Sri
Parthasarathi thunai Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha Srimad Vara Vara munayE Namaha Sri
vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha Paasuram-74
?pathi pagaijnark kARRAdhu pAithirai neer
pAzhi madhitadaindha vALaravan
thannai-madhiththavandRan vallAga tERRiya mAmEni
mAyavanai allAthondru EththAten
nA? Earlier thirumazhisai piran talked about the charama sloka vaibhavam, now azhvar elaborates how sarveshvaran fulfils his sharanAgatha rakshaNam (protecting those who have surrendered), elucidating it with one example from the episode of vainathEya quoted in Mahabharata. Bharatham utyOga parvA-adyAyam 103-105 Indra?s charioteer mAdhali was in the search of a right match to his
daughter gunakEsi and hence he searched all the 3 worlds along with narada
maharishi and finally decided upon ?sumukhan? the prince of nagas as the
bridegroom. On enquiring to Aryan,
the grand father of sumukhan, mAdhali came to know that garuda has killed and
eaten sumukhA?s father and has vowed to do the same to sumukha within a
month. Madhali delivered this
message to devendran in the presence of upendran. Upendran advised devendran to give
sumukha the amrutha. But devendran
afraid of garuda just blessed him with long life and didn?t give him the
amrutha. Then, mAdhali wedded his
daughter to sumukhan. Infuriated, garuda chased sumukhan who found refuge under the legs of
emperuman?s divine seat. Losing his
temper, garuda averred, ?So this is the gratitude you show for the service I
have done as your vehicle and staying on your flag. Don?t you know my strength who have
carried you so long?? Emperuman calmly replied,?Oh! Garuda don?t talk with ego and pride. I am the supreme who holds one and
all. Now just to test your power
try to lift and hold my right hand? Not being able to do the same Garuda
realized his mistake and surrendered to the divine feet of emperuman. Emperuman lifted sumukhan and placed him
on garuda?s shoulders and instructed garuda himself to protect sumukhan. From that day garuda and sumukhan became
friends. The same ithihasa has also
been quoted by poigai azhvar as ?aduththa kadum pagaijnarkku? and thirumangai
mannan as ?nanju sorvadhOr? (periya thirumozhi
5-8-4) Emperuman in his ramavatara declared, ?abhayam sarvabhoodhEbhyO dhadhAmi?
(ra.yud.18-33) [I will save all who have surrendered, from any
danger] In the above episode both garuda and sumukha are his devotees. So it becomes his duty to save
both. Thereby emperuman acts in a
very tactical manner to uphold the interest of both. Emperuman himself said, ?mithrabhAvEna
samprAptham na tyajEyam? [ra.yud.18-3] [even if one poses himself to be a friend
and comes in front of me I will never leave him] Here sumukha has surrendered to
emperuman?s feet. ?matbhaktham svapasam vApi nindhAn kurvanth yE narA:
I padmakoti sathEnApi na
kshamAmi kadhAchanaII? (varahapuranam) [Irrespective of the birth and character of my bhaktha if one ill-treats
or talks ill of him I will never forgive even after hundred crores of
years] Here sumukha has done
apacharam to garuda.
So emperuman decided to remain impartial and hence handed over the
responsibility of protecting sumukha in the hands of garuda himself. A few doubts may arise while reading the following episode. Will Garuda, one among the nithyasooris
strive so hard to get his prey and go to the extent of even talking ill of
emperuman? While paramapurusha takes avatara as one among the devas, as son of
athithi and kasyapa and as the younger brother of Indra as upendra, garuda the
vehicle of lord took birth as son of vinatha in a normal bird clan and as per
his birth, it is fare for him to kill snakes and eat them for his food. The act of talking with ego in front of
bhagavan was just a drama to make the world realize the effect of hunger and
bhagavat apacharam and its end result even if it is garuda
himself. (pathipagaijnarkku) ?pathin? indicates path/way. One who is an enemy for
generations. ?kulapagai? enemity by nature from
birth. ?puLLin meipagai? thiruchandhaviruththam. Eagles and snakes are enemies by nature. (ARRAdhu) frightened by the strength of
garuda (pAithirai neerppAzhi) Divine cot like a large ocean with extended
waves. As this episode could have
happened at different places at different times this can be considered to have
occurred in thirupparkkadal (milky ocean) also. (madhiththadaindha) A newly delivered cow for the sake of protecting its
new calf pushes its old calf away with its horn out of vatsalyam
(motherhood). Similarly emperuman
mother of all jeevas protects the newly surrendered sharanagathas forgetting
even the nithya sooris viz., garuda, anantha et al. With all this in
mind (vALaravam tannai) The snake filled with glory, sumukha. Though alarmed by seeing garuda, sumukha
glowed due to his great confidence in emperuman, in the divine lords kalyana
gunas of sowseelyam and sowlabhyam.
Valmiki calls vibheeshana after leaving ravana as ?andharikshagadha:
sriman?. After leaving all his
wealth valmiki adorns vibheeshana as Sriman why? Because now, vibheeshana is
filled with the glory of proceeding with confidence in ramapiran, to surrender
to emperuman?s divine feet. (madhiththu) Emperuman didn?t protect sumukha by himself but made garuda
himself do the same. Though being a small snake emperuman didn?t disregard
sumukha and he also considered sumukha?s act of encircling his cot?s leg to be
act of surrender. (avanthan vallAgaththu ERRiya) Emperuman made garuda (thiruvadi) himself
to accept sumukha in his shoulders with pleasure and make him live without any
fear thereafter. (mAmEni) Satisfying the needs of his devotees, emperuman glittered with
brightness. Like rama who glowed
after crowning vibheeshana, ?abhishichya cha lankAyAm rAkshasEndram
vibheeshaNam? (mAyavanai) one who does amazing acts to protect his bhakthas and with
glowing thirumeni due to it. (allAdhu ondru EththAdhu en nA) Leaving the greatness of that divine lord
my tongue with never sing the praise of any other deva. To show his extent of disinterest in
others azhvar says ?ondru? (trineekrutha virinjAdhi nirankusa
vibhoodhaya:) (To
Be Continued)
Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam
Adiyen ramanuja dAsee Sumithra Varadarajan Azhvar EmberumAnAr JeeyAr ThiruvadigalE Saranam http://www.vedics.net
SPONSORED LINKS
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
|
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
ramanuja-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |