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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:



Arms and the Lord


How many hands does the Lord have? We come across several scriptural texts 
ascribing to Him four beautiful arms, holding the Discus, Conch, the Mace and 
the Lotus. The prelude to Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram unambiguously says 
that He has four arms-"Vishnum sasivarNam chatur bhujam". Sri Nammazhwar 
confirms this many a time-"tOLu nAngudai surikuzhal kamala kaN senkanivAi 
KALamEgam" nAl tOL endAi" nAngu tOLum pAviyEn pakkattavE" etc. The reason the 
Lord sports four arms instead of two is perhaps to ensure speedy and adequate 
response in His principal occupation of providing succour to the 
distressed-SharaNAgata rakshaNam". He doesn't ever lay down His arms, for fear 
that even a second's delay could make the difference in a soul being saved and 
shattered, says Swami Desikan-



PAtu praNata rakshAyAm viLambam asahan iva

sadA panchAyudhI bibhrat sa na: Sriranga nAyaka:"



These arms are compatible in size, proportion, beauty and strength to the rest 
of His glorious form and appear to be glorious branches of a magnificent tree, 
growing upwards and down. The TaittirIyOpanishad talks of the Lord having a 
hundred arms in the Varahavatara, when He battled with Hiranyaksha and rescued 
Mother Earth-"uddhrutAsi VarAhENa krishNEna shata bAhunA".These arms symbolise 
superlative Strength, protectiveness and might, all of which are indispensable 
qualities in the Paramapurusha, providing the rationale for devotees to pay 
obeisance. It is no wonder therefore that these divine arms are said to be the 
origin of the Ruling Class, the KshatriyAs- "bAhoo rAjanya: krita:". The beauty 
of these arms is such that anyone casting even a stray glance at these 
stupendous specimens of virility is captivated totally, and doesn't like to 
prise his or her eyes away from the mighty arms, says KambanAttAzhwan-"tOL 
kandAr tOLE kandAr".



Though the normal number is four, during His avataras as human beings, as in 
the Rama, Parasurama, Balarama and Krishna avataras, the Lord has sported only 
two hands. This is in tune with His wish that He should be born as one among 
the proletariat and reform them through His own ideal conduct, rather than come 
across as a Super Man who can be ogled at with wonder, but not emulated or 
identified with. The Lord confirms this Himself-"AtmAnam mAnusham manyE, Ramam 
DasaratAtmajam". He tells us that He is indeed one of us, a mere mortal, the 
son of Dasarata, and not a divine being to be kept at a distance. In tune with 
this averment, the Lord sports only two arms in the aforesaid avataras.



However, there are occasions even in the Rama and Krishna avataras, where He 
resumes His normal form with Four arms, instead of the two assumed for the 
purpose of His sojourn on this earth. As these are rare occasions where the 
Lord, having adopted a human demeanour, chooses to display His Paratvam or 
Supremacy, these are worth a study.



Joyfully recording Emperuman's divine birth, Sri Valmiki hints that the Lord 
was indeed born with four beautiful arms-

"prOdyamAnE JagannAtham sarva lOka namaskritam

KousalyA ajanayat Ramam sarva lakshaNa samyutam"



The divine mother Kousalya gave birth to Rama, who is the object of worship of 
all. Even at birth, Sri Rama was endowed with all auspicious characteristics 
("sarva lakshaNa samyutam"). Here, the words "sarva lakshaNa", on a casual 
perusal, would indicate that the Lord possessed all aspects, all SAmudrikA 
lakshaNAs, like broadness of chest, proportion of limbs to the torso, latent 
strength etc., as behoved a scion of the famed IkshvAku dynasty. He looked at 
birth as would a child belonging to a lineage of distinguished Emperors. Even 
at birth, it was evident that the divine child would be the cynosure of all 
eyes, due to His bewitching beauty. It was this that prompted Kulaguru Vasishta 
to name the child "Rama" (one who captivates everybody).



However, going beyond the mere etymological purport, our Poorvacharyas have 
uncovered a wealth of meaning in the words "sarva lakshaNa samyutam". They say 
that though the Lord was born in this mundane world assuming a mortal form and 
demeanour, none of the innumerable characteristics of the Supreme Being 
deserted Him due to His coming down to the earth. All His auspicious attributes 
as the Parama Purusha were intact in the form He assumed as Dasaratha's son.



These characteristics would fall under two broad categories, viz., form and 
attributes. Taking the latter first, we find that throughout Ramavatara, the 
Lord exhibited in abundant measure all the qualities of the Paramatma, viz., 
GnAnam(all-encompassing wisdom), balam ( the capacity to support everything 
with little effort), Isvaryam (the ownership of the whole lot of universes and 
all the sentient and non-sentient beings therein), Veeryam ( effortless 
performance of all supernatural functions like being the inner controller of 
everybody and everything, shoring up everything and everybody as their SharIri 
), Shakti ( the capability to control and direct all and being their material 
cause), TEjas (the capacity to perform all functions independently, without the 
need for aid and assistance from any other source). 



The second category of characteristics comprise of the physical features, the 
various incomparable components of the Paramatma's fabulous form-His broad 
lotus eyes, bewitching and boundless beauty, perfectly proportioned limbs, the 
various symbols (lotus, flag, chariot, etc.) adorning His palms and the soles 
of His feet, the long and broad chest which is the inalienable and constant 
place of residence of Piratti, etc. Also inseparable parts of the Supreme 
Being's form are the four arms, two upraised and two horizontal or pointing 
downwards. The upraised arms hold the Divine Discus SudarasanAzhwan and the 
Cosmic Conch PanchajanyAzhwan, while the other two arms hold the Mace and Lotus 
or are held in various mudrAs as the occasion warrants. 



Sri Valmiki, though not in so many words, avers that Sri Rama was born with all 
the aforesaid divine characteristics and did sport four arms, carrying the 
aforesaid items. The word "JagannAtham" in the aforesaid sloka (Lord and Master 
of all the worlds) indicates that Emperuman was indeed resplendent with all His 
unique features, principal of which is the four-armed posture. It was as if the 
Lord wanted to bless His mortal mother with the glorious spectacle of His 
Supreme Form, before assuming the normal limbs of a human being that He 
professed to be.



Another evidence we have of the Lord having occasionally sported four arms 
during Ramavatara is from MandOdari's statement-"tamasa: paramO dhAtA shankha 
chakra gadAdhara:" Paying rich tribute to the Lord, Ravana's good wife says 
that Sri Rama is verily that Mahavishnu, who is beyond the pale of all darkness 
and despair, armed with the Discus, the Conch and the Mace. It is obvious that 
the Lord must have blessed her with the wonderful vision of a radiant Supreme 
Being who is the embodiment of wisdom and brilliance and endowed with four arms 
for protecting poor sinners like us.



One more instance where Chakravartthi Tirumagan sported four arms is in the 
context of His saranagati to Samudra Raja, to facilitate the vAnara sainya to 
cross over to Lanka. Describing Rama's supine posture on a bed of dharbham, Sri 
Valmiki says that He had His arms folded in supplication ("anjali"). 
Simultaneously, one of His arms was placed behind His head as pillow with 
another stretched out. Here is the relative sloka-



"tata: sAgara vElAyAm dharbhAn Asteerya Raghava:

anjalim prang mukha: kritvA pratisisyE mahOdadhE:

"bAhum bhujaga bhOgAbham upadAya ari soodana:"



Thus two of the arms were engaged in a gesture of supplication, with folded 
palms beseeching the Samudra Raja to permit access, while another arm was 
placed as a pillow behind the head. This definitely presupposes the existence 
of four arms, since once cannot use two arms to perform the function of three. 
It is thus clear that in this instance, Sri Rama must have displayed His 
paratvam with the four-armed posture.



It would therefore appear that despite His averment that He was indeed a 
mortal, the humble son of Dasarata, Sri Rama had, on several occasions during 
His sojourn on this earth, furnished proof positive of His supremacy. Some of 
these superhuman acts like bridging the ocean, granting of liberation to Jatayu 
and Sabari, etc. are chronicled by Sri Koorattazhwan in his "atimAnusha 
Stavam". Similar demonstration of His paratvam appears to have been enacted 
through the occasional sporting of the four-armed posture.



In Sri Krishnavatara too, the Lord appears to have assumed four arms instead of 
the normal two His mundane birth entitled Him to. Right at birth, Devaki is 
blessed with the magnificent sight of the Lord with the Discus, Conch, Mace and 
four beautiful arms and prays to Him to hide His glorious form, lest cruel 
Kamsa's minions cause Him harm. Sri Periyazhwar too hints at this Chaturbhuja 
tirukkOlam in the following pasuram, where he describes the infant Krishna as 
holding the inimitable bow Sarngam, Chakram and GadA-



"tandodu chakkaram sArngam Endum tadakkaiyan

kaN tuyil koLLa karudi kottAvi koLgindrAn

uNda mulai pAl arA kaNdAi urangAvidil

viN tanil manniya mAmadI viraindu Odi vA"



Azhwar tells the Moon to come running to entertain kutti Krishnan, as the 
glorious Lord, with His bow, discus and gadA, is yawning and is about to fall 
asleep. The mention of three items being held in His hands is proof enough of 
His having more than just two arms. 



One may wonder and scoff at this lengthy harangue about whether the Lord sports 
two arms or four: however, with a four-armed Lord, we have that much more of 
Him to enchant and entertain us. One may also find the discussion futile, 
because however many arms Emperuman might have, we are unable to pass beyond 
even one of them ("tOL kaNdAr tOLE kaNdAr") for each individual physical 
characteristic and body part of the Lord captivates our attention so much as to 
prevent proceeding further. Due to the indescribable beauty our eyes encounter, 
they are forced to stay riveted on the first avayava our eyes fall on. When Sri 
TiruppANAzhwar's devoted eyes feast themselves on the red silk cloth adorning 
the Lord's midriff, he finds himself quite incapable of proceeding further to 
any other part of the Lord's tirumEni, his whole intellect captivated, 
mesmerised and immobilised by the beauty of the cloth and that of its 
wearer-"aria sivanda Adaiyin mEl chendradAm en sindayE". We thus have a 
dilemma- Our eyes, unused to such a spectacle of brilliance and beauty, find 
themselves unable to take in the Lord's magnificence all at once, for there is 
so much of it. And if we try to drink in His splendour part by part, such an 
attempt too is futile, as each part monopolises our attention and prevents us 
from going on to the other angAs.



Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana 
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

Dasan, sadagopan



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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