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Kurai Ondrum Illai Chapter One.

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Bhagya Murali • Tue Dec 05 2000 - 08:06:43 PST 


SRI: 
namO NArAyanA. 
pranAmams. 
                Kuraiondrum ellai-chapter 1. 
            by Sri Mukkoor Lakshminrusimhachariar
    

      Yamuna river sought punyam; on the other hand, Godhavari river 
sought a bad name/ reputation!! How do you ask? "Thuya peru neer 
yamunai thuraivanai...", was sung by dear Andal, referring to the 
help that Yamuna did during Kannan's avathara kalam-therefore, she 
gives a "good certificate" for yamuna. What help did yamuna nathi do? 
     
    When vasudhevar was carrying kannan to Nandhagokulam, yamuna 
nathi left vasudhevar space for carrying kannan without even 
vasudhevar's request. Therefore, yamuna nathi sought punayam. 
     
    But Godhavari sought a bad name. How? During Sri RAmA's 
avatharam, Ravanan abducted our dear Seetha pirAtti. During that 
time, our pirAtti cries,"Hey, Godhavari! You are a woman, I am a 
woman..how can you stand to look at the suffering that I am going 
through? my Husband will come and look for me. Atleast say something 
then-say that RAvanan has abducted me-do not fail to say it." 
     
    When Sri RAmar was looking-"Have you seen my seethai?", He was 
asking this question to every tree, branch,etc. But Godhavari did not 
say anything, not even wave rose out of her! all this because she was 
afraid of RAvanan. 
     
    People who know the truth, should say it at the right times. One 
should not be,"I am not involved in it,so I am not going to say 
anything". It this happens, a bad reputation(kalangam) will come. 
This is the same thing that happened to GodhAvari. 
      
   The "kalangam" that happened to her during Treta yugam was solved 
during kali yugam. How? When AndAl was born is Srivilliputtur, 
Periazhwar named her "GOdhA(godhai)" and then the kalangam was 
solved. 
       There is a reason why this book is started by this story:"Nama 
SAmyam"-which means "name accordance". This should be understood by 
the audience and therfore this was said. 
       
      This "NAma sAmyam" is the reason that we name our kids with 
"Deiviga Thirupayar". Some goodness will start for people who call 
the names RAmA, krishnA.  "PAdhEyam PundarIkatcha NAma 
sankeerthanAmrutham" is out of Garuda purAnam. This means, the names 
of BhagavAn's KalyAna gunams is a mootai(luggage)! But doesn't mootai 
signify sumai(weight)? we shouldn't think like this. In the "old" 
times, people used to carry mootai's when they were travelling from 
place to place and this mootai was "kattu saatha mootai"(rice). On 
the way, they used to sit on the banks of rivers eating-this would 
get rid of their fatigue, and they would also reach their 
destination. 
       Life is a journey and our kattu saatha mootai should be 
PoondariKatch NAma sankeerhanAmrutham-this gets rid of all the 
tiredness and fatigue in life. Periazhwar said: 
    "NinaithirunthE siramam TheernthEn NEmi NediyavanE..." 
      
     We should always think about BhagavAn and do nAma sankeerthanam. 
Sankeerthanam is, "something that is said without interruption". What 
is there in the names, so that they have to be chanted continuously, 
without interruption? Why should the names be chanted in the first 
place?- We could argue like this. For our Hindu religion, the main 
pramAnam is VEdam. Bhakti, prapatti-saranAgathi, karma yogA, Jnana 
yogA are all included in the vEdam. Bhagavan follows the vEdam only, 
He points to it and always follows it. 
       Every Ekadasi in Sri Rangam, there is "IravAdai sEvai"-wet 
cloth sevai(to put it in a blunt way). That day, all the ornaments of 
Perumal do not have the bhAgyam to be with Him; only a Tulasi mAlai 
and a vasthram(cloth) which is moist are present on Perumal. Perumal 
actualy enjoys being like this, especially with a kalpura 
Arathi(camphor)-Perumal's joy knows no bounds. His sevai is absolutely
amazing-He looks kind and surprised in a way. At that time, the 
jivAtma and ParamAtma had a quarrel. 

The jivatma claimed that "I am free", 
but BaghavAn said, "No, you are under my Order"; 
jivatma in return asked, "On what basis do you say 
that?"(what "thimiru for the jivAtma!") 
      
    At this time, BaghavAn did NOT say, "Because I said so, therefore 
you are under my slave." He said "VEda moola pramAnAth". He means, 
through vEdam, if you think about OmkAram, you will find the answer 
and He promised that the answer would be promised. He promised with 
the wet vasthram too! 
      Perumal did not even mention "I" in His answer, all He said was 
to go and look in the vEdam- from this, we can see how high and 
valuable vEdam is. VEdam keeps BaghavAn and us together. Does the 
vEdam mention about "ThirunAma vaibhavam"(glories of His Names)? It 
mentions it beautifully. 
             "baghavAn kattip pon pOlE... 
              avan thirunAmam AAbharanangalai pOlE..." 
              baghavAn is like solid gold... 
              His thirunAmam are like ornaments... 
       
     Solid gold block is highly valuable, but what can we do with it? 
Can we wear it around our neck or wear it on our head? no. But the 
Names of our Lord are like ornaments, they are easily accessible. We 
can wear them, be happy and beautify ourselves with His names. 
PillailokAchariAr mentions three verses in tamizh: 
      1. "VAchya prabhAvam polanru vAsaka prabhAvam." 
      2. "avan thurasthanAnAlum ithu kiti ninru uthavum." 
      3. "Draupadikku AbhathilE Adai karanthathu GOvinda NAmamire." 

1. BhagavAn might wash His hands on us,but His NAmam will never even 
leave us. 
2. When we do some kaimkaryam(homam), we call His name and ask Him to 
accept it. He(Perumal) can be anywhere He wants, but since we called 
His Name, everything automatically goes to Him. 
3. When Draupadi was being disgraced she cries, "Hey 
Krishna...RakshmAm saranAgatham", but Bhagavan did not save her, He 
says this Himself! 
      Every avataram has some fault, and this is the fault in 
KrisnAvataram, where He did not save her immediately. But Draupadi 
was saved, she received the protection she needed. How is this 
possible, if Krishna did not save her? He says that He didn't save 
her, but His NAmam did! That's why our GodA pirAtti says, "You're 
beating yourself down with Your faults, but You don't even have any 
to begin with. The verse that fits in perfectly with this is,"Kurai 
ondrum illAtha GOvindA." When You have the name GOvindA, there can be 
absolutely no faults whatsoever with You and those who meditate on 
this Name, shall also have no faults. 
       All this is good and true, but if we keep on reciting Govinda 
sankeerthanam, what do we do about other duties in life? All His 
names are in samskritam, will the NAmams even enter our mouths? These 
are all good doubts raised by many people. The answers will be given 
in the next chapter. 

to be cont'd 
Sarvam SrikrishnArpranamasthu. 

to be cont'd. 



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           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
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