SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum
pravESam
In the earlier thirumozhi [divine verses], yaSOdhAp pirAtti had decided to comb krishNa’s divine locks. To prevent him from running away, crying and refusing to have his locks combed, she called out several times to crow, such that he could hear, appropriate to his stage of being a child. She made him happy as a result of this and combed his divine locks. Desiring to experience her joy in this, periyAzhwAr took over her pathos due to overflowing affection for krishNa, composed pAsurams as if he had been living at the same period of time as yaSOdhAp pirAtti and experienced her joy. After combing the divine locks, while she tried to search for flowers to don on his divine locks, krishNa, in line with the work for his clan, wanted to go, along with children of his age, behind calves for grazing them. He asked her to hand him the stick with which to control the calves, while grazing them. Instead of agreeing to his request and giving him the stick, thinking “I should distract him” she told him “I will get you the stick”, calling the crow many times, making him forget his crying, telling the crow “Oh crow, bring the stick”. Taking over her pathos, AzhwAr too spoke just like yaSOdhAp pirAtti, speaking about krishNa, enjoying that flavour, in this thirumozhi.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says the following: In the earlier thirumozhi, by saying as in 2.5.9 “ponnin mudiyinaip pUvaNai mEl vaiththu” [keeping the beautiful locks on a soft mattress which is like a flower], AzhwAr had called upon those, who are like crow in terms of their rAjasa and thAmasa guNams [qualities of passion and ignorance, respectively], intending to correct them and to make them to carry out mangaLASAsanam for emperumAn, since they too have the relationship with emperumAn [like those with sAthvika guNam, the noble qualities] and they too, based on their deeds, time and SAsthrams, would have the benefit from emperumAn’s incarnations etc [this is similar to monkey eating fruits, just like human beings eat; fruit is common to both. In the same way, whether a person has thAmasa guNam or sAthvika guNam, he too has the same opportunity to attain emperumAn]. This is irrespective of differences in their levels of intelligence. He made them [those who are like crows] to see how emperumAn was waiting to attain them, making them to carry out prapaththi. He made them realise that they had made emperumAn to wait for them in order to attain them, thus making them to feel sorry for their acts until then. Since they felt sorry for making such a supreme entity to wait, to attain them, they wanted to move away. AzhwAr told them “How terrible! Just as carrying out prapaththi is your nature, waiting to attain you is his nature too” [everyone is emperumAn’s possession; there is no difference in his desire to get everyone under his refuge]. AzhwAr made them, under the pretext of “kuzhal vArAy”, to remove their faults which they had superimposed on him [we had seen this in detail, in the previous thirumozhi]. He made them to realise that their “connection with emperumAn as the protector-protected is the true nature”. He removed their self-pity, made emperumAn to be satisfied with the change in the behaviour of the prapannan. He made both to realise the vyAmOham [deep affection] which emperumAn has towards them and their bhakthirUpaApannagyAnam (knowledge derived out of their devotion] towards emperumAn. When a person gets lot of wealth [such as gemstones, gold, food etc], even if they are well protected, he would appoint guards in order to protect those, apart from himself. In a similar vein, even though emperumAn is the protector, his act of protection did not fructify [since the samsAri was not willing to submit himself to emperumAn for protection]. AzhwAr too wasn’t satisfied with the protector-protected connection between emperumAn and the samsAris [for AzhwAr, satisfaction will come only when the prapannan considers himself to be the protector and emperumAn to be the protected]. Thus, he changed that connection between emperumAn and samsAris, made the samsAris to be associated with those who have good hearts, made those who had created faults in emperumAn and who felt sorry for having done that, to remove those faults themselves, by combing emperumAn’s divine locks, just like saying “sarvapApEbhyO” [getting rid of all hurdles], correcting those who were like crows, in the previous thirumozhi.
Now, after completing his divine bath, when yaSOdhAp pirAtti arranged for combing his divine locks, in preparation for donning his locks with flowers, krishNa refused to have the flowers. Instead, he told her to give him a stick so that he could go behind cattle and graze them. Instead of giving him the stick, to make him agree to her request, she made him to stop crying by telling him “I will get you the stick”. AzhwAr, making her meaningless request to get a stick as the pretext [it is considered as meaningless since krishNa is paramAthmA and she is a herd-woman], utilising her little bit of devotion towards krishNa [she doesn’t know that he is paramAthmA] and her excessive affection towards him as her son, decided to make her request as meaningful. He found that there were many people, who, without even a little bit of devotion, were indulging in activities mentioned in the first part of vEdham [karmakANdam, which describes the activities which are to be conducted on a daily basis, or towards fulfilling a desire in mind etc]. They were of the opinion, as expressed in bhagavath gIthA 2-42 “nAnyadhasthIthi vAdhina:” [there is nothing greater than this which has been prescribed], carrying out such deeds, after being attracted to the flowery words of vEdham [not realising that there is the second part of vEdham, brahmakANdam, which wants us to seek the supreme entity]. AzhwAr considers in his divine mind that even these entities could be corrected and they qualify for being corrected, over time and deeds. He then addresses those who have rAjasathamas [qualities of rajas which make a person to acquire qualities of thamas too] and rAjasarAjas [qualities of rajas which make a person to acquire more of the same qualities], about the activities of these people [the first set of people who are indulging in activities laid down in vEdhams, karmakANdam]. He asks the second set of people, the reason for the activities of the first set of people: (1) Is it because it has been laid down in vEdhams and not doing this would lead to accumulation of sins? (2) Is it because of the benefits which these rituals will give them, due to their desire in getting such benefits? (3) Is it because it has been allowed by the vEdham, as a condition for carrying out worship to emperumAn? (4) Is it because these activities create the qualification for gaining their personal desires, for being a forerunner to jIvAthmayOgam [union with jIvAthmA] which entails standing amidst fire, starvation etc and later on, a forerunner for paramAthmayOgam [union with the supreme entity] through other means such as karma yOgam, gyAna yOgam, bhakthi yOgam [the paths of deeds, knowledge and devotion, respectively]? (5) Is it because it has been laid down by emperumAn? The second set of people said “We do not know the distinction among these. We will carry out that which you mercifully tell us to do”. Just as periyAzhwAr had called upon several persons when he set out to compose thiruppallANdu for emperumAn, he could call these people too.
When there are people who are not willing to come like this [for carrying out mangaLASAsanam], they would justify their action that if they do not carry out such activities [which are mentioned in vEdhams], then it would be going against the wishes of emperumAn, not knowing the difference between nithya/naimiththika karmam [that which has been stipulated to be carried out compulsorily], which emperumAn has ordered to do and kAmya karmam [that which has been given as carrying out to fulfil a specific objective], which emperumAn has not ordered to do. They have desire in carrying out activities which are superficial and which will not tantamount to disobeying emperumAn’s orders if they are not carried out. They will even carry out activities which are nithya/naimiththika karmam with an ulterior motive [towards an end benefit]. AzhwAr tells such people “Do not think of carrying out kAmya karmas as stipulated in vEdham and that not carrying out these would result in disobeying his orders. Stop these and return emperumAn’s sceptre [his command] to him, manifesting your reverence to him”. Through such words, he tells those, who are like crows [with rAjasa and thAmasa characteristics], to bring stick [sceptre] and give it to emperumAn, in this thirumozhi.
- pAsuram 2.6.1 – vElikkOl vetti
- pAsuram 2.6.2 – kongum kudandhaiyum
- pAsuram 2.6.3 – kaRuththittu edhirninRa
- pAsuram 2.6.4 – onRE uraippAn
- pAsuram 2.6.5 – sIronRu thUdhAy
- pAsuram 2.6.6 – Alaththu ilaiyAn
- pAsuram 2.6.7 – pon thigazh
- pAsuram 2.6.8 – minnidaich chIdhai
- pAsuram 2.6.9 – then ilangai
- pAsuram 2.6.10 – akkAkkAy! nambikku
We shall next consider the 1st pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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