Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri
Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
A Command Performance
The Scripture tells us that we all are but puppets, dancing to the tunes of the
Eternal Puppeteer. The Cosmic Dance of the Jeevatmas is choreographed and
controlled by the Lord, without whose will none can move a finger or a foot.
All of us are thus dancers, directed by the Paramatma, exhibiting appropriate
emotions and actions as desired by Him. However, would you be surprised to
learn that even the Master Puppeteer Himself was made to dance, not once but
repeatedly? And the person who made Him dance was no great colossus, but an
ordinary one distinguished by neither birth nor attainments. If you are curious
to find out more, please read on.
If we were to associate any of the Lord's avataras with dancing, which one
would come to our mind automatically and unprompted? It would be extremely
difficult to imagine the stately and staid Sri Rama dancing-nothing would be
farther from reality. Nor are we able to picturise the angry Parasurama or the
ferocious Nrsimha engaging in this pastime. Because of His role as a
Brahmachari, to whom such indulgences are taboo, the Vamanavatara too is out of
the question. Nor can the Matsya, Koorma and Varaha moorties, due the very
nature of their physiques, be expected to participate in dancing: nor are we
able to visualise Balarama as a dancer. The one and only avatara left, for whom
all fun, frolic and games would be quite in tune with character, would be Sri
Krishna. Any form of pleasurable activity, whether it is singing, dancing,
playing or others, we are immediately able to associate the Boy Wonder with it.
It is perhaps thus that, among the innumerable avataras of the Lord, we hear of
only Sri Krishna indulging in song and dance.
All movements of the Kutti Krishna were so beautiful, graceful and elegant,
that His very walk could be termed a dance. The way His hips moved, His feet
pranced in anything but a straight line, His eyes darted hither and thither in
search of mischief to perpetrate, His long and beautiful hands swung with
charm, the kaleidoscope of emotions that darted across His face with admirable
facility-all these showed Him up to be an expert dancer, even in infancy.
Everyone knows that the art of dancing has to be acquired with extreme
diligence and hard work, with innumerable hours of practice having to be put
in, before one can even approach the semblance of being a fair dancer. However,
to Sri Krishna, dancing was second nature, every movement of His essaying an
abhinayam. He could move everyone by the mere way He walked, displaying the
elegant, graceful and flowing movements that are the hallmark of a professional
artiste. Even when He came with a crowd, His fluid movements and impeccable
style were distinct from the thousand others accompanying Him. Listen to Sri
Periazhwar exclaiming about this-
"tan nEr Ayiram piLLaigaLOdu taLar nadai ittu varuvAn".
The Gopis of Nandagokulam were extremely enamoured of Sri Krishna's talents in
this regard and would beseech the incomparable infant to dance a few steps for
them. However, our Krishna would never oblige-He had better things to do than
to stage a command performance for a few Gopis. These Gopis, thirsty for the
experience of seeing the enchanting infant in fluid movement, used to lure
Krishna with promises of fresh butter and curds. And when the enthralling
infant came to collect, they used to lay down a precondition for delivering the
delicacies-that He should dance for them. This sort of bargain our Krishna was
not averse to, as it resulted in dairy products being available without the
trouble of having to steal them with considerable difficulty. And He used to
prance a few steps with His tender feet, all the while holding out His palm for
the promised butter. The heartless Gopis were however unsatisfied with a token
performance and insisted on a full-scale dance. And spurred on by the promised
pot of butter awaiting Him at the end of the "concert", Krishna too used to
oblige, with His abundant locks swinging with His movements and falling on His
broad and beautiful forehead, pearly beads of sweat, resulting from the
exercise, adorning His upper lip, His beautiful eyes displaying a variety of
instantly-changing emotions and His feet hardly touching the ground, in a
whirlwind of movement.
Swami Desikan paints an enthralling picture of the mercenary dance the Lord
staged, all for a palmful of butter. One beautiful foot was placed steadily on
the ground, with the other crossed over at the ankles. The feet alternated in
being steady and in movement, with the result that Yasoda was able to perceive
only a whirl of feet. His expression was beseeching. The numerous garlands of
flowers and of gold that He was wearing and His tiny earrings moved and shook
with His graceful steps. And keeping perfect time was the sound of butter being
churned by the Gopis, providing a steady and even-paced "TALam".
Here is the beautiful slokam from Sri Gopala Vimsati-
"Avirbhavatu anibhruta AbharaNam purastAt
Akunchita Eka charaNam nibhruta anya pAdam
DadhnA nimantha mukharENa nibaddha tALam
NAthasya nanda bhavanE navaneeta nAtyam"
It is thus the "Navaneeta Natyam" or the dance for butter that earned Sri
Krishna fame as a dancer par excellence. It is noteworthy that one of the
Poorvacharyas, Sri Tirumalai Nambi, had christened the Krishna vigraham in his
daily worship as "VeNNaikku Adum piLLai". Even today, the idol of Sri Krishna
worshipped at Sri Ahobila Mutt, who graces the homes of devotees resplendent in
His "DOlai", can be seen with an outstretched palm holding a blob of butter,
His feet and body gracefully portraying a dance posture.
It is the ardent craving of every devotee that the Lord's holy feet should
adorn his head. We hear Sri Alavandar inquiring Emperuman with ardour as to
when His tiruvadi would be placed on his (Alavandar's) head-
"Trivikrama! Tvat charaNAmbuja dvayam madeeya moordhAnam (kadA) alankarishyati".
Sri Ramanuja too, in his Gadyam, seeks this incredible good fortune.
Predictably, such yearning on the part of Acharyas stems from that of the
Azhwars. It is thus the dream of every votary of the Lord to have the latter's
holy feet placed on his or her head. However, we would be surprised to find
that there are cases of people totally opposed to the Lord, in fact battling
with Him valiantly for all they are worth, being blessed with the coveted catch
of these tiruvadis, with absolutely no desire therefor. Not only did the Lord's
feet merely touch the foe's head, but stayed there for considerable time.
Incredible as it may sound, this is indeed true.
A big pond by the side of the Yamuna was inhabited by a venomous serpent by
name KALiya, who had made the waters so bitter and poisonous with his toxic
secretions, that several of Sri Krishna's friends lost their lives after
drinking the water. After rejuvenating them with His mere nectarine glances,
the Lord decided to cleanse the Yamuna and its environs of such an unwelcome
inhabitant. We are told that the waters of this pond were so lethal, that even
birds flying over it dropped down dead after inhaling the toxic fumes emanating
therefrom and the waters of the pond were boiling hot with the serpent's fuming
breaths.
Despite His friends' entreaty not to, Sri Krishna girded up His loins and
dropped into the pond from the branch of an overhanging Kadamba tree. Once
inside the pond, He made as much noise and commotion as possible to bring the
snake out, beating the water with His hands and feet. KALiyA emerged in a rage,
and finding that the intruder was a mere infant, immediately bit the boy at
several places and encircled Him with his long tail. Witnessing their leader
immobilised by the snake and rendered motionless, the Gopa lads were
panic-stricken and brought all the elders of Nandagokulam to the banks of the
Yamuna, for rescue. Those who came, however, could think of no strategy to
rescue the boy, who was being well and truly crushed by the serpent and stood
on the banks, tears flowing freely from their eyes at the danger that had
befallen their beloved Krishna and at their own helplessness in the matter.
Seeing the distress of His mother and relatives, Sri Krishna decided that it
was time to take matters in hand. He enlarged His body manifold, ridding
Himself of the serpent's embrace in a trice. And He started circling the
hissing snake, in the fashion of an expert wrestler trying to tire out his
opponent.
Enraged at the escape of the prey from his coils, the serpent KALiyA, his fury
increasing by the second, started hissing threateningly, spewing out a venomous
draft from his nostrils, his hood spread out and held high, eyes resembling
orbs of fire, the split tongue in each head licking the lips in eager
anticipation of its human prey. Made to circle constantly by the elusive
Krishna, KALiyA started tiring and lowered all his hoods in an effort to sink
his lethal fangs into the daring boy. Sri Krishna was awaiting just this
moment, when the snake's hoods were lowered. Immediately He darted on top of
the broad and wide hoods and began pounding them with His strong and capable
feet. Though they resembled soft red lotuses and felt the same to touch, KALiyA
found out that day that these feet could be tough as nails and heavy as a
pounding hammer, when the occasion so warranted.
And the artistic Lord, with His penchant for drama, made a song and dance out
of the issue, trotting out a beautiful dance performance, putting to shame even
acknowledged experts like Ramba, Tilottama, Urvasi etc.
On the pretext of putting down KALiyA, the infantile Emperuman exhibited all
His artistry and agility, dancing with élan on the hoods of the serpent. The
gems ("nAga ratnam") decorating the hoods of the snake provided footlights for
the Lord's performance, showing up His whirling tiruvadi in all its glory. The
already red soles of His feet were turned more reddish by the glow of these
ratnams. In this context, the Bhagavata Purana uses the word "Adi Guru" or the
Primordial Preceptor, to describe the Lord, perhaps to indicate that as in the
case of any vidyA, dance too owes its origins to Him.
And this dance performance was so enthralling that the entire universe gathered
at Gokulam to witness the rare sight. The cheering celestials burst
spontaneously into accompaniment, with GandharvAs, SiddhAs, ChAraNAs and the
divine damsels singing, playing the Mridangam and other percussion/ wind
instruments, making for an unprecedented and unparalleled artistic performance.
The faithful chronicler of Sri Krishna's deeds, Sri Periazhwar, records this
event thus-
"KALiyan poigai kalanga pAindittu -avan
neeNmudi aiyndilum nindru nadam seidu"
Another superlative performance was staged by the Lord for the benefit of His
bosom friends, the cowherds. The Bhagavata Purana tells us that in order to
entertain them, Sri Krishna imitated the song of the swans, the drone of the
bees and also the graceful dance of the peacock-
"abhinrityati nrityantam barhiNam hAsayan kvachit"
The Lord appears to have been an expert at not only conventional dance forms,
but also at extremely difficult ones like dancing with pots balanced one atop
the other. This is popularly known as "Kuda kootthu" and is attempted only by
the lion-hearted among artistes, due to the difficulty of its performance. A
moment of inattention or a faltering step would send the pots balanced
carefully on the head, crashing down, with the resultant ignominy. Sri Krishna
had perfected this art form and used to regale audiences at Nandagokulam by
dancing with speed and splendour, with a pyramid of pots of various sizes
carefully balanced on His beautiful head. Azhwars delight in calling Him "Kuda
Koothan", in commemoration of these sterling performances staged before
adulating audiences of Gopis and Gopas-
"Kuravai kOttha kuzhaganai MaNivaNNanai Kuda Koottanai"
"KOvalan kuda koothan endru endrE kunitthu" (Sri Nammazhwar).
Another incredible form of dance the Lord appears to have engaged in, is the
"Kuravai", where He took as many forms as there were Gopis and danced with them
individually. The Bhagavata Purana waxes eloquent in describing this "RAsa
kreedA". Deciding to afford the Gopis the unforgettable experience of dancing
with their idol on a one-to-one basis, Sri Krishna took multiple forms and
delighted them beyond measure. This is perhaps why He is called "MAya kootthan"
by many an Azhwar.
To bring the concert to a close, while all of us would consider itan incredible
good fortune to witness the Lord's dance, a modern poet asks Him not to dance,
but just to walk sedately-
"AdAdu asangAdu vA KaNNA!".
When we investigate, we find that the poet fears that if the Lord were to
dance, the entire universe would become unstable and be thrown into disarray,
as it forms the body of the Paramatma-
"un Adalil eerEzhu bhavanamum asaindu asaindu AdudE
enavE AdAdu asangAdu vA KaNNA!"
The poet goes on to say that Emperuman's artistry is so delightful that even an
expert dancer like Sri Nataraja comes rushing from Chidambaram, to watch with
undisguised admiration, forsaking his own performance.
We thus find that whatever the Lord does, He does with élan. If He sings, the
entire world drops what it is doing and listens with rapt attention, down to
the grazing deer calf which stands motionless like a picture, with the
half-chewed grass dribbling out of its mouth with saliva. If He dances, the
entire universe turns up to watch, mesmerised by the magnificent movements, the
incredible bhAvam and the unforgettable abhinayam.
Would you like to witness the Lord's delightful performance not once, but
repeatedly? Would you like to immerse yourself in the incredible bliss that
only an accomplished professional like the Lord can afford the audience?
Well, you can. The ticket for the show is pretty cheap and, for a single season
ticket, you become entitled to watch the concert forever. This ticket is
nothing but Prapatthi. Once you perform the simple but effective Sharanagati or
Absolute Surrender, the Lord is so delighted that He takes you to the best of
theatres, viz., Sri Vaikuntam and puts on a command performance, just for you,
forever.
Srimate Sri LakshmINrismha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
dasan, sadagopan
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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