Fragrance

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Srimate Srivansatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra

Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

Fragrance

 

Many of us wear perfumes- some mild and pleasing, others strong

enough to inspire a headache in others. Perfumes have been used

since long, primarily to mask body odour, and to enable the user

to exude a pleasant smell. It was reported that during the height

of water scarcity at Chennai, the sale of perfumes reached its

peak. Perfumes have been used for long in Arabian countries,

where the paucity of water did not encourage frequent baths as

were called for by the dry, hot climate. How good would it be if

we were to have a naturally good smell, obviating the need for

perfumes? Such a person would be a natural invitee to all parties

and would be extremely popular. This is not in the realm of

fiction- there is indeed such a person, though it may not be

proper to call Him a person, for He is none other than the Lord.

 

“Yam sarva gandha:” says the shruti, attesting to the fact that

Emperuman is the repository of all fragrance. Sri KoorattAzhwan

says “Yam Sarva Gandha iti sAdaram udvahanti”, attesting to the

fact that He is indeed a veritable walking perfumery. Swami

Desikan calls Him “sarva gandha vastu”-in Sri Parama pata

SopAnam.

 

“NAtra tuzhAi mudi Narayanan” says Sri Andal, further confirming

that the Lord is sweet smelling. Though Emperuman is by nature

fragrant, the TiruttuzhAi he wears in plenty on all parts of His

tirumEni (“ TOLiNai mElum nan mArbin mElum sudar mudi mElum

tALiNai mElum punainda taNNam tuzhAi udai ammAn” says Sri

Nammazhwar, pointing out that the Lord wears Tulasi on His wide

shoulders, on His broad chest, on His glittering crown, and on

His lotus feet) adds in no small measure to His fragrance. So

much so that TirutthuzhAi is almost identified with Sriman

Narayana (“nAru tuzhAi malar kANil NAranan kaNNi eedhennum”-Sri

Nammazhwar).

 

Like the rest of Him, Sri Krishna’s lips too are sweet smelling,

and scented camphor and blooming lotus are indeed malodorous,

compared to the Lord’s lips-“Karpooram nArumO kamala poo nArumO,

tiru pavaLa sevvAi tAn tittitirukkumO” wonders Sri Kodai Nachiar,

and calls upon Sri Panchajanya Azhwan (who has a close

association with the Lord’s lips) to clarify. Emperuman’s

exhalation too is said to be fragrant. The air that we mortals

let out is anything but sweet smelling, being loaded with

carbon-dioxide. However, Swami Desikan says (“Shruti surabhi

nisvAsamAna divya nAsAvamsam”-Sri Paramapada SopAnam) that the

Lord’s exhalation is full of the fragrance of shruti. This is

reiterated in Sri Devanayaka Panchasat thus- “nityOditai: nigama

nissvasitai: tava EshA nAsA Nabaschara patE nayanAbdi sEthu:” As

VedAs are said to be the Paramapurusha’s breath, it is no wonder

that His exhalation bears the Vedic aroma.

 

Moving down to Emperuman’s tiruvadi, Swami Desikan says that the

holy feet are adorned by Vedic fragrance (“VElAtIta shruti

parimaLam, VedhasAm mouli sEvyam”-Sri Bhagavat DhyAna

SOpAnam). All Veda vAkyAs are ultimately paeans of praise to the

Lord’s tiruvadi, and hence the lotus feet are said to wear the

aroma of shruti.

 

Sri Devi and Bhoodevi constantly massage the Lord’s tiruvadi, to

relieve them of the strain of measuring the universe during

TrivikramAvatAra (“andru ivvuagam aLanda asavE kol?”), and of

roaming the jungle during Sri Ramavatara and Sri Krishnavatara

(“kAnagam ellAm tirindu un karia tirumEni vAda”). Due to the

constant association with the Lord’s feet, much of the fragrance

is transferred to the lotus hands of the NachimAr, says Swami

Desikan in Sri Paramapada SopAnam-“NachimAr kara talangaLukku

parimaLam kodukkum potrAmarai adigaL”.

 

Here, the use of the words “potrAmarai adigaL” is

significant. Emperuman’s feet are likened to a golden lotus. The

important difference is that while gold lacks scent, His tiruvadi

is fragrant. Further, while gold is hard, His feet are soft as a

lotus, and delicate beyond description. Sri Venkatesa Prapatti

says that the Lord’s feet are reddened with the strain of His

Consorts’ massaging (“sa prEma bheeti kamalakara pallavAnAm---

Sri Venkatesa charanou “). One could imagine the delicacy of the

Lord’s tiruvadis, if they were to be strained at the touch of the

extremely soft hands of Sridevi and Bhoodevi.

 

It is not that the Lord is fragrant only in Sri Vaikuntam-even in

His archAvatAram, He is so, as evidenced by the sobriquet,

”ParimaLa Rangan”, at TiruvindaLoor.

 

We have seen that the Lord is fragrant. This is not all. All that

He is associated with is also fragrant. Take for example His

principal Consort, Sridevi. She too smells sweet, says Sri

Nammazhwar- “VEri mArAda poo mEl iruppAL vinai

teerkkumE”. “VEri”here refers to scent, and “poo mEl iruppAL”

refers to Piratti and the purport of the phrase is that Piratti,

who has the lotus as Her residence, is always fragrant. Another

interpretation of the aforesaid pasuram would be to attribute the

permanent fragrance to the lotus, and to describe Piratti as the

resident of such a flower. However, the former version,

ascribing the fragrance to Piratti, appears dearer to Sri

Nammazhwar’s heart. Piratti is also variously described as “alli

malar MagaL”, “tAmaraiyAL”, ” vAsam sei poom kuzhalAl”, etc.,

indicating Her constant association with scented flowers, which

add to Her natural fragrance, as does TiruttuzhAi to Emperuman’s

aroma. The Veda Purusha too attests to the Divine Consort’s

inseparable fragrance with the Rik “Gandha dvArAm” in Sri

Sooktam.

 

It is not only Sri Devi who is fragrant- Sri Bhoodevi too is the

repository of all aroma, as is known from the definition,

“Gandhavati Prithvi”. Sri Paduka Devi too is endowed with

fragrance, natural as well as that derived through constant

association with the Lord’s lotus feet, as can be deduced from

several slokas in the KAnchana Paddhati and Pushpa Paddhati of

Sri Paduka Sahasram.

 

Emperuman’s personal valet Sri Adisesha, who serves Him in

multifarious capacities as His bed, umbrella, throne, footwear

etc., also possesses a sweet smell, as described by Swami Desikan

–“Sarva gandha vastuvukkum vAsanai undAgum padiAna parimaLattai

udayavan”- it is as if Sri Ananta adds fragrance to even the Lord

who is Himself the repository of all fragrance, as shown above.

The Lord endows His devotees too with fragrance. Sri Nammazhwar

and his works are said to bear the aroma of the “Magizham

poo”-“yasya sArasvatam srOtO VakuLAmOda vAsinam” says Swami

Desikan. Not only Sri Satakopa Muni, but his Tiruvaimozhi too is

endowed with fragrance, that of the shruti, as Sri Tiruvarangattu

Amudanar declares in Sri Iramanusa Nootrandadi-he calls

Tiruvaimozhi “maNam tarum innisai”. Sri Valmiki says that there

was nobody in Sri Ayodhya who did not possess a sweet smell-

“nAmrishtO nAnuliptAngO nAsugandhascha vidyatE”( Ayodhya

Varnanam).

 

It would be remiss of adiyen to conclude without a mention of the

appetizing aroma of the kitchen- “madaippaLLi vanda maNam” as

Swami Desikan puts it. Sri Kidambi AcchAn was so much devoted to

Sri Ramanuja that he was entrusted with the charge of preparing

the latter’s meals, after there was an attempt to poison the

great Acharya. Sri AcchAn thus enjoyed several hours of

uninterrupted company of his master, imbibing from him the

“Rahasya Tradition”, consisting of rare nuggets of instruction

handed from one Acharya to another down the line. From Sri

AcchAn, this tradition was propagated through Sri EngalAzhvAn,

Sri Nadadur AmmAl, Sri Kidambi AppuLLAr, and found its way to

Swami Desikan, who treated it as the rare treasure it is, and

never missed an opportunity to declare what he owed to the

Sampradayic fragrance that wafted through the Bhashyakara’s

kitchen. “Yativara mahAnasa sampradayam”, “YativaranAr

madaippaLLi vanda maNam engaL vArtthaiyuL manniyadE”, etc. are

some of his tributes to this tradition. With all this glorious

fragrance, wouldn’t you be tempted to call ours the “Scented

Sampradaya”? It is perhaps the only tradition, which can boast of

being a treat as much to the olfactory system as to any other.

 

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrsimha divya paduka sevaka

SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya

nama:

-------dasan,

sadagopan.