Search:
Bhakti List Archives

God's Wrath

From the Bhakti List Archives

sadagopaniyengar • August 30, 2002 


Shri Padmanabhan's delightful posting highlighted how the Lord is driven to
anger by BhAgavatApachAram.
Srimad Ramayana lists a few more instances where anger seizes Chakravartthi
Tirumagan.
One of them is occasioned by Godavari Nadi's silence to Sri Rama's repeated
enquiries as to the whereabouts of Sri Mythili, shortly after she had been
abducted by Ravana.Sri Raghava's unfathomable sorrow at the loss of Piratti
finds expression in the form of anger at the river, PrasravaNa Parvata,etc.,
whch, despite being  witnesses to the abduction, do not dare reveal the
truth, due to their fear of the mighty RAkshasa. In the face of  stony
silence from all quarters to His repeated queries, Raghunandana burns with
anger, and threatens to destroy the three worlds, complete with their
inhabitants, and puts an arrow to His bow. His normally merciful lotus eyes
become bloodshot ("ROsha tAmrAksha:"), and He resembles the Cosmic
Destroyer, ready to annihilate all world with a single arrow.
"TapyamAnam tathA Ramam SItA haraNa karsitam
  lOkAnAm abhavE yuktam samvartakam ivAnalam
  dagdhu kAmam jagat sarvam yugAntE tu yatA haram".
He is persuaded with difficulty by Sri Lakshmana to rid Himself of His anger
and to adopt practical steps for finding Sri Janaki.
  The next occasion for the display of His unusual anger is the failure of
SamudraRAja to cooperate in the bridging of the ocean to enable the vAnara
sainya to reach Lanka. Sri Rama initially performs Saranagati to the Samudra
for achieving the desired end. However, since the Lord lacks Akinchanyam or
helplessness (which is one of the important qualifications for the intending
Prapanna), His Prapatti fails. Angered at the ocean's intransigence, Sri
Raghava assumes a demeanour of extreme wrath ("KOpam AhArayat teevram"), and
threatens to dry up the vast body of water with a single arrow, so that His
army could  simply march across the ocean bed to Lanka.("ChApam Anaya
SowmitrE!sharAmscha AsI vishOpamAn
  Samudram sOshayishyAmi padbhyAm yAntu plavangamA:"). Only then  does the
SamudraRaja appear to pacify the Lord and to promise cooperation in SEtu
bandhanam.
A third occasion is in the final stages of the war with Ravana, when he
fells Sri Raghava's chariot flag and horses with a shower of arrows. Sri
Valmiki says it was as if the Chandra (Rama) was enveloped by the serpants
(Ravana)at the time of Grahanam. Ravana's  successful advance so enrages
DAsarathi, that His normally benign face turns so terrifying that it scares
all  living things out of their lives and the earth shakes in terror-
"Tasya kruddhasya vadanam drishtvA Ramasya dheemata:
Sarva bhootAni vitrEsu: prAkampata cha mEdinI".

 Another occasion for Chakravartthi Tirumagan to display anger was after the
liberation of Janaka Nandini, when He asks Her, with words dripping with
anger, ("abraveet parusham SItAm madhyE vAnara RakshasAm") to choose whom
She wants to go with, making it clear that His responsibility towards Her
had ended with setting Her free. The indignity is heaped on Sri Mythily in
front of  the entire vAnara sEna. This leads Piratti to the ordeal by fire,
wherefrom She emerges pure as snow.
  Looking at the anger displayed by the Lord on all these and a few other
occasions, one might wonder whether it sits well with His reputation as the
repository of solely auspicious attributes (kalyAna guNAs). Further, He
Himself declares in the GitA that anger is the product of the inferior RajO
guNa ("KAma Esha krOdha Eva rajO guNa samudbhava:"). How do we resolve this
apparent contradiction?
The answer appears to lie in Swami Desikan's assertion that all such
emotions displayed by the Lord in His avatArAs are merely assumed, put on,
so to say ("abhinaya mAtram"). In His portrayal of the ideal human being,
the Lord enacts various emotions, as the script warrants. And for a
Kshatriya belonging to the line of IkshvAku, display of anger on the
battlefield or in the face of subjects' disobedience is but natural,and
failure to show wrath would be remiss of Him.-dasan, sadagopan.



--------------------------------------------------------------
           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
To Post a message, send it to:   bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com
Group Home: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bhakti-list
Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/
 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/