The Lord's Day Out

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika

Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

The Lord’s Day Out

 

One of the most engaging and endearing traits of the ParamAtmA is His

soulabhyam or accessibility. In spite of His exalted nature and

stature, He made Himself visible to those who were around at the time

of His various avataras, moved as one among them, lowering Himself to

their levels and participating like an intimate family member in

their joy and sorrow. And though the times of the avataras are long

past, to sustain His inalienable connection with mortals, the Lord

takes the form and shape they wish Him to and reigns resplendent in

the various temples they construct for Him, whether it be palatial

abodes like Srirangam, Tirumalai or Perumal Koil, or just a thatched

shed with a mere wick-lamp to provide light. He obediently stands,

sits or lies down as they wish Him to (“suvar misai sArtthiyum

vaitthum tozhuvar”), bathes and eats when He is told to by the

arcchakAs, to whose every whim and fancy He subjects Himself,

becoming a total “arcchaka parAdheena:”.

 

None would hence dispute that the Lord’s arcchAvatAra provides

the best demonstration of His endearing Soulabhyam and enchanting

Souseelyam. The Lord, who is beyond the ken of the mortal eye

(“na sandrisE tishttati roopam asya, na chakshushA pasyati

kascha nainam” says the Taittiriya Upanishad, which Sri

Nammazhwar summarises in a single word, “Katkilee”) not

only makes Himself visible to all our eyes, without distinction,

during specific hours of the day as if He is a museum piece, He also

condescends to partake of the measly fare (in most of the sannidhis,

it is merely “veLlai sAdam” or unseasoned rice, that He

is offered) that is submitted to Him, with absolutely no complaint.

He gets up late when the arcchakA turns up late at the sannidhi

(having overslept) and goes to bed early, when the arcchaka has some

errand to perform and decides to leave home early.

 

There is, however, one act of Emperuman, which marks the epitome of

His souseelyam, and soulabhyam, more than any enumerated above. One

might wonder whether there could indeed be any thing other than what

has already been said, for all of them reflect the two sterling

qualities in abundance. There indeed is, and it is the practice of

the Lord at various sannidhis to go around the mAda veedhis or the

streets encircling the temple, periodically. We call this

“Tiruveedi PurappAdu” in chaste Tamizh and

“utsavam” in Sanskrit. While the Tamizh word is

self-explanatory, the word “Savam” refers to a Yagya or

sacred sacrifice and the prefix “ut” denotes its

superlative character. Thus the term “utsavam” indicates

a YAga of the highest order. As we know, all YAgAs and Yagyas are

after all rituals performed with the sole objective of pleasing the

Lord. And that which generates the greatest pleasure for Him is

“utsavam”. The word hence indicates that organising the

Lord’s outing gives Him quite a lot of pleasure and is

therefore equal to the highest of exalted sacrifices.

 

Why does His periodical outing afford Emperuman such pleasure? There are several reasons for this.

 

First and foremost, it is the joy caused by the opportunity to meet

so many of His devotees. Even if a temple is nearby, we know from

experience that our “busy” schedule enables us to visit

the Lord only occasionally. The topsy-turvy priorities that we

city-dwellers have adopted, affords us adequate time for anything and

everything and the most frivolous of pursuits, but not enough for

spiritual endeavours. It is thus that we end up not visiting the Lord

at His abode, even if it is quite proximate. We, with our hearts of

stone (“irumbu pOl valiya nenjam”), might survive without

seeing Emperuman for any length of time—however, He, with His

heart melting with compassion and irrepressible love, is simply

unable to tolerate our absence. This is why He takes to the streets

once in a while, just to have a “dharshan” of us. This is

a case of the mountain coming to Mohamed, even if the latter

doesn’t go the former. The Lord is so enamoured of His

offspring that like a doting parent, He comes out to visit us, even

if we stay away. Doesn’t this remind us of the saying,

“Pettra manam pitthu, piLLai manam kallu”?

 

Secondly, even if some of us do wish to visit temples, we are unable

to do so due to some crippling malady or the other, like Arthritis,

cardiac problems and the like and are forced to lead a life of

confinement to the bed or wheel chair. It is to afford an opportunity

to such invalids too, to have a purifying and ecstatic glimpse of Him,

that the Lord takes to the streets. When we are hale and hearty, of

sound body and mind, in full possession of our faculties, we should

visit as many sannidhis as possible, storing within us the joyful

pictures of the glorious Lord in His various forms. If we do this,

even if we are unable in old age to visit Him, He comes out to us,

enabling us to have a blissful eyeful of His magnificent form. This

is only a natural corollary of the VarAha Charamaslokam—

 

“StthirE manasi susvastthE shareerE sati yO nara:

dhAtu sAmyE stthirE smartA Visvaroopam cha mAm ajam

Tata: tam mriyamANam tu kAshtta pAshANa sannibham

Aham smarAmi mat bhaktam, nayAmi paramAm gatim”

 

“If you think of Me when you are well, I shall think of you and

take care of you, when you are not”, says the Lord in this

beautiful sloka. And true to His word, He comes out running to see

you if you are an invalid, in the guise of “Tiruveedi

PurappAdu”.

 

A third reason for the Lord’s outings is His anxiety to attract

to His fold, as many uncooperative people as possible. We have come

across several persons, who have absolutely no faith in God and

wouldn’t take shelter in a temple, even if it were raining cats

and dogs. Despite their attitudes, the Lord is not prepared to abandon

them or write them off as incorrigible, for they too are His

children—prodigal children, but His progeny all the same. The

Lord’s beauty and splendour are such that even His sworn

adversary loses himself in the divine magnificence, as did

ShoorpanakhA, after her nose was cut. Despite the indignity inflicted

on her, all that she is able to recollect about Sri Rama and Lakshmana

are their broad, lotus eyes, becoming dresses of tree bark and

deerskin and their overwhelming youth and

beauty—“PuNdarIka visAlAkshou cheera

krishNAjinAbarou” says she, describing the offenders to her

brother Ravana. It is in search of such hard nuts too that the Lord

undertakes outings, so that they too could be conquered by His

irresistible splendour, floored by His irresistible lotus eyes and

made to fall at His feet despite themselves, thoroughly won over

(“JitamtE PuNdarIkAksha!, namastE”) and brought around to

the path of righteousness and devotion.

 

Recollecting the impartiality with which the Divine Feet traversed the

three worlds and imprinted themselves on all beings during the

TrivikramAvatAra, Sri Alavandar yearns for a similar, sacred touch of

the Lord’s tiruvadi on his (Alavandar’s)

head—“ kadA…..Trivikrama! Tvat charaNAmbuja dvayam

madeeya moordhAnam alankarishyati!”. It is to bless us all with

a purifying touch of His holy feet, represented by the SathAri (which

the arcchaka, walking ahead of the Lord during

“purappAdu”, places on the head of devotees) that the

Lord comes out on the streets, forming a fourth reason therefor.

 

Another and fifth reason is the Lord’s desire to show us all how

enamoured He is of the incredibly sweet verses of Azhwars. Though

these PrabandAs are recited in the temple too, Emperuman wants to

show us His partiality for aruliccheyal by following the adhyApaka

ghOshti, who move ahead reciting the lilting and beautiful pAsurams,

with the Lord apparently running after them to hear more of the same.

We must remember here that it was Emperumans of various divya dEsams

who paid a visit to the tamarind tree, seeking Sri Nammazhwar’s

paeans of praise in their favour, while Azhwar stayed put on his perch

in the treehole. Thus, the Lord is extremely partial to the

devotion-filled verses of Divya Prabandam and demonstrates His

passion by following those who recite the same.

 

By the same token, the VEda pArayaNa ghOshti which follows the Lord

indicates to us that the Shruti is forever seeking to fathom the

extent of at least one of His auspicious attributes, but is doomed to

failure because the kalyANa guNAs are indeed

unfathomable—“YatO vAchO nivartantE, aprApya manasA

saha”. Nevertheless, since the search itself is so pleasurable,

the Shruti doesn’t give up and continues its unending voyage of

discovery.

 

The Lord’s liking for a day out can be gleaned from the

frequency with which He trots out to the streets. EkAdasi, AmAvAsyA,

the first day of the month, the Star of ShravaNam, the birthdays of

Azhwars and Acharyas—you name the occasion and you would find

the Lord on an outing. It would appear at divya dEsams like

TiruvallikkENi that few are the days on which Emperuman confines

Himself to His abode, preferring to go out with His Consorts at the

drop of a hat. And the Lord really has a treat during the

BrahmOtsavams, which mean for Him an outing twice a day for at least

ten days, decked up in all His finery, astride various vAhanams, to

the accompaniment of music and dance and surrounded by an adoring

army of devotees. Those who are fortunate enough to have their eyeful

of the utsavams find themselves bewildered at what to see and how to

see the same fully, for the Lord’s magnificent tirumEni, His

beautiful Consorts, the particular vAhanam which has the unimaginable

good fortune of carrying the Lord that day, the adhyApaka ghOshti

melting the minds of listeners with their melodious rendering of

verses dripping with devotion, the VEda pArAyaNa swamis intoning the

majestic litany of the magnificent Shruti—all these compete for

the onlooker’s attention simultaneously and ensure that he never

has his fill of the indescribable delight that the cumulative picture

presents.

 

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have spent my childhood at

Tiruvallikkeni, running away to the temple or the nearest mAda veedi

at the distant beat of the drums heralding the Lord’s arrival,

finding Him ensconced on the broad shoulders of GarurthmAn, with

innumerable pieces of new cloth lovingly offered by devotees draped

around His own and His carrier’s shoulders, running along with

the “YAnai” vAhanam with the SrIpAdam thAngIs simulating

an elephant on the rampage, with the added and hilarious attraction

of a Bhattar dressed in a flowing gown trying to imitate a mahout,

pulling the sturdy iron chains of the Lord’s Chariot,

simultaneously drinking in the graceful beauty of its slow and

swaying progress, revelling at the sight of fireworks that used to be

let off ahead of the Lord’s arrival and reacting with amusement

at the sight of Emperuman trying His best to look like His beautiful

Consort in the NAcchiyAr TirukkOlam but failing miserably because He

can’t simulate the loving and mercy-filled eyes of TirumagaL.

We children practically used to live at the temple, getting in the

way of kainkaryaparAs, accompanying the Lord to the vAhana mandapam,

breathlessly awaiting His dramatic emergence, in all His regal

splendour, ensconced on the vAhanam of the day, from behind the thick

screens and walking or running with the vAhanam through the streets of

Tiruvallikkeni. And we would go home only after seeing the Lord back

to the temple, safe and sound from His outing and after

“TiruvandikkAppu” was performed. All these are indeed

indelible imprints on the mind’s eye, which enthral me even

after 30 years and fill me with sadness that the Lord has chosen to

keep me away from all the fun, frolic and fanfare of His utsavams

ever since then.

 

And it was definitely not my imagination, but the Lord did seem to

sport a more beaming smile on His beautiful countenance when on

Tiruveedi purappAdu, than when He was confined to His temple. The

sight of all those devotees, come to participate in the festival

dropping whatever personal or official work they had, all for His

sake, intent on savouring His splendour bit by bit, must have made

Emperuman so happy as to broaden the smirk on His divine visage.

 

Is there any wonder then that Swami Desikan prefers to have a regular

feast of witnessing the Lord’s utsavams at divya desams like

Kanchi, rather than a life of boundless bliss at Sri Vaikuntam? The

Acharya doesn’t want even to blink while drinking in the beauty

of the deity, for fear of missing one second of irreplaceable

anubhavam.

 

“Turaga VihagarAja syanadana AndOlikAdishu

adhikam adhikam anyAm Atma shObhAm dadhAnam

anavadhika vibhootim HastisailEsvaram tvAm

anudinam animEshai: lOchanai: nirvisEyam”

 

“Satyam shapE VAraNa shailanAtha! Vaikuntta vAsEpi na mE abhilAsha”

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri

Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

dasan, sadagopan