"arivOnrum-illA".."pin-senru".."siru-pEr-azhaittu" (2 0f 2)

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Dear friends,

Continuing from the earlier post today with the same

title as this one...

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

 

Some expressions in Stanza#26 of the tiruppAvai are

extremely significant and they constitute the core of

its "svApadEsArtham":

 

"arivOnrum-illA"..

"pin-senru".. and,

"siru-pEr-azhaittu".

"undannOdu-utrayvel namakku-ingu-ozhikka-ozhiyAdhu"

 

The dramatic context in which the above expressions

are used in the Stanza, adiyen has already sketched in

the earlier post of the day. (please see post

preceding this one.)

 

These expressions are also laden with very deep

philosophical messages of SriVaishnava thought. We

must all savour it a bit now to the best of our

ability.

 

The expression "arivonrum-illA" means "lacking any

sort of claim to "gnyAna" i.e. being clueless as to

the nature of Truth and reality.

 

This is an expression that best describes the state of

every true devotee of God. The seeker of God sincerely

knows in his heart that "he knows not". The

KatOpanishad echoes this deeply-felt sentiment of the

true God-seeker in the following verse (2-2):

 

"nAham manyE suvEdEti nO na vEdEti vedacha I

yO nastadvEda tadvEda no na vedEti vEda cha II

 

meaning,

"I do not think I know Him fully although others may

say,"We know Him fully". Nor do I say I know Him not

at all! Amongst us who says,"I know Him", be sure he

knows Him not; and he who says "I do not know Him", he

indeed knows."

 

Mind boggling, isn't it?

 

Never mind! The Upanishads usually say things like

that once in a while just to tease one's brain but

their message put simply is this:

 

"In matters relating to God, there is no such thing as

"full knowledge". People know something of everything

about Him and believe they know everything about Him;

or they know everything of something about Him and

believe they know everything about Him. The true

seeker of God is one who knows something about Him and

knows it is not everything."

 

True God-seekers are they who realize the limitation

of "gnyAnA" as a means of enligtenment. They learn to

accept it as a condition of the human state. Like the

'aayarpAdi' girls of the 'tiruppAvai' they first learn

to accept Ignorance as their natural state...

"arivonrum-illAda..pillaigal".

 

Having accepted this state of Ignorance what does the

God-seeker do? Does he rest content in the dictum

"Ignorance is Bliss" and simply proceed to lead a life

of creature-comfort... 'serndu-unbOm"?

Does he shrug his shoulders and say,"God and Truth are

un-knowable and so be it!Let Him stay in heaven and

mind his business and I shall mind mine here on

earth"?

 

No. The seeker of God does not give up so easily. His

heart yearns to understand God, to feel Him and be one

with Him. He pursues God ... "pin-senru"...doggedly.

 

Why can't Man leave God alone? Because there is a

mysterious bond between them that simply won't let

them remain indifferent to each other.

 

It is a unique and eternal relationship.... a

relationship that AndAl describes in those immortal

words "undannOdu-utrayval namakku-ingu-

ozhikka-ozhiyAdhu".... In the "nAnmugan tiruvandAdi"

(Verse 7) the AzhwAr too described this unique

relationship between Man and God as "nAn-unnai anri

ilEn kandAy, nAraNaNe! nee enai anri ilai!"... "O

Narayana! I can't do without Thee and neither can

Thou do without me!".

 

In the primordial "pranavam" ... the syllable "OM"

consists of 3 letters---' A', 'U' and 'M' ...where "a"

signifies God and "m" signifies Man and in the middle

there is the letter "u" which signifies the

indissoluble relation between the two!

 

Inextricably bound together thus in a cosmic

relationship that has neither beginning nor end, Man

and God hence engage in a strange game

of hide and seek in which the seeker of God ever

seeks... and the God of men remains ever hidden....

 

This unique relationship with God, which Man can

divine but never truly fathom, is verily the seed of

"bhakti" that is sown in the heart of the God-seeker

and keeps growing continuously. Bhakti is an attitude

formed by an inseparable admixture of feelings of

love, devotion, awe and utter dependance...

 

Now, the Man of "bhakti" at various times in his life

perceives his relationship with God in various forms:

as father-son; protector-protected; master-servant;

husband-wife; sought-seeker; owner-owned;

supporter-supported; soul-body; enjoyer-enjoyed.....

and so on. In every such relationship he perceives,

however, an underlying common element of love and

devotion.

 

It is thus that Man discovers he... the ignorant and

dross mortal that he is... cannot but be devoted to

the Divine and the Immortal... In other words, he

simply can't let God alone!

 

Now how does this devotion, this "bhakti" manifest

itself in man?

 

The "AchAryA-s" say that the man of true 'bhakti' who

has truly realized the nature of his unique

"relationship" with God is unafraid of Him.

 

The "bhakta" is a indeed a fearless man. Neither the

mighty transcendence of God ("paratvam") nor the

monumental Ignorance of Man ("a-gnyAnam") unsettles

the true "bhakta". This is because he knows that the

God who appears distant in Heaven ("paratvam") is also

the loving God who resides amidst us

("saulabhyam").... just as He lived and loved amidst

the 'aayarpAdi" girls of the "tiruppAvai".

 

A God who resides in the distant heaven and never

deigns to descend amongst his earthly subjects is

grievously flawed indeed. And it would be needless to

talk of such a god much less worship him. (In the

"muvAyira-padi" SriPVPillai states this idea very

bluntly, "neermai sambAthikkap-pOndha viDathE mEnmai

sollukkai kuttrameerE!" i.e. in a place presided by

the God of 'easy access' it would be crime to sing the

praise of the God of Transcendence".)

 

But the God of our true 'bhakta' and of our dear

AndAl-pirAtti is One has no flaw whatsoever

("kurai-unrum-iilAda-gOvinda") and He is ever present,

and as ever Compassionate, amongst his devotees

....here, now and in this world itself!

 

A God of such disarming 'saulabhyam' is the One that

His "bhaktas" beckon with easy familiarity and

camaraderie. They revel in calling Him by all sorts of

innumerable nicknames ....such as "Narayana", Kesava,

Madhava etc. and ....exactly as the "aayarpAdi-girls"

too called him by several "siru-pEr".... like

"narAyanan-murthy", "nAtra-tuzhAy nArAyanan!" etc....

 

In such easy and endearing mutual camaraderie the

devotee and the Deity thus both grow dearer to each

other... nearer and ever nearer too...until at last

they embrace in state of divine bliss which AndAl in

Stanza#28 calls: "parai.... elOr embAvAy!".

 

andAl tiruvadigalE sharanam

 

dAsan,

Sampathkumaran

 

 

 

 

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