The Treasure Chest

[Guest guest]

Srimate SrivanSatakopa SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya

nama:

 

The Treasure Chest

 

How nice would it be if one were to find a hidden Treasure Chest buried

in one's backyard? One comes across reports in the newspapers from time to

time, telling one of the discovery of pots full of gold or silver coins,

relating to ancient times, when fields or gardens are dug for something or the

other. Thus a Treasure Chest is what one would like to find, for attaining

instant prosperity and affluence. However, there is another type of Chest, which

would bestow on us not merely material wealth and riches, but also indescribable

mental bliss and eventual liberation from the mundane morass. Do read on to

discover this wonderful Chest.

 

Though this would invite accusations of employing poor puns, the Chest I

refer to is the upper tirumEni of the Lord. On second thoughts, however, it

doesn't appear to be such a bad pun, for it is the abode of the most valuable of

all treasures,viz., Piratti. Thus the Lord's is the Chest that houses the most

magnificent of Treasures-valuable not only because of Her propensity to grant

everything that a devotee seeks from Her, but also due to Her penchant for

interceding on our behalf, whenever the Lord takes stock of our misdeeds. But

for Her strong recommendations, our innumerable and indescribable transgressions

would ensure our rotting in hell forever. What better Treasure can we aspire

for, and in which other Treasure Chest can we find it?

 

Which part of the Lord's chest does Piratti occupy? It is the right side,

categorically says Sri Periazhwar-"nin vala mArbinil vAzhgindra Mangai".

However, Tiruvenkatamudayan is loathe to leaving the left side of His chest

bare, and accomodates Bhoodevi too in the space. Piratti illuminates the

beautiful black chest of the Lord, just as a flash of lightning through a dark

cumulus, says Sri Peyazhwar-"polindu iruNda kAr vAnil minnE pOl tOndri

Malindu Tiru irunda mArban"

 

Puns apart, the Lord's chest has been an object of utter fascination for His

votaries, be they poets, philosophers or devotees. The first and foremost of

KAvyAs, Srimad Ramayanam, has Sri Valmiki waxing eloquent over the breadth and

beauty of Sri Rama's chest-

 

"MahOraskO MahEshvAsO gUdachatru: arindama:"

 

Chakkravartti Tirumagan's chest was broad and beautiful. The word "MahA"

prefixed to the word "uraska:" indicates a person with a great chest: here,

greatness could also be interpreted to mean the presence of Piratti. What better

greatness could there be than Her glorious attendance?

 

Not only was Raghava's chest broad, it was fleshy too-not the flabby flesh of an

idler, but the firm one of a fine warrior-"peena vakshA visAlAksha: kambugreevO

mahAhanu:". Sri Valmiki never tires of describing the Lord's chest and

throughout the epic there are any number of mentions of the same. When SitA

Piratti tests Hanuman's bonafides by asking him to describe Sri Rama's physical

beauty, Tiruvadi obliges readily and with pleasure. In doing so, he too comments

on the toughness of Raghava's chest-- "Tristthira:" (He is strong in three

places-chest, wrists and knees).

 

If we leave the Vibhava avataras and set our sights on the magnificent

archhAvatara, we find Sri Tiruppanazhwar losing himself in the beauty of Sri

Ranganatha's upper torso-"arangatthammAn tiru Ara mArbadu andrO adiyEnai

AtkoNdadE!". The perfect dresser that He is, the Lord's chest is never bare. It

is always full of ornaments, whch add to their own brilliance by association

with His tirumEni. When you consider how fond women are of jewels, it is but

natural that the Lord is forced to adorn His Consort, and, in the process, His

own chest, with bewitching jewelry round His neck and on His chest.

 

Another adornment to His chest is the brilliant and beautiful "maru" Sri Vatsam,

which is the presiding deity for the "Prakriti" tatvam. This "maru" too finds

adulatory mention in several places-for instance, Sri Tondaradipodi Azhwar

considers it important enough to make it part of the Lord's name, by calling Him

"TirumarumArba!", in an approximate tranlation of the Sanskrit sobriquet,

"SrIvatsachihna:", which was the given name of Sri Koorattazhwan. Says Sri

Alavandar, "visAla vakshastthala shObhi lakshaNam", referring to this beautiful

ensign on Emperuman's broad chest. Swami Desikan expands on this in his

inimitable words-"ati vishAla bhujAntara shObhamAna prakriti tattva niroopaka

LakshmI nivAsa SrIVatsa lakshaNam".

 

What would be the best adornment for a MahAveerA's chest? Innumerable scars

resulting from battle with mighty foes, of course. These scars shine as

magnificent medallions, attesting to the wars waged and victories won, all in

the course of the noble mission of Sharanagata Rakshanam. Swami Desikan says

that the Lord's broad chest is decorated with such impressive vestiges of His

encounters with dastardly and demonic forces, adding considerably to the beauty

bestowed by Piratti, Srivatsam and the VanamAlA. Srivatsam is by nature blue,

Piratti of a golden hue, the Koustubha Ratnam radiates red rays and the

VaijayantI hAram is multi-coloured, investing Emperuman's chest with a

kaleidascope of brilliant colours-

"durdAnta daitya visikha kshata kpatra bhangam

Veerasya tE Vibudha nAyaka! BAhu madhyam

SrIVatsa Koustubha RamA vanamAlikAngam

ChintAnubhooya labhatE charitArtthatAm na:"

 

The VaijayantI is by itself so beautiful that Swami Desikan devotes a separate

verse to it, paying tribute to its bewtiching array of colours, its composition

consisting of a bewildering variety of blooms, its unfading fragrance and the

exalted company it keeps, of Piratti and the Koustubha MaNi-

 

"VarNaramENa VibudhEsa! VichitritAngI

SmEra prasUna subhagA VanamAlikEyam

HridyA sugandhi: ajahat KamalA MaNIndrA

NityA tava sphurati moortiriva dvitIyA"

 

With all the fragrant garlands of Tiruttuzhai and flowers that He wears, the

Lord's chest is indeed aromatic and sweet-smelling. And when He embraces

Piratti, some of the KastUri She wears rubs off on HIm, making His chest more

perfumed-"SrI stana kastUri vAsanA vAsita urasE!". It is known that during their

romantic interludes, a husband and wife do not generally preserve the decorous

interaction that prevails otherwise. We thus have Sri Krishna beseeching to

Radha (according to the Gita Govinda) to place her lovely feet on His head.

Similarly, we are told that the Lord's chest too bears vestiges of the

decorative dye that Piratti wears on Her tiruvadi-"LakshmI charaNa lAkshAnga

sAkshAt Srivatsa vakshasE!". All that has been said so far about the Lord's

chest has been summarised by Swami Desikan in a sloka of Bhagavat DhyAna

sOpAnam-

 

"SrIVatsEna prathita vibhavam SrIpada nyAsa dhanyam

madhyam bAhvOr maNivara ruchA ranjitam RangadhAmna:

Sandhra cchAyai: taruNa TulasI chitrayA VaijayantyA

SantApam Me samayati diya: chandrikOdAra hAram"

 

More than a part of His own tirumEni, the Lord's chest serves as a palace beyond

compare for an illustrious Empress, viz,, Sri Mahalakshmi. What principal items

do we find in any palace? 1)Pervasive fragrance,2) Festoons of pearls and gems

hanging all over, 3)bright lighting with the most brilliant of lamps, 4)the

walls adorned with paintings of various hues, 5)bedsteads made of the softest of

swan's feathers and the most supple of down and so on.

 

We find all these and more characterising the Lord's chest, making it an ideal

castle for the Consort.

 

1) First of all, Emperuman's tirumArbu is festooned with any number of garlands,

made of the most precious of gems and pearls, of the brightest of blooms

comprising the VaijayantI hAram, the pure white YagyOpavItam lying across the

black chest like a slash of lightning amidst dark, rainbearing clouds, etc.

2) As to fragrance, there is no dearth of it in the Lord's chest, coated as it

is always with thick sandalwood paste mixed with perfumed camphor.

3) This broad and beautiful castle housing Piratti is lit with the brightest of

lamps, viz., the Koustubha MaNi, emitting the most brilliant of lustre, shining

like a resplendent Moon, amidst the encircling stars represented by the gleaming

gems on various garlands.

4) The scars resulting from the Lord's encounter with the seven deadly bulls

(which He vanquished to win the hand of Sri Nappinnai) form strange and

bewitching patterns on His chest, giving the impression of its being decorated

with beautiful images and works of art.

5) The numerous garlands of soft and fragrant flowers lying across the Lord's

chest form an ideal bedstead for Piratti.

With all this, is it any wonder that Sri Bhattar describes the Lord's

tirumArbu as a veritable palace for Piratti? Here is the

beautiful sloka from Sri Rangaraja Stavam-

 

"Malayaja shasi liptam mAlatI dhAma talpam

sumaNi sara vitAnam Koustubha svasti deepam

danuja vrusha vishANa ullEkha chitram cha LakshmI

lalitha griham upAsE Ranga sarvam sahOra:"

 

We can safely aver that it is the Lord's chest which serves as the chief

indicator of His supremacy, for it is Sri Mahalakshmi, residing there

constantly, who is the defining mark of the Parabrahmam, who identifies the

Lord to us as the Paramapurusha, distinct and different from other demigods who

cannot boast of the distinction. This is evident from the following sloka of Sri

Bhattar-

 

"VakshastthalyAm Tulasi KamalA Koustubhai: VaijayantI

SarvEsatvam kathayati tarAm RangadhAmna: tat AstAm"

 

It is impossible to portray fully the breadth and the beauty, the magnificence

and majesty, the softness and splendour of the Lord's chest, which, readers

would now agree, is a matchless Treasure Chest indeed. Let us conclude with Sri

PAN PerumAL's paean of praise to this glorious part of Emperuman's tirumEni-

 

"BhAramAya pazhavinai pattru arutthu-ennai tan

vAram Akki vaitthAn vaitthadu andri ennuL pugundAn

ghOra mA tavam seidanan kol ariyEn arangattammAn tiru

Ara mArbu adandrO adiyEnai AtkoNdadE"

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

Dasan, sadagopan