kanaiththiLang katRerumai

SrI:
SrImatE rAmAunjAya nama:
SrImath varavara munayE nama:

In the twelfth pAsuram, AndAL wakes up a gOpikai, who is addressed as “narchelvan thangAi”. As her name suggests, she is the younger sister of an idaiyan, narchelvan, at thiruAyppAdi. Her brother is referred to as ‘narchelvan’ because he was bestowed with the wealth (selvam) of always being with SrI kannan. In the eleventh pAsuram, katRu kaRavai, AndAL wakes up, “kOvalar tham porkudi”, the glorious daughter of the idaiyan, kOvalan. kOvalan was a cowherd, who in accordance with his varNa and Ashrama performed his duties as kainkaryam(“kaNangaL pala kaRandhu”). In contrast to this, the cowherd, narchelvan, did not perform his karmAs. Since both the performance and non-performance of one’s duties are glorified by AndAL, should one do his karmAs or not? At this point of beautiful contrast that is drawn, a very important aspect of our sampradAya is elucidated.  Below are glimpses of thiruppAvai vyAkyAnam that draw light to this important svApasdEsArtham.

“kanaiththilang…sErAkkum..!”- the cows left unmilked
கனைத்திளங் கற்றெருமை, கன்றுக்கு இரங்கி *நினைத்து முலை வழியே நின்று பால் சோர * நனைத்தில்லம் சேறாக்கும் நற்செல்வன் தங்காய்!*

It is described that narchelvan did not milk his cows when they had to be milked. Owing to this, the cows, feeling heavy, shrieked in distress. When the cows are not milked, both the calves as well as cows feel the pain. In this way, the milk of the cows was not extracted nor was it beneficial for the calves as they were tied up far away from their mothers. But these beautiful cows, imagining that their calves had placed their mouths to drink milk, expressed lots of milk, which flooded the entire AyppAdi, swamping the lands (nannaiththillam sErAkkum). narchelvan had not milked the cows because he always stayed with kannan.
Performance/non-performance of karmAs- the conscience matters
ஸ்வதர்மத்தை  யநுஷ்டிப்பார்களுடைய பெண்பிள்ளையை யெழுப்பிற்று-கீழ்; இதில், ஸ்வதர்மத்தை காற்கடைக்கொண்டவனுடைய தங்கையை எழுப்புகிறது. அவர்களுடைய அநுஷ்டாநமும் இவனுடைய அநுஷ்டாநமும் உபாயமன்று; யாதொன்று உபேயத்தைத் தரவற்று, அதிறே உபாயம். விடச்சொன்னவையும் பற்றச்சொன்னவையும் அன்றிரே உபாயம்; விடுவித்துப் பற்று வித்தவனிறே உபாயம்.

nampiLLai in his vyAkhyAnam for the thiruvAmozhi, “engnganEyO annamIrgAL…” (எங்ஙனேயோ அன்னைமீர்காள்!)explains this concept. Our poorvAchAryAs practiced certain karmAs. However, they did not do so as a means to attain emperumAn. They executed their duties as kainkaryam to emperumAn. There are others who do not follow their karmAs, having surrendered to emperumAn completely, with the intention of incessantly rendering bhagavath kainakryam. It is important to understand that both performing one’s kainkaryam and not performing does not constitute upAyam as it is emperumAn stirring a person one way or the other. Rather than denoting an action (be it anything) carried out by one to attain emperumAn, the word ‘upAyam’, in its real sense, refers to a path that would directly bestow the result (phalam). karma-gyAna-bhakti yOgAs are such that they do not bestow the phalam directly; they depend on emperumAn for the end result. They are referred to as sAdhyOpAyam, i.e. that which is established by the endeavor of the jeevAtmA in contrast to sidhdhOpAyam, i.e. that which is already established (emperumAn). It is the sidhdhOpAya that is emphasized in this pAsuram. The cowherd, narchelvan, giving up all his prescribed duties, had taken complete refuge of the sidhdhOpAyam, SrI kannan emperumAn.

Is renunciation of karmAs faulted?

In AchArya hrudayam, nAyanAr in his sUthram, says “jAthi Ashrama dhIkshaigaLil bhEdhikkum dharmangaL pOlE aththAnichEvakaththil podhuvAnadhu nazhuvum”. jAthi refers to varNa (brAhmaNa, kshatriya, vaiShya, shUdra) and Ashrama refers to the four stages of life (brahmacharya, grahastha, vAnaprastha, sanyAsa). Per shAstra, there are prescribed duties defined for each varNa and Ashrama. For instance, a brAhmaNa should study/recite and teach the vEdAs, perform yagam and assist others in doing yAgam, accept as well as give charity (dAnam); a kshatriya is expected to recite the vEdAs, perform yAgam, give dAnam and protect the country; and so on. Similarly, there are prescribed duties defined for each Ashrama. Given that the duties are unique to each Ashrama, a grahasthan, for instance, does not do what a sanyAsi does and he is not faulted for this. Just as how for a person of one varNa/Ashrama not practicing the duties of another varNa/Ashrama is not faulted, when one understands that the AtmA is the servant of emperumAn and is enlightened with true gyAna, he is not faulted when he does not perform his duties per shAstra. ‘Every rule has an exception’- for a prapannan, dedicated to bhagavath kainkaryam with the understanding that emperumAn is both upAyam and upEyam, he does not incur sin by renouncing his duties (i.e. podhuvAnadhu nazhuvum). It is like “uranguvAn kaippandam pOlE nazhuvum”- like how an item held by a man who has fallen asleep falls off on its own from his hand, the faults of omission go away for a person such as narchelvan who is always with kannan.

vishESha dharma Vs sAmAnya dharama: dasharatha Vs dadhipAndan

sAmAnya dharma and vishESha dharma are similar to what we call the general/common rule and exceptional rule respectively. One can perhaps let go of the sAmAnya dharma but never the vishESha dharma. SrI AyijananyAchAryar explains that dasharatha maharAja followed the sAmAnya dharma of ‘satyam vada’ at the cost of pursuing the vishESha dharma. Long time ago, he had promised kaikEyi of two boons that she could ask from him at any time. At the time SrI rAma’s paTTAbhishEkam was scheduled for the next day, kaikeyi, poisoned by kUni, asked that her boons be granted- she desired that SrI rAma be sent to the forest and bharatha be made the king. SrI AyijananyAchAryar shows that dasharatha pursued the dharma that had to be forgone and had given up the dharma that had be pursued (vida chenra dharmaththai patrinAn, patra chenra dharmaththai vittAn). He protected the sAmAnya dharma of satya vachanam against the vishESha dharma of protecting emperumAn. Our poorvargaL very beautifully explain that dasharathA did not even have the gyAnam of a nAsthikan. mArIchan, a nAsthikan, says “rAmO vigrahavAn dharma:”. He could have told kayikEyi that just as he had given her his word he had likewise given SrI rAma his word, which he cannot go back on. But dasharatha had fallen prey to the AbhAsa vachanam. Our AchAryAs explain that this is wrong. dasharatha, having let gone of the supreme most dharmam, was only granted svarga- the prApyam that had to be forgone. Further, per the shAstrAs, one’s lies are deemed as harmless in certain instances (vivAha kAlE rathi samprayOgE prANa thyayE sarva dhanApahArE mitrasya vha arthEpi anrutam vadEyu: pancha yAhi: apAtakAni). One can lie when dying. Using this dharma to be a loophole, dasharatha could have still lied to protect SrI rAma but he still chose to honor the sAmAnya dharma and hence, attained only svarga.

dadhi pAndan charithram-

Contrasting to dasharatha was the dadhi pAndan in dvApara yuga. Since yoghurt was available in plenty within thiruAyppAdi, dadhi pAndan went out to sell his dairy produces every day. One day, tired in the hot summer, he returned and napped, resting his head on his empty pot. During this time, having stolen butter and subsequently chased by mother yashOdA, kannan went running looking for help. On seeing this old man, kannan requested if He could hide in his empty pot and if he could tell yashOdhai that he was not sure where kannan was hiding. dadhi pAndan agreed to this and did exactly per told to him. Not being able to breathe inside the pot, kannan then requested that He be helped to come out. At this time, surprisingly enough, dadhi pAndan said that he would do so only if he was given mOksha. This cowherd understood that kannan was none but the Supreme Lord but dasharatha, who had seen the young rAma protect vishvAmithra’s yAga, kill the fierce thAtakkai and subAhu, break the mighty bow, etc. could not understand that SrI rAma was the Almighthy. Moreover, dadhi pAndan also demanded that his pot as well as the residents living by his home be given mOksha. The greatness of dadhi pAndan was that he lied to yashOdhai but he did so only with the intention of protecting emperumAn- the vishESha dharma.
narchelvan and lakshmaNa


நல்செல்வன் கர்மத்தாலேயாதல், தேவதாந்தரபஜநத்தாலே யாதல் வரும் ஐச்வர்யம் அந்தவத்தாயிருக்கும்; பெருமாளைப்பிரியாத இளையபெருமாளுடைய ஐச்வர்யம்போலே, க்ருஷ்ணனைப் பிரிய க்ஷமனன்றிக்கே அவனை நோக்குகிற ஐச்வர்யமிறே நிரந்தரஸேவைபோலே நிலைநின்ற ஐச்வர்யம். “லக்ஷ்மணோ லக்ஷ்மிஸம்பந்ந:” கைங்கர்யஸம்பத்திறே இவ்வாத்மாவுக்கு நிலைநின்ற ஸம்பத்து.

As described in periyAzhwAr’s pAsuram, as emperumAn left for the forest every day, he always rested one of his hands on the shoulder of an idaiyan, who was always with SrI kannan and did not worry about his cows. nAyAnAr compares him to SrI lakshmaNa, who went to the forest with SrI rAma and sItai pirAttiyAr. As a kshatriyan, lakshmaNa had to perform his prescribed duties such as performing yAgam, which was only possible with the presence of a wife. Yet, he left behind his wife as such karmAs would impede his rendering of kainkaryam to SrI rAma. He, thus, renounced his sAmAnya dharma to pursue the vishESha dharma of serving the Lord.

mAmunigaL explains- prapannAs still do their karmAs

mAmunigaL explains that there are two who perform karma- the bhubhukshu (who desires material fruits from his activities) and the mumukshu (who desires mOksham). Further to this, the mumukshu is of two-
1) the bhakti niShtan- he performs his karmA as an angam to his upAsana (i.e. he holds karmA as an ancillary activity while bhakti the main). He does not desire aishvaryam.
2) the prapannan- he performs his karmA as kainkaryam unlike the bhakti niShtan and has no interest in any other upAyam other than emperumAn.

While prapannAs need not perform their prescribed duties, they still choose to do them. Should the common men, who confide in the learned, see the prapannAs not do their karmAs, they would resort to the same. Therefore, knowing that the karmAs are not necessary, the prapannAs still continue to do so for the sake of others, who by performing their karmAs go through the purificatory process gradually.  

TRANSLATED from the works of Mūāyirappadi (swAmi Periyavāchchān Piļļai, Ārāyirappadi (swAmi Azhagiya Manavāļā Perumāļ Nāyanār, Irāyirappadi (SrI Ayijananyāchāryar swAmi) and the kAlakshEpams of revered vidvAns.  
  

 AndAL thiruvadiklaey sharanam | emperumAnAr thiruvadikaley sharanam

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