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sadagopan iyengar • April 1, 2002 


Srimate Srivansatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra
Mahadesikaya Nama:

Fragrance

Many of us wear perfumes- some mild and pleasing, others strong
enough to inspire a headache in others. Perfumes have been used
since long, primarily to mask body odour, and to enable the user
to exude a pleasant smell. It was reported that during the height
of water scarcity at Chennai, the sale of perfumes reached its
peak.  Perfumes have been used for long in Arabian countries,
where the paucity of water did not encourage frequent baths as
were called for by the dry, hot climate.  How good would it be if
we were to have a naturally good smell, obviating the need for
perfumes? Such a person would be a natural invitee to all parties
and would be extremely popular. This is not in the realm of
fiction- there is indeed such a person, though it may not be
proper to call Him a person, for He is none other than the Lord.

“Yam sarva gandha:” says the shruti, attesting to the fact that
Emperuman is the repository of all fragrance. Sri KoorattAzhwan
says “Yam Sarva Gandha iti sAdaram udvahanti”, attesting to the
fact that He is indeed a veritable walking perfumery. Swami
Desikan calls Him “sarva gandha vastu”-in Sri Parama pata
SopAnam.

“NAtra tuzhAi mudi Narayanan” says Sri Andal, further confirming
that the Lord is sweet smelling. Though Emperuman is by nature
fragrant, the TiruttuzhAi he wears in plenty on all parts of His
tirumEni (“ TOLiNai mElum nan mArbin mElum sudar mudi mElum
tALiNai mElum punainda taNNam tuzhAi udai ammAn” says Sri
Nammazhwar, pointing out that the Lord wears Tulasi on His wide
shoulders, on His broad chest, on His glittering crown, and on
His lotus feet) adds in no small measure to His fragrance. So
much so that TirutthuzhAi is almost identified with Sriman
Narayana (“nAru tuzhAi malar kANil NAranan kaNNi eedhennum”-Sri
Nammazhwar).

Like the rest of Him, Sri KrishnaÂ’s lips too are sweet smelling,
and scented camphor and blooming lotus are indeed malodorous,
compared to the Lord’s lips-“Karpooram nArumO kamala poo nArumO,
tiru pavaLa sevvAi tAn tittitirukkumO” wonders Sri Kodai Nachiar,
and calls upon Sri Panchajanya Azhwan (who has a close
association with the LordÂ’s lips) to clarify.  EmperumanÂ’s
exhalation too is said to be fragrant. The air that we mortals
let out is anything but sweet smelling, being loaded with
carbon-dioxide. However, Swami Desikan says (“Shruti surabhi
nisvAsamAna divya nAsAvamsam”-Sri Paramapada SopAnam) that the
LordÂ’s exhalation is full of the fragrance of shruti. This is
reiterated in Sri Devanayaka Panchasat thus- “nityOditai: nigama
nissvasitai: tava EshA nAsA Nabaschara patE nayanAbdi sEthu:” As
VedAs are said to be the ParamapurushaÂ’s breath, it is no wonder
that His exhalation bears the Vedic aroma.

Moving down to EmperumanÂ’s tiruvadi, Swami Desikan says that the
holy feet are adorned by Vedic fragrance (“VElAtIta shruti
parimaLam, VedhasAm mouli sEvyam”-Sri Bhagavat DhyAna
SOpAnam). All Veda vAkyAs are ultimately paeans of praise to the
LordÂ’s tiruvadi, and hence the lotus feet are said to wear the
aroma of shruti.

Sri Devi and Bhoodevi constantly massage the LordÂ’s tiruvadi, to
relieve them of the strain of measuring the universe during
TrivikramAvatAra (“andru ivvuagam aLanda asavE kol?”), and of
roaming the jungle during Sri Ramavatara and Sri Krishnavatara
(“kAnagam ellAm tirindu un karia tirumEni vAda”). Due to the
constant association with the LordÂ’s feet, much of the fragrance
is transferred to the lotus hands of the NachimAr, says Swami
Desikan in Sri Paramapada SopAnam-“NachimAr kara talangaLukku
parimaLam kodukkum potrAmarai adigaL”.

Here, the use of the words “potrAmarai adigaL” is
significant. EmperumanÂ’s feet are likened to a golden lotus. The
important difference is that while gold lacks scent, His tiruvadi
is fragrant. Further, while gold is hard, His feet are soft as a
lotus, and delicate beyond description. Sri Venkatesa Prapatti
says that the LordÂ’s feet are reddened with the strain of His
Consorts’ massaging (“sa prEma bheeti kamalakara pallavAnAm---
Sri Venkatesa charanou “).  One could imagine the delicacy of the
LordÂ’s tiruvadis, if they were to be strained at the touch of the
extremely soft hands of Sridevi and Bhoodevi.

It is not that the Lord is fragrant only in Sri Vaikuntam-even in
His archAvatAram, He is so, as evidenced by the sobriquet,
”ParimaLa Rangan”, at TiruvindaLoor.

We have seen that the Lord is fragrant. This is not all. All that
He is associated with is also fragrant.  Take for example His
principal Consort, Sridevi. She too smells sweet, says Sri
Nammazhwar- “VEri mArAda poo mEl iruppAL vinai
teerkkumE”. “VEri”here refers to scent, and “poo mEl iruppAL”
refers to Piratti and the purport of the phrase is that Piratti,
who has the lotus as Her residence, is always fragrant. Another
interpretation of the aforesaid pasuram would be to attribute the
permanent fragrance to the lotus, and to describe Piratti as the
resident of such a flower.  However, the former version,
ascribing the fragrance to Piratti, appears dearer to Sri
Nammazhwar’s heart.  Piratti is also variously described as “alli
malar MagaL”, “tAmaraiyAL”, ” vAsam sei poom kuzhalAl”, etc.,
indicating Her constant association with scented flowers, which
add to Her natural fragrance, as does TiruttuzhAi to EmperumanÂ’s
aroma. The Veda Purusha too attests to the Divine ConsortÂ’s
inseparable fragrance with the Rik “Gandha dvArAm” in Sri
Sooktam.

It is not only Sri Devi who is fragrant- Sri Bhoodevi too is the
repository of all aroma, as is known from the definition,
“Gandhavati Prithvi”.  Sri Paduka Devi too is endowed with
fragrance, natural as well as that derived through constant
association with the LordÂ’s lotus feet, as can be deduced from
several slokas in the KAnchana Paddhati and Pushpa Paddhati of
Sri Paduka Sahasram.

EmperumanÂ’s personal valet Sri Adisesha, who serves Him in
multifarious capacities as His bed, umbrella, throne, footwear
etc., also possesses a sweet smell, as described by Swami Desikan
–“Sarva gandha vastuvukkum vAsanai undAgum padiAna parimaLattai
udayavan”- it is as if Sri Ananta adds fragrance to even the Lord
who is Himself the repository of all fragrance, as shown above.
The Lord endows His devotees too with fragrance.  Sri Nammazhwar
and his works are said to bear the aroma of the “Magizham
poo”-“yasya sArasvatam srOtO VakuLAmOda vAsinam” says Swami
Desikan. Not only Sri Satakopa Muni, but his Tiruvaimozhi too is
endowed with fragrance, that of the shruti, as Sri Tiruvarangattu
Amudanar declares in Sri Iramanusa Nootrandadi-he calls
Tiruvaimozhi “maNam tarum innisai”.  Sri Valmiki says that there
was nobody in Sri Ayodhya who did not possess a sweet smell-
“nAmrishtO nAnuliptAngO nAsugandhascha vidyatE”( Ayodhya
Varnanam).

It would be remiss of adiyen to conclude without a mention of the
appetizing aroma of the kitchen- “madaippaLLi vanda maNam” as
Swami Desikan puts it.  Sri Kidambi AcchAn was so much devoted to
Sri Ramanuja that he was entrusted with the charge of preparing
the latterÂ’s meals, after there was an attempt to poison the
great Acharya. Sri AcchAn thus enjoyed several hours of
uninterrupted company of his master, imbibing from him the
“Rahasya Tradition”, consisting of rare nuggets of instruction
handed from one Acharya to another down the line. From Sri
AcchAn, this tradition was propagated through Sri EngalAzhvAn,
Sri Nadadur AmmAl, Sri Kidambi AppuLLAr, and found its way to
Swami Desikan, who treated it as the rare treasure it is, and
never missed an opportunity to declare what he owed to the
Sampradayic fragrance that wafted through the BhashyakaraÂ’s
kitchen. “Yativara mahAnasa sampradayam”, “YativaranAr
madaippaLLi vanda maNam engaL vArtthaiyuL manniyadE”, etc. are
some of his tributes to this tradition.  With all this glorious
fragrance, wouldn’t you be tempted to call ours the “Scented
Sampradaya”? It is perhaps the only tradition, which can boast of
being a treat as much to the olfactory system as to any other.

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrsimha divya paduka sevaka
SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya
nama:
-------dasan,
sadagopan.
 


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