"pOtri", "pOtri and evermore "pOtri" -- (2 of 2)

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Dear friends,

 

Continuing from earlier post 1 of 2....

-----------------------

Actually whenever adiyen reflects deeply on Stanza#24

of the "tiruppAvai" he does not find the behaviour of

the 'aayarpAdi' girls to be "unusual" at all. What

they did... or what AndAl made them do... i.e. break

out into a full-throated song of benediction to

Krishna when they were in his presence, instead of

expressing their real purpose of visit... viz.

unburdening the troubles of their souls upon Him... is

not at all "unusual".

 

Many times adiyen has found himself doing the same

thing as the "aayarpAdi' girls did in Stanza#24 of the

"tiruppAvai". Adiyen has watched himself behave

exactly like them many a time at the great temple of

"tiruvEngada-mudaiyAn" at Tirupati-Tirumala. Perhaps

many of you also behave the same way too.... we

behaves like the 'aayarpAdi' girls yes, but not with

the same intensity of "bhakti".

 

Let adiyen explain this a bit.

 

Usually, adiyen visits the temple of Tirupati once or

twice a year. Adiyen confesses unabashedly that he

uses the occasion to thank the Lord there for the

blessings received during the year by His Grace. And

adiyen also generally decides on those occasions to

quietly "slip in".. er... a small mental "wish-list"

to the Lord.... Nothing very great but a small

"wish-list" for simple things like good health, wealth

and prosperity for the children and, of course, "the

whole world".... ("sarvE janAh: sukhinO bhavantuh"

etc. etc.)

 

When adiyen stands in the queue at Tirupati for 3

hours or more outside the temple, usually there is

nothing much to do except to silently keep revising

and reviewing the content and length of the personal

"wish-list" that adiyen has carried with him inside

his mind.

 

By the time adiyen arrives by queue outside the

"bangAru-vAsal" (portals) of the temple, the "wish

list" becomes usually twice as long as it was in the

original draf because adiyen has added a few more

things that Lord Srinivasan is to be petitioned for.

 

When adiyen crosses the "kulasekhara-padi" (threshold)

inside the 'sanctum-sanctorum' of Venkateshwara, the

Lord Almighty becomes visible to the eyes. Then the

queue slowly moves up and adiyen also moves closer to

the Deity. At that moment adiyen finds usually finds

himself transfixed by the "darshan" of the Glorious

Lord! Like everyone there, adiyen too cannot simply

take his eyes off the resplendent Deity! Unknown to

himself, adiyen will involuntarily begin reciting

verses from "Daya-Satakam" and some "pAsuram-s" of

NammAzhwAr and Kulasekhara- AzhwAr... Unknown to him

adiyen also would have recited all the lines of

Stanza#24 of the "tiruppAvai".... all the time his

eyes hypnotised and riveted to the awesome figure of

the Lord there....!

 

By the time adiyen comes out of the momentary trance,

the queue, rudely prodded by temple officials

shouting, "jarugu-jarugu" ("Move it! Move it!"), the

queue is already wending its way out of the temple....

 

The blissful "darshan" is over as suddenly as it

began...!

 

And it is at that precise moment that adiyen realizes

that he has completely forgotten about his mental

"wish-list" which he had so carefully prepared to be

submited to "tiruvEngada-mudaiyAn".... !

 

"Gone... gone.... the moment of opportunity has

slipped by, never to return", adiyen will tell himself

a little ruefully! "Now, how will I present my

petitions to Lord Venkateshwara? How will He now know

about "yAm vanda-kariyam"?

 

Adiyen at that moment will also remember Stanza#24 of

the 'tiruppAvai' and comfort himself saying, "It's

alright! The opportunity has gone, so what? What

happened to me now, happened to the 'aayarpAdi" girls

also in the "tiruppAvai"! They were not worse off for

having forgotten to present their petitions to Him.

Now why would I be any worse than them?".

 

So saying, adiyen will then recite once more Stanza#24

of the "tiruppAvai" while performing "pradakshina" to

Venkteshwara! After that adiyen will go home happily

like a "aayarpAdi" girl!

 

But that is adiyen's "anubhavam".

 

Let's now turn to more weighty matters ... a brief

summary of the "vyAkyAna-s" of the "muvAyirapadi" and

the "ArAyirapadi".

 

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

SriPVPillai says that he is not surprised that AndAl

suddenly broke out into a song of benediction to

Krishna in the middle of the "tiruppAvai" in

stanza#24:

 

"kathE jalE sethu-bandham thammappanArkum magallakkum

paNi" enru jeeyar arulliceyyvar." ("muvAyirapadi")

 

"ithan karuttu: mazhaikAllam kazhindhu jallam-ellAm

senra-pinn aNaicuttudal ivv-iruvarukkam paNi.

athAvadu, pEriAzhwArum AndAlum kazhinda

sarittirangalukkup-pallAndu pAdumavargal"

 

Both AndAl and her father "periAzhwAr", according to

SriPVPillai above, were in the frequent habit of

recollecting all the past events of Krishna's

"avatAra' wherein He was faced by numerous threats of

harm His enemies plotted. And when they so

recollected, they immediately broke out into singing

benedictions for the Lord's safety and long-life, as

if He were a mere child who could be kept away from

evil eyes and malicious intents by simply chanting

benedictory songs and incantations.

 

PeriAzhwAr sang his benediction through the famous

"tiruppallAndu" and AndAl sang it through Stanza#24 of

the "tiruppAvai".

 

Sri.PVP humorously compares this curious habit of both

PeriazhwAr and Andal, with one who goes about

building bunds, 'anicuts' and sluice-gates long, long

after the waters of a great deluge have completely

drained away!

 

It is told by "purvAchArya-s" that those who are

completely immersed in "bhakti" often fall into the

same habit as the SriVilliputtur duo of father and

daughter. They will rapturously sing benedictions in

their own times to save child-Krishna from the dangers

which He faced long, long ago in His own times!

Which is the reason why the "gopika-s" of the

"aayarpAdi" in the tiruppAvai also burst out into the

benediction they did in Stanza#24!

 

It must be observed that the girls sang out

benedictions for 6 different aspects of the Lord

Almighty:

 

First and foremost they blessed "adi-pOtri"... they

hailed the Feet of the Lord which as Trivikraman took

measure in 3 short paces all the Worlds of Creation

 

Second, they sang,"tiral pOtri"... they hailed the

Lord's great prowess who as Rama reduced Lanka to dust

 

Third, they sang of "pugazh pOtri"... they hailed His

eternal Fame as Krishna the slayer of the Evil

Sakatasura

 

Fourth, they sang of "kazhal pOtri"... they hailed the

great skill with which He, Krishna, disposed off the

evil KapisthAsura and Vatsasura

 

Fifthly, they sang of "guNam pOtri"... they hailed the

great graciousness He showed the citizens of

Nandagopan's hamlet when he led them to the safety of

the Govardhana Hills when they were all threatened by

an apocalyptic deluge

 

And finally, sixth, they sang "nin kayil vEl pOtri"...

they hailed his weapon, the Spear, which Krishna, the

shepherd boy, always carried with him to destroy Evil

on earth.

 

Now, in the 'ArAyirapadi", the commentator says that

the 'aayarpAdi" girls thought it fit to hail the

aspects of the Lord Almighty in 6 different ways

because,

 

"ivargal nAkkukku idUm shut-rasam irukkira-padi"....

 

i.e. just as 6 kinds of tastes --- sweet, sour,

astringent, pungent, saltish and bitter --- are

essential to give one's tongue the fulfilment of

complete satisfaction, so also 6 kinds of blessings or

hallelujah were thought necessary by the "aayarpAdi"

girls to sing about in His praise, so that their souls

too may savour perfect satisfaction.

 

The commentaries of "muvAyirapadi" and "ArAiyarapadi"

on Stanza#24 too are indeed as delectable to our taste

as the six flavours -- the "shut-rasam"!

 

dAsan,

Sampathkumaran

 

 

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