Thirumangai AzhwAr's ThirunedunthANdakam- 3rd verse- Is there anyone who can comprehend Him and utter? (None)

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Sri:

SrimathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

Dearest all,

 

Let us continue to enjoy the verses of TNT.

 

Thus, AzhwAr declared and established the Supremacy of

our Lord Sriman Narayanan and His color of dark hued

cloud. AzhwAr goes on to say here that He has other

colors in His Divya mangaLa vigraham. The fruit of

knowing that we are His eternal servants is to enjoy

seeing Him always. AzhwAr blesses us with that

anubhavam herein:

 

thiruvadivil karun^edumaal sEyan enRum

thirEdhaikkaN vaLaiyuruvaayth thigazndhaa NnenRum,

poruvadivil kadalamudham koNda kaalam

perumaanaik karun^eela vaNNan Rannai,

oruvadivath thOruruven RuNara laagaa

UzithO Roozin^in REtthal allaal,

karuvadivil sengaNNa vaNNan Rannaik

katturaiyE yaaroruvar kaaNkiR paarE? 3

 

thiruvadivil – the most beautiful and divine thirumEni

(body)

OR

Thiru vadivil – on the most beautiful thirumEni of Sri

Mahalakshmi

Karunedumaal – having ever lasting love (on Her)

perumAnai – ubhaya vibhoothi nAthan (The Lord who has

both the Universe and the Paramapadham under His

control

karuneelam – black and blue

vaNNan thannai – coloured One is

thrEthaikkaNN – during the thrEthA, Krutha, Dwapara

yugas

perum vadivu il kadal – vast, huge, expansive Milky

Ocean – from which

amudham koNda kaalam – even during the time He

consumed endearingly the sweetest nectar that (AND Sri

Mahalakshmi who) appeared (from the ocean)

oru vadivatthu – in a particular form

or uru- with a particular divya mangaLa vigraham

(divine body)

enRu uNaral aagaa- thus can not be comprehended in a

clearer fashion or manner (Unfathomable)

karuvadivil – in His dark hued most beautiful divya

mangaLa vigraham (ThirumEni)

kaNN a semvaNNanthannai – the most beautiful red lotus

eyed one; (matching His divine body)

oozhithoRu oozhi – in all those (never ending like) l

o n g times of dissolution times;

sEyan enRum – red coloured One

vaLai uruvaay – white conch shell colured One

thigazhndhaan enRum – He shined in most resplendent

manner

yEtthal allaaa- praising Him (other than that)

katturaiyE kaaNgiRpaar yaar oruvar?- is there anyone

who has actually seen Him and comprehended His colour,

nature, and prowess? (AzhwAr says: None)

 

" By nature, He who has immense Mercy towards His

creation is dark like the water-laden clouds; in tretA

yugam, He is known to have a reddish

color; in kRta yugam His complexion is white like that

of the conch.

 

In each yugam devotees can worship Him in whatever

form(s) He chooses to present Himself in, but beyond

worshipping, we cannot precisely understand His true

form. People can describe this nIla megha SyAmalan

with lotus-like reddish eyes as they want, but none

can describe Him in the form in which He has revealed

Himself to me " .

 

 

Karu neela- both dark colour and blue colour are

referred to herein. Thus for all four yugas, He takes

on four colours in His divya mangaLa vigraham.

 

thErEthaikkaNN- TrEtA yuga and others (thus all four

yugas are referred).

 

At the same time, the Lord took many forms during the

Koorma avatara time. When Devas wanted to get back

their powers, they went and surrendered to Khseerabdhi

nAthan and prayed to Him for saving them. He suggested

to churn the milky ocean for getting amrutham

(nectar). When the huge manthara mountain had to be

lifted and brought, the strongest devas could not;

they befriended asuras and together they brought. But

they placed the mountain in the middle of milky ocean

to only see it sinking. The Lord mercifully took the

huge Koorma roopam, and had the mountain on His Shell

for the mountain not to sink in… Then when they began

to churn, the mountain began to wobble. So, Devas and

asuras could not restrict the wobbling. Again our Lord

took another form to hold the tip of the mountain.

 

Now Devas and asuras churned and they only got tired

and the mountain hardly swirled. So, Sriman Narayanan

(the One and Only One who rushes to help and save,

protect His Asrithars), took two forms – one for Devas

side and One for Asuras side to act on their behalf

and to apply power to churn. It is all He who did the

show…

 

Now things begin to come out; After all, our Lord’s

actions yielded Him the very Mahalakshmi Herself to

Him. How beautiful He would have been with tresses

falling on the forehead while He churned. Finally He

took Mohini avatharam to distract the asuras from

getting the amirtha (nectar).

 

He took different forms and different colours. He

tates so many avathArams. ajAyamaanO bahudhA

vijAyathE… bahusyAm prajAyEyEthi…

 

He takes masthya, koorma, varaaha, Nrusimha, Hayagriva

Hamsa et al avathArams.

 

How can we ever describe the way He takes these forms

or colours? How can we ever describe the wonderful

beautfy and form of His? – wonders AzhwAr.

 

SrI Paraasra BhaTTar also gives reference to SrI

vishNu purANa (1.2.10-1.2.12), which states the

impossibility of describing Him: " Who can describe

Him who is not apprehended by the senses, who is the

best of all things, the Supreme Soul, Self-existent,

who is devoid of all the distinguishing

characteristics of form, color, etc., is exempt from

birth, growth, aging, death or decay, who exists

everywhere and in whom everything exists always…….. " .

- varjjitah Sakyate vaktum yah sadA asti iti kevalam -

All we can do is say that He exists always, but we

can't describe Him in words.

 

We have the tiatittirIya upanishd mantra - yato vAco

nivartante, aprApya mansA saha (Anandavalli - anu. 4)

- He is inaccessible to words or to mind; He can only

be experienced. Similar passages abound in veda; e.g.,

kenopanishad 1.5 to 1.9 - Brahman is that which

reveals speech, but which cannot be revealed by

speech; that which gives us the ability to see but

which cannot be seen, etc.; ISAVAsya upanishad mantra

4-5 (The Self is inaccessible to the mind since it is

faster than the mind; it is beyond the reach of the

senses; It moves and moves not; It is far for those

who are ignorant, and near for those who are wise; It

is within and without; etc.).

 

Swami Sri Sadagopan Iyengar writes in his article on

Riot of colours beautifully about the colours that the

Lord takes as below:

 

Purusha SUkta describes the Lord as being the colour

of the Sun-

“Aditya varNam tamasa: parastAt”. The reference to

Sun-colour is significant. Just as the Sun is the

antithesis of all darkness or evil, so too the

Paramatma is verily the abode of all good qualities,

and the antithesis of all that is inauspicious

(“akhila hEya pratyanIka, kalyAnaikatAna”).

 

It is interesting to find from our scriptures that the

Creator of all colours is Himself extremely colourful.

Let’s see some of the hues that He is said to sport on

various occasions.

 

To start our colourful journey with the Vedas, the

Purusha SUkta describes the Lord as being the colour

of the Sun- “Aditya varNam tamasa: parastAt”. The

reference to Sun-colour is significant. Just as the

Sun is the antithesis of all darkness or evil, so too

the

Paramatma is verily the abode of all good qualities,

and the antithesis of all that is inauspicious

(“akhila hEya pratyanIka, kalyAnaikatAna”).

 

Describing the TirumEni of the ParamaPurusha, the

ChAndOgya Upanishad has the following to say-

 

“Ya EshOntar AdityE hiraNmaya:Purusha:drisyatE

HiraNmaya:smashru:hiranya kEsa:AprNakhAt sarva Eva

suvarNa:”

 

The Lord is seen in golden splendour amidst the Solar

System, adorned by golden hair with a golden moustache

and facial hair to match. From head to toe, he is all

glitter like the Yellow metal. It is perhaps this

wonderful tirumEni that Sri PeyAzhwar was able to

witness at TirukkOilUr on that stormy night, which is

evident from his exclamation, “Tiru kaNdEn, PonmEni

kandEn, tigazhum arukkan aNi

niramum kandEn”.

 

Though Sri Nammazhwar too endows the Lord with the

colour of red gold,(“Sem ponnE tigazhum tiru

moortthiyai”, “ANi sempon mEni endAi” etc.), he

himself turns around later and takes objection to the

Lord’s colour being compared to that of a mere metal,

and says that the purest gold cannot match the glitter

of the Lord’s tirumEni-“ sutturaittha nan pon un

tirumEni oLi ovvAdu”.

 

At the other end of the spectrum, Emperuman sports a

jet-black colour too, as opposed to the sparkling

golden hue indicated in the Vedas. Especially in Sri

KrishnAvatAra, He is a blackie, as almost all the

Azhwars testify-

 

“KaNNan enum karum deivam”

“Karia mEni misai veLia neeru siridE idum peria kola

tadam kaNNan”

“karu mAmugil pOl vaNNan KaNNan”

“kAnagam ellAm tirindu un karia tirumEni vAda”

“kAr tiraL anaya mEni KaNNane unnai” etc.

Thus the Lord is credited with the colour of clouds

and the black sea- “kArAr kadal vaNNan pin pOna

nenjamum”(Siriya Tirumadal)

 

It is significant to note that the very name Krishna

denotes one who is black. Perhaps He was given this

name, looking to His colour at birth. He is indeed a

Black Diamond, says Sri Nammazhwar- “KaiyAr

chakkaratthu en Karu mANickkamE”.

 

Sri Andal goes a step further and, in a damaging

expose, reveals that Sri Krishna’s heart is as black

as His body-“puram pOl uLLum kariyAnai”.

 

That the Lord sports the colour of blue-black clouds

is evident from Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam too, the

prelude to which says, ‘MEgha shyAmam peetha kousEya

vAsam”. On this black body, the attire of yellow silk

sits well. Not only Sri Krishna, but Sri Rama too

sported the

colour of black clouds-“RAmam indIvara syAmam”.

 

Another colour that the Lord sports is green-a green

that is restful to the eyes,says Sri Tondaradippodi

Azhwar-

 

“Pacchai mA malai pOl mEni”. Sri Nammazhwar concurs

in TiruvAsiriam, “Pacchai mEni miga pagaippa”.

Maragatam is a precious stone with a green hue, and

several Azhwars have indicated that Emperuman is of

this colour- “VAmanan en maragata vaNNan” says Sri

Nammazhwar.

 

His colour is compared to that of other gems too-like

“Mani”. Azwars are fond of calling the Lord

“MaNivaNNA”-(“ MarutthuvanAi nindra MAmaNivaNNA”,

“VaikundA MaNivaNNanE en pollA tirukkuraLA”, etc.).

 

Sri Tirumangai Mannan is so perplexed by the galaxy of

colours that the Lord sports from time to time, that

he seeks elucidation from Emperuman Himself as to what

His true colours are-

 

“Munnai vaNNam Palin vaNNam- muzhudum nilai nindra

Pinnai vaNnam koNdal vaNNam- vaNNam eNNum kAl

Ponnin vaNNam maNiyin vaNNam puraiyum tirumEni

Inna vaNnam endru kAttIr IndaLooreerE”.

 

Addressing Lord ParimaLa Ranga at Tiruvindalur, Azhwar

says, “You were the colour of milk in Kritha Yuga, You

acquired the hues of pure red gold in the TrEtha Yuga,

and in DwApara Yuga You were the colour of a Blue

Diamond: Shastras tell us that your real colour is

that of the rain-bearing clouds. I am confused by all

these changing colours- do tell me what your true

colours are!”. [Thanks to Sri Sadagopan Iyengar Swami]

 

Swamy Desikan in his SrI RanganAtha PaadhukA Sahasram

refers to the different colors of the Lord's ThirumEni

(SlOkam 532):

 

maNibhi: sitarakthapeetha krishnai:

bhavathI kaanchana paadhukE ! vichithrA

yuga bhEdha vikalpitham MurArE:

yugapadh dharsayathIva VARNA BHEDHAM

 

Oh divine sandals of the Lord RanganAthA ! On Your

body, adiyEn finds of colored gems .That reminds me of

the different hues of the Lord displayed in the four

yugams: White In Krutha Yugam, when the Dharmam is at

its highest peak; red in ThrEthaa Yugam, Yellow in

DhvApara Yugam and " black " in kali Yugam, where the

dharmam is at its lowest point .

 

Katturai dhaan undo? kaaNgiRpaarthAm uLarO?- Though

Vedas declare and describe as much as possible, can

one comprehend? Can one utter? Even Nitya, mukthars

who are with paripoorNa expansive jnAnam can not

fathom the kalyANa guNAs, and the beauty and glory of

the Lord. Even if they enjoy, they can not describe or

utter. Even if they utter words, one can not

understand fully the meanings of those words in its

entirety.

 

semkaNNa vaNNan- red lotus eyed Lord… It can also be

read as mean sem vaNNa kaNNan thannai.

 

 

AzhwAr ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo Narayana

 

 

 

 

 

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