On 26/12/2014, pasuram-11 Kattru karavaigal pasuram was chanted and Ubha Ve Adoor Asuri Madhavachariar swami gave vykhyanam for the pasuram in a captivating manner at Tirukudanthai Andavan Mani mandapam. This is where upanyasam on Tiruppavai and Tirunedunthandakam is said to an attentive audience filling up the big hall. The gopi addressed to in this pasuram is from a wealthy and illustrous family lineage( one of good kulam). She is special to Krishna and Andal and the gopis want her to join them so that they can have easier access to Krishna.Acharyas are antarangas (very close) to Perumal that is why ordinary souls can approach Him through Acharyan. The 30 pasurams of Tiruppavai are pasurams talking about the vaibhavam (glory) of acharyas. Acharyas have poorna gnanam( full knowledge) of Brahmam and Eeshwara gnanam fosters shuddhi (purity of thought, word and deed). He is our swami (lord) and we are His property.This is called “swaswamibhava sambhandham”. We were under the illusion that the wealth we possess is ours but everything including ourselves belong to Him and we have to return the soul to Him. This pasuram talks of Perumal’s anantha kalyanagunams (endless virtues).The cows of Ayarpadi (Gokulam) keep yielding milk for many years.They do not grow old because of Krishna’s touch. The nityasuris in Srivaikuntam are always 25 years old according to The upanishads.Infact the cows of Brindavanam seem to be getting younger due to Krishna sparsham (getting patted by Krishna) and because of hearing His venugaanam (the notes of His flute). There were herds and herds of cows in Brindavanam and keeping count of them was an impossibility. There were cows with calves a plenty. An acharyan should always feel young and should impart atma-vidhya till they shed their mortal coils.The calves are the numerous shishyas and acharyan keeps feeding the milk of gnanam. According to sastras we should not partake milk of cows without calves. A milkman who wishes to milk a cow without a calf makes a hay calf and keeps it near the cow. On sighting it the cow starts giving milk. In Swami Desikan’s “ahara niyamam” he enlists the milks to be avoided. No milk from a cow that has given birth to twins, no camel milk, no milk to which salt has been added, no milk from a pregnant cow, no milk that has been milked by showing the cow another calf, no milk that has curdled, no milk from a cow named after devatantrams or with devatantra signs, no milk sold by brahmins, no milk from a copper container. Sarveshvaran brings jeevatmas to Him by showing them various acharyapurushas. Due to His samarthyam (cleverness) He goes to the virodhi’s( enemies) place and wins them over. He has no enemies but declares that the enemies of His bhakthas are His enemies too. Papam and Punyam do not touch Him. He is Heya prathyanikan ( has only good qualities). He is a reservoir of kalyana gunams (kalyanagunaparipoornan). Jeevatmas get base qualities because of their shariram but His shariram is Shuddha Satvamayam, so there is no sharira dosham (faults).The gopi talked about is very dear to Krishna. Her waist is slender like that of a snake and her tresses are like spread out peacock feathers. Andal and Her friends say that all gopis of ayarpadi have assembled in her courtyard and were waiting to be taken to Krishna.” Make us happy and unite us with Him. “This pasuram is dedicated to Kulashekharazhwar a king who conquered several kingdoms and added them to his territory. His character was faultless andhe longed to go on yatra to Srirangam “diney diney” (daily) He is called “Thuyya Kulasekharan” (Pure Kulasekharan) by Swami Desikan. His faith in the integrity of Srivaishnavas was such that when the srivaishnavas in his court were accused of theft he refuted the charge and was ready to put his hands in a basket of cobras .He desired darshan of Ranganatha in the company of Bhaghavathas. The gopi of this pasuram desired Krishna darshan in the company of Bhaghavathas and Andal says her wish would be fulfilled by her joining the 5 lakh gopis assembled in her courtyard. Acharya- shisshya bhavam is shown in this song.
Swami then took up the 3rd pasuram of Tirunedunthandakam.One has golden shariram, the other a fiery hue and the other is neelameghashyamalan (bluish black). Except Perumal others are Baddha chetanas.Vishnu came from Sriman Narayana and when an acharya offers the soul of a person seeking prappathi He says “Sweekrutha Bhara”(accept the responsibility) and tells the sarangathan “Ma Shucha:”(do not worry)! He alone has the capacity for protecting the soul. Roopams play an important role in the process of dhyanam( meditation). Archa Tirumenis have their specialities and their roopams can be recalled when neccessary. SriRanganatha, Varadaraja Srinivasa have their typical roopams and every archamurthi has the qualities of Paravasudeva. This is called “dharmi aikhyam”. For meditating the chith needs avalambanam (the mind needs support.) For dhyanam,first the indhiriyams are to be subdued by karma yogam,the atma has to be seen by gnanayogam and captured in the heart by bhakthi yogam. Those who do this sakshathkaaram by bhakthi yogam see the archamurthi within them.”Perumal can assume as many forms as He wills that is why He was able to become 16000 krishnas for the 16000 gopikas. Perumal darshanam is not obtained to all. People may write innumerable articles, poems and essays about Him but this will not necessarily give them Perumal darshanam.
This pasuram talks of various hues He takes during different times. What does this colour variations foster? Athi Bhogyam (fosters a sense of happiness) says Swami Desikan of Bhaghvadh anubhavam when describing the effect of Ranganatha’s darshanam. Anubhavams can be different for different people. One can enjoy His swaroopam feet upwards, one can can have darshanam of His antaryami roopam by salambana yogam , niralambana yogam begets sarvantaryami darshanam. When we understand that we are His dasabhuthas (servitors) the longing to have His darshan again and again comes. We cannot forget Him. We cannot find any dosham in Him. He has the qualities of sausheelyam, saulabhyam, Vaatsalyam and endless kalyanagunams. His Tirumeni saundaryam is exquisite and the many hues He manifests have different vyaparam (purposes). He has a Tirumeni which is pleasing to Sri and He enjoys Her divya Tirumeni because by purushakaram She brings to His feet numerous erring jeevatmas. The same vyamoham (attraction) He has towards acharyas. He is the swami of Nitya vibhuthi (SriVaikuntam), leela vibhuthi (avatharams) and ubhaya vibhuthi. Srirangam is not included in these vibhuthis and is known as Threethiya vibhuthi. Vibhuthi means aishwaryam(wealth). He generally is dark blue (black and blue) but during samudra mathanam (churning of the ocean of milk) He assumed a variety of colours and varied forms as well for different purposes.More about this in the next posting….
Writeup & Video : Vyjayanthi & Sundararajan
