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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