Made for Each Other

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

Made for Each Other

 

Those who peruse the matrimonial columns in newspapers and magazines would be

familiar with the phrase, " A Suitable Bride wanted " . This is what every eligible

bachelor seeks-an ideal soul mate, suited in every way to harmonious matrimony.

It is thus every man's dream (and every woman's too) to wed his perfect match in

physique, temperament and demeanour. How blissful would life be, if one is able

to link up with a life partner who is in every way one's alter ego!

 

However, this appears to remain a distant dream, as far as most of the couples

are concerned. Whoever in heaven fixes up these marriages, doesn't appear to be

very particular about pairing off matching individuals, with the result that

discord and disharmony often (and in some cases, permanently) plague marital

relationships. Right from trivial matters like difference in tastes (whether in

food, dress or reading) to major ones in arriving at decisions in crucial family

matters, lead to differences cropping up between couples, with the result that

their lives, including those of their children, are affected adversely. While in

normal couples such differences are resolved or at least glossed over with

mutual give and take and tolerance, in many cases they assume irreconcilable

proportions, with disastrous consequences.

 

The point, therefore, is that it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to

find perfectly matched couples.

 

The Lord is a model of everything we aspire to be. We look up to Him for

inspiration, guidance and advice because He is the Perfect Person, a veritable

paragon of virtues, the repository of all auspicious attributes and the

antithesis of all that is bad. It is therefore no surprise to us that He is the

Perfect Husband too, a partner every woman dreams of landing, but alas! perhaps

never does. However, to be fair to the fairer sex, it is to be recorded that

Piraatti is in every way eminently suitable to the Lord, whether it be in

physical beauty, auspicious attributes or freedom from blemish of any sort.

 

Acharyas tell us that the Divine Consort is a Perfect Match for the Lord in all

respects. Says Sri Ramanuja in the Sharanagati Gadyam, addressing Piraatti--

" Bhagavan Narayana abhimata anuroopa svaroopa roopa guNa vibhava iyshvarya

sheelAdi anavadhika asankhyEya kalyANa guNa gaNAm " .

 

Though it is impossible to catalogue the aspects in which Piratti forms the

perfect counterpart for the Lord, it is worthwhile to go into some of them at

least.

 

1.Roopam-In physical beauty, Piraati is in every way the Lord's equal.

If He is a " PuNdarIka VisAlAksha: " (one with broad, lotus eyes), She too is

" VisAlAkshI " and " Mriga sAbAkshI " , and sports broad, beautiful and deer-like

eyes.

 

If He is portrayed to be a " Vidyut Prabha: " (resembling a lightning)

by the DvAdasa nAma Panjaram, She too is adulated by Sri Valmiki as " Vidyut

PrabhAm " .

 

If He is a " PeetAmbara dhara: " (clothed in bright yellow silk), so is She

adorned in beautiful yellow silk, with swans drawn on it- " peetEna hamsAnkitEna

kshoumENa samvritAm " -Sri Valmiki.

 

If He has curly, jet black hair falling on His forehead ( " Mai vaNNa narum

kunji " , " lalAta paryanta vilambita Alakam " " kupyat chOLee vachana kutilai:

kuntalai: slishtta moole " ) etc., then so does Piratti sport beautiful, black,

long and curly hair- " neela kunchita moordhajAm " , " neela nAghAbhayA vENI " , " Vakra

kEsAntA " , all of which are from the pen of an admiring Valmiki.

 

If He is " SAkshAt Manmatha Manmatha: " -the sole personification of handsomeness,

She too is incredibly and immeasurably beautiful- " DEvatAbhi: samA roopE SItA

Shreeriva roopiNI " .

 

If His complexion is that of beaten gold ( " ApraNakhAt sarva Eva suvarNa: " says

the Upanishad), She too is of the same colour- " HiraNyavarNAm HariNIm " , according

to the Sri SUktam.

 

If the Lord's soundaryam is such as to generate infinitely new varieties of

bliss every second, without the experience palling on the viewer despite any

length of time ( " appouzhudaikku appozhudu en ArAvamudamE " -Sri Nammazhwar), so

too is Piraatti's beauty capable of providing the onlooker such varied bliss

every second, says Sri Alavanadar-

" sadA anubhootayApi apoorvavat vismayam AdadhAnayA " .

 

The Lord is a veritable forest of lotuses-His eyes, face, hands, feet all

resemble the beautiful flower, says Sri Nammazhwar-

" SentAmarai tadam kaN senkanivAi senkamalam

sentAmarai adikkaL sempon tiruvudambE " .

PirAtti is none the less enamoured with the lotus, being lotus-complexioned,

residing in a lotus, lotus-eyed and holding lotuses in her hands- " Padma priyE

Padmini padma hastE padmAlayE padma dalAyatAkshi " .

 

If the Lord sports a smiling countenance ( " smayamAna mukhAmbuja: " ) so does

Piraatti-: " ChArusmitE! " says Ravana, addressing Her.

 

We could perhaps go on endlessly, matching each glorious part of the Lord's

tirumEni with that of His Consort, who matches the specifications down to the

minutest detail.

 

Having found the Divine Duo extremely compatible in physical features, we move

on to verify whether the concord extends to their attributes.

 

From a general viewpoint, the Lord is renowned as " PurushOttama: " , the best

among men in all respects. Not to be left behind, Piraatti too elicits the

description, " nAreeNAm uttamA vadhoo: " from Valmiki, who claims the Divine

Consort to be the most excellent person of the female race.

 

When it comes to the most important trait (from our view point) of Mercy and

compassion, the Lord's distinction has been elaborately chronicled in DayA

Satakam. He is supposedly the sole repository and an ocean of Mercy- " karuNA

varuNAlayam " . Sri Bhattar says that Sri Mahalakshmi is no less than Her Husband

and might have, in fact, surpassed Him in exhibiting this virtue.

 

The Lord protects people only when they seek His protection and

refuge- " RakshApEkshAm prateekshatE " . Piraatti, however, extends Her protective

umbrella to cover even those who haven't sought the same and to the contrary,

have caused her harm, as in the case of the RAkshasIs of AshOka Vanika and the

KAkAsura.

 

The Lord is the epitome of generosity and gives everything that He has to the

seeker- " tamadu anaitthum avar tamakku vazhangiyum tAm miga viLangum amaivudaya

aruLAlar " . The Divine Mother too is generous to a fault and, even after

showering on the devotee all that he can possibly ask for (and even that he

can't even think of seeking) feels ashamed that She hasn't done anything for the

poor child- " Tvam lajjasE amba! KOyam udAra bhAva:! " marvels Sri Bhattar at this

overwhelming generosity.

 

If the Lord's bounty knows no bounds, He being the Ishvara with all the sentient

beings and non-sentient objects forming His sole domain, PirAtti too is the

possessor of unlimited aishvaryam, says Sri KoorattAzhwan. So much so, says the

Acharya, that big or small, any bounty attained by anyone in this world, is the

result of a stray glance from the corner of Her broad and benevolent eye. If all

the world is His, He is the indisputable overlord of all that moves and doesn't

( " tam IsvaANAm paramam MahEsvaram " ), She too is the unparalleled Empress of all

worlds- " asyEsAnA jagata: "

 

Granting Liberation is the Lord's sole prerogative, say the Shastras- " MOksham

icchEt JanArdanAt " . His Consort too can confer the same, says Sri

Bhattar- " aishvaryam akshara gatim paramam padam vA "

 

If the Lord is infinite, pervading all living beings and non-living things in

all the universes, PirAtti too is all-pervasive, Vibhu, says the Vishnu Purana-

" YathA sarvagatO Vishnu: tathA Eva iyam dvijOttama " .

 

If He is father to the whole world, She is the most Merciful Mother, performing

a complementary and supplementary role in the process of raising JeevAtma

families- " MAtA DEvI tvamasi BhagavAn VAsudEva: pitA mE " says Swami Desikan,

addressing these perfect parents. She is the Universal Mother- " Samasta lOka

JananI " .

 

Boundless and blemishless wisdom, ( " GnAnam " ) which is one of the Lord's

principal characteristics is present in Piraatti too in the same measure. And in

bestowing the same on devotees too, both the Lord and His Consort are equally

capable. If He is a " neri ellAm edutturaittha nirai gnAnatthu oru moorthi " ,

having enunciated all the guidebooks for good conduct, in the form of Shastras

in general and the Gita in particular, She too is responsible for feeding Her

infants with the milk of unblemished wisdom- " Chaitanya stanya dAyineem " .

 

One might suppose, albeit mistakenly, that Balam or Strength, being a masculine

trait, must be the sole preserve of the Lord. However, the episode about Sri

Sita lifting the box containing the Shiva dhanus casually (in the process of

retrieving Her ball which had fallen behind the same) makes us believe that Her

strength is no less, though She doesn't chose to display the same.

 

Power is normally considered to be a masculine preserve. The Lord is reputed to

be a ShaktimAn beyond compare, with nothing beyond His achievment. Indeed, He is

said to be capable of making even the impossible happen, through His " aghatita

ghatana sAmarthyam " . Piraati too would appear to be none the less endowed with

this trait. She tells Ravana that She Herself is quite capable of reducing him

to a fistful of dust, in a proclamation of Her infinite Shakti.

 

The Lord is said to be sweet-to the onlooker's eyes, ears, mind and other

faculties too. The MadhurAshtakam tells us that everything about the Lord is

" madhuram " or sweet. Sri Nammazhwar likens Him to honey, sugar candy, sweet milk

etc.- " enakku tEnE pale kannalE amudE " . Piratti too is incredibly sweet, as

could be learnt from the Lord's own words, for, if anyone could know, He

should- " madhurA madhurAlApA " .

 

 

If the Lord is a consummate Actor, donning vividly various roles for dushta

nigraham and sishta paripAlanam, His Consort too adopts characters eminently

suited to and complementing His role, says Swami Desikan in Dasavatara

Stotram- " Yat dharmai: iha dharmiNI viharatE nAnAkriti: nAyikA "

 

It is well known as to how the Lord was dismayed, dejected and saddened beyond

measure by the parting from Sri Mythily, during Ramavatara, with Sri Valmiki

faithfully and elaborately chronicling the depth of emotion Sri Rama exhibited

for His Consort. If such was the love lavished by the Lord on Piraatti, could

Her attachment for Him be any the less? We thus have Sri Nammazhwar telling us

that She is loathe to leaving Him even for a micro-second and, unable to suffer

any sort of parting, resides permanently on the Lord's broad chest- " agalakillEn

irayum endru alarmEl Mangai urai mArba! "

 

 

Thus, in respect of each of the 24 kalyANa guNAs listed by Sri Ramanuja as a

sample of divine traits, we can find that Piraatti stands shoulder to shoulder

with Emperuman, equal and eminently suitable to Him in every respect. In fact,

in every imaginable way, the Lord and His Consort are eminently suited to each

other.

 

Commenting on the matchless match of Sri Rama and Sri Vaidehi, Sri Valmiki says,

" Tulya sheela vayO vrittAm tulya abhijana lakshaNAm

RAghava: arhati VaidEhIm tam cha iyam asitEkshaNA "

 

It is fine to say that in flawless conduct and exalted birth, Sri Mythily

equalled Sri Raghava. However, would it be correct to say that they were of

equal age, as it is not the practice for couples of the same age to wed?

Further, there is any amount of internal evidence in Srimad Ramayana itself to

show that Sri Sita was younger than the Prince of Ayodhya.

Rushing to Sri Valmiki's defence, Swami Desikan says in his Stotra Bhashyam that

the word " tulya " in the aforesaid sloka, with regard to age, should be

interpreted with reference to the usual practice of the groom being elder to the

bride- " atra vayO lakshaNayO: tulya shabda: ouchityapara:--DampatyO: nyoona

adhika vayaskatvAt " . What is meant here is that the difference in their ages was

neither too small, nor too large, but just right.

 

However, in digressing about age, I am missing the second half of the sloka,

which really carries the punch line-viz., Sri Raghava deserved Sri Mythily in

every way and so did She deserve Chakravartthi Tirumagan. They were indeed a

pair so obviously Made for Each Other, where none else would have suited the

Glorious Groom or the Blemishless Bride, but each other.

 

This Matchless Match has been the subject of comment by any number of worthies,

be they Azhwars or Acharyas. We thus see Sri Nammazhwar telling the Lord that

His Consort is in every way the most suitable for Him-

" unakku Erkkum kOla malar PAvai " . That this pasuram occurs in the very last

decad of Tiruvaimozhi indicates this conclusion being indeed the considered

opinion of the Azhwar, after adequate analysis and contemplation.

 

And when Sri Bhashyakara tells us that Piraatti is THE suitable bride for the

Lord in all aspect, he only conveys the opinion of his master, Sri Alavandar,

who too comments with wonder on the rare perfection of the divine match-

" SadA tavaivOchitayA tava ShriyA "

" Ahu: svai: anuroopa roopa vibhavai: gAdOpagoodAni tE "

 

It is perhaps to remind us of this impeccable and ideal match and to showcase

the same as the ideal for every mortal pair to strive for, that till date, our

marriages are conducted mostly as a re-enactment of the divine wedding, with the

groom regarded verily as Mahavishnu and the bride attired with an " ANdAL

kondai " , with the recitation of " VAraNamAyiram " etc. to signify the fruition of

the bride's dream of attaining a perfect match. With our penchant for copying

others' conduct, (mostly the unsavoury aspects thereof) if only we import into

our marriage even an infinitesimal aspect of the impeccable match between the

Lord and His Consort, marital discord would be banished from the earth, marriage

counsellors would be out of jobs and the word " Divorce " would lose its place in

the lexicon.

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

Dasan, sadagopan