REJECTING THE LORD

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REJECTING THE LORD

 

There has been a discussion going on in this forum regading sri rAmAnuja being

more compassionate than the Lord HImself. This has to be seen from two angles.

One is that this being dealt in irAmAnusa nURRandhAdhi and it is but natural

that the poet talks high regarding the subject matter of the poem. The Second

fact is that the Lord feels happy on showering praise on His devotees which is

the fundamental of our faith. bhAgavatha shEshathavam.

With this background, I recall two irAmAnusa nURRandhAdhip pAsuram to expalin

this point.

 

thirukkuRaL says " inia vuLavAga, innAdha kURal, kani iruppak kAi kavaRndhaRRu "

Talking ill is akin to rejecting the fruit when it is available.

 

Can anybody reject fruit, when it is available? The Lord is the supreme fruit.

Is there any precedence of HIm being rejected?

 

Yes. nam AzhwAr has rejected HIm. He rejected parathvam preferring the Lord of

thiru-vARan viLai. This is a case of preference of

arfchAvathAram to parathvam. This is also understood from AchArya Hrdyam sUthram

171 -parathva vimugam Akkum- indifference towards parathvam occurs for AzhWar

who is turned towards this dhivya dhEsam- sindhai maRRondRin thirathadhallAl

thanmai -thiru voi mozhi 7-10-10.

 

Is there any other precedent of rejecting the Lord. Yes. sri madhurakavigaL

preferred nam-AzhwAr to the Lord. " dhEvu maRRaRiyEan " were his words. He did not

have any other Lord other than nam-AzhwAr. This is our philosophy -bhAghavatha

shEshathvam.

 

Extending this principle thiru arangathamudhanAr in his irAmAnusa nURRandhAdhi

in two of his pAsuram-s prefers sri rAmAnujA to i. archai Lord and ii. vibhavam.

 

" seiththali sangam sezhumutha mEnum, thiruvarangar

kaithalathAzhum sangamum yEandhi,nangaNmugappEa,

moithalaithu vunnai vidEAn enRu irukkilum,nin pugazhEA

moithalaikkum vandhu, irAmAnusa ennai muRRum ninREA " irAmAnusa nURRandhAdhi 75

 

 

Even if the Lord of thiruvarangam with His dhivyAyudham-s sangam and chakkaram

appears in person and challenges that I will not leave you -still only sri

rAmAnujA's auspicious qualities will weigh heavily on me.

 

The point here is, even in the event of Lord being available readymade, only sri

rAmAnujA is preferred. A case of rejection of archai-thiruvarangam-Lord

preferring AchAryan.

 

The next pAsuram taken up here is

 

" kayil kani enna kaNNanai kAttith tharinum, vundhan meyyil piRangiya

sEranRi vENdilan yAn.... " irAmAnusa nURRandhAdhi 104

 

Even if Lord krishNa is presented on a silver salver I want only the dhivya

mangaLa vigrahA of sri rAmAnujA. Only the splendour of His thirumEani attracts

me. It reminds me of his auspicous qualities. This is a clear case of rejection

of Lord KrishNA in preference to our AchAryan.Here a question is raised that the

LOrd who is the means and end is being rejected and whether this is correct?

Though Lord krishNA had delivered sermon, gave the sacred bhagavadh gEthA,

charioted and so on, there was no immediate effect.However, history says that

even a dumb person attained salvation on surrendering unto sri rAmAnujA's

thirumEani. Is it then wrong to prefer him over the Lord?is the justification

coming forth.

 

The point emphasised here is the fundamental of our philosphy is dhathEya

shEshathvam that is being subservient to the devotees.

 

I conclude this with the thiru mozhip pAsuram

" ....vuRRadhum vun adiyArku adimai. maRRellAm pEAsilum nin thiru ettezhuthum

kaRRu nAn kaNNapurathurai ammAnE " periya thiru mozhi 8-10-3

 

There may be so many explanations for the eight term thirumandhiram. Whatever we

discuss the essence is that one has to be subservient to His devotees. This is

what I have learnt as the real and true meaning of thirumandhiram.

 

 

vanamamalai padmanabhan