AthimAnusha Sthavam : Slokams 31-40

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SlOkam 31 :

 

yE dharmam Aacharithum abhyasithum cha yOgam

BhOddhum cha kinchana na jAthvAdhikArabhAja:

tEapi ThvAdhAcharihta bhUtala Bhandha gandhAdh

BhandhAthigA: paragathim gamithA: thruNAdhyA:

 

(Meaning): Oh Lord ! The blades of grass and animals are

incapable of comprehending the Tatthva Thrayam( chEtana-

achEtana-Iswara Tatthvams ) or practising karma yOgam or

Jn~Ana yOgam or Bhakthi Yogam that will unite them

with You as SarvEswaran. They were not born to practise

such yOgams that qualify them to reach sathgathy ( the Supreme

PurushArTam of Moksham) and yet due to their sambhandham

( links) to a dhivya dEsam , where You moved around , they too

got freed from their karmic bonds and gained Moksham .

 

(Commentary):The reference here is to the elevation of all

chEtanams ( grass , ant and other chEtanams) to Moksham

at the end of RamAvathAram . Once Lord RaamachandrA's

avathAra kaaryam was over and as He returned to Sri Vaikuntam

from AyOdhyaa , even the lower lives , who were not qualified to

practise Karma , Jn~Ana or Bhakthi yOgams were elevated to

Sathgathy by mere association with the dhivya dEsam , where

the Lord was born and reigned . They got release from their lowly

births and cut asunder their karmAs and ascended the ladder to

Parama Padham without having practised successfuly any one of

the yOgams prescribed for gaining the great PurushArTam of Moksham .

Oh Lord ! Such is the extraordinary , superhuman power of Your sports !

 

" ThruNAdhya: dharmam Aacharithum na saktha:". Those chEtanams

born into wombs of plants and animals did not have the svaroopa Jn~Anam

about Bhagavath Seshathvam ( being liege to the Lord ) or Bhagavath Svaroopa-

svabhAva Jn~Anam . They could not practise any one of the upAsanams

recommended by the Upanishads for gaining Moksham .They just stayed

under the shade of th Lord's sacred feet at AyOdhyaa and got qualified to

cut asunder their karmAs and ascended to Parama Padham .That connection

to Your Thiruvadi nizhal ( comforting shade of Your sacred feet ) was sufficent to

propell them towards sathgathy : " tEapi Thvath AaSritha bhUtala Bhandha

gandhAth paragathim gamithA: " . This extraordinary happening is due to

the power of sTAna viSEsaham ( residence in the dhivya dEsams) of

Bhagavaan . Swamy AlavanthAr also refers to this thru his prayers to be

born even as a worm in the mansion of the houses of BhAgavathAs.

KulasEkhara AzhwAr also prays for such a soubhAgyam of links to Thirumala

through birth there as a worm or a plant there to have Bhagavath sambhandham .

 

SlOkam 32 :

 

thAdhrugh guNO nanu BhabhUviTa RaaghavathvE

yasthAvakam charitham anvaham anvabhunktha

sOathraiva hantha ! HanumAn paramAm vimukthim

BhuddhvAavadhUya charitham Tava sEvathEasou

 

(Meaning): Oh RaamabhadrA ! You are shining with such

auspicious guNams that defy adequate description . It is the spell

of those matchless guNams and the sukham arising from the delectable

reflection on them that made HanumAn prefer stay in this world

to sing Your glories instead of accepting Your invitation to accompany

You to Parama Padham at the end of Your avathAram .

 

( Commentary) : Another incident at the time of the Lord's ascent to

Srivaikuntam at the end of His avathAram as Raamachandra was over :

HanumAn was engaged in deep GuNAnubhavam of His Lord at a distant

place known as Gandha Madhana mountain . Lord Raamabhdhra invited

HanumAn to join Him to Sri Vaikuntam . HanumAn responded to that personal

invitation with a moving statement declaring his firm love for the Lord and

politely declining the invitation : " snEham mE ParamO Raajan! Thvayi nithyam

Prathishtitha: , Bhakthisccha niyathaa Veera ! bhAvO nAnyathra gacchathy ".

Oh Raghuveeraa ! adiyEn is overcome with the three states of Bhakthi

Yogam : Parabhakthi (snEha: ) , Para Jn~Anam ( Parama: prathishtitha:)

and Parama Bhakthi ( niyathaa bhakthi: ) . Please forgive adiyEn . I have

no cmpelling desire to come to Parama Padham (Nithya VibhUthi/ Sri Vaikuntam)

with You . I prefer to be here on Your LeelA VibhUthi ( Earth) engaged in

the enjoyment of Your guNAnubhavam . adiyEn will sing about Your

athimAnusha , Asccharya guNams while staying here as Chiramjeevi .

 

SlOkam 33:

 

yasthvam kruthAgasamapi praNathi prasaktham

Thamm vAyasam paramayA krupayA akshamishtA:

tEnaiva mAdhrusa janasya mahAgasOaoi

yuktham samASvasanam ithyupadhArayAmi

 

(Meaning ): Oh RaaghavA ! Even in the case of the mighty sinner

KaakAsuran , who commited an unpardonable apachAram to Your

dear consort , You forgave him out of Your matchless KaaruNyam to

those who sought Your refuge and fell at Your sacred feet seeking

protection . Based on the recollection of that forbearance of Yours

against the Mahaa AparAdhi , KaakAsuran , adiyEn is comforted that

even a mighty sinner like me can be saved by Your infinite grace .

( This slOkam is a naicchyAnusandhAna slOkam ).

 

(Commentary ) : The reference is to the incident at Chithrakootam ,

where an aggressive , flesh eating Crow ( son of Indhran) poked at

the breast of Mother Sitaa , while Her consort was resting with

His head on Her thigh . The blood flowed and fell on the Lord's

face.He woke up and saw the offending crow . Lord Ramachandra

was mighty angry and picked up a blade of grass and empowered it

to destroy the Crow , which took chase and went to all the three worlds

in search of some one to rescue it from the power of the BrahmAsthram

sent after it by Raamachandra . No one would volunteer to help the crow

including its father , Indhran knowing the wrath of their Lord . Ultimately ,

the tired crow returned to Chithrakootam and fell at the feet of the Lord.

The most merciful Lord considered that act of the crow as the one of

SaraNAgathy , took pity on the crow and punished it lightly by removing

its sight in one eye and spared its life .Swamy kurEsar recalls this

amAnushitha KaaruNyam of the Lord and states in a spirit of

Naicchiyam that there is still hope for him and others to be redeemed from

their bundle of sins . KaakAsura VrutthAntham and the Sookshma dharmAs

associated with that are elaborated in the abhaya pradhAna saara Sri Sookthi

of Swamy Desikan . The passage from Srimath RaamyaNam

to remember here is:

 

" Threen lOkaan samparikramya TamEva SaraNam gatha:

sa tamm nipathithm bhUmou SaraNya: SaraNAgatham

vadhArhamapi KaakutsTa: krupayA paryapAlayath "

 

(Meaning) : After travelling all the three worlds looking for some one to

protect it from the Chasing BrahmAsthram sent by the Lord , the unsuccessful

crow returned and fell back at the sacred feet of the Lord . Sarva lOka SaraNyan

took that act of the crow to mean the seeking of rakshaNam by the crow and

and treated it as a SaraNAgathan. Even if the crow deserved to be killed for its

despicable act , the most merciful Lord saved its life out of His infinite mercy

to those , who sought His protection .

 

SlOkam 34 :

 

saa PoothanA SakaDam arjunayO: cha yugmam

BhAlyO chithAnyapara chEstitha vishpulingE

yasyAlabhandha Salabhathvam ahO! nigooDa:

sa Thvam vrajE vavdhishEu kila kamsabheethyA

 

(Meaning) : Oh Lord ! How can we understand your baffling

act of hiding in Thiru AaypAdi out of fear from Kamsan, when

earlier You had destroyed effortlessly the ill intentioned

Poothanai, who wanted to kill You with her poisonous

breast milk , pulverized the asuran, who came in the form of

a cart and brought down the twin arjuna ( marudha ) trees

as a crawling infant . You made Poothanaa and SakatAsuran

reach the fate of an insect that flew into a naked flame . How can

we reconcile such high act of valor with the unexplainable act of

hiding from Kamsan out of "fear" at Gokulam ?

 

(Commentary) : KurEsar has followed the MangaLAsAsanams of

AzhwArs and echoed their sentiments in this slOkam to describe

KaNNan's dhivya chEstithams :

 

" Orutthi mahanAy piranthu , oritthi mahanAy vaLarnthu "...Andal

 

" pEy thAyai mulai uNda piLLai Tannai " --Thirumangai

 

" kaLLa chahadu kalakkazhiya panjiyenna melladiyAl pAyntha pOthu" -- AzhwAr

 

" PoothanA SakaDa YamalArjunaarishta PralamBHa dhEnuka KaaLeeya kEsi

kuvalayApeeDA ChANUra mushtikatOsala kamsAdheen nihathya" -- AchArya

RaamAnujA's introduction in His GeethA BhAshyam ( You destroyed Poothanai ,

SakaDAsuran ,the twin Marutha marams in Your backyard , PralambhAsuran ,

Kesi ( Horse faced asuran) , the royal elephant , KuvalayappeDam , the wrestlers

of the royal court of Kamsan ( ChANUra Mushtikans) and Kamsan Himself

during Your KrishNaavathAram ; yet You went and hid at Gokulam as though

You were afraid of Kamsan ) .

 

SlOkam 35 :

 

paSyathsu soorishu sadhaa paramam padham tE

dEvyA SriyA saha vasan parayA vibhUthyaa

yOgEna yOganirathai: parimrugyamANa:

kim Thvam vrajEshu navaneethamahO! vyamushNA:

 

(Meaning): Oh KrishNA ! it is indeed baffling that You

with the matchless wealth of Yours as Ubhaya VibhUthi

NaaTan ( Parama Padham and BhU lOkam) and recieving

uninterrupted adoration from Your Parijanams( Nithya Sooris ,

Anantha -Garuda -VishvaksEnAdhis) and Devis as well as

the Rishis engaged in stealing butter and Navaneetham from

the huts of humble Gopis in Gokulam ! I tis indeed one of Your

athimAnusha ChEstais .You have every thing in this and

the other world of Yours and yet you went after stealing

the insignificant butter and navaneetham .

 

( Commentary ) : Oh Lord ! You are is adored by the Nithya Sooris

in Your Supreme abode wihtout closing their eyelids even for a moment

( Tadh VishNO; Paramam Padham sadhA pasyanthy Sooraya: ) .

There You reside with Your devis surrounded by your matchless

wealth ( dEvyaa Sriyaa saha vasan) . No body fully comprehends

Your Vaibhavam ( na tE VishNO! JaayamAnO na JaathO dEva !

mahimna: paramanthamApa) . Yogis search You thru Yogic practises

( yOgEna yOganirathai: parimrugyamANa:) . Such is the PrabhAvam of

Yours and yet it is mysterious that you went and stole VeNNai from

the houses of the Gopis !

 

SlOkam 36:

 

yamm dhurgraham sumanasO manasAapi nithyam

Bhandhacchidham paramam Isam udhAharanthy

dhAmnA niBhaddha ithi Susruma Tamm bhavantham

nAlam BhabhUviTa ! Bhatha ! slaTAnAya tasya

 

(Meaning): Oh KrishNA ! You are beyond comprension in

the past , present or future even by one with an auspicious mind.

You are eulogized by the DEvAs as the One who can break

the bonds of our KarmAs and as being always with the lady of

Supreme auspiciousness , Sri Devi . We hear that You known

for such power and majesty and yet were tied to a hustling mortar

with fine rope and you could not loosen Yourself from that knot .

What a surprise !

 

(Commentary) : Oh Lord ! " KaNNinuNN siRu thAmbinAl

kattuNNappatta Peru Maayan ". You permitted yourself to be

bound to a mortar by a simple cowherdess , YasOdhA ( inRu

AaycchiyarAl aLai veNNai uNDu AappuNdirunthavanE --Kaliyan) .

You became DhAmOdharan on that occasion with welt marks on

Your waist from the rope . Swamy NammAzhwAr reflected on

Your helpless state and fainted .You who removes all bonds got

tied up and could not shake lose . What a Wonder !

 

SlOkam 37:

 

Eisam hi SaiSavamapi vyathivEla khElam

yath PoothanA SaDam ArjunayO: cha yugmam

BhAlYOchithAnyaParaSAch vichEshtitEna

hanthAlabhantha SalabhAyitham OjasastE

 

(Meaning) : Oh KrishNa! Only a very few can understand

the athimAnusha chEshtais of Yours such as the destruction of

the decietful Poothanaa , the asuran who took the form of

a cart , the twin arjunaa trees . You destroyed their detestable

births like the fire into which the insects land . One can

recognize from these chEshtais that You are the divine Lord

that sported as the child at Gokulam doing all these superhuman

acts . Even your limitless sports during the tender period as

" a helpless child " reveal Your svaroopam as the Lord of

the Universe !

 

(Commnets) : " tE Saisavam api Isam vyathivElam " . You were

a crawling infant (Sisu) at the time of destroying Poothanaa ,

SakatAsuran and others , who came with the intent to harm You .

You are however the Omnipotent Iswaran , who did perform

wonderous deeds which had no limits ( VyathivElakhElam) .

What a wonder that is to reflect on these suprahuman deeds

of Yours as a Sisu ( vyathivElakhElam hantha!) .

 

SlOkam 38 :

 

sathyEva gavyanivahE nijadhAmni bhUmnA

paryantha sadhmasu kimarTam ? achUchurasthvam

mushNan cha kim vyajaghaDO ghaDaSEshamagrE

Gopijanasya parrihAsapadham kimAsi : ?

 

(Meaning): Oh Gopala ! How can we understand fully Your

divine activities such as stealing milk , curd , VeNNai , ghee

from the neighbor's houses while You have so much of all

these for Your enjoyment at Your own house ? Why did You

engage in such acts ? After consuming these delectable stolen

goods , You broke the pots that contained the curd and milk

right in front of the Gopis .You became the object of their

harsh words as a result of Your questionable activities .

How can we understand these athimAnusha ChEshtithams

of Yours ?

 

(Comments) : Here KurEsar literally translates the AzhwAr's

grand anubhavams of the Navaneetha ChOran caught in the act of

stealing dairy goods from neighbor's houses and being chastised .

His own house ( Nija dhAmam) had plenty of these delectable

material for consumption and yet He broke into neighbor's

houses ( Paryantha sadhmam) to have the thrill of stealing

and helping Himself . He provoked the Gopis further by breaking

the pots from which He had helped Himself earlier . He created

even a noisy scene to announce His visits .He got caught in

the act and was humiliated by the angry Gopis , some of whom

went and complained to YasOdhA PirAtti and appealed Her to curb

this impossible child of hers . AzhwAr's Paasurams are full of

these anubhavams of the Lord as Navaneetha ChOran .

 

SlOkam 39:

 

yannAma NaaTa !navaneetham achUchurasthvam

tacchAdhanATa yadhi tE mathirAvirAseeth

kim sugdha ! dhigdhamamunA karapallavam tE

gAthrE pramrujya niragA: kila nirviSanka:

 

(Meaning): Oh Lord of the Universe who did not know how You could

hide Your act of steaing navaneetham ! If Your intent was to hide Your

chEshtais of stealing VeNNai from the neighbor's houses , why on earth

did You dash out of the neighbor's houses without any worries , while

You had the tell tale marks of VeNNai all over Your body resulting from

your deliberate smearing of the stolen Vennai with on Your torso with

Your tender fingers ? How come You did not know how to hide Your theft

and leave the scene without display of any evidence ?

 

(Comments) : Thirumangai Mannan's Paasura Vaakyam has been

the inspitation for KurEsar here : " VeLLimalaiirundhAlottha VeNNai

vaari vizhungivittu KALVAN uRanguhinrAn " . KulasEkhara AzhwAr's

anubhavam ( PerumAL Thirumozhi 7.8) captures for us the confused

state of YasOdha , who is overcome by the dhivya soundharyam of

the divine thief , while she wishes to teach her dear son a lesson for

stealing from the neighbor's houses .

 

SlOkam 40:

 

ThvAm anyagOpagruhagavya musham YaSOdhA

gurvee Thvadheeyam avamAnam amrushyamANaa

prEmNAaTa dhAmapariNama jushaa BhaBhandha

tAdhrug na tE charitham AryajanA: sahanthE

 

(Meaning ): Oh KaLvaa ! Your dear Mother YasOdhaa could not

put up with the complaints made by the neighbors about Your

VeNNai stealing activities in their houses .She felt humiliated by

Your stealthy acts . She responded to their complaints and wanted to

teach You a lesson to stop you from Your pranks and making

a nuisance of Yourself to the neighbors . She was a proud woman .

She also adored You and did not want others to hurl charges at You .

She decided to tie you down to a hustling mortar with a small piece of

rope .She did this out of affection for You and to get you away from Your

repeated mischief .The AzhwArs were overcome with profound emotions

about You, the Lord of the universe being tied down by Your mother .

These noble souls (Aarya Janaa:) could not bear to think of Your

sufferings that You underwent from being tied down to the mortar .

 

(Commentary ): Your Mother YasOdha knotted together few pieces of

small ropes and used that to tie You , the Lord , to a heavy mortar

to keep You stationary .She did it to teach You a lesson and to

prevent You from entering the neighbor's houses and stealing

butter and milk there . She tied You with such affection that it

did not hurt You .In reality , when Your Mother did not have

sufficent length of the rope to tie You down , You blessed her effort

to become successful and appeared to be submissive.The mortar

and the rope became blessed through their participation in this incident .

You gained the name of DhAmOdharan and carry those welt marks

even today as the Moola BhEram at Srirangam . Swamy NammAzhwAr

stayed in a state of swooning after reflecting on the simplicity of

the Lord to submit to such treatment although He is Sarva Sakthan

( ThiruvAimozhi: 1.3.1: " matthuRu kadai veNNai kaLavil , uravidayAppuNdu

YetthiRam uralinodu iNainthu yEngia yeLivE ") .It is said that this slOkam

was a response by KurEsa to his erstwhile sishyan , NaalUrAn , who

plotted with Krimi KaNda ChOzhan to humiliate and punish his

AchAryan . NaalUrAn became a KrishNa dhvEshi and made fun of

the holiness of KrishNa as SarvEwaran , who entered other people's

houses , stole butter and being tied down by a simple cowherdess ,

YasOdha . He questioned the Lord's SarvEswarathvam instead of

admiring His soulabhyam , souseelyam and dhivya chEshtithams .

The AzhwArs were admiring the Lord's SarvEswarathvam thru

their reflections on these deeds and hence KurEsar calls the AzhwArs

" Aarya Janaa: ". KurEsar implies that Bhagavath dhvEshis like

NaalUrAn are AnArya Janams .

 

( To be continued )

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan