[Guruvayur/Guruvayoor] Lord Rama & Lord Krishna - The Pillars of Arya Samskruti.....

[Guest guest]

Just wondering, I thought aryans are basically the Germans. the recent

exploration of Saraswat river in north india reveals that there were NO aryans

ever invaded india/ Bharat. This is the same reason scientists/archelogist

denounced the AIT.( Aryan Invasion Theory). May be you can correct me if I am

wrong .

 

God belss all

 

--Pramod.

 

" PS, Vinod K (GE Energy) " <vinod.ps wrote:

 

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.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Om Namo Narayanaya: