Search:
Bhakti List Archives

Re: worship of Srivaishnava purvArcharyas (was kamba rAmAyanam)

From the Bhakti List Archives

Visu9 • November 22, 2002 


 /Om namO nArAyaNAya |
 
 /namaskArams to all members.
 
There are so may postings so sure of non-worship of Lord /SivA. I am not sure that in the light of statements made by no less an /AzvAr than /nammAZvAr, it is possible to make definite statements about the so-called other deities.
 
Here is a /pAcuram from /nammAZvAr, which is beautiful in its humble approach to a complex subject. Please note that no conclusive statement is made other than the fact that the Lord is truly mysterious. Notice also the employmnet of a specific neutral word like /kaNNan to denote the Supreme Being. (/kaNNan is not /rAman, or vishNu in its meaning. It is neutral in the sense that it is specific to Lord /krushNA. It means darling or pupil of the eye.)
 
/oLir/maNi vaNNan enkO;
 
 /oruvan enR/Etta ninRa;
 
 /naLir/mati caTayan enkO;
 
 /nAn/mukak kaTavuL enkO;
 
 /aLi/makiZ t/ulakam ellAm;
 
 /paTaittavai Etta ninRa;
 
 /kaLi/malar tuLavan emmAn;
 
 /kaNNanai mAyanEyE ||
 
 Meaning: /nammAZvAr is in a dilemma. Sure, God is One and Only One. As the One God, He needs to be Praised. : /2nd line: /oruvan enRu Etta ninRa. 
 
/nammAZvAr has chosen to praise Lord /kaNNan, the Mysterious /mAyOn. Last line: /kaNNanai /mAyanaiyE. The /AzvAr is wanting to praise the Mysterious /kaNNan as the One and Omly One God. 
 
But how to address this mysterious Lord? /enkO? The word is used three times.
 
Shall I address this Supreme Lord as the Colorful Effulgent /maNi/vaNNan? First line: /oLir/maNi vaNNan enkO?
 
Or, shall I address this Supreme Lord as /naLir/mati caTayan --- the Lord Who is adorned with the delicate /cantiran in His matted Locks? Third line: /naLir/mati caTayan enkO?
 
Or, shall I address Him as the Four-Faced Lord /brahmA? Fourth line: /nAn/mukak kaTavuL enkO?
 
So in the face of this dilemma, what can the /AzvAr say? He knows what matters!
 
 All I know is that all created beings (/paTattavai) of all the worlds rejoice in singing the praise of the Lord. Like beetles droning, all created beings praise Him with Joy. Fifth line: /aLi/makiZ t/ulakam ellAm paTaittvai Etta/ninRa; It is implied that the name does not matter. All worship is to the Supreme Being, no matter what the name is. It is the spirit of joy and praise that counts. 
 
Oh, Our Lord, Who is truly pleased with the /tuLaci leaves, the Lord of /tuLaci, is truly Mysterious. Penultimate line: /kaLi/malar tuLavan emmAn;
 
 The /pAcuram speaks to the point. The sharpness of the meaning of the poem reminds one of an incident in the life of the young Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi. 
 
 Gandhi was already on his way to a relentless pursuit of God in action in life. He had already began his experiments with God as Truth. This meant Gandhi was harsh on himself and his immediate family and friends. That is, he demanded of them a standard of personal and public conduct that was higher from normal behavior by several orders of magnitude. His harshness and his love for his friends had a mixed effect on his friends. 
 
 Once unable to take any more of Gandhi's unceasing and seemingly difficult demands, a friend (it may be Mr. Kalenbach, I am not sure) wrote him a letter and delivered it personally to Gandhi. He asked Gandhi to read the letter. The person apparently wanted to test Gandhi and had called him all names. It was written in a harsh debilitating language. 
 
The letter was several pages long. The author had compiled all minute details of Gandhi's harshness and what to the author appeared to be a kind of egoism. The writer was expecting Gandhi to explode in anger. 
 
 In those days, there were no stapler or staples. A document of several pages was usually held together by a pin with a head called /kuNt/Uci in /tamiZ. Since this defiling letter was several pages long, the sheets were held in place by a /kuNT/UCi (a pin). 
 
 Gandhi took the time and read the letter from the beginning to the end, while the person was still waiting. When he had finished reading the letter, Gandhi very carefully unhooked the /kuNT/Uci and saved it for later use. Then he folded the letter into a quarter of the original size, and threw it away. 
 
 The writer was astonished at Gandhi's reaction. So he asked Gandhi, "So what do you think?". To which Gandhi replied that he had already saved the most important message of the letter for later use and smiled. Gandhi was very famous for his captivating smile! 
 
 The writer was disarmed! 
 
 The same can be said of the /pAcuram. It just disarms any 
 argument on the name of the Supreme Being! 

It is never too much to remind ourselves of this majestic /pAcuram. 
 
 /nalan/tarum collai nAn kaNTu/koNtEn; nArAyaNa ennum nAmam.
 
 /anpuTan, visu


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