Thirumaalai - Part 27

based on the vyakhyanam of Sri Periyavaccan Pillai
by Smt Sumithra Varadarajan

Paasuram-13
eriyuneer veri kol vElai mAnilaththu vuyirgalellAm
verikol poonthulavamAlai vinnavarkOnaiAththa
arivilA manisar ellam arangamendrazhaipparAgil
poriyil vAzh naragamellam pullezhunthozhiyummandrE

eriyuneer veri kol vElai mAnilaththu vuyirgalellAm: Whenever we go near a beach we smell something. This smell never leaves our nose whether we go this way or the other. Similarly we are all held up in the ocean of samsara which makes us run hear and there but never realizes us. This is common to anyone in this world. One more thing is also common to all of us. There is no differentiation for the miseries people undergo in this world. All are held in this samsara similarly all are eligible to do nAma keertanam of bhagavan. Only way to get ourself realized for these samsaric pressures is bhagavan nAma keertanam which can be done by one and all without any caste, creed or gender difference.

verikol poonthulavamAlai vinnavarkOnaiAththa: When we talk of anyone just the name doesn't make us think great of him. We would like to know more of his greatness. Emperuman has so many vibhutis that cannot be explained fully. When arjuna asked Sri Krishna to tell him his greatness, the lord himself says 'hantha!' it is very difficult even for me to say all my vibuthi's. Then a question may arise, we have heard that emperuman is capable of everything and everything is under his control then is there something which he himself cannot do(explain his glories)? The answer is, the limit to a thing can be said only when a limit exists. Can anyone define infinity. No. Emperuman's glories are also infinite and there is no limit to it. So if emperuman gives out his glories then it means his glories have a limit so he says even he cannot explain his vibhuthi's fully. Here alwar points out one of the qualities of the bhagavan. We all like and enjoy various smells in this world. But emperuman is glorified as 'divya gandhan' one who has a divine smell. To add to his natural smell he is adorned by his bhakthas with a tulasi garland. Other flowers give good fragrance only at the time of blossoming. But tulasi has a quality to spread its fragrance all around from the time it starts growing. In our sampradayam, tulasi is considered to be like a mother and great respect is given to her. She is a favourite of emperuman. Others wear diamonds and gold ornaments to decorate themselves and make themselves beautiful. Emperuman being devAdirAjan, king of the devas, it is normal to expect him to be adorned with the most precious ornaments but he prefers to wear only a garland made of green leaf(tulasi). This is because for others the ornaments give added beauty but emperuman gives beauty to the ornaments. That is why the jewellery earlier in the shop when worn by bhagavan gets the name thiruvAbharanam. So no ornaments is required to glorify him. Another thing is if bhagavan likes to wear these precious ornaments then his bhakthas who are poor and not capable of buying such ornaments will feel bad. But tulasi garland can be purchased by all so emperuman prefers to wear only tulasi garland given by his bhakthas with atmost love. Emperuman is not worried about the cost of what we take to his temple rather he values the love behind it.

Here we can get to memory the story of rukmani and satya bama. Krishna sat in one of the plates of a balance. Satya bama kept all her jewels in the other balance. The balance didn't rise. Then rukmani kept just a single tulasi leaf with great devotion in the second side which proved to be even heavier than Krishna. The moral of this story is that emperuman considers all other wealth as cheap articles but values the bhakthi in the hearts of his bhakthas as great gift to him. All other articles where created by him and can be possessed by him but he cannot have bhakthi towards anyone so bhakthi is one thing emperuman adores.

arivilA manisar ellam arangamendrazhaipparAgil: In the previous line alwar explained to all the mandha bhuddhi jeevatmas that there is no use in making grand ornaments and offerings to emperuman without bhakthi. There is no use in doing business even with bhagavan saying that if you do this for me I will make so and so offering to you. It is enough even if you get a small tualsi garland with love and devotion to him. Now he says it is not even necessary for you to take the strain of going to the temple with a tulasi garland, no need of any jnana just say arangan and call him. Emperuman, is no doubt vinnavar kOn, he is paramatma, the king of kings but he is filled with sowlabhyam so he accepts what little we give him and when we call him he comes running to us. Can we imagine such a great person coming running like a servant? Inspite of he doing all these, we still refrain from even calling his name. What a pity! He is ready to do everything for us but we, who can talk all rubbish cannot utter his nAmA? Is it so difficult? When alwar said this, one person asked what will happen if I say the bhagavan nAma so alwar answers,

poriyil vAzh naragamellam pullezhunthozhiyummandrE: All the narakas in this world will become empty. There will be no person who will visit the narakas and hence it will be filled with bushes. All mahatmas and scholars say "lokAsamastA sukuno bhavanthu" and pray for the welfare of the whole world. But even they want one place to get ruined. Even alwars do not want this place to flourish. Do you want to know which place it is? Yes. The naraka. Everyone including each one of us want it to be destroyed. Alwar says the easiest way is, everyone uttering the nAma of bhagavan say ranganatha, aranga once and see the city of naraka filled with only grasses and no one visiting the place.