Vishnu Worship in Paripaadal/ThiruKural

[Guest guest]

I came across the following article in today's " The Hindu " . Can any of you

copy to the group the actual " seyyuLs " (verses) from Paripaadal and ThiruKural.

May be, our ThiruPpullani Swamy can help me. Thanks

K P Sarathy

 

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At His feet ( from " The Hindu " Friday, June 12 2009.)

 

 

Chennai: Paripadal is literature that belongs to the Sangam age, and its

authorship is unknown. Different verses seem to have been composed by different

people, and in some cases we know the name of the poet, and in others we do not.

There are verses in praise of deities such as Vishnu, Muruga, Kotravai and

Shiva.

 

The first verse is in praise of Lord Vishnu, said R. Narayanan in a lecture, in

which he compared the similarity in thought between the Thirukkural and

Paripadal.

 

Paripadal begins with the worship of Vishnu because He is the God who does the

task of saving, the tasks of creating and destroying being the tasks of the

other two deities, Brahma and Shiva.

 

The idea was that Vishnu would see the work through to its completion without

any hurdles. He would save the effort from unforeseen difficulties.

 

The importance of offering obeisance at Vishnu's feet is stressed in the first

verse. The poet says that along with his relatives he worships the feet of

Vishnu, for that alone will give them happiness.

 

How does this happiness come about? It is because the one who worships the feet

of Vishnu is saved from repeated births and deaths.

 

The Thirukkural also expresses a similar thought. There is a kural that says

that those who worship the feet of God will be able to cross the ocean of

samsara.

 

Conversely, those who do not worship His feet will not be able to cross this

ocean. There are seven couplets in the Thirukkural that specifically talk of

worshipping the Lord's feet.

 

Life is full of trials and tribulations, and one seeks a release from the

possibility of rebirth, for one does not want to be subjected to the endless

worries of life on this Earth.

 

And there is no way of getting this release, except by worshipping the God's

feet. Nothing else can save us.

 

A couplet in the Thirukkural makes a distinct reference to the feet of Vishnu.

 

Here Thiruvalluvar says that if a king is not lazy, all the three worlds, which

Vishnu as Vamana measured with His feet, will come into his possession.