Guest guest Report post Posted March 3, 1995 11/12 chaathuryam ------------------ In this continuing series of twelve posts, twelve of the many guNaas that are innate to Brahman is discussed with illustrations from aazhvaar paasurams. These twelve guNaas demonstrate God's eternal love for us jeevaathmaas. They are sowseelyam, vaathsalyam, maardhavam, aarjavam, sowhaartham, saamyam, kaaruNyam, maadhuryam, gaambeeryam, owdhaaryam, chaathuryam, and sthairyam. The subject of this post is chaathuryam. chaathuryam: deftness in bestowing the blessings we seek from the Lord. Several interesting illustrations are given to describe this guNam. Let me present two. --- vibeeshNan came to Lord raamaa with a wish to surrender to Him. Everyone protested, except of course aancanEyar. Lord raamaa could have simply overruled these objections. That may cause distrust among the rank and file. In stead, Lord raamaa deftly transformed each and everyone of the objectors to heartily welcome vibeeshNan with open arms and friendship. --- Maadhali, indhiran's chariot driver, was looking for a suitable groom for his daughter. He found one, Sumugan, in nagalOkam. But there was a problem. It seems Sumugan was to be garudan's dinner in a month. Undeterred, Maadhali approached indhiran with a request for a small amount of amridham. Unwilling to part with amridham indhiran suggested that Sumugan surrender to the Lord. So he did. A month later garudan went to nagalOkam and demanded Sumugan be brought before him. When he realized what had happened he went straight to Lord vishnu and insisted that Sumugan be handed over to him. The Lord agreed! He handed Sumugan over to garudan, but also commanded garudan to protect Sumugan. Thus, our Lord kept his promise to protect Sumugan and also avoided possible rivalry and quarrel between these two bhakthaas. Here is how thirumangai aazhvaar cites this story and seeks refuge at the lotus feet of Lord Ranganaathaa. nancu sOrvathOr vencina aravam veruvi vanthun^in saraNenach saraNaay, nenciR kondun^in anciRaip paRavaik kadaikkalam koduththu aruLseythathu aRinthu vencolaaLarkaL namanRamar kadiyaar kodiya seyvana vuLa,athaR kadiyEn anci vanthun^innadiyiNai yadainthEn aNipozhil thiruvarangaththam maanE. -- periya thiru mozhi 5.8.4 "nancu sOrvathOr vencina aravam" the snake that is enraged and exuding venom, i.e. Sumugan; "veruvi vanthun^in saraNenach saraNaay," fearful of garudan, took refuge at your lotus feet; "nenciR kondu" determined to protect Sumugan; "n^in anciRaip paRavaikku adaikkalam koduththu," offered him (Sumugan) to your own garudan and commanded him to protect Sumugan; "aruL seythathu aRinthu," aware of this blessing; "vencolaaLarkaL naman dhamar kadiyaar" cruel messengers from Yaman; "kodiya seyvana vuLa," are ready for their vicious deeds; "athaRku adiyEn anci vanthun^innadiyiNai yadainthEn," distressed by this thought I am surrendering at your lotus feet; "aNi pozhil thiruvarangatthammaanE," O!, the Lord of enchanting sri rangam. .... to be continued ---------- This and other posts to follow in this subject are based on the aruL mozhigaL of the 45th azhagiya singar of sri aHObila madam, sri vaN satakOpa sri naaraayaNa yatheendhra mahaa dEsikan, published in sri nrusimhap priyaa starting with bava varusham, chitthirai maasam, (April 1994), and commentaries of aazhvaar prabhandams published by The Visishtadvaita Pracharini Sabha, 27, Venkatesa Agraharam, Mylapore, Madras, 600 004. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
