Eight pushpams

[Guest guest]

Fm: Velukkudi Krishnan

1st Dec 99.

 

Dear Bhagavatas,

There was a beautiful message on the eight pushpams by Mani. I would =

like to add the following :

Periazhwar sings in his Poochoottal padikam - 'sembagamalligayodu =

sengazhuneer iruvatchi enpakar poovum konarnthen ...' This enpakar poo =

indirectly refers to the pushpams of the sanskrit sloka. In his ten =

songs alwar refers to senbagam, malligai, padiri, maru & damanagam, =

senkazhuneer, punnai, kurukkatti, iruvatchi, karumugai . Some of them =

are that blossom in the morning and some in the evening. Lord Krishna =

went to adorn himself with these flowers through MAlAkArar in Madura. =

Likewise an acharya adorns himself with ahimsa and other flowers through =

his sishyas. Please note that eNpakar does not necessarily refer to =

the number eight. It has come in the meaning of - thinking "eNNam". =

Azhwar says that he brought these flowers thoughtfully with wish. Or =

'eNpakar' refers to innumerable flowers that are mentioned in the =

sastras such as real flowers or the ones like ahimsa etc.=20

 

Be it any flower, it is the bhakti with which it is to be submitted that =

matters. Tirumangai azhwar in his tirumozhi states " kaLLAr tuzhAyum =

kanavalarum koovilayum mullAr mulariyum Ambalum mun kandakkal pullAi Or =

EnamAi putkidandAn ponnadikkenru ullAdAr ullathai ullamAkkoLLomE. "

He has listed adhama pushpa, madhyama pushpa and uttama pushpa. Anything =

would do. As Gitacharya says "patram pushpam phalam tOyam yO mE bhaktyA =

prayacchati ..' Any flower - it neednot be costly. There is an itihyam =

here : Nanjeeyar asked Bhattar ( his acharya) - "In the sastras it is =

said that kantakarika pushpam should not be used for the Lord. If the =

Lord accepts any flower (as per azhwar), then why does the sastra ban =

one flower. ? Bhattar replied " it is not because the Lord does not want =

it. But kantakArika plant would be full of thorns. Lord cannot tolerate =

a bhakta being wounded by the thorns when he goes to pluck the flowers. =

So in HIS love towards his bhakta, the Lord banned the flower itself." =

Can any other match this quality of Sriman Narayana ? It is the bhakti =

that counts and not the quality of flowers.

 

Andal says "toomalar toovi thozhudu " nammazhwar says "soottu =

nanmalaigal tooyana endi " What do these great souls refer to as =

"tooymai" (blemishlessness)for flowers. That which is submitted to the =

Lord, without expecting anything in return from him. This is called =

"madi tadavadu soru " in our sampradayam. We invite a guest for lunch. =

Lunch is over. When the guest leaves - if we search his pocket to find =

whether he has brought anything for us in return of the lunch we offered =

- that is the same as expecting something from the Lord in return to the =

flowers we offered. Then they are flowers with blemishes.

 

Let us stick on to "toomalar" in flowers and "ahimsa prathamam pushpam =

......" in our atma gunas.=20

 

Poomel iruppal vinai teerkkume.=20