Is nAyikA bhAvam possible only to Lord in KrishNa's form ?

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SrI:

SrI Lakshminrusimha ParabrahmaNE namaha

SrI Lakshminrusimha divya pAdukA sEvaka SrIvaN-

SatakOpa SrI nArAyaNa yateendra mahAdESIkAya namaha

 

Dear devotees,

namO nArAyaNa.

 

There is some school of thought (Gaudiya Vaishnavas / ISKCON)

which holds a view as if nAyikA bhAvam can be expressed only to

Lord in KrishNa's form and that it can't be expressed to Lord in

forms like Nrusimha etc.

 

First of all, there is no SAstric authority to hold such

views. Its just their own imagination based upon some

lIlas performed by Lord in the vibhava avatAras.

 

Lets focus on the anubhavams of AzhwArs in this issue.

 

Its not that, Azhwars NammAzhwar and Thirumangai Azhwar, and

AndAL had nAyikA bhAva with only Lord KrishNa. They infact had

with even the arcA avatAra PerumALs itself and it was not

restricted to Lord KrishNa.

 

There are many pAsurams in nAyikA bhAvam to Lord Azhagar of

thirumAlirunchOlai, Lord SrInivAsa of thirumala, Lord RanganAtha

of SrIrangam etc by AndAL. Its not that Lord RanganAtha was

considered _only_ as Lord KrishNa. Infact, in Her ThiruppAvai,

She says " nArAyaNanE namakkE paRai tharuvAn " , in the first

pAsuram where she glorifies the beauty of Lord KrishNa,

establishing that it is Lord nArAyaNa who has come as KrishNa.

 

NammAzhwAr expresses nAyikA bhAvam towards many archA avatAra

PerumALs like Lord Nambi of thirukkurungudi, Lord

AravindalOchanan at tholaivillimangalam and others. NammAzhwAr

also expresses nAyikA bhAvam towards Lord RAma, Lord Nrusimha

and other vibhava avatArams.

 

Some samples :

 

1. In ThiruvAimozhi 5.5, all 10 pAsurams on nAyikA bhAvam to Lord

Nambi of Thirukkurungudi, by NammAzhwAr :

 

" Respected elders at home! Why do you all frown at me ?

Once I had seen our beautiful Nambi of thirukkurungudi, my

heart is not with me. It has gone to Him. Especially fancied

by the Sankha, Chakra, the lotus-like eyes and more

especially the red lips, most dear to me. And you were the

ones who initiated me in this field of Nambi-worship. What

is the point in you turning against me ? I can't desist

from my trance-vision of Nambi all around me " (5.5.1) "

 

 

2. ThiruvAimozhi 2.4.4 - nAyikA bhAvam towards Lord RAma :

< This is as per the words of the mother of NammAzhwAr

{who is in nAyikA bhAvam}, to Lord >

 

" She (NammAzhwAr in nAyikA bhAvam) disagrees with me when

I found fault with You. She calls You, " You who bear the

shower of arrows on Your broad beautiful chest, just for

your sweet-heart! " . She appears to be in an emotional

transformation to the personality of Sita, since she

appeals to You : " You did so much then ; Crossed the sea,

fought the hundreds of rAkshasAs, obliterated Lanka ....

all this for me. Now, you can quickly come on Your

favourite Garuda, raising the Garuda-banner aloft, as You

are always used to when Your devotees seek Your help " .

Saying so, she heaves a very warm sigh; her inflammed

passion is an easy inceniary to nearby greens. And she

sheds tears to exhaust the rest of her pangs. Ans she folds

her hands in supplication - she who deserves it from You -

which justly merits Your coming here immedietly with an

anjali for making amend for the delay. Please do so "

 

< Both trans. by SrI VN VEdAntadESIkan >

 

3. Thirumangai AzhwAr in ThirunedundAndakam especially

experiences nAyikA bhAvam towards Lord RAma. This is one

of adiyEn's most favourite pAsurams : " maivaNNanarunkunjik

kuzhal pin thAzha magaram sEr ......................... " (21).

 

adiyEn requests the devotees (like SrI MAdhavakannan) to kindly

translate this pAsuram and bringout the outstanding anubhava

of AzhwAr. It will great if someone can explain the pAsuram

based on the commentries also.

 

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Comments on the theory held by Gaudiya Vaishnavas :

 

Based on the lIlas displayed by Lord in some vibhava avatAra,

one shouldn't pass judgements on the experience of

a mukta. It is in 100% contradiction to Upanishads and Brahma

sUtras (refer esp.4th adhyAya, 4th pAda esp. " SankalpAdEva

tat SrutE " => mukta is satya sankalpa and is free to serve

Lord the way he wants, etc) to say that muktAs have intrinsic

differences within themselves based on the rasAs ie. as though a

mukta will only experience mAdhurya rasa (nAyikA bhAva) with Lord

in particular form, another mukta will only experience sAnta rasa

with Lord in a particular form etc. All these are sectarian

theories which has no authority in the prashna traya viz.

Upanishads, Brahma sUtras and Bhagavad gIta.

 

 

Also, in pAncarAtra certain upAsanAs (meditations) are

prescribed to aid one towards performing bhakti-yOga (upAsanas

prescribed in Upanishads). In this regard, pAncarAtra describes

as to how one how to meditate on Lord Sankarshana who has a

particular form and two main guNAs etc. It gives options for

a devotee by specifying many forms of Lord and the way upAsana

has to be performed. Similarly, upanishads prescribe

upAsanas like Sad Vidya, AntarAditya Vidya etc which have

stipulations on the form of Lord, the guNAs of the Lord to

be meditated etc, which are the direct means for attaining

Brahman. Kindly refer to SrI BhAshyam of Bhagavad RAmAnuja and

commentries on Upanishads for more information.

 

Only in this context that there arises the manifestation

of Lord's guNAs different in different forms. Its mainly for

those who choose the path of bhakti-yOga ie.upAsana and

perfect it to the stage of adopting a Brahma Vidya

(ie.upAsana) from Upanishads.

 

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Additional note :

 

There is also one most barbaric and uncivilized rumour

spread by Gaudiya VaishnavAs (ISKCON) as if SrI Chaitanya

instructed Bhagavad RAmAnuja to teach only dAsya rasa and

principles of SrI Vaishnavism and reserve the mAdhurya rasa

(nAyikA bhAvam) part to him and blessed Bhagavad RAmAnuja by

putting his (SrI Chaitanya's) feet over his (bhagavad rAmAnuja's)

head etc. Its all sectarian fanaticism and these amount to very

high degrees of bhAgavatha apachAram committed by them. Not only

Bhagavad RAmAnuja, but other VaishNava AchAryas are also not

spared off. Many imaginative stories are fabricated by them as if

SrI Chaitanya has blessed SrI MadhvAchArya, SrI NimbarkAchArya

etc and instructed them to teach certain things etc.

All these things are totally rubbish and are products of

pure fanaticism and cheating the people around by mere

sentiments/emotions through their fairy tales.

 

Even if this rumour is taken for granted, its hardly true

that Bhagavad RAmAnuja only explained dAsya rasa to his

disciples. Many pAsurams of AzhwArs are in nAyikA bhAvam

and it has been well explained by Bhagavad RAmAnuja and

commentries does have the record of his certain

interpretations. PiLLAn's 6000 padi is filled with the

devotional outburst of Bhagavad RAmAnuja.

 

Well, they haven't made even the rumours to be in accordance

with the pramAnas :-) !!

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

anantapadmanAbhan.

krishNArpaNam.