periyAzhwAr thirumozhi – 2.5 – pinnai maNALanai

SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:

pravESam

Just as it has been mercifully said in perumAL thirumozhi 7-5 “ellAm dheyva nangai yasOdhai peRRALE” (It was the divine lady yaSOdhAp pirAtti who enjoyed all the childish activities of krishNa), yaSOdhAp pirAtti enjoyed, completely, all the activities of krishNa from the time when he incarnated. In line with his incarnation in the human species, he had to have a bath. She prayed to him to come for a bath [in the previous thirumozhi]. Since he did not agree to that, she adopted various measures [such as bringing all the decorative materials for giving him a bath, keeping eatables which he desires a lot, for him to eat soon after the bath etc]. Finally, krishNa agreed to have a bath. Once he had finished his bath, his divine locks needed to be combed. To ensure that he agrees to having his divine locks combed, instead of opposing it and running away, she makes him bewildered by calling upon certain entities to come and comb his locks, just as people of the world do to their children. She calls out to a distinguished crow for combing his locks by saying “akkAkkAy kuzhal vAra vA” (Oh, distinguished crow! Come for combing his divine locks). Desiring to experience her joy in this too, periyAzhwAr, due to his overflowing affection for krishNa, takes over yaSOdhAp pirAtti’s pathos, sings the pAsurams with her words, and enjoys the activity of combing krishNa’s divine locks, during the same time that yaSOdhAp pirAtti did, in this thirumozhi.

thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, the following:

[We would like to add here that thiruvAimozhip piLLai has analysed the reasons for AzhwAr selecting a bird for carrying the task of combing emperumAn’s divine locks. He says that emperumAn was not happy with staying in capital town [ayOdhyA], hence he went to forest. In the forest too, he was not happy since he left that too, and went to seashore. Here, he protected monkeys and bears, which were looking up only to him for protection (the animals were present in forest too, but there were others too in the forest and they too had a shade of independence in the forest). After reaching seashore only, did he feel pleased. Taking off from there, AzhwArs go for other species and pick on birds. With this background, we request the readers to proceed further, with thiruvAimozhip piLLai’s excellent svApadhESam].

In the previous thirumozhi, AzhwAr enjoyed giving divine bath to krishNa, as mentioned in “manjanam Attiya ARRai” (the manner in which the divine bath was given). Just as thirumangai AzhwAr had mercifully said in periya thirumozhi 1-5-1 “kalaiyum kariyum parimAvum thiriyum kAnam kadandhu pOy” (going beyond the forest where animals such as deer, elephant, horse etc roam), since even forest is to be proceeded past, the words of sumithrAp pirAtti to lakshmaNa, as mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 40-9 “ayOdhyAm atavIm vidhdhi” (consider forest as ayOdhyA) have to be rejected [since he has to go beyond the forest too]. It is only after thinking about these that perumAL had mercifully said on the seashore, just as it has been mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 18-3 “mithra bhAvEna samprAptham na thyajEyam kathanchana l dhOshO yadhi api thasya syAth sathAm Ethadh agarhitham ll” (I will not let down anyone, in any manner, when the person arrives with a friendly appearance, even if the person has a defect. His acceptance will be considered as irreproachable, in the eyes of noble persons (such as vasishta et al)). He did not accept vibhIshaNa there, just because he saw something friendly in vibhIshaNa. He did not get bewildered when some people told him on the seashore that he should reject them [vibhIshaNa and his assistants]. He said that noble people would ridicule him if he rejected one who came to surrender to him. He said “If I have to give up something, without being ridiculed by the noble people, then it is only the faults present in those who come to surrender to me”. In this place [reference here is to SrI gOkulam in krishNAvathAram], there is none like hanuman, sugrIvan et al who know what runs in his divine mind. Thus, for emperumAn, forest is to be given up and seashore is to be accepted [both in towns and forests, there are people who desire other benefits; it is only on the seashore that animals such as monkeys, bears etc were present, looking only up to him for their protection]. It is only due to this that he had said, as in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 18-33 “sakruth Eva prapannAya thavAsmIthi yAchathE l abhayam sarva bhUthEbhyO dhadhAm Ethadh vrathama mama ll” (I give my solemn pledge that I will assure safety from all beings to one who takes refuge under me, once).

Is it only this much? {Did he stop with only animals?] [Taking over from emperumAn] AzhwArs, in many instances, had considered birds as AchAryars (preceptors, who unite AthmAs with emperumAn) and sent them as messengers to emperumAn, not even considering whether they are male or female. While there were many wise people present who knew the happenings in all three times [of past, present and future], thirumangai AzhwAr considered only these birds as the ones who would tell him what he desires, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 10-10 through terms such as “thiruththAy, karaiyAy, sollAy etc” (AzhwAr tells the birds to indicate to him that good bodings will happen by coming from left side to the right or by calling out to emperumAn or by informing emperumAn about AzhwAr). Even among these birds, it is only the crow which he considered as “piLLAy” (a word indicating an honour being selectively given to the crow). It is only to instruct those, who know some of the things [wise people such as rishis et al] and those who know a lot more [such as AzhwArs] that emperumAn, the omniscient on his own, without having to depend on anyone else for acquiring knowledge, and AzhwArs who were granted knowledge with devotion, without any trace of ignorance [by emperumAn], had desired to consider the existence, activities and resting nature of these birds [to be sent as AchAryas to unite with emperumAn]. Birds have some knowledge [they eat, move around etc]. Ocean doesn’t have even that. Yet, emperumAn [during rAmAvathAram] desired to find out what runs in the ocean-king’s mind [when he performed SaraNAgathi, act of surrendering, to the ocean at the shore, thiruppullANi]. When the ocean did not respond, he was upset. When such omniscient entity, emperumAn, decides to express his divine mind [to entities such as sugrIva, vibhIshaNa et al], it is not due to not knowing about them [he knows their minds very well; yet, he had something to inform them at the seashore] [this has reference to performing SaraNAgathi].

Just as emperumAn had something to tell the gathering at the seashore, AzhwArs too had something to tell [the samsAris]. What is being referred to by the term kAkkai? (crow) [in this thirumozhi, periyAzhwAr refers to kAkkai in all the pAsurams] This refers to people who have removed one quality and are abundant with the other two qualities, among the three qualities which are present in samsAris [sathvam, rajas and thamas, representing noble, desire and laziness qualities respectively, are present in all samsAris; we are expected to remove rajas and thamas and nurture sathva qualities; however, samsAris, who are desirous of worldly pursuits, remove sathva guNam and keep in abundance, the other two; periyAzhwAr is addressing such samsAris through the term kAkkai]. Just as thirumazhisai AzhwAr had instructed samsAris, in his thiruchchandha viruththam pAsuram 68 “eththiRaththum uyvadhOr ubAyam illai – mAlai vAzhththi vAzhminO” (there is no way to uplift oneself in this samsAram, other than praising emperumAn and carrying out mangaLASAsanam to him), periyAzhwAr too calls upon samsAris, under the pretext of kAkkai, by informing them about emperumAn’s eminence through various verses and asks them to carry out mangaLASAsanam to him through the pretext of combing krishNa’s divine locks.

How did periyAzhwAr conclude that kAkkai has two qualities [of rajas and thamas]? He has come to this conclusion through its quality of eating what is not supposed to be eaten, eating what has been prohibited and eating what has been completely forbidden. It survives on food offered to pithrus [forefathers, who have departed], water offered to fiends in certain types of rituals etc. Though SAsthras tell us to offer food to other AthmAs, specifically, these are to be given only for crows. Also, it moves only with its own flock [in other words, those with rajas and thamas qualities will move only with other samsAris with similar qualities and not with those who have sathva qualities]. Apart from its offspring, crow will also nurture others’ offsprings [cuckoo bird lays its eggs in crow’s nest and the crow will nurture them as its own offsprings]. When the cuckoo’s offsprings grow up, the crow will be unable to make any distinction between its and the cuckoo’s offsprings. It is only when the time comes for making a cry that it will realise that it had all along nurtured some other birds in its nest. Instead of recognising the sweet voice of cuckoo, unable to tolerate the different species of bird, it will drive the cuckoo’s offsprings away since it cannot live with another species. Moreover, crow will feel proud that it had gained life due to its performing a thorny surrender [reference here is to the offence carried out by indhra’s son, jayanthan, taking the form of a crow and troubling sIthAp pirAtti in dhaNdakAraNyam and ultimately surrendering to SrI rAma, with his feet touching SrI rAma’s divine feet, which had to be set right by sIthAp pirAtti subsequently]. It does not realise that it had lost an eye to the weapon used by SrI rAma [dharbam, sacred grass]. While sIthAp pirAtti, who tries to correct both the unfavourable ones, such as rAvaNa, when she said as in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 21-19 “mithram aupayikam karthum …” (If you desire to continue to live, you should consider SrI rAma as a friend) and the prominently favourable entity such as hanuman, when she said as in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 113-46 “pApAnAm vA SubhAnAm vA…” (kindness should be shown irrespective of whether the person is a sinner or a virtuous one…), without any distinction, was there to help it, the crow, not realising the offence which it had carried out towards her and escaping from it, is flying as the flag of mUdhEvi [a deity, representing evil]. For these reasons, the crow could be classified as having two [undesirable] qualities [of rajas and thamas].

yaSOdhAp pirAtti had used words, which are commonly used by people in the world, in order to divert the attention of children who are crying, by pointing out to “crow, sparrow, moon etc”. periyAzhwAr absorbs these words of yaSOdhAp pirAtti and utilising the locks of krishNa as a pretext, calls all those who are engaged with the two [unwanted] qualities [of rajas and thamas] to come and carry out mangaLASAsanam to emperumAn after knowing the fault in them arising out of carrying out the act of surrendering [that it is their act of surrendering which made emperumAn to grant them refuge]. Why is he calling these ignorant people [who are full of the two unwanted qualities] first, to carry out mangaLASAsanam? Just as piLLai lOkAchAryar [one of our preceptors] had said [in SrI vachana bhUshaNam] “It is possible to rectify those who are ignorant, engaged with worldly pursuits and bring them up to carry out mangaLASAsanam. However, it is not possible to correct those who have a little bit of knowledge and are egoistic as well as those who have knowledge but are engaged with worldly pursuits”, AzhwAr takes up those who are without any quality of nobility in them, for correcting, first. It is only those who are full of rajO guNam and thamO guNam who are completely filled up with ignorance.

Who did AzhwAr classify as kUzhAL in thiruppallANdu 3 [kUzhAL pattu ninRIrgaLai engaL kuzhuvinil pugadhalotttOm]? He refers to those who are subservient to others [and not to emperumAn]. There is none [other than emperumAn] who could be called as the lord [to whom one could be subservient] and there is no rule for governing such subservience. Hence, AzhwAr calls such people as kUzhAL, and excludes them from his gathering saying “engal kuzhuvinil pugaudhal ottOm” [we will not let them come into our gathering]. This is similar to saying “Do not have any love towards the king’s consort”, because if someone indeed shows any love towards her, he will not survive. What is vAzhAL [from the same thiruppallANdu pAsuram]? This will exist in three stages – AL, vAzhAL and ninRIr. AL refers to one who goes to emperumAn, desiring worldly wealth [as purushArtham, the ultimate benefit]. vAzhAL refers to one who desires kaivalyam [enjoying one’s AthmA instead of carrying out kainkaryam to emperumAn]. ninRIr refers to those who look up firmly to emperumAn as the means instead of resorting to bhakthi [devotion] or prapaththi [act of surrendering to emperumAn]. These three stages could be seen in the first part of dhvayam [one among the three esoteric manthrams, basis for viSishtAdhvaitha sampradhAyam]. Only one among these will be true forever – that emperumAn is the means and that he is the ultimate benefit. What does the verse “vandhu koNmin” indicate? This indicates carrying out mangaLASAsanam to emperumAn, which is the ultimate benefit, after getting rid of self-enjoyment while carrying out kainkaryam to emperumAn which is denoted by the term nama: in the second part of dhvayam [SrImathE nArAyaNAya nama:]. All the manner in this Atpadum mode could be seen in the prathama rahasyam [first esoteric manthram of] thirumanthram which is the primary source of knowledge [about emperumAn, us, means to reach him, ultimate benefit and hurdles in reaching him].

It is only to create these in us that emperumAn carried out certain distinguishing, affectionate deeds such as “edhir sUzhal pukku …” [thiruvAimozhi 2.7.6, coming in our direction irrespective of wherever we go], “thaniyEn vAzhmudhal…” [thiruvAimozhi 2.3.5, oh, one who is the primary cause for the glorious life of mine when I am living alone in this material world!), “annAL nI thandha …” [thiruvAimozhi 3.2.1, during the time of creation, you had given me a form to reach you] etc. You [reference here is to emperumAn] had created emotions of adhvEsham [not turning away from you when you come to help me], Abhimukyam [engaging with you] etc in me. emperumAn carried out SaraNAgathi to varuNan [king of oceans] [at seashore] and to sugrIvan [at kishkindhA]. In the presence of sIthAp pirAtti, he gave refuge to kAkAsuran [indhra’s son who came in the form of a crow], recognised the SaraNAgathi made by him, considering that act as the means and made him as lowlier than all the low entities. Through the term akkAkkai, he `rejected all the crows mentioned earlier. Just as swan has the quality of differentiating between distinguished and lowly features, just as parrot has the quality of repeating AchAryan’s words and just as a dog has the quality of gratitude [these are all considered as qualities of AthmA], he brought in certain qualities in crow too. When yaSOdhAp pirAtti called the crow to comb krishNa’s divine locks, AzhwAr made the crow also to be omniscient; he made the entity which was full of rajO and thamO guNams as a prapannan [one who has surrendered to emperumAn], calling upon the crow to carry out mangaLASAsanam to emperumAn. Through this, he removed the faults in the act of surrender carried out by that crow [kAkAsuran, who carried out offence against pirAtti], making the act of combing krishNa’s locks as the reason for uniting the crow with emperumAn in emperumAn’s divine mind.

In the previous thirumozhi, AzhwAr had carried out giving a bath to krishNa, in order to remove the dirt caused by those who carried out SaraNAgathi to him, looking up to him as one who grants mOksham (liberation from samsAram], by those who follow other means to attain him, but looking at him as the ultimate benefit, through the water of discretion. In this thirumozhi, AzhwAr desires that we remove the offences which we have passed on to emperumAn for our faults, without knowing the real reason for verses mentioned as in (1) bhagavath gIthA 18-41 “bhrAmayan” (I swirl the entity based on the entity’s karma], (2) “yathA niyukthOsmi thathA karOmi”(I carry out actions as per the directives of the deity who is residing in my mind), (3) thaiththirIya upanishath “karavam akaravam” (emperumAn is the reason for all the deeds which I have done and not done) etc, as well as AzhwAr pAsurams such as in (4) thiruvAimozhi 7.1.1 “nalivAn innum eNNuginRAy” (you are thinking of torturing me through the five senses), (5) periya thirumozhi 11-8-1 “ARRangarai vAzh maram pOl anjuginREn” (I am frightened just like the tree which is on the shore of a river), (6) nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi 38 “ARu samayam pugaiththAn” (emperumAn had given six philosophies), (7) thiruvAimozhi 3-1-4 “mAttAdha palasamaya madhi koduththAy” (you bestowed knowledge on this world about several philosophies) etc. Without knowing the real meanings of these verses, we heap all the reasons for our sorrows on emperumAn’s head. AzhwAr makes all such people [who blame emperumAn for their difficulties] with the two unwanted qualities [of rajas and thamas] as crows, calls them, telling them “There is no fault in emperumAn’s existence, activities, rest etc. With the help of AchAryan’s instructions, remove all the faults which you have heaped on his head”, utilising the words of yaSOdhAp pirAtti to divert the attention of krishNa who was crying by pointing out to the crow. He mercifully tells the crow “kuzhal vArAy” [comb the locks of krishNa, thus removing the faults heaped on him].

We shall next consider the 1^st pAsuram of this thirumozhi.

adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan

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