ANDAL'S ENVY KRISHNA'S PRIDE-1

[Guest guest]

ANDAL'S ENVY -CONCH'S PRIDE

 

Sri sadagopan Iyengar's posting on the bamboo instrument was thought provoking.

He had queried whether we had read or seen the Lord playing any other

instrument. The flute has the privilege of being near the Lord, near His lips.

However, despite all its credentials, it does not enjoy the place of the conch.

Why so? The Lord's conch, namely pAnchajanyam, also has the privilege of being

with the Lord, adorning His broad shoulders and tasting His mouth. It is a

weapon and does not produce magnifying music and the consequential effect of the

flute. It definitely does not have a magical impact on the living or non-living

things when related to the Lord's flute. It does not make living things to

become like non-living things-ezhudhu chithiram pOle ninRanavE- or make the

seemingly non-living burst into life i.e. behave like living things-marangaL

ninRu madhu dhAraigaL pAyum.Then, how can we conclude that It is better placed

as compared to the flute ?

 

First, let us see what AzhwAr mentions about the conch. It is said that when

Lord krishNA put His mouth unto the conch at the outset of the kurukshEthrA war,

and the warriors were terrorised mercilessly, as a stentorian effect. This is

clearly spelt out in thiru voi mozhip pAsuram :

 

" vari vaLaiyAl kuRaivillA - peru muzhakkAl adangArai, eri azhal ampuga

vUdhi... " thiru voi mozhi 4-8-8.

vari vaLai- the conch with lines on it.

kuRaivillA peru muzhakkAl = With substantial big sound;

peru muzhakku = The great sound emanating from the pAnchajanyam. The maha-dhwani

of the pAnchajanyam.

peru muzhakkAl- adangArai eri azhalam puga vUdhii= The opponents were pierced

with scorching sound of the conch which entered the hearts and petrified them.

 

The point here is that, the noise from the conch terrorises the opponents.

 

sri AndAL has also voiced the same view in thiruppAvai:

 

" valam puri pOle ninRadhirndhu " thiruppAvai 4 and in

 

27th pAsuram " gnAlathai ellAm nadunga muralvana " the opponents in the universe

are shocked with awe and fear.

 

periAzhwAr also has mentioned this in periAzhwAr thiru mozhi 3-3-5

" paRRAr nadunga mun pAnchajanyathai vAi vaitha, pOr ErErE... "

For the sake of pAndavAs Lord krishNA used the conch to create the big bang

noise which terrorised the duryOdhanA and his warriors with alarm and great

fear.

 

The conch- pAnchajanyam is seen as a weapon in the Lord's hands and instills

enormous fear psychosis the minds of the opponents.

 

is that all?

( to be continued)

vanamamalai padmanabhan