kuththu - Tiruppavai #19

[Guest guest]

Asmad gurubhyo namaha, Jai Srimannarayana!

 

Bharatheeya philosophical literature is the greatest literature. It neither

recommends one to relinquish the natural instincts a human being has nor does it

recommend one to imbibe new ones. These natural instincts need to be turned

towards God, put into His Service for His sake.

 

During rainy season the rivers flood, submerge the villages and most water flows

into ocean. To avoid this we are constructing dams. The dams restrict the flow,

divert the water to canals, and channels; villages don’t get submerged; the

water is utilized for crops; the excess goes into ocean. There are no floods and

this is constructive usage. Similarly our thought process and flow need to be

channelized by building the dam called ‘daivam’.

 

The sugar coating on a bitter pill helps only to swallow it. Actually it is the

bitter medicine that works and cures the disease. Similarly fill everything with

‘narayana tattvam’ and coat this tattvam with things you like and you love to

see. It will enhance the sattva and wash off the mean desires and fixes the

Narayana Tattva on the mind’s mirror. The ‘sringara’ of divine couple when

enjoyed cleanses the mundane feelings and elevates us. Our divine mother,

Lakshmi, is mom not just to you and me. She is the Mom to all the souls.

Narayana is our divine father of all the souls.

 

What is the reason for our birth?

 

The souls in paramatma need a body for which ‘kaama’ needs to come up in Him.

When will He take this sankalpa? When He sees the state of the souls the

compassion overwhelms and the pity towards us causes Him to do the ‘srusti’. The

compassion is only called, ‘Lakshmi’ Before this sankalpa, He saw the old karmas

of the jives felt He should not do so. The compassion in Him did not overwhelm

His ‘svatantrayam’. Our divine mother comes to our rescue. She captivates our

dad with her divine enchanting beauty. Our divine mother makes our Lord

sympathetic towards us by drawing His attention with her charm and makes Him

judge us with compassion and benevolence. All this happens just because of our

divine mother.

 

Before the ‘srusti’, there are only our Swami and ‘Krupa’. All the jivas are in

swami. This is Neela’s palace depicted in this pasura by Andal. What will

result in this srusti? Who will open the doors of the palace?

 

Andal and her ‘go:shti’ come to awaken mom, Neela. She tries to wake up. Krishna

in His divine playful mood holds onto Neela. Neela devi rests back on top of

Krishna. Seeing this Andal seeks justice and seeks the divine companionship of

Lord and Mom. This call of Andal pacifies Krishna. He tries to wake up. Now

Neela catches hold of Krishna who is captivated by the Divine beauty of her

eyes. There is an urge to save the souls in both of them now. Seeing this

divine leelas of Krishna, we call onto Mom. Veda says when Lord is with Sri, He

becomes our saviour, if not He is not even our Lord.

 

Bhagavan is lamp and Mom is the light. Our needs are fulfilled by the light and

not by the lamp. Lamp is at some location, far from you. If you touch the lamp,

if you touch fire, your fingers will get burnt. Similarly for our raksha, Lord

Himself should not come alone. We should be saved by His ‘krupa’. The ‘krupa’

should open the door. The ‘krupa’ should win over Him. Our Divine Mother should

open the door. Can the light and the lamp be separated? No. ‘krupa’ is one of

His divine kalyana gunas. If He does not possess this then He is not God at all.

 

Bhagavan is only ONE (Advaita) and He is with ‘daya’, compassion along with

several attributes, kalyana gunas (visistam) . Hence the Parabrahma tattvam is a

‘visista:dvaita tattvam’ declares Upanishads. Before ‘srusti’ there is ‘daya’;

after ‘srusti’ we need to be protected along with daya A after countless

opportunities, a decision to give one more fresh opportunity, causes the phase

of ‘laya’ which requires ‘daya’. That daya is our Divine Mother. He, Narayana,

is always in unison with Divine mother, goddess Lakshmi. At this moment, He is

not Narayana alone, He is Srimannarayana.

 

Their ‘sringa:ra leela vila:sam’ is this ‘srusti’, universe. We should seek

refuge in both not just in Sri or not just in Narayana. Like surpanaka one

should not seek refuge in Lord alone and like Ravanasura one should not seek

refuge in Divine Mother alone. If one does so their fate will be similar to that

of Surpanaka and Ravana respectively.

 

All the ‘sringara’, his raasa leelas, should not be seen with a narrow minded,

mundane disposition, but as a benediction, with realization of the essence, that

which contributes to prosperity, happiness and eventual brahma:nanda, as

explained by Andal in this pasura by addressing both NeelaDevi and Lord Krishna,

the divine consorts.

 

andal thiruvadigale saranam! adiyen ramanuja dasaha

Jai Srimannarayana