Fragrance

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Srimate Srivansatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra

Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

Fragrance

 

Many of us wear perfumes- some mild and

pleasing, others strong enough to inspire a headache

in others. Perfumes have been used since long,

primarily to mask body odour, and to enable the user

to exude a pleasant smell. It was reported that during

the height of water scarcity at Chennai, the sale of

perfumes reached its peak.

Perfumes have been used for long in Arabian countries,

where the paucity of water did not encourage frequent

baths as were called for by the dry, hot climate.

How good would it be if we were to have a naturally

good smell, obviating the need for perfumes? Such a

person would be a natural invitee to all parties and

would be extremely popular. This is not in the realm

of fiction- there is indeed such a person, though it

may not be proper to call Him a person, for He is none

other than the Lord.

 

“Yam sarva gandha:” says the shruti, attesting to the

fact that Emperuman is the repository of all

fragrance. Sri KoorattAzhwan says “Yam Sarva Gandha

iti sAdaram udvahanti”, attesting to the fact that He

is indeed a veritable walking perfumery. Swami Desikan

calls Him “sarva gandha vastu”-in Sri Parama pata

SopAnam.

“NAtra tuzhAi mudi Narayanan” says Sri Andal, further

confirming that the Lord is sweet smelling. Though

Emperuman is by nature fragrant, the TiruttuzhAi he

wears in plenty on all parts of His tirumEni (“

TOLiNai mElum nan mArbin mElum sudar mudi mElum

tALiNai mElum punainda taNNam tuzhAi udai ammAn” says

Sri Nammazhwar, pointing out that the Lord wears

Tulasi on His wide shoulders, on His broad chest, on

His glittering crown, and on His lotus feet) adds in

no small measure to His fragrance. So much so that

TirutthuzhAi is almost identified with Sriman Narayana

(“nAru tuzhAi malar kANil NAranan kaNNi eedhennum”-Sri

Nammazhwar).

Like the rest of Him, Sri Krishna’s lips too are

sweet smelling, and scented camphor and blooming lotus

are indeed malodorous, compared to the Lord’s

lips-“Karpooram nArumO kamala poo nArumO, tiru pavaLa

sevvAi tAn tittitirukkumO” wonders Sri Kodai Nachiar,

and calls upon Sri Panchajanya Azhwan (who has a close

association with the Lord’s lips) to clarify.

Emperuman’s exhalation too is said to be fragrant. The

air that we mortals let out is anything but sweet

smelling, being loaded with carbon-dioxide. However,

Swami Desikan says (“Shruti surabhi nisvAsamAna divya

nAsAvamsam”-Sri Paramapada SopAnam) that the Lord’s

exhalation is full of the fragrance of shruti. This is

reiterated in Sri Devanayaka Panchasat thus-

“nityOditai: nigama nissvasitai: tava EshA nAsA

Nabaschara patE nayanAbdi sEthu:” As VedAs are said to

be the Paramapurusha’s breath, it is no wonder that

His exhalation bears the Vedic aroma.

 

Moving down to Emperuman’s tiruvadi, Swami Desikan

says that the holy feet are adorned by Vedic fragrance

(“VElAtIta shruti parimaLam, VedhasAm mouli

sEvyam”-Sri Bhagavat DhyAna SOpAnam). All Veda vAkyAs

are ultimately paeans of praise to the Lord’s

tiruvadi, and hence the lotus feet are said to wear

the aroma of shruti.

 

Sri Devi and Bhoodevi constantly massage the Lord’s

tiruvadi, to relieve them of the strain of measuring

the universe during TrivikramAvatAra (“andru ivvuagam

aLanda asavE kol?”), and of roaming the jungle during

Sri Ramavatara and Sri Krishnavatara (“kAnagam ellAm

tirindu un karia tirumEni vAda”). Due to the constant

association with the Lord’s feet, much of the

fragrance is transferred to the lotus hands of the

NachimAr, says Swami Desikan in Sri Paramapada

SopAnam-“NachimAr kara talangaLukku parimaLam kodukkum

potrAmarai adigaL”.

 

Here, the use of the words “potrAmarai adigaL” is

significant. Emperuman’s feet are likened to a golden

lotus. The important difference is that while gold

lacks scent, His tiruvadi is fragrant. Further, while

gold is hard, His feet are soft as a lotus, and

delicate beyond description. Sri Venkatesa Prapatti

says that the Lord’s feet are reddened with the strain

of His Consorts’ massaging (“sa prEma bheeti

kamalakara pallavAnAm--- Sri Venkatesa charanou “).

One could imagine the delicacy of the Lord’s

tiruvadis, if they were to be strained at the touch of

the extremely soft hands of Sridevi and Bhoodevi.

 

It is not that the Lord is fragrant only in Sri

Vaikuntam-even in His archAvatAram, He is so, as

evidenced by the sobriquet,”ParimaLa Rangan”, at

TiruvindaLoor.

 

We have seen that the Lord is fragrant. This is not

all. All that He is associated with is also fragrant.

Take for example His principal Consort, Sridevi. She

too smells sweet, says Sri Nammazhwar- “VEri mArAda

poo mEl iruppAL vinai teerkkumE”. “VEri”here refers to

scent, and “poo mEl iruppAL” refers to Piratti and the

purport of the phrase is that Piratti, who has the

lotus as Her residence, is always fragrant. Another

interpretation of the aforesaid pasuram would be to

attribute the permanent fragrance to the lotus, and to

describe Piratti as the resident of such a flower.

However, the former version, ascribing the fragrance

to Piratti, appears dearer to Sri Nammazhwar’s heart.

Piratti is also variously described as “alli malar

MagaL”, “tAmaraiyAL”, ” vAsam sei poom kuzhalAl”,

etc., indicating Her constant association with scented

flowers, which add to Her natural fragrance, as does

TiruttuzhAi to Emperuman’s aroma. The Veda Purusha too

attests to the Divine Consort’s inseparable fragrance

with the Rik “Gandha dvArAm” in Sri Sooktam.

 

It is not only Sri Devi who is fragrant- Sri Bhoodevi

too is the repository of all aroma, as is known from

the definition, “Gandhavati Prithvi”.

Sri Paduka Devi too is endowed with fragrance, natural

as well as that derived through constant association

with the Lord’s lotus feet, as can be deduced from

several slokas in the KAnchana Paddhati and Pushpa

Paddhati of Sri Paduka Sahasram.

 

Emperuman’s personal valet Sri Adisesha, who serves

Him in multifarious capacities as His bed, umbrella,

throne, footwear etc., also possesses a sweet smell,

as described by Swami Desikan –“Sarva gandha

vastuvukkum vAsanai undAgum padiAna parimaLattai

udayavan”- it is as if Sri Ananta adds fragrance to

even the Lord who is Himself the repository of all

fragrance, as shown above.

The Lord endows His devotees too with fragrance.

Sri Nammazhwar and his works are said to bear the

aroma of the “Magizham poo”-“yasya sArasvatam srOtO

VakuLAmOda vAsinam” says Swami Desikan. Not only Sri

Satakopa Muni, but his Tiruvaimozhi too is endowed

with fragrance, that of the shruti, as Sri

Tiruvarangattu Amudanar declares in Sri Iramanusa

Nootrandadi-he calls Tiruvaimozhi “maNam tarum

innisai”.

Sri Valmiki says that there was nobody in Sri Ayodhya

who did not possess a sweet smell-

“nAmrishtO nAnuliptAngO nAsugandhascha vidyatE”(

Ayodhya Varnanam).

 

It would be remiss of adiyen to conclude without a

mention of the appetizing aroma of the kitchen-

“madaippaLLi vanda maNam” as Swami Desikan puts it.

Sri Kidambi AcchAn was so much devoted to Sri Ramanuja

that he was entrusted with the charge of preparing the

latter’s meals, after there was an attempt to poison

the great Acharya. Sri AcchAn thus enjoyed several

hours of uninterrupted company of his master, imbibing

from him the “Rahasya Tradition”, consisting of rare

nuggets of instruction handed from one Acharya to

another down the line. From Sri AcchAn, this tradition

was propagated through Sri EngalAzhvAn, Sri Nadadur

AmmAl, Sri Kidambi AppuLLAr, and found its way to

Swami Desikan, who treated it as the rare treasure it

is, and never missed an opportunity to declare what he

owed to the Sampradayic fragrance that wafted through

the Bhashyakara’s kitchen. “Yativara mahAnasa

sampradayam”, “YativaranAr madaippaLLi vanda maNam

engaL vArtthaiyuL manniyadE”, etc. are some of his

tributes to this tradition.

With all this glorious fragrance, wouldn’t you be

tempted to call ours the “Scented Sampradaya”? It is

perhaps the only tradition, which can boast of being a

treat as much to the olfactory system as to any other.

 

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrsimha divya paduka sevaka

SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya

nama:

-------dasan,

sadagopan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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