Tears

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri

Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

Tears

 

Tears are an involuntary physical reaction, and

an outlet for emotions, whether joyous or sorrowful.

They are also a powerful weapon in the hands of the

fair sex, as many a hapless husband would confirm.

When all appeals to the male’s reason fail, ladies and

children are said to resort to tears as the ultimate

weapon in their arsenal for achieving their ends. Be

that as it may, tears do move the onlooker, for they

project a picture of a helpless person in need of

succour and support. Tears are born not only of

sorrow, but also of uncontrollable joy, devotion,

affection and even anger. Physicians claim that tears

cleanse the eye of dirt and grime particles. Let us

have a look at the various contexts in which tears

figure in the Scriptures.

 

Could you imagine the virile, brave Anjaneya, the

personification of toughness and a terror to his foes,

shedding tears? This is an indeed difficult picture to

conjure up. However, the fact is that Maruti does shed

tears, and this is attested by the Ramayana pArayaNa

sloka:

“Yatra yatra RaghunAta kIrtanam, tatra tatra krita

mastakAnjalim

BAshpavAri paripoorNa lOchanam, Marutim namata

rAkshasAntakam”

Wherever and whenever Sri Rama’s story is told, heard

or sung, Siriya Tiruvadi is instantly present there to

listen with rapt attention. Rama kathA so moves VAyu

Putra that tears of devotion spring to his eyes. The

sloka says that Maruti’s tears are copious

(“bAshpavAri paripoorNa lOchanam”), attesting to the

depth of emotion Rama katha can cause in him. The word

“RAkshasAntakam” seems to make fun of Siriya Tiruvadi,

by implying that the great warrior, at whose bare

hands hordes of asurAs met with their end, is soft

enough to be moved to tears, when it comes to Sri Rama

and His story. And Sri Anjaneya listens with his hands

folded on his head, paying obeisance to his Master. So

staunch is devotees’ belief in Sri Maruti’s presence

at the place of Srimad Ramayana pArayanam, that before

the recitation of the epic, an “Asanam” or symbolic

seat is provided for him. Even today we occasionally

hear of monkeys marking attendance at discourses on

Srimad Ramayana.

 

Sri Hanuman’s conduct is quite in tune with the

picture Sri KulasekharAzhwar’s paints of the model

devotee. Azhwar prays the Lord to keep him in the

company of bhaktas, who relish the constant thought of

the Lord’s lotus feet. Such devotees are characterised

by palms folded in supplication, heads bowed in

devotion, hair ends of the body standing upright in

joy, tones shaky with emotion, and eyes filled with

tears- all tell tale signs of their boundless bhakti

brimming over. Here is the beautiful sloka from Sri

Mukunda MalA:

“BaddhEna anjalinA natEna sirasA gAtraischa

rOmOdgamai:

kaNttEna svara gadgadEna nayanEna utkeerNa

bAshpAmbunA

nityam tvat charaNAravinda yugaLa dhyAnamrita

AsvAdinAm

asmAkam SarasIruhAksha satatam sampadyatAm

jeevitam”.

 

According to Sri Nammazhwar, such conduct is only to

be expected of devotees, and those who do not conform

to these standards are to be condemned. Those who fail

to be moved to tears at the Saulabhyam of Sri Krishna

(in coming to the rescue of the PandavAs and

destroying the Kaurava sEna, etc.) are not worthy of

their lives, says Azhwar in the following pasuram:

“neermayil nootruvar veeya iyvarkku aruL seidu nindru

pAr malgu sEnai avittha Paramanai Param sOdiyai

neer malgu kaNNinar Agi nenjam kuzhaindu naiyAdE

oon malgi mOdu paruppAr uttamargatku en seivArE”.

 

Sri Ramanuja too shed tears, though these were

occasioned not by joy, but from his anguish at hearing

his Guru Yadavaprakasa misinterpret a Shruti vakya to

compare the Lord’s beautiful red lotus eyes to the

backside of a monkey. (“tasya yatA kapyAsam pundarIkam

Eva akshiNee”). At the time Sri Ramanuja was applying

oil to his Guru’s head for a massage, and his tears

fell hot on the Guru’s thigh. These tears marked a

turning point in Emperumanar’s life and in due course,

he gained relief from the clutches of MAyAvAdis like

Yadavaprakasa and came under the benign influence of

Sri Alavandar and his distinguished disciples, though

he never had an occasion to learn personally from Sri

Yamuna Muni.

 

Sri Ramanuja’s tears were hot, as seen above, perhaps

due to his anguish at the unseemly comparison the Lord

was subjected to. Could tears be cold too?

Yes, says Sri Vishnu Tattvam-

“AhlAda seeta nEtrAmbu: pulakIkrita gAtravAn”

The sight or the mere thought of the Lord makes one’s

eyes fill with cool tears of joy, and the entire body

awash with bliss, says the above sloka. We thus deduce

that tears could be hot or cold, perhaps even salty or

sweet, depending upon their cause.

 

For Sri Tirumangai Azhwar, it is the recitation of

Emperuman’s tirunAmam, especially the Narayana nAma,

that brings tears to his eyes.

“udambeLam kaNNa neer sOra

naLLirul aLavum pagalum nAn azhaippan

Narayana ennum nAmam”.

The flow of tears from his eyes is so profuse, that

the optic secretion covers the entire body. To Sri

PeriavAcchAn Pillai, this flood of tears enveloping

the Azhwar’s body resembles a five-strand pearl

necklace, each teardrop standing out independently as

a pearl.

 

Poignant songs and dance, especially if they relate to

the Lord, bring tears to the eyes, invariably. Many of

us would have shared this experience. Sri Nammazwar

too is moved to tears by these, as he testifies in the

following pasuram..

“Adi Adi aham karaindu, isai

pAdi pAdi kaNNeer malgi

engum nAdi nAdi NarasingA endru

vAdi vAdum ivvAl nudalE”

Just as the Narayana nAma caused the tears of Sri

Kalian, it is the Nrsimha nAma in Sri Nammazhwar’s

case. Are these then tears of fear at the awesome

man-lion appearance sported by the Lord in this

avatara? Not at all, for these are tears occasioned by

the Lord’s endearing concern for proving his young

devotee Sri PrahlAda right (“satyam vidhAtum nija

bhritya bhAshitam”) in his assertion to his father

Hiranyakasipu that Sri Vishnu pervaded everything

(”engum uLan KaNNan”).

 

We have all been overcome by tears of separation

(temporary or permanent) from a loved one, sometime or

the other in our lives. These are tears prompted by

the recollection of good times spent in the company of

the friend or relative, the moments of closeness

enjoyed with them, and the thought that all these

would no more be available to us.

Azwars too, in their nAyikA roles, suffer from such

separation from the Lord and shed tears. Here is Sri

Nammazhwar in one such state:

“Kangulum pagalum kaN tuyil ariyAl

kaNNa neer kaigalAl iraikkum”

Here too, the intensity of feeling prompts a veritable

flood of tears.

Even the Lord is not proof from tears of separation,

as demonstrated by Sri Rama, at the sight of the

ornaments relinquished by VaidEhi while being carried

away by Ravana. At the mere sight of Piratti’s jewels

and upper cloth, Sri Rama’s eyes fill with plentiful

tears,

“tata: griheetvA tad vAsa: shubhAni AbharaNAni cha

abhavat bhAshpa samruddha: neehArENEva Chandrama:”

Sri Valmiki, the Master of Similes that he is,

compares the sight of Chakravartthi Tirumagan

enveloped by tears to a Moon masked by clouds.

Sri Rama’s tears and His display of the very basic

human emotion of sorrow, raise an important question.

Is the Lord really bereft of all inauspicious

qualities (“akhila hEya pratyanIka:”) and the sole

repository of all that is good (“kalyAnaikatAna:”)? If

sorrow and sadness at the separation of a dear one

could hit Him so hard and reduce Him to tears, it

doesn’t say much for His superiority. How then is He

better than an ordinary mortal? How does one reconcile

the conduct of one who is susceptible to human

frailties with that of the all-powerful Lord, who is

unshaken by anything and is characterised by eternal,

everlasting bliss? Could we really call Him

“Anandamaya:”, when He does have patches of sorrow,

albeit only during His avatArAs?

Swami Desikan says that such emotions displayed by the

Lord during his avatArAs are mere “abhinaya”, or put

on, and not for real. For, the Lord, by His very

nature, is incapable of being affected by sorrow under

any circumstances. The Sun can never be anything but

hot and luminous, and so too the Lord can never be

anything but auspicious and blissful. We must remember

that Ramavatara was a very special avatara, in which

the Lord conducted Himself as an ordinary human being

(“AtmAnam mAnusham manyE, Ramam DasaratAtmajam”)

throughout His sojourn on this earth. Every one of His

words and deeds were to demonstrate to humanity how a

model man should conduct himself in various situations

and in the face of severe adversity. By this standard,

display of sorrow at the apparent loss of the

extremely beloved spouse would be nothing abnormal: in

fact, any other emotion under the circumstances would

be inappropriate. Had He remained stoic in the face of

such loss, we would definitely have castigated Him as

stonehearted. Thus Sri Rama’s tears, far from

detracting from His greatness, endear Him to us all

the more, as we are able to identify ourselves with a

Lord who shows Himself to be as susceptible to

emotions as we are.

 

Lest this should bring tears of boredom to your eyes,

adiyen shall conclude here.

 

Srimate SriLakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka

SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya

Nama;

Dasan, sadagopan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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