Part 15: "There is Salvation in numbers"- The Theme of "satsangh" in TiruppAvai

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

 

(17) "kOmbanArk-ellAm kOzhundhEy kulavillakkE…"

 

This is yet another exquisite expression in the

TiruppAvai. It suggests that if a 'satsangh' has

gender it must be feminine indeed.

 

A country or nation is referred to in the feminine --

we say "motherland", for example, and we always say

"her flag" or "her great people". "Bharath-mAtA" or

Mother India, symbolizes India and again, "Our Lady of

Liberty" at Manhattan is the most outstanding symbol

of the USA. Similarly, the gender of great ships (like

the luxury cruises, "Queen Elizabeth" or "Queen Mary

II") is always feminine.

 

Likewise, if 'satsangh' were to be attributed any

gender at all, without a doubt it would be feminine…

It is fact that stands attested by scriptural

tradition:

 

In the Ramayana, it is said, the 'satsangh' of

'rshi-s' of DandakAranya when they first set eyes on

Rama, was swept off its feet. The sages were

completely "bowled over" with love for Him. They were

rare and fortunate souls indeed in being able to

witness divine Grace and Beauty stand embodied on

earth and having a living avatar moving about amongst

them at such close quarters. (Just imagine having the

Almighty living so close amongst us that His very

breath was upon us!)

 

It is a wonder of "itihAsic" all wonders that the mind

of a whole Vedic community -- of abstinent, forest

dwelling hermits -- however turned suddenly,

head-over-heels as it were, to romantic thoughts. Each

'rshi' in DandakAranya, after watching Rama, found

himself secretly wishing he could turn himself into a

woman and behold the Supreme Person ("parama-purusha")

through lovelorn eyes and a heart besotted with

feminine passion.

 

The secret yearning of the 'satsangh' at DandakAranya

did not go unfulfilled. "Puranic" legend has it that

the 'rshi-s' were reborn in the time of Krishna as the

lovely 'gOpikA-s' of Brindavan. These damsels, as we

know, happily courted and frolicked with their beloved

Krishna to hearts' content and feasted their eyes all

day long upon the majestic form of the Almighty!

 

Somewhere in this tale there is a cautionary lesson

for the male chauvinist: A male-dominated 'satsangh'

of Vedic sages switched gender in rebirth from 'rshis'

to lovely 'gOpikA-s' in order to truly behold and

experience the beauty of the Almighty! One also

wonders if it might not have also been the very same

'rshi-s' who perhaps, not having quite whetted their

appetite as 'gOpikAs' at Brindavan, took rebirth again

in the 'aayarpAdi' of Srivilliputtur as a 'satsangh'

of milkmaids of the TiruppAvai!

 

Ages later, one AzhwAr took the same happy cue of the

'rshi-s' of DandakAranya. He was Swami NammAzhwAr who

turned himself into a "nAyaki" -- a lovelorn heroine

pining for her elusive Lord -- and poured his heart

out in Tamil hymns brimming with God-love. He too

showed the world that Bhakti is best expressed through

the feminine frame of the human mind -- what in the

idiom of the Bhakti tradition is called "nAyaki-bhAva"

..

 

There was another AzhwAr who went a further step

beyond NammAzhwAr or the "rshis" of DandakAranya. He

was none other than AndAl's father -- Sri

Vishnu-chittan, also known famously as 'Peria-AzhwAr'.

This AzhwAr extended the feminine character of

"Bhakti-bhAva" to its very extreme but logical

end-form. He betook himself to be Krishna's mother,

Yasoda, and poured his heart out in glorious songs

which spoke of God Almighty seen and experienced

through the melting moods of maternal tenderness.

While the AzhwAr's songs revealed the great potential

maternity possessed for mystic fulfillment, the

God-passion of the 'gOpikA's' found its perfect

counterpart in its sublimation into Yasoda's

motherhood.

 

It is as tribute to Yasoda epitomizing the feminine

soul of a 'satsangh' that we must regard the

TiruppAvai expression -- "kOmbanArk-ellAm kOzhundhEy

kulavillakkE…emperumAtti yasOdAi…".

 

To be like Yasoda -- why, to become Yasoda herself --

is the chief aim of all Bhakti… The maidens of

TiruppAvai looked unto her as role model, as exemplar

of Bhakti in its essentially feminine mould. The

'satsangh' of ancient 'rshis' were inspired by it. It

was what the AzhwArs too aimed at… What is Bhakti

indeed if not a human soul aching for God as a

mother's heart aches for her child? If the soul of

womanhood had a name it surely would be Yasoda. And

who but loving mothers alone would grasp the enormity

of the truth that a 'satsangh' and its Bhakti are

female in gender?

 

*************

(to be continued)

 

Regards,

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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