Thirumaalai(23)
Sri Parthasarathi thunai,
Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha
“ Mattrondrum vEinda Maname Madhilarangar
Kattrinum meitha kazhalinai keezh- uttra
Thirumaalai paadum seer Thondaradipodi Emperumaanai
Eppozhudum peesu”
“ Srimat Krishna samahvaya Namo yaamuna soonave
yetkadAkshai kalakshyAnAm sulabha: Sridara: sadaa”
Pranams,
Paasuram-10
“nAttinan deivam engum nallathOr arulthannAlE
kAttinAn thiruvarangam uybhavarkku uyyumvannam
kEttirE nambimeergAl! Geruda vAhananum nirkka
sEttai than madi yagaththu selvam pArtirukkindreerE.”
Attinan deivam engum nallathOr arulthannAlE: We find a number
of
devi’s and devata’s temples all over the world.
Different people worship
different gods. Different gods are worshipped in different modes
by
different people. Alwar here says all these gods where created
only by
Sriman Narayanan. But then why should he create so many and
divert the
people when he is the supreme self who everyone has to worship?
That is
because, all people are not same. Some are sattvikas, some
rajasas and
some thAmasas. So emperuman by his nirheduka krupa created even
gods
according to the various tastes of the people. Only the belief in
god
and spiritual practice can make people orderly and refrain from
doing
mistakes. So he created different gods to cater to the needs of
the
different types of people. We find many people criticizing the
sattivikas
but still even those people do pooja and visit the temples of
their own
estha(favorite) devatha. Such is the mentality of the people.
Emperuman who knows each and every one of us due to his divine
grace(nallathOr
arul) established different gods in different places. He is the
antaryami of all the devathas and having them as his body he
gives the
results. But people do not realize it and sometimes even talk ill
of the
lord Sriman Narayana. But unfortunately they do not know that
whatever
they do as worship finally reaches only emperuman. Nowadays, even
srivaishnavas do not understand the magimai of emperuman and
unfortunately go
and stand in front of other devatas for some lowkika palans. This
is
like a son of a big person(wealthy and healthy) going and
standing in
front of a daridran (poor and weak) for sudhra (cheap) palans.
How can
we say that only emperuman created all these devatas? Would be
the next
question anyone will ask. Bhagavan himself in Bg says, “Yo
yo yam yam
thanum bhaktha:” and Nammazhvar in thiruvaimozhi says,
‘Avar avar
thamathamadu arivari vagaivagai avaravar eraiyavar ena adi
adaivargal
avaravar eraiyavar kuraivilar eraiyavar avaravar vidhivazhi
adaiyanindranarE”. Here alwar says that there are so many
gods and different people
fall into their feet depending on their fate. If they are rajasas
they go
to the temples of rajasic gods and if they are thamasAs they go
to the
temples of thamasic gods. There is nothing wrong if people visit
and
worship the gods according to their nature but what is
disheartening and
what alwar condemns is the srivaishnavas going to other temples
for
favour. This is like a sat patni(a good wife) going and standing
in the
footsteps of para purushan(other men).
Whatever emperuman has done is due to his krupai only. In Vishnu
temples mangalAsAsanams , ghosti, thiruvArAdanam etc are done for
just
pleasing emperuman and seeing the smile on his face by bhagavatas
not
seeking any other palan. But this will not work out with people
who go to
temple only when they find some reason to do so. So to satisfy
all and
avoid confusion emperuman has done all these. “Sarva deva
namaskAraha
kesavam pratigachchathi” anyway on namaskarams ultimately
reach bhagavan
only. Slowly the others will also gain sattvika gunas and reach
bhagavan but it may take time depending on the nature and fate of
individuals.
kAttinAn thiruvarangam uybhavarkku uyyumvannam: Though emperuman
created number of gods and various types of worship he also
showed the
difference between worshipping the gods who are bodies and the
emperuman
himself who is the soul. Whoever worshipped the lord in Srirangam
for
the sake of just doing bhakthi and kainkaryam to him will reach
the
highest abode of the lord, the moksha. So they attain what a
jeevatma has
to attain in this janma and break the cycle of life and death and
reach
the world from where they never return.
kEttirE nambimeergAl! Geruda vAhananum nirkka: Even though alwar
says so much about the lord and his karunai these people go deaf
eared.
Alwar’s words never strike them and they are interested only
in the
lowkika pleasures. So now alwar draws their attention towards him
and says
“listen! You folks emperuman is waiting in garuda vahanam to
come
running to our call and grant moksha”. Not only that
emperuman is waiting,
Sri mahalakshmi who stays in the vakthastalam of emperuman always
is
also waiting to talk on our behalf to perumal to forgive all our
sins and
give us all mangalams. Even if emperuman get angry by the crores
of
apacharams(mistakes) we all commit thayar who is a mother to all
of us
talks to him politely and showers mercy on us. She never gets
angry with
her kids who are prone to mistakes. She also changes all of us by
her
grace. She is the godown of wealth and when she comes to a place
the
whole area becomes filled with wealth and well being. But alwar
feels ,
why these people do not understand this. They do not fall in the
feet
of Sriman Narayanan instead what do they do?
sEttai than madi yagaththu selvam pArtirukkindreerE: They are in
the
look out for the elder sister of sridevi. Who is this elder
sister?
She is jhestha devi(settai in tamil) and she is one who gives all
amangalams(commonly called moodevi). Well educated persons suffer
from
ahankAram and mamakAram and hence never go near emperuman and so
moodevi
visits them. Whereas even a poorly educated person may get the
kataksham
of Sridevi. Sridevi was born in Parkadal which is a mine of
pearls and
corals. Every wealth in this world belongs to Sridevi only and
she
showers it on us due to her krupai. But inspite of all these
people never
approach her instead look for wealth from moodevi who gives only
worry.
Even in Srishooktham they is a reference to this moodevi(Jhestha).
“shut bhebhasa malAm jheshtam…. nAsayAmyaham”. So
alwar feels for those
who leave sridevi and go to moodevi. Even for attaining lowkika
palans
there are sannadhi’s in srirangam itself. Emperuman is
capable of
granting both lowkika palans and moksham also. Dhanvantri is a
doctor who
cures our disease, sudarshanar protects us from all evils,
santhanagopalan blesses us with a child and so on. That is why
even nammazhvar
says ‘nindra Adipiran nirka mattrai deivam nAduthirE”(when
Adipiran is
standing to grant us whatever we want why go to other gods?).
Let us continue in the next posting
AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam
Adiyen Ramanuja Dasyai
Sumithra Varadarajan