Guest guest Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 Sri Parthasarathi thunai Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha Srimad Vara Vara munayE Namaha Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha Paasuram-74 "pathi pagaijnark kARRAdhu pAithirai neer pAzhi madhitadaindha vALaravan thannai-madhiththavandRan vallAga tERRiya mAmEni mAyavanai allAthondru EththAten nA" Earlier thirumazhisai piran talked about the charama sloka vaibhavam, now azhvar elaborates how sarveshvaran fulfils his sharanAgatha rakshaNam (protecting those who have surrendered), elucidating it with one example from the episode of vainathEya quoted in Mahabharata. Bharatham utyOga parvA-adyAyam 103-105 Indra's charioteer mAdhali was in the search of a right match to his daughter gunakEsi and hence he searched all the 3 worlds along with narada maharishi and finally decided upon 'sumukhan' the prince of nagas as the bridegroom. On enquiring to Aryan, the grand father of sumukhan, mAdhali came to know that garuda has killed and eaten sumukhA's father and has vowed to do the same to sumukha within a month. Madhali delivered this message to devendran in the presence of upendran. Upendran advised devendran to give sumukha the amrutha. But devendran afraid of garuda just blessed him with long life and didn't give him the amrutha. Then, mAdhali wedded his daughter to sumukhan. Infuriated, garuda chased sumukhan who found refuge under the legs of emperuman's divine seat. Losing his temper, garuda averred, "So this is the gratitude you show for the service I have done as your vehicle and staying on your flag. Don't you know my strength who have carried you so long?" Emperuman calmly replied,"Oh! Garuda don't talk with ego and pride. I am the supreme who holds one and all. Now just to test your power try to lift and hold my right hand" Not being able to do the same Garuda realized his mistake and surrendered to the divine feet of emperuman. Emperuman lifted sumukhan and placed him on garuda's shoulders and instructed garuda himself to protect sumukhan. From that day garuda and sumukhan became friends. The same ithihasa has also been quoted by poigai azhvar as "aduththa kadum pagaijnarkku" and thirumangai mannan as "nanju sorvadhOr" (periya thirumozhi 5-8-4) Emperuman in his ramavatara declared, "abhayam sarvabhoodhEbhyO dhadhAmi" (ra.yud.18-33) [i will save all who have surrendered, from any danger] In the above episode both garuda and sumukha are his devotees. So it becomes his duty to save both. Thereby emperuman acts in a very tactical manner to uphold the interest of both. Emperuman himself said, "mithrabhAvEna samprAptham na tyajEyam" [ra.yud.18-3] [even if one poses himself to be a friend and comes in front of me I will never leave him] Here sumukha has surrendered to emperuman's feet. "matbhaktham svapasam vApi nindhAn kurvanth yE narA: I padmakoti sathEnApi na kshamAmi kadhAchanaII" (varahapuranam) [irrespective of the birth and character of my bhaktha if one ill-treats or talks ill of him I will never forgive even after hundred crores of years] Here sumukha has done apacharam to garuda. So emperuman decided to remain impartial and hence handed over the responsibility of protecting sumukha in the hands of garuda himself. A few doubts may arise while reading the following episode. Will Garuda, one among the nithyasooris strive so hard to get his prey and go to the extent of even talking ill of emperuman? While paramapurusha takes avatara as one among the devas, as son of athithi and kasyapa and as the younger brother of Indra as upendra, garuda the vehicle of lord took birth as son of vinatha in a normal bird clan and as per his birth, it is fare for him to kill snakes and eat them for his food. The act of talking with ego in front of bhagavan was just a drama to make the world realize the effect of hunger and bhagavat apacharam and its end result even if it is garuda himself. (pathipagaijnarkku) "pathin" indicates path/way. One who is an enemy for generations. 'kulapagai' enemity by nature from birth. "puLLin meipagai" thiruchandhaviruththam. Eagles and snakes are enemies by nature. (ARRAdhu) frightened by the strength of garuda (pAithirai neerppAzhi) Divine cot like a large ocean with extended waves. As this episode could have happened at different places at different times this can be considered to have occurred in thirupparkkadal (milky ocean) also. (madhiththadaindha) A newly delivered cow for the sake of protecting its new calf pushes its old calf away with its horn out of vatsalyam (motherhood). Similarly emperuman mother of all jeevas protects the newly surrendered sharanagathas forgetting even the nithya sooris viz., garuda, anantha et al. With all this in mind (vALaravam tannai) The snake filled with glory, sumukha. Though alarmed by seeing garuda, sumukha glowed due to his great confidence in emperuman, in the divine lords kalyana gunas of sowseelyam and sowlabhyam. Valmiki calls vibheeshana after leaving ravana as "andharikshagadha: sriman". After leaving all his wealth valmiki adorns vibheeshana as Sriman why? Because now, vibheeshana is filled with the glory of proceeding with confidence in ramapiran, to surrender to emperuman's divine feet. (madhiththu) Emperuman didn't protect sumukha by himself but made garuda himself do the same. Though being a small snake emperuman didn't disregard sumukha and he also considered sumukha's act of encircling his cot's leg to be act of surrender. (avanthan vallAgaththu ERRiya) Emperuman made garuda (thiruvadi) himself to accept sumukha in his shoulders with pleasure and make him live without any fear thereafter. (mAmEni) Satisfying the needs of his devotees, emperuman glittered with brightness. Like rama who glowed after crowning vibheeshana, "abhishichya cha lankAyAm rAkshasEndram vibheeshaNam" (mAyavanai) one who does amazing acts to protect his bhakthas and with glowing thirumeni due to it. (allAdhu ondru EththAdhu en nA) Leaving the greatness of that divine lord my tongue with never sing the praise of any other deva. To show his extent of disinterest in others azhvar says 'ondru' (trineekrutha virinjAdhi nirankusa vibhoodhaya:) (To Be Continued) Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam Adiyen ramanuja dAsee Sumithra Varadarajan ------------------------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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