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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

                                  The Shameless Strategy

 

You would have seen a recent TV commercial for a mobile phone, in which a youth 
climbs to the top of a skyscraper under construction and bawls out for all to 
hear, 'Monica! I love you! Please accept me' and so on. Given the large degree 
of exaggeration that characterises all advertisement, I wondered idly whether 
someone would really resort to such tactics to persuade his beloved to accept 
his attentions. All said and done, love is a private matter and none would like 
others to know about it prematurely, till it is confirmed to be a two-way 
affair. However, what can the boy do if, despite his most sincere and 
industrious pursuit, a girl refuses to accept or even acknowledge his 
affections? He can't really throw in the towel and look at other eligible 
females, because his love for this particular girl is really deep and has 
reached a stage where he can't live without her. He has tried all the routine 
strategies for communicating with her, like letters, SMS, messages through her 
friends, etc., but nothing seems to work. It is in sheer desperation, knowing 
not what else to do to win her affections, but convinced that he must do 
something, he climbs to the top of the tower under construction and shouts his 
love for her, literally from the rooftops, so that people who hear his forlorn 
message would perhaps take pity on him and intercede with the girl on his 
behalf, or the girl herself would realise from this shameless act the depth of 
his love for her and would be sufficiently moved to return his affections. 
Whether the strategy succeeds or not is a different matter-but its adoption 
indicates to us the desperation behind the youth's action, the almost suicidal 
sincerity underlying his love and his brazenness in not caring whether the 
entire world knows about his innermost feelings.

 

Given that love is a basic emotion and has been afflicting boys and girls from 
time immemorial, it is no surprise for us to find mention of the phenomenon is 
ancient Tamizh literature. In fact, the type of exhibition youth put on in 
desperation to attract the notice of their beloved, during times past, appears 
to be much more excessive than any even the current day youngsters have come up 
with so far (which is definitely saying something). We are told that in the 
face of a studied silence on the part of their beloved despite all forms of 
entreaties, boys and girls used to forsake food and sleep, tormented by 
constant thoughts of the beloved. They drew a portrait of their darling and 
used to go anywhere and everywhere along with it, gazing at it with adoration 
and yearning.  Friends of the lover used to take him or her in a procession 
through the town, portrait and all, especially through the street where the 
unresponsive beloved resided. At the height of the malady, the boy or girl used 
to fall at the feet of the portrait and even die in the same posture, having 
given up basic life-saving functions like eating, sleeping and bathing.  

 

This type of rather bizarre behaviour prompted by excessive and unrequited 
love, has been given the name Madal Oordal, in Sangam literature. However, 
whatever be the circumstance and however excessive be the emotion, women were 
not expected to adopt such strategies for securing the attentions of their 
beloved. Tiruvalluvar tells us that the ideal girl, whatever be the 
provocation, never resorts to such tactics-

 

'Kadal anna kaamam uzhandum madal era

Pennil peruntakkadu il'

 

The hoary culture of ancient Tamils placed such premium on modesty and 
continence in women, that though society was prepared to countenance bizarre 
behaviour in males, prompted by a surfeit of love, it preferred women never to 
be excessively demonstrative of their affections, even if the separation from 
the beloved were to result in the girl's life being lost. It was alright for 
women to rant, rave or grieve the absence of their beloved, all within the four 
walls of the home, but it was not considered the done thing for females to 
resort to Madal Oordal or similar publicly demonstrative strategies for 
consummating their love.

 

We are therefore surprised to find Sri Tirumangai Mannan, the doyen of Tamizh 
poets and sporting the title Naalu Kavi Perumal, taking a diametrically 
opposite stand vis-à-vis accepted norms of behaviour for Tamizh women. In fact, 
Azhwar quotes these norms and makes fun of such women for not adopting the 
tactics of Madal Oordal. We thus find Azhwar running contrary to Tamizhar 
Panpaadu (Tamizh Culture), not even by oversight, but with studied 
deliberation. Sri Kalian spurns the mores of Tamizh women and prefers those of 
North Indian girls, who are much more venturesome in their endeavours for 
attaining their beloved. 

If you find this hard to believe, here are the poignant words of the 
peripatetic poet Parakala-

 

'Anna nadaayaar alar esa aadavar mel

mannu madal ooraar enbador vaasakamum

ten urayil kettu arivadu undu-adanai yaam teliyom

mannum vada neriye vendinom'

 

'I have indeed heard Tamizh poets pontificate that women of good birth and 
upbringing never resort to Madal oordal for achieving union with their beloved, 
even if the prolonged separation is likely to cost them their lives. However, I 
do not agree with this school of thought and would much prefer to follow the 
models set by Sanskrit literature, where we find such strategies freely adopted 
by women to achieve their ends' says Sri Kalian, in his 'Periya Tiru Madal'.

 

Not content with voicing his disagreement with the Tamizh poets, Sri Tirumangai 
Mannan goes on to make fun of the heroines of these poets, who hold their 
emotions in such tight check that one wonders whether their love is really that 
intense. These girls do not appear to experience any of the torment that 
characterises true and unrequited love. These women very obviously do not 
realise the deleterious effects of cool sandalwood paste (which burns the skin 
instead of cooling it) on those suffering from pangs of separation. They fail 
to feel the sadness that sweet strains of music induce, in the absence of the 
beloved to share them with. They fail to be moved by the mellifluous chimes of 
bells around the necks of mating bulls. The cheery chirping of bird couples in 
the throes of conjugal delight fails to move these southern damsels, whereas 
their northern counterparts would have been tormented at the thought of what 
bliss they too could have enjoyed in the company of their beloved. To sum up, 
Sri Kalian concludes that since these women portrayed by Tamizh poets fail to 
be moved by romantic sights and sounds, their love must be rather shallow.

 

Azhwar prefers to toe the line of other girls acclaimed by Sanskrit literature, 
who are thrilled to the very core of their being by the company of their 
beloved and are pushed to the verge of suicide by separation, displaying the 
unfathomable depths of their emotion for those they love.

He prefers to say with the Divine Couple in Srimad Ramayanam that he would not 
live an hour more, without the precious life partner-'Oordhvam maasaat na 
jeeveyam tam vinaa asitekshanaam' .

 

Sri Kalian's (or the Parakala Naayaki's) words in the two Madals (Siriya Tiru 
Madal and Periya Tiru Madal) drip with romance for the Supreme Being, full of 
bridal mysticism, the pain of parting, sorrow at what he/she is missing, 
longing for reunion with the elusive Divine Lover, determined to attain Him by 
any and all means, even at the cost of  throwing her modesty to the winds (as 
portrayed by the bizarre behaviour of Madal Oordal mentioned above).

 

The Madals represent a radical departure in phraseology and approach, from the 
sedate paasurams of Kalian's 'Vaadinen Vaadi', 'Angan maa gyaalam anja', 
'Virperu vizhavum', etc.---. the latter represent the sober words of an Azhwar 
describing the Lord, His auspicious attributes and exhorting Samsaaris to 
surrender themselves to the Supreme Being. However, the former (Madals) 
represent the uncontrollable outpourings of a lady love longing for union with 
her beloved. The pangs of separation become all the more unbearable and prompt 
shameless behaviour, considering the boundless beauty and auspicious attributes 
of the person sought to be courted. 

 

One may wonder whether such romancing is in tune with Azhwar's avowed objective 
of Bhagavat anubhavam. Normally, when you want to concentrate on the Lord, such 
thoughts prove to be a definite hindrance. However, Sri Kalian's strategy 
appears to be to reserve all such passion solely for Sriman Narayana, in tune 
with Sri Amudanar's dictum-'Kannanukke aamadu kaamam'-love, in all its myriad 
facets, is to be reserved for Emperuman. 

 

If Sri Periazhwar could compose a Pillai Tamizh, placing himself in the 
position of a fond mother to Sri Krishna, Sri Parakala puts himself in the 
position of a lady love pining away for Emperuman, deriving delirious pleasure 
in His company and feeling down in the dumps upon separation. And the depth of 
his love for the Lord is such that he is prepared to adopt any strategy, fair 
or foul, for achieving his object of union with the Ultimate, adhering to the 
maxim 'All is fair in love and war'. And Madal Oordal is perhaps a small price 
Azhwar is willing to pay for the coveted prize of Bhagavat laabham. He cares 
little, like the youth on the tower top described in the opening para of this 
piece, of what the people around him would think of him for adopting such a 
brazen strategy-in this, he follows the precedent set by Sri Parankusa, who too 
is willing to go to the extreme extent of Madal Oordal for attaining Emperuman, 
who is playing truant-'Annai en seyyil en oor en sollil en'. 'Let the whole 
world watch me resorting to Madal: let all the women in the town call me 
shameless and brazen. I care little for all the criticism, as long as I am able 
to win the affections of the Emperuman with the Divine Discus and Cosmic Conch 
adorning His broad shoulders' says Sri Nammazhwar too, from whom Sri Tirumangai 
Mannan appears to have derived inspiration for adopting the Madal route to 
attaining the Lord. Here is Sri Nammazwar's poignant paasuram, contemplating 
resort to the extreme step of Madal oordal-

 

'Yaam madal oordum em Aazhi angai Piraan udai

Toomuruval tondai vaai malar kondu chooduvom

Aamadam indri teruvu toru ayal tayyalaar

Naa madangaa pazhi thoottri naadum iraikkave'

 

The Madals teach us that nothing, but nothing at all is precious, including 
one's self-respect and standing in the eyes of society, when the goal to be 
attained is exalted, being none other than the Paramapurusha. Shedding one's 
ego completely and broadcasting one's love for the Lord from the rooftops is 
not at all unthinkable for Azhwars, who exhort us too to abandon our 
inhibitions and demonstrate our adoration for Emperuman for all to 
see-'Perumayum naanum tavirndu pidattrumin pedamai teernde'

 

Emperuman is said to be accompanied by His two Consorts, Sridevi and Bhoodevi, 
at Sri Vaikunttam. It would appear that in this world too, He had two Mahishis, 
the Paraankusa Naayaki (Sri Nammazhwar) and the Parakaala Naayaki (Sri 
Tirumangai Azhwar), whose love and affection were no less than those showered 
on Emperuman by His Consorts in the Eternal Worlds.

 

Srimate Sri Lakshmi Nrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana 
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

dasan, sadagopan

 

 

 

 

 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






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