ANDAL'S ENVY KRISHNA'S PRIDE-1

[Guest guest]

ANDAL'S ENVY -CONCH'S PRIDE

 

Sri sadagopan Iyengar's posting on the bamboo instrument was thought

provoking. He had queried whether we had read or seen the Lord

playing any other instrument. The flute has the privilege of being

near the Lord, near His lips. However, despite all its credentials,

it does not enjoy the place of the conch. Why so? The Lord's conch,

namely pAnchajanyam, also has the privilege of being with the Lord,

adorning His broad shoulders and tasting His mouth. It is a weapon

and does not produce magnifying music and the consequential effect of

the flute. It definitely does not have a magical impact on the living

or non-living things when related to the Lord's flute. It does not

make living things to become like non-living things-ezhudhu chithiram

pOle ninRanavE- or make the seemingly non-living burst into life i.e.

behave like living things-marangaL ninRu madhu dhAraigaL pAyum.Then,

how can we conclude that It is better placed as compared to the flute

?

 

First, let us see what AzhwAr mentions about the conch. It is said

that when Lord krishNA put His mouth unto the conch at the outset of

the kurukshEthrA war, and the warriors were terrorised mercilessly,

as a stentorian effect. This is clearly spelt out in thiru voi

mozhip pAsuram :

 

"vari vaLaiyAl kuRaivillA - peru muzhakkAl adangArai, eri azhal

ampuga vUdhi..." thiru voi mozhi 4-8-8.

vari vaLai- the conch with lines on it.

kuRaivillA peru muzhakkAl = With substantial big sound;

peru muzhakku = The great sound emanating from the pAnchajanyam. The

maha-dhwani of the pAnchajanyam.

peru muzhakkAl- adangArai eri azhalam puga vUdhii= The opponents were

pierced with scorching sound of the conch which entered the hearts

and petrified them.

 

The point here is that, the noise from the conch terrorises the opponents.

 

sri AndAL has also voiced the same view in thiruppAvai:

 

" valam puri pOle ninRadhirndhu" thiruppAvai 4 and in

 

27th pAsuram " gnAlathai ellAm nadunga muralvana" the opponents in the

universe are shocked with awe and fear.

 

periAzhwAr also has mentioned this in periAzhwAr thiru mozhi 3-3-5

"paRRAr nadunga mun pAnchajanyathai vAi vaitha, pOr ErErE..."

For the sake of pAndavAs Lord krishNA used the conch to create the big

bang noise which terrorised the duryOdhanA and his warriors with alarm

and great fear.

 

The conch- pAnchajanyam is seen as a weapon in the Lord's hands and

instills enormous fear psychosis the minds of the opponents.

 

is that all?

( to be continued)

vanamamalai padmanabhan