Arms and the Lord

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

 

 

Arms and the Lord

 

 

How many hands does the Lord have? We come across several scriptural

texts ascribing to Him four beautiful arms, holding the Discus, Conch, the Mace

and the Lotus. The prelude to Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram unambiguously says

that He has four arms- " Vishnum sasivarNam chatur bhujam " . Sri Nammazhwar

confirms this many a time- " tOLu nAngudai surikuzhal kamala kaN senkanivAi

KALamEgam " nAl tOL endAi " nAngu tOLum pAviyEn pakkattavE " etc. The reason the

Lord sports four arms instead of two is perhaps to ensure speedy and adequate

response in His principal occupation of providing succour to the

distressed-SharaNAgata rakshaNam " . He doesn't ever lay down His arms, for fear

that even a second's delay could make the difference in a soul being saved and

shattered, says Swami Desikan-

 

 

 

PAtu praNata rakshAyAm viLambam asahan iva

 

sadA panchAyudhI bibhrat sa na: Sriranga nAyaka: "

 

 

 

These arms are compatible in size, proportion, beauty and strength to the rest

of His glorious form and appear to be glorious branches of a magnificent tree,

growing upwards and down. The TaittirIyOpanishad talks of the Lord having a

hundred arms in the Varahavatara, when He battled with Hiranyaksha and rescued

Mother Earth- " uddhrutAsi VarAhENa krishNEna shata bAhunA " .These arms symbolise

superlative Strength, protectiveness and might, all of which are indispensable

qualities in the Paramapurusha, providing the rationale for devotees to pay

obeisance. It is no wonder therefore that these divine arms are said to be the

origin of the Ruling Class, the KshatriyAs- " bAhoo rAjanya: krita: " . The beauty

of these arms is such that anyone casting even a stray glance at these

stupendous specimens of virility is captivated totally, and doesn't like to

prise his or her eyes away from the mighty arms, says KambanAttAzhwan- " tOL

kandAr tOLE kandAr " .

 

 

 

Though the normal number is four, during His avataras as human

beings, as in the Rama, Parasurama, Balarama and Krishna avataras, the Lord has

sported only two hands. This is in tune with His wish that He should be born as

one among the proletariat and reform them through His own ideal conduct, rather

than come across as a Super Man who can be ogled at with wonder, but not

emulated or identified with. The Lord confirms this Himself- " AtmAnam mAnusham

manyE, Ramam DasaratAtmajam " . He tells us that He is indeed one of us, a mere

mortal, the son of Dasarata, and not a divine being to be kept at a distance. In

tune with this averment, the Lord sports only two arms in the aforesaid

avataras.

 

 

 

However, there are occasions even in the Rama and Krishna avataras,

where He resumes His normal form with Four arms, instead of the two assumed for

the purpose of His sojourn on this earth. As these are rare occasions where the

Lord, having adopted a human demeanour, chooses to display His Paratvam or

Supremacy, these are worth a study.

 

 

 

Joyfully recording Emperuman's divine birth, Sri Valmiki hints that

the Lord was indeed born with four beautiful arms-

 

" prOdyamAnE JagannAtham sarva lOka namaskritam

 

KousalyA ajanayat Ramam sarva lakshaNa samyutam "

 

 

 

The divine mother Kousalya gave birth to Rama, who is the object of

worship of all. Even at birth, Sri Rama was endowed with all auspicious

characteristics ( " sarva lakshaNa samyutam " ). Here, the words " sarva lakshaNa " ,

on a casual perusal, would indicate that the Lord possessed all aspects, all

SAmudrikA lakshaNAs, like broadness of chest, proportion of limbs to the torso,

latent strength etc., as behoved a scion of the famed IkshvAku dynasty. He

looked at birth as would a child belonging to a lineage of distinguished

Emperors. Even at birth, it was evident that the divine child would be the

cynosure of all eyes, due to His bewitching beauty. It was this that prompted

Kulaguru Vasishta to name the child " Rama " (one who captivates everybody).

 

 

 

However, going beyond the mere etymological purport, our

Poorvacharyas have uncovered a wealth of meaning in the words " sarva lakshaNa

samyutam " . They say that though the Lord was born in this mundane world assuming

a mortal form and demeanour, none of the innumerable characteristics of the

Supreme Being deserted Him due to His coming down to the earth. All His

auspicious attributes as the Parama Purusha were intact in the form He assumed

as Dasaratha's son.

 

 

 

These characteristics would fall under two broad categories, viz.,

form and attributes. Taking the latter first, we find that throughout

Ramavatara, the Lord exhibited in abundant measure all the qualities of the

Paramatma, viz., GnAnam(all-encompassing wisdom), balam ( the capacity to

support everything with little effort), Isvaryam (the ownership of the whole lot

of universes and all the sentient and non-sentient beings therein), Veeryam (

effortless performance of all supernatural functions like being the inner

controller of everybody and everything, shoring up everything and everybody as

their SharIri ), Shakti ( the capability to control and direct all and being

their material cause), TEjas (the capacity to perform all functions

independently, without the need for aid and assistance from any other source).

 

 

 

The second category of characteristics comprise of the physical features, the

various incomparable components of the Paramatma's fabulous form-His broad lotus

eyes, bewitching and boundless beauty, perfectly proportioned limbs, the various

symbols (lotus, flag, chariot, etc.) adorning His palms and the soles of His

feet, the long and broad chest which is the inalienable and constant place of

residence of Piratti, etc. Also inseparable parts of the Supreme Being's form

are the four arms, two upraised and two horizontal or pointing downwards. The

upraised arms hold the Divine Discus SudarasanAzhwan and the Cosmic Conch

PanchajanyAzhwan, while the other two arms hold the Mace and Lotus or are held

in various mudrAs as the occasion warrants.

 

 

 

Sri Valmiki, though not in so many words, avers that Sri Rama was born with all

the aforesaid divine characteristics and did sport four arms, carrying the

aforesaid items. The word " JagannAtham " in the aforesaid sloka (Lord and Master

of all the worlds) indicates that Emperuman was indeed resplendent with all His

unique features, principal of which is the four-armed posture. It was as if the

Lord wanted to bless His mortal mother with the glorious spectacle of His

Supreme Form, before assuming the normal limbs of a human being that He

professed to be.

 

 

 

Another evidence we have of the Lord having occasionally sported four arms

during Ramavatara is from MandOdari's statement- " tamasa: paramO dhAtA shankha

chakra gadAdhara: " Paying rich tribute to the Lord, Ravana's good wife says

that Sri Rama is verily that Mahavishnu, who is beyond the pale of all darkness

and despair, armed with the Discus, the Conch and the Mace. It is obvious that

the Lord must have blessed her with the wonderful vision of a radiant Supreme

Being who is the embodiment of wisdom and brilliance and endowed with four arms

for protecting poor sinners like us.

 

 

 

One more instance where Chakravartthi Tirumagan sported four arms is in the

context of His saranagati to Samudra Raja, to facilitate the vAnara sainya to

cross over to Lanka. Describing Rama's supine posture on a bed of dharbham, Sri

Valmiki says that He had His arms folded in supplication ( " anjali " ).

Simultaneously, one of His arms was placed behind His head as pillow with

another stretched out. Here is the relative sloka-

 

 

 

" tata: sAgara vElAyAm dharbhAn Asteerya Raghava:

 

anjalim prang mukha: kritvA pratisisyE mahOdadhE:

 

" bAhum bhujaga bhOgAbham upadAya ari soodana: "

 

 

 

Thus two of the arms were engaged in a gesture of supplication, with folded

palms beseeching the Samudra Raja to permit access, while another arm was placed

as a pillow behind the head. This definitely presupposes the existence of four

arms, since once cannot use two arms to perform the function of three. It is

thus clear that in this instance, Sri Rama must have displayed His paratvam with

the four-armed posture.

 

 

 

It would therefore appear that despite His averment that He was indeed a mortal,

the humble son of Dasarata, Sri Rama had, on several occasions during His

sojourn on this earth, furnished proof positive of His supremacy. Some of these

superhuman acts like bridging the ocean, granting of liberation to Jatayu and

Sabari, etc. are chronicled by Sri Koorattazhwan in his " atimAnusha Stavam " .

Similar demonstration of His paratvam appears to have been enacted through the

occasional sporting of the four-armed posture.

 

 

 

In Sri Krishnavatara too, the Lord appears to have assumed four arms instead of

the normal two His mundane birth entitled Him to. Right at birth, Devaki is

blessed with the magnificent sight of the Lord with the Discus, Conch, Mace and

four beautiful arms and prays to Him to hide His glorious form, lest cruel

Kamsa's minions cause Him harm. Sri Periyazhwar too hints at this Chaturbhuja

tirukkOlam in the following pasuram, where he describes the infant Krishna as

holding the inimitable bow Sarngam, Chakram and GadA-

 

 

 

" tandodu chakkaram sArngam Endum tadakkaiyan

 

kaN tuyil koLLa karudi kottAvi koLgindrAn

 

uNda mulai pAl arA kaNdAi urangAvidil

 

viN tanil manniya mAmadI viraindu Odi vA "

 

 

 

Azhwar tells the Moon to come running to entertain kutti Krishnan, as the

glorious Lord, with His bow, discus and gadA, is yawning and is about to fall

asleep. The mention of three items being held in His hands is proof enough of

His having more than just two arms.

 

 

 

One may wonder and scoff at this lengthy harangue about whether the Lord sports

two arms or four: however, with a four-armed Lord, we have that much more of Him

to enchant and entertain us. One may also find the discussion futile, because

however many arms Emperuman might have, we are unable to pass beyond even one of

them ( " tOL kaNdAr tOLE kaNdAr " ) for each individual physical characteristic and

body part of the Lord captivates our attention so much as to prevent proceeding

further. Due to the indescribable beauty our eyes encounter, they are forced to

stay riveted on the first avayava our eyes fall on. When Sri TiruppANAzhwar's

devoted eyes feast themselves on the red silk cloth adorning the Lord's midriff,

he finds himself quite incapable of proceeding further to any other part of the

Lord's tirumEni, his whole intellect captivated, mesmerised and immobilised by

the beauty of the cloth and that of its wearer- " aria sivanda Adaiyin mEl

chendradAm en sindayE " . We thus have a dilemma- Our eyes, unused to such a

spectacle of brilliance and beauty, find themselves unable to take in the Lord's

magnificence all at once, for there is so much of it. And if we try to drink in

His splendour part by part, such an attempt too is futile, as each part

monopolises our attention and prevents us from going on to the other angAs.

 

 

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dasan, sadagopan