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The Matinee Idol

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sadagopaniyengar • September 29, 2002 


                
Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

         The Matinee Idol

 

     "All the world is a stage" said Shakespeare. How true!

Everybody, when you come to think of it, appears to be a consummate actor- he or she plays any number of roles, as son, daughter, brother, sister, student, father, mother, grandparent, teacher, etc. etc.   Additionally, within the same role too, many a time we affect emotions we do not really feel, either out of a desire to please others or for some personal gain. Acting comes naturally to us. It is only to the near and dear that we show our true faces. There is any number of masks people wear out of necessity or convenience- politeness, kindness, etc.  

  It would surprise us to learn that the Lord too is an Actor- in fact, His is the longest innings on the stage. You must have heard of Agatha Christie's "The Mouse Trap" being the longest-played drama. Such plays however pale into insignificance, when we compare the Lord's performance.

"The Lord, an actor!" even if this sounds strange, it is true, and said on good authority.

Swami Desikan, in Sri DasAvatAra StOtram, highlights the Lord's histrionic talents-

"DevO na: shubham AtanOtu dasadhA nirvartayan bhoomikAm

  RangE dhAmani labdha nirbhara rasai: adhyakshitO bhAvukai:".

 

The accomplished actor that He is, the Lord adorns not one but ten roles, totally unlike one another, displaying a kaleidoscope of emotions in each of the avatArAs.

 

"MeenAi AmayAi miga urukkAL koNdu angOr

  kAnAnAr EnanumAi KarkiyAm innum KarvaNNanE" says Sri Nammazhwar , recalling the different roles that Emperuman has enacted with distinction.



The Actors we have come across start as heroes in the prime of their youth, graduate to "father roles" in their middle age, and fade away unremembered and unsung, in their old age. The Divine Actor, however, is ever young ("nitya yuvA") and is always the Hero. The "Silver Screen" throws up actors, some of whom specialise in comedy, some in character roles, while yet others are "action heroes", specialising in rabble-raising fights and stunt scenes. Normally, one specialist actor does not and cannot don the role of another- a comedian will be a failure if he tries his hand at serious action, and vice-versa. Any role, however, is suitable for our Hero, who is an accomplished hand at all types of roles. 

 The roles enacted by the Lord encompass a vast variety-

He has acted as a merciful Prince ("KaruNA KAkutsttha:"), an alms-seeking Pauper (in Vamanavatara),  an unlettered cowherd enamoured of milk and butter, a Teacher of divine secrets (as the "GitAchArya"), as a trigger-happy Rishi (in Sri Parasuramavatara), a blood-thirsty avenger (in Sri NrisimhAvatara) etc. 

 All the nava rasAs find adequate expression in the Lord's inimitable performance as Sri Rama, as the following sloka from Sri Rama KarNAmritam indicates-

"SringAram kshitinandInI viharaNE vIram dhanur bhanjanE

 KAruNyam bali bhOjanE adbhuta rasam sindhou giri stthApanE

 HAsyam ShoorpanakhA mukhE bhayavahE bheebatsam anyAmukhe

 Roudram RavaNa mardanE munijanE shAntam vapu:pAtu na:"

 Romance aplenty is on display during Sri Rama's sojourn in the enchanting forest, in the bewitching company of Sri Mythily. Valour is demonstrated in the mastering of the Shiva Dhanu:.    Marvel is on show when the deep, broad sea is bridged by mere monkeys, with stones and rocks.

Humour is exhibited in the unseemly Shoorpanaka's improbable advances to Sri Rama being rebuffed and her nose being cut-off. Fury and rage are exhibited in the terrible war fought with Ravana, and Tranquility in Sri Rama's interaction with the Rishis of DandakAvanam. Sorrow is on display in Rama's laments upon the abduction of Sita, and elation upon His hearing from Tiruvadi that Janaki was alive and well.

  A drama is never complete without a Heroine. So too, all the Lord's performances are to the accompaniment of a supporting role from Piratti. Says Swami Desikan,

"  yat bhAvEshu prithak vidhEshu anuguNAn bhAvAn svayam bhibhratI

yat dharmai: iha dharmiNI viharatE nAnA Akruti: nAyikA"

 Whatever be the Lord's role, Piratti assumes a complementary part in the play, so that the Divine Couple are never apart. If He plays the Prince Rama, She is the Princess Mythily. If He is cowherd Krishna, she is Nappinnai of Yadava kulam. So much so, even when the Lord takes the form of a BrahmachAri in Vamanavatara        (which does not permit a patnI), Sri Mahalakshmi refuses to leave Her place on the Lord's chest, and has to be hidden by Him with His deerskin.

The Lord's memorable role as a "MOhini" (a damsel of bewitching beauty)- for ensuring that the DevAs alone got access to the nectar (Amritam) from the Milky Ocean- would be remembered for ever. Even today, He does look enchanting when he dons a female role, in "NAcchiAr TirukkOlam". However, when He preened Himself before Sri Parasara Bhattar and fished for compliments, Sri Bhattar is reported to have told Him that though He might dress like Piratti, He could never acquire the look of mercy and compassion that is a natural adornment for Piratti's eyes.

 The Lord puts on makeup too, and sports different hues on different occasions, as the script warrants. Thus He is a golden shade as the Parama Purusha, sapphire blue as Sri Rama, and black as coal, as Sri Krishna. He sports different complexions in different yugAs too, ranging from milky white to jet-black.

 No drama is complete without "Special Effects", those tricks of the theatre, which lend spice to the play. Being a "MAyan", capable of making the impossible happen, the Lord enlivens His plays with several such items, like the bringing on of night in the midst of day (during the Kurukshetra war), growing from a dwarf into the giant Trivikrama in a matter of seconds, instantly transforming the pitiable hut of KuchEla into a sprawling, splendorous palace, etc.

Like a master-Director, the Lord too devotes much attention to casting, and assembles the cast at appropriate locales, well in advance of the shooting. An example of this is to be seen in Sri Ramavatara, when chosen DevAs were made to take birth at Ayodhya, Kishkinta and other scenes of action, even before the Lord took birth as DasaratA's son.

 And now to conclude:     In any well-made film or drama, the dialogues continue to ring in the ears of the audience, for a long time after the performance is over. Similarly, the Lord's dialogues continue to offer us succour even after aeons. Take for instance His dialogue in the Ramavatara-

"SakridEva prapannAya tavAham asmIti yAchatE

  abhayam sarva bhootEbhya: dadAmi Etat vratam mama"

 We continue to recite till date and draw inspiration from this sloka, spoken by the Lord in TrEtA yugA. So too, the Charama Slokas of the Lord, enunciated in the Varahavatara and on the Kurukshetra battlefield, continue to give us solace till today.

 Thus, unlike run of the mill productions, all of the Lord's sterling performances have an enduring message for mankind. Each of His films or dramas has as its ultimate purpose the protection of the pious, destruction of the wicked and reestablishment of righteousness. The only draw back with His films is that they are so few and far-between. 

                       "The End"

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

Dasan, sadagopan.

 

 



 



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