TREASURE CHEST

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Dear Srevaishnavites,

 

They say "Dont jump to conclusions, otherwise conclusions would jump

on you". I committed this exact error on receiving this message

titled "treasure chest"

 

I naturally thought it was about chests of treasure-chests of wealth

or chest of gold or chest of currency- leading to affluence,

prosperity and security.

 

However, the article turned out to be the chest-thirumArbu of Lord. I

would like to add a few lines before embarking on the other meaning

the 'treasure chest" chest of wealth.

 

I would like to take a quote from Edu for this purpose. It has been

our tradition that women adorn the house they enter and maintain the

reputation of both the house from which they come from and house they

enter - pirandha vEdu and pugundha vEdu. Though, after sometime they

are identified with the hosue they enter, they no doubt nurture

affection and attachment towards their birth place. Will this be the

case in case of a person who gets an unparallel pugundha vEdu. No,

they not only tend to completely forget the place they were in but

also feel uncomfortable in the erstwhile place as compared to the

newfound one. Has this happened in anyone's case.Yes, pirAtti's case

is indeed a precedent. pirAtti was housing in the flower prior to her

finding Lord's chest. EmperumAn's thirumArbu was so soft that she

perceived the flower to be a bed of thorns thenceforth.This is aptly

comprehended from the following Edu vAkyam for alrmEal mangai ''vuRai

mArbA'-thiru voi mozhi 6-10-10- " avan mArvin chuvadaRindha pinbu,

pirandhagamAna pUvum nerunji muLLobhAdhiAyiRru. srE jankarAjan

thirumagaL, perumALai kaipiditha pinbu mithilaiai ninaiyAdhAp

pOlavum, mukthan samsArathai ninaiyAdhAp pOlavum, ivaL pUvai

ninaithilaL"

 

After coming to know the trace of the chest of the Lord She never

thinks about the flower on which she has been resting all along and

even thinks of it as a thorn- nerunji muL. This is akin to the fact

of sitApirAtti forgetting mithilai and mukthAthmAs forgetting

samsAra.

The greatness of divine chest is thus explained.

 

2.Coming back to the topic of Treasure Chest -

Chest of Wealth, in the contemporary world we know of various

financial products like term-deposits, fixed deposits, savings bank

and other several schemes-which I presume sri sadagopan Iyengar is

dealing in, day in and day out in the banking industry.Can the Lord

be compared to the Treasure Chest in

this parlance?

Yes, nam-AzhwAr has done so. In fact, he has named the Lord as "vaitha

mA nidhi" of thiruk kOLUr. Here, I recall the AchArya hrdhyam sUthram

"kai mudhal iyandhAr vuNNum nidhiyin Abhatsakathvam pugum

vOrilEsamrutham" where the Lord is like a Reserve Fund during

distress time. How the lord here can be termed as emergencey/reserve

fund?-the message on this sUthram is posted alongwith this

message.The Lord s thiru nAmam here is "vaitha mA nidhi" . Such kind

of fund arehelpful in distress and hence termed as Abath

sakathvam.Edu vyAkyAnam is excellent in this regard. "vaitha mA nidhi

-thiru voi mozhi 6-7-11 " ..thaLarndhAr thA vaLamAi, eippinil vaippAi"

The wealth for those who are down and out.

thirumangai AzhwAr also termed Him as "eippinil vaippinai" thiru mozhi

7-10-4 meaning "iLaitha vEaLaiyil nidhiyAi" and

"kAsinai maNiai" -rathinam pOl slAkyan Anavanai.

 

Thus, AzhwArs have perceived Him as immeasurable wealth and immense

reserve and emergence distress fund -The Treasure Chest indeed.

 

3. Is there anybody else who can be termed so? No, it cant be? Who can

be equal to or better than the Lord in this respect?is our surmise.

However, sri rAmAnujA has been so and has been appositely described

by sri thiruvarangath amudhanAr in irAmAnusa nURRandhAdhi -in the

following pAsuram-s:

 

"enakkuRRa selvam irAmAnusan enRu"- irAmAsuna nURRandhAdhi 5

My wealth is sri rAmAnujA.

 

"irAmAnusan endhan mA nidhiyEa" irAmAnusa nURRandhAdhi 20

sri rAmAnuja is my great wealth.

 

"irAmAnusan endhan shema vaippEa" irAmAnusa nURRandhAdhi 22

sri rAmAnuja is my reserve/distress savings fund-Provident Fund.

 

 

AzhwAr, emperumAnAr jEyar thiruvadigaLE charaNam.

vanamamalai padmanabhan