Huvva Taruvara manege-Sri Purandaradasara Krithi -Aaradhana on 7th Feb 2008

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Hare Srinivasa ! As a mark of reverence and respect to this great Haridasaru, let us read through a few songs composed by this great saint with the references to the tatvasjnAna that he was showering on the eligilbe people in the forms of Kannada verses. It is bit long as the song itself is packed with information. The first of these compositions that I would like to share is: Huvva Taruvara manege hullu taruva By Dasasreshtaru -Sri Purandara Dasaru Srinvasa Nayaka(Purandara Dasaru) was a miser who never gave anything to anyone before he

became a dAsa. He refused to give the dAna that the Lord asked for. The incident is as follows: Srinivasa Nayaka was the wealtheist jeweller and money lender in the land. He had a vast amount of wealth but his heart was miserly. He could never part with even a little of his wealth. The Lord came as a brahmin along with a small boy who was none other than Brahma, to his door. The Lord requested Srinivasa Nayaka to give him some money to perform the upanayana of His son. Srinviasa Nayaka refused. The Lord gave him many chances over a period of six months and finally enacted an incident by which he came to realise his folly in not giving. When Dasaru says ,"He gives.... to those who give......"Dasaru must be perfectly aware of what he is talking. He did not give at first, but

when he realised his fault , he did not hesitate to give away all his wealth and property to deserving people. Then he was shown the right path by the Lord , he was directed to Guru Vyasarajaru by none other than his wife. It is God's leela. He often works through the world. Purandara Dasaru was granted Dasa dikshe and became a great saint. He is an avatar of Sage Narada. Questions like ,"Why did he become so great when he did not give all his life and gave only after God taught him a lesson etc arise in the mind. But the answer to all this lies in the fact that everything is controlled by the Lord and He lays out a map for each one's life events based on thier previous karma and swabhava and we are bound to go along. So one must not conclude in haste that he was not a deserving personality. Such is not the case. The Lord purposely

designs these examples for the common man to learn . Sage Narada being aware of the Lord's eminence and control became His instrument willingly. The fact is that avatars of demigods and sages are usually ignorant of thier true selves and are taken to exhaust prarabdha karma. They are called as 'amsha's' of the original forms. The karma done as an amsha does not contribute to the store of prarabdha, and hence they form perfect instruments for God's teachings. When Purandara Dasaru says that "The Lord gives grass to those who bring Him flowers .", we have to understand that the grass must be something that is needed by Dasaru. Dasaru being a human being would hardly eat grass. If he wanted to talk of the worldly food that God grants, he could have mentioned payasa,pongal or any

of the thousands of delicacies. But he says grass. What relishes grass? The cows relish grass. Horses relish grass. For our case let us take the horses. Why? It is because the Srimad Bhagavatham 7.15.46 compares the indriyas of a human to a horse. no chet pramattam asad indriya vAji sUtA nItvOtpatham vishaya dasyushu nikshipaMti tE dAsyavaH sahayaH

sUtamamum tamOndhe samsAra kUpA uru-mrityu bhayekshipaMti || "If we do not follow the instructions of scriptures as told by Lord Achuta then the senses become careless and inattentive to what they feed on. The senses acting as horses, the mind acting as the charioteer steer the body towards sense gratification. When one is thus attracted to the wordly issues repeatedly then the mind becomes too impure to garner or retain knowledge and is hence thrown in the hellish darkness which is the samsara again and again." Dasaru is saying that if such a thing should not happen then one should keep constant association with the Lord by bringing Him the flowers told in the scriptures. Then He brings us grass. Means He provides suitable expereince to the indriyas of a human being so that he progresses with his sadhana and reaches the Lord soon. This ,He showers on those who are offering flowers to Him. But one may say, " I am offering flowers to the Lord for a long time, flowers of different kinds and fragrances, but have not received any such expereinces." For this we have look at the verse (have no idea about the exact origin,but have heard it sung by Sri Vidyabhusahanru) , ahimsa pratamam pushpam

pushpam indriya nigraham sarva bhuta daya pushpam kshama pushpam visheshataH gyana pushpam tapah pushpam dyAna pushpam

tadancha satyam ashTavida pushpam vishnOh prItikaram bhavEt || The Lord is pleased with the devotee who has the following qualities ingrained in one's character. Ahimsa- non -violence of body ,speech and mind. Not causing physical hurt to others. Not causing injury to other's by harsh words. Not intending to hurt others in any form directly or indirectly. Indirya nigraham -Control of the roving senses. Being able to resist the temptations of unwanted food, sights,sounds and other pleasures. Sarva bhuta daya- Being kind to every living being. Understanding the Lord's presence in each being and His supreme control and showing compassion on others who are in a pitiable state without the arrogant feeling that one is above such conditions . Gyana pushpam : In the BG the Lord has said, "Na hi jnAnena pavitram iha vidyate..." There is nothing more pure than knowledge and it is everyone's bounden duty to garner knowledge of the Lord and His leelas as per one's ability. The Brahma Sutra's say ,"Om atAtO brahma jignyAsa Om" means enquiry into the subtle cause of being and creation which leads to knowledge about the Lord who works these two. tapaH pushpam : Tapah of body, speech and mind should be practiced. Being able to control hunger, sleep and necessity for external comforts , being able to take with eqinamity

the different conditions of weather, being grateful to God , devathas and gurus etc are the penance of body as in BG17.14. That speech which does not cause tension or disturbance to others should be implemented as in ' anudvEgakaram vAkyam' BG 17.15. Not thinking of forbidden things, not thinking of negative things, not thinking of causing hurt to others etc is a penance for the mind. 'manaH prasAdaH soumyatvam.." as in BG17.16 dyAna pushpam: Uninterrupted contemplation of the Lord's form and His infinite auspicious attributes. satyam : All what one says should be what he feels and what he thinks. If such saying causes hurt to a haribhakta then it can just be avoided. One should never say things that one does not mean. Avoiding hypocracy is important as it also forms part of the tapas of speech. Truth is self luminous but if there is a doubt then that sentence is Truth which does not cause hurt to a sajjana. Here again one has to make the discretion about who is a sajjana. He/she could be one who is following the above principles

effortlessly and surrenders himself/herself as a devotional flower to the Lord. If one cultivates these as a part of one's life and continues to offers these to the Lord then one can be assured that one will definitely get the grass in the form of suitable experiences to obtain spiritual upliftment . In the stanza the word Lakshmi Ramana is of significance . Wealth brings power to an ordinary human being. Being the Goddess of wealth, Mahalakshmi Devi has immense power to obtain whatever she likes. She is next to none other than the Lord. Such a superior Goddess serves the

Lord and is bestowed bliss by the Lord. Dasaru wants to highlight the position of Lakshmi and show that even to her the Lord is the cause for happiness. This gives us an idea of the extent of the Lord's omniscience . One can imagine the personality of the Lord. Inspite of this, the Lord is humble. He is the personification of humility.He will do anything to help His bhakta. Dasaru says even bringing grass for the cows in his bhaktas house is not a menial task for the Lord." How is it Dasaru is proclaiming this! The answer lies in Dasaru's own lifestory. He expereinced it. Even though the Lord had all the wealth at His disposal He came to Srinivasa Nayaka's door as a poor brahmin asking for money and took the insults which Nayaka hurled at Him. He continued it for six months. He did this because He had compassion on Nayaka who was wasting his life on temproary acquisitions. He has no pride of being the Supreme being . He is the all knower. He understands everything. He controls everything and He had the intention to control the direction of Nayaka's life. huva tharuvare manege hullu taruvA avva lakumiramana ivagilla garuva ondu dala sritulasi bindu gangodakava indira ramangarpitavennalu onde manadali sindhushayana mukunda ene endendu vaasipana mandiradolage Here Dasaru is giving the means of obtaining the Lord . He says that all karma has to be offered to the Lord in order for it to become a part of sadhana. Others will only bind the soul further in samsaara. One bunch of two to four tulasi leaves forms a dala. He says ,"If one offers one dala of tulasi with devotion along with water which is sanctified then one will definitely earn the Lord's grace provided one has a one pointed mind which is tuned to the vast ocean of the Lord's infinite auspicious attributes, thinking of whom confers moksha, thinking of whom ensures that He gives the darshan to the sadhaka in his/her own heart." Here it is relevant to recall the greatness of Tulasi. yan mUle sarvatheerthAnAm yan madhye sarva devathA yad Agre sarve vEda tulasi tvAm namAmyaham "Oh Tulasi devi, you who have the pure theertha's like Ganga,Godavari, Sindhu, Saraswathi in your roots, the tatvabhimAni devathas in your

stems and whose leaves are the residence of complete knowledge-Vedas, to you, I bow down humbly." Since the Veda's reside in the dala of tulasi,it is the embodiment of knowledge. So offering tulasi also means one has to engage in continuous search for knowledge and offer the search as well as the result at the feet of the Lord. The bindu gogOdaka is the water offered as a completion of surrender of the thing being offered. What ever we offer to the Lord must be having this kind of complete surrender. The feeling should be there and if such a feeling is there then that means the mind is one-pointed. It becomes completely foccussed on the Lord, who is lying in the milky ocean, who is the giver of moksha. He will be pleased at the bhaktas devotion and sincerity and will grant him

the bimbAparOxa. BimbAparOxa is the vision of the Lord in one's own heart. Jagannatha Dasaru in his Harikathamrutha saara says that there are 5317 roopas of the Lord in one dala of tulasi. So offering the tulasi dala to the Lord with correct understanding that He exists in these forms in the tulasi dala as well as in the vigraha to which we are offering worship as well that He exists and is the antarymi in the worshippers. Though He has innumerable forms, all His forms are having the same omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience. paripariya pushpagala paramatmagarpisi paripurnanendu poojeyanu made parama aasakthiyali poojeyanu maadidare sari bhaaga koduva thannaramaneyolage Dasaru says,"One who offers different flowers to the Supreme Lord, with the understanding that He is the complete One and is full

of auspiscious attributes to that person the Lord will ensure that He bestows the appropriate place in His palace." Dasaru says but the condition for His grace is 'parama aasakthiyali". While performing the actions which one wants to dedicate to the Lord, one has to be mindful. Mindful of the fact that one is not offering anything to the Lord that is not His and that He is the paramatma" Thimappa Dasaru gives a good idea what these flowers could be. Thimappa Dasaru

says, himSadi doshagalnulidu nirmalavAgi hamsadolu berasi gunakarana pushpagala hamsamaNDala roopa tirupathiyaliha parama hamsa veMkaTarama neenege , nAnemba mantrapushava samarpisuve olavinali yaMtra vAhaka ninna divya charaNagalalli In the VSN hamsa is one nama of the Lord. It means one who is faultless and one who is the motivator of all. Thimmappa Dasaru says," After removing the bad qualities like voilence and becoming serene and pure, then in this state ,O faultless Lord please come to my mental focus as the motivator of all. All action performed like this become flowers which I

offer you O Tirupathi Venkataramana who is none other than the "Hamsa" form of the Lord residing as my Bimba. I offer at Your divine feet the flower named 'I' after going through the purification and enriching process. Please accept it O yantra vahaka." Here the 'I' can mean at least two things. Firstly it is the body, mind and soul of the person concerned. Secondly the surrending of ego. The feeling that I have done, I have performed, I have built.... my...mine etc is renounced with the pure

knowledge that HE is the one who has done through me, He is the one who has performed through me, He is the one who has built,..... His grace, His compassion etc are the cause for anything that I have now. Here Dasaru is saying that one should eradicate bad qualities like himsa(voilence). But he insists that is not enough to become void. One has to do the upAsana of the auspicsious qualities of the Lord who is completely pure and serene. Then after having these good thoughts in the mind one should offer all the actions done using all the karnaNas (karmEndriya and jnAnEndriyas) to the Lord and these are the pushpAs that will please the Lord Venkatarama. While we are dedicating the actions , thoughts done we should have the remembrance that the Lord who exists as Hamsa form in

the heart lotus is the same Lord who resides in Tirupathi. pandavara maneyolage kuduregala thaa tholedu pundarikaaksha hullanu thinisida andajavahana Sri purandara vitalanu thondanige thondanaagi sancharisuthihanu. Dasaru says ," The pandavas who were exemplary devotees of the Lord, had the special favour of Lord Krishna. The Lord Pundariskaksha took care of thier horses, and fed them with grass. He who has the Garuda as His vehicle, He becomes the closest friend and serves His devotee . He always moves with His devotee as if He were the sevaka. Such is the benevolence of the Lord." Here Dasaru is hinting the method in which the Lord graces His devotees. He has already mentioned the types of flowers to be offered and how they should be offered. Now he is hinting at the way the Lord moves the ordinary human being who becomes a haridasa to an elevated being eligible for moksha. Here the phrase "pandavara maneyolage kuduregala" means the house which has the five horses - the body which has the five indriyas. Lord PundarikAksha washes the impurities gathered by the five indriyas from time immemorial. Here PundarIkAksha has a special significance. Aksha means 'eyes' primarily and 'indiryas' in general. PundarikAksha means 'The Lord who has indriyas which never get tainted even though He exists in all beings and things in this world which are contaminated. " He can wash off what we cannot because He is the One who never has to wash anything off Himself. He is always pure. hullanu tinisida - He feeds the jiva with suitable experiences so as to uplift the jiva. It is relevant to see that the KaTOpanishad echoes something similar. AtmanAm tu rathinam viddi shareeram rathamEva thu buddhim tu sArathim viddi manah pragramEva cha indiyAnyAhi hayAnyAhu vishaya tEshu gochrAn KaTopanishad 1.3,4 The soul is the passenger inside the chariot called the body. The intellect is the charioteer and the mind is the reign. The senses organs are the horses and these by nature seek gratification and thereby move towards the respective objects . This is the wise definition of an ordinary human being. We know that the Lord was the charioteer for the pandavas. If the Lord who is the charioteer for the pandavas "Parthasarathy" becomes seated in the intellect then by His grace the mind can be controlled and thereby the indriyas can be controlled and then the jiva in the body who was just an ordinary human being becomes a devotee of the Lord and His sevaka. "One who serves the Lord is in turn served by the Lord Himself." The word sancharisutihanu, means the Lord has been doing this and will continue to do this. There has not been a time

when the Lord did not care for His devotess and neither will such a time come. We can rest assured that the Lord will definitely take care of His devotees. The only thing that is asked of us is to take the first step. Purandara dasaru is exhorting the lay man to take the opportunity given and perform the service of the Lord to the best of one's ability. Sri KrishnArpanamastu I

am not the doer, Lord Hari is the doer, Whatever He makes me do is His worship by His Grace R.Parimala

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