AthimAnusha Sthavm : SlOkams 41-50

[Guest guest]

SlOkam 41:

 

Maathraa yadhi Thvamasi dhAmani sanniBhaddha:

Tath SrAviNAm udhitha chAkshusha nirjarANAm

BhadhnAsi hantha hrudhayam Bhagavan ! kuthastath

sarvO hi vaSyavishayE vivruNothi veeryam

 

(Meaning) :Here KurEsar poses a question and provides an answer .

Oh Lord (Bhagavan) , You are the ParipoorNan with Your six guNams of

Jn~Anam , Sakthi , Bhalam , Iswaryam , Veeryam and tEjas .

You permitted Yourslf to be bound by the feeble rope constructed by

YasOdhA . Those who heard about You as sarva-sakthan being bound to

a husking mortar( ulUkalam/ural) wept ceaselessly over the sufferings

that You might have undergone . Through the enactment of that incident ,

You caused the binding of the hearts of Your bhaktha janams. How did

that effect come to be ? It is because it isconsistent with the loka reethi ,

where the powerful one displays his valour in front of those under his

influence (vasya vishayE veeryam vivruNothi hi ?). By appearing to

obey Your Mother in being bound with a rope ,You bound up the hearts of

Your dear ones like Sukhar, ParAsarar , ParAnkusa ( Swamy NammAzhwAr) ,

Parakaala( Thirumangai Mannan) and others with Your own heart .They were

overcome ( Bhakthi paravasam) by their tender bhakthi for You .

 

(Commentary) : Swamy NammAzhwAr is said to have fainted after reflecting on

what happened to the Lord ( being bound up by His Mother). He stayed

in a state of unconsciousness for few months over the thought of the Lord's

helplessness ,simplicity ( yeLivu) and submission to accept His mother's

punishment . Our Lord was bound by the rope constructed by His mother

( MaathrA dhamani sanniBhaddha:) . Those who heard about this incident

broke down and tears poured out of their eyes ( Tath SrAviNAm-udhitha

chAkshushu nirjarANaa:) . Their hearts became bound to You .

Your mother tied You up and experience of this soulabhyam of Yours ,

made the hearts of Your devotees tied up inextricably to You .

 

SlOkam 42:

 

kAnthAla kAnthamamalam kamalAyathAksham

udhbhrUvilAsam udhithasmitham unnasam cha

vakthram vahan Parama: gOpagruhEshu kim Thvam

gOpimanAmsi navaneethamuthAbhyamOshee:

 

(Meaning) : Oh Lord ! You have beautiful curly hair on Your forehead ,

beautiful long eyes resembling the lotus petals , perfectly

rounded brows , gentle smile displayed on Your charming lips

and beautifully proportioned nose . With this divine soundharyam ,

You entered the houses of Gopis . Oh Lord ! what did you accomplish

there ? Did you steal VeNNai there or did You steal instead the hearts of

the gopis with Your dhivyasoundharyam ? Please tell me !

 

(Commentary ) : Here KurEsar enjoys the enchanting beauty of the Lord's

Thirumukha MaNDalam (face) and the samudhAya sObhai (integrated

beauty) of all the limbs there . KurEsar enjoys the PuNDareeka Nayanam

( lotus soft eyes /KamalAyathAksham) and their glances filled with Dayaa ;

KurEsar enjoys next the Mahaa Purusha lakshaNams that he finds on the face of

the Lord: the majestic uplifted brows and nose that is on the look out for any

gopis that might surprise Him during his act of reaching out

to the pots of navaneetham . After success with the stealing act ,

He adorns a gentle smile approving His own act of ChOram

( udhbhrUvilAsam udhithasmitham unnasam vakthram vahan). Swamy

AlavanthAr is overtaken by this mandhahAsam adorning the Lord's

Thirumukha MaNDalam and salutes it as " Suchismitham". The room

where He was looking for the hidden pots of delectables was dark .

The lustre of His teeth emanating from His smile however made the room lit

to help Him find the objects of His search (Sva danthEndhuchayOtthEna

hlAvayan gOgaNeshu thu) .

 

SlOkam 43 :

 

sarvam guNAya guNinAm ithi sathyam yEthath

yath khalvihEtarajanE malinathvahEthu:

yath gOpavEsha vinivEshaNam utthamam tE

gOpAlanam cha gaNayanthy guNam guNEshu

 

(Meaning) : It is common for the worldly folk to think highly of those born

in high kulam , living in lofty mansions and adorning rich jewelery and clothes .

Oh my Lord ! You were born in the lowly kulam of cowherds grazing cattle

and living in forests . By birth and occupation , You were identified as

One belonging to a lower rung of society by Your enemies such as Kamsan ,

SiSupAlan and yet this gOpa vEsahm became the object of high adoration for

Your bhaktha janams like the AzhwArs .Those bhaktha janams consider Your

simple dress , adornment of the flowers of the forest and moving with

the cowherd folks as the demonstration of Your Souseelya guNam

and enjoyed You in all of Your simplicity : " kOvalanAi VeNNai uNDa

vaayan , yenn uLLam kavathAnai".

 

( Commentary) : The adoption of the garb of a cowherd is adored by

Swamy Desikan in his GopAla Vimsathy slOkam :" chithrAkalpa: Sravasi kalayan ,

laangalee karNapooram , BharhOtthamsa-sphuritha chikurO Bhandhujeevam dhadhAna: ,

gunjaa-BhaddhAmurasi lalithAm dhArayan haarayashtim " ( He shines radiant wearing

the coconut flowers over His ears, peacock feather on His tresses and wears

a garland of red hibiscus flowers around His neck as well as another necklace

made of kunRumaNi beads) .The simplicity of birth amidst the lowly cowherd clan

could not hide the divinity of the Lord .

SlOkam 44:

 

GopAlapOthakatayaa nibhrutham Dharithreem

aavasthu kaama iva sannapi BhaalyaloulyAth

Indhram nihathya maham adhrimaTO dhadhAna:

kim tasTithEshu suragaNAya savAsavAya

 

( Meaning) : Oh Lord ! You incarnated as the jewel of the race of

simple cowherds in this world as if You wanted to hide Your divinity .

Inspite of this intention of Yours , You were driven by the spirit of

youthful mischief to persuade the GopAs to desist from conducting

the annual festival of homage to Indhran . Once that happened , the mighty

Indhran , the god of rains , flew into rage and pelted the home of the gOpAs

and gOpis with violent hail stroms and vicious thunder . Immediately ,

You lifted the hill of Govardhanam and held it as an umbrella to protect

every one in Gokulam including the cowherd folks and the cattle. At that

time, Indhran and the dEvAs ralized Your Parathvam ( supermacy ) as

SarvEswaran and fell at Your sacred feet . If this is not a demonstration of

Your athimAnusha ChEshtitham , what else is ? Please explain this to us .

 

SlOkma 45 :

 

vENukvaNa praNayini Thvayi lOkanATa

BhrundhAvanam charaNa sancharaNai: punAnE

bhAvastadhA vanabhuva: kila keedhrusastE

Thvadh geethasiktha sikathAsu vasundharAsu

 

( Meaning): Here the greatness of the Lord playing on His divine

flute is enjoyed by KurEsar. Oh Lord ! when You desired to play on

Your flute , You walked over the thorny land of BrundhAvanam and

through the sanctity of Your divine feet converted those lands into lush

green forest full of TuLasi plants .That land became useful now to both

the gopAs and their cattle for grazing . You started playing on Your flute

to invite the Gopis to join with You . Now KurEsar asks a question in

wonderment : Oh Lord ! when You generated that divine music from

Your flute , what became of the flora and fauna of that forest in

BrundhAvanam ? How ddid they respond to Your divine music ?

 

(Commentary) : The extraordinary power of the divine music made

the animals drop every thing they were doing and reach a state of

equipoise . For instance , the deer which was chewing the grass stopped

abruptly and stayed motionless. The tiger that was chasing its food (antelope)

stopped on its tracks . The chaser and the chased remained motionless.

The branches of the trees moved in the direction of the music and lowered

themselves to the ground. The sages were dumbfounded and awakened out

of their deep meditation .In the PeriyAzhwAr Thirumozhi ( 3.7) , AzhwAr

devotes a wole decad to describe the effect of the divine VeNu ghAnam

on the trees , animals and the other residents of the forest .

 

SlOkam 46 :

 

dhanyai: Srutham tadhiha thAvaka raasakAlE

geethEna yEna hi Silaa salilAm Bhabhuvu:

panchApi kimcha parivruttha guNAni bhUthAni

UrveekruSAnu marudhamBhara SamBharANi

 

(Meaning): Here KurEsar laments about his misfortune of

not being on this earth , when the Lord performed raasa

kreedaa dance with the gopis . KurEsar says: On this earth ,

when You and those gopis dear to You engaged in raasakrredai

on the banks of the Yamunaa river , You played the flute . That

divine music emanating from Your flute melted the stones .

The pancha bhUthams ( Earth, Fire , Air , sky and water )

lost their svaroopam and attained a state different than their

own. Fortunate were those , who were there to experience

the divine music that arose from Your flute . Alas ! adiyEn

could not be there at that time .

 

(Commentary) : There are many kinds of dances that KrishNa

performed . One was Raasa Kreedai , when He locked hands with

each of the assembled gopis thru His multiple forms and danced

with each of them in a circle , while standing outside that circle and

playing the flute to accompany the dance . Each of the Gopis

believed that there was only one Krishna that was dancing

with her alone . Our Lord is the Master of all dances .

As Thrivikraman , He engaged in performing Urdhva thANDavam.

He danced Navaneetha thANDavam , when he beggd for VeNNai.

He entertained His friends with pot dance ( Kuda Kootthu) at

the intersection of the streets ( Santhis) .He performed Saari

Nruthyam on the head of the serpent , KaaLiyan . Here, He planted

firmly one foot on the head of KaaLiyan and moved it around ,

while the other foot stayed in the air all the time. KaNNan also

performed the dance of Halleesakam and GhOshti dance .

In Halleesakam , He was at the center of a ring and the Gopis

danced around Him . GhOshti dance was performed , when

KrishNan destroyed RishtAsuran . Raasakreedaa dance has been

the dance of celebration chosen for elaboration by many poets.

 

SlOkam 47:

 

tEbhya: kruthee na khila kaschidhihAsthi yE vai

rAsOthsavOth sukadhiyastava kAnAnthE

vENusvana srutharasougha paripluthAnthE

svE srukvaNee rasanayaa lilihu: bhujngA:

 

(Meaning): There is no one more fortunate than those serpents

whose mouths were made moist from listening to the delectable

sound of the flute music of the Lord at BrundhAvanam. They

moved their tongue from side to side of their jaws to taste

the nectar flowing out of their mouths , when our Lord played

His flute to accompany the Raasa Kreedaa. ( That animals , infants and

the snakes relate intimately to music is the thought behind this

slOkam : " Pasur-vEthi , SiSur-vEtthi , vEtthi ghAna rasam PhaNee" .

 

(Commentary): Our Lord's music made even the most poisonous

snakes to exude nectar from their poison hoods in their mouth .

In Raghu Vamsam , Mahaa kavi KaaLidAsan refers to this transformation

of poison into nectar and vice versa thru the sankalpam of Iswaran

this way : " Vishamapi amrutham kvachidh bhavEth , amrutham vaa

visham Iswara Icchayaa".

 

SlOkam 48:

 

ambhOdha neelam aravindhadhalAyathAksham

pinchAvatamsam Ureekrutha VeNupAnim

ThvAm gOpavEsha parikarmitha kaaya kAnthim

dhanyA: tadhaa dhadhadrusunmaTithAnya bhAvaaa:

 

(Meaning): When You were engaged in Raasa Kreedaa, a fortunate

few ParamaikAnthis ( those who desire nothing except You) were

able to see You in Your Gopa Vesham with the hue of the dark

clouds of the rainy season holding the melodious flute in Your hands

and casting Your dayaa laden glances from Your beautiful lotus like

eyes while adorning the feather of the forest peacock on Your tresses .

 

(Commentary): The inspiration for this slOkam has been identified to be

the PeriyAzhAr Thirumozhi Paasuram 3.4.7 : " kOla senthAmarai kaNN milirak-

kuzhalUdhi isai paadik-kuninthu AayarOdu , Aalitthu varuhinRa AayappiLLai,

azhagu kaNDu yenn mahaL ayarkkinRathE " . PeriyAzhwAr includes His

daughter in the ghOshti of ParamikAnthis , who were fortunate to listen

to the Lord's VeNu ghAnam .

 

SlOkam 49 :

 

GovardhanO girivarO Yamunaa nadhee saa

BhrundhAvanam cha MaTurA cha purr purANee

adhyApi hantha ! sulabhA: kruthinAm janAnAm

yEthE bhavaccharaNa chArajushu: pradEsaa:

 

(Meaning): The most revered Govardhana Giri, the sacred waters of

Yamunaa river , the forest known as Brundhaavanam and the ancient

city of Mathuraa had the sambhandham (association) with Your sacred

Thiruvadi . They stay even today as the places of easy access to those

fortunate ones seeking the Phalan for being born as chEtanams .

 

(Commentary ) : In this slOkam , KurEsar comforts those who were not

born during the time of the Lord's incarnation as KrishNan . Our Lord was

born in Mathurai , roamed around in BrundhAvanam and lifted the Govardhana

hill to protect the cowherds from the wrath of Indhran .These places have

the Thiruvadi sambhandham of the Lord during His vibhava avathAram .

For those who were not born during the Lord's stay , these places associated

with His sacred feet still exist to fulfil their wishes to reach Sathgathy .

AndaL in Her NaacchiyAr Thirmozhi longs for being at these places

to cure Her viraha taapam and begs Her friends to bring Her to

Mathurai , AaypAdi and the banks of the river Yamunaa : " Mathurai

puratten uytthidumin , AaypAdikkE yennai uytthidumin , Yamunai

KaraikkE yennai uytthidumin , Poyhai karaikkE yennai Uytthidumin ,

Govardhanatthennai uytthudumin " are the pleas of Andal in Her

Thirumozhi . These places are easy to access even today ( adhyApi

sulabhaa: ) for us to uplift ourselves.

 

SlOkam 50:

 

BhrundhAvanE sTira-charAthmaka keeDa dhUrvaa-

paryantha janthu nichayE Bhatha yE tadhAneem

naivAlabhAmahi janim hathakAsTa yEthE

pApA: padham Tava kadhaa punarASrayAma:

 

(Meaning): Oh Lord! We the great sinners were not blessed to be born ,

when You incarnated among the chEtanams and achEtanms

( trees , Plants , grass, worms , birds , animals , the gOpAs and

the gOpis ) of BrundhAvanam .When will we as the miserable ones

reach Your sacred feet at Srivaikuntam to perform nithya kaimkaryam

for You ?

 

(Commentary) : All chEtanams and achEtanams of AaypAdi , BrundhAvanam

and Mathurai reached sathgathy thru the Thriuvadi sambhandham of the Lord.

If we had the good fortune of being born at the time of Your avathAra kaalam ,

we would also have been blessed with Parama purushArTam of Moksham .Alas!

we lost that opportunity due to our sins. KurEsar regrets over our misfortunes

and laments as to what we can do now.KurEsar indicates here the power of

Bhagavath KshEthra vaasam .

 

(To be concluded in the next Posting )

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan