Srimate SirivanSatakopa Sri
Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
The Celebrated Chauffeur
Many of us have cars, especially those living abroad, for whom the
four-wheeler is not a luxury, but a dire necessity. And some of the car-owners
have chauffeurs, to whom they entrust the safety of not only their vehicles,
but also of themselves and their precious families. It is the considered
opinion of some car-owners that it is as providential to land a good driver,
as it is to wed a good woman. Not only marriages, but also the owner-chauffeur
relationship too would appear to be made in heaven, for, as many would attest,
drivers are a lackadaisical lot. They have a penchant for reporting sick or
just not turning up, especially when you require them the most. They have a
short memory for favours received and the niggling notion that they are
grossly underpaid, however handsome be their wages. MahAkavi BhArati refers
perhaps to drivers, when he says in “KaNnan en SEvakan”—
“Kooli
miga kEpAr, koduttadellAm tAm marappAr
Velai
miga irundAl veettilE tangiduvAr
PAattiyAr setthu vitta
pannirandAm nAL enbAr
PAnayilE
tEL irundu pallAl kadittadu enbAr”
And woe
betide the master who dares to discuss family matters while travelling in the
car with his wife or others—in no time they would be dutifully communicated to
jealous and gossip-mongering neighbours.
This
piece is not a diatribe against the worthy profession of drivers—the object is
entirely different, viz., to extol the praises of a member of the same
profession, who, despite His exalted stature, comported Himself so excellently
as an obliging chauffeur to a demanding master, that the whole world sings His
praises till date.
There
might be any number of instances of the Lord’s extreme accessibility
(Soulabhyam) and His readiness to mingle as one with lowly mortals
(Souseelyam)—but there is no other single act of His which demonstrates the
aforesaid traits explicitly, than His role as a charioteer to Arjuna. When
DuryOdana and Arjuna both seek the support of Sri Krishna in their battle
royal, the former is content with material assistance in the form of the vast
YAdava force, all of them fierce warriors of exceptional calibre. Arjuna, on
the other hand, asks Krishna for the rather strange favour of having Him
(Krishna) as a simple charioteer, one who would wield no weapons, but would
merely pilot the chariot wherever required at His master’s command. One knows
not what made the PANdava ask this of Sri Krishna, but the former, in
hindsight, appears to have displayed admirable perspicacity in doing so.
Thus
begins a relationship, which would last the duration of the battle between the
PANdavAs and the KouravAs at KurukshEtra. From day one of the battle, Lord
Krishna transformed Himself from the omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent
ParamAtmA, into a humble charioteer implicitly obeying the dictates of his
royal master. Gone were the Divine Discus and the Cosmic Conch from His
handsome hands, to be replaced by the reins of the horses and a stick with
which to goad them on. Gone were the urbane appearance and debonair demeanour,
with attire and ornaments better than the best royalty could afford, to be
replaced by the humble clothes of a driver, His face and torso coated with the
grime and dust of the battlefield, His benign countenance (normally resembling
a blooming lotus) covered with pockmarks from arrows which were aimed at the
master, but which the chauffeur thought fit to intercept bodily, saving the
master from certain death on many occasions. The normally broad, beautiful and
lotus-like eyes were now red-lined and half-closed with fatigue and
battle-wearines. The curly, jet-black hair, the envy of even women, was not
coated with dust and grime. While the overhead canopy provided shade and
comfort to the master Arjuna, the SArathy had no such advantage, with His
already dark visage made the more so due to constant exposure to the blazing
Sun. His entire body was covered by a fine film of sweat, as He manoeuvred the
horses and the chariot in appropriate directions, weaving between the vehicles
of opponents with expertise and expedition, confounding enemy warriors with
the speed and dexterity of movement.
Sri
Ramanuja is so enchanted with this endearing portrayal by the Lord that he
devotes quite a few majestic phrases to its depiction—
“GnAna
shakti bala ishvarya veerya shakti tEjasAm nidhim, sva sankalpa krita jagat
udaya vibhava laya leelam, HrishIkEsam, parAvara nikhila jana antara bAhya
karaNAnAm sarva prakAra niyamanE avastthitham”
Marvels
Sri Bhashyakara—“It is this exalted Parabrahmam, the repository of innumerable
auspicious attributes, having for its sport the creation, sustenance and
destruction of this entire universe of sentient beings and non-sentient
objects, the Supreme Controller of all the faculties (external and internal)
of all beings in this vast world—it is this ParamAtma who stood as a humble
charioteer, in front of Arjuna’s chariot.” Adducing reasons for this
apparently impossible role-change, Sri Ramanuja says, “Asrita vAtsalya vivasa
tayA”, chronicling the glory of the Lord who permits Himself to be ordered
about like the lowliest of underlings, all due to His overwhelming love and
affection for His devotees. Unable to shake off his wonderment, Sri Ramanuja
exclaims, “Ratham stthApaya iti achOdayat” (Arjuna ordered the chariot to be
parked between the two armies ready for battle), moved beyond measure by the
ParamAtmA, the Supreme Lord of all Universes, being ordered about by a mere
mortal and, on top of it, carrying out the orders meekly. Supplements Swami
Desikan, “Sarva prashAsitA niyOjya: abhavat iti Ashcharyam iti bhAva:”
When
ordered by Arjuna to place the chariot amidst the two armies, the Lord obeys
instantly and with alacrity, with all the world watching His menial demeanour,
says Sri Ramanuja, still unable to shake off his wonderment at the Almighty’s
greatness in putting Himself at the beck and call of a human master—“Sa cha
tEna chOdita: tat kshaNAt Eva BhIshma DrONAdInAm sarvEshAmEva mahIkshitAm
pasyatAm yathA chOditam akarOt”.
Sri
Tirumangai Mannan too is extremely moved by the SArathI’s role assumed by the
Lord—“Indiran siruvan tEr mun nindrAnai TiruvallikkENi kaNdEnE”. Indra, the
chief of all celestials, is himself a non-entity vis-à-vis the ParamAtmA: his
son Arjuna, being a mortal, is more so. Despite all this, the Lord consented
to be SArathy of this PANdava prince, who did not have a bit of land to call
his own, solely out of love and affection. And while Arjuna was ensconced
comfortably on the chariot’s cushioned seat, with a canopy to protect him from
rain and shine, the Lord stood on the ground (“tEr mun nindrAnai”), the
personification of servility and submissiveness, holding the horses’ reins and
the goad (“KOl kaiyil koNdu PArtthan tan tEr mun nindrAnai”) in His beautiful
hand.
Sri
Kalian’s emotion is all the more understandable, when we consider that the
Azhwar enshrined the Lord in a glorious chariot, made up of the glorious
verses of Tiruvezhukoottrirukkai.
Arjuna
might have been attired in princely robes and presented a picture of virility
and might, but the real adornment to the chariot was the Lord, who, despite
His humble habit and meek demeanour, shone like a thousand Suns despite the
coating of grime and grist of the battlefield, says Swami Desikan, in VairAgya
Panchakam—“Dhananjaya syandana bhooshaNam dhanam”. And because of its
Distinguished Driver, the Chariot itself acquired glory, which is evident from
the descriptions of Sri Kalian (“PArtthan selva tEr Eru
SArathiyAi”) and of Sri Ramanuja (“Mahati syandanE”).
We know
only too well that the Lord adapts Himself admirably to the role He chooses
from time to time. He delivers a stellar performance, whether as a Magnificent
Monarch, an angry young Rishi bent upon annihilating the ruling classes, a
diminutive bachelor come to beg for an insignificant three feet of land from
an Emperor or a ferocious Man-Lion materialising out of a palace pillar to put
paid to one of the vilest of asurAs. He puts His life and soul into the
performance, so to say, to emerge as a player worthy of a million Oscars.
In His
role as a chauffeur too, the Lord excels, as is His wont. We are struck with
wonder as to how Emperuman is able to play diametrically opposite roles, as
the Prince of Ayodhya, used only to riding in chariots driven by the best of
charioteers, to that of a lowly chauffeur, piloting the carriage to the
directions of a perishable human master. Listen to Sumantra, the exalted
minister of Dasaratha and a charioteer par excellence, praying to Sri Rama to
ascend the chariot for a quick drive to wherever He might wish—
“Ratham
ArOha bhadram tE Rajaputra! MahAyasha:
Kshipram prApayishyAmi yatra mAm Rama!
vakshyasi”
We are
told too that Sri Rama’s chariot was magnificent, glittering with a golden
body studded with precious stones, verily like the Sun—“tam ratham Soorya
sankAsam”
“athO
jvalana sankAsam chAmIkara vibhooshitam
tam Aruruhatu: toorNam bhrAtarou RAma
LakshmaNou”.
It is
not only the Lord who is accustomed only to riding in a chariot, when but His
constant Consort too is accustomed to ride with splendour in a glorious
chariot (“ashva poorvAm, Ratha madhyAm”—Sri Suktam), which appears
irreconcilable with the Lord’s occupation during the Kurukshetra war. Despite
all these, if Emperuman could turn in a commendable performance as a
charioteer to Arjuna, executed with admirable aplomb and effortless ease, it
is no mean tribute to His histrionic talents.
When He
takes up something, the Lord does it perfectly. As a charioteer, He tended to
the horses with the high degree of love, affection and commitment, which
prompted them to turn out their best on the battlefield. He never ate before
ensuring that the animals had their belly-full and ensured that they were
always well-fed and cared for, with their strong, white bodies gleaming in the
Sun, their heads held high with the pride of performance. At the end of each
day of battle, the Lord washed down the horses, cleansing them of the dust and
grime of the day and applied soothing salve to their wounds, before having a
wash Himself.
Once, in
the midst of raging war, sensing the horses slowing down due to dehydration,
the Lord even arranged for an impromptu spring on the battlefield, from which
the horses drank their fill and were fit and rearing to go once more. This is
not mere canard, but well-chronicled history, to which the following pasuram
of Sri PeriyAzhwar bears testimony—
“Mannar
maruga maitthunanmArkku oru tErin mEl
mun angu nindru mOzhai ezhuvittavan”
Swami
Desikan’s Acharya, Sri KidAmbi AppuLLAr, sees Arjuna’s chariot and the Lord’s
own position therein, as representative of Emperuman’s role as the Universal
Saviour. The picture of Sri Krishna seated ahead of Arjuna at the front of the
chariot, protecting Arjuna from all possible dangers, is reminiscent of the
“akAra” (the letter “a”) in the PraNava mantra depicting the Lord’s role as
the Saviour, and ArjunA’s own position at the rear of the chariot, of the last
letter, the “makAra” (the letter “im” in the Pranava) representing the
JeevAtma—
“abhirakshitum agrata:
stitham tvAm PraNavE PArttha rathE cha bhAvayanta:”
When we
stand before Sri Parthasarathy Swami at TiruvallikkEni and throw our thoughts
back to that battlefield of Kurukshetra, we find our eyes brimming with tears
at the sight of the Lord, whose handsome visage sports innumerable pock-marks,
bearing testimony to His boundless love for his bhaktAs and His readiness to
do anything, but anything, to please His devotee. The word “infra dig” appears
not to figure in His lexicon, as far as doing the bidding of His bhaktAs is
concerned. If we perform Prapatti and entrust to Him the job of piloting the
vehicle of our lives, He would surely guide us unerringly to the Promised
Land, steering us with care amidst the minefield of SamsAra. All that we have
to do is to hand over the reins of our lives to Him and relax, with absolutely
no care in the world, saying with Swami Desikan—“nirbharO nirbhayOsmi”.
Srimate
Sri LakshmINrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra
Mahadesikaya nama:
Dasan,
sadagopan