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