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              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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