Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra
Mahadesikaya nama:
The Swansong
Each being in the wonderful Lord’s creation is endowed with a special
characteristic, setting it apart from others. Man, for instance, has the gift
of intelligence and reasoning. Dogs are known for their unflinching loyalty and
cats for their loving nature. The horse is almost a byword for strength and the
elephant for hugeness. When you search for something, which could almost
single-handedly signify beauty and grace, you have to necessarily plump for the
Swan. It may have its competitors, but in the context for breathtaking beauty
and captivating grace, it is the Swan which wins hands down. Ornithologists
tell us that seven species of swans exist: Whooper, Trumpeter, Tundra, Mute,
Black-necked, Black and Coscoroba. The most commonly seen member of the family
is the Mute Swan, an enormous, all-white bird with the pinkish bill that ends
in a black knob. The curving neck of the Mute Swan has the most neck vertebrae
(23) of any bird.
Apart from its other distinctions, the Swan also figures quite prominently in
the scripture.
The moment we think of a Swan, what comes to our mind is its proverbial
capacity for separating milk from water. We are told that the beautiful bird
has the astonishing capability of imbibing only milk and casting aside water,
when diluted milk is placed before it. It would appear as though the Swan has
an inbuilt lactometer, enabling it to gauge the milk content of the liquid and
to separate milk from water. This trait of the Swan makes it an ideal example
for all those who have the knack of separating wheat from chaff and the
essential from the non-essential.
Knowledge and wisdom are vast oceans. Even if one has the aptitude and industry
for imbibing everything, the time at one’s disposal, consisting of life’s
productive years, is extremely limited. We should hence learn to isolate and
absorb the quintessential, from a mixture of good and bad, casting aside the
inconsequential, say the Shastras, holding out the Swan’s conduct as a shining
example—
”Alpascha kaala: bahavascha vighnaa: yat saarabhootam tat upaadadheeta
Hamso yathaa ksheeram ivaambu mishram”
Having been brought up in cities, many of us might not have seen Swans at all,
except in zoos. Those who have would recollect its long and extremely graceful
neck. More graceful is its gait—so much so that poets unfailingly plump for the
Swan as a simile, when they want to describe a damsel’s poise and elegance. The
Swan is never in a hurry and moves slowly but gracefully, says Sri
Nammazhwar—“men nadaya annangaal!”. And true to its soft nature, the bird
prefers a bed of flowers for the night and is up and about much before sunrise,
we are told by Sri Tondaradippodi—“ezhundana malaranai palli kol annam”. In
passing, Azhwar also comments on the bird’s extremely beautiful plumage, which
it shakes to get rid of dewdrops—“ een pani nanainda tan irum siragu udari”.
The Swan is reputed to be a spotless bird, with a breathtakingly white plumage.
It is the apparent embodiment of Sattvam and inhabits only pure environs, we
are told. It will never set foot in muddy waters, says a poet—“na badhnaati
ratim hamsa: kadaachit kardamaambhasi”. The Kishkindha Kandam of Srimad
Ramayanam paints a striking portrait of a sleeping Swan, floating in the clear
waters of a lake, surrounded by water lilies—
“suptaika Hamsam kusumai: upetam mahaa hradasttham salilam vibhaati
ghanai: vimuktam nisi poorna chandram taara ganaakeernam iva antariksham”
The Swan is thus compared to the glorious full moon inhabiting a clear sky
bereft of even a puff of cloud and surrounded by a bevy of splendorous stars.
The Swan appears to be Sri Valmiki’s favourite object of comparison and again
serves as a simile for the moon, this time in Sundara Kandam. The Full Moon
radiates splendour, shining milky-white in the sky like a superior conch,
resembling a graceful Swan in majestic progress across a lotus pond—
“Shankha prabham ksheera mrinaala varnam udgacchamaanam vyavabhaasamaanam
dadarsa Chandram sa Kapi praveera: poplooyamaanam saraseeva Hamsam”
One would be inclined to think that apart from its looks, the Hamsam is also
endowed with good communication faculties, from the way poets invariably choose
it as the messenger, bearing romantic messages between lovers separated by a
distance. The Swan is indeed a “Doota” par excellence—this is clear from the
Naishada Kaavyam, where it dons this role in conveying Damayanti’s feelings to
Nala Maharaja and vice versa. Our own Swami Desikan has employed the Swan to
telling effect as a messenger between Sri Raghava and Sri Mythily, in his
exquisite kaavyam, “Hamsa Sandesam”. Beside Himself with grief at the
separation from His Princess, Chakkravartthi Tirumagan chooses the Swan for
conveying His feelings to Sri Janaki. In the process, Swami Desikan furnishes
beautiful descriptions of several divyadesams lying in the Swan’s flight path.
What is the qualification that these birds possess, for serving as couriers
between lovers? They are eminently aware, from their own experience, of the
intense pleasure that lovers derive from each other’s company and the
unbearable pain that is occasioned by separation from each other. And being
conscious of this, the Swans themselves are enviously together always— “idaril
bhogam moozhgi inaindu aadum annangaal!” “toovi ser annam tunyaodu punarum
soozh punal Kudandai”. It is this sensitivity of Swans to lovers’ pangs of
separation, which makes them excellent messengers. All this is inferred from
Sri Nammazhwar’s pauram, “unartthal oodal unarndu udan meyum mada annangaal!”.
Modern Ornithologists confirm that Swans generally mate for life. They remain
together throughout the year and keep their young with them until they nest
again. If one of a pair dies, the survivor usually takes a new mate and
remains devoted.
By all accounts, the Swan is indeed an exalted creature. This is further
evident from the fact that the Lord chose the species for taking an Avataram.
The Hamsavatara episode is similar to that of several other avatarams. Here
too, the Lord rescued the Vedas from the clutches of asuraas Madhu and Kaitapa
and restored them to the four-headed Brahma, who was totally blinded and unable
to carry on the process of Creation, without the Vedas. Emperuman, as a Divine
Swan, imparted the wisdom of the Vedas to Brahma, thus restoring his creative
powers. The principal mission of the Hamsavatara was thus the propagation of
the Shruti and Shastras, as can be divined from Azhwar sreesooktis—“Annamaai
nool payandaan” “Annamadaai irundu angu ara nool uraittha” etc. The Hamsam is
honoured thus, not only by Emeperuman but also by our venerated Acharyas, who
carry the bird in their names. Belonging to the class of Sanyasis known as
“Parama Hamsa”, all our Acharyas automatically inherit the
title of their lineage.
Additionally, Sri Nammazhwar is reputed to have sported a signet ring on his
fingers, with the figure of a beautiful Swan embossed it. Around seven hundred
years ago, Azhwar Tirunagari was over run by people of other faiths, who
ransacked the Adinatha Perumal Sannidhi, plundered its wealth and converted it
into a temple of their own faith. Not content with all this sacrilege, they
also threw Sri Nammazhwar’s vigraham into a deep lake, convinced that the
removal from the scene of this icon symbolising Sri Vaishnavism would
effectively put an end to the tenet. However, the Lord sent a rescue party in
the form of Sri Satakopa Jeeyar, the revered founder of Sri Ahobila Mutt.
Distressed at the happenings, the Acharya meditated upon the Azhwar just as Sri
Madhurakavi did. Having learnt of the whereabouts of the Azhwar’s vigraham
through his penance, Jeeyar delved deep into the lake, rescued the arccha
moorthy and re-established Azhwar in all his original splendour at his
sannidhi. Pleased at Jeeyar’s kainkaryam, Sri Nammazhwar gifted the Acharya
with his Hamsa Mudra. This is recorded in the Vaazhi Tirunaamam of the
Jeeyar—“Azhwar tan kripayaale Hamsa mudrayon vaazhiye”. It is noteworthy that
even after six hundred and odd years, this holy Hamsa Mudra or signet ring is
preserved with reverence and worn by Srimad Azhagiasingars of Ahobila Mutt, on
ceremonious occasions.
The fourth chapter of the Cchaandogya Upanishad recounts the story of two Hamsa
Pakshis, named Bhalla and Bhallaaksha, who were instrumental in Emperor
Jaanashruti gaining the knowledge that matters. Jaanashruti was a renowned
ruler, wealthy beyond imagination. All his wealth was spent on feeding the poor
and on other socially productive activities. Though the Emperor was well
informed in the Shastras, he neglected self-inquiry and knew not anything about
the Ultimate and ways to realise it. Two Maharshis, concerned for the good
Emperor who was frittering his life away without acquiring the wisdom that
mattered, took the form of two Swans and flew over Jaanashruti, talking to each
other. The Emperor, who listened to the conversation, was taken aback. Said the
first Swan to the other—“Take care to fly such that your shadow doesn’t fall
over Jaanashruti Maharaja!”. The second Swan remarked disparagingly, “What can
happen if my shadow does fall on him? Is he a Brahma Gnaani lik
e Raigva? I am not prepared to accord undue honour to a mere Maharaja, who is
devoid of any Atma gnaanam!” (Shastras tell us that we must not let our shadow
fall on Bhagavatas and Acharyas). Stung by the second Swan’s cruel comment,
Jaanashruti sought out Raigva, propitiated the Maharshi with his sincerity of
purpose and imbibed from him knowledge about the Brahmam and the strategies for
realising the same.
The English Idiom pays the ultimate tribute to the Swan, by calling the magnum
opus of a person, the crowning glory of his life’s work, his last act of
distinction, as a Swansong. Though the Swan is not renowned for the melody of
its voice, unlike the Koel or nightingale, the fact remains that the final
performance of an artiste, into which he or she naturally puts in his best, is
known as a Swansong. This, by itself, is evidence of the regard with which even
the secular world treats the bird.
I feel this piece is now long enough. Lest readers call upon me to treat this
as my Swansong, I shall end here and now.
Srimate Sri LakshmmiNrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta
Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
dasan, sadagopan
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