Sri Srinivaasa Vaibhavam- AndAL anubhavam on ThiruvEnkatam- Nacchiyaar Thirumozhi- tenth decad- fifth verse- Part 1

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:

 

Dearest all,

 

After PeriyAzhwAr anubhavams, let us now continue on

his darling daughter GodhA PiraaTTi’s Naacchiyaar

Thirumozhi verses... on ThiruvEnkatam… [Extracted from

the most wonderful translation of Smt Kalyani

Krishnamachari based on Sri Sadagopan Swamin’s

treatise and acharyas’ commentaries.] Let us enjoy

the last two verses from AndAL on

Thiuruvenkatamudaiyaan now… Today’s verse is tenth

decad fifth verse.

 

Introduction to tenth decad:

 

Frustrated and despondent that she had not succeeded

in her desire to be united with emperumAn, godai falls

at the feet of the flowers, cuckoos, peacocks, the

rain and the dark-blue ocean. She appeals to them to

convey to her nAthan, nAraNan, how in her distress and

solitude she is constantly saying His several names

" mAmAyan, mAdhavan, vaikuNthan, mAyan, mannu vaDa

mathurai maindan, tUya perunIr yamunait turaivan,

tAyaik-kuDal viLakkam Seida dAmOdaran " etc even though

He totally ignored her and disappeared from her eyes.

Her " nARRattuzhAi muDi nArAyaNan, SangODu cakkaram

Endum taDakkaiyan " has vanished from her sight,

instead of turning His " pangayakkaN " (lotus-eyes)

towards her. She cannot bear this atrocity any more

and pleads with all of them individually to please

unite her with her Selva maNALan. These ten pASurams

that fall under " kArkkODal pUkkAL " are full of beauty

 

rich anubhavams of SrI Periya Vacchaan Pillai Swami:

 

Because she longed to live the life of union with

emperumAn, ANDAL appealed to the bees etc. in the

previous tirumozhi (Sindurac cempoDi) in the pASuram

" enakkOr SaraN SARRuminE " , and fell at the feet of the

clouds in the viNNIla mElAppu tirumozhi, all in vain.

The intensity of her longing for Him kept growing to

such an extent that she felt she would live only if He

presents Himself right in front of her, or at least

shows some signs that He is going to come to her. The

kAr kAlam (rainy season) in which He had promised to

come has come and gone. The flowers that appeared

during this season and other characteristics of the

season reminded her of His beautiful tirumEni, color

and His other attributes and made her come to life and

faint alternately. Even though all these were

torturing her, she still had two reasons to continue

to live:

 

The first was His repeated declarations that He will

never give up any one who is devoted to Him.

 

- mitrabhAvEna samprAptam na tyajeyam kata`ncana |

dosho yadyapi tasya syAt satAm etat agarhitam || "

(yuddha. 18.3)

 

 

" I will never forsake him (vibhishaNan) since he came

to me seeking my friendship. Even if he has any dOsham

- fault, it is not inappropriate for noble people to

accept him " .

 

- dyou: patet prthivI SIryet himavAn SakalI bhavet |

Sushyet toyanidhih kRshNe! na me mogham vaco bhavet ||

 

(bhAratam uttara kANDam 70-48)

 

" kRshNe! The sky might fall down, the Earth might

shatter into pieces, the himAcala mountain might

disintegrate, the ocean might dry out, but my words

will never become vain " .

 

- sakRdeva prapannAya tavAsmIti ca yAcate |

abhayam sarva bhUtebhyo dadAmyetat vratam mama ||

 

(yuddha. 18.33)

 

" It is My vow to protect unconditionally from every

living being, anyone that surrenders to Me even once,

or seeks my protection saying " I am your servant " .

 

All the above declarations ensure that He will

definitely take care of godai, and so she can continue

to live in the definite confidence that He will fulfil

her wish.

 

The second reason that godai feels justified to

continue to hold on to her life is: she is confident

that He will fulfil her wish because she is none other

than the daughter of the great periAzhvAr, and if not

based on her prayers, but because of her association

with periAzhvAr, there is no other course except for

her to be taken to His Feet ultimately. Even though He

is a svatantran and thus there is no one who can

question Him if He fails to keep His word to her, yet

the link between her and emperumAn is periAzhvAr.

Since periAzhvAr is too dear to Him, this relationship

will change His svAtantriyatvam if needed, and He will

have no choice except to accept those who have

association with periAzhvAr at His Feet for kaimkaryam

to Him. This is what godai is conveying to us all in

this tirumozhi.

 

The point brought about here is that even with

bhagavAn's assurance that He will not fail in His

words that He will save those who surrender to Him,

there is the need for purushakAratvam or the

intermediary in the form of an AcArya. The example

that SrI PVP gives is bhagavAn's own word:

 

Anayainam hariSreshTha: dattamasya abhayam mayA |

vibhIshaNO vA sugrIva! yadi vA rAvaNa svayam ||

- yuddha. 18.34.

 

" Oh sugrIva! Bring him to me; whether it is

vibhIshaNan or rAvaNan himself who has sought My

protection, I have already assured him My protection " .

 

The key word here is " Bring him to Me " . Thus, even

after bhagavAn has assured His protection, there is

the purushakAratvam or intermediary involved.

 

Here SrI Periya vaacchaan Pillai quotes another

incidence of the importance of purushakAratvam in

attaining Him. When SrI parASara bhaTTar once was

visiting a king named vANavadaraiyan, he stayed in a

village called " SrIdEvimangaLam " , all the SrI

vaishNava-s in that village flocked to him and

performed kaimkaryam to him with intense devotion.

Some people asked him " why do these SrI vaishNavas

come to you with such great devotion when they are

supposed to seek perumAL instead with this kind of

devotion " . SrI bhaTTar's aruLicceyal was: " His

aDiyAr-s are the facilitators or ghaTaka-s in bringing

about the union between Him and His seekers.

 

People are approaching me because of my association

with AzhvAn, who they pray will be the ghaTaka who

will help them attain Him " . [The reference to AzhvAn

here is to kUrattAzhvAn, the father of SrI parASara

bhaTTar].

 

[The importance of purushakAratvam is emphasized

repeatedly by our pUrvAcArya-s in many places. In the

vyAkhyAnam for kaNNiNuN SiruttAmbu pASuram 3, we find

the analogy of an elephant and a person trying to

mount on top of it. If the person tries to get on the

back of the elephant with the mahout assisting in the

process, the elephant willingly accepts the person on

its back and carries him. But if the person tries to

get on the elephant's back in the absence of the

mahout, we all know the consequence. The role of the

purushakAratvam by the AcArya is similar to that of

the mahout in this analogy.]

 

Let us enjoy verse 10.5 tomorrow as the post is

already quite long

AndAL ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo Narayana

dAsan

 

 

 

 

 

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