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sadagopan iyengar • August 8, 2002 


                     Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri
Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

                 Tears

     Tears are an involuntary physical reaction, and
an outlet for emotions, whether joyous or sorrowful.
They are also a powerful weapon in the hands of the
fair sex, as many a hapless husband would confirm.
When all appeals to the maleÂ’s reason fail, ladies and
children are said to resort to tears as the ultimate
weapon in their arsenal for achieving their ends. Be
that as it may, tears do move the onlooker, for they
project a picture of a helpless person in need of
succour and support. Tears are born not only of
sorrow, but also of uncontrollable joy, devotion,
affection and even anger. Physicians claim that tears
cleanse the eye of dirt and grime particles. Let us
have a look at the various contexts in which tears
figure in the Scriptures.

Could you imagine the virile, brave Anjaneya, the
personification of toughness and a terror to his foes,
shedding tears? This is an indeed difficult picture to
conjure up. However, the fact is that Maruti does shed
tears, and this is attested by the Ramayana pArayaNa
sloka:
“Yatra yatra RaghunAta kIrtanam, tatra tatra krita
mastakAnjalim
BAshpavAri paripoorNa lOchanam, Marutim namata
rAkshasAntakam”
Wherever and whenever Sri RamaÂ’s story is told, heard
or sung, Siriya Tiruvadi is instantly present there to
listen with rapt attention. Rama kathA so moves VAyu
Putra that tears of devotion spring to his eyes. The
sloka says that MarutiÂ’s tears are copious
(“bAshpavAri paripoorNa lOchanam”), attesting to the
depth of emotion Rama katha can cause in him. The word
“RAkshasAntakam” seems to make fun of Siriya Tiruvadi,
by implying that the great warrior, at whose bare
hands hordes of asurAs met with their end, is soft
enough to be moved to tears, when it comes to Sri Rama
and His story. And Sri Anjaneya listens with his hands
folded on his head, paying obeisance to his Master. So
staunch is devoteesÂ’ belief in Sri MarutiÂ’s presence
at the place of Srimad Ramayana pArayanam, that before
the recitation of the epic, an “Asanam” or symbolic
seat is provided for him. Even today we occasionally
hear of monkeys marking attendance at discourses on
Srimad Ramayana.

Sri HanumanÂ’s conduct is quite in tune with the
picture Sri KulasekharAzhwarÂ’s paints of the model
devotee. Azhwar prays the Lord to keep him in the
company of bhaktas, who relish the constant thought of
the LordÂ’s lotus feet. Such devotees are characterised
by palms folded in supplication, heads bowed in
devotion, hair ends of the body standing upright in
joy, tones shaky with emotion, and eyes filled with
tears- all tell tale signs of their boundless bhakti
brimming over. Here is the beautiful sloka from Sri
Mukunda MalA:
“BaddhEna anjalinA natEna sirasA gAtraischa
rOmOdgamai:
  kaNttEna svara gadgadEna nayanEna utkeerNa
bAshpAmbunA
  nityam tvat charaNAravinda yugaLa dhyAnamrita
AsvAdinAm
  asmAkam SarasIruhAksha satatam sampadyatAm
jeevitam”.

According to Sri Nammazhwar, such conduct is only to
be expected of devotees, and those who do not conform
to these standards are to be condemned. Those who fail
to be moved to tears at the Saulabhyam of Sri Krishna
(in coming to the rescue of the PandavAs and
destroying the Kaurava sEna, etc.) are not worthy of
their lives, says Azhwar in the following pasuram:
“neermayil nootruvar veeya iyvarkku aruL seidu nindru
  pAr malgu sEnai avittha Paramanai Param sOdiyai
  neer malgu kaNNinar Agi nenjam kuzhaindu naiyAdE
  oon malgi mOdu paruppAr uttamargatku en seivArE”.

Sri Ramanuja too shed tears, though these were
occasioned not by joy, but from his anguish at hearing
his Guru Yadavaprakasa misinterpret a Shruti vakya to
compare the LordÂ’s beautiful red lotus eyes to the
backside of a monkey. (“tasya yatA kapyAsam pundarIkam
Eva akshiNee”). At the time Sri Ramanuja was applying
oil to his GuruÂ’s head for a massage, and his tears
fell hot on the GuruÂ’s thigh. These tears marked a
turning point in EmperumanarÂ’s life and in due course,
he gained relief from the clutches of MAyAvAdis like
Yadavaprakasa and came under the benign influence of
Sri Alavandar and his distinguished disciples, though
he never had an occasion to learn personally from Sri
Yamuna Muni.

Sri RamanujaÂ’s tears were hot, as seen above, perhaps
due to his anguish at the unseemly comparison the Lord
was subjected to. Could tears be cold too?
Yes, says Sri Vishnu Tattvam-
 “AhlAda seeta nEtrAmbu: pulakIkrita gAtravAn”
The sight or the mere thought of the Lord makes oneÂ’s
eyes fill with cool tears of joy, and the entire body
awash with bliss, says the above sloka. We thus deduce
that tears could be hot or cold, perhaps even salty or
sweet, depending upon their cause. 

For Sri Tirumangai Azhwar, it is the recitation of
EmperumanÂ’s tirunAmam, especially the Narayana nAma,
that brings tears to his eyes.
“udambeLam kaNNa neer sOra
  naLLirul aLavum pagalum nAn azhaippan
  Narayana ennum nAmam”.
 The flow of tears from his eyes is so profuse, that
the optic secretion covers the entire body. To Sri
PeriavAcchAn Pillai, this flood of tears enveloping
the AzhwarÂ’s body resembles a five-strand pearl
necklace, each teardrop standing out independently as
a pearl. 

Poignant songs and dance, especially if they relate to
the Lord, bring tears to the eyes, invariably. Many of
us would have shared this experience. Sri Nammazwar
too is moved to tears by these, as he testifies in the
following pasuram..
“Adi Adi aham karaindu, isai 
  pAdi pAdi kaNNeer malgi
  engum nAdi nAdi NarasingA endru
  vAdi vAdum ivvAl nudalE”
 Just as the Narayana nAma caused the tears of Sri
Kalian, it is the Nrsimha nAma in Sri NammazhwarÂ’s
case. Are these then tears of fear at the awesome
man-lion appearance sported by the Lord in this
avatara? Not at all, for these are tears occasioned by
the LordÂ’s endearing concern for proving his young
devotee Sri PrahlAda right (“satyam vidhAtum nija
bhritya bhAshitam”) in his assertion to his father
Hiranyakasipu that Sri Vishnu pervaded everything
(”engum uLan KaNNan”). 

We have all been overcome by tears of separation
(temporary or permanent) from a loved one, sometime or
the other in our lives. These are tears prompted by
the recollection of good times spent in the company of
the friend or relative, the moments of closeness
enjoyed with them, and the thought that all these
would no more be available to us.
Azwars too, in their nAyikA roles, suffer from such
separation from the Lord and shed tears. Here is Sri
Nammazhwar in one such state:
“Kangulum pagalum kaN tuyil ariyAl
  kaNNa neer kaigalAl iraikkum”
Here too, the intensity of feeling prompts a veritable
flood of tears.
Even the Lord is not proof from tears of separation,
as demonstrated by Sri Rama, at the sight of the
ornaments relinquished by VaidEhi while being carried
away by Ravana. At the mere sight of PirattiÂ’s jewels
and upper cloth, Sri RamaÂ’s eyes fill with plentiful
tears, 
“tata: griheetvA tad vAsa: shubhAni AbharaNAni cha
  abhavat bhAshpa samruddha: neehArENEva Chandrama:”
Sri Valmiki, the Master of Similes that he is,
compares the sight of Chakravartthi Tirumagan
enveloped by tears to a Moon masked by clouds.
Sri RamaÂ’s tears and His display of the very basic
human emotion of sorrow, raise an important question.
Is the Lord really bereft of all inauspicious
qualities (“akhila hEya pratyanIka:”) and the sole
repository of all that is good (“kalyAnaikatAna:”)? If
sorrow and sadness at the separation of a dear one
could hit Him so hard and reduce Him to tears, it
doesnÂ’t say much for His superiority. How then is He
better than an ordinary mortal? How does one reconcile
the conduct of one who is susceptible to human
frailties with that of the all-powerful Lord, who is
unshaken by anything and is characterised by eternal,
everlasting bliss? Could we really call Him
“Anandamaya:”, when He does have patches of sorrow,
albeit only during His avatArAs?
Swami Desikan says that such emotions displayed by the
Lord during his avatArAs are mere “abhinaya”, or put
on, and not for real. For, the Lord, by His very
nature, is incapable of being affected by sorrow under
any circumstances. The Sun can never be anything but
hot and luminous, and so too the Lord can never be
anything but auspicious and blissful. We must remember
that Ramavatara was a very special avatara, in which
the Lord conducted Himself as an ordinary human being
(“AtmAnam mAnusham manyE, Ramam DasaratAtmajam”)
throughout His sojourn on this earth. Every one of His
words and deeds were to demonstrate to humanity how a
model man should conduct himself in various situations
and in the face of severe adversity. By this standard,
display of sorrow at the apparent loss of the
extremely beloved spouse would be nothing abnormal: in
fact, any other emotion under the circumstances would
be inappropriate. Had He remained stoic in the face of
such loss, we would definitely have castigated Him as
stonehearted. Thus Sri RamaÂ’s tears, far from
detracting from His greatness, endear Him to us all
the more, as we are able to identify ourselves with a
Lord who shows Himself to be as susceptible to
emotions as we are.

Lest this should bring tears of boredom to your eyes,
adiyen shall conclude here.

Srimate SriLakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka
SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya
Nama;
Dasan, sadagopan. 




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