A tale of two thieves

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedantadesika

Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

A Tale of Two Thieves

______________________

 

Azhwars are enamoured of addressing Emperuman as

" KaLvA " (thief). Listen to Sri

Nammazhwar- " Kalva,emmaiyum Ezhulagum ninnuLLE tOtriya

Iraiva "

" en pollA karumAnikkamE en KaLvA "

" kaLavEzh veNNai toduvunda kaLvA " . etc.

Sri Tirumangai Mannan is not far behind in calling Him

names- " kaLLa kuzhavi " , " KaLvA " etc.

And what did the Lord do to earn this sobriquet? His

most obvious and endearing misdemeanour is that of

" navaneeta chouryam " or Butter Theft. The gopis of Sri

Gokulam are united in their complaint to Sri Yasodha

that ever since Sri Krishna was born, their milk and

butter were not their own, and kept disappearing

mysteriously ( " karanda nar pAlum tayirum kadaindu uri

mEl vaittha veNNai, pirandadu mudalAga petrariyEn " ).

And the culprit, adding insult to injury, not only

emptied the pots of butter, but also banged them down,

breaking up all the pots. ( " VeNNai vizhungi verum

kalatthai verpidai ittu adan Osai kEtkum " )

(uruga vaittha kudatthodu veNNai uricchi udaitthittu

pOndu nindrAn " ).( " pAlai ….sAitthu parugiittu pOndu

nindrAn " ).etc. The poor Lord, unused to thievery,

gets caught by the vigilant Gopis, and is roundly

cursed ( " VeNNai undAn ivan endru Esa nindra

emperumAn " ) and beaten too ( " Ayar kozhundAi avarAl

pudai uNNum en mAyappirAn " ). And ultimately, when the

enchanting thief's exploits become unbearable, He is

also tied to the grinding stone with the aid of a

rope, restricting His movement ( " Matthuru kadai veNNai

kaLavinil uravidai AppuNdu etthiram uralinOdu iNaindu

erindu Engia eLivE " ).

 

Itihyam has it that Sri Nammazhwar was so much

taken up with this Souseelyam (that of the Parabrahmam

getting tied up by an unlettered cowherdess, and

looking to her for liberation, with appealing eyes

full of tears), that he fell unconscious for six

months. Volumes have been and would still be written

about navaneeta chouryam, and it is not for a humble

soul like adiyen to add to the lore.

 

Theft of milk and butter is hardly a matter for

serious concern. Sri Satakopa Muni accuses Him of a

much graver offence-that of stealing his soul- and

warns others to beware of this Divine Thief.

" Senchor kavigAl uyir kAtthu Atcheymin-TirumAl irum

sOlai

Vanjak kaLvan mAmAyan mAyakkaviyAi vandu- en

Nenjum uyirum uL kalandu nindrAr ariyA vaNNam-en

Nenjum uyirum avai undu tAnE Agi niraindAnE "

And further, " neermayAl nenjam vanjitthu pugundu-ennai

Eermai seidu en uyirAi en

uyirundAn " etc.

Emperuman was so enamoured of Azhwar that He could not

bear his seperation, and though Azhwar did not invite

Him, He stole Azhwar's body and soul and became one

with him. Here, Azhwar asks Emperuman an embarrassing

question- " I have been toiling in this samsAra for

aeons, suffering through several cycles of births and

deaths. And though I have been crying out to You

repeatedly, You did not heed me and did little to

grant me liberation. And, in this janmA, when I have

done nothing to merit your attentions, You are

invading me perforce and insist on taking me to

SriVaikuntam (ViNNulagam taruvAnAi viraigindrAn).

Pray, tell me the reason for this? ( " indru ennai

poruLAkki tannai ennuL vaitthAn-andru ennai puram pOga

puNartthadu en seyvAn " ). Emperuman does not have a

reply to this question, and stands silent before the

Azhwar, with eyes downcast with shame .The beautiful

sreesooktis of Sri Nampillai in the eedu and Swami

Desikan's interpretations of this pasuram are indeed

worthwhile perusing. Tempting as it is to dwell on

these excellent panktis, adiyen would like to stick to

the topic.

Summing up the case against His Lordship, one would

tend to agree with Azhwar that there is ample

justification for branding Emperuman as a " KaLvan " .

However, we find that this thievery, instead of

bringing Him disrepute, adds to His glory .His theft

of butter, etc., and His getting punished for the

same, highlight the glorious attribute of Souseelyam,

while His stealing our bodies and souls is indicative

of His insatiable hunger for ChEtana lAbham.

 

This is a tale of two thieves: having seen the

machinations of the Divine Thief, who do you think is

the other thief? Please do not take offence if I say

that we human beings collectively form the second

class of thieves. Sri Kalian says, " KaLvan AnEn padiru

seidiruppEn " , " vampulAm koondal manaiviyai turandu

pirar poruL tAram endru ivattrai nambinAr " etc. Some

of us covet the riches, women and other belongings of

others, rendering us the worst sort of thieves,

whether or not we actually carry out the thoughts of

theft into action. As the saying goes, a true

SriVaishnava always looks at others' wives as his own

mother, others' riches as mere dust, and treats all

other beings as he would be treated himself.( " Matruvat

para dArEshu, lOshtavat para dravyEshu, Atmavat sarva

bhootEshu ya:pasyati sa pasyati " ).

 

Going back to Sri Parakalan, the theft attributed to

him could be classified as sAtvic, as the proceeds,

though ill-gotten, were utilized not for his personal

benefit, but for tadeeyArAdhanam and for building

temple towers and compounds. Swami Desikan justifies

such unorthodox methods of fund-raising (as those

resorted to by Sri Kalian) in his (now extinct)work,

" StEyAvirOdham " .

 

However, the misdemeanours mentioned above pale into

insignificance, when we consider the other type of

theft all of us are guilty of-that of " AtmApahAram " .

By nature, the JeevAtma is the eternal slave of the

Lord, and exists solely to be of some use to Him.

" dAsa bhootAh:svata:sarvE hi AtmAna:paramAtmana: " says

the MantrarAja pada stOtram. We all, our bodies and

souls, are the undisputed property of Emperuman.

However, the age-old shackles of ahankAram and

MamakAram make us imagine that we are independent

agents with our own belongings. We delude ourselves

that we are responsible for our own well-being and

that of others " dependent " on us. Sri Nammazhwar puts

this state of mind succinctly thus- " YanE ennai

ariagilAdE, YanE entanadE endru irundEn " .

Swami Desikan describes this as the worst possible

form of theft, from several angles:

1.the value of the stolen item, viz., the Jeevatma,

is beyond measure:

2. the person whose property is stolen is none less

than the Almighty:

3.even after the Lord, in His infinite mercy, points

out to us (through shastrAs and Acharyas) that we are

indeed His property, we tend to dispute it (by saying

" aham mE " when He claims " tvam ME " ).

Now, how do we get out of the mire of ahankArA and

mamakArA? Swami Desikan comes to our rescue with an

easy solution- return the stolen article to the

rightful owner, with profound apologies. Since, in

this case, the item stolen is the priceless jewel of

jeevatma, we should surrender ourselves, in body and

soul, to the Lord, with the conscious thought of

returning to Him what is His by right. This calls for

the realization,in Sri Nammazhwar's words, " yAnE nee,

en udaimayum neeyE " (I am indeed Yours, and all that I

consider mine is also Yours). Sri Alavandar puts this

beautifully thus- " mama nAtha yadasti yOsmi aham,

sakalam tat hi tavaiva Madhava " . In other words, what

is required is Atma SamarpaNam, through an Acharya.

The Saranagati thus performed restores to the soul its

lost quality of sEshatvam. While the gravity of the

theft make us liable for maximum punishment, once we

perform Prapatti, the Divine Mother intercedes on our

behalf and ensures that we not only get off lightly,

but also gain admittance to the world of eternal

bliss, of uninterrupted kainkarya, to the Lord and His

divine consort.

 

 

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrsimha divya paduka sevaka

SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya

Nama:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Swamin:

I have been following your spitited postings on the various topics.

Everytime, you seem to excel yourself!

Please bless us with your nectarine postings and enlighten us.

Dasoham

Anbil Ramaswamy

 

 

>sadagopan iyengar <sadagopaniyengar

> , bhakti-list ,

>tiruvengadam , ,

>radha, j.srinivasan, chetlurvas,

>ayodhyarama, devnath, sukanyamurali

>A tale of two thieves

>Thu, 23 Aug 2001 10:45:41 -0700 (PDT)

>

> Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedantadesika

>Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

>

> A Tale of Two Thieves

> ______________________

>

>Azhwars are enamoured of addressing Emperuman as

> " KaLvA " (thief). Listen to Sri

>Nammazhwar- " Kalva,emmaiyum Ezhulagum ninnuLLE tOtriya

>Iraiva "

> " en pollA karumAnikkamE en KaLvA "

> " kaLavEzh veNNai toduvunda kaLvA " . etc.

>Sri Tirumangai Mannan is not far behind in calling Him

>names- " kaLLa kuzhavi " , " KaLvA " etc.

>And what did the Lord do to earn this sobriquet? His

>most obvious and endearing misdemeanour is that of

> " navaneeta chouryam " or Butter Theft. The gopis of Sri

>Gokulam are united in their complaint to Sri Yasodha

>that ever since Sri Krishna was born, their milk and

>butter were not their own, and kept disappearing

>mysteriously ( " karanda nar pAlum tayirum kadaindu uri

>mEl vaittha veNNai, pirandadu mudalAga petrariyEn " ).

>And the culprit, adding insult to injury, not only

>emptied the pots of butter, but also banged them down,

>breaking up all the pots. ( " VeNNai vizhungi verum

>kalatthai verpidai ittu adan Osai kEtkum " )

>(uruga vaittha kudatthodu veNNai uricchi udaitthittu

>pOndu nindrAn " ).( " pAlai ….sAitthu parugiittu pOndu

>nindrAn " ).etc. The poor Lord, unused to thievery,

>gets caught by the vigilant Gopis, and is roundly

>cursed ( " VeNNai undAn ivan endru Esa nindra

>emperumAn " ) and beaten too ( " Ayar kozhundAi avarAl

>pudai uNNum en mAyappirAn " ). And ultimately, when the

>enchanting thief's exploits become unbearable, He is

>also tied to the grinding stone with the aid of a

>rope, restricting His movement ( " Matthuru kadai veNNai

>kaLavinil uravidai AppuNdu etthiram uralinOdu iNaindu

>erindu Engia eLivE " ).

>

> Itihyam has it that Sri Nammazhwar was so much

>taken up with this Souseelyam (that of the Parabrahmam

>getting tied up by an unlettered cowherdess, and

>looking to her for liberation, with appealing eyes

>full of tears), that he fell unconscious for six

>months. Volumes have been and would still be written

>about navaneeta chouryam, and it is not for a humble

>soul like adiyen to add to the lore.

>

>Theft of milk and butter is hardly a matter for

>serious concern. Sri Satakopa Muni accuses Him of a

>much graver offence-that of stealing his soul- and

>warns others to beware of this Divine Thief.

> " Senchor kavigAl uyir kAtthu Atcheymin-TirumAl irum

>sOlai

> Vanjak kaLvan mAmAyan mAyakkaviyAi vandu- en

>Nenjum uyirum uL kalandu nindrAr ariyA vaNNam-en

>Nenjum uyirum avai undu tAnE Agi niraindAnE "

>And further, " neermayAl nenjam vanjitthu pugundu-ennai

> Eermai seidu en uyirAi en

>uyirundAn " etc.

>Emperuman was so enamoured of Azhwar that He could not

>bear his seperation, and though Azhwar did not invite

>Him, He stole Azhwar's body and soul and became one

>with him. Here, Azhwar asks Emperuman an embarrassing

>question- " I have been toiling in this samsAra for

>aeons, suffering through several cycles of births and

>deaths. And though I have been crying out to You

>repeatedly, You did not heed me and did little to

>grant me liberation. And, in this janmA, when I have

>done nothing to merit your attentions, You are

>invading me perforce and insist on taking me to

>SriVaikuntam (ViNNulagam taruvAnAi viraigindrAn).

>Pray, tell me the reason for this? ( " indru ennai

>poruLAkki tannai ennuL vaitthAn-andru ennai puram pOga

>puNartthadu en seyvAn " ). Emperuman does not have a

>reply to this question, and stands silent before the

>Azhwar, with eyes downcast with shame .The beautiful

>sreesooktis of Sri Nampillai in the eedu and Swami

>Desikan's interpretations of this pasuram are indeed

>worthwhile perusing. Tempting as it is to dwell on

>these excellent panktis, adiyen would like to stick to

>the topic.

>Summing up the case against His Lordship, one would

>tend to agree with Azhwar that there is ample

>justification for branding Emperuman as a " KaLvan " .

>However, we find that this thievery, instead of

>bringing Him disrepute, adds to His glory .His theft

>of butter, etc., and His getting punished for the

>same, highlight the glorious attribute of Souseelyam,

>while His stealing our bodies and souls is indicative

>of His insatiable hunger for ChEtana lAbham.

>

> This is a tale of two thieves: having seen the

>machinations of the Divine Thief, who do you think is

>the other thief? Please do not take offence if I say

>that we human beings collectively form the second

>class of thieves. Sri Kalian says, " KaLvan AnEn padiru

>seidiruppEn " , " vampulAm koondal manaiviyai turandu

>pirar poruL tAram endru ivattrai nambinAr " etc. Some

>of us covet the riches, women and other belongings of

>others, rendering us the worst sort of thieves,

>whether or not we actually carry out the thoughts of

>theft into action. As the saying goes, a true

>SriVaishnava always looks at others' wives as his own

>mother, others' riches as mere dust, and treats all

>other beings as he would be treated himself.( " Matruvat

>para dArEshu, lOshtavat para dravyEshu, Atmavat sarva

>bhootEshu ya:pasyati sa pasyati " ).

>

>Going back to Sri Parakalan, the theft attributed to

>him could be classified as sAtvic, as the proceeds,

>though ill-gotten, were utilized not for his personal

>benefit, but for tadeeyArAdhanam and for building

>temple towers and compounds. Swami Desikan justifies

>such unorthodox methods of fund-raising (as those

>resorted to by Sri Kalian) in his (now extinct)work,

> " StEyAvirOdham " .

>

> However, the misdemeanours mentioned above pale into

>insignificance, when we consider the other type of

>theft all of us are guilty of-that of " AtmApahAram " .

>By nature, the JeevAtma is the eternal slave of the

>Lord, and exists solely to be of some use to Him.

> " dAsa bhootAh:svata:sarvE hi AtmAna:paramAtmana: " says

>the MantrarAja pada stOtram. We all, our bodies and

>souls, are the undisputed property of Emperuman.

>However, the age-old shackles of ahankAram and

>MamakAram make us imagine that we are independent

>agents with our own belongings. We delude ourselves

>that we are responsible for our own well-being and

>that of others " dependent " on us. Sri Nammazhwar puts

>this state of mind succinctly thus- " YanE ennai

>ariagilAdE, YanE entanadE endru irundEn " .

> Swami Desikan describes this as the worst possible

>form of theft, from several angles:

> 1.the value of the stolen item, viz., the Jeevatma,

>is beyond measure:

> 2. the person whose property is stolen is none less

>than the Almighty:

> 3.even after the Lord, in His infinite mercy, points

>out to us (through shastrAs and Acharyas) that we are

>indeed His property, we tend to dispute it (by saying

> " aham mE " when He claims " tvam ME " ).

> Now, how do we get out of the mire of ahankArA and

>mamakArA? Swami Desikan comes to our rescue with an

>easy solution- return the stolen article to the

>rightful owner, with profound apologies. Since, in

>this case, the item stolen is the priceless jewel of

>jeevatma, we should surrender ourselves, in body and

>soul, to the Lord, with the conscious thought of

>returning to Him what is His by right. This calls for

>the realization,in Sri Nammazhwar's words, " yAnE nee,

>en udaimayum neeyE " (I am indeed Yours, and all that I

>consider mine is also Yours). Sri Alavandar puts this

>beautifully thus- " mama nAtha yadasti yOsmi aham,

>sakalam tat hi tavaiva Madhava " . In other words, what

>is required is Atma SamarpaNam, through an Acharya.

>The Saranagati thus performed restores to the soul its

>lost quality of sEshatvam. While the gravity of the

>theft make us liable for maximum punishment, once we

>perform Prapatti, the Divine Mother intercedes on our

>behalf and ensures that we not only get off lightly,

>but also gain admittance to the world of eternal

>bliss, of uninterrupted kainkarya, to the Lord and His

>divine consort.

>

>

>Srimate Sri LakshmiNrsimha divya paduka sevaka

>SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya

>Nama:

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Messenger

>http://phonecard./

>

>Srimate Sri Laksminrisimha Divya Paduka Sevaka

>Srivan Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

>

>