Sri Ranga Divya Dhambathigalin Panguni Uthiuram Thirunaal-- 9th
Day of uthhsavam of Adhi Brhma Thirunaal!
Sri Ranga Divya Dhambathigalin Thiruvadigaley Charanam
--
Dear Srirangangasri members and friends,
My Saashtaanga Namaskaram to Periya perumal and Sri Periya Paratiyaar
I pray to our Nam perumal and Sriranga Naachiyaar to bless all of us with
Prosperity, Happiness, and purify us from all the evil thoughts.
Dear Friends,
Before I start on this sacred narration, I would like to mention ( maybe
repeatedly ) that
the importance of Sri Rangam cannot be told less about. It is said that
Dharmavarman the
chola king, undertook a penance of 18000 yrs in SriRangam as given in the
SriRangam
Mahatmiyam. This Brahmostsavam is said to be celebrated by Lord Sri Rama
himself and 43
also by Brahma and said to be one of the oldest Festival known to man.
It is also said that King Dharmavarman along with Rakshasa Dharmishtan King
Vibhishana together celebrated this festival!.
According to a sloka ..
Kaveri Viraja Seyam Vaikuntam Rangamandiram,
Sri Vasudevo Rangesaha, Prathyaksham paramam patham
Vimanam Pranavakaram, Vedasrungam mahadbhutham
SriRangasayi bhagavan pranavaartha prakasakaha!
Meaning ..
River Kaveri is River Viraja which is a river in vaikuntam.
Sriranga Vimanam is nothing but vaikuntam itself.
Sri Vasudevan is Sri Ranganathan and the Pranavam is Vimanam and the
4 kalasa is equal to 4 vedas and the param is our Arangan.
This is one of the most sacred days of the year for all bhakthas of Sri Ranganathan
& Sri Ranga Nachiar. This is the only day of the year when Namperumal and
NamNachiyar are seen together on the same pedestal. In this article, let us see the
events that take place on this very auspicious day at Srirangam.
Todays article is little lengthier than usual, but please do take some time to go
through this to understand the "saaram" at the end and experience the joy of
Panguni uthiram.
A few days before Panguni Uthram, Namperumal visits Kamalavalli Nachiyar at
Uraiyur. The interesting events taking place on Panguni Uthiram are a sequel to
this visit. Sr Ranganayaki comes to know of His visit to another nachiyar and gets
upset. The dramatic events on the Panguni Uthiram day unfold as Sri
Ranganachiyar vents her anger on Namperumal and how He pacifies her and how
in the end the divya dampathis join together to bless the devotees.
Now, to the actual events:-
Lord Namperumal leaves the kannadi arai on his pallakku to go around the
prakarams of Srirangam. This is the only day in this uthsavam, the Lord goes
around both the Chithra streets (7th prakaram) and the uthra streets (6th
prakaram) of Srirangam.
He is aware of Sri Ranganayaki‟s upset mood. He is planning to pacify her. When
He marches through the streets, He stops at every house asking His bhakthas to
support Him when He faces Sri Ranga Nachiyar. With the temple elephant
(Andal) leading the way followed by the dhivya prabhandha goshti, He enters the 44
temple and walks towards the sannidhi of Thayar after three hours walking around
the prakarams. When Sri Ranga Nachiyar sees Lord Ranganatha coming towards
Her, she slams the door shut. For the next couple of hours, Pranaya Kalagam
Uthsavam (household quarrel between the Lord and His consort) takes place that
is wonderfully enacted by Arayar swamy.. We will see a few points of this divine
quarrel now. All the dialogues between Namperumal and Ranganayaki Thayar
are sent through Arayar swami (for Namperumal) and through Pandari swami (for
Ranganayaki Thayar) and they never face each other during this quarrel.
The Lord pleads and tries to appease Her in vain
She asks Him how He got all the scratch marks on His Thirukkazuthu (neck) and
that why His Thirukkangal (eyes) are so red. She also asks why His Thiruman
kappu and His Thirukkuzal (hair) are all messed up. She also goes on to ask Him
why His Thiruvadharam (lips) are white, why He has kungumappoo (Saffron
powder) all over his Thirumeni (body), His ThiruvadigaL (lotus feet) are
red. Hence, She says that She was very unhappy because He was also late and will
not allow people standing outside to come in and the people inside to go out.
The Lord responds back to each question. Since He is the protector of the universe
(Jagadhrakshakan), He was on His horse the night before fighting against all evil
to protect His devotees and so His eyes were red. His hair locks are all messed up
because of the fierce winds while riding His horse (kuthirai vaganam). His
Thiruman kappu had dissolved because of the harsh sun rays. His lips were white
because He had to fight against the asuras (demons) to protect the thevathas. His
neck was all scratched by thorns while He was riding through thick forests to fight
the Asuras. He continues to say that His legs were red because He had to ride the
horse with His feet in the stirrup and finally He has kungumappoo all over His
body because the Devathas praised Him after His victorious campaign by
showering Him with flowers. Thus, He says that He was late because of all the
battles He had to wage with the Asuras. After the battles, He lost the ring in the
river Kollidam when He was returning. So, He had to get a new ring and some
flowers for Her. This caused Him to be late.
She is still not convinced and She refuses all His gifts and flowers and asks Him to
never come inside and told Him to go back to where He came from (Woraiyur) a
couple of days ago.
Lord Namperumal with a very innocent look replies saying that He doesn‟t know of
a place called Woraiyur and has never been there.
Ranganayaki Thayaar asks the Lord to prove His statements.45
The Lord offers to put His hands in a vessel full of snake, cross any ocean and
offered to promise on His devotees that He has never seen Woraiyur.
Sri ranga Nachiyar is annoyed and states that all His claims are unjust. He, the
one who sleeps on a bed of Adhi Sesha would never be harmed by any snakes. He,
the one who lies in the great milk ocean (ThiruppArkadal) and for whom the river
Yamuna parted to let Him through as baby Krishna will have no problem crossing
any ocean. Also, He, whose lotus feet are sought after by all His devotees would
never be betrayed by them. She instead throws milk, curd, butter and flowers on
Him to get Him out of Her sight.
Lord Ranganatha then says that He has come to meet Her after going through such
difficulties and She is not letting Him in. He says He feels very depressed and
embarrassed as She shut the door in His face. The Lord says – “andha avamanam
umakku andri yamakku illai” meaning “this embarrassment is not for me but for
you.”
Seeing the Lord is feeling very sad, Nammazwaar, acts as the mediator and
approaches Sri Ranganayaki and says that if the supreme Lord and Goddess fight
against each other, then that would be the end of all known universe
(Pralayam). He says that the Lord is for all and She has to understand that He is
sought after by all and so She should be able to let Her Azhagiya MaNavalan go to
His devotees as well. So, He humbly requests that Sriranganachiyar forgive the
Lord and allow Him to enter Her premises.
Goddess Ranganayaki then understands Nammazwars reasoning and commands
Her assistants to let Her Lord inside. She mentions to the Lord that She is letting
Him in because of His Nammazwar‟s words.The Lord entering the sanctum of
Ranganayaki is very auspicious and is known as 1st Akantham (1st of three Divine
Oneness).Ranganatha and Ranganayaki come together and exchange garlands,
Kasturi Thilakam, turmeric and necklaces.
As soon as the door is opened, Lord Azhagiya Manavalan is delighted and rushed
in to be with His consort.
A beautiful scene transpires here. The Lord does not go immediately to our Sri
Ranganayaki sannidhi immediately. But rather goes to the
mudhal mandapam and stands there, as if to ascertain whether our Thayar has
really accepted and forgiven him. So the Lord sends his vastra across to thayar,
which is accept by the Thayar. After this the Lord then directly heads towards and
Thayar Sannidhi and then he seats directly across Sri Ranganayaki Thayar. Now
our Aranganathan looks at our Thayar's eyes directly as if to ask "why did you 46
make me go through this struggle" and Thayar in turn asks him "Why did you go
away without telling me". At this point of time
other than the Sri Ranganayaki's Archakas and our Sriranganathan's Archakas, no
one is allowed to be present.
Thus sweet conversation takes place between our Aranganthan and Ranganyaki
Thayar as it would take place between any husband and wife. After they have
talked for a long time, our Azagiya manavalan asks Thayars permission to go and
complete the Panguni uthram thirunal as several devotees are waiting. But Thayar
replies that how can she let him without having performed any upacharam.
She then gets delicious and sumptuous "Akkara adasil" prepared for him, with
copious amount of milk, rice, dhal ( lentils ) , jaggery and lots pure ghee. Both the
husband and wife sit together and have the delicious "Akara adisil" ! The
happiness of the lord and the thayar can be seen in the eyes of lord who cannot
take his eyes away from the Thayar!
After this beautiful sight, the lord then decides to head towards the beautifully
renovated Panguni Uthram mandapam. As soon as our Azagiya manavalan
reaches the mandapam, our Thayar immediately, but silently and surreptitiously
enters the mandapam as if she doesnt want anybody to talk about or ask her about
what happened!! :)
After this the Lord and Ranganayaki Thayar sit together and give darsanam to
several devotees who have thronged to see them. It has to be mentioned that here
only the thayar is adorned with a garland and not then Lord himself! This is called
the Second Ekantham.
After this both Sri Ranganathan and Sri Ranganayaki Thayar have thirumanjanam
performed, and the lord and thayar look like newly married couple, immediately
after which The chant or the recitation of the Gadhya Thrayam begins. Those
heavenly chants fill the air with beatitude and immense happiness. At this time the
whole srirangam is very festive and people make sweets and savories as if there is
a marraige in their own house.After all, it is a happy and beautiful unification
between the Royal couple!
The Gadhya Thrayam starts with the chant of "Vaikunta Gadhyam" and then
proceeds with the "Sri RangaGadhyam" and at last ends with the beautiful chant of
the
"Sarangadhi gadhyam"!47
After all this, the Lord then requests thayars permission to go and complete the
remaining procession. At this request, our Ranganayaki thayar's face becomes
immediately drops and looks downcast, which indicates her reluctance to part the
Lord at this point of time. But the thayar then mentions that First she will leave
and return back to her Moolasthanam after which the Lord can start. This shows
the patience,forbearance and the humility of our beloved Thayar.
The Lord then starts to leave towards the "Goratham (Chariot), before which the
peeks into Sri Ranganyaki Thayrs sannidhi, as if to take a glimpse of his beloved
wife and say "Bye" before. After this the Lord starts for the procession. This will be
discussed tomorrow.
People, it is well known, how much patience and forbearance and enduring power
that any woman might have. Anywhere in the world an woman has to undergo lot
of troubles and hardships and still puts up a smile to make everyone in her family
happy.
A woman is a mother, a wife, a caretaker of the whole family , teacher to her kids ,
caretaker of the house - all these and also works and earns money! All this clearly
shows the importance we must attach to womanhood. For all those woman in this
world, Sri Ranganayaki thayar and Lord Rangantha will always give inner
strength and shower their blessings, and guide them, maybe they deserve it a notch
more than men themselves! :)
Now, what is the significance of all this drama? All adiyars know that the Lord
and Thayar are above all such domestic quarrels taking place in our lives all the
time. We also know that He is the fountainhead of all things in the universe and
there is nothing like He going after several ladies etc. when He is the Nirguna
Brahmam.
Secondly will Thayar ever quarrel with the Lord?
1. The significance of all this drama is that Namperumal and
Thayar are doing a play act to demonstrate to ordinary mortals like
us how to run the household with harmony in the face of upsets.
They also show the deep love , Daya and kshma true ladies have and
why we have to give the ladies great respect and exalted position in
our society.
In the very beginning let us recall Periyazhvar‟s words;-
“Pathinaram ayiravar devimar pani seyya Thuvarai ennum48
Adil nayakaraki veeriruntha manavalar mannu koil”
Alwar describes Srirangam as the abode of the supreme Lord who had ten
thousand devi‟s (as he married all of them in His Krishnavataram). When he has
already taken ten thousand consorts which Sri Rukmini Devi whole heartedly
accepted, where is the question of getting upset about one Kamalavalli nachiyar?
Andal nachiyar explains:-
“Peyyu ma mukil pol vanna, un pechum seikaium engalai
Maiyal erri mayakka un mukam maya mandiram than kolo”
Heh, dark skinned Lord, your words, acts and your innocent looking face are all
designed to cast a spell over us
The Lord will always cast his spell over His devotees to protect them. And Maya
Jagan Mohini Thayar ably assists Him in his spell!
2. When the Lord knows that Nachityar is upset with him, He is
planning to pacify her indicating thereby that all of us should try
earnestly to take care of the ladies‟ concerns.
3. In this entire drama, what stands out is the “Paraspara
Anyonyam” of the Divya Dampathis. When Thayar is angry Lord
understands and adopts a seemingly submissive posture. And Thayar
relents ven overlooking the fact that it is the only day in a year she is
with Him and He has been to another nachiyar. She sets an example
of kindness and kshma for all the womenfolk.
4. When Thayar allows Him to enter Her Sannadhi, He at first
stops at first mantapam and sends His Vastra to her. He does not
rush in all the way. Thayar also understands His intention and
accepts the vastra. She knows He will be hungry and gets a
sumptuous Akkara Adisil prepared for Him. In these days of hurried
life when both the partners sometime go to work, can you imagine
such understandings? Both dampathis take their food together all
by themselves. Cant you see what message they are givin to our
present generation? All I can ask is at least on weekends, try to
emulate Divya Dhampathis in this respect. The rest of the week
anyway will go to adjust for other people- colleagues, bosses,friends
and even strangers!
5. When the Lord takes leave of Thyar to goon procession to bless
devotees, She silently follows Him so that the devotees do not smell 49
any difference between them! It is truly amazing that Divya
Dhampathis had set examples which are relevant even today!
Haven‟t you seen political candidates‟ spouses showing support no
matter what the differences in camera? But won‟t it be better that
the differences are ironed out truly- as acted out by the Divya
Dhampathis?
6. ParAsara Bhattar salutes their inseparability in two slokams of Vishnu
Puranam:
Nithyaivaisha JaganmathA Vishno: SriranapAyinI
YathA Sarvagatho VishNu: Tadhiveyam Dhvijotthama
devathvedeva deheyam manushayathvecha MaanushI
VishNo: dehanuroopam vai karothyesha aathmanas-tanum
(MEANING):
As a Vibhu, Mahaa LakshmI is never ever separated from Her Lord. She is the
Mother of all the Worlds and their beings. Just as Her Lord is pervasively present
(Vyapthi) everywhere, She is also present everywhere with Him as aNu or Mahath
(atomic size or gigantic size). She assumes the deva svarupam or manushya
svarupam in accordance with the deva or manushya svarupam taken by Her Lord.
She accompanies Her Lord with an anuroopam that corresponds to His roopam.
May the Lord and Thayar bless all devotees with such anyonyam.\
Vachaka Dhosham Kashamikkavaum,
Adeyen Dhasan
Narasimha Bhattar
Day of uthhsavam of Adhi Brhma Thirunaal!
Sri Ranga Divya Dhambathigalin Thiruvadigaley Charanam
--
Dear Srirangangasri members and friends,
My Saashtaanga Namaskaram to Periya perumal and Sri Periya Paratiyaar
I pray to our Nam perumal and Sriranga Naachiyaar to bless all of us with
Prosperity, Happiness, and purify us from all the evil thoughts.
Dear Friends,
Before I start on this sacred narration, I would like to mention ( maybe
repeatedly ) that
the importance of Sri Rangam cannot be told less about. It is said that
Dharmavarman the
chola king, undertook a penance of 18000 yrs in SriRangam as given in the
SriRangam
Mahatmiyam. This Brahmostsavam is said to be celebrated by Lord Sri Rama
himself and 43
also by Brahma and said to be one of the oldest Festival known to man.
It is also said that King Dharmavarman along with Rakshasa Dharmishtan King
Vibhishana together celebrated this festival!.
According to a sloka ..
Kaveri Viraja Seyam Vaikuntam Rangamandiram,
Sri Vasudevo Rangesaha, Prathyaksham paramam patham
Vimanam Pranavakaram, Vedasrungam mahadbhutham
SriRangasayi bhagavan pranavaartha prakasakaha!
Meaning ..
River Kaveri is River Viraja which is a river in vaikuntam.
Sriranga Vimanam is nothing but vaikuntam itself.
Sri Vasudevan is Sri Ranganathan and the Pranavam is Vimanam and the
4 kalasa is equal to 4 vedas and the param is our Arangan.
This is one of the most sacred days of the year for all bhakthas of Sri Ranganathan
& Sri Ranga Nachiar. This is the only day of the year when Namperumal and
NamNachiyar are seen together on the same pedestal. In this article, let us see the
events that take place on this very auspicious day at Srirangam.
Todays article is little lengthier than usual, but please do take some time to go
through this to understand the "saaram" at the end and experience the joy of
Panguni uthiram.
A few days before Panguni Uthram, Namperumal visits Kamalavalli Nachiyar at
Uraiyur. The interesting events taking place on Panguni Uthiram are a sequel to
this visit. Sr Ranganayaki comes to know of His visit to another nachiyar and gets
upset. The dramatic events on the Panguni Uthiram day unfold as Sri
Ranganachiyar vents her anger on Namperumal and how He pacifies her and how
in the end the divya dampathis join together to bless the devotees.
Now, to the actual events:-
Lord Namperumal leaves the kannadi arai on his pallakku to go around the
prakarams of Srirangam. This is the only day in this uthsavam, the Lord goes
around both the Chithra streets (7th prakaram) and the uthra streets (6th
prakaram) of Srirangam.
He is aware of Sri Ranganayaki‟s upset mood. He is planning to pacify her. When
He marches through the streets, He stops at every house asking His bhakthas to
support Him when He faces Sri Ranga Nachiyar. With the temple elephant
(Andal) leading the way followed by the dhivya prabhandha goshti, He enters the 44
temple and walks towards the sannidhi of Thayar after three hours walking around
the prakarams. When Sri Ranga Nachiyar sees Lord Ranganatha coming towards
Her, she slams the door shut. For the next couple of hours, Pranaya Kalagam
Uthsavam (household quarrel between the Lord and His consort) takes place that
is wonderfully enacted by Arayar swamy.. We will see a few points of this divine
quarrel now. All the dialogues between Namperumal and Ranganayaki Thayar
are sent through Arayar swami (for Namperumal) and through Pandari swami (for
Ranganayaki Thayar) and they never face each other during this quarrel.
The Lord pleads and tries to appease Her in vain
She asks Him how He got all the scratch marks on His Thirukkazuthu (neck) and
that why His Thirukkangal (eyes) are so red. She also asks why His Thiruman
kappu and His Thirukkuzal (hair) are all messed up. She also goes on to ask Him
why His Thiruvadharam (lips) are white, why He has kungumappoo (Saffron
powder) all over his Thirumeni (body), His ThiruvadigaL (lotus feet) are
red. Hence, She says that She was very unhappy because He was also late and will
not allow people standing outside to come in and the people inside to go out.
The Lord responds back to each question. Since He is the protector of the universe
(Jagadhrakshakan), He was on His horse the night before fighting against all evil
to protect His devotees and so His eyes were red. His hair locks are all messed up
because of the fierce winds while riding His horse (kuthirai vaganam). His
Thiruman kappu had dissolved because of the harsh sun rays. His lips were white
because He had to fight against the asuras (demons) to protect the thevathas. His
neck was all scratched by thorns while He was riding through thick forests to fight
the Asuras. He continues to say that His legs were red because He had to ride the
horse with His feet in the stirrup and finally He has kungumappoo all over His
body because the Devathas praised Him after His victorious campaign by
showering Him with flowers. Thus, He says that He was late because of all the
battles He had to wage with the Asuras. After the battles, He lost the ring in the
river Kollidam when He was returning. So, He had to get a new ring and some
flowers for Her. This caused Him to be late.
She is still not convinced and She refuses all His gifts and flowers and asks Him to
never come inside and told Him to go back to where He came from (Woraiyur) a
couple of days ago.
Lord Namperumal with a very innocent look replies saying that He doesn‟t know of
a place called Woraiyur and has never been there.
Ranganayaki Thayaar asks the Lord to prove His statements.45
The Lord offers to put His hands in a vessel full of snake, cross any ocean and
offered to promise on His devotees that He has never seen Woraiyur.
Sri ranga Nachiyar is annoyed and states that all His claims are unjust. He, the
one who sleeps on a bed of Adhi Sesha would never be harmed by any snakes. He,
the one who lies in the great milk ocean (ThiruppArkadal) and for whom the river
Yamuna parted to let Him through as baby Krishna will have no problem crossing
any ocean. Also, He, whose lotus feet are sought after by all His devotees would
never be betrayed by them. She instead throws milk, curd, butter and flowers on
Him to get Him out of Her sight.
Lord Ranganatha then says that He has come to meet Her after going through such
difficulties and She is not letting Him in. He says He feels very depressed and
embarrassed as She shut the door in His face. The Lord says – “andha avamanam
umakku andri yamakku illai” meaning “this embarrassment is not for me but for
you.”
Seeing the Lord is feeling very sad, Nammazwaar, acts as the mediator and
approaches Sri Ranganayaki and says that if the supreme Lord and Goddess fight
against each other, then that would be the end of all known universe
(Pralayam). He says that the Lord is for all and She has to understand that He is
sought after by all and so She should be able to let Her Azhagiya MaNavalan go to
His devotees as well. So, He humbly requests that Sriranganachiyar forgive the
Lord and allow Him to enter Her premises.
Goddess Ranganayaki then understands Nammazwars reasoning and commands
Her assistants to let Her Lord inside. She mentions to the Lord that She is letting
Him in because of His Nammazwar‟s words.The Lord entering the sanctum of
Ranganayaki is very auspicious and is known as 1st Akantham (1st of three Divine
Oneness).Ranganatha and Ranganayaki come together and exchange garlands,
Kasturi Thilakam, turmeric and necklaces.
As soon as the door is opened, Lord Azhagiya Manavalan is delighted and rushed
in to be with His consort.
A beautiful scene transpires here. The Lord does not go immediately to our Sri
Ranganayaki sannidhi immediately. But rather goes to the
mudhal mandapam and stands there, as if to ascertain whether our Thayar has
really accepted and forgiven him. So the Lord sends his vastra across to thayar,
which is accept by the Thayar. After this the Lord then directly heads towards and
Thayar Sannidhi and then he seats directly across Sri Ranganayaki Thayar. Now
our Aranganathan looks at our Thayar's eyes directly as if to ask "why did you 46
make me go through this struggle" and Thayar in turn asks him "Why did you go
away without telling me". At this point of time
other than the Sri Ranganayaki's Archakas and our Sriranganathan's Archakas, no
one is allowed to be present.
Thus sweet conversation takes place between our Aranganthan and Ranganyaki
Thayar as it would take place between any husband and wife. After they have
talked for a long time, our Azagiya manavalan asks Thayars permission to go and
complete the Panguni uthram thirunal as several devotees are waiting. But Thayar
replies that how can she let him without having performed any upacharam.
She then gets delicious and sumptuous "Akkara adasil" prepared for him, with
copious amount of milk, rice, dhal ( lentils ) , jaggery and lots pure ghee. Both the
husband and wife sit together and have the delicious "Akara adisil" ! The
happiness of the lord and the thayar can be seen in the eyes of lord who cannot
take his eyes away from the Thayar!
After this beautiful sight, the lord then decides to head towards the beautifully
renovated Panguni Uthram mandapam. As soon as our Azagiya manavalan
reaches the mandapam, our Thayar immediately, but silently and surreptitiously
enters the mandapam as if she doesnt want anybody to talk about or ask her about
what happened!! :)
After this the Lord and Ranganayaki Thayar sit together and give darsanam to
several devotees who have thronged to see them. It has to be mentioned that here
only the thayar is adorned with a garland and not then Lord himself! This is called
the Second Ekantham.
After this both Sri Ranganathan and Sri Ranganayaki Thayar have thirumanjanam
performed, and the lord and thayar look like newly married couple, immediately
after which The chant or the recitation of the Gadhya Thrayam begins. Those
heavenly chants fill the air with beatitude and immense happiness. At this time the
whole srirangam is very festive and people make sweets and savories as if there is
a marraige in their own house.After all, it is a happy and beautiful unification
between the Royal couple!
The Gadhya Thrayam starts with the chant of "Vaikunta Gadhyam" and then
proceeds with the "Sri RangaGadhyam" and at last ends with the beautiful chant of
the
"Sarangadhi gadhyam"!47
After all this, the Lord then requests thayars permission to go and complete the
remaining procession. At this request, our Ranganayaki thayar's face becomes
immediately drops and looks downcast, which indicates her reluctance to part the
Lord at this point of time. But the thayar then mentions that First she will leave
and return back to her Moolasthanam after which the Lord can start. This shows
the patience,forbearance and the humility of our beloved Thayar.
The Lord then starts to leave towards the "Goratham (Chariot), before which the
peeks into Sri Ranganyaki Thayrs sannidhi, as if to take a glimpse of his beloved
wife and say "Bye" before. After this the Lord starts for the procession. This will be
discussed tomorrow.
People, it is well known, how much patience and forbearance and enduring power
that any woman might have. Anywhere in the world an woman has to undergo lot
of troubles and hardships and still puts up a smile to make everyone in her family
happy.
A woman is a mother, a wife, a caretaker of the whole family , teacher to her kids ,
caretaker of the house - all these and also works and earns money! All this clearly
shows the importance we must attach to womanhood. For all those woman in this
world, Sri Ranganayaki thayar and Lord Rangantha will always give inner
strength and shower their blessings, and guide them, maybe they deserve it a notch
more than men themselves! :)
Now, what is the significance of all this drama? All adiyars know that the Lord
and Thayar are above all such domestic quarrels taking place in our lives all the
time. We also know that He is the fountainhead of all things in the universe and
there is nothing like He going after several ladies etc. when He is the Nirguna
Brahmam.
Secondly will Thayar ever quarrel with the Lord?
1. The significance of all this drama is that Namperumal and
Thayar are doing a play act to demonstrate to ordinary mortals like
us how to run the household with harmony in the face of upsets.
They also show the deep love , Daya and kshma true ladies have and
why we have to give the ladies great respect and exalted position in
our society.
In the very beginning let us recall Periyazhvar‟s words;-
“Pathinaram ayiravar devimar pani seyya Thuvarai ennum48
Adil nayakaraki veeriruntha manavalar mannu koil”
Alwar describes Srirangam as the abode of the supreme Lord who had ten
thousand devi‟s (as he married all of them in His Krishnavataram). When he has
already taken ten thousand consorts which Sri Rukmini Devi whole heartedly
accepted, where is the question of getting upset about one Kamalavalli nachiyar?
Andal nachiyar explains:-
“Peyyu ma mukil pol vanna, un pechum seikaium engalai
Maiyal erri mayakka un mukam maya mandiram than kolo”
Heh, dark skinned Lord, your words, acts and your innocent looking face are all
designed to cast a spell over us
The Lord will always cast his spell over His devotees to protect them. And Maya
Jagan Mohini Thayar ably assists Him in his spell!
2. When the Lord knows that Nachityar is upset with him, He is
planning to pacify her indicating thereby that all of us should try
earnestly to take care of the ladies‟ concerns.
3. In this entire drama, what stands out is the “Paraspara
Anyonyam” of the Divya Dampathis. When Thayar is angry Lord
understands and adopts a seemingly submissive posture. And Thayar
relents ven overlooking the fact that it is the only day in a year she is
with Him and He has been to another nachiyar. She sets an example
of kindness and kshma for all the womenfolk.
4. When Thayar allows Him to enter Her Sannadhi, He at first
stops at first mantapam and sends His Vastra to her. He does not
rush in all the way. Thayar also understands His intention and
accepts the vastra. She knows He will be hungry and gets a
sumptuous Akkara Adisil prepared for Him. In these days of hurried
life when both the partners sometime go to work, can you imagine
such understandings? Both dampathis take their food together all
by themselves. Cant you see what message they are givin to our
present generation? All I can ask is at least on weekends, try to
emulate Divya Dhampathis in this respect. The rest of the week
anyway will go to adjust for other people- colleagues, bosses,friends
and even strangers!
5. When the Lord takes leave of Thyar to goon procession to bless
devotees, She silently follows Him so that the devotees do not smell 49
any difference between them! It is truly amazing that Divya
Dhampathis had set examples which are relevant even today!
Haven‟t you seen political candidates‟ spouses showing support no
matter what the differences in camera? But won‟t it be better that
the differences are ironed out truly- as acted out by the Divya
Dhampathis?
6. ParAsara Bhattar salutes their inseparability in two slokams of Vishnu
Puranam:
Nithyaivaisha JaganmathA Vishno: SriranapAyinI
YathA Sarvagatho VishNu: Tadhiveyam Dhvijotthama
devathvedeva deheyam manushayathvecha MaanushI
VishNo: dehanuroopam vai karothyesha aathmanas-tanum
(MEANING):
As a Vibhu, Mahaa LakshmI is never ever separated from Her Lord. She is the
Mother of all the Worlds and their beings. Just as Her Lord is pervasively present
(Vyapthi) everywhere, She is also present everywhere with Him as aNu or Mahath
(atomic size or gigantic size). She assumes the deva svarupam or manushya
svarupam in accordance with the deva or manushya svarupam taken by Her Lord.
She accompanies Her Lord with an anuroopam that corresponds to His roopam.
May the Lord and Thayar bless all devotees with such anyonyam.\
Vachaka Dhosham Kashamikkavaum,
Adeyen Dhasan
Narasimha Bhattar
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