Sri Parthasarathi thunai Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha Srimad Vara Vara MunayE namaha Sri Vanachala mahA munayE
namaha In the third paasuram andal enjoyed the greatness of the thrivikramAvatara of emperuman when emperuman measured all the three worlds. She then feels in such a place where bhagavatas sing the praise of that lord who rules over all the three worlds surely there should be absolute wealth and prosperity. For the well being of a place timely rain is very essential. Emperuman has handed over various responsibilities to various devatas. So parjanya devan, the lord of rain who was waiting to do some service to bhagavatas came running to the ghosti of gopis (andal). When emperuman himself cherishes doing service to his beloved bhakthas will not the small devatas wait for an opportunity? Now in the fourth paasuram andal orders parjanya devan what all he has to do. This indirectly clarifies the doubt of anya devata
aradhana confusing many minds and that topic which has been discussed time and
again in these groups. The rain god
waits for the orders of Srivaishnavas.
Similarly the god of death (yama) says, “svapurushamapi veekshya pAsahastham vadhathi yama kila
tasya karNamoolE I parihara madhusoodhana prapannAn prabhuraham anya nruNam na
vaishnavAnAm II” [yama called his dhoothas near him and in their
ears said- Don’t go near those who have surrendered to madhusoodhanan, I am the
lord of others but not for Vaishnavas”] The same has been translated by
thirumazhisaiAzhvar in his own words as “tiranbEnmin
kandeer thiruvadi than nAmam marandhum puram thozhA mAndar- eranjiyum sAdhuvarAi
pOdumingalendrAn namanum than thoodhuvarai koovi sevikku” Here
thirumazhisai azhvar gives a extra quality of a true Srivaishnava. “marandhum
puram thozhA mAndhar” Two types of explanation given by our
acharyas here is:- Srivaishnavas don’t fall into any other feet even by mistake
or even if they forget to surrender to the divine feet of emperuman they will
never go to any other god. To be more clear “one can be
broad in charity but not in chastity” If there is some misunderstanding
between a husband and wife and they get spilt then there is always a possibility
that they will rejoin sometime later.
But if they make a hasty decision of marring someone else then there is
absolutely no possibility of them to lead a life together. Similarly even if we do not have
absolute faith in emperuman today there is a high possibility of us realizing
his greatness and falling to his feet shortly but if we consider someone else to
be the paramapurushan and go behind him then we are sure to have lost our way
and it will be very difficult for us to return back. So the question of how to behave in case of anya
devata for a Srivaishnava who has surrendered to parthasarathi with ultimate
faith is invalid. The devatas who
are servants of the lord consider Srivaishavas also to be their leaders. Since all Srivaishnavas (jeevatmas in
general) are considered as females are wedded to the only male, paramapurushan,
Sriman Narayanan, the servants of the husband serve the wife too. Aalanvandaar in his chatussloki says,
“kAntasthE purushOtama panipathi: sayAsanam vAhanam vEdAthmA
vivakEshvarO…brahmEsAdhi suravraja:..tvat dAsa dAsee gana:..” So now without any
hesitation andal orders parjanya devan to shower rain without any halt or
hesitation. "Azhi mazhai kannA! Go deep into the sea and collect water
and become as dark as the colour of emperuman, let the lightning flash like the
chakrathAzhvan and the thunder be heard like the sound made by the valampuri
sankam in the lords divine hands.
Like the bow, sArgam in the hands of the lord that showers the arrows
continuously you shower rain. You
should do this for the benefit of all the worlds. “ orders
Andal. How does that become a service to the
bhagavatas/andal? “nAngalum mArghazhi
neerAda” so that will be a service to them and hence parjanya
devan can get satisfied with accomplishing his duty in the appropriate
manner. Another thing that has to
be understood from this paasuram is, that it is a prime duty of all
Srivaishnavas to serve, do kainkaryam to fellow bhagavatas. Bhagavata
kainkaryam is more important than even bhagavat kainkaryam since it pleases
emperuman more when we serve those very close to his
heart. (To be continued) Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE
sharaNam Adiyen ramanuja dAsee Sumithra Varadarajan Yahoo! Groups Links
|
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
oppiliappan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |