After Andal instructed the deity of rain to bless the surrounding areas
with good shower, her friends felt that their prayers will not be fulfilled.
Andal was surprised to hear them say so as the deity of rain had agreed to
provide good showers to fulfill the prayers of the villagers. She asked her
friends to explain the reason why they felt that their wishes will not be
fulfilled.
They answered that, ‘we cannot trust Krishna! He has sent the deity of
rain to pull wool over our eyes! He will say that He has fulfilled our wishes
by providing good rainfall and escape from giving Himself to us! We need Him
not just rain!’
Andal asked
the girls, ‘Why aren’t you able to trust Krishna completely? Why do you feel
that He will cheat us?’
‘Of course we trust Him but we are afraid that our karmas might stand in
our way. Because of the multitude of sins we had committed in the past we won’t
be able to attain Him. Krishna will not come to us because He will blame our
past karmas and say that He cannot bless us!’
One of Andal’s friends narrated an incident from Mahabharata, ‘Have you
heard about the meeting between Udhankar Maharishi and Dwarakadeesha? After the
Mahabharata war Lord Krishna went to the ashramam of Udhankar. The Maharishi
asked Krishna why Perumal didn’t try to prevent the war. Lord Krishna replied
that He tried His best and even went as a messenger to Hastinapuram but
Duryodana refused to pay heed to His advice. The Maharishi asked why Perumal
did not control Duryodana and force Him to listen to the good advice. Lord
Krishna avoided answering the Maharishi’s question and said that He had come to
provide a boon to Udhankar. The Maharishi then asked Krishna to provide relief
for his thirst whenever the Maharishi felt tired and thirsty. Lord Krishna
agreed and returned to Dwaraka. Perumal then instructed Devendra to provide the
rishi with a cup full of amrutham whenever the rishi felt tired. Devendra
agreed but did not want to comply with Krishna’s request. Very soon Udhankar
felt very thirsty and he meditated upon Lord Krishna. As per Perumal’s
instruction Devendra came with amrutham but he came in the guise of a Chandala
and gave amrutham to the rishi in a cup made out of a dog’s hide. Devendra said
that he had come per the instruction of Perumal’s instruction and requested the
rishi to accept the drink. The rishi did not believe Devendra and refused to
accept Amrutham. He once again meditated upon Dwarakadeesha. Lord Krishna
appeared before the rishi and asked him if he felt refreshed. The rishi asked
Krishna why he had played such a mean trick on him by sending a Chandala to
give him drink out of a cup made out of dog’s hide. Lord Krishna then explained
about Devendra’s ploy and rebuked the rishi stating that the rishi should have
accepted the drink as Devendra said that he had come per Krishna’s instruction.
Perumal was upset that the rishi did not believe in Him completely and had
missed out on the opportunity to drink amrutham. He then blessed the rishi that
whenever the rishi felt thirsty it will rain and asked the rishi to collect the
rain water and drink. Krishna thus outwitted even a Maharishi like Udhankar
therefore how can we trust Him?’
Andal replied that, ‘Udhankar did not have “Maha Vishwasam”. He did not
trust Perumal completely; if he had trusted Krishna he would have accepted
amrutham from Devendra. We are not like Udhankar. We believe that Perumal will
definitely save us. We have a weapon to prevent the sins from even coming near
us. This weapon is His nama sankeerthanam! If we perform saranagathi and
surrender to Him, He will make sure that we accept Him when He comes to us. If
we surrender to Him, we will not react like Udhankar when he refused amrutham.
His nama sankeerthanam will remove the obstacles in our path which prevent us
from reaching Him.’
maayanai
mannu vada madhurai maindhanai(th)
Andal says that Krishna is a “mayan”; He does try to pull wool over the
eyes of people but He does not trick those who surrender to Him and are His
Bagawathas. He acts as a mayan in order to protect His Bagawathas from the harm
caused by others.
In Vishnu Puranam Parasarar Maharishi tells us the following story of
Prahaladan. Prahaladan was a great devotee
of Perumal. He wished that his father Hiranyakaship would treat him with
affection. Perumal wanted to make Prahaladan’s wish come true. As
Hiranyakashipu hated Prahaladan because he was always chanting the names of
Lord Narayana, Perumal came in the guise of Hiranyakashipu. He showered
affection upon Prahaladan so that Prahaladan should think that his father
Hiranyakashipu was treating him with love. After many such years of treating
Prahaladan with affection, when the right time arrived, as Lord Narasimha,
Perumal killed Hiranyakashipu. Perumal acted as “mayan” by even disguising
Himself as Hiranyakashipu in order to please His dear devotee Prahaladan!
He as “mayan” confused Kamsa a lot when He incarnated as Lord Krishna.
The Lord commanded Yoga Maya to transfer Devaki’s seventh child to the womb of
Rohini. Thus the people thought that Devaki’s pregnancy had been terminated.
Kamsa felt confused because he was unsure if he had to count this pregnancy as
the seventh child or not.
The Lord also chose midnight to incarnate. According to the Chandogya
Upanishad, we the jeevatma are the self of our body; the jeevatmas also have a
self which is none other than the Supreme Brahman. Thus the real self of our
body is the Supreme Self within us the jeevatmas. Thus when we sleep we are in
union with our real self. Our Lord metes out punishment to certain wrong-doers
by taking away their ability to fall asleep. The people who do not deserve
sleep are as follows.
a) Those who
steal others wealth
b) Those
involved in illegal activities
Our Lord thus punished Kamsa by incarnating at midnight thus disturbing
Kamsa’s slumber. Kamsa had not been able to sleep as he was anxious about the
Lord’s incarnation. He spent months suffering from chronic insomnia. For the
first time since the time he had heard about Devaki’s pregnancy, he fell into a
deep slumber overcome by the powers of Yoga Maya. This slumber would be cut
short soon and Kamsa would spend the rest of his life unable to sleep. Krishna arranged for Yoga maya to inform Kamsa that Perumal had incarnated thus making life filled with worry for Kamsa.
Mayan also refers to the dark complexion of Krishna as in Tamil “Maa
niram” means dark complexion; therefore, Mayan means the one with dark
complexion.
Perumal has five states which are Para, Vyuha, Antaryami, Vibhava and
Archai. The first four pasurams refer to one of the five states. The first
pasuram talks about Para Vasudevan, the second about Vyuha Avataram as
Sheerabhdhi Nathan; the third pasuram is dedicated to Vibhava avataram and the
fourth to Antaryami. The fourth pasuram speaks the glory of those people who
meditate upon the Antaryami. This fifth pasuram speaks about Archavataram referred
to by “vada Mathurai mannum mainthanai” i.e. He
is always present in the Divya Desams like Vada Mathurai. Perumal is very fond
of Mathura and of water from Yamuna.
thooya
peru neer yamunai(th) thuRaivanai
Andal calls Yamuna as pure to compare her qualities with River Godavari.
Lord Rama lived on the shores of Godavari for twelve years with Sita Piratti
and Lakshmana. When Ravana kidnapped Sita Piratti, Piratti requested Godavari
to inform Lord Rama. Godavari was afraid of Ravana and hence failed to pass on
the message to Lord Rama. Thus she lost her sanctity. Whereas, Yamuna flowed in
the backyard of Kamsa; yet she made way for Vasudevar to pass with the divine
child unaffected by her flood waters. Thus Yamuna became very pure.
Anyone who does not stand up to support truth and dharma is not pure
just like river Godavari. For example, if a man does not ask his wife to stop
tormenting his aged parents he becomes impure.
Andal sang this pasuram as a gopi. How could a gopi known that Yamuna
allowed Vasudevar to cross the river since even Kamsa did not know about this?
Nanda Gopan assumed Krishna to be his own son and only became aware of the fact
that Krishna is the son of Vasudevar when Akrurar informed him. Therefore how
could a gopi know these things? The gopi girls came to know of these secrets
because River Yamuna shared her secrets with them!
River Godavari was very upset that she lost her sanctity. She pleaded
with Goda Nachiar (Andal) to help her. Nachiar asked her not to worry since
River Godavari shared the first half of her name “Goda” with Nachiar thereby
regaining her sanctity!
aayar kulaththinil thOnRum aNi viLakkai(th)
thOnRum aNiviLakkai could be split as thonrum maNiviLakkai or as
thonrum aNiviLakkai.
maNiviLakkai means like a lamp made out of rubies that shines
beautifully. Krishna incarnated with brilliant effulgence. A lamp made out of
precious gems shines because of reflecting the gem’s radiance. It is not
required to add oil to this lamp or even to clean it. Bagawan is like this
self-illuminating lamp. The lamp made out of precious gems shines without oil;
like this, Krishna blesses us even if we do not offer Him anything.
aNiviLakai means, Krishna incarnated as the decorative lamp of
Thiruvayarpadi.
Bagawan is unable to show His quality of compassion at Sri Vaikuntham as
all the Nityatmas and Muktatmas are always happy. He incarnates to show His
quality of compassion which makes Him shine like a lamp in a dark room that
dispels darkness.
thaayai(k) kudal viLakkam seydha dhaamOdharanai(th)
Lord Krishna blessed more women than men during Krishnavataram.
As soon as He incarnated as a child with four arms, Devaki said,
‘Please, let Kamsa not find out that you have arrived. Let not his evil gaze
fall on your beautiful form today!’
Devaki continued, ‘You are the sustainer of this and
other Universes. You are beyond comprehension and because of your grace towards
us; we have been blessed by you to behold this beautiful form of yours! Still,
our mind is agitated for we fear that Kamsa will rush in any moment and behold
you! We pray to you to appear as a normal infant.’
The Lord said, ‘I will conceal my divine form as per
your wish. You must carry me to the house of Raja Nanda. You must leave me in
his house and bring his new born daughter here.’
He concealed His form to obey His mother Devaki. At
the age of 24, Lord Rama obeyed his father’s wishes and left for the forest;
but, this divine child obeyed his parents within few minutes of his appearance
and concealed his divine form! Lord felt very bad that He had not listened to
the words of His mother Kausalya when she urged Him not to go live in the
forest. According to the Vedas, if the mother gives instructions which
contradict the instructions given by ones father then that person must choose
to obey his/her mother’s words only. Lord Rama was unable to obey the commands
of mother Kausalya. As soon as mother Devaki requested Him to hide His divine
appearance He did not argue with her. He could have argued that He was capable
of destroying Kamsa then and there itself but instead He appeared instantly as
a normal human child. He felt happy that He could obey the words of His mother!
To dispel His mother’s fear of Kamsa, He appeared with
only two arms till the time when Kamsa was killed by Him.
To obey His foster mother Yashoda, He let Himself to
be tied to the mortar by Yashoda.
thooyOmaay vandhu naam thoomalar thoovi(th) thozhudhu
thooyOmaay vandhu does not just mean physical purity but also refers to
approaching Perumal with the intention of seeking His company and not for
getting our wishes granted. When we go to temples we should ask Bhattar to
perform archanai in Perumal’s name instead of asking him to perform archanai
for our benefit by telling him our gothram, nakshatram etc.
thoomalar means offering Perumal flowers grown by us in our Yard. If we
are unable to grow flowers then we should buy flowers but we should never steal
flowers from the garden of our neighbours to offer Perumal.
Thoomalar also refers to controlling our senses and not harming other
people/living beings by our mind, words or deed.
Dhama pushpam, sama pushpam and satyam ashta vidha pushpam are the Lord’s
favourite flowers.
Dhamam pushpam is living without ego or superiority complex. Dhmama pushpam is
obtained when we do not try to get credit for every deed we do or we do not try
to be always the centre of
attention.
Samam pushpam is treating everyone equally.
Satyam ashtavida pushpam is always speaking the truth which is
beneficial for others.
vaayinaal paadi manaththinaal sindhikka(p)
This line tells us to sing His nama sankeerthanam and meditate upon Him.
Even if we chant His names or slokams mechanically without paying attention to
their meaning/words eventually we will start to focus our mind to think about
Him.
pOya pizhaiyum pugudharuvaan ninRanavum
theeyinil thoosaagum cheppElOr empaavaai
Our past sins as well as new sins which try to cling to us because of
the errors committed by as or destroyed when we chant His divine names. The
sins are destroyed like dust burnt by fire.
Alternate Meaning:
The first pasuram spoke about the glories of an Acharyan, the second
about getting an Acharyan’s thiruvadi sambhandham, the third about chanting the
names of Acharyan with devotion, fourth pasuram teaches about the proper way to
approach an Acharyan. In the fifth pasuram Andal tells as that by chanting the
names of Acharyan and staying devoted to him the obstacles in our path to reach
Perumal are removed automatically.
maayanai
mannu vada madhurai maindhanai(th)
Acharyan is a jeevatma like us but still saves us from samsara. They can
even change the worst of the people to turn a new leaf and are hence Mayans.
They live in Divya Desams like Vada Mathurai performing Kaimkaryams to Perumal.
thooya
peru neer yamunai(th) thuRaivanai
They are like sacred water bodies and can purify us by just glancing in
our direction.
aayar
kulaththinil thOnRum aNi viLakkai(th)
Ayar kulam refers to Aryar kulam. To make the lyrics sound poetic, poets
often leave a letter in a word. For exampl in the following pasuram sung by
Thirumahizhai Azhwar, “vari Kesane” is used by Azhwar instead of “vari Kesavane”.
thaayai(k)
kudal viLakkam seydha dhaamOdharanai(th)
thaay refers to manthrams. Acharyans regularly chant manthrams, protect
the meaning of the manthrams and pass it on to us through mantropadesam.
thooyOmaay
vandhu naam thoomalar thoovi(th) thozhudhu
We should approach Acharyan with bakthi with the intention of performing
Acharya kaimkaryam.
vaayinaal
paadi manaththinaal sindhikka(p)
We should regularly chant Acharyan’s taniyan and their glories. We
should think about the good qualities of the Acharyans and the anushtanams
performed by the Acharyans with awe since we are unable to live like them.
pOya
pizhaiyum pugudharuvaan ninRanavum
theeyinil
thoosaagum cheppElOr empaavaai
All our past sins accumulated in the sanchita karma account, most of our
prarabhdha karma along with any sins waiting to cling to us in the future will
all be destroyed when an Acharyan performs samasrayanam just like the way by
which cotton is destroyed in fire.
Continued on: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/12/thirupavai-pasuram-6.html
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