Sri Parthasarathi thunai
Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha
Srimad Vara Vara MunayE
namaha
Sri Vanachala mahA munayE
namaha
Sri kanchi prathivAdi
bayankaram anangarAchariar swamy used to deliver a small interesting imaginary
story. Once Sita piratti and
Kodha piratti went to write a test.
The Question was: “Write the highlighting
kalyana guna of emperuman in a single word. The quality that gives him the utmost
greatness?”
Sita Piratti wrote: “saranAgathavatsala:” (8
letters)
KodhA piratti wrote:
“mAlE” (2 letters)
The examiner awarded Sita piratti 50% of marks and
kOdha piratti 100%. Why? Because
the dwayam (otherwise the manthra ratnam, here refers to the two lettered
“mAlE”) has its greatness more than the ashtAkshari (otherwise the mantha
raja, here refers to the 8 lettered “saranAgathavatsala:”) The divine name
“mAlE” has been greatly elaborated by all the commentators
(vyakhyAnakarthas). Why is
krishna called as “mAlE” by andal? Here is a very humorous
story.
Krishna leelas are not just leelas but are
embodiment of ultimate truth.
One-day mother yesodha was churning curd. Butter aroused on top. The dialogue between yesodha and kutti
kannan is very interesting:
Krishna: Oh! Mother what is
that?
Yesodha: Don’t go near my child it is a
devil.
Krishna: What will the devil
do?
Yesodha: It will swallow
you?
[Krishna jumped forward took the butter in hand and
in a matter of second put it inside his mouth and said,]
Krishna: Oh! Mother. Don’t worry now I
have swallowed the devil before it could swallow me. But my dear mother you are mistaken it
tastes like butter.
That is exactly the same the lord does towards the
jeevatmas also. If we take a
single step towards the lord he jumps 10 steps towards us. Even if we give an acceptance signal
it is enough for him to take us to his divine feet. That is why andal calls him as “mAlE!”
Who is that ‘mAl’? “mAlE manivannA!” The gem coloured lord
is ‘mAl’ He has not only the colour of the gem but also the
characteristics. The similarity
between emperuman and the gem has been extensively written by our
poorvacharyas in their vyakhyanams.
(To be continued)
Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE
sharaNam
Adiyen ramanuja dAsee
Sumithra Varadarajan