Thirupavai Pasuram 10

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/01/thirupavai-pasuram-9.html

nOtru(ch) chuvarkkam puguginRa ammanaay!

Andal Nachiar went with her friends to the house of the fifth late comer. 

‘Look she shares a common wall with Krishna’s house!’ marveled the girls.

Nachiar knocked on the door but as there was no reply she called out to the girl with sarcasm. ‘Having completed the ritual properly and have entered heaven hence why would you join our company?’

We know from the first pasuram that the girls followed the Pavai nombhu to obtain Krishna as well as rains but Nachiar mentions “heaven” in the first line. The girls never made a sankalpam to obtain heaven hence this line seems to be confusing but it becomes clear once we understand the meaning of the word “chuvarkkam”.

Chuvarkkam i.e. heaven varies from one person to other. What is heaven for one person is not heaven for the next; a newly married groom is in heaven when he visits his father in laws house because of the yummy dinner prepared in his honour. For the devotees of the Lord, heaven is to be in the company of the Lord. Sita Piratti mentioned this to Lord Rama when she wished to accompany Him to the forest.

Chuvarkkam also means sat sangam or good group i.e. the goshti of Bagawathas like the company of girls with Nachiar. As the girl hadn’t joined the company of girls Nachiar mocks her saying that she has already entered chuvarkkam.

‘We accept you as our leader because you have obtained the fruit without even following the ritual. You have to guide us but as you have already obtained the fruit, you are still sleeping!’

The girl heard Nachiar’s complaint but decided to remain silent because of the accusations made by Nachiar.

maatramum thaaraarO vaasal thiRavaadhaar

‘You haven’t opened the door for us but at least say something!’

‘Why would she speak? Have you ever heard of a thief yell when bitten by a scorpion while stealing from someone?’ asked Nachiar’s friend, ‘Obviously Krishna is with her and she is trying to get rid of us by giving us the good old silent treatment!’

‘How do you know that Krishna is inside?’ asked another girl.

‘Can’t you smell the fragrance of fresh tulasi?’

naaRRa(th) thuzhaay mudi naaraayaNan

Immediately the girl answered from inside the house. ‘You are wrong! You smell the fragrance of tulasi from the plant I am growing!’

‘This is not just the fragrance of plain tulasi leaves that we smell,’ answered the first girl, ‘it is combined with the fragrance of Krishna’s hair because He is the only one who is allowed to wear tulasi on His hair!’

Only Perumal is allowed to wear Tulasi on his hair. Other people can only place tulasi behind their ear.

‘He was here a few weeks ago and the smell still lingers. You know very well that Nanda Gopan does not let his precious boy go out that easily!’

‘But you share a common wall! Who knows maybe there is a secret passage!’ answered the first girl.

‘Not only that but He is present everywhere as Narayana. He doesn’t have to come from Nanda Gopan’s house but He can manifest from right inside your house!’ said Nachiar.

Nachiar explains the Lord’s omnipresence when she uses His name Narayanan in this pasuram. In the fourth stanza of Isavasopanishad, Lord Surya teaches his disciple about the Lord.

anejad ekam manaso javiyo

nainad devä äpnuvan pürvam arsat

tad dhävato 'nyän atyeti tisthat

tasminn apo mätarisvä dadhäti

Lord Surya mentions in the above verse that the Lord is static; He is motionless and does not move but He is unique.  The indwelling Lord is static and unique. Even though our Lord is static, He is faster than mind and can overtake anyone. To overtake someone a person has to be dynamic but we say that our Lord is static; then, how can our static Lord overtake others? He is static and yet He can overtake because He is omnipresent. If someone asks us to come and sit on a chair but if we are already sitting on the chair then how can we come to the chair as we have already taken our seat on the chair? Even the most powerful Devas cannot approach "Eat" the Lord who is our inner controller. "Eat" is one of the many names of the Lord used to denot Him as the inner controller. He is static, omnipresent and cannot be overtaken by even the most powerful Deva.

A grandmother narrated the tales of Prahalada Charitram and Gajendra Moksham to her grandson. She mentioned that the Lord manifested from the pillar to kill Hiranyakashipu because He is present everywhere. Then she went on to narrate the tale of Gajendra Moksham and described the arrival of the Lord from Sri Vaikuntham on Garuda to save Gajendran. The grandson felt confused. He asked his grandmother,’ why should the Lord arrive on top of Garuda from Vaikuntham? You just told me while narrating Prahalada Charitram that the Lord appeared from the pillar as He is present everywhere, why didn’t He appear from the crocodile’s teeth to save Gajendran?’

The actual answer to the above question is that the Lord wanted to express His love for Gajendran. The manner in which the Lord arrived in a frenzy to save Gajendran reveals His love for Gajendran. He couldn’t have expressed His affection if He had manifested from the crocodile’s teeth. Gajendran did not worry about dying; he only wanted to place a lotus at the Lord’s feet before dying. To accept the flower from Gajendran, the Lord arrived on top of Garudazhwar. 

 Picture reference: agastyakaveri.blogspot.com

We saw in the 1^st and seventh pasurams that the word “naram” means “not destroyed” in Sanskrit and refers to the jeevatmas.

Narayana means that He who has the narams as His residence. He resides as our Antaryami and is hence called as Narayana.

The name also means that the one in whom all the Narams reside is called as Narayana. As we are supported by Him and seek refuge in Him He is called as Narayana. Naram also refers to His Kalyana Gunas (auspicious attributes) which are never destroyed. His auspicious qualities never deteriorate. He is always compassionate and is always good. Thus this pasuram shows us that Perumal is full of auspicious attributes. He protects us at all times, from everyone and in every way. He not only protects us but also thanks us for letting Him protect us.

Thus the fragrance of tulasi indicates to the girls the omnipresence of the Lord.

The girl inside the house wasn’t happy that, the others accused her of being in the company of Krishna. She told them, ‘It is said that the bridge built by Lord Rama in Treta Yuga still retains the smell of tulasi leaves from the garland He wore! If a million year old bridge can still retain the smell why is it hard for you to believe that the fragrance you smell is from a long time ago when Krishna paid me a visit?’

Once, Arjuna went on a pilgrimage. He reached Danushkodi and the priest showed to him the bridge built by Lord Rama.

‘I can’t believe that this is the bridge built by Lord Rama!’ said Arjuna. ‘He is supposed to have built the bridge during Treta Yugam; almost a million years prior to our time!’

‘Come with me,’ said the priest and took Arjuna on top of the bridge. ‘What do you smell?’

‘Smells like fragrant Tulasi leaves!’

‘As soon as the bridge was constructed the Vanaras made a garland of tulasi leaves and offered it to Lord Rama. The bridge still retains this smell as the Lord walked on the bridge!’

nammaal  pOtra(p) paRai tharum puNNiyanaal pandu

The word nammal does not mean “us”. It has to be split as nam + mal. Mal means fanatical love. The Lord has fanatical love for us. He loves us in the same manner in which He loves Thayar. If a man buys INR 10,000 saree for his wife but also buys a saree worth the same amount for his maid servant whom does he love more? Obviously the maid! This is the manner in which the Lord treats us.

Nammazhwar says that

namakkum pUvin misai nangkaikkum * inbanai * njAlaththAr

thamakkum * vAnaththavarkkum perumAnai ** thaNthAmarai

sumakkum * pAdhap perumAnaich sol mAlaigaL * sollumARu

amaikka vallERku * iniyAvar nigar agalvAnaththE?

 He loves us and Thayar equally with the same obsessive love.

Out of love for His creation He entered them all after He finished creating this Universe.

Perumal has a mansion in Sri Vaikuntham, Thiruparkadal as well as Surya Mandalam but He decided to come live in our heart even if we do not want Him there. Our heart is like a hut compared to His mansions but He still stays in our heart happily because He loves us.

Nachiar said, ‘Nammal has come to reside in our heart because He loves us but even after knowing this you refuse to come with us!’

oru naaL kootraththin vaay veezhndha kumba karaNanum

thOtrum unakkE perunthuyil thaan thandhaanO

‘Once a rakshashan called Kumbakaranan died. It was a unique day because the one who made everyone cry called Ravana cried for his brother Kumbakaranan. Kumbakaranan was known to sleep for very long periods of time. Nachiar asks her friends to pay attention to the fact the Lord Rama did not kill Kumbakaranan or Ravana; the Lord was like a beautiful pond. Vibhishana benefitted from this pond but Kumbakaranan and Ravana jumped inside the pond and committed suicide. A village pond benefits many people but it is not the pond’s fault if someone uses it to commit suicide! It is as if when defeated Kumbakaranan transferred his sleep to you!’

The above verse shows us that Perumal does not incarnate to destroy evil doers like Ravana. Perumal incarnates to spend time with His devotees like Guhan, Hanuman and Sabari. While here He finishes off evil doers as well. He need not come from Vaikuntham for the sake of killing Rakshashas as he can achieve this with His sankalpam.

Once a man’s wife asked him to come with her to her sister’s wedding. The man promised his wife that he will definitely make it but his application for leave was not approved by his manager. He was afraid to inform his wife. After he returned to his desk he found a request to conduct an enquiry in another branch which was situated in the same city his sister in law was getting married in. The man submitted an approval for business travel which was approved immediately. The man happily went to the city attended his sister in law’s marriage and after the ceremony attended to the business related to his work place. His supervisors recorded his trip under business travel while his wife recorded it under personal travel. The real reason for the travel is personal. Like this the real reason for Perumal’s incarnation is to spend time with His devotees but the rishis record it under destroying Rakshashas just like the way in which the man’s supervisor’s recoded it under business travel.

aatra anandhal udaiyaay arungalamE

thEtramaay vandhu thiRavElOr empaavaai

‘Please come down and open the door carefully,’ said Nachiar looking up at the girl’s bedroom.

The girl immediately joined them lest the girls should place her in the same category as Kumbakaranan.

Alternate Meaning:

 

This pasuram is an invocation for Pei Azhwar. When the first three Azhwars met at Tirukovalur, only Pei Azhwar didn’t have to open the court yard door. He was the first Azhwar to sing in nayika Bhavam thus starting the trend of experiencing Perumal through nayika Bhavam. The first two Azhwars struggled to light a lamp whereas Pei Azhwar saw Perumal very easily in the light lit by the other two Azhwars. He was the first among the three to see Perumal.

Andal Nachiar asks Pei Azhwar to bless us so that like him, we can experience the pasurams and thus Perumal properly with devotion.

He is “ammanai” a leader because he has been given the title “Pei” to show his greatness. Like panap pei who is always after money and padhavi pei who is always after status, Pei Azhwar is a Bagawath Pei who goes after Perumal with enthusiasm.

Prabhudhayajus is a manthram which is chanted during Yagnams when the host falls asleep. We are not supposed to sleep during Ekadashi nights but since most of us fall asleep on Ekadashi nights as an expiatory rite this Thirupavai pasuram should be chanted.
Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/01/thirupavai-pasuram-11.html