"Ignorance and Bliss"

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

Ignorance and Bliss

 

There are several similarities between the Lord and Tiruppavai.

 

Firstly, Neither the greatness of the Lord nor the depth of meaning of

Tiruppavai can be fathomed.

 

Secondly, to the first-rung devotee, the Lord is always ready to bestow all

material benefits upon request. To the Prapanna who looks askance at such

frivolous pleasures, the Lord gives Moksha and Himself too in the bargain.

Similarly, to the superficial student, Tiruppavai does give off beautiful

meanings on a prima facie reading itself. However, to the connoisseur who is

prepared to plumb its depths, Andal's outpouring is full of hidden gems and

pearls, which are available for the mere asking.

 

Thirdly, the month of Margazhi is dear to the Lord ("mAsAnAm MargasIrshOham")

while Tiruppavai too generates intense interest and in-depth research in

Margazhi.

 

Fourthly, if Emperuman is acclaimed as the "Veda Mudalvan", Tiruppavai too is

eulogized as "Vedam anaitthukkum vitthu".

 

Sri Ramanuja was as much enamoured of Tiruppavai as he was of the Lord, which

earned him the title "Tiruppavai Jeer".

 

One such gem in Tiruppavai, to be discovered by the connoisseur, is to be

found in the pasuram "KaravaigaL pin chendru".

 

The unlettered cowherds wonder at their enormous good fortune in having Sri

Krishna born into their lowly clan-"arivu ondrum illAda Aykkulatthu un tannai

piravi perum tanai puNNiyam yAm udayOm". They hasten to add "Kuraivu ondrum

illAda GovindA!", clarifying that the Lord's greatness remains undiminished by

His birth and sojourn among the cowherds.

 

To the general reader, these lines provide a wonderful perspective of the

Lord's accessibility or soulabhyam, His preparedness to go to any lengths to

emancipate errant humanity and His utter disregard for caste, creed, colour,

race and other such fetters, when it comes to taking birth among mundane mortals

("ennindra yOniyumAi pirandAi imayOr talaiva!"-Sri Nammazhwar).

 

The GopAs and their women wonder at the incongruity of the omniscient Lord

being born amidst the ignorant and unlettered and His growing up with apparent

enjoyment amidst people unaware of the distinction between their right hand and

the left ("idakkai valakkai teriyAda Aycchiar"). When the Gopis remember the

liberties they had taken with the Lord- abusing Him for stealing butter, tying

Him up to the grindstone, even beating Him up for minor misdemeanors ("Ayar

kozhundAi avarAl pudayuNNum MAya PirAn")-they are awe-struck at their own

transgressions and blame it all on the ignorance of their race ("arivu ondrum

illAda Aykkulam"). Some people are blessed with knowledge in some matters,

though they may not be experts in other fields. However, the cowherds confess to

total ignorance- "arivu ondrum illAda".

 

The Upanishad says, "avigyAtam vijAnatAm, vigyAtam avijAnatAm". Those who know

that they know not, know all, while those who claim knowledge, are ignorant,

according to the Shruti, which repeats the idea elsewhere too, for good

measure-"yasya amatham tasya matam, matam yasya na vEda sa:".

 

Going by these standards, the cowherds who know full well that they know not,

that they are completely unlettered and comprehensively ignorant, appear to be

the true knowers. This becomes clear once we delve into the nature of the

ignorance they disarmingly admit to. The following are the types of ignorance

which the Gopis plead guilty of:-

 

1. Ignorance of other Deities"-The cowherds are firm in their conviction

that all their needs would be catered to by Sri Krishna, and see no need to turn

to any other devata for any purpose. Thus they are true "ParamaikAnti"s, owing

allegiance only to the Lord and to none other. Their simple thoughts are filled

only with Kannan and His doings, and they look to Him and only to Him for

anything and everything they need. Their needs are simple and adequately catered

to by their cattle-wealth. All they need from Sri Krishna is His bewitching

company and blissful presence. They appear to be eminently qualified to fit the

description in the Gita sloka-

 

"ananyA: chintayantO mAm yE janA: paryupAsatE

tEshAm nitya abhiyuktAnAm yOgakshemam vahAmyaham"

 

2. Ignorance of other upAyAs: The cowherds know not the intricacies of

Karma yoga, Gnana Yoga or Bhakti yoga. All they know is their Krishna and that

He would take care of them at all times. Such staunch devotion is what

Mahavisvasam is all about. They would never do anything that displeases Krishna

and go all out to conform to whatever He lays down, thus displaying "Anukoolya

Sankalpam" and "PrAtikoolya Varjanam". They unreservedly look to Krishna as

their saviour, thus complying with the requirement of "Goptrutva varaNam". Their

very words admitting their ignorance and incapacity are hallmarks of the

important element of "Akinchanyam". By affirming "unakkE nAm AtcheyvOm", they

categorically perform "Atma SamarpaNam". Thus the "ignorant" cowherds are

Prapatti nishttAs of a very high order, conforming in letter and spirit to the

Lord's homily, "Sarva dharmAn parityajya mAm Ekam sharaNam vraja".

 

3. Ignorance of other desires: All that these Gopas want is to be of

service to the Lord in this birth and others, and to be close to Him always,

without ever experiencing the pangs of separation. They crave not riches, social

status or glory. Their needs and desires are simple, and revolve totally around

Sri Krishna. This is evident from their ardent declarations-"ettraikkum EzhEzh

piravikkum untannOdu uttrOmE AvOm, unakkE nAm AtcheyvOm". Their overwhelming

desire to perform kainkarya to their dear KannapirAn is displayed in their

entreaty to the Lord not to deny them the bliss of service-

 

Nee kuttrEval engalaI koLlAmal pOgAdu".

 

They just do not recognize that there are other desirable goals or

PurushArtthAs, and pray to their Krishna not to make them fall prey to desires

of other types-"Mattrai nam kAmangaL mAttru". These simple souls are true

adherents to Sri Tiruvarangattu AmudanAr's dictum, "KaNNanukkE Amadu kAmam" (our

desires should be directed solely towards attaining the Lord).

 

We are told that Sri Bhattar, the personification of erudition and devotion,

who joined the ghOshti late one day for the mangalasasanam of Sri Rangaraja,

preferred to take a position opposite to that of the learned Brahmins and at the

tail-end of a line of YadavAs. When members of the ghOshti sought the reason for

this strange conduct, Sri Bhattar is reported to have told them that he felt the

benign glance of Sri Ranganatha was directed not towards the erudite Brahmin

ghoshti performing mangalasasanam in chaste Sanskrit, but towards the Yadavas

who were wishing the Lord well in colloquial language devoid of hyperbole but

rich with devotion.

 

We often pray to the Lord to give us good thoughts ("nalla buddhi"), to deliver

us from the darkness of ignorance and to "lead kindly light" ("tamasO mA jyOtir

gamaya"). We yearn for our darkened soul to light up with true knowledge.

However, when we consider the state of the Gopas described above and the

indescribable bliss they could attain through such lack of knowledge, we too

feel like praying to the Lord to keep us steeped in ignorance-ignorance of the

right type. It is only now that we realize the true meaning of the adage,

"Ignorance is Bliss".

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dasan, sadagopan.