"tUya perUneer!": The 3 perspectives of Rain (Part 3 of 3)

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

 

The third perspective of Rain in the TiruppAvai is a deeply

individual and spiritual one.

 

The 5th stanza speaks of Rain not as rain itself but in the

life-giving, life-sustaining form it takes when it flows as the great

rivers of the land. AndAl speaks here of the River Yamuna calling it

"tUya perU-neer" -- a beautiful phrase that fits, in fact, all the

great rain-fed rivers and streams of the world.

 

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The Tamil word "tUya" means "purity", "pristinity", "sanctity". The

word "peru", or rather "perUmai", denotes the quality of "greatness",

"grandeur", "majesty" or "glory". God Almighty is addressed for this

reason as "perumAL", the Great One, by SriVaishnavas.

 

In the TiruppAvai, the River Yamuna is hailed as "tUya perU-neer"

i.e. both the river's Greatness and Sanctity are celebrated in the

5th stanza. There are reasons why the Yamuna is said to be both

"peru-neer" and "tUya-neer".

 

The reason why the Yamuna is hailed as "tUya-neer" is found in a

story of the "purAnA". One, dark stormy night, the child Krishna was

borne aloft on shoulders by his father, Vasudeva, in a little

wicker-basket and secretly ferried across the Yamuna. Vasudeva was

escaping from Kamsan's prison in order to reach Krishna to the safety

of Nandagopan's foster-care in Gokulam. As Vasudeva waded across the

waters, the placid Yamuna sudddenly began to rise causing great

hardship. As the waters slowly rose above Vasudeva's neck, Krishna

suddenly stuck His baby feet out of the wicker-basket and "kicked"

the waters. The Yamuna immediately subsided and Vasudeva thereafter

could easily cross the stream without further ado!

 

The story goes that River Yamuna behaved in the manner narrated only

because she was keen not to miss the opportunity of a lifetime... the

oppportunity to secure "pAda-sparsha" of the Almighty! So, once the

child, Krishna obliged Yamuna with a gentle "kick" of His Divine

Feet, she felt herself instantly sanctified by the contact.

Thereafter, she quickly subsided and gave way to Vasudeva! Alluding

to that special moment in "purAnic" history, when Yamuna attained the

sanctity ("tUymai") of God, AndAl hails the river as "tUya-neer"!

 

The reason why the Yamuna is hailed as "peru-neer" is be found in the

TiruppAvai itself.

 

Yamuna is a perennial river copiously fed by Rain. And Rain, as AndAl

vividly describes it in the 4th stanza, is truly God-like in many

ways. Rain has its Home up in the clouds that are as dark in

complexion as Vishnu ("Uzhi-mUdalvan pOl meyy-karuttu"); it appears

with lightning that closely resembles Vishnu's weapon ("Azhi pOl

minni etc.."); it is accompanied by thunder that sounds very much

like Vishnu's war-bugle ("valampuri pOl ninradhIrndhu"); and when

Rain pours down upon earth, it behaves exactly like arrows fired from

Vishnu's bow, the "sArnga" ("sara-mazhai"). Rain, according to AndAl,

is thus truly God-like ("mudalvan-pOl", she says) and resembles

"perumAl" so much in appearance, speech and behaviour that, later on,

when it flows as the River Yamuna, it is no exaggeration at all to

call it "peru-neer"! (It is delightful to see how the poetess

converts the "sara-mazhai" that is "perumAL-pOl" in "pAsuram" 4 into

"peru-neer" immediately in "pAsuram" 5).

 

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"tUyOmaay vandOm nAm tU-malar tU-vi tOzhudhu...

vAyinAl pAdi, manathinAl sindikka..."

 

Through the above lines of Stanza 5, the 'AaypAdi' girls say, "We are

not like the Yamuna that got sanctified by contact with the baby Feet

of Lord Krishna! We have not had the privilege of

"bhagavath-pAda-sparsha"! We have not even bathed in the

'tUya-peru-neer' of the Yamuna! We are humble girls from the

"aaypAdi" and we have no "perumai" but yet we regard ourselves as

pure of spirit --"tUyOmaay vandOm"...

 

The word "tUymai" gets repeated in an extrordinarily beautiful

alliteration: (a)"tUyOmaay vandOm" (b) "tu malar tOzhudu" and

©"tU-vi tOzhudhu vaayAl pAdi, manathinnAl sindikka".

 

Each of the expressions above has a "svArasyam" (delight) and a

significance of its own. It is what is sought to be savoured below,

even if only very briefly:

 

The expression "tUyOmaay vandOm" means: "We come with purity in our

hearts". This is a reference to Vedic "atma-shUddhi" i.e. purity of

inner spirit. Attaining "tUymai" is one of the most important goals

sought by Vedantic seekers engaged in the pursuit of God.

 

Vedanta recognizes that just as the Body is naturally prone to

gathering daily grime, the Soul too tends to gather the grime of sins

('pApam'), petty and major, of omission and commission, that are

daily committed by Man in the course of life. Just as this world

does not accept bodily un-hygiene in Man, so too in the heavenly

spheres, spiritual impurity is never accepted. The Vedantic Man knows

well that it is only after he attains a state of absolute Purity

("shuddha-sattvam") can he ascend to the Kingdom of God. In the

Upanishad this is well expressed:

 

"sO'hamapApO virajO nirmUktO mUkta-kilbisha: I

nAkasya prushTa-mArUhya gacchEth brahmasa-lOkatAm" II

("mahA-nArAyana-upanishad")

 

"I, whose Sins have been washed away, and freed of all impurities and

defects, shall now climb the regions of Heaven to the state of God!".

 

The Body is inherently gross and unclean. So it is easy enough to

accept that it needs frequent cleansing. The Soul ("atmA"), on the

other hand, is ever pure in its original state and really needs no

cleansing. But its association with the Body ("prakruthi-sambandham"

it is called in Vedantic parlance) exposes the Soul to all manner of

worldly impurities known as 'pApam' -- sins of Thought, Speech and

Deed, sins of "kAma, krOdha, mOha and lObha" -- lust, anger, greed,

ignorance etc.. Therefore, just as the Body needs frequent washing or

tending in order to prevent it from accumulating a load of earthly

filth, Vedanta says the Atma too similarly needs to be kept regularly

cleansed. Otherwise it begins to get rapidly overburdened by earthly

Sin.

 

Bodily filth is removed by timely and proper bathing. The Vedas say

that what bathing is to the Body, Ritual is to the Atma. Such ritual

is called "samskAra". And the cleansing-agent used in both is the

very same -- i.e. Water, without which neither bath for the Body nor

Ritual for the Soul is possible.

 

For instance, one of the daily ("nitya") "samskArA" prescribed by the

Vedas for cleansing the Atma is the "trikAla-gAyatri-sandhyAvandanam"

rite. This rite is to be performed early in the morning, at noon and

at dusk in order to wash off the sins of the night, forenoon and

afternoon respectively. In this rite, we see that the role of Water

is paramount. It is to the ritual-Water cupped within one's hands

during the "mAdhyAnika-sandhyA" (mid-noon rite) that one addresses

the famous Vedic prayer:

 

"Apah: pUnantu pruthvIm pruthivI pUtA pUnAtu mAm I

pUnAntu BrahmaNaspatir-BrahmA pUtA pUnAtu mAm II"

 

"May the Waters purify this Earth, and Earth purify me!

May Brahman purify this Earth, and Earth purify me!"

 

For the purpose of various Vedic 'samskAra', therefore, Water

('Apah') becomes very, very essential. Which is why the Upanishad

says that Man must always look upon Water as his "good and constant

friend" -- "sUmitran", as in:

 

"sUmitrAna Apa Oshadhayah santu..."

('mahA-nArAyaNa-upanishad')

 

When we want to bathe our bodies, we look for clean water. The very

purpose of a bath would be defeated if the water used is impure.

Similarly, it is said the purpose of Vedic "samskAra" (viz.

"atma-shuddhi") would get defeated if the Water used in Ritual is

impure or otherwise unsuitable. The Water needed to cleanse both the

Body and Soul of Man has to be Pure not only in the physical sense

but in a profoundly spiritual sense as well. It must be sanctified...

It must possess the quality of "tUymai" --- the same quality of

Purity possessed by the Waters of the Yamuna and which AndAl, in the

TiruppAvai, was moved to hail as "tUya-peru-neer".

 

If one is privileged in life to have easy access to the

"tUya-peru-neer" of the Yamuna, then the Vedic goal of "atmA-shuddhi"

becomes relatively easy of attainment. Like the "aaypAdi" girls one

can then rightly claim, "tUyOmaay vandOm...". But what is one to do

if the Yamuna (or other such great and sanctified rivers of the land)

unfortunately, is out of one's reach or proximity? Does the goal of

"atma-shuddhi" become then unattainable?

 

To that question, the answer given by AndAl's TiruppAvai is simple:

Take heart! Purity is achieved by other means too. How? Through what

she calls, "malar tu-vi tOzhudhu vAyinAl pAdi, manathinnAl sindikka"!

 

 

The expression "malar tu-vi tOzhudhu vAyinAl pAdi, manathinnAl

sindikka" is a brilliant metaphor for Bhakti. "Out of devotion we

offer flowers, so fresh and pure, to Thee! And out of devotion we

sing your praises and meditate upon You". Through Bhakti, says

ANdAL, one can attain the same purity of spririt possessed by the

"tUya-peru-neer" of the Yamuna. This would require dedicating what,

in Vedantic parlance, is called "karaNa-traya" -- the 3 "karaNa-s" or

primal instruments of Man called Thought, Word and Deed -- entirely

unto the service of God.

 

In three simple but superb metaphors AndAL covers all aspects of

'bhakti-bhAva' as manifested in Thought ("manathinnAl sindikka"),

Word or Speech ("vAyAl pAdi") and Deed ("tu-malar tOzhudu").

 

The first includes "smaraNam" and "sravanam". The second includes

"kirtanam" and the third refers to "archanam", "vandanam", "dAsyam",

"sakyam" and "pAda-sEvanam". When Man engages in them ceaselessly,

they all work together to bring about his "atma-shuddhi", his inner

purity, and render him as pristine as the waters of Yamuna, fit for

offering as final "atma-nIvEdanam" to the Almighty.

 

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If there is one single message this Stanza, with its unique and

wonderful perspective on "tUya-peru-neer", holds out for all of us,

it is surely this:

 

God-like souls become Great not so much because the world

acknowledges their "perumai" but because they have attained "tUymai"

-- Purity and Sanctity of inner spirit.

 

andAL tiruvadigaLE saranam,

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

 

 

 

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