A Fruitful Tale

[Guest guest]

Srimate Srivan Satakopa Sri Vedanta Desika

Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

A Fruity Tale

 

“An Apple a day keeps the Doctor away”

goes the adage, emphasising the importance of fruits to our health.

No dinner table is complete without an assortment of seasonal fruits,

which form the ideal dessert. It is perhaps with this in view that the

Shastras too tell us to conclude our meal with a sweet

(fruit)-“madhurENa samApayEt”. There is a wide variety of

fruits in God’s creation, to suit every taste, palate and purse.

If the rich man has a basket of Alphonso mangoes, the

not-so-well-to-do can have bananas, which are cheaper and more

nutritious. The Fruit thus occupies an important place in our

everyday lives and represents the culmination of the tree or

shrub’s creative endeavour. Here are a few ripe ones, for the

connoisseur’s sampling.

 

The Lord might have created any number of fruits for

human consumption, but devotees consider Him to be a tastier and more

fulfilling fruit than any other. He is the “KOdil in kani”

of Sri Kalian (“Vizhumia munivar vizhungum kOdil in

kani”). Other fruits may have blemishes such as over ripeness

or immaturity, but this Divine Fruit has the perfect degree of

“pakvam” and is ever ready for consumption by the devout.

Mangoes, apples, oranges, pomegranates or guavas--most of the fruits

are seasonal and are available only during the respective season: in

comparison, the Divine Fruit is always available, throughout the

year, 24 hours a day, to all those who seek it sincerely. This is

thus a Fruit with absolutely no shortcoming or blemish

(“kOdilin kani”). This is no “forbidden

fruit” denied to mankind, but a fruit which welcomes everybody

to have a bite. While ordinary fruits are the result of a process of

evolution from flower to fruit, this Fruit Extraordinaire

doesn’t undergo any change or “vikAra”.

 

Fruits which have already been tasted by birds and bees are extremely

sweet, we are told. By this standard, the Lord too should indeed be

delicious, tasted as He has been by the most pious of devotees like

Azhwars, Acharyas and MaharshIs, who have dedicated their thought,

word and action solely to Him (“vizhumia munivar vizhungum

kOdil in kani”).

If the Vedas are to be described as a giant tree with branches spread

far and wide, then the Lord is verily its ultimate result, the

raison-de-etre, the Fruit-

“VEdattin suvai payan”.

 

If this is what Sri Kalian has to say, then Sri Nammazhwar must have

already said it, for Sri Parakala’s poems are but products of

Sri Parankusa’s outpourings.

Predictably, we find a reflection of the aforesaid verse in

Tiruvaimozhi, with but negligible variation-

“ mikkAr vEda vimalar vizhungum en akkAra kaniyE”

Here too, the Lord is described as a delectable fruit, so sweet that

it could be made of sugar candy- “akkAra kani”. This

akkAra kani is consumed with delight by no less than the

Celestials-“vEda vimalar”.

Sri Nammazhwar seems to consider the Lord to be a “fruity”

person, for there are several related references-‘nei suvai

tEral engO kani engO pAl engEnO”, “kattiai tEnai amudai

nan pAlai kaniyai karumbu tannai” etc.

 

The lips of the Lord resemble a beautiful red fruit, say all the Azhwars—

“kani irundu anaya sevvAi KaNNanai kaNda kaNgaL”

“kovvai chevvAi”

 

If Sri Parankusa and Sri Parakala consider the Lord to be a

“Kani”, can Swami Desikan be far behind? For his part,

the Acharya too likens the Lord to a fruit-bearing tree. However,

this is a fruit with a difference. Tall people can pluck fruits from

trees without much effort, while short ones may have to take recourse

to ladders etc. This, however, is a tree that yields fruits to tall

ones and short ones alike, but only to those who bend down to it,

irrespective of their height. Whether you are tall or short, you can

reach the fruit only if you bend down. Irrespective of one’s

stature in the academic, social or economic spheres, the Lord bestows

Moksha only on those who “bend down” or perform

Sharanagati to Him. Here is the beautiful sloka from Sri ParamArttha

Stuti-

 

“SrImat Gridhra saras teera pArijAtam upAsmahE

yatra tungai: atungaicha praNatai: grihyatE phalam”.

 

Talking of Moksham, the Lord appears to have bestowed the ultimate

reward on some people, just because they offered Him fruits. And

these were not gourmet items to be found in rare lands or of

exceptional taste. They were fruits of a mere common garden variety,

to be found aplenty without much effort in the forest. The person who

could wangle out liberation from the Lord in return for a few fruits,

is none other than Sri Sabhari, whose offering the Lord accepted with

great gusto, because it was accompanied by exceptional devotion and

love. The Ramayana Mangala sloka records this for posterity-

 

“SAdaram SabharI datta phala moolAbhilAshiNE

Soulabhya paripoorNAya sattvOdriktAya mangalam”

 

In accepting Sri Sabhari’s humble offering, the Lord appears to

have been guided by the dictum He Himself was to enunciate later in

Sri Krishnavatara-that it is not the preciousness or price of the

offering that matters, but the degree of piety and love that

accompanies it-

 

‘Patram pushpam phalam tOyam yO mE bhaktyA prayacchati

tadaham bhakti upahritam asnAmi prayatAtmana:”

 

However, is it true that Sri Sabhari, out of her anxiety to offer Sri

Rama only the best, tasted the fruits first and offered the

half-eaten ones to the Prince of Ayodhya, as is depicted in some

versions and in popular television serials? The answer appears to be

No, for there is no mention in Srimad Ramayana of this happening.

While Sri Valmiki does speak of Sri Sabhari’s offering of

fruits and roots (“mayA tu vividham vanyam sanchitam

Purusharshabha!—tavArtthE Purusha VyAghra! PampAyA: teera

sambhavam”), nowhere does he speak of the devotee savouring

them first to ascertain their tastiness. In fact, to the contrary,

Sri Valmiki tells us that all of Sri Sabhari’s offerings were

“proper” and as per ShAstrAs—“PAdyam

Achamaneeyam cha sarvam prAdAd yathA vidhi”.

 

Srimad Bhagavatam too recounts the tale of the Lord offering the

priceless jewels adorning His infantile tirumEni to an itinerant

fruit-seller, in return for a handful of “nAval pazham”.

Sri Yasoda tries to tempt the elusive Krishna to come and be dressed

up decently, with an offer of fruits, and, in particular,

“nAval pazham” and Jack fruit—“uNNa kanigaL

taruvan”, “nAvar pazham koNdu vaitthEn” “inia

palA pazham tandu” etc.

 

Imparting an interesting twist to the fruity tale, Sri Periazhwar

tells us that the jewels that the mischievous Lord offered to the

fruit-vendor were not His own, but confiscated from an unresisting

Gopi and when summoned to account for His misdemeanour, the Lord just

laughed away the accusation—

 

“illam pugundu en magaLai koovi, kayyil vaLayai kazhattri koNdu

kollaiyinindrum koNarndu vittra angorutthikku av vaLai kodutthu

nalla nAval pazhangaL koNdu nAn allEn endru sirikkindrAnE”

 

The Lord’s weakness for fruits is thus well demonstrated and

chronicled. It would appear therefore that if you need some favour

from Him, all you have to do is to offer Him some fruits: however,

the catch lies in the phrases, “bhakti upahritam” and

“prayatAtmana:”-the fruits, however humble or cheap, have

to be offered to Him with impeccable devotion and love. Otherwise, He

doesn’t even touch, leave alone accept, costly offerings, if

they are bereft of piety and sincerity. During TiruvArAdhanam, while

submitting fruits for the Lord’s consumption, it is customary

to offer them duly cleaned, peeled and ready for use, and not just as

they are available in nature.

 

Speaking of peeling fruits, there is the tale of a devotee, whom the

Lord had honoured with a visit to his (devotee’s) home, who,

unable to take his eyes off the Lord’s bewitching countenance

and tirumEni, ended up offering all the banana skins to the Lord and

throwing away the fruits inside, mixed up in his preoccupation with

bhagavat anubhavam. This was none other than Sri VidhurA, who was so

taken up with Emperuman’s beauty that he offered the Lord what

was to be thrown away and dutifully threw away the sweet bananas that

were to be offered for consumption. However, since the banana peels

were offered with the best of bhakti and piety, though by mistake,

the Lord consumed them with all relish, without once drawing

VidhurA’s attention to the mix up.

 

Though the Lord appears to be quite fond of fruits, there are some

that He looks askance at and doesn’t partake of. The

MundakOpanishad talks of a tree, which is inhabited by two beautiful

birds, of which one eats the tree’s fruits while the other

doesn’t.

 

“DvA suparNA sayujA sakhAyA samAnam vriksham parishasvajAtE

tayO: anya: pippalam svAdu atti, anasnan anya: abhichAkaseeti”

 

This beautiful allegory refers to the human body as the tree and the

JeevAtma and Paramatma, who inhabit this shareeram, as the

pretty-winged birds perched on the tree. The fruits of the tree

represent “Karma phalam” or the results flowing from our

accumulated baggage of merits and demerits, which the Jeevatma

continues to enjoy or suffer, while the Paramatma, as the antaryAmi,

just watches the Jeevatma’s antics, without partaking of and

being tainted by the fruits of the former’s action or inaction.

 

We have seen the immense benefits that fruits, ordinary or otherwise,

can confer upon us. However, there are instances of fruits proving

fatal. We are told that ParIkshit Maharaja, who was told that he had

only seven days to live and would meet his death through a snake,

barricaded himself in a specially constructed enclosure with airtight

security to prevent access to serpents. The wise King failed to reckon

with the long arm of fate, which presented itself in the form of a

Brahmin come to bless the monarch, carrying a citrus fruit in his

hand as a token of respect. Daksha, the King of Serpents, who had hid

himself in the fruit in the form of a tiny worm, came out hissing, at

his venomous best, and struck the King dead.

 

Depiction of nature, in all its enticing beauty, comes automatically

to Azhwars, who see the same as yet another manifestation of the

Lord’s Creation in all its myriad variety. Here is a sample of

the same from the Third TiruvandAdi, in which fruits play an

important role--’PArttha kaduvan sunai neer nizhal kaNdu

PErtthOr kaduvan ena pErndu—kArttha

KaLam kanikku kai neettum VenkatamE- mEl nAL

ViLam kanikku kandru erindAn verppu”

 

A monkey, looking down into a well and finding its reflection,

imagines the same to be another of its species and beseeches the

latter to give it the black but delicious kaLA pazham. And where does

this happen? At TiruvEnkatam, the abode of the Lord who, in His

Krishnavatara, felled two mangoes in one stone, so to say, by dashing

an asurA, who had come in the garb of a calf (VatsAsura), against

another asura, who had transformed himself into a ViLA

tree(KapittAsura). The moment the calf was flung with force at the

tree, all the ViLA fruits rained down due the force and the tree

itself was totally destroyed, along with the calf.

 

Azhwars appear to be enamoured of this “fruitful”

episode, for it receives their repeated attention and

recording—

“kattru kuNilai ViLam kanikku kandru erindAn”,

“kandru kuNilA erindAi kazhal pOttri”

“MElAl ViLavin kAi kandrinAl veezhttavan!”

“tAzhnda viLam kanikku kandrerindu vEttruruvAi”

“kandrinai vAlOlai mAtti manigaL udira erindu”) etc.

 

It is perhaps to commemorate this event that even today, the

offerings to the Lord on the SrI Jayanti day include KaLA pazham,

ViLAm pazham etc.

 

Another instance where the innovative Krishna used fruits as

ammunition for destroying an asura is recounted by Sri Tirumazhisai

PirAn. DhEnukAsura was one more messenger of death dispatched by

Kamsa to eliminate the apple of Yasoda’s eye. The asura came in

the form of a mule. Instantly identifying the marauder for what he

was, the Lord caught him by his four legs and threw him against a

sturdy palm tree ripe with fruit. The asura dashed against the fruits

with such force that he was blown to smithereens. Says Sri

Tirumazhisai PirAn—

“VAsiyAgi nEsam indri vandu edirnda DhEnukan

nAsamAgi nAL ulappa nanmai sEr panam kanikku

veesi mEl nimirnda tOLin illai AkkinAi kazharkku

AsayAm avarkkalAl amarar Agal AgumE?”

 

To bring the “fruity” tale to an end, all of us like

fruits, but do fruits like us? What a silly question, you might feel.

However, fruits do have likes and dislikes. There are instances of

fruits appearing suddenly on branches of trees, quite out of season.

Even in these days of hybrid crop varieties and genetically treated

seeds, it would be difficult to find mangoes on tree branches in

November or December. We are told, however, that prompted by the

joyous occasion of Sri Rama’s homecoming after fourteen long

years of exile in the jungle, fruits appeared on their own on all

trees, quite out of season, even on those which had stopped bearing

fruit years back—

“Bhoomi: sasyavatI chaiva phalavantascha pAdapA:”

Contrast this with the sudden disappearance of flowers, fruits et al

from all trees, when Raghunandana left for his jungle sojourn—

“api vrikshA: parimlAnA: sa pushpAnkura kOrakA:---RAma vyasana karsitA:”

Therefore it appears to be indeed true that the affinity between the

Lord and fruits is mutual: He likes them and they too love Him.

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri

Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

Dasan, sadagopan