ETE 10 - The Lord Remembers Not

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

The Lord Remembers Not

 

We saw how the Lord has a prodigious memory for our good deeds,

"KritagyatA" being one of His principal attributes. However, this, by

itself, is not enough. If the Lord were to be an extremely fair

person, guided solely by the rulebook, meting out rewards for the

merits we accumulate and commensurate retribution for our

transgressions, we would be nowhere. Many of us commit lapses,

knowingly and otherwise, all through our lifetime, and in life after

endless life. If the Lord were to cumulate all the sins we commit and

insist on exemplary punishment, we would forever be wallowing in the

mundane morass. As Swami Desikan remarks, if the Lord is the

repository of all auspicious attributes, we too are no less in

stature -- we are Titans in Transgression ("aparAdha ChakravartthI").

This being so, we are able to commit in a trice grave and innumerable

sins, which would take the Lord years to

process and pardon.

 

Thus, given our predilection for PApam, the Lord can never lay down

His instruments of reprisal, if He were to act as an Avenging Angel.

It would however be an impossible task, even for the omnipotent Lord,

to keep count of and mete out just punishment for each and every one

of our misdeeds. Perhaps it is this factor, which forces Him to adopt

a forgiving attitude.

 

Recalling Sri Rama's goodness, Sri Valmiki remarks that even if a

person were to do Him a hundred bad turns, the Prince of Ayodhya

never remembered them. There are those who tolerate insults and

refrain from punitive reprisals, but even they would definitely

harbour some misgiving or other against the offender. Sri Raghava was

not only unmoved by offences against Himself, however grave and

numerous they were, but also promptly forgot about them, says Sri

Valmiki: "na smarati apakArANAm satamapi AtmavatthayA".

 

When we analyse the true purport of the term "AtmavatthayA" (which is

ascribed as the reason for the Lord readily forgetting all our

wrongdoings), we arrive at the conclusion that it refers to the

beneficial presence of PirAtti. "ardhO vA Esha Atmana: Yat patnI"

says the Shruti, giving the Better Half a significant stature in the

scheme of things, and EmperumAn appears to be no exception to the

Universal Law. Thus, even though the Lord might, by nature, be

inclined to be just and expect us to reap the fruits of our misdeeds,

His justice is liberally tempered with Mercy, due to the constant

presence of His Consort.

 

According to the Maharshi, Sri Rama took cognizance of transgressions,

but never remembered them. Swami Desikan, going a step further, avers

that the Lord never even recognizes the offences as such, turning a

blind eye to them -- "Bhakta dOshEshu adarsanam". Lest anyone

misconstrue this to be the result of the Lord's own loving nature,

Swami Desikan hastens to add that it is due to the seductive glances

of Sri NeeLA dEvi that the Lord is prevented from casting even a

cursory glance at the offences of His devotees:

 

"nisAmayatu mAm NeelA yat bhOga patalai: dhruvam

BhAvitam SrinivAsasya bhakta dOshEshu adarsanam"That the Lord falls

heavily for the charms of His Consorts is borne out by Sri

Nammazhwar's sreesookti: "alli malar magaL bhOga mayakkugal Agiyum

nirkum ammAn".

 

Thus Sridevi, Bhoo dEvi and NeeLA dEvi keep the Lord entangled in

their romantic web, such that He is able to neither take cognizance

of our misdeeds nor award appropriate punishment.

 

"Isvaranai azhagAlE tirutthum" says Sri Pillai LokAachArya, confirming

that the Divine Consorts use their boundless beauty as a tool of

blackmail, to ensure that the Lord never lifts a punitive finger

against any devotee for his misdemeanours. Sri Manavala Mamuni's

beautiful lines of elaboration in this regard are as follows:

 

"Unakku paNi andrO idu, endru upadEsatthai udari taLLinavArE,

kaNNai purattudal, kacchayai negizhtthudal seydu, tan azhagAlE

avanai picchEttri, tAn sonnapadi seidu alladu nirka mAttAdapadi

paNNi angeekAra unmukhan Akkugai"PirAtti tells the Lord that there is

none in the world who doesn't commit mistakes and that as the Divine

Father, it is the Lord's duty to forgive and forget, irrespective of

the graveness of the offence. If the Lord is not inclined to listen,

either due to the offence being deadly serious or because the

offender is a habitual one, PirAtti throws Him a glance filled with

love, and exercising all Her feminine guile, makes Him so enamoured

with Her that He is ready to do Her bidding in the matter of

absolution for the sinner.

 

We now know where our better halves inherit their persuasive skills

from, especially when they are intent on committing us to a course of

action which we would never even contemplate adopting. Ladies' powers

of persuasion are such that their male counterparts, who usually

start with a firm "No!" to the proposal, tone it down to "You know

that this is not possible at this juncture" five minutes later, and

further to "let me see. I am not committing myself.". After another

ten minutes of listening, the man usually surrenders honourably, with

"Oh well! Have it your own way." Even the most resolute of men has no

reply to the ultimate weapon in women's armoury, viz, tears. If men

are pig-headed enough not to listen to the feminine voice of reason,

then tears come into the arena, usually enforcing a meek surrender.

The Lord too is no exception to this Universal Law, and ends up doing

what the Lady of the house desires. After all, He, like

most of us, simply carries out His Lady's wishes: "tad ingita

parAdhIna:", says Sri Koorattazhwan. And when it is His Consort's

desire that devotees' misdeeds should not be taken cognizance of, the

Lord says "TathAstu" and turns a blind eye to them.

 

There are thus several reasons for the Lord's short memory, as for as

His bhaktAs' offences are concerned.

 

1. By nature, the Lord Himself is infinitely merciful. He is a

"KaruNA varuNAlayam", a veritable ocean of Mercy, and a "KaruNA

Kakutstttha:". This makes Him a lenient father tolerantly forgiving

the lapses of his beloved children. If someone were to carry tales to

Him about us, He would just turn a deaf ear, even in the impossible

event of PirAtti being the complainant: "TamarayAL Agilum chidagu

uraikkumEl, en adiyAr adu seyyAr, seidAlum nandrE seidAr enbar

pOlum".

 

2. EmperumAn has the ever-merciful Mahalakshmi as His constant

companion. Being the Universal Mother, this Lady knows not what anger

or punishment is: "nityam agyAta nigrahAm". She is just incapable of

being offended by anything we do, and would do all that is in Her

immense power to ensure that we come to no grief, interceding with

Her spouse on our behalf whenever necessary. "na kaschit na

aparAdhyati" is Her oft-repeated averment, reminding the Lord that He

would find none except sinners in this world, however hard He might

search, and hence He should take a tolerant view of His bhaktAs'

misdemeanours.

 

3. Sri Bhoo dEvi, the Lord's other Consort, is the

personification of tolerance: "Sarvam SahA". Searching for an apt

simile for the Lord's "porumai" (patience), Sri Valmiki ends up

comparing Him with His own Consort, unable to find a better

repository of this virtue: "KshamayA PrithivI sama:". Every day, She

forgives us our innumerable transgressions, but for which our burden

of misdeeds would become unbearably heavy.

 

4. Sri NeeLA dEvi is known for the exercise of Her feminine

charms on the Lord, to ensure that He forgives and forgets, and,

better still, doesn't look our way at all when we commit lapses:

"bhAvitam SrinivAsasya bhakta dOshEshu adarsanam".

 

5. DayA dEvi is another inseparable companion of the Lord,

keeping in strict check His other attributes like GnAnam, Shakti,

Balam etc., which apprise Him of our offenses and recommend just

retribution. The magnificence of this Consort of the Lord should be

evident from the fact that Swami Desikan, who devoted mere thirty-odd

slokas to SridEvi, BhoodEvi and Kodai Nachiar, composed 108

brilliantly beautiful verses in praise of DayA dEvi.

 

6. If all else should fail, there are our merciful AchAryAs, who

are of our own ilk and hence in a better position to appreciate our

frailties and compulsions. They strongly intercede with the Lord on

our behalf and spare us from what would be one continuing saga of

punishment.

 

With all the aforesaid entities pleading to the Lord on our behalf, is

it any wonder that the Lord Remembers Not?

 

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri

Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:---------dasan, sadagopanDo you

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