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Eight pushpams

From the Bhakti List Archives

Krishnan • December 1, 1999 


Fm: Velukkudi Krishnan
1st Dec 99.

Dear Bhagavatas,
There was a beautiful message on the eight pushpams by Mani. I would =
like to add the following :
Periazhwar sings in his Poochoottal padikam - 'sembagamalligayodu =
sengazhuneer iruvatchi enpakar poovum konarnthen ...' This enpakar poo =
indirectly refers to the  pushpams of the sanskrit sloka. In his ten =
songs alwar refers to senbagam, malligai, padiri, maru & damanagam, =
senkazhuneer, punnai, kurukkatti, iruvatchi, karumugai . Some of them =
are that blossom in the morning and some in the evening. Lord Krishna =
went to adorn himself with these flowers through MAlAkArar in Madura. =
Likewise an acharya adorns himself with ahimsa and other flowers through =
his sishyas.      Please note that eNpakar does not necessarily refer to =
the number eight. It has come in the meaning of - thinking "eNNam". =
Azhwar says that he brought these flowers thoughtfully with wish. Or =
'eNpakar' refers to innumerable flowers that are mentioned in the =
sastras such as real flowers or the ones like ahimsa etc.=20

Be it any flower, it is the bhakti with which it is to be submitted that =
matters. Tirumangai azhwar in his tirumozhi states " kaLLAr tuzhAyum =
kanavalarum koovilayum mullAr mulariyum Ambalum mun kandakkal pullAi Or =
EnamAi putkidandAn ponnadikkenru ullAdAr ullathai ullamAkkoLLomE. "
He has listed adhama pushpa, madhyama pushpa and uttama pushpa. Anything =
would do. As Gitacharya says "patram pushpam phalam tOyam yO mE bhaktyA =
prayacchati ..' Any flower - it neednot be costly. There is an itihyam =
here : Nanjeeyar asked Bhattar ( his acharya) - "In the sastras it is =
said that kantakarika pushpam should not be used for the Lord.  If the =
Lord accepts any flower (as per azhwar), then why does the sastra ban =
one flower. ? Bhattar replied " it is not because the Lord does not want =
it. But kantakArika plant would be full of thorns. Lord cannot tolerate =
a bhakta being wounded by the thorns when he goes to pluck the flowers. =
So in HIS love towards his bhakta, the Lord banned the flower itself." =
Can any other match this quality of Sriman Narayana ? It is the bhakti =
that counts and not the quality of flowers.

Andal says "toomalar toovi thozhudu " nammazhwar says "soottu =
nanmalaigal tooyana endi " What do these great souls refer to as =
"tooymai" (blemishlessness)for flowers. That which is submitted to the =
Lord, without expecting anything in return from him. This is called =
"madi tadavadu soru " in our sampradayam. We invite a guest for lunch. =
Lunch is over. When the guest leaves  - if we search his pocket to find =
whether he has brought anything for us in return of the lunch we offered =
- that is the same as expecting something from the Lord in return to the =
flowers we offered. Then they are flowers with blemishes.

Let us stick on to "toomalar" in flowers and "ahimsa prathamam pushpam =
....." in our atma gunas.=20

Poomel iruppal vinai teerkkume.=20