Search:
Bhakti List Archives

"Marghazhi Thingal

From the Bhakti List Archives

sadagopaniyengar • December 6, 2002 


 
Srimate Srivan Satakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

      Margazhi ThingaL

 

      Margazhi or Dhanur Masam is probably the best among months, in all ways. Climate-wise, it is a month with neither enervating heat nor biting cold, but an extremely pleasant weather. It is a month ideally suited for spiritual exercises and sadhanas. The popular feeling that Margazhi is unsuited for auspicious things is based on a wrong interpretation of what is auspicious. For us, anything that takes us towards God is propitious, while other activities, which lure us away from Him, are inauspicious. The reason that marriages and similar functions are not performed in this month is to give pride of place to spiritual themes, relegating mundane matters, which ensnare us deeper into samsara, to the background. It is the month liked most by Sri Krishna-   "MAsAnAm MargasIrshOham" says He in the Bhagavat Gita. Sri Rama too appears to have liked this month, which is evident from Sri Lakshmana's words-"ayam sa kAla: samprApta: priyO yastE priamvada". Going by tradition, it is the only month when everybody, irr

However, the major reason for the popularity of Margazhi is Tiruppavai, the emotional outpouring of Kodai Nacchiar, consisting of 30 beautiful verses, recited one a day during this month.

The greatness of Sri Andal is beyond description. If we remember that She was the avatara of Bhoomi Piratti, we may have some idea of Her magnificence. Like Sita Piratti, Andal too was born without undergoing the ten-month sentence in a mother's womb. It is noteworthy here that whether it is as Rama, Krishna, Balarama, Parasurama,or Vamana, the Lord has always undergone the ordeal of garbha vAsam, while Piratti demonstrates Her superiority time and again by being born at will, without having to seek a mother's womb. This is perhaps because She is the Universal Mother and is unable to find a suitable mother for Herself..

Sri Andal has several unique achievements to Her credit. She is the only lady in the male-dominated club of Azhwars. She is the only Azhwar to have been eligible for and fortunate enough to attain marital union with the Lord. While other Azhwars like the Parankusa Nayaki and Parakala nayaki might speak volumes about the pangs of separation from the beloved, She is much more qualified, by virtue of her womanhood, to experience and recount what it means to be apart from one's lover and the boundless bliss of reunion. In this matter, other Azhwars are at best pretenders before Her. She is the only lady who got away with appropriating for personal use, garlands meant for the Lord. It was only Her family, which produced the maximum number of Azhwars-Herself and Sri Periazhwar. She is perhaps the only Azhwar to have showered the Lord with the choicest words of abuse. She calls Sri Krishna a "dharumam ariya kurumban" (a mischief-monger devoid of any scruples) and "Puram pOl uLLum kariyAn" (Black of the heart as He 

 

If the holy month of Margazhi and the emotional outpouring of Tiruppavai have such great attraction for devotees and scholars, for people like me, they are appealing in an entirely different way. The fragrance and taste of the veN Pongal seasoned with pure ghee that is distributed at all sannidhis at the end of Satrumurai as prasadam, are without parallel. This is a month that provides a feast not only to the intellect and the psyche, but also to the palate, in the form of a daily diet of ven Pongal, and Sarkkarai Pongal on the days of "NayakanAi nindra Nandagopan" and "Koodarai vellum seer Govinda" etc. 

Is there any doubt now that Margazhi is indeed the best of the months?

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

Dasan, sadagopan.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



--------------------------------------------------------------
           - 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/