"siru-siridE-emmEl-vizhiyAvO..."

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

Today's verse of the "tiruppAvai" (6 January) is

Stanza#22 beginning with "anganmA gnyAlat-tarasar

abhimAna...".

 

This is a verse of extraordinary significance because

of 2 reasons:

 

(1) It is said to contain several lofty parallels with

the Upanishads and,

 

(2) It is full of extremely heart-rending expressions

of human pathos. The "aayarpAdi" girls use such

agony-filled phrases like:

--- "vandu-talai-peyydOm" ,(O Krishna, we have come

running to you, thrown ourselves at the feet of your

bedstead ("nin palli-kattil keezhEy!") hoping thus

that we may be relieved of all our living

anxieties...")

 

--- "siru-siridE-emmEl-vizhiyavO" ("Why do you tarry,

O Krishna, in receiving us! Won't you please at least

slowly arise from your slumber and cast your eyes upon

our lowly selves?")

 

--- "engal mEl sAbam izhindu...". (Let not the curse

of separation from you and your grace, O Krishna, let

not that sinful curse befall us...")

 

Anyone who can appreciate Tamil language to even a

small extent cannot fail to be stirred to tears by the

above phrases. When mulled over in "pensive mood" they

each truly touch one's heartstrings. They make you

begin wondering "What a sublime mystery this emotion

called "bhakti" is! What is it really? Of what stuff

is it made of? Where does it spring from? And why, and

wherefore? ...

 

(This stanza usually used to be sung by great Carnatic

music 'vidwAn's' like Sri.Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar

and Smt. M.L.Vasantakumari in that particularly

emotive 'rAgA' called "yamun-kalyAni". This "rAgA'

has the power to simply melt down one's emotions

anytime you listen to it and can bring a big, swollen

lump to your throat. Real "rasika-s' say that a few

lines of Stanza#16 of the 'tiruppAvai' soulfully sung

by anyone in "yamun-kalyAni" gives them the same, if

not deeper and more intuitive, understanding of true

"bhakti" as what 100 pages of "vyAkhyAnam" do!)

 

The phrase "engal mEl nOkkudi..." in this Stanza is

shown by "achAryA-s" to be a parallel of the

KatOpanishad (1-2-23) and the MundakOpanishad (3-2-3):

nAyam Atma pravachanEna labhyO

na medhayA na bahunA srutEna

yamavaisa vrNutE, tEna labhyas tasyaisa

AtmA vivrNutE tanUm svAm II

 

"This Self cannot be attained by instruction nor by

intellectual power, not even through much hearing and

cogitating. He is to be attained only by the one whom

the Self chooses. To such a one the Self reveals His

own nature."

 

The Upanishad 'vAkya' above informs us that no one can

know God except through His Grace coupled with

"bhakti" on the part of man. And that is precisely the

reason why the poor "aayarpAdi" girls throw themselves

entirely at Krishna's mercy. They beseech the Lord

ALmighty saying "O Krishna, we have thrown ourselves

completely at your mercy to deliver us of our earthly

anxieties ("vandu talai-peyydOm"!) If you do nothing

for us now, what shall we do? Where are we to go? We

shall stand condemned to the curse ("sAbam") of

separation from you! (i.e. Ignorance) Arise, O

krishna, please, can't you at least slowly open your

eyes and cast them upon us

("siru-siridE-emmEl-vizhiyAvO!").

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

By far the most evocative and significant phrase in

this "pAsuram" is "siru-siridE-emmEl-vizhiyAvO...".

 

It means "Won't you please gradually open your eyes

and cast them upon us, O Almighty!".

 

The reader instinctively asks why the aayarpAdi girls

ask Krishna to open his eyes and "gradually"...

"siru-siridE"... cast them upon their poor selves? In

their love-lorn state, would'nt one surely have

expected them to demand "immediate" or "ASAP"

deliverance and Grace from Krishna?! Why does AndAl

instead use the term "siri-siridE" --- "gradually" or

by "degrees"?

 

The "achAryA-s" commenting on the "svApadEsArtham" of

this line, explain that the call to God in

this"pAsuram" is essentially a heart-rending call for

Divine Grace to dispel the pall of darkness that

Ignorance ('a-gnyAna') has cast around the

"jIva", the individual soul.

 

Now, everyone knows that even in the natural world, at

daybreak or dusk... when the sun or moon sets or

arises ("tingalum Adittianum ezhundAr pOl"...) ... the

darkness of night gets dispelled only gradually over a

certain period of time ... say 20-30 minutes....and

never all of a sudden within one instant stroke of the

clock.

 

AndAl, being the consummate Vedantic 'gnyAni' herself,

here reveals how even as during the natural occurence

of dawn and daybreak, in Man's condition too the

outbreak of spiritual awakening or the "dawning of

"gnyAna", as a result of God's Grace, never comes

about instantly but gradually ("siru-siridE"). No

matter how much hurry Man may be in to attain the

Light of Divine Grace, the darkness of his ignorance

dissipates but slowly and only in accordance with the

natural order of God's Will... Never too soon... never

too late...

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

A great "achArya" who lived amongst us not many year

ago explained (in a not altogether different context)

the "siri-siridE" nature... the GRADUALITY ... of the

spiritual awakening within a human soul with the aid

of a most telling analogy:

 

"The fruit is formed from the flower, first in the

tender unripe form and finally in the mellow form. The

flower smells fragrant to the nose and the ripe fruit

tastes sweet to the palate. The mellow or ripe fruit

is full of sweetness. How did the fruit taste before

it became ripe and sweet? The flower was bitter, the

tender fruit was astringent, the unripe fruit was

sour... but the fruit that is mellow now... it is

sweet!

"There must be astringency when it is time for

astringency and sourness when it is time for sourness.

But neither astringency nor sourness must remain a

permanent state. Just as a tender fruit becomes

mellow, we too must become mellow and sweet. If we do

so there is no need to seek liberation on our own. If

we are as we should be in the different stages of our

life, liberation shall come in the natural process. On

the other hand, if we make an effort at an

inappropriate time (if we force ourselves) it will be

like making the fruit prematurely ripe. Such a fruit

will not taste sweet."

"We should not however remain always in the same

state as the one in which we find ourselves today,

indifferent to everything. At the same time, when our

bag of sins is still to be emptied, we cannot thirst

for the Supreme Knowledge. Instead, let us keep doing

our duty hoping that we will realise the Supreme

Knowledge, if not now, after many a birth. Let us

adhere to the dharma prescried by the Vedas. If we do

so we will gradually ("siri-siridE") proceed to the

Supreme gnyAna.... "By degrees" then let us go to the

inner reality through the different stages --- from

that of the tender fruit to the fruit that is mellow,

ripe and sweet."

 

Great thoughts, great words, indeed!

 

dAsan,

Sampathkumaran

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

In the previous Stanzas, AndAl describes how

the"aayarpAdi" girls finally succeed in winning over

"napinnai-thAyAr". Napinnai responds to their sorry

plight and throws open the door to the Abode of the

Lord ("tAl tiravAy")! Krishna is now visible to the

poor, love-lorn cowherdesses who have come all the way

in search of Him!

 

But what do they see?

 

They see Krishna still in slumber and seemingly

indifferent to their state of restiveness and

spiritual agitation.

 

It breaks their heart to see Krishna being a little

indifferent to them. They cannot understand how the

Lord can remain callous to their entreaties to

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Talk to your friends online with Messenger.

http://im.