Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:
Ignorance and Bliss
There are several similarities between the Lord and Tiruppavai.
Firstly, Neither the greatness of the Lord nor the depth of meaning of
Tiruppavai can be fathomed.
Secondly, to the first-rung devotee, the Lord is always ready to bestow all
material benefits upon request. To the Prapanna who looks askance at such
frivolous pleasures, the Lord gives Moksha and Himself too in the bargain.
Similarly, to the superficial student, Tiruppavai does give off beautiful
meanings on a prima facie reading itself. However, to the connoisseur who is
prepared to plumb its depths, Andal's outpouring is full of hidden gems and
pearls, which are available for the mere asking.
Thirdly, the month of Margazhi is dear to the Lord ("mAsAnAm MargasIrshOham")
while Tiruppavai too generates intense interest and in-depth research in
Margazhi.
Fourthly, if Emperuman is acclaimed as the "Veda Mudalvan", Tiruppavai too is
eulogized as "Vedam anaitthukkum vitthu".
Sri Ramanuja was as much enamoured of Tiruppavai as he was of the Lord, which
earned him the title "Tiruppavai Jeer".
One such gem in Tiruppavai, to be discovered by the connoisseur, is to be found
in the pasuram "KaravaigaL pin chendru".
The unlettered cowherds wonder at their enormous good fortune in having Sri
Krishna born into their lowly clan-"arivu ondrum illAda Aykkulatthu un tannai
piravi perum tanai puNNiyam yAm udayOm". They hasten to add "Kuraivu ondrum
illAda GovindA!", clarifying that the Lord's greatness remains undiminished by
His birth and sojourn among the cowherds.
To the general reader, these lines provide a wonderful perspective of the
Lord's accessibility or soulabhyam, His preparedness to go to any lengths to
emancipate errant humanity and His utter disregard for caste, creed, colour,
race and other such fetters, when it comes to taking birth among mundane
mortals ("ennindra yOniyumAi pirandAi imayOr talaiva!"-Sri Nammazhwar).
The GopAs and their women wonder at the incongruity of the omniscient Lord
being born amidst the ignorant and unlettered and His growing up with apparent
enjoyment amidst people unaware of the distinction between their right hand and
the left ("idakkai valakkai teriyAda Aycchiar"). When the Gopis remember the
liberties they had taken with the Lord- abusing Him for stealing butter, tying
Him up to the grindstone, even beating Him up for minor misdemeanors ("Ayar
kozhundAi avarAl pudayuNNum MAya PirAn")-they are awe-struck at their own
transgressions and blame it all on the ignorance of their race ("arivu ondrum
illAda Aykkulam"). Some people are blessed with knowledge in some matters,
though they may not be experts in other fields. However, the cowherds confess
to total ignorance- "arivu ondrum illAda".
The Upanishad says, "avigyAtam vijAnatAm, vigyAtam avijAnatAm". Those who know
that they know not, know all, while those who claim knowledge, are ignorant,
according to the Shruti, which repeats the idea elsewhere too, for good
measure-"yasya amatham tasya matam, matam yasya na vEda sa:".
Going by these standards, the cowherds who know full well that they know not,
that they are completely unlettered and comprehensively ignorant, appear to be
the true knowers. This becomes clear once we delve into the nature of the
ignorance they disarmingly admit to. The following are the types of ignorance
which the Gopis plead guilty of:-
1. Ignorance of other Deities"-The cowherds are firm in their conviction that
all their needs would be catered to by Sri Krishna, and see no need to turn to
any other devata for any purpose. Thus they are true "ParamaikAnti"s, owing
allegiance only to the Lord and to none other. Their simple thoughts are filled
only with Kannan and His doings, and they look to Him and only to Him for
anything and everything they need. Their needs are simple and adequately
catered to by their cattle-wealth. All they need from Sri Krishna is His
bewitching company and blissful presence. They appear to be eminently qualified
to fit the description in the Gita sloka-
"ananyA: chintayantO mAm yE janA: paryupAsatE
tEshAm nitya abhiyuktAnAm yOgakshemam vahAmyaham"
2. Ignorance of other upAyAs: The cowherds know not the intricacies of Karma
yoga, Gnana Yoga or Bhakti yoga. All they know is their Krishna and that He
would take care of them at all times. Such staunch devotion is what
Mahavisvasam is all about. They would never do anything that displeases Krishna
and go all out to conform to whatever He lays down, thus displaying "Anukoolya
Sankalpam" and "PrAtikoolya Varjanam". They unreservedly look to Krishna as
their saviour, thus complying with the requirement of "Goptrutva varaNam".
Their very words admitting their ignorance and incapacity are hallmarks of the
important element of "Akinchanyam". By affirming "unakkE nAm AtcheyvOm", they
categorically perform "Atma SamarpaNam". Thus the "ignorant" cowherds are
Prapatti nishttAs of a very high order, conforming in letter and spirit to the
Lord's homily, "Sarva dharmAn parityajya mAm Ekam sharaNam vraja".
3. Ignorance of other desires: All that these Gopas want is to be of service to
the Lord in this birth and others, and to be close to Him always, without ever
experiencing the pangs of separation. They crave not riches, social status or
glory. Their needs and desires are simple, and revolve totally around Sri
Krishna. This is evident from their ardent declarations-"ettraikkum EzhEzh
piravikkum untannOdu uttrOmE AvOm, unakkE nAm AtcheyvOm". Their overwhelming
desire to perform kainkarya to their dear KannapirAn is displayed in their
entreaty to the Lord not to deny them the bliss of service-
Nee kuttrEval engalaI koLlAmal pOgAdu".
They just do not recognize that there are other desirable goals or
PurushArtthAs, and pray to their Krishna not to make them fall prey to desires
of other types-"Mattrai nam kAmangaL mAttru". These simple souls are true
adherents to Sri Tiruvarangattu AmudanAr's dictum, "KaNNanukkE Amadu kAmam"
(our desires should be directed solely towards attaining the Lord).
We are told that Sri Bhattar, the personification of erudition and devotion,
who joined the ghOshti late one day for the mangalasasanam of Sri Rangaraja,
preferred to take a position opposite to that of the learned Brahmins and at
the tail-end of a line of YadavAs. When members of the ghOshti sought the
reason for this strange conduct, Sri Bhattar is reported to have told them that
he felt the benign glance of Sri Ranganatha was directed not towards the
erudite Brahmin ghoshti performing mangalasasanam in chaste Sanskrit, but
towards the Yadavas who were wishing the Lord well in colloquial language
devoid of hyperbole but rich with devotion.
We often pray to the Lord to give us good thoughts ("nalla buddhi"), to deliver
us from the darkness of ignorance and to "lead kindly light" ("tamasO mA jyOtir
gamaya"). We yearn for our darkened soul to light up with true knowledge.
However, when we consider the state of the Gopas described above and the
indescribable bliss they could attain through such lack of knowledge, we too
feel like praying to the Lord to keep us steeped in ignorance-ignorance of the
right type. It is only now that we realize the true meaning of the adage,
"Ignorance is Bliss".
Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
Dasan, sadagopan.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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