THE DIVINE MESSENGER-PANDAVA DHOOTHAN

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Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

 

 

Sri Pillai Lokacharya (PL) starts his magnum opus Srivachana bhooshanam with

"vEdArththam aridhiyiduvadhu smriti Ithihasa purAnangalAlE" (The meanings of the

poorva and uttara bhaga of the Vedas have been conveyed in the smrithis,

ithihasas and puranas). Ithyhasas and puranas talk about that which has

happened once upon a time. But, ithihasas have been considered a step higher

than the puranas by our poorvacharyas. The 2 great epics, Ramayana and

Mahabharata are notable.

 

 

"vEda vEdhyE parE pumsee jAthE dasaradhAtmajE

 

vEda: prAchEdasAdAseet sAkshAt rAmAyanAtmanA"

 

[When the divine lord, Sriman Narayana largely adorned by the Vedas took avatara

as the son of dasaratha, the Vedas took birth as Ramayana from the mouth of the

son of prAdEsasit, vAlmeeki maharishi]

 

 

 

"madhimandAra mAvidya yEnAsou sruthi sAgarAt

 

jagat hithAya janithO mahAbhAratha chandramA"

 

[While the great veda vyasa churned the ocean of Vedas with his intellect as the

stirrer, for the benefit of the whole world emerged the moon, mahAbhArata]

 

 

 

What does mahabharata convey?

 

PL answers, "mahAbhArathaththAl dhoothu pOnavan ERRam sollugiradhu"

 

 

 

Mahabharata is considered as the fifth veda [bhAratham panchamO veda:] Here

instead of saying that this great epic elaborates the greatness of sarvEsvaran,

the supreme almighty Sri PL says that it elaborates the greatness of a divine

messenger. Why? This is to show the bhakthavAtsalyam of emperuman (he does

anything for the sake of his bhakthas) Krishna is dwarkAdeesan, king of kings

with all valour but still he walked as pandava dhoothan to the court of the

gauravas. In those days, writing letters and sending it through birds that fly

from one place to other did communication. The sender used to tie the letter to

the birds neck. The same menial job was done by the divine lord Sri Krishna for

the sake of his close bhakthas (mama prAnAhi pAndava: )

 

"ennAr dhoothan ena nindrAn" [periya thirumozhi 2:2:3]

 

"kudai mannaridai nadandha dhoothA" [Periya thirumozhi 6:2:9]

 

Admires thirumangai mannan, the divine act of the lord.

 

 

 

The great tamil work, silappadhikaram (Aychiyar kuravai) also talks the

greatness of this divine messenger;

 

"madanthAzhum nanjaththu kanjanAr vanjam

 

kadandhAnai nooRRavarpAl nARRisaiyum pORRa

 

padarindhu AraNamuzhanga panjavarkku dhoothu

 

nadandhAnai EththAdha nAvenna nAvE!

 

NArAyanA vennA nAvenna nAvE!

 

 

 

[The lord who overcame the hatred in the heart of kamsa, the lord who amidst the

praise of one and all in all directions walked as the messenger for the sake of

the five pandavas; What is the purpose of the tongue that doesn't talk his

praise! What is the purpose of the tongue that doesn't say 'nArAyanA'!]

 

 

 

Reading all these it is quiet natural for all of us to aspire to have the

darshan of that divine messenger. How to do it now? Our lord who is ever filled

with mercy never leaves the wishes of his bhakhas unfulfilled. So even today he

gives darshan as pandava dhoothan in the divine divya desa at kanchipuram

celebrated as 'ThiruppAdagam' by our azhvars. BhoodatAzhvar, pEyAzhvar,

thirumazhisai piran and thirumangai azhvar have done mangalasasanams to this

divya desam. The emperuman (moolavar) is so huge that it is absolutely very

rare to see such a huge thirumeni in sitting posture in any other divya desam.

The vastrams (clothes) and thiruabharanam (jewels) along with thirumArpu lakshmi

(piratti in the chest of the lord) all form part of the thirumeni (divine body)

itself. One archaka in that temple says that about 16 (10x6) dhotis joined

together are required for this perumal. The utsava moorthi is so charming and

ever ready to talk in favour of his bhakthas.

 

 

 

While Krishna walked as pandava dhoothan to the court of the gauravas,

duriyOdhana made a tricky plan to arrest Krishna with the help of about 100

soldiers and put him in jail till the end of the bhArata yuddha. But Krishna

being sarvagnan (one who knows everything) suddenly took vishvaroopa that was

visible even to the blind DridharAsta. But unfortunately this vishvaroopa

darisanam did not create bhakthi or fear in the mind of duriyodhana instead he

claimed this act of Krishna to be magic. Emperuman still gives the same

visvaroopa darshan to all of us in this divya desam. It is left to the

individuals to view like duriyodhana or like the saptharishis and mahans who

viewed the divine sight with atmost bhakthi and enjoyed the divine experience.

 

 

 

More interestingly this divya desam is the avatara stalam of ArulAlaperumal

emperumAnAr, the great scholar (yagya moorthi) with whom swamy Ramanujar argued

for about 18 days and a great acharya who later even sacrificed his mutt for the

sake of establishing the greatness and uniqueness of the jagadacharya swamy

ramanujar.

 

 

 

Today is the avatara thirunakshatram of arulAlaperumal emperumAnAr -kArthigaiyil

bharani

 

 

 

On this auspicious day the acharya receives honours from two divya stalams

 

1) His acharya - Swamy emperumanar in Sriperumbudur

 

2) Sri Parthasarathi emperuman, Thiruvallikeni - who incarnated as Swamy

emperumanar.

 

 

 

The dwajastambha samprOkshana (jeernOdhArana mahotsavam) in this divine place

occurred on 11th Dec.2005 as per panchararta agama.

 

 

 

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam

 

Adiyen ramanuja dAsee

 

Sumithra Varadarajan