"paraman adi pAdi": Vows, Vows and Vows

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

 

In the second stanza of the "tiruppAvai" (beginning with "vaiyattu

vAzhvIr..."), Andal speaks of 'mArgazhi vrata'.

 

She deals with the subject of various vows ("vrata") that God seekers

undertake. They are vows of fasting, ablution, self-denial and

charity. These are to be strictly observed throughout the course of

"mArgazhi" by the spiritual seeker who like the "aaypAdi" girls is

keen to pursue God.

 

The phrase "neyyunnOm, pAlunnOm" signifies abjuring "ghee and milk"

which are metaphors for renunciation and self-denial. These are

otherwise known in Vedanta as "virakti"/"vairAgya".

 

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Next, the expression "nAt kAlE neerAdi" means ritual bathing

undertaken in the chilly hours before daybreak. Waking up in the wee

hours of a cold wintry "mArgazhi" is an ordeal by itself. One of the

reasons why 'mArgazhi' is known also as "dhanur mAsam" is because it

is the part of the year when in the mornings everyone loves to remain

curled up like a bow ("dhanus") inside their cozy beds. Greater still

is the ordeal of having to get up from a warm bed and go out, as the

'aadypAdi' girls did in the "tiruppAvai", for a ritual bath in a wild

and icy stream in the woods.

 

'nAt kAlE neerAdi' is actually ANdAL's special metaphor for the many

vows of purification a God-seeker puts his soul through. It signifies

the periodical cleansing one's soul must be subjected to in order to

rid it of the taint of sins, both knowing and unwitting.

 

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The expression "mai-it-ezhudOm malarittu mudiyOm" literally means

abjuring from use of beauty enhancing cosmetics and aids. The term

"mai" refers to collyrium or what perhaps is called "kAjal" these

days but generically, it probably includes the entire array of

products we know rules the 'beauty industry' today -- from lip-stick

and skin-toners to eye-mascaras and hair-cream. The term "malarittu

nAm mudiyOm" signifies the resolve of the 'aaypAdi' girls to desist

from even the grooming they normally give their tresses. To a lady of

good upbringing the care of her hair is very important. The vow then

to leave it uncared and unkempt for a whole month in 'mArgazhi' is

certainly the harshest, the most terrible one inflicted upon her.

 

The vow of "mai-it-ezhudOm malarittu nAm mudiyOm" should not however

be mistaken to mean that the true God-seeker must go all out to make

himself/herself physically most disagreeable. The "tiruppAvai" is not

out to make a virtue of slovenliness and unhygiene. What is being

encouraged here is the hard and constant struggle needed by the

seeker of God to shed personal ego and vanity ("mamakAram" and

"ahankAram") which creeps into every aspect of our lives in whatever

we do -- in the form of our possessiveness, selfishness and mighty

self-conceit.

 

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The next vow of 'mArgazhi' AndAl reveals to us is "aiyamUm

pichaiyUm". This refers to 'charity', 'alms-giving' and philanthropy.

The vow of "dAna" -- charity -- is a great one indeed in this world.

It is hailed by the Upanishad even --

 

dAnam iti sarvANi bhUtAni prashagUm santi;

dAnaan nAti duscharam; tasmAd dAnE ramantE

 

-- mahAnArAyaNOpanishad

 

"All living beings praise the act of giving as supreme good; there is

nothing more difficult to practise than charity; and so good people

delight when they can give dAna, when they can gift.."

 

One may wonder why AndAl includes charity in her list of

"things-to-do" in 'mArgazhi'. It strikes us as rather strange that a

certain season should be set apart for 'dAna'? Why should charity be

time-bound? There ought to be no particular season for giving, should

there? One must be willing to give at all times, right?

 

The reason why "tiruppAvai" singles out 'dAna' as a special

"mArgazhi" vow is this:

 

Deeds of charity are not all truly 'charitable'. The charity we

engage in is often indeed deeply tainted by ego, ulterior motive,

pride and high-handedness. Such charity is not real charity as its

underlying sentiment is anything but charitable.

 

This is the reason why in the Taitireeya Upanishad it is cautioned:

 

"shraddhaya dEyam, asraddhayA'dEyam, sriyA dEyam, hriyA dEyam, bhiyA

dEyam..."

 

i.e. "Let your charity be faithful; let it not be insincere or with

ulterior motives; let your charity be whole-hearted; let it be given

with good grace; may you always be extremely mindful of how, in what

manner and for what purpose you give in charity...".

 

In life when acts of charity are undertaken without heed to the above

Upanishadic caution it all quite often ends up in less than wholesome

result. Here is a little parable to illustrate the point:

 

Once there lived a rich man whose charity earned him fame far and

wide. People flocked daily to his house to receive his benefaction.

 

One day seeing a beggar at his doorstep, the rich man resolved to

donate him a handsome gift. He went to his personal stable, picked

the largest and most magnificent animal in it -- a great elephant! --

and gifted the big tusker away to the beggar. The onlookers who

watched felt nothing but scorn and ridicule for the rich man's whim

but, since they were themselves expecting to benefit from his

generosity, they roundly applauded the rich man's munificence with

effusive "ooh-s" and "a-haa-s".

 

The rich man began to gloat and bask. But the beggar himself, poor

man, was reduced to a trembling wreck at the very sight of the

gargantuan gift... "Here I'm scrounging around to feed myself! How

shall I feed another mouth? And an elephant's mouth, to boot? It's

not generosity this rich man is offering. It is insult he is heaping

on a beggar with everyone around watching!".

 

The elephant wasn't too pleased either. "This rich man is giving me

away to a beggar who is himself unsure where his next meal will come

from", the pachyderm thought to itself, "All these years I have been

fed well at the rich man's house. Now I'm being thrown to the beggars

and shall starve to death like them... and for no fault of mine. And

all because of this fool's fancy".

 

All that the rich man's charity earned for himself that day was

nothing but ill-will from both the recipient and the object of

charity, not to mention the all-round but secret ridicule everyone

who stood witness harboured for him. This was a clear case of

"asradhayA'dEyam".

 

The moral of the story therefore is that true acts of charity,

described in the "tiruppAvai" as "aiyamUm pichaiyUm", are those gifts

and alms that (a) behove both the giver and the receiver and (b)are

given wisely, even if not too well.

 

****** ******** *********

 

Next, in this 'pAsuram', we see ANdal speaking of "paraman adi pAdi".

This expression means "singing the praises of God".

 

This phrase leaves us in a bit of doubt as to the exact intent of the

verse. Is Andal saying here that the act of "singing the praise of

God" is another of harsh and severe "mArgazhi" vows? Is "paraman adi

pAdi" similar to the other vows of "aiyamUm pichaiyUm" or "neyyunnOm,

pAlunnOm"?

 

No, never! Nothing could be farther from ANdAL's true intent in

bringing up the beautiful expression "paraman adi pAdi". The act of

singing the praises of God is not a vow but a 'vow-softner'. Now what

do we mean by "vow-softner"?

 

When a vow like "neyyunnOm, pAlunnOm" or "nAt kAlE neerAdi" is

undertaken it is the cause of a great deal of personal discomfort. In

taking such vows one goes through a lot of "sramam" (as it is called

in Sanskrit or "siramam" which is the Tamil equivalent). The human

resolve to carry out a vow unmindful of discomfort can be strong in

the beginning. But very often such resolve weakens rapidly once it

begins to encounter 'siramam'. Vows then will get easily broken

midway and aborted resolutions will fall by the way side.

 

In order to maintain strength of resolve, in order to be able to stay

the steady course of any 'vrata' or vow, the God-seeker who is wise

will resort to "paraman adi pAdi" i.e. he will be found to be

constantly "singing the praises of God" while carrying out the vow.

It is the only way he finds he can 'soften' the rigours and hardship

of observing vows.

 

The success of the various other 'mArgazhi vrata' like "neyyunnOm,

pAlunnOm" or "nAt kAlE neerAdi", ANdAL seems to be telling us through

this wonderful little phrase of "paraman adi pAdi" (in this second

"tiruppAvai" stanza), the success of those other vows verily depends

upon how well and wisely one resorts to the good old reliable

expedient of "paraman adi pAdi" -- singing the praises of God!

 

andAl tiruvadigaLE saranam,

 

Regards,

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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