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!

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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