Lord Rama & Lord Krishna - The Pillars of Arya Samskruti.....

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Rama and Krishna: Vive la difference!

Despite his personal preference for the Ramayana and his irrepressible

tendency to quote from it, Periyavaccan Pillai faithfully records the opinions

and attitudes of the Srivaisnavas of his time. He conveys to us the Srivaisnava

enjoyment of the Rama and Krishna avataras and the feeling that in Krishna we

see the ultimate in divine accessibility and playfulness. He says that in the

Rama avatara, 'we celebrate the lord being (enjoyed and) attained by the

devotees (sesa); in the Krishna avatara we celebrate the lord attaining his

devotees.' While describing the cowherd village of Ayppati (Gokula),

Periyavaccan Pillai contrasts it with Ayodhya:

" Ayppati " :...This place is not like the sacred city of Ayodhya where

Vashishta, the foremost among orthoprax people flourishes; cow-herd girls who do

not even know the difference between the right hand and left hand live here.

This is not a city which appreciates the lord's good qualities; this place lauds

the pranks and mischief of Krishna.

He continues the discussion at a different place, again contrasting the might

of Rama and the vulnerability of Krishna:

...we have to invoke blessings on him more here (as Krishna), than as Rama.

In his incarnation as Rama, his father was a mighty ruler, his city was Ayodhya,

his priest was Vasishtha who was a master of mantras, the boys, skilful; they

were all filled with good qualities. And here: his parents were mild cowherds,

his a cowherd slum, his enemies, Kamsa, etc, demons abounded in Brndavana, if

the older brother relaxes his surveillance for a minute, he falls into (a lake)

with a snake, Putana etc. are of no help--and so there is no other protection

except to sing a benediction for him...

Elsewhere, Periyavaccan Pillai gets on a topic that he particularly enjoys:

contrasting the sensitivity of Rama and the cavalier treatment that Krishna

accords to the girls who pledge their devotion to him:

They sing here about the Sacred Son of the Emperor (i.e. Rama) who is a

refuge for those born as girls, unlike Krishna who causes them such grief...Rama

is not like Krishna who is always causing distress to the girls; he has taken

the vow of being faithful to one woman. He is not like Krishna who makes the

girls writhe and who shows no compassion Rama sheds tears even for his

enemies...So the cowherd girls say...let us not sing of Kanna who torments us

so...we shall sing of the Sacred Son of the Emperor so as to get some comfort

for our throats that have become parched and cracked from the heat of separation

caused by Krishna...

Periyavaccan Pillai's contemporary and associate Vatakku Tiruviti Pillai sums

up the 'enjoyable' difference between Rama and Krishna that the community

perceives. He comments: " Our refuge in the Rama avatara is his truth; our refuge

in the Krishna avatara is his lies. " Periyavaccan Pillai frequently quotes a

line from the Ramayana: " Rama conquers the worlds because he speaks the truth. "

Rama bent himself backwards to keep his word--to his father, to the rishis of

the forest, to Bharata, to Sita (that he would be faithful to her), and to all

his other devotees. On the other hand, Krishna almost perfected the art of

lying. As a child he swore that he had never stolen butter, as an adolescent he

lied shamelessly to the cowherd girls and even when he helped Arjuna in the

Mahabharata war and had vowed that he would not bear any arms, he reneged and

acted in a manner that led to the killing of Jayadratha. As Krishna, he lies for

the enjoyment of his devotees, to cause them exquisite agony in separation and

to protect them in times of war. As both Rama and as Krishna, however, the

devotees are first priority; the difference is in style as far as the

Srivaisnavas are concerned and it is this difference that is celebrated.

As the alvars did earlier, Periyavaccan Pillai identifies Rama with the lord

enshrined in a temple. In this connection we get to know of his ideas on the

arcavatara, or the incarnation as a worshippable 'image' in the temple. He notes

that Kulacekara alvar sings the entire story of the Ramayana to the lord in

Tillai Citrakutam (Perumal Tirumoli 10-1 to 10) and while commenting on one of

these verses says:

...so as to bring to an end the misery of all those who regret that they

were not born at the same time as Rama, he, to help all people of later times,

comes close and resides in the City of Tillai, at the Sacred Citrakutam...

For all people who could not see him at Citrakuta, where he resided after

giving his sandals to Bharata, to reign instead of him, he lives in the Sacred

Citrakutam (here). Now all people who lived after him can enjoy him for all

times here and not fee miserable.

Even though he (finally) separated from Laksmana who was like his very soul,

he, so as to end the misery of people who could not see him because they were

born after him, stays permanently at Sacred Citrakutam. We who know of this

accessibility (saulabhya), can never again feel miserable, thinking that we

cannot 'experience' the lord...

It is very clear from these passages that Rama is the lord enshrined at Tillai

Cirtrakutam; this is an exercise in the lord's saulabhya or accessibility, and

that he abides here permanently, so as to erase the misery of those who feel the

pain of not being born at the same time as he at Ayodhya.

Periyavaccan Pillai also seems to know quite well which temples were

traditionally considered to be Rama temples. The temple at Tirukannapuram, as

the name suggest ( " Kanna " being the favorite Tamil name for Krishna) honored

Krishna but Kulacekara alvar had sung all ten verses of the lullaby to Rama

there, when he had assumed the role of Kausalya. Periyavaccan Pillai notes this:

He sings, not about Sri Krishna who graciously stands at Tirukannapuram that

is surrounded by huge terraces, but about the Sacred Son of the Emperor...

Notice that the commentator does not attempt to explain why the poet sang Rama

songs in a place whose very name is associated with Krishna. Theologically, the

arca, Rama and Krishna all seem to be the same. The lord's purity is contagious

and even the associated place becomes pure and holy by his presence;

Periyavaccan Pillai says about Tirukannapuram that its purity is not

'accidental' like the river Ganga; because it is continuously associated with

the lord who is so accessible, it has a purity that exceeds the river Ganga.

Periyavaccan Pillai also participates in the temple rituals prevalent during

his time. He comments on a line from Antal's Tiruppavai which shows his

awareness and sensitivity to the temple culture around him, and which at the

same time shows his deep involvement with the Ramayana:

The request of the girls to Krishna:

Walk before us, here in your palace... -- Tiruppavai v. 23

Commentary: As Sita praised the lord, Rama left with Sumantra. " He went

forth like a lion coming out of its den in the mountain and saw Laksmana who was

standing with folded hands outside. " (Ayodhya Kanda, 16-26). Grant that we

should see you (walk) like that. The lord's graceful gait resembles the 'four

kinds of walking'. That is, it has the might of a bull, the majesty of an

elephant, the litheness of a tiger and the dignity of a lion. We can see all

this in the fascinating gait of Namperumal.

Namperumal ( " our lord " ) is the Srivaisnava name for the movable icon at

Srirangam; during particular rituals, the people carrying Namperumal imitate the

gait of these animals to convey to the viewers the grace that is said to be

innate in his stride. In this comment, we see Krishna's stride being compared to

Rama's which is then compared to the rituals at Srirangam, bringing to focus the

immediate cultic milieu in which Periyavaccan Pillai participated.

The poet and the philosopher experience the Ramayana in different ways. The

alvars had both alluded to and participated in the Ramayana--some more intensely

than others. In later North Indian bhakti we see devotees playing a character in

Krishnaite myths; in the alvar poetry, we see this occurring both for the Rama

and Krishna stories. More important, Rama and Krishna are seen to be none other

than the lord enshrined in the nearest temple. This focus on a temple has to be

emphasized before we talk of an abstract Rama-bhakti or Krishna bhakti and the

alvar devotion has to be studied in the context of a local shrine. The Ramayana

itself is understood against the background of South Indian conventions and the

associative structure of the five landscapes found in Cankam poetry. The jasmine

garland that Sita bound Rama with is more than a vignette that is not found in

Valmiki's Ramayana; the flower is the controlling metaphor of the dramatic

situation that Hanuman/Periyalvar are participating in: separation between Sita

and Rama. The audience, by secondary participation, feels the separation between

Periyalvar and the lord.

Periyavaccan Pillai is a theologian. He understands the stories as allegories,

not merely as depicting the dramatic situation between the mystic and the lord

but as relevant to the human predicament. Sita is the human soul, Lanka is like

this life, worldly objects are as captivating and dangerous as Marica the golden

deer. Notice that Periyavaccan Pillai clearly spells out the stories as relevant

to every human being; in this he goes further than the experience of the

audience which listens to the works of the alvars. The audience sees the

separation between Sita and Rama, or Dasaratha and Rama as pertaining to the

mystic and the lord; but in periyavaccan Pillai's prose, the analogies are

systematically worked out and the resuce of Sita from Lanka becomes a

paradigmatic situation applicable to every human being. The role of Sita is

expanded to fit everyone in the audience; we move from being intellectual

voyeurs of the alvar/god, Sita/Rama separation directly into the stage itself.

We are Sita, Dasaratha or the companions of Antal. And the lord of the stage,

fittingly enough for Periyavaccan Pillai is Ranganatha (Sanskrit: ranga, stage;

natha, lord), the presiding deity at Srirangam--the focus of Periyavaccan

Pillai's daily worship and the center of the Srivaisnava world. Periyavaccan

Pillai takes us with him as he experiences the several dimensions of Vaisnava

bhakti: we become the young companions of Antal emulating the cow-herd girls who

wish to see Krishna walk towards them; and that situation reminds him of Sita

watching Rama stride like a young lion. But more important: " We can see all this

is the fascinating gait of Namperumal. " When we watch Ranganatha being carried

by people who simulate the stride of a tiger or a lion, we share an experience

with Antal, the cowherd girls and Sita--and Periyavaccan Pillai. The Lord of the

Stage acts as a link between the theoretical analogy of Sita and the human soul,

and the actual participation of the human being in the story of Rama or Antal.

Rama rescues Sita in the Ramayana; this act is enacted everytime a devotee is

drawn to Srirangam ( " the auspicious stage " ) and becomes a participant in the

drama.

 

* - At the Lotus Feet of Lord Rama-Krishna.....