The Wake-up Call

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

 

 

The Wake-up Call

 

 

 

This is the month of Margazhi, with a pleasant chill in the air.

Getting up in the morning, which is difficult even in normal times, is even more

difficult as you feel like snuggling deeper into your bed, with the blanket

covering you from head to foot. It takes a lot of will power to shake off sleep

and lethargy and to rise and shine. If we at all get up, we must thank our Alarm

Clock for the courtesy, for if it doesn't shake us out of slumber with its

shrill cry, we would probably sleep on and on. There are of course those of us

who religiously set the alarm to the desired time, and once it goes off, just

silence it and sleep on. This is our fate when modern chronometric devices like

the Alarm Clock are available. In the good old days, when time was measured by

the position of the Sun and the stars, what would people have done for waking up

in time, especially before Sunrise?

 

 

 

For the most part, people seem to have relied on their biological clock, which

would jog them to wakefulness automatically at a particular time. Once the body

is accustomed to doing certain things at fixed times, it gets into the groove

and gets ready for them involuntarily, without any conscious effort on our part.

However, such biological clocks do not work for everybody, and especially when

you are tired, the body's compensating mechanism lets you sleep longer to shake

off fatigue. On such occasions, the biological clock is not much reliable.

 

 

 

Realising our difficulties, the Lord, in His infinite mercy, has created

beings like birds and animals which come awake much before we do and give us a

wake-up call too. These are extremely reliable and regular and don't oversleep

like us. A few of these find a mention in Tiruppavai and Tiruppalliezucchi.

 

 

 

" PuLLum silambina kAN " says Sri Andal, pointing out that the birds have begun

their day, chirping merrily and waking up human beings deep in slumber, with

their sweet warbling.

 

Though this is a thing of the past in the urbanised environment where all birds

and animals have been banished to make room for the ubiquitous human being, even

today, people in the villages wake up to the melodious twitter of our feathered

friends. Coming awake to the accompaniment of this memorable music is an

experience by itself, which only those who are familiar with it would be able to

appreciate. To the untrained ear, the cheep-cheep of these birds might sound

like unintelligible babble, but to the ardent devotee it would be amply clear

that the birds are indeed uttering the Bhagavan nAma in their own tongue. If we

listen keenly, we might find in it resemblance to several of the Lord's haloed

names. And even if we are unable to discern such exalted strains in these

sounds, if we remember that all words and all sounds ultimately indicate the

Lord and His gunAs, we would be convinced that the apparently meaningless

gibberish that we hear from birds is indeed BhagavannAma. Even if we were to

ignore birds prattling away in unknown tongues, we find parrots explicitly and

succinctly uttering the Lord's names, which they come to hear often or are

taught. The author of Sri Venkatesa Suprabhatam describes how the parrots of

Tirumala, immediately after waking up and fortifying themselves with a breakfast

of leftover fruit, start chanting " Good Morning, Milord!' (SrI VEnkatAchalapathE

tava suprabhAtam " ), much before the human devotees do.

 

 

 

" Koottil irundu KiLi eppOdum Govinda Govinda endru

 

azhaikkum

 

oottakkodAdu seruppan Agil UlagalandAn endru uyara

 

koovum "

 

Says

 

Sri Kodai in Nacchiar Tirumozhi, confirming the propensity of her parrots to

chant the Lord's names always, even when they are battling with hunger. The

words " uyara koovum " indicate a ShastrArttha- while uttering the Lord's names or

reciting stotras, we should do it loudly and not mumble. By a loud recitation,

not only our tongue engages in kainkaryam but our ears too, as they get to hear

the chanted tirunamams. And it benefits not only ourselves, but also whoever is

within hearing distance. Thus the manner of reciting stotras is to do it

unabashedly, audibly and in ringing tones, as the conduct of Sri Andal's parrots

would show.

 

 

 

It is not merely the parrots that announce the daybreak, but a host of other

birds too-for instance the " AnaicchAtthan " ( " Keesu keesu endrengum AnaicchAtthan

kalandu pEsina pEccharavam " ), the Cuckoo ( " Madhavi pandal mEl palkAl

kuyilinangaL koovina kAN " ) and hens and cocks ( " vandu engum kOzhi azhaitthana

kAN " ). Sri Tondaradippodi too confirms the chorus of birds at the crack of dawn

- " Pulambina putkaLum poompozhilgaLin vAi " .

 

 

 

There are the hard-to-wake sleepers who are quite capable of sleeping through

birdsong, for their snores would easily drown the reedy voices of birds. How to

get through to such descendants of KumbhakarNa? Sri Andal says that

Nandagokulam is equipped for this difficult task too. TiruvAippAdi is full of

healthy buffaloes, which call their progeny to feed early in the morning. In

their anxiety to wake their own calves, the buffaloes moo in stentorian voices,

waking up everybody in the vicinity, willy-nilly.

 

All they do is to clear their throats noisily and the concerted effort of these

hefty creatures creates a roar, which is difficult to sleep through- " Kanaitthu

iLam kattrerumai " .

 

 

 

Adding to this racket is the raucous and shrill " music " issuing from the flutes

of young cowherds taking their bovine charges out for grazing. Inspired by the

delectable strains of Sri Krishna's kuzhal, these cowherds too try their hands

at it, with mixed results. The resultant din is enough by itself to wake up the

soundest sleeper.

 

 

 

As if all this were not enough, the early-rising Yadava ladies churning curds

for butter with wooden implements fills the air with a clamour ( " Aycchiar

matthinAl Osai paduttha tayir aravam kEttilayO " ). One might think lightly of the

noise of curds being churned. However, imagine this operation being carried out

at all homes simultaneously at TiruvAippAdi, and you have a tremendous body of

sound, to which the numerous bangles adorning the wrists of Gopis add their own

music, forced to join the chorus due to the constant movement of their owners'

shapely hands. Women are generally not known for their reticence (with due

apologies to the lady readers) and the Gopis are no exception. While their hands

are busy with churning, they exchange pleasantries with one another and swap

tales of Sri Krishna's latest misdemeanour, all of which adds up to a tidy

volume. According to one version, the cumulative uproar was enough to pervade

Sri Vaikuntam- " udgAyateenAm aravinda lOchanam vrajAnganAnAm dhivam asprusat

dhvani: "

 

 

 

The moment we come awake, we are supposed to sit up gently in bed and chant

the Hari nAma seven times, meditating on the Lord and His attributes. What a

wonderful chorus this would make if hundreds of people, holy men that too, were

to chant " Hari: " Hari: " simultaneously! Would this not be enough to enter the

ears of even sound sleepers and wake them up instantly? This incredibly sweet

and sanctifying BhagavannAma samkIrtanam enters not only the ears but the soul

too and cures one of all maladies, says Sri Andal-

 

" munivargaLum YOgigaLum meLLa ezhundhu ari endra pEraravam uLLam pugundhu

kuLirndu " . The reference to " KuLirundhu " indicates that Hari nAma samkIrtanam

cures one of the three types of heats- " Tapatrayam " -AdhyAtmikam, Adhidaivikam and

Adhibhoutikam.

 

 

 

The concerted boom of the conches being blown in various temples of the Lord,

inviting the devout for morning prayers, ensure that any stragglers sticking to

their beds despite all the aforesaid uproar leap out and get ready for Bhagavat

kainkarya.

 

 

 

We really envy the inhabitants of Gokulam. What pleasant days they must have

had, waking up day after day to the music of birds, bees, buffaloes, jingling

bangles, devotional songs in the Lord's praise, nAma samkIrtanam and

conch-blowing! With all this auspicious beginning, it is little wonder that

their days and lives were peaceful and prosperous, with disharmony and

disgruntlement totally unknown to anyone. And after waking up, they could look

forward to spending the day in the enthralling company of Sri Krishna, who was

everything to everybody.

 

 

 

We do wish, with overwhelming wistfulness, that we didn't have to wake-up

tomorrow to the piercingly strident tones of the Alarm Clock.

 

 

 

 

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

 

 

Dasan, sadagopan.