"nilA nilA Odi vA"

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri

Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

“nilA nilA Odi vA!”

 

There would scarcely be anyone, to whom his or her mother

wouldn’t have taught the captioned rhyme during infancy. And

through generations, this particular limerick has remained popular,

with the mother and child calling to the Moon in the distant sky to

come fast, and while at it, bring along some fragrant flowers too.

The equivalents of this Tamizh ditty are to be found in other tongues

too, with minor changes. The Moon has therefore always been an object

of fascination and fancy, having been pointed out by billions of

mothers to their innumerable children, over the ages. As a silver

ball hanging in the sky, millions of miles above, the Moon has evoked

a wide spectrum of feelings in the inhabitants of the earth, from

romance and bliss to sadness and sorrow.

 

If we try to trace the origins of children being shown the Moon

by their mothers, we find that it was Yasoda who first did it. Sri

Periazhwar describes this effort to bring down the mighty Moon for

the little Lord’s entertainment, in all of ten pasurams.

“MAmathI viraindu Odi vA”, “AmpulI kadindOdi

vA” “MamathI magizhndu Odi vA” etc. is the refrain

in these verses, telling Moon to hurry up and come down, in response

to the Divine Toddler’s call. The Moon must be extremely

thankful to Sri Vishnuchitta for having made his name a byword with

mothers and their children, for, they have followed Yasoda’s

practice ever since. It is interesting to note Yasoda practically

threatening Moon to come down fast, or else! She tells him that it is

no ordinary brat who is beckoning him, but the very Lord of

Thirumala—

“vitthakan VEnkata vANan unnai viLikkindra

kaitthalam nOvAmE ampulI viaraindu Odi vA”

Yasoda wants the Moon to respond with alacrity, so that the

Lord’s beckoning arm doesn’t ache with repetitive

motions. “Don’t mistake this toddler to be any

nondescript specimen of humanity: He is verily the Paramapurusha, who

feigned sleep on the banyan leaf, in the swirling waters of the Cosmic

deluge.If you don’t come down fast and if He gets annoyed, He

can very well seize you and bring you down with great

ignominy!” threatens Yasoda—

 

“ BAlakan endru paribhavam seyyEl—pandoru nAL

Alinilai vaLarnda sirukkan avan ivan

MEl ezha pAindu piditthu koLLum veguLumEl

MAlai madiyAdE MAmadI magizhndu Odi vA”

It is indeed a measure of closeness that this planet has with Sri

Krishna that he is offered an “arghyam” on the Sri

Jayanthi day.

 

But why should mothers be enamoured of only the Moon and want it to

entertain their offspring, and why not the Sun? The answer is obvious,

for the Sun, though he radiates light and heat, is a ball of fire one

would hardly like to play with, while the Moon ,being cool, pleasant

and inviting, looks to be the ideal playmate for a toddler. And why

should the Moon be so cool and pleasing? The Purusha Sukta has the

answer to this—“ChandramA manasO jAta:”—the

Moon was born straight from the Lord’s merciful heart, filled

with compassion for errant humanity. As such, the Moon cannot but be

pleasing and lovely. After a hard day’s labour, the sight of

the full Moon in all its splendour provides us relaxation and peace

of mind. Tranquility enters our embattled soul and restores a

semblance of equanimity to our skewed perspectives. All these

enthralling effects the Moon has are solely due to its origins, viz,,

the Lord’s merciful mind. The Shruti tells us further that

during every fresh crop of Creation, the Moon is created too, as it

was during earlier episodes of universal

conception—“SooryA Chandramasou dhAtA yathA poorvam

akalpayat”. Though the Sun is mentioned first in this vAkya,

the Purusha Sukta gives the order of precedence to the Moon, by

mentioning him ahead of the former.

 

The Moon has other facets of greatness too. What would you consider a

good day for Bhagavat anubhavam? EkAdasI? DwAdasI? Sri Andal plumps

for a full moon day as the best bet in this regard and calls upon

fellow seekers to immerse themselves in the blissful ocean of

Krishnanubhavam on a PourNami—“MArgazhi thingaL madi

nirainda nannALAl”. Her fascination with Chandran makes Her

compare the Lord’s eyes to the Moon and the Sun, in that

order—

“Thingalum Adityanum ezhundAr pOl angaN irandum”. The

Sun-like eye dispels the darkness of ignorance and sin from our

hearts, while the Moon-like eye fills us with boundless bliss, with

its shower of mercy.

 

With all this going for him, is it any wonder that the Moon is the

darling of everyone’s heart, firstly due to his pleasing

appearance, which is extremely easy on the eye (unlike the blindingly

brilliant Sun) and secondly due to his capacity to put the mind at

ease and fill it with happiness? Is it any wonder therefore, that

Chandran is the apple of poets’ eyes? They find the enchanting

silver ball in the sky an ideal and inviting simile for anything or

anyone good-looking and endearing. We thus have the Adikavi Valmiki

telling us that Sri Rama was as beautiful, radiant and lovely as the

Moon—“SOmavat priyadarsana:”. Not only this, Sri

Rama is often glorified as “Ramachandra!”, affording the

Moon the distinction of forming a significant suffix to the hallowed

name of the Paramapurusha (despite His having taken birth in the

Sun’s Dynasty—Soorya Vamsam). We are told by the prelude

to the Vishnu Sahasranama that the Lord’s complexion resembles

that of the Moon—“Shashi varNam chaturbhujam”.

Swami Desikan compares the Lord’s tirumukha mandalam to the

flawless full moon and the two enchanting eyes to two blooming

lotuses—“Chandra mandalam pONdra tirumukham, adil iraNdu

tAmarai pOl kaNgaL”. Considering it unfair to compare the

radiance of Emperuman’s luminous face to a single Moon, another

vachanam says that it resembles not one, but a million Moons shining

simultaneously, drenching the entire universe in waves of

bliss—

 

“Visvam AhlAdayan kAntyA poorNa Chandra ayuta tulyayA”.

 

Sri Parasara Bhattar, an Acharya who was regarded by Sri Ranganatha as

His very own adopted son, calls His mentor a magnificent Moon in the

firmament of Srirangam—“Ranga ChandramA”. Swami

Desikan, who is equally attached to DEvanAthan of TiruvahIndrapuram,

tells us that the Lord’s face is verily a full moon, which,

with its comfortingly cool beams, drives away all the heat and dust

of Samsara from our souls—

“mugdha smitAmruta shubhEna mukha indunA tE

sangamya samsaraNa sanjvara shAntayE na:”

 

If such is the close association of the Lord with the Moon, can it be

anything else with Piratti, with Her preferences being the same as

those of Her Consort? After all, She is complementary to the Lord in

everything He looks like, thinks and

does—“Bhagavannarayana abhimata anuroopa svarUpa

rUpa”. Hence we find that the Divine Consort too is extremely

close in Her alliance with the Moon.

 

The Vishnu Purana tells us that when the dEvAs and asurAs churned the

Milky ocean with Mantara Parvatam as the churning rod, Vasuki as the

rope and Sri Mahavishnu Himself, in His KoormAvatAra, as the

steadying force on which rested the gigantic mountain, several

auspicous things emerged from the depths of TiruppArkadal, prior to

the Nectar for which the entire exercise was undertaken. The first to

surface was the Divine Cow KamadhEnu, followed by the ParijAta tree

with its overwhelming fragrance and the ApsarAs (mermaids with

breath-taking beauty). Immediately thereafter emerged the Moon, with

his soft and snowy beams and pleasant looks—“tata:

sheetAmsu: abhavat”. We now have additional reasons for the

Moon’s coolness—his origins in the TiruppArkadal. When

the ocean was churned further, there emerged from its depths a

brilliant Goddess, Mahalakshmi, seated on a blooming lotus and

holding another in Her hand.

 

Thus, both the Moon and SrIdEvi are products of the Milky Ocean. It is

thus that the Lakshmi Ashtottharasatam describes Her as the Sister of

Chandra—“Chandra sahOdarI”. Just as we call Sri

Andal “Perumboodoor MAmunikku pin AnAL”, there is perhaps

more reason to say that Sri Mahalakshmi is junior to Chandra, if we

are to go by the order of birth from the PArkadal. It is no wonder

that She inherits the same complexion as that of Her elder brother,

as described by the same stotra—“Chandra varNAm”.

What an extremely concordant couple the Divine Duo is, for while the

Lord is “Shasi varNam”, His Consort is “Chandra

varNA”. She also has the same beauty, brilliance and bewitching

properties as Chandra—“Chandra roopA”. She has the

same comforting coolness as Her brother—“indu

sheetalAm”. She generates bliss in the minds of Her devotees,

as does the Moon—“AhlAda jananI”. With all this, it

is no wonder that the Shruti calls Her, “ChandrA”.

 

Lest anyone mistake the Moon to be an adequate comparison for the

Lord’s looks and beauty, Sri Periazhwar hastens to dispel the

impression, quoting Yasoda to confirm that however brilliant be his

beams, the Moon would hardly equal a minuscule part of Kutti

Krishna’s radiance—

“suttrum oLi vattam soozhndu parandu engum

etthanai seyyilum en magan mukham nEr ovvAi”.

 

Not only is Chandra a fertile source of similes, his wife ROhiNI is

one too. She is famed for her close, shadow-like adherence to her

husband. It is for this inseparability that she is held out as a

model—“Shasinam ROhiNi yathA”. Students of

Astronomy would perhaps be able to confirm whether the relative

celestial position of the two also conforms to this statement.

 

Talking of similes, if you imagine that the rAkshasIs of Lanka were

all unseemly ogresses, you are in for a surprise, for even the

confirmed bachelor Hanuman finds those in Ravana’s harem to be

beautiful, with faces resembling the full moon—“shasi

prakAsa vadanA:chAru kuNdala bhooshitA:”. Tiruvadi finds this

worth repetition—“tAsAm ChandrOpamai: vaktrai: shubhai:

lalita kuNdalai”.

In the chapters of Srimad Ramayana that follow, the Moon graduates,

from a mere model for comparison, into a deity powerful enough to

bestow desired boons. Sri Hanuman, having scoured Lanka and failed to

sight SItA Piratti, has a fit of dejection. Shaking it off as unworthy

of a Ramadoota, AnjanEya prays to the Moon, inter alia, for assistance

in locating Mythily-

“namOstu Ramaya salakshmaNAya dEvyai cha tasyai JanakAtmajAyai

namOstu Rudra Indra Yama anilEbhyO namOstu Chandra arka Marut gaNebhya:”

 

Sri Vishnu Purana reveals to us a less endearing aspect of

ChandrA’s character. Born in the distinguished lineage of atri

(the son of BrahmA), ChandrA was crowned king of all stars, herbs and

brahmins. He performed the RAjasooyA Yaga, acquiring a glorious

stature therefrom. There are several examples of people going berserk

when success goes to their heads, and the Moon’s is one of them.

Forsaking his wedded wife ROhiNi, he coveted and consorted with TArA,

the wife of dEvaguru Brihaspati, despite being counselled against it

by everyone. This resulted in a battle royal between ChandrA and

those opposed to his heinous conduct. Perhaps due to this atrocious

act of his, the Moon was cursed to phases of waxing and waning, known

as the Shukla Paksha and the Krishna Paksha.

 

The progeny of this unholy communion was “Budha”. Thus

was founded the Soma vamsam or the Dynasty of distinguished rulers

and Rishis, with ChandrA as the founder. A few of the illustrious

descendants of the Moon, direct and indirect, are King PurUravA,

Maharshi Jahnu (who drank up the entire waters of the mighty Ganga in

a fit of rage at his ashram being flooded), Maharshi Jamadagni, Sri

ParasurAma, Maharshi Visvamitra etc. The Chandra vamsam can thus

boast of a Bhagavat avatAra, as much as SooryA’s lineage can.

It is perhaps to acknowledge this that the Lord, during the

Brahmotsavam, rides one night on the Chandra Prabha, glorifying the

Moon with His presence.

 

Just as most of us in Tamilnadu follow the SouramAnam or the Solar

calendar, based on the months of mEsham, Vrishabham etc., caused by

the Sun’s entry into the respective RAsis, there are those too,

especially in Andhra Pradesh etc., who follow ChAndramAnam or the

Lunar Calendar, based on phases of the Moon. While for those

following the Solar Calendar AmAvAsyA is an auspicious day, for the

other group, it is not, perhaps because of the total absence of the

Moon on that day. Another interesting titbit is the prescription of

a PrAyaschittam (atonement) know as “ChAndrAyaNam”, for

some sins, which involves taking just one morsel of food per day on

the Shukla Paksha prathamai, gradually increasing the number of

morsels in tune with the waxing phases of the Moon and reducing the

same during the waning phase.

 

The universal appeal of this inviting planet would be apparent, when

we consider that the Full Moon casts a spell over beasts too, which

are supposed to lack the finer aesthetic feelings that we have. We

have heard of wolves trying to emulate talented singers, on the full

moon day, howling away to their hearts’ content. Even inanimate

things are influenced by lunar phases, as can be divined from the

behaviour of tides. The magic of the night is considerably enhanced

by the moon, but for which many a budding romance would have perished

without attaining fruition. When one reaches the ripe age of 80, one

is said to have seen a “thousand Moon”s. All these

assorted facts attest to the popularity of this beautiful planet,

which might only reflect the Sun’s light, but has an alluring

glory, all of its own.

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrismha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri

Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

Dasan, sadagopan