SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
In thiruppAvai, ANdAL had taken refuge under emperumAn by saying in the 28th pAsuram “unRannaip piRavi perundhanaip puNNiyam yAmudaiyOm” (we have the fortune of having you born in our clan of cowherds) and had further said that carrying out servitude in order to make him happy is the goal, by saying in the 29th pAsuram “unakkE nAm AtcheyvOm” (we will carry out servitude only to you). This thought alone is required for a chEthana (one with sentience) in order to achieve the goal [of being a servitor to emperumAn). This was present in ANdAL, without any deficiency. emperumAn too had an overflowing urge that he should attain her. Thus, even though there was no deficiency in either, emperumAn had not accepted her. ANdAL analysed the reason for his not accepting her. Had she gone after other means such as karmayOgam (path of deeds) etc, she could have waited thinking “I would attain him after completing the conditions laid out in such means”. Since she had not gone after any such means, she could not wait. emperumAn, who she had held on to as her means, was readily available to grant her the end goal. Despite this, since she did not attain her goal, she was bewildered, being unable to analyse “I could do this; I should not do this” Just as when lovers separate, due to the bewilderment resulting from this separation, they may indulge in forbidden activities such as madalURudhal (usually the male would paint a picture of his beloved, get on to a horse made of palm leaves and go around the town telling people that his beloved has rejected him), ANdAL too indulges in taking the help of other deities, which is not aligned to her svarUpam [basic nature, of being dependent only on emperumAn], in the first thirumozhi which begins with thaiyoru thingaLum. When there are so many deities to go to for help, why is she attaining kAman [cupid, the deity of love]? Since he alone has the greatness of having as his nature, the act of uniting lovers who have separated, she attains manmathan [another name for kAman] and attempts to attain emperumAn through him.
Is there any precedence for people to attain other deities due to their bewilderment? Just as it has been mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 2-52
sthriyO vruththAs tharuNyaScha sAyam prAtha: samAhithA: l
sarvAn dhEvAn namasyanthi rAmasyArthE yaSasvina: ll
(The women and aged (in ayOdhyA), as well as young girls, get together in the morning and evening, for the sake of the eminent SrI rAma (who had defeated the enemies of celestial entities) worship all deities), did not the people of ayOdhyA fall at the feet of other deities? hanuman, who had told SrI rAma “bhAvO nAnyathra gachchathi” refusing to go to paramapadham due to his deep love for SrI rAma, had offered salutation to brahmA, as said in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 32-14 “namOsthu vAchaspathayE” (salutations to the consort of faculty of speech) in order to succeed in his work for SrI rAma. In the same way, out of bewilderment, not realising “Until now, we have held on to only emperumAn as the means and goal and not any other deity or means”, is she not indulging in approaching kAman which she was forbidden from carrying out? Just as it has been said in SrI vishNu purANam 5-13-19 “yayau cha kAchith prEmAndhA thathpArSvamavilambitham” (out of affection, due to bewilderment, a young cowherd girl came hurriedly to kaNNan), will not bewilderment, resulting from excessive love, not trouble her like this?
How proper would be the action of ANdAL, who, having been born to periyAzhwAr, who was a parama sAthvika (deeply ingrained in noble deeds only), should have attained emperumAn along with other sAthvikas who are deeply engaged with sAthvika guNam (noble qualities), had fallen at the feet of kAman, who was full of rajO guNam (qualities of passion, anger etc) which is as said in bhagavath gIthA 14-7 “rajO rAgAthmakam vidhdhi thrushNAsangasamudhbhavam” (Be aware that rajOguNam is the starting point for passion between men and women, for having desire in worldly pursuits and for attachment towards children et al)? Just as it has been mentioned in the earlier reference where people of ayOdhyA fell at the feet of other deities praying for permanent togetherness of SrI rAma and sIthAp pirAtti, who had never separated from each other [until then] and just as nammAzhwAr, who is also considered as her father in line with the verse in upadhEsaraththinamAlai 24 “anju kudikkoru sandhadhiyAy” (ANdAL is the heir to the clan of AzhwArs), had beseeched other deities as in thiruvAimozhi 5-4-8 “dheyvangAL” (Oh deities!) when he got separated from emperumAn, she too lost her senses due to her bewilderment, and in her hastiness “to somehow attain him”, falls at the feet of kAman. Due to this bewilderment, she takes refuge under kAman believing that “he is the one who unites lovers who had got separated”. Is it not well known that even at the cost of getting his physical form annihilated, he is wont to unite lovers who had for separated, as brought out by the narration in kumArasambhavam? To what extent did her desire to attain kAman go? Just as periyAzhwAr had cultivated a field for growing flower-bearing plants and nurturing flowers such that all the flowers which blossom will go to the presiding deity, vatapathraSAyi in SrIvillipuththUr, she nurtured plants such as cacti and drumstick so that she could decorate the feet of kAman with flowers from these plants, just as she had said in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 1-3 “maththanannaRu malar murukkamalar koNdu”. Her haste in reaching her goal [of carrying out service to emperumAn] drove her to that extent.
In the next article, we will take up the first pAsuram in the first decad of nAchchiyAr thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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