tri-mUrti in tiruvAimozhi – Part 14.

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tri-mUrti in tiruvAimozhi – Part 14.

 

3.10.4 (27)

 

parivu inRi vANanaik kAttum enRu, anRu paDaiyoDum vandu

edirnda

tiripuram SeRRavanum maganum pinnum a'ngiyum pOr tolaiya

poru SiRaip puLLaik kaDAviya mAyanai Ayanai pon cakkarattu

ariyinai acyutanai paRRi yAn iRaiyEnum iDar ilanE.

 

The main message conveyed in this pASuram is that resorting to anya

devatA-s such as rudra cannot be depended upon for protection,

whereas surrendering to emperumAn will always lead to unconditional

protection by Him. In this pASuram nammAzhvAr declares that by

resorting to the Lord Who defeated rudra and his son subrahmaNya when

they teamed up to defend bANAsura, the Lord Who has has garuDa as His

vehicle, cakra as His weapon, and One Who never lets down anyone who

surrenders to Him, AzhvAr is perfectly at ease and beyond any concern

about his choice.

 

By pointing out that rudra and subrahmaNya could not protect

bANAsura, AzhvAr indicates that resorting to anya-devatA-s cannot be

relied upon to protect us; by pointing out that he is resorting to

the One Who never forsakes those who seek His protection, AzhvAr is

also pointing out that acyuta (literally meaning "One Who never lets

His devotee slip" – na cyAvayati iti a-cyutaH) will always protect

His devotee. In fact, He ended up protecting even rudra,

subrahmaNya, and bANAsura himself, when they surrendered to Him in

the end.

 

The incident referred to in the pASuram with respect to bANAsura is

as follows: ushA, the daughter of bANAsura, fell in love with

aniruddha, the grandson of kRshNa. ushA conspired to get aniruddha

into her antaHpuram. When bANAsura came to know that aniruddha was

with his daughter ushA, he tied aniruddha with nAgAstra. kRshNa came

to release him. bANAsura sought the help of Siva against kRshNa. In

his pride over having burnt the tri-pura-s, Siva declared that he

would protect bANAsura against kRshNa. He was squarely defeated.

subrahmaNya came next to defend bANAsura, and met the same fate.

Thus neither could defend bANAsura who had taken refuge in them.

When bANAsura was finally abandoned by Siva and subrahmaNya, he

continued to fight kRshNa, and all his thousand shoulders were

severed by kRshNa with His cakrAyudha. Ultimately rudra,

subrahmaNya, and bANAsura surrendered to kRshNa, and He forgave all

of them and spared bANAsura's life. kRshNa is none other than the

One Who has declared, in His rAma incarnation, that He will never

forsake anyone who has surrendered to Him. In this pASuram,

nammAzhvAr declares that he has no regret whatsoever in choosing this

emperumAn as his shelter any day (ariyai acyutanaip paRRi yAn

iRaiyEnum iDar ilanE).

 

- parivu inRi vANanaik kAttum enRu – "Without any shadow of

doubt, we will defend bANAsura" – so saying

- tiripuram SeRRavanum maganum pinnum a'ngiyum – Siva who had

the fame of burning the three cities, his son, and fire which was the

devatA for bANAsura's city

- anRu paDaiyoDum vandu edirnda – came to confront kRshNa (who

had come to release His grandson aniruddha from bANAsura) with their

forces

- pOr tolaiya – (but Siva and the others got squarely defeated

and) had to run away from the battlefield with the determination that

they will never again get involved in a fight with kaNNan

- poru SiRaip puLLaik kaDAviya mAyanai – (kaNNan) who steared

garuDa with the wings that could conduct the necessary war with these

people

- Ayanai – kaNNan who came in the simple form of a cowherd,

against the likes of Siva and his sons who were reputed to be deva-s

with accolades to support them

- poR-cakkarattu ariyinai – kaNNan who, nonetheless, was none

other than the Supreme Lord of all, with the golden cakra that

destroyed the thousand shoulders of baNAsura when he put up a fight

with bhagavAn. Note the use of the adjective `pon' cakkaram instead

of `SuDar' cakkaram. The beauty of the cakra as a decorative

ornament for bhagavAn is enjoyed here.

- acyutanai – One Who never lets down anyone who surrenders to

Him. This includes His forgiving Siva, subrahmaNya, bANAsura etc. at

the end, when they surrendered to Him.

- paRRi – by resorting to Him (instead of any of the other

devatA-s)

- yAn iRaiyEnum iDar ilanE – I do not have the slightest

concern.

 

- tiripuram SeRRavan – This refers to the `pride' that Siva

entertained because of his success in buring the three cities.

People praised him for this act, and he forgot that this act of his

was possible only because bhagavAn was his arntaryAmi, and also

because bhagavAn was the sharpness of the arrow of Siva, the strength

of the bow, and the tartness of the bowstring all at the same time.

Forgetting all this, Siva took false pride in his accomplishment, and

thought that he could defend bANAsura against kRshNa, and learned his

lesson by being squarely defeated.

 

The tiri-puram incident and Lord vishNu being the principal force

that burnt the tri-pura-s are described in the karNa parva of mahA

bhArata:

 

- cintayitvA harim vishNum avyayam yaj~na vAhanam, Saram

sa'nkalapayA'ncakre viSvakarmA mahA manAH

- vishNur-AtmA bhagavato bhavasyAmita tejasaH, tasmAt

danurjyAsamsparSam sa vishehe Sarasya vai.

 

nammAzhvAr's tiruvAimozhi pASuram 1.1.8 also describes bhagavAn being

the force behind the tiri-puram incident:

 

……

puramoru mUnru eRittu amararkkum aRiviyandu

aran ayan ena ulagu azhittu amaittuLanE. (1.1.8)

The bANAsura incident is also sung by tirumazhiSai AzhvAr in

tiruccanda viruttam (71):

 

vaNDu ulAvu kOdai mAdar kAraNattinAl veguNDu

iNDa vANan Irai'njUru tOlgaLait tuNittAn

munDan nIran makkaL veppu mODi a'ngu ODiDak

kaNDu nANi, vANanukku ira'nginAn em mAyanE.

 

"kaNNan severed the thousand shoulders of bANAsura who fought with

Him on the matter of ushA, the daughter of bANAsura. rudra, his

sons, agni, etc., who had come to support bANAsura ran from the

battlefield defeated. KaNNan felt ashamed that He made these great

people run like this defeated, and took pity and spared the life of

bANAsura".

 

pASuram 53 of tiruccanda viruttam is another pASuram that sings the

praise of the Lord with regard to the bANAsura incident:

 

mODiyODu ilaccaiyAya SApam eidi, mukkaNNan

kUDu SEnai makkaLODu koNDu maNDi ve'njamattu

ODa vANan Ayiram karam kazhitta Adi mAl

pIDu kOil kUDu nIr ara'ngam enRa pEradE. (tiruccanda. 53)

 

pUrvAcAryas' anubhavam is that it took four days for aniruddha to be

released from bANAsura's place, because he had not sought kRshNa's

protection before going to ushA's palace; but nammAzhvAr did not have

to be under anyone else's control even for a second, because He is a

devotee who has surrendered to kRshNa totally – such is the power of

surrender to Him.

 

In his dramiDopanishad tAtparya ratnAvaLi, svAmi deSikan picks up on

the victory that bhagavAn had over rudra, subrahmaNya, agni, bANAsura

etc., and enjoys this pASuram by pointing out that bhagavAn is sure

to be victorious in any endeavor that He undertakes– jaitra vyApAra

yogAt – veRRit-tozhil vallamai. Om jaitra vyApAra yogAya namaH.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

(To be continued)