tri-mUrti in tiruvAimozhi ? Part 14.
3.10.4 (27)
parivu inRi vANanaik kAttum enRu, anRu paDaiyoDum vandu
edirnda
tiripuram SeRRavanum maganum pinnum a'ngiyum pOr tolaiya
poru SiRaip puLLaik kaDAviya mAyanai Ayanai pon cakkarattu
ariyinai acyutanai paRRi yAn iRaiyEnum iDar ilanE.
The main message conveyed in this pASuram is that resorting to anya
devatA-s such as rudra cannot be depended upon for protection,
whereas surrendering to emperumAn will always lead to unconditional
protection by Him. In this pASuram nammAzhvAr declares that by
resorting to the Lord Who defeated rudra and his son subrahmaNya when
they teamed up to defend bANAsura, the Lord Who has has garuDa as His
vehicle, cakra as His weapon, and One Who never lets down anyone who
surrenders to Him, AzhvAr is perfectly at ease and beyond any concern
about his choice.
By pointing out that rudra and subrahmaNya could not protect
bANAsura, AzhvAr indicates that resorting to anya-devatA-s cannot be
relied upon to protect us; by pointing out that he is resorting to
the One Who never forsakes those who seek His protection, AzhvAr is
also pointing out that acyuta (literally meaning "One Who never lets
His devotee slip" ? na cyAvayati iti a-cyutaH) will always protect
His devotee. In fact, He ended up protecting even rudra,
subrahmaNya, and bANAsura himself, when they surrendered to Him in
the end.
The incident referred to in the pASuram with respect to bANAsura is
as follows: ushA, the daughter of bANAsura, fell in love with
aniruddha, the grandson of kRshNa. ushA conspired to get aniruddha
into her antaHpuram. When bANAsura came to know that aniruddha was
with his daughter ushA, he tied aniruddha with nAgAstra. kRshNa came
to release him. bANAsura sought the help of Siva against kRshNa. In
his pride over having burnt the tri-pura-s, Siva declared that he
would protect bANAsura against kRshNa. He was squarely defeated.
subrahmaNya came next to defend bANAsura, and met the same fate.
Thus neither could defend bANAsura who had taken refuge in them.
When bANAsura was finally abandoned by Siva and subrahmaNya, he
continued to fight kRshNa, and all his thousand shoulders were
severed by kRshNa with His cakrAyudha. Ultimately rudra,
subrahmaNya, and bANAsura surrendered to kRshNa, and He forgave all
of them and spared bANAsura's life. kRshNa is none other than the
One Who has declared, in His rAma incarnation, that He will never
forsake anyone who has surrendered to Him. In this pASuram,
nammAzhvAr declares that he has no regret whatsoever in choosing this
emperumAn as his shelter any day (ariyai acyutanaip paRRi yAn
iRaiyEnum iDar ilanE).
- parivu inRi vANanaik kAttum enRu ? "Without any shadow of
doubt, we will defend bANAsura" ? so saying
- tiripuram SeRRavanum maganum pinnum a'ngiyum ? Siva who had
the fame of burning the three cities, his son, and fire which was the
devatA for bANAsura's city
- anRu paDaiyoDum vandu edirnda ? came to confront kRshNa (who
had come to release His grandson aniruddha from bANAsura) with their
forces
- pOr tolaiya ? (but Siva and the others got squarely defeated
and) had to run away from the battlefield with the determination that
they will never again get involved in a fight with kaNNan
- poru SiRaip puLLaik kaDAviya mAyanai ? (kaNNan) who steared
garuDa with the wings that could conduct the necessary war with these
people
- Ayanai ? kaNNan who came in the simple form of a cowherd,
against the likes of Siva and his sons who were reputed to be deva-s
with accolades to support them
- poR-cakkarattu ariyinai ? kaNNan who, nonetheless, was none
other than the Supreme Lord of all, with the golden cakra that
destroyed the thousand shoulders of baNAsura when he put up a fight
with bhagavAn. Note the use of the adjective `pon' cakkaram instead
of `SuDar' cakkaram. The beauty of the cakra as a decorative
ornament for bhagavAn is enjoyed here.
- acyutanai ? One Who never lets down anyone who surrenders to
Him. This includes His forgiving Siva, subrahmaNya, bANAsura etc. at
the end, when they surrendered to Him.
- paRRi ? by resorting to Him (instead of any of the other
devatA-s)
- yAn iRaiyEnum iDar ilanE ? I do not have the slightest
concern.
- tiripuram SeRRavan ? This refers to the `pride' that Siva
entertained because of his success in buring the three cities.
People praised him for this act, and he forgot that this act of his
was possible only because bhagavAn was his arntaryAmi, and also
because bhagavAn was the sharpness of the arrow of Siva, the strength
of the bow, and the tartness of the bowstring all at the same time.
Forgetting all this, Siva took false pride in his accomplishment, and
thought that he could defend bANAsura against kRshNa, and learned his
lesson by being squarely defeated.
The tiri-puram incident and Lord vishNu being the principal force
that burnt the tri-pura-s are described in the karNa parva of mahA
bhArata:
- cintayitvA harim vishNum avyayam yaj~na vAhanam, Saram
sa'nkalapayA'ncakre viSvakarmA mahA manAH
- vishNur-AtmA bhagavato bhavasyAmita tejasaH, tasmAt
danurjyAsamsparSam sa vishehe Sarasya vai.
nammAzhvAr's tiruvAimozhi pASuram 1.1.8 also describes bhagavAn being
the force behind the tiri-puram incident:
??
puramoru mUnru eRittu amararkkum aRiviyandu
aran ayan ena ulagu azhittu amaittuLanE. (1.1.8)
The bANAsura incident is also sung by tirumazhiSai AzhvAr in
tiruccanda viruttam (71):
vaNDu ulAvu kOdai mAdar kAraNattinAl veguNDu
iNDa vANan Irai'njUru tOlgaLait tuNittAn
munDan nIran makkaL veppu mODi a'ngu ODiDak
kaNDu nANi, vANanukku ira'nginAn em mAyanE.
"kaNNan severed the thousand shoulders of bANAsura who fought with
Him on the matter of ushA, the daughter of bANAsura. rudra, his
sons, agni, etc., who had come to support bANAsura ran from the
battlefield defeated. KaNNan felt ashamed that He made these great
people run like this defeated, and took pity and spared the life of
bANAsura".
pASuram 53 of tiruccanda viruttam is another pASuram that sings the
praise of the Lord with regard to the bANAsura incident:
mODiyODu ilaccaiyAya SApam eidi, mukkaNNan
kUDu SEnai makkaLODu koNDu maNDi ve'njamattu
ODa vANan Ayiram karam kazhitta Adi mAl
pIDu kOil kUDu nIr ara'ngam enRa pEradE. (tiruccanda. 53)
pUrvAcAryas' anubhavam is that it took four days for aniruddha to be
released from bANAsura's place, because he had not sought kRshNa's
protection before going to ushA's palace; but nammAzhvAr did not have
to be under anyone else's control even for a second, because He is a
devotee who has surrendered to kRshNa totally ? such is the power of
surrender to Him.
In his dramiDopanishad tAtparya ratnAvaLi, svAmi deSikan picks up on
the victory that bhagavAn had over rudra, subrahmaNya, agni, bANAsura
etc., and enjoys this pASuram by pointing out that bhagavAn is sure
to be victorious in any endeavor that He undertakes? jaitra vyApAra
yogAt ? veRRit-tozhil vallamai. Om jaitra vyApAra yogAya namaH.
-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan
(To be continued)
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