Thirucchandhaviruttham-83rd verse- Our enjoyment of our Lord here is even better than Paramapadham!

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:

Dearest Srivaishnavas,

 

Last verse- AzhwAr mentioned Happiness with Bhagavadh

anubhavam here as well as there. [ingum amgum inbamE]

The uninterrpted, blissful experience and enjoyment at

Paramapadham is no doubt great and grand; However such

experience, enjoyment is rare here as there are

variuos obstacles and hudrles here and hence the

enjoyment here due to Bhagavad anubhavam is in fact

even BETTER and GRANDER than Paramapadham- AzhwAr says

in this verse

 

mattulaavu thaNthuzhaaya

lankalaay!po lan_kazhal,

vittuveeLvi laathapOkam

viNNiln^aNNi yERinum,

ettinOdi raNdenumka

yiRRiNnaalma Nnanthanaik

katti,veeti laathuvaiththa

kaathalinpa maakumE. (83)

 

Oh Lord! The One who wears cool most fragrant honey

dripping thuLasi garland! the zenith of your most

beautiful divine parts of your sowndharyam is the red

lotus feet- except for that even if one attains

Parampadham, would it be more equal to enjoyment of

these lotus feet here – with the mind tied down

strongly with ten strands of rope and not letting it

go loose and haywire on sensual desires. [No. It would

not be- AzhwAr opines. ]

 

KaNNA! Your divine beautiful form is grand and

gorgeous is ok- Leave that aside for the time being.

Your fragrant thuLasi garland is grand and the bees

drink the honey from there enjoying its cool fragrance

as well. The bhAgawathas who are like these bees only

know their greatness and the fragrance of thuLasi…

Like that every part of your body, every ornament of

yours; every garland; - is bhOgyam for us; Parama

bhOgyam.. sweetest objects of enjoyment for us.. for

ever and ever. It is all the more nectarine to enjoy

the same with the naked eyes enjoying part by part

[sowndharyam] and also the whole ThirumEni as a whole

it its entirety [lAvaNyam]. Those who have enjoyed the

archA mUrthys [ numperumAL at Srirangam; Varadan at

Kanchi; Oppiliappan at ThiruviNNagaram; Venkata

Krishnan at Triplicane; list is end less; and all

Divya Desams… ] would agree… [swamy Desikan himself

says: After having enjoyed Varadan at Kanchi, I would

not desire for Srivaikuntam; Let me stay here and

enjoy Him; Thondaradippodi AzhwAr had said: icchuvai

thavira yaan pOi indra lOkam ALum acchuvai perineum

vENDEn… ]

 

Those who know well that this enjoyment will be

permanent and never diminishing without any thriguNa

sambandham – at Paramapadham aspire for going there

and enjoy Him eternally. Let them be so. But- azhwAr

says: This enjoyment is not equal to that enjoyment at

Paramapadham. Never. [we may say: yes. Of course. This

is less equal compared to that of Paramapadham as we

would have paripoorNa brahmAnubhavam.] AzhwAr says

otherwise. It is more here.

 

Argument is: There at Parapadham, one need not do any

efforts: The mind never wavers. The sense organs never

go haywire.the enjoyment is ultimate. But what is the

fun? Here- when things are tough, diffcult to control,

you control the mind, look at Him; enjoy his divine

form; hear His glories; Talk about His divine names,

kalyANa guNAs. Serve Him at the temples; Prostrate at

His feet..

 

There, one need not even have sareeram (upto us- it is

mukthan;s choice); here are we blessed with the body

and limbs.. sense organs and mind to focus. Only when

there is hot scorching sun, we would appreciate the

cool shadow of a tree and would enjoy more. So, the

enjoyment of the Lord here is much more quantified in

that aspect.

 

Of course the quantity of enjoyment- the poorNathvam

is lacking as we are still tied down by dharmabhUtha

jnAnam’s contraction and thirguNa sambandham. But even

little sweet (akkAra adisil) palm ful received at the

temple is much tastier than the plateful received at

home… Tomorrow’s peacock is less good than today’s

crow. – varamadhya kAka: SvO mayUrtAth:

Also there is a tamil line from prabandham of

Thirumangai AzhwAr: yErAr muyal vittu kaakkai pin

pOvadhEn… meaning: Leaving the tasty rabbit flesh

(archA mUrthy) will one go after Paramapadha nAthan

(kaakkai –crow flesh )? It should be comprehended in

right persoective and not to be argued as to whether

AzhwArs say that Paramapadham is inferior to Earth

etc… Proper understanding of context is essential.

 

When You are here – right in front of us- at Divya

Desams- We should enjoy those red lotus feet; leaving

that and focusing only on Paramapadham is like

ignoring the King who has visited our street saying “I

am going to see him next week at his palace anyway.“

He will ask: Is this the respect you had? Why did you

not see me when I was in your street?

 

Don’t argue: Is it wrong to go to Paramapadham? It is

of course bhOgyam. We can attempt to have [almost] the

same bhOgam here enjoying his divine form at Divya

Desams. He – seeing our earnest desire and intensity

of our love for Him, dispels all our karmic diseases

and removes the hurdles to make sure we are blessed to

enjoy Him right here and as long as we are here- is

the message. So, what happens after we die? As we have

already taken refuge at His Feet at this divya desam

itself enjoying him right here, no more karmic

diseases as they have been destroyed. So we go to

Paramapadham rightfully having ParipoorNa

brahmAnubhavam.

 

ettinOduiraNdum- it may mean: ten or patthu- bhakti

(patthudai adiyavarkku yeLiyavan- Thirvaymozhi) So,

eight plus two = ten _patthu) and thus refers to

bhakti.

Why did he hide the word? Because of the respect

AzhwAr has on bhakti- devotion…

 

Or it may be that there need to be lot of efforts

(about ten plus- five karmEndriyas and five

jnAnenriyas) to control the body and mind going

haywire.

Or eight- ashtAksharam; two- Dwayam. Tie down the mind

with utterance of shtAksharam and dwayam contemplating

on their esoteric meanings;

OR eight Athma guNAs- which are essential for being a

mumukhsu- desirer of mOksham;

 

SarvabhUtha daya (being compassionate on all beings);

Patience

Devoid of Jealousy

Suddhi (Purity of mind and body)

AyAsaminmai- devoid of laziness

mangaLam- auspiciousness

adhairyam- devoid of being brave(?);

vairAgyam- detachment

 

or it may mean the eight flowers that please the Lord:

 

Ahimsa Prathamam Pushpam (Non-violence)

Pushpam Indriya Nigraha (Sense-control)

Sarvabhuta Daya Pushpam (Compassion to fellow beings)

Kshama Pushpam Visheshathaha (Patience)

Jnanam Pushpam (Right knowledge)

Tapaf Pushpam (Penance)

Shanthi Pushpam Thathaiva cha (Inner peace)

Satyam Ashtavidham Pushpoho (Truth)

Vishnoho Preetikaram Bhavet

 

OR it may mean: the angAs of bhakti yoga:

 

yama - Leading a life of ahimsA, truthfulness,

brahmacarya, etc.

2. niyama - Purity in mind, being satisfied with

what one has, observing vrata, tapas, etc.

3. Asana - Performing yogic exercises such as

padmAsana, bhadrAsana, etc.

4. prANAyAma - Practicing breath control

5. pratyAhAra - Control of the five senses

6. sthira dhAraNA - Steadfast diversion of one's

mind on Him

7. dhyAna - Uninterrupted meditation

8. samAdhi - Ultimately accomplishing His nearness

through the above seven steps

 

Two: SravaNam [hearing His kalyAna guNAs] and then

mananam [contemplating them and enjoying the same

afterwards]

OR paaNdithyam and mounam (scholarship) and because of

which silence (empty vessel – like me- makes noise)

OR karma yoga and jnAna yoga which lead one to

performance / commencement of bhakti yoga

 

There may be very many like this.

Thirumazhisai Piraan ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan

 

 

 

 

 

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