AchArya Hrdhaym 185

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AchArya Hrdhayam

sUthram 227-5

The ninth Ten.

 

LOVE IS BUT A GAME OF WAITING

 

 

" .padhinAlANdu, pathu mAsam, oru pagal, poRuthavargaL, oru mAsadhina sandhyailEa

padumadhu shaNathilEa Aga irangugiRa thwaraikku EdAga.. "

 

 

 

It is commonplace to see, hear, that love for one makes waiting plesant,

necessary, but at the same time painful. We hear of stories and also see in

movies that one of the couples wait for the other interminably, which in fact

aggravates the longing for the other. Why does one wait? Why dont they just walk

off, without waiting? It is matter of expectation. It is the reflection of love

and affection. It is the immense love for one another and it is a matter of

faith. Love is but a game of waiting.

 

That waiting is not new, is an established one. There are several precedents

which go to prove this point.

 

Sri bharadhAzhwAn waited for fourteen years for sri rAma pirAn to return to

ayOdhyA.

sEthA pirAtti had to have an agonising ten months to achieve this end.

The gOpikAs had to bear the separation of Lord krfishNA for one full day when

the Lord went on the mission-cow-herd as a daily routine.

 

What has AzhwAr got to do with this? is a question that may arise. AzhwAr's

desire and longing for the Lord Almighty is second to none. In fact, the form of

the desire towards Lord KrishNA is 'AzhwAr' krishNa thrishNA thathvam.

AzhwAr's experiences with the Lord day in and day out all spring out from this

desire.The joy of union and pangs of separation are fluctuating. AzhwAr waits

for the smile of the Lord, the grace of Him, the vision and so on. The waiting

seems to be never ending, but for some bouts of intermittent respites in the

form of divine expriences. The longing grows on and on. The pain accumulates.

The agony aggravates. The pain of sri bharadhAzhwAn who was not able to wait on

the final day, the pain of the sEthA pirAti who was patient lost the balance in

the final month and in fact expressed that she may not like to live after one

month thence. This one month was a very tormenting period.

 

What happened to the gOpikAs who were without the Lord when He left with the

cows during the daytime? They endured the separation for the whole day but had

to bear the unendurable agony in the dusk-sandhyai.

 

The pain of bharadhAzhwAn ------- Fourteen years culminating into one day

agony.

The pain of sEthA pirAtti--------one month --ten months becoming a tormenting

one month.

The pain of gOpikAs--------dusk --one day climaxing into a undesirable dusk.

 

all such pains are experienced by AzhwAr in oru nodip pOdhu --- in an instant.

All the pangs of AzhwAr is described in the thiru voi mohzi " malligai kamazh "

9-9;

 

" avanai vittu aganRu vuyir ARRa gillA, aNiyizhai Aichiyar mAlaip pUsal, avanai

vittu

agalvadhARkEa irangi, aNi kurugUr satakOpan mARAn " thiru voi mohzi 9-9-11.

 

That is a painful period-- in fact

 

LOVE IS BUT A GAME OF WAITING

 

(to be continued)

vanamamalai padmanabhan