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thirup pAvai - part 37 - "kathir mathiyam" -

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Sampath Rengarajan • January 14, 1999 


thirup pAvai - part 37 - "kathir mathiyam" -  

Sri ANDAL thiruvadikaLE saraNam

Dear bAgawathAs,

	The word "kathir" represents bAskaran. In  ancient days
when there are no photographs and that many small icons of lord 
are reproduced in mass scale, people used to worship "Sun"  for
the first time in the morning. The aitheeham or belief is  such 
that they are awakening  by looking at the face of the God. Sun 
worshipping  early  in the morning is considered as worshipping 
the God's face. 

	In sanskrit the same patham is  addressed  as  "chandra 
bAskara  varcchasam"  (ie., the one whose face  has the shining 
light such as moon and sun).  The  word "mathi" means moon. The 
word "mathi" also means respect. In  this  context,  the  tamil 
word "mathi" is used to represent the  chracteristics  of moon. 
ie., When the Lord Has the face that is very bright as the  Sun
or "kAthir", HIS holy face is so beutiful as similar to a  full
moon. We already discussed in the earlier parts about effect of
"moon"  on  lovers.  

       It is very common for lovers (in the olden days) who are 
separated by a distance to  look  at the  moon and see the face 
of their lover in the moon itself. The moon  used  to represent  
the moderen  day  "long night phone calls" for the lovers. They 
used to look at the moon and converse as if they are looking at
the face of the lover and talking.  They  also  used  to  get a 
reply from such face  of the moon as if  their lover is talking 
back to them (*). In a  similar way our Lord's  face  appear in 
the moon for those aaychiars as they await HIS arrival for "rAs 
leela". 

	When the Lord's face is appearing as scorching sun  and
threatening his enemies and men sent by Kamsan, HIS face  looks
like a full moon that is sending cool and mesmerizing  rays  to  
those Aaychiars. ie., The same face of the  Lord  also  appears 
with cool and shaded rays emitting out of it as similar to moon.
It  is  not  possible to go near Sun due to its excessive heat. 
But it is a  proven fact that moon is not only approachable and 
enjoyable (Apollos ?). When The Lord's face  is  unapproachable 
and scorching to HIS enemies, HIS face is easily accessible for
darshan  through  HIS divya  mangaLa vigraham of Sri namperumAL 
even in the streets of Srirangam (*).  ie HIS face is so easily
accessible  to  HIS adiyArs such that they can enjoy the beauty 
of this face as similar to the moon that can  be  seen  by  any 
sAmAnyAL in a clear night. The Sun  cannot  be  seen  for  long  
without a Sun Glass or other UV protection device  whereas  the 
moon can be seen by a naked eye  and  as long as one wishes  to 
stare at it in the clear night. ie When kamsAs men  attempt  to
approach HIM, HE appears as a Sun that cannot be seen for those
"boys". But at the same time when in the night  the   Aaychiars 
approach HIM , HE appears as similar to a full moon that can be 
seen and enjoyed by a naked eye as long as one want. 

Sri ANDAL thiruvadikaLE saraNam 
Sampath Rengarajan

note:
(*)
In  Srirangam, our family   have two "ubayams"  as  a  part  of
uabayakArAl for the Lord Sri RanganAtha. One is in  irAppatthu. 
The other one is most enjoyable as well as Sri namperumAL comes
to our house in panguni ! He stays in our house for a few hours
and accepts all upachArams. Isn't it HIS immeasurable sowlabyam 
that HE comes to HIS adiyArs house instead of HIS adoyArs going
to HIM.

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