envy or poraamai - post 1

[Guest guest]

Dear sri vaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

 

It is generally said one should not envy other or be jealous for some thing,

which other's possess. It is also said this jealousy or envy is a disease, which

kills slowly, remaining within the mind, without showing signs of it's existence

externally. In tamil it is said "poRaamai udan irunthE or uL irunthE kollum

vyaadhi"- meaning this jealousy is a killer disease being within.

 

But many a times the jealousy is expressed between two or more people whether it

is for a personal benefit or otherwise. There are certain characters in this

world that possess a lot of jealousy with others for 'any thing and every

thing'. For example the other person may possess good health because of his

regular exercises, whereas my jealous friend or I may not know the spelling of

that word 'exercise'- forget about doing it. But in the heart of hearts, my

friend and I are jealous of that man's good health. Because of this jealousy I

get bad health - like hypertension, high blood pressure etc.

 

Many a times when one, out of jealousy, makes a statement comparing two subjects

or things, this envious statement may sound as though it is in sympathy with the

weaker one [or the other]. Some times it may sound as though it is in praise of

the first. Third time it may sound as though it is an exclamatory statement

wondering on the good luck of the first or the beneficiary or advantageous.

Fourth time it may be an expression of a surprise or exclamation. But in the

real run, the underlying current may be nothing else except 'jealousy'.

 

There are many examples of this kind of 'sympathy' or 'praise' or 'exclamation'

outwardly. See here aaNdaal singing

 

padhinaaRaamaayiravar dhEvimaar paarththiruppa

madhu vaayiRkoNdaaRpOl maadhavan than vaayamudham

podhuvaaga uNbadhanaip pukku nee uNdakkaal

sidhaiyaarO? unnOdu selvap perunchangE | 7-9 naachchiyaar thirumozhi

 

meaning: hey, the big and wealthy conch, would not they, the 16000 and odd wives

of that maadhavan not crumble watching you, [in jealousy], [or - will they not

fight with you] when they see you eating [or taking] that nectar from his mouth

directly [like the honey of his mouth].

 

Dear krishNa bhakthaas, you may conclude whether this a

a. praise of the conch considering the baagyam of the conch of being in touch

with krishNa's lips.

b. sympathy for the large number of wives of the lord maadhavan that the conch

is able to get close to his lips easily, which these wives have to get with lot

of difficulty.

c. jealousy of the poetess that the conch is able to reach the mouth of that

lord krishNa and enjoy his kiss from that nectarine lips that I am not able to

do that.

d. Or an exclamatory statement in comparison of conch and wives in reaching the

lord's lips

e. Or a combination of all these aspects stated above.

 

Now see another instance from kulasekara aazhvaar - this padhikam is titled

dhEvaki pulambal - murmuring of dhEvaki - that yasOdhaa got all, which I missed

in totality. But you can also take it as a statement made of jealousy also, if

you look at from another angle - that I missed all these whereas she got it so

easily. See statements like

 

aanaiyiR kidantha kidakkai kaNdidap peRRilan

anthO kEsavaa, keduvEn keduvanE - 7-2

 

piLLai inbaththai izhandha paaviyEn enadhu aavi nillaadhE - 7-4

 

thiru ilEn onRum peRRilEn ellaam dheiva nangai yasOdhai peRRaaLE - 7-5

 

kodu vinaiyEn ennai en seyyap peRRadhu emmOyE 7-6

 

en uLLam uL kuLira onRum kaNdidaip peRRilEn adiyEn 7-9

 

You see all these statements are

a. oh I missed all these - if it is stopped with that statement alone then we

can make it as out of empathy with self.

b. But when next word is said - oh she got it - that enables us to say 'as made

out of jealousy'.

c. Third then we can say also say it is for praising of yasOdhaa's bhaagyam,

d. or fourth an exclamation that oh she got all that which I missed

e. or a combination of all the theee factors stated above.

 

Yet again in another verse -

 

vadik kola vaaL nedum kaN maa malaraaL sevvip

padik kOlam kaNdu agalaaL pal naaL adikkOli

gnaaththaaL pinnum nalam purinthadhu en kolO?

kOlaththaal illai kuRai - 82 - second thiru andhaadhi

 

meaning: that mahaa lakshmi who was born in the large lotus flower, and who has

sharp, beautiful, bright, and long eyes, never leaves her lord without enjoying

his 'body beautiful'. If this is the position, then how come another lady the

boomi dhEvi also joined in enjoying that beauty of lord. So deficiency is not in

individual's beauty.

 

See now this verse -

1. is it a statement of envy on mahaa lakshmi's bhaagyam by bhoomi dhEvi

2. or a simple statement praising both the bhaagyam of lakshmi as well boodhEvi

by the poet

3. or praising the lord's beauty in comparison with these two beautiful ladies

4. or his tact in managing with both these beautiful ladies stating I am better

of and you can only enjoy my beauty but can not claim as equal or better to me

5. or the jealousy of bhoomi dhEvi that she a bit more beautiful than me so she

gets a better share than me.

Sri Uthamor swamy also makes a statement "bhoomip piraati namakku idhu

kidaippadhu aridhu enRu vittiruppaaLO". Means she envies with periya piraatti on

her beauty and closeness to lord.

 

Dear bhakthaas, you can decide which one of these factors. [May be if you are a

puritan you may get angry with me on the above. My intention is also to enjoy my

krishNa and the lord's beauty only. No deviation or offense is meant in any

way].

 

Why all these references from '4000 prabhandham' is to give out a krithi of OVS

mahaan about my krishNa which is similar to aaNdaal praising the conch. See the

krithi now where OVS praises the achEthanam flute - a bamboo stick - there it is

a conch shell here it is a bamboo stick with holes. That undercurrent of envy

with that stick's baagyam is spelt out subtly.

 

raagam: aarabhi thaaLam: aadhi thaaLam

 

pallavi:

kuzhalE nee enna koduththu vaiththanaiyO

gOvindhan unnai oodha engaL gOpaalan unnai oodha

konji unai senthaamarai malar anna karam koNdu

aNaiththida kuviyidhazh - adharam unadhiru amudhinai

koLLai koNdavarai parugidavena [kuzhalE nee]

 

anupallavi:

kazhalO unakkenath thaaLangaL pOda

adhaik-kaNdavudan amarargaL maa malar thoova

mazhaiyO vandhadhu ena maa mayilgaL aada

engaL manamO lajjaiyai vittu gajjai katti aada [kuzhalE nee]

 

(madhyamakalam)

madhu maNandhu poraadhadhaagiya karu vaNdinam kaNdu

indhaLam paada maazhai marakatham minnoLi iNaiyena

vandhu vandhu balam unthu aravum aada gathi irandha maadhavar aanavar

iLa kanniyar aaghavum thayir vilai koora kai aNaiththu mei aNaiththu

kaadhal seivadhu enRu hariyOdum uravaada [kuzhalE nee]

 

charanam:

kONaamal naaNaamal maamalaith-thookki

kudaiyaaghap-pidiththaan maamazhai neekki

aanaalum inRu unai kaikku uRavaakki

aanaanE mukkONan aavadharkkuL nOkki [kuzhalE nee]

 

Munch the lines in your mind and enjoy the flute music of my krishNa. The

meaning of this krithi we will see in next post.

 

Dhasan

 

Vasudevan m.g.