Request for information

[Guest guest]

At 05:17 AM 3/4/03 -0800, you wrote:

>adiyen ramanjuja dasan

>namaskar

>

>can anyone of you tell me why is Lord Krishna

>addressed as 'Kannan' in tamil.

>

>rgds,

>harini

 

Dear SrImathi Harini:

 

" Kannan " is the most endearing name in Tamil

for celebrating a precious limb of the body

(namely ) of the Lord KaNN or eyes. Avan KaNNIl ULLAn .

Karutthil ULLAn. We just have to close our

eyes with affection and then the KaNNIn MaNi

will present Himself there.

 

The address " KaNNE " is the statement that

stands for the peak of expression of affection

that a Mother , Lover or a Bhakthan can have.

 

KaNNE , MaNiyE , MutthE , MaaNikkamE ,

Yennappaa are endearing referrals , terms

of endearment to Him , who is inside our Jeevans

as the light of the eyes .

 

KaNNan is a nAamam chosen by Swamy NammAzhwAr

for SrIman NaarAyaNan . KaNNan is the Jagan MOhana

KrishNan , whose glances drove Gopis and

the ParAnkusa Naayaki wild with passion

and enduring affection for Him.

 

We can appreciate the depth of Bhakthi that

Swamy NammazhwAr had for KaNNan through

many of His ThiruvAimozhi Paasuram passages

that echo with his addressing KaNNan:

 

(1)KaNNAVAn yenRum maNNOR ViNNOrkku

TaNNAr Venkata ViNNOr VeRpanE

-- ThiruvAimozhi (TVM): 1.8.3

 

Swamy NammAzhwAr salutes the Lord of Venkatam here as

the " KaNNAvAn " , one who becomes the guiding eyes ,

one who is the precious light to men ,

who are bound in SamsAram and as well to the liberated

ones in SrI Vaikuntam .Here on earth , He serves as the eye to

lead us to His sacred hills for His darsanam

 

(2)Speaking of those beautiful eyes that led

Him to be identified as KaNNan , KaNNazhagan

AzhwAr hints why he was moved to address HIM

as KaNNan in TVM 2.8.10 Phala sruthi paasuram:

 

" kaNDalangaL seyya KarumEni AmmAnai-- "

 

SatakOpa sang about The Lord who has long , large

reddish eyes( like lotus petal ) and dark cloud-like

hair .

 

(3)Speaking of the tight bond that the AzhwAr has with

his KaNNan , he gives us a clue:

 

Kadal VaNNan KANNAN ViNNavar KarumANikkam yenathu aaruyir

---PerumAn Kazhal kANpathu yenRu koll KaNkaLE?

--TVM 3.6.10

 

Oh , When I am going to see KaNNan with my eyes(KaNKaL),

my dear praanan laments Swamy NammazhwAr here.

 

4) AzhwAr's desire , his moving pleas to see the Lord

with his physical eyes on this earth and to embrace Him

are etched in many TVM Paasurams . In these Paasurams , we

come across many references to the longing of the AzhwAr's

eyes " to swallow the Lord (KaNNan) " as it were with his

mortal eyes ( KaNNgaL/Maamsa Chakshus):

 

aRinthaRinthu tERitthitERi yAnnyenathAviuLLE

niRaintha Jn~Ana Moortthiyai ninmalamAha Vaitthu

piRanthu setthum ninRidaRum pEthamai theernthozhindhEn

naRum ThuzhAyin KaNNIyammA nAnunnaik-kaNdukoNDE

--TVM: 4.7.7

 

I have enjoyed You in my heart lotus. I have

realized Your presence in my soul as a profound

force of pure Jn~Anam and anantha kalyANa guNams.

I can not deny that it is a source of immense

joy. That aanandha-anubhavam has released me from

the cycles of births and deaths. My delusions

are gone. Yet , I seek one boon form You.

Oh KaNNA ! I must see You and Your PuNDarIkAksham

with my mortal eyes . Please grant that boon to me!

 

5) In his mood of dissatisfaction of not experiencing

the KaNNan with his physical eyes right here on earth ,

AzhwAr will pour his heart out elsewhere:

 

KaNNapirAnai ViNNOr KarumANikkathai amudhai

naNNiyum naNNahillEn--

--TVM: 5. 1.5

 

Tadh VishNO; paramam padham sadhA pasyanthi

Sooraya: ( Those Vaikunta Vaasis, the Nithya Sooris

and MukthAs, are blessed to see Your beautiful form

with their wide open eyes ). Here Swamy NammazhwAr

considers his bodily limitations as an obstacles

to see KaNNan on this earth .He cries out: " My

lovely KaNNan --Him I have secured and yet I have not " .

 

Here AzhwAr address KaNNan as KaNNapirAN

( PirAn--the Supreme Emperor with the most enchanting eyes).

 

6) the name chosen by AzhwAr for his dearest eye of eyes,

KaNNan will prpopel the Azhwar towards a cascade of Naama

archani as we see in the TVM Pasuram 3.4.9:

 

KaNnanai Maayan tannaik-kadal kadainthamudham koNDa

aNnalai Acchuthani ananthanai ananthan mEl

naNNi nankuRaihinRAnai

 

It is folish to attempt to describe and cover

all the vaibhavam of the Lord , who is always

accomplishing many maayams. I attempted out of

my unquenchable and insatiable deisre to

describe this MaayAvi KaNNan's glories . I recognize

now my limitations in describing this KaNNan

ane will content myself by consoling me that

He is all things and all beings (SarvAntharyAmi).

 

7) Swamy NammazhwAr gives us a vital reason

for the Lord's nAmadhEyam as KaNNan and how to

access Him:

 

KaNNuLLE niRkum kAtanmayAl thozhil

yeNNiulum varum yennini vENDuvam---

--TVM: 1. 10.2

 

The Lord (KaNnapirAn) will enter our eyes and become

visible to us due to His great affection for us , if we

worship Him with unadulterated Bhakthi and blemishless

devotion . Through Bhakthi Yogam or SaraNAgathy ,

you can have the experience equivalent to actual

vision of Him .

 

8) kamalak-KaNNgaL yenn kaNNiluLLAn KaaNbhavan kaNkaLAlE

 

--1st line of TVM: 1.9.9( Once the lotus-eyed Lord occupied

(got into ) my eys. Then He became not only visible to my

eyes but adiyEn also began to see through His eyes . I saw

Him and continue to see Him also by His grace(KatAksham)...

 

9) KaNnan illai kaNDeer saraNathu niRkka vanthu

maNNIn bhAram neekutaRkkE Mathurai piRanthAn

--TVM 9.1.10

 

No other Sure God is there for SaraNAgathi

than KaNNan. he was born in Vada Mathurai for

that purpose .

 

10)KaNNE ! Unnaik kANakkaruthi , yennenjam

yeNNa koNDa chinthayathAi ninRiyampum --

TVM 9.4.2

 

Oh My Vision! Ny eyes long to see You .

These eyes are but Yourself !

 

11) towards the end og His ThiruvAimozhi,

Swamy NammazhwAr gives us upadEsam on

the Tatthvam about KaNNan:

 

KaNNan KazhaliNai --naNNum Manamudayeer

yeNNum ThirunAmAm --tiNNam NaaraNamE

--TVM 10.5.1

 

Oh Suffering Humans who long to reach , as the central

goal of your life , the paadha dhvayam ( the sacred feet of

KaNNan), p;ease meditate on the most important name ,

NaarAyaNA! if you do it , you will be rewarded for sure !

 

Here Swamy NammazhwAr links beautifully

the name of Kannan with Moola Manthram , Dhvayam

and Caharama slOkam .

 

AshtAksharam samAsrithya tE jagmur VaishNavam Padham

 

NaarAyaNa , NaarAyaNa ,NaarAyaNa !

 

Oppiliappan Koil varadAchAri Sadagopan

 

P.S: please do not forget our ThiruvahIndhrapuram

KaNNan's RathnAngi Kaimkaryam.

[Guest guest]

With full respects to all learned group members,

 

I am based in Delhi and am very keen to and follow the Sri

vaishnava line of Vaishnavism.Could anyone please indicate any

mutt/aashram or the like in Delhi/NCR region where i can take shelter

of any sri vaishnava acharya and his folllowers.

 

With warm regards

 

Sashikant