Attribute

 

Arjuna asked Lord Krishna to explain His glories and attributes. The Lord replied that they are infinite and cannot be thoroughly described. In Chapter X of the Bhagavad Gita, ‘Manifestations of Divine Glories’, the Lord explains some of His prominent attributes. Valayapettai Sri Ramachariar said in a discourse that this chapter is called ‘Vibhuthi Adhyaya’. The Lord says that of the Adityas, He is Vishnu; of luminous bodies, the radiant Sun; and among the constellations, He is the Moon. He is the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings.

Of the Vedas, He is Sama Veda; of sense organs, He is the mind; of Rudras, He is Sankara; of the Yakshas, He is Kubera (the Lord of wealth); of the mountains, Meru; of generals, He is Skanda; of waters, the ocean.

Of words, He is the single-lettered ‘Om’; of immovable things, the Himalayas; among celestials, He is Narada; of elephants, He is Airavatha.

Of weapons, He is the thunderbolt; of cows, Kamadhenu; of serpents (single-hooded), He is Vasuki; of snakes (with many hoods), He is Anantha.

Of subduers, He is Yama, the God of death.

Of beasts, He is the Lion; and of birds, Garuda. Of moving things, He is the wind; and of rivers, He is the Ganga.

Of letters, He is the letter ‘a’; of mantras, He is the Gayathri; of months, He is Marghazhi; of seasons, He is the season of flowers (Vasantha ruthu); of Pandavas, Arjuna; and of sages, He is Veda Vyasa.

The lord concludes that whatever strength, splendor or energy acquired comes from a fragment of his power.

The lord adorned with tulasi.

In Padma Purana, Lord Narayana says the following are the places He likes to be in: Sri Vaikuntha, Surya mandala, Vedanta, self-manifested kshetras and tulasi. The Lord tells tulasi that anyone who dislikes her is His enemy. If people use tulasi leaves in their daily aradhana, then moksha is guaranteed. Padma Purana says the Lord wore tulasi from head to toe, an honour given only to tulasi, said P.T. Seshadri in a discourse. In Nammazhvar’s Thiruvaimozhi, there is a pasuram which says that He wore tulasi on His shoulders, chest, head and feet.

Nampillai’s commentary says that just as the Lord had great affection for tulasi, likewise, He had great affection for Nammazhvar too. Hence, He showed to Nammazhvar, His divine body adorned with tulasi. Nampillai explains why Nammazhvar gave so many details. Lord Narayana is a mahaveera. To draw attention to His valour, Nammazhvar spoke of tulasi on His powerful shoulders. The chest is mentioned, because Goddess Lakshmi resides there. To show that He is the Paramatma, Nammazhvar said that He wore tulasi on His head. His feet are the refuge of bhaktas. So, He wore tulasi on His feet, when He showed His divine form to Nammazhvar. Verses of the Azhvars can be understood through the commentaries. For instance, when we read Nammazhvar’s pasuram, we might wonder why Nammazhvar spoke of tulasi on His head, chest etc, when he could just have said that the Lord wore tulasi. Nampillai’s commentary throws light on the verse.