Sethu

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Srimathe Srivansatakopa Sri

Vedantha desika yateendra maha desikaya nama:

 

 

Sethu

 

The very term”Sethu” brings to our mind the famous

bridge built by Sri Rama. In this little piece adiyen

would like to present to the srivaishnavas a few stray

thoughts on the subject-nothing original, for, in our

sampradaya, everything worthy of being said and

capable of being interpreted ,seems to have been

already done by the AzhwArs and Acharyas, in a

comprehensive manner.

 

The word Sethu refers to a bridge or a link between

two places,or a dam or barrage (aNai) used to harness

the swift-flowing rivers. Azhwars and Swami Desikan

have made frequent references to this term while

referring to Emperuman :adiyen would like to present a

few of these here.

 

To start off with the Shruthi, the Upanishad says

“Amrutasya esha Sethu:”,indicating clearly that to a

mumukshu,seeking to attain liberation from karmic

bondage, Emperumaan himself serves as a bridge. At

this end of the bridge is the samsaaric world,chained

with the twin shackles of punya and paapa,unable to

free itself of the debilitating cycle of births and

deaths and caught up in the vicious karma pravAham.

At the other end of the bridge is the Nitya

Vibhuti,with Sriman Narayana presiding over the Nitya

Suris,wrapped up in “Andamil Perinbam” or unending

bliss. For a person on this side of the bridge, the

other side appears as unapproachable and unattainable

as is Mount Everest to the lame. However, with the aid

of the Divine Bridge, or Emperuman , who serves as the

ever-present SiddhOpAyam, the baddha jeevA is able,

through the easy upAyA of Prapatthi, to rid itself of

the mundane bonds and reach Sri Vaikuntam. In the

case of other worldly bridges, there is not much

qualitative difference between the places connected:

nor can they assure the traveller of a better deal at

the other end. The Divine Bridge, however,

undertakes to transport all those who set foot on it,

to an entirely different scenario, from bondage to

liberation and from eternal suffering to eternal

bliss. Is this not the Aghatita ghatanA sAmartyam

which prompted Sri AndAl and other Azhwars to call Him

“MAyA’, MAmAyA’ etc.?

 

Ofcourse, any reference to Sethu would be

incomplete without dealing with the the Rama Sethu.

Transporting the huge Vanara sainya across the sea

would have been impossible but for the gigantic and

awe-inspiring bridge constructed across the deep and

distant waters by Sri Rama. Having brought Samudra

Raja to his knees and secured his cooperation, Sri

Rama gave the job of building the bridge to NalA,the

son of ViswakarmA, who performed the kainkaryam with

enthusiasm and expedition. All in the Vanara sena

chipped in with all the trees, stones,rocks and even

the mountains they could carry and dump into the

waters,to make a pathway to Lanka .Even the tiny

squirrel, anxious to contribute its mite to this mahat

kainkaryam, rolled over in the sands and jumped into

the sea, hoping that the sand off its back would join

the stones and rocks dumped in by the more capable

others, in building the bridge for rescuing Mythili.

Tondaradippodi Azwar is so moved by this valiant

effort that ,in an endearing naichyanusandanam, he

says

Kurangugal malayai nookka, kulitthu thaam

purandu ittodi

Tharanga neer adaikkalutra chalamila Anilum

pOlEn.

He regrets that he has not participated in Bhagawat

Kainkaryam even to the extent of the tiny aNil, who

literally tried to pull its weight in Sri Rama kAryam.

Sri Nala was such a slave driver and the vanaras such

enthusiastic workers that the entire sea between

Bharata varsha and Lanka was bridged in just five

days. Sri Valmiki even furnishes the day-wise tally of

the achievment-14 yojanas on the first day,20 on the

second,21 on the third,22 0n the fourth and 23 on the

concluding day. When it was finished, the Rama SEthu

looked such a wonderful sight, spanning 100 yojanas

in length and ten yojanas in breadth. Whenever the

vanaras brought in a rock or mountain, Nala used to

write the Rama Nama on them and then throw them into

the waters, and lo and behold, the heavy things

floated to make a stupendous bridge. It would appear

that Sri Rama was unaware of the powers of his own

thirunAmam-instead of performing the demeaning and

unproductive saranAgati to Samudra Raja, all Sri Rama

had to do was to adopt the easy way shown by Nala.

Was this why Azhwar said “Thaanum than perumai

arivariyAnai”? And is this another case of the

“Vaachaka Prabhavam” being stronger than the “Vaachya

Prabhavam”? But then, Chakravartthi Thirumagan

believed not in AtimAnusha krityAs, but in “AatmAnam

Manusham manye”,rather than display His unlimited

powers.

Anyway, the Sethu, when finished, was an object of

wonder and adoration to one and all and shone

resplendently out of the sea, for all to see. Sri

Valmiki is so impressed with this that he calls the

bridge “Sreeman”, an aphorism usually reserved for

sentient beings of a high order (“Susubhe

subhagha:sreeman swaati pata ivambare”).

 

For Azhwars, Ramavatara anubhavam is incomplete

without wondering at “Sethu bandhanam”.Thus we have

Sri Kulasekarap Perumal exclaiming “Malai adanAl aNai

katti mathil Ilangai azhitthavanE”. The superhuman

achievment of the vAnara mudalis comes in for

appreciation by Sri Vishnuchitta thus- “TalayAl

kuranginam tAngi chendru tadavarai kondu adaippa

,alayAr kadarkarai veetrirundanai angutthai kandAr

uLar”.

Sri Kalian, for his part,says” mari kadal neripada

arikulam panikondu malayAl alai kadal adaitthAn”

 

As always, Swami Desikan’s mangalasasanam of the Rama

sethu is unique-

“YenAchala prakrutinA ripu samkshayArtthi

VarAm nidhim Varada poorvam alanghayastvam

Tam veekshya sethum adunApi sareeravanta:

SarvE shadoormi bahulam jaladhim taranti.”

Normally, the utility of EmperumAn’s VibhavAvatArAs

is limited to His contemporaries-others who live

before or after the particular avatAra kAlA would not

be able to benefit from the avatArA( hence the

Srivachanabhooshana sreesookthi”perukkAru pOlE

vibhavangaL”). However, Nigamantha guru says that Sri

Rama, through the Sethu he built with rocks and stones

,ensured that all beings who just set eyes on the

Rama Sethu, irrespective of the times or Yuga they

belong to,are able to cross the ocean of Samsara and

attain liberation. It is pertinent to note here that

the Rama Sethu has withstood the ravages of time and

panchabhootas, and is still there for all to see, off

the Rameswaram coast in South India. In an inimitable

aphorism, Swami Desikan likens the ocean to be crossed

by the baddha jeeva to the swirling waters of Samsara,

with its six-fold waves of

Kama,Krodha,Lobha,Moha,Mata and MAtsaryA. Just as the

RamaSethu enabled the vanara veeras to cross the sea

filled with crocodiles,snakes and other dangerous

reptiles, so the mere sight of the Sethu enables us to

cross the dangerous sea of Samsara and attain

Srivaikuntam.

Rather than test the

readers’ patience, adiyen would like to end here, but

would request you to put up with a second part to

follow, incorporating some more of Swami Desikan’s

anubhavams. dasan,sadagopan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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sri:

 

Dear Sriman Sadagopan Iyengar,

 

adiyen deeply cherishes the article written on sethu

by devareer. adiyen is deeply attached to Srimad

Ramayanam, which was taught to adiyen by srimathi

yadugiri ammal when adiyen was about 4 years old.

 

Devareer wrote:

>Nala used to write the Rama Nama on them

 

adiyen is confused. Was is not hanumar who wrote the

rama nAmam on the rocks?

 

adiyen is reminded of the upanyasam of

U.Ve.Vidwanmi,Ramayanacharya Prof.K.S.Narayanachar,

who spoke on Abhaya Pradaana Saaram of Swami Desikan.

Abhaya Pradaana Saaram covers the saranagathi aspect

of Srimad Ramayanam.

 

U.Ve.KSN mentions in one of his books that even if all

the Sri Sookthis of our sampradayam were lost, but the

Srimad Ramayanam and Thiruvaymozhi were carefully

preserved, the other lost sri sookthis could be

derived from the above two.

 

adiyen ramanuja daasan,

 

malolan cadambi

 

 

 

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