot-stool and palanquin?

 

Does it not all show us, Sir, that tiruppAn actually

showed us all a special pathway to Godhead... a very

special "upAyam"... by which we too can attain

"parama-gati"? Is "cleaning temples" not thus

tiruppAn's great gift of inspiration to us all?

 

Sir, what more "siddhAntam" do you all want? What more

doctrinal inspiration do you want for bringing

cleanliness into our temples, dd etc.? Is the

life-story of tiruppAn-azhwAr not enough, adiyEn is

asking you?

 

Sir, if I were in my life to one day make my

"CITTA-SHUDDHI" project a reality ( adiyen is praying

I can), with the blessings of Azhagiya-singar and

other great pontiffs, I will request them to insist

that on tiruppAn-azhwAr's "tirunakshatram" every

year, Vaishnavas and sishyas not only simply recite

"amalan-adi-pirAn" and make holy speeches and then

retire to eat 'chakkarai-pongal'.

adiyen will request azhagiyasingar to insist that on

that special day every Srivaishnavan should go out to

some pre-designated divya-desam and sweep the floors

of the temples, interiors and exteriors there. Those

who do not do so, adiyen would say are unfit to recite

or talk about 'amalan-adi-pirAn".

 

tiruppAnAr-dAsan

Sampathkumaran

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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