Thirupavai Pasuram 26

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/01/thirupavai-pasuram-25.html

Vadabadhra Sayee

By “maalE! maNivaNNaa!” Nachiar tells Perumal that He loves us very much. He is “maNivaNNaan” because out of His love for us, He obeys us.

Perumal asked Nachiar to show Him the approved texts for following Margazhi Nombu. Nachiar answered that they were following the practices of their ancestors showing us that it is approved to follow our ancient customs and traditions instead of inventing new rituals.

Perumal was mesmerized by the beautiful girls. The beautiful girls represent good devotees. Perumal looked at their beauty means that He looked at the knowledge they possessed and the practices they followed which add beauty to a devotee like the breasts and waist of women.

‘Krishna please pay attention to our request,’ said the girls.

‘What do you need?’

‘We want a conch which when blown makes evil doers shudder. A conch which is white in colour and unique like your Panchajanyam; we want to use this conch in our ritual.’

‘There is no other conch like Panchajanyam; hence take my conch with you,’ said Perumal.

‘We also need a tom-tom. It should be very large like the one used by Jambhavan during Trivikrama Avataram when he circumbulated you 21 times. ‘

‘I will ask Jambhavathi to get the tom-tom for you from her father.’

Jambhavan saw Perumal during Trivikrama, Rama as well as Krishna avataram. He gave his daughter Jambhavathi in marriage to Perumal during Krishna avataram.

ThiruThankaaal Divya Desam:

 Nindra Narayanan Perumal with Sri Devi Nachiar called as "Anna Nayaki" & Neela devi also named as "Aanandha Nayaki" to His right  and towards the Moolavar's left side is Bhoomi Pirattiyaar, also named as "Amirutha Nayaki" and Jambhavathi.

‘We want someone to accompany us singing your praises for just the sake of singing your glories without expecting anything in return.’

‘Such a person is Periazhwar; I will ask him to accompany you.’

‘We need a beautiful light to illuminate our path ahead.’

‘Take Piratti with you as she is as radiant as a beautiful lamp.’

‘We need a flag so that people can identify our group.’

‘Take my Garuda Dwajan,’ said Perumal.

‘We need a mobile roof which would protect our head from the cold. We don’t want to wear scarves because it doesn’t look nice plus we cannot identify each other if we wear scarf.’

‘Okay, take Adi Seshan with you.’

‘We don’t want Adi Seshan. We want your peethambaram (dhothi)! We want you to be all the items you had promised us’

‘How is this possible? How can I be so many?’

‘You existed on top of the small banyan leaf with the entire Universe in your stomach. You are the seed which gave rise to this Universe. Nothing is impossible for you. Please recollect the Vatsabhaharana 

Charitram,’ said the girls.

Thirucherai Ala Ilai Alankaram

Nachiar narrated to the girls so that Krishna could also listen in, ‘I will now recap the incident.

‘Come on let us find a nice picnic spot so that we can enjoy our midday meal,’ said Krishna.

The company soon reached the banks of the river Yamuna. They bathed their calves in the water and refreshed themselves by washing their face, feet and hands.

It was a beautiful clearing by the sandy banks of Yamuna. There were small pools formed on the bank where the rain water had collected. The pools were brimming with red lotuses and lilies. Bumble bees buzzed near the pond but as soon as Krishna sat down on the sand, the bees surrounded Him mistaking Him to be a giant blue lotus. Swans, cranes and ducks swam in the Yamuna. The dark Yamuna looked charming. The white aquatic birds looked like pearls sown on dark velvet. Peacocks from the nearby forest gathered around the border to watch the boys. A heard of deer looked at the cattle. They then moved away from the cattle but kept their proximity to Krishna.

Krishna sat in the middle. He was surrounded by all the boys. They gathered edible leaves to use as plates. Some boys used a clean slab of stone. Everyone opened their packets. Yashoda had given Krishna curd rice. She had mixed rice, butter, a little bit of curd and milk. She had packed five types of spicy pickle; lemon, mango, tender mango, grapefruit and amla. Krishna held each of the pickles on His five fingers. For every ball of rice, He took a tiny bite of the pickles. He also shared His food with His friend.

‘Krishna, try some of my rice,’ offered Subala. ‘My mom has packed some lemon rice for me.’

‘and try my snacks as well,’ said Madhumangala.

Krishna told them stories and entertained them while they ate. The cattle mooed as they moved around the grassy border near the sandy bank. Lord Brahma looked at this sight from the sky. All the celestial wished to lick the food from the finger of the boys but their pride prevented them from coming down to make this request. They hence took the form of fish in Yamuna so that they can lick their fingers when the boys washed their hand but Krishna thwarted their plan and asked the boys to wipe their hands on their dress. The celestials asked Brahma to help them.

‘Krishna surrounded by His friends looks like a giant lotus!’ thought Brahma.

‘What a marvel! The Almighty enjoying a picnic lunch with His cowherd friends! Can He exhibit His full prowess? Does he remember His true identity? What will happen if I hide the cattle and His friends? Can He find them’ though Brahma as this naughty thought entered his mind.

Brahma using his powers immediately hid all the cattle from the view. He waited for the boys and Krishna to notice the missing cattle.

‘Does it seem very silent to you?’ asked Sridama.

‘Look our cattle is gone!’ cried Upendra.

‘Don’t worry, stay here and enjoy your meal. I will round up the cattle,’ said Krishna. He got up to teach Brahma a lesson but first He must allow Brahma to hide His friends as well. He pretended to look for the cattle and returned to the picnic spot after Brahma had hid the boys.

Krishna taking the form of Lord Brahma, reached Brahma’s abode of Satya Lokam while the real Brahma was still enroute to Satya Lokam. Krishna in the form of Lord Brahma entered Satya Lokam. The door keepers saluted thinking that He is Brahma.

‘I have just had intelligence that there is a miscreant pretending to be me. If this impostor should come here, push him so that he falls down from Satya Lokam.’

After Krishna had instructed the guards, Brahma arrived. As he was about the enter his abode, the guards stopped him and per Krishna’s instructions pushed him down. Brahma fell down tumbling through space. He entered Earth and fell under a tree in Vrindavan. To his amazement, he saw Krishna sitting under the tree and realized that he had fallen prostrate near the divine feet of Krishna. Realizing the error he had committed he asked for forgiveness.

‘I shouldn’t have played such a prank. Please forgive me!’ Brahma eulogized Krishna. After returning all the boys and the cattle he left for his own abode.

The boys were overjoyed to see Krishna. Brahma had hid them for only a few seconds. As, the progress of time is slower in Satya Lokam, few seconds turned out to be a year on Earth.

For one whole year the Lord existed in Vrindavan by taking the forms of His friends and the cattle. He not only took the form of the boys and cattle but also of nonliving items like the prod sticks and food packets. The gopis had no idea that Lord Krishna had taken the place of their children. Every evening when the children return home the mothers go through their items and wash their clothes and vessels they took with them to carry food. In order for the mothers to not note the difference, Lord Krishna became the child’s belongings as well. If a child had a silver pot, He became that silver pot. If a child had a terracotta pot, He became that terracotta pot. If a child had a pot with a chip then He became that pot with a chip. If a boy had six toes, Krishna became that boy with a six toes. He replicated Himself with care and became an exact copy of the children. If a child had a mole, He took the form of the child with a mole; if a child used to throw temper tantrums then He did the same. He was such a perfect copy of the children that the gopis never noticed any difference. The cows did not notice that they were nursing Krishna instead of their calves either. He existed in many different forms; black calf, black calf with a white streak on the forehead, red calf, calf with one broken horn and so on. He not only fooled the gopis but He fooled Balarama himself.

Balarama was not present during this occurrence. He was surprised to notice that he felt love towards all the boys and the cattle. He loved them all as he loved Krishna. ‘Why do I feel this way’, he asked Krishna.

The cows fed the calves with more affection. The parents of the boys felt overwhelming affection towards their children; they did not realize that Krishna was the object of their love.

A whole year went by without anyone noticing the missing children or the cattle. The cows had given birth to new calves but yet they sought the older calves to feed them milk. They did not know that the older calves were Krishna.

One fine afternoon the older gopas herded the calves to a meadow in the forest. Lord Krishna in the forms of the gopa children and calves was playing with Himself and Balarama in the meadow. He was playing a game of catch with Himself. He pretended to be that Sridama who always tried to argue with Krishna but with devotion, He pretended to be that Madhumangala who always followed Him around. In the form of Sudama He ran after a calf which was Himself to herd it back towards the other calves. As Krishna He playfully tugged at the tail of a black and white calf which was again one of the assumed form of Krishna!

As the older gopas herded their mature cows to the meadows, the cows broke into a run and ran with love to feed the calves herded by the gopa children. The gopas felt angry when they were unable to control the cows.

Afraid that the cows will not have enough milk to feed the young new-born calves in the village, the gopas yelled at the children to separate the mother from the older calves.

‘Madhumangala, don’t let Lakshmi feed Shyama! Pull Shyama away and take your calves away from here immediately!’

Krishna did not pay heed to the instructions. He in the form of the calves rushed towards the cows to drink milk! The cows rushed forward and fed Him all their milk. The cows licked the calves with love and refused to move away from the calves.

The gopas felt very angry that the boys had not listened to them. They rushed forward to discipline the children but the moment they neared the children they became very calm! They pulled the children towards them with love and hugged them. They wiped the sweat away from the children’s face and gave them cool milk from their pots to drink!

Balarama was amazed to see this unusual display of love and affection! Realizing that none other than Krishna had the powers to cause such wonders Balarama saw Him in all the boys and the cattle.

Krishna and Balarama moved away from the meadow to a different part of the forest. Balarama followed the many Krishnas with awe. They soon arrived at the banks of the Yamuna from where the children along with the calves had been kidnapped by Lord Brahma. Krishna sat down under a huge banyan tree and at this precise moment, Lord Brahma fell at Krishna’s feet. Lord Brahma got up very slowly still shaken by the fall. He looked around and saw all the gopa children and calves playing around Krishna. As he glanced towards the sky he saw the original gopa children and cattle who had been following Brahma! Alarmed at Krishna’s creation of the duplicate gopa children and calves Lord Brahma stood perplexed. ‘What am I supposed to do with the original children and calves?’ he thought. Returning them to Krishna was now impossible since Krishna had duplicated the children and calves! Lord Brahma turned towards Krishna to seek His pardon and to await instructions from Krishna regarding the original children when in the place of the duplicated children and calves he saw Lord Vishnu! Lord Vishnu appeared everywhere holding His divine weapons. Each and every child and calf appeared as Lord Vishnu to Brahma. Lord Brahma fell on His knees amazed at the powers displayed by the Supreme Personality. The next second the forms of Lord Vishnu vanished and Brahma saw Krishna sitting under a banyan tree. He was holding a plate of half-eaten curd rice. He was sobbing. He rubbed His eyes with His buttery palms.

‘Sridama where are you? Madhumangala, Stoka Krishna where are you? Where is everyone? I miss you all!’

As Lord Brahma looked at this amazing sight, the original children and calves rushed towards Krishna. Lord Krishna hugged them all. The children didn’t remember their travels to Satya Lokam. With the help of Vishnu Maya, they forgot about their encounter with Lord Brahma!

Lord Brahma returned to his abode very satisfied that he had witnessed the Supreme Lord at play!’

‘Perform similar act for us and became everything we have requested,’ asked the girls as Nachiar completed her narration.

Alternate Meaning: 

This pasuram explains the Charama slokam; maalE! maNivaNNaa shows that Perumal is easily accessible to everyone. “aalin ilaiyaay” shows His capabilities and Supremacy. “Vata Mathurai” in the fifth pasuram does not mean North Mathurai as Mathura was not to the North of Vrindavan. “Vata” is the Sanskrit word for Banyan Tree. Perumal shows to us His capacity to save us from samsara when he makes the impossible possible by resting on the banyan Leaf in the deluge waters. Vata Mathura means Perumal loves Mathura as much as he loves the banyan leaf. Thus this pasuram is about Vatapatra Sayee of Sri Villiputhur and this pasuram is chanted twice at Sri Villiputhur.

Even though the Charama slokam is in the words of Krishna, we keep repeating the exact words uttered by Him to remind Him about his promise to rescue us from samsara when we surrender to him.

 Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/02/thirupavai-pasuram-27.html

Thirupavai Pasuram 25

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/01/thirupavai-pasuram-24.html

Guruvayurapan in Nirmalya Seva at Guruvayur

This pasuram shows us how to interpret the advaita shruthis. Nachiar says that Perumal was born to one woman and on one night He was adopted as the son of one woman. Per grammar, she should have said that, “born to one woman and raised by another woman” but Nachiar says “born to one woman and raised by one woman”. The “one” used in this pasuram means “unique” and not the quantity “one”.

The Upanishads say that Perumal is “ekameva advithiyam”. That is there is only one God and there is no one else like Him. This statement shouldn’t be interpreted as He is the only one who exists and we are all false since from our day to day experience we can see many different people, animals and birds. Hence it is incorrect to say that all the people we see to be existing are fictitious and only Brhamam is true. The word “ekameva” does not imply quantity “one” but states that He is the only Supreme Being; He is unique and there is no one who is equal to Him. Adi Sankaracharyar also explained this statement to mean “unique” in his commentaries for Chandogya Upanishad. Swami Alavandar said that if a poet praised a King by saying that He is the only one and there is no one like him it means that the King is unique. It does not mean that everyone else other than the king including the queen, the poet, the guard and the people are non-existent.

Nachiar uses the word “oruthi” to show the uniqueness of both Devaki and Yashoda. Devaki is unique because she prayed to obtain the Supreme Brhamam as her son and she achieved this feat.  Swami Vedanta Desikan has said that the One in whom the entire universe exists came to reside in the womb of Devaki! Swami Vedanta Desikan describes the uniqueness of Devaki when she dreamt about sleeping on Adi Sesha or flying on Garuda which are not normal dreams of a mother.

devakigarbhagantham bhagavanthamprthak paricharithum anishtvaa

seshaadhayah devakeesthathvaveshenaiva paricharantheeva

Yashoda is unique as well because even though she didn’t give birth to the Supreme Brahmam, she enjoyed Him as her son and raised Him with joy. She spent more time raising the divine child and she witnessed His childhood pranks.

Nachiar describes the night on which Lord Krishna incarnated as unique by saying “oru iravil”. The night was unique because the Supreme Being incarnated as Lord Krishna. On that night the Rishis could recollect even the Vedic verses they had forgotten with ease because everyone was blessed by Perumal’s grace. Usually the night with the ascending star Rohini was known as “Jayanthi” even prior to the Lord’s incarnation but after the incarnation of Krishna “Jayanthi” came to mean only “Krishna Jayanthi” and all other Jayanthis required a prefix like “Vamana Jayanthi”, “Narasimha Jayanthi” etc.

Swami Vedanta Desikan has composed 69 slokams in Yadhavabudhayam to describe the uniqueness of the night.

Nachiar then describes the way in which Perumal concealed His divinity. Though this was a Vibhava avataram, Perumal concealed Himself like Antaryami and Hid in Gokulam. To please Devaki, He revealed only two of His arms to everyone till the time when Kamsa was killed by Him. Even though Paramatma Himself incarnated, His naming ceremony was carried out in secrecy in the cow shed by Rishi Gargar.

The Lord never wanted to harm Kamsa but it was Kamsa who was constantly thinking about ways to harm Perumal. Lord Rama during Ramavataram mentioned the story of a pigeon which jumped into the fire to feed the hunter who had captured its mate just because the hunter sought refuge under the tree the pigeon lived. Like the pigeon, Perumal is ready to give Himself to us even when we try to harm Him like the hunter who harmed the pigeon.

Perumal exists as the digestive fire in everyone’s stomach to help us digest food. As Andal Nachiar called Perumal as “maal” because Perumal loves all the jeevatmas and doesn’t even see the defect of a jeevatma when it approaches Him.

Perumal was moved when He heard Nachiar’s pasuram. He asked, ‘what do you need?’

Nachiar replied that, ‘we need you! If you give yourself to us, we will sing that your property equals that of Piratti’s properties since if you refuse to give yourself to us, Piratti will not even look in your direction!’

Perumal asked the girls, ‘aren’t you feeling tired as you had been singing since very early in the morning?’

‘We feel refreshed because we have been singing your praise! We have nothing to worry because you are there to save us. Similarly you need not worry as well.’

‘I don’t have any worries’

‘But You do worry! You told arjuna that you constantly worry because jeevatmas don’t seek refuge under your feet. As we have come to you, you need not worry about this anymore!’

Alternate Meaning:

Oruthi magnai piranthu is Ashtaksharam and oruthi maganai valarnu is Dwayam. Our Acharyan’s mother is Ashtaksharam and even though they are born in the dark samsara known as “night” they are raised by the mother called Dwayam. Thus they are not lost in the dark samsara. The Acharyans conceal their greatness and refrain from performing miracles to cure their devotees problems as such miracles are very dangerous as they pull both the Acharyans and the disciples into samsara. Even though they have siddhi, they refrain from performing miracles. They know that each one of us must endure the fruit of our sins in order to dissolve all our sins so that we can reach Perumal.

Kanchan refers to kali Yugam. The Kali Purushan causes trouble for all those people who try to lead a righteous life during kali Yugam. As Perumal has promised kali that people will be bad during this age, Kali torments the people on good path to force them to behave badly. Even though Kali torments, our Acharyans do not give in to Kali and make the area they exist part of Krita Yugam.

Once there was a Swami called Sakshat Swami. He used to get up very early to take his holy dip in Cauvery at Sri Rangam. Once a mischief maker saw Swami taking his dip and polluted the water around Swami just to tease him. To the surprise of the mischief maker, swami left the spot in search of cleaner water without yelling at the mischief maker. The mischief maker kept following swami to pollute the water and Swami kept going to cleaner water without arguing. Finally the mischief maker asked swami why he never yelled at him. Swami answered that it was lord Ranganathan’s sankalpam that Swami should take his dip at Cauvery during dawn. Lord Ranganathan as the antaryami was also responsible for not preventing the mischief maker from polluting the water. Hence swami said that when the Lord is responsible for troubling swami, he will not turn his disappointment towards the mischief maker. The mischief maker fell at Swami’s feet and accepted him as his Acharyan and acted as swami’s body guard. The man then offered his life savings to Swami. Swami refused to accept the money and asked the man to throw it into Cauvery so that everyone could benefit. Upon enquiry with swami’s disciples the man understood that Swami had instructed him to renovate Ammamandapam so that people can use the steps leading into Cauvery to safely bathe.

Thus Acharyans turn the troublesome Kali yugam into glorious Krita yugam.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/01/thirupavai-pasuram-26.html

Thirupavai Pasuram 24

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/01/thirupavai-pasuram-23.html

Thadalan-Kazhi Srirama Vinnagar Divya Desam

In this pasuram Nachiar sang mangalasasanam to Perumal’s thiruvadi. As soon as Perumal walked towards the gopi girls, Nachiar asked Perumal to stand still while she along with her friends (Bagawathas) did mangalasasanam to Perumal’s thiruvadi. As Nachiar is the daughter of Periazhwar, she followed his procedures and sang thirupallandu for Perumal’s thiruvadi. Periazhwar sang mangalasasanam to Lord Lakshmi Narasimhan to protect Him from diseases which affect infants even though Lord Narasimha existed in this world for only one muhurtham. Azhwar said that as no one did mangalasasanam to Lord Lakshmi Narasimhan at the time of incarnation, Azhwar wished to perform mangalasasanam as it is better to be late than never. Similarly Nachiar sang mangalasasanam for Perumal’s thiruvadi as Perumal measured this world with His feet. Nachiar sang the glory of Perumal as out of His compassion for us He placed His feet over this world even though it is full of sinners, thorns and stones. Devendran did not think about singing mangalasasanam for Perumal’s thiruvadi since he was waiting for Perumal to complete measuring the worlds so that he can get back his property. Bali Chakravarthi did not sing mangalasasanam either since he was worried that he was losing his property. None of the residents did mangalasasanam either as they did not realize how lucky they were that Perumal placed His feet on everyone’s head!

Nachiar then praised the Lord for walking over to the land of Lanka as Lord Rama even though it was the residence of the biggest sinner called Ravana. The Lord placed His divine feet over the land of the sinner and won Ravana in the battle.

Nachiar then sang the praise of Perumal’s thiruvadi for killing Chakatasuran.

It was customary to place the baby under the shade of an old cart during the day of the baby’s bathing ceremony. The people of Gokulam believed that, the old carts warded off evil spirits. Nanda Gopan went shopping for an old cart as all the carts he had were almost brand new.

He reached a used cart shop and found a beautiful cart. The cart wheel as well as the harness had been hand carved. Chakatasuran was a friend of Kamsa. He was the son of Asura Dhanu. He had offered to transform himself into a cart wheel. His plan was to fall on top of Krishna and crush him. Nanda Gopan felt attracted to the cart. He felt as if the cart was speaking with him. This was true because Chakatasuran was trying hard to influence Nanda Gopan’s decision.

‘What was this cart used for before it was sold to you?’ enquired Nanda Gopan. He wanted to make sure that the cart had been used for auspicious purposes only.

‘Weddings sir,’ answered the shop keeper. ‘Many a times was this cart used to transport the bride and groom to their new home. Each and every one of the couple who travelled to their home for the first time as a couple in this cart have been blessed with a long and happy life!’

Nanda Gopan paid for the cart and asked the shop keeper to deliver the cart to his home.

Soon they organized a bathing ceremony for Krishna on the day the moon was in the constellation of Rohini. Nanda Gopan invited the Brahmins to perform the Vedic ritual for the child. Everyone gathered around to see Yashoda perform the bathing ceremony. She had purified the water with leaves of the gooseberry tree. She had added a pinch of turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom and other fragrant medicinal herbs to the bath water. She checked the water temperature with her elbow before bathing Krishna.

Later the citizens gathered in the large exhibition ground. The ground was decorated with banners and flags. People danced and sang in joy. They ran about spraying coloured water on everyone. The vendors had set up their carts and were selling flowers, jewellery, fruit, sweets and other snacks. Yashoda and Nanda Gopan had arranged to serve lunch.  They donated food, garments, garlands and cows to the Brahmins and the needy.

After the ceremony, Krishna who knew about the presence of Chakatasuran pretended to be tired. Yashoda gently rocked Him in her arms till He pretended to be asleep. She then made a make shift swing with her saree and tied it to the yoke of a cart. Little did she know that Chakatasuran was present as one of the wheels; she placed the baby in the swing. She asked a few children who were playing nearby to keep an eye on Krishna. As soon as she went away, Krishna woke up and started to cry. He kicked with His legs and one of His feet gently touched Chakatasuran. There was a loud crash as the axle broke and the wheel dislocated from the cart breaking into bits and pieces!

‘Krishna !’ yelled Yashoda as she rushed towards the broken cart. Her heart beating fast she rushed towards her baby while praying for his safety.

Nanda Gopan and the others came running towards the cart as well.

‘What happened here?’ asked Nanda Gopan to the children.

‘He started to cry,’ said the children in a chorus, ‘maybe He was hungry. When He didn’t see His mother He kicked at the wheel with His tiny tender feet and the wheel broke into pieces!’

‘Impossible!’ cried Nanda Gopan. ‘I am sure the wheel wasn’t fixed properly.’

‘No, it must be the influence of a malevolent planet!’ said Yashoda. ‘Look how soft Krishna’s feet are! His feet are softer than a lotus bloom! How could such soft feet have the capacity to break a strong cart wheel?’

Yashoda rocked her son in her arms. All her friends and relatives gathered around to make sure that their darling was not hurt. Yashoda asked the Brahmins to perform a Vedic ritual to nullify the bad effects of the planets. The people of Gokulam praised Lord Narayana for protecting Krishna! Even though they praised the Lord they did not perform mangalasasanam for Krishna’s feet as they did not realize that He had killed Chakatasuran with His feet. Therefore Nachiar performed mangalasasanam in this pasuram for the divine feet of baby Krishna.

After a few years Lord Krishna grazed cattle in the forests of Vrindavan. One day Vatsasura disguised himself as a calf to kill Krishna. The demon had assumed the form of a white calf; he foolishly thought that Perumal would be unable to recognize him among the other calves. Krishna noticed Vatsasura immediately. Meanwhile another Asura came in the guise of a huge vilambazham (wood apple) tree.

‘Krishna look at this new giant tree which wasn’t there yesterday!’ exclaimed the other children. ‘Please help us to get the tasty fruits!’

Krishna caught hold of Vatsasura’s hind legs. Raising the calf above His head He threw the calf over the green canopy. The demon fell on top of the phony tree and fell to the ground taking his original form. Thus Krishna rid Vatsasura from this Earth. Even though Perumal hurled the asura Vatsasura at the second asura in the form of a tree, due to His grace the fruits were not squished and the boys feasted on the fruits happily. The children did not singe the praise of Krishna as they were content with eating the fruit. Nachiar therefore sang mangalasasanam for Perumal’s feet, Even though Perumal threw the asura with His arms, Nachiar sang the praise of Perumal’s thiruvadi as proper foot work is required in order to hurl objects with great force.

Later the Lord noticed the gopas getting ready to give offerings to Devendra.

‘Why are you making all these preparations?’ asked Lord Krishna innocently.

‘We have to offer all these food to Devendra to please him so that he will shower rain on our land thus making it prosperous.’

‘But Devendra does not give us rain,’ said Krishna, ‘Govardhana hill stops the rain bearing clouds to shower the beneficial water on our lands due to the conventional water cycle! If you must offer thanks to someone, offer thanks to Govardhana hill!’

The gopas immediately changed their plan and offered a mountain of rice, a pond full of curd and a well full of ghee to Govardhana hill. Devendra felt very angry that Perumal had prevented him from getting his share. Overcome with anger, Devendra caused rain to fall on Gokulam. Initially the people were happy but when it turned into severe hail storm, they felt scared. Lord Krishna lifted up Govardhana Hill like an umbrella and protected everyone from Indra’s fury. Lord Krishna could have easily stopped the rain but He wanted the people to praise Govardhana Hill. Lord Krishna was very patient with Devendra and did not fight with Him. The Lord’s attitude towards Devendra was like that of a mother’s attitude towards her child throwing temper tantrums. Soon Devendra went through his stock of water and as he ran dry, he realized his mistake. He apologized to the Lord and called Him as Upendra which meant “the assistant of Devendra”. Even then the Lord was not angry and said that Devendra had meant to call Perumal as his superior but due to slip of his tongue had called Perumal by mistake as his assistant. Devendra sought Perumal’s boon to protect his son Arjuna as Lord Rama had killed Vali the son of Devendra during Ramavataram.

Later the children of Gokulam asked Perumal if He was an Asura, Deva, Yaksha or Gandharva since He had held the huge hill on His little finger for seven whole days. To this Perumal replied that He was just one of them. Nachiar praised Perumal’s supreme qualities and His weapons; she praised His unassuming nature especially after performing such a super human feat!

www.iskcondesiretree.net

As per Nachiar’s wishes Swami Vedanta Desikan composed the Paduka Sahasram to sing the praise of Perumal’s thiruvadi. Even though the slokam is about Perumal’s paduka it is about His thiruvadi as Paduka Devi never leaves Perumal’s thiruvadi. Paduka is always with Perumal’s thiruvadi just like the way in which Piratti is always with Perumal. Swami Vedanta Desikan also composed the Sudarsanashtakam to praise the weapons of the Lord. “Vel” in this pasuram refers to weapons. Lord Vishnu is also the wielder of the spear as according to Skanda Puranam, Lord Murugan performed a severe penance at Tirumala and obtained the spear from the Lord in order to kill an asuran with the Lord’s blessings.

As Nachiar finished singing the praise of Perumal, Perumal asked the gathering to make their requests.

Alternate Meaning:

Shastras are called as “ulagam”. Lokam in Sanskrit is the name for that which is used to see things. The Tamil translation of Lokam is Ulagam. Since we use Shastrams to see the things which cannot be seen normally, Shastrams are called as lokams. From this Sanskrit word Lokam with its root Lok originated the English word “look”. Acharyans measure the “ulagam” called shastras by stydying all the authentic texts.  Like Rama who went to Lanka, Acharyans go in search of disciples and help their disciples by freeing them from their body-prison which is similar to Lanka. They shatter the wandering mind just like the way in which Lord Krishna shattered the wheel and bring the mind under control. Arjuna is compared to a calf when he learnt Bagawad Geetha from Lord Krishna. Acharyans use this calf called Arjuna to shower the fruit of knowledge on their disciples. Samsaric life is like a terrible rain storm; our Acharyans teach us to seek refuge under the shade of Divya Desams like Tirumala. Our Acharyans use the authentic Vedic texts as weapons to defeat the people who spread anti-Vedic thoughts against Perumal.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/01/thirupavai-pasuram-25.html