SrI:
SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:
Dearest all,
So… we are all suffering in samsaaric afflictions; We are all suffering in
karmic diseases
We are accumulating karmas and are committing knowingly and unknowingly many
paapms, and sometimes [without our knowledge] puNyam also:-)
What is the remedy for all this suffering? Is it our destiny that we need to be
born again and again like this? With the karma getting piled up and accumulated
to the tons that are already stored.
Who will remove? Who will cure our disease? Who has the meicicne? Who is the
Doctor? How will we know?
Here is what our Sri Sadagopan Iyengar swami of Coimbatore wrote on Divine
Doctor… and divine drug..- amazing and brilliant write up- as usual from the
pen [nay, fingers] of Sri Sadagopan Iyengar Swami. I thank him profusely for
his permission to refer to this here.
Quote:
Doctors (with due apologies to the bhagavatas who belong to the profession) are
not a species one loves. One goes to them reluctantly, when one can’t help it.
This dislike is perhaps ingrained in us right from childhood, when, in a bid to
ensure our obedience, parents often hold out the Doctor as a bogey, who will
punish us with bitter pills and painful injections.
And when we grow up, we find nothing endearing about Doctors, whose avocation
has become as commercial as any other. The Doctor we shall be considering in
this essay is quite different- He is eminently lovable, His love and concern
for our well being know no bounds,
His fees are never exorbitant, and His cures permanent. Eager to get
acquainted Please do read on.
We tend to patronize a doctor only if our friends or relatives recommend him,
as no one would like to entrust their health to strange hands. The Doctor we
are about to consider comes quite highly recommended, by none other than Sage
VyAsA-
shareerE jarjaree bhootE vyAdhi grastE kaLEbarE
oushadham JAnhavI tOyam, vaidyO NarayanO Hari:
When the body is weak and old, or beset with innumerable diseases, the only
medicine to make it well is the water of the Holy GangA, and the only Doctor to
go to is Sriman Narayana., says Sri Krishna
DvaipAyanA Vyasa. This is his considered opinion, after analysing the import of
all Vedas and other Shastras, not once but repeatedly
(Alodya sarva shAstrANi, vichArya cha puna:puna:- idam Ekam sunishpannam ). The
name Hari: appended to the word Narayana: in the
sloka is significant- it means destroyer ( Harim harantam says the Taittiriya
Aranyaka too)- Hari destroys disease.
The treatment we obtain at the hands of human Doctors provides relief, which
may or may not be permanent. Not infrequently, the treatment one undergoes for
a disease will, by itself, give rise to quite another disease (in what is
euphemistically called a side effect ). But Doctor Hari destroys the root of
disease, making it impossible for that disease or any of its clan to raise its
ugly head again. No wonder the Vishnu Sahasranamam calls Him, Vaidya: and
again, Bhishak.
Some doubting Thomases are not satisfied with a single opinion- they will
inquire with at least a dozen people, to satisfy themselves that the Doctor
they have chosen is indeed efficient and effective. So, for those who are not
content with the well-researched findings of Sage Vyasa, here is corroboration
from Sri Periazhwar-
erutthu kodi udayAnum Piramanum Indiranum matrum
oruttharum ip piravi ennum nOikku marundu aRivArum illai
marutthuvanAi nindra MamaNi VaNNA ! maRu piRavi tavira
Tirutthi un kOil kadai pugappei, TirumAlirum SOlai endAi
The disease Azhwar seeks relief from is indeed a chronic one, considered
incurable by other famous Doctors, with a considerable practice, like Rudra,
Brahma and Indra.
Sri VishnuchitthA seeks a cure for the unending cycle of births and deaths,
which afflicts us throughout our sojourn on this earth, in various
incarnations- a permanent cure, so to say, from disease of all types. Convinced
of the inability of other physicians to offer a cure for this endemic
affliction, Sri Periazhwar chances upon the
Physician of all Physicians, KaLvan of TirumAlirumSOlai, and prays to Him for
everlasting cure. Here, though it is heretic to tamper with Azhwar s
sreesookti, adiyen would like to slightly realign the third line of the
aforesaid pasuram to MA MarutthuvanAi nindra MaNivaNNA , (shifting the
position of the adjective MA ) which indicates Emperuman s supremacy in
providing cures to incurable ills.
Once the Azhwar finds refuge at the Lord s lotus feet, he is emboldened to cry
out to diseases, Oh Diseases! Don’t you dare come near me! Entry into this body
is banned for you. The mighty Lion God Nrsimha, capable of destroying you all
instantly, resides in this body.. So don't you ever dream of troubling me
again.
mangia valvinai nOigAl umakkum Or valvinai kaNdeer
ingu pugEnmin pugEnmin- eLidu andru kaNdeer pugEnmin
SingappirAn avan emmAn sErum tirukkOil kaNdeer
Azhwar s conviction is reflected in the thrice-repeated admonition to maladies-
PugEnmin (Enter Not ).
Emperuman's fame as a peerless Physician is brought to the fore in His avatara
as Dhanvantari , the preceptor of AyurvEdA. Vaidya Veeraraghavan Of
Tiruvallur, and several other divya desa Emperumans
have a huge practice, in whom people afflicted with even life-threatening
maladies have found solace.
Such curative powers accrue even to the Lord’s true servants. The sight of Sri
Periya Tiruvadi, with the Lord ensconced on his shoulders, is reported to be a
sure cure for several diseases. This is borne out by the way even the sick and
infirm throng the temple environs on the day of the GarudOtsavam. Sri
Sudarsana, the Lord s discus, is reputed to be another curer par excellence, as
is Sri Anjaneya. Enough of the Divine Doctor. Ok.. what is the drug?
Ugh! - The feverish child turns her face away from the hand proffering the
medicine that would supposedly make her well. She knows that the medicine would
be bitter and unpalatable, and has a feeling that the fever would be much
easier to endure than repeated dosages of the potion that the doctor has
prescribed. Our own reactions to drugs are much similar. We do try to swallow
pills (untasted) with a large drink of water. Despite this precaution, if the
pill touches our tongue, its bitterness sticks to our palate for quite some
time. This is why Ayurveda prescribes several drugs to be taken, duly
camouflaged in a medium such as honey or sugar. Even after enduring all this,
one is never sure of a cure. Some of the drugs, instead of, or in the process
of providing relief for a particular malady, give rise to quite a different
ailment, as a side effect.
All this makes us long wistfully for a Wonder Drug-, which would be sweet,
which would offer a sure-cure and would have absolutely no harmful side
effects. And how wonderful would it be, if this drug were to be a panacea to
cure all possible maladies! And, apart from curing maladies of the physique, if
the drug were to cure us once and for all from the greatest of all diseases-the
unending cycle of births and deaths! This may appear to be a far-fetched
Technicolor dream or science fiction. You can take it on good authority that it
is indeed real.
Ages before the advent of modern science, our Sages were very much aware of the
existence of such a Cure-All, and were in fact using it to insure against all
sickness, physical and otherwise.
Sri Kulasekharazhwar gives a clarion call to the world
Oh Inhabitants of this world of disease! Hearken. I shall disclose a Secret
Drug, which will release you from the vicious whirlpool of births and deaths,
and will afford you eternal bliss. This is none other than Krishna RasAyanam ,
which shines singularly inside you, if only you care to look inwards. Drink of
this Elixir that is Krishna and be delivered of all your diseases, including
the chronic ones. If you don t believe me, then listen to Sages like Sri
YagnavalkyA, who have derived the benefit of this Wonder Drug.
As this translation sounds a bit hackneyed, adiyen quotes the original Mukunda
MalA sloka here-
hE lOkA! ShruNuta prasooti maraNa vyAdhE: chikitsAm imam
YogagnyA: samudAharanti munayO yAm YagnavalkyAdaya:
AntarjyOti: amEyam Ekam amrutam KrishNAkyam ApeeyatAm
Tat peetam paramoushadham vitanutE nirvANam Adyantikam .
Azhwar goes on to describe what else this Krishna Oushadham (medicine) is
capable of-
VyAmOha: prasamoushadham, muni manO vritti pravruttyoushadham
daityOnmoolakaroushadham bhava bhaya pradhvamsanaikoushadham
BhaktAtyanta hitoushadham tribhavanE sanjeevanaikoushadham
ShrEya: prApti karoushadham piba manO Sri Krishna Divya Oushadham
This is a Powerful Potion indeed- it destroys RakshasAs, is ever in the
thoughts of Saints and Rishis, annihilates fears caused by this dreadful
SamsArA, ensures the well being of devotees, is a rejuvenating Elixir for the
three worlds, and confers upon the partaker all that is good and desirable.
Sri Kulasekhara Perumal is only concurring with Sri PEyAzhwar, who declares
that Emperuman is indeed the medicine that saves us from the inexorable fires
of Hell-
MannttuLLAn mAkadal neeruLLAn MalarAL
danattuLLAn tanduzhAi mArban-sinatthu
Cherunar uga chetr uganda tEngOda vaNNan
Varu narakam teerkkum marundu .
The MudalAzhwar reiterates this in the very next pasuram thus- marundum poruLum
amudamum tAnE SengaNmAl .
Sri Vishnu Sahasranama too confirms that the Lord is indeed the Divine Drug,
BhEshajam . One might think that Sage VyAsA differs, when he declares,
oushadham JanhavI tOyam (The water of the Holy Ganga is indeed a panacea for
all ills)-but we must remind ourselves that Ganga originated after all from the
Lord s Tiruvadi. As is well known, during TrivikramAvatAram, when the Lord s
feet, in their quest for the second measure of land, reached BrahmA’s abode
SatyalOkam, Brahma performed tirumanjanam to the Lord s feet, and the bath
water, so to say, became the Ganges, the Holiest of Holy Rivers. Thus the
waters of the Ganga are acclaimed as medicine by Vyasa, only due to their
sacred origins.
Speaking of Sri PAda teerttham, it is no wonder that water sanctified by
association with the Holy feet of Bhagavatas is equally potent in destroying
sins of the most virulent kind. Due to misfortune, Sri Kandadai Tozhappar, an
Acharya Purusha, unwittingly committed an apachArA to Swami Desikan. Ever
since, Sri Tozhappar lost his health, fell prey to a debilitating disease, and
was without an issue for long. When he analysed the reason for the sudden loss
of health, he found out about the injustice done to Sri Vedanta Desikan, and,
realising the dreadful nature of BhAgavata apachArA, rushed to the latter,
seeking his pardon. After imbibing Sri Desikan s sri pAda teerttham, Sri
Tozhappar regained the full bloom of health and also begot a son, whom he named
Teerttha PiLLai , in memory of his association with Sri Desikan. This Teerttha
Pillai later became one of the illustrious disciples of Sri Desikan. This
episode shows that not only the Lord, but His devotees too qualify as Wonder
Drugs.
Similarly, the prescriptions of another of the Lord’s devotees, Manu, (the
predecessor of Sri Rama in the IkshvAku Vamsam, and the author of the famous
Dharma Shastra which has guided mankind from time immemorial), are hailed by
the Vedas as good medicine - yet vai Manu: avadat tat bhEshajam (Whatever Manu
opines is good medicine).
Our Doctors prescribe any number of drugs-Gentamysin, Streptomysin,
Erithromysin, Chloromysin, and what not: but none of them are real cures for
the greatest of diseases- my sins.
The Divine Drug Store has but a single drug in stock-Narayanocillin-which,
however, can combat any disease, whether of the body or of the soul, (like
ahamkArA and MamakArA) however virulent they are.
Predictably, this different Drug Store doesn’t do much business, as people who
visit it once have no need to come back.
If anyone needs the address of this wonderful pharmacy, one may contact one’s
Acharyas, who are the pharmacists manning this Drug Store, and dispense the
drug in adequate dosage, after due assessment of the patient’s need.
Unquote:
asmadhAchArya paryanthAm vandhE Guru paramparAm
Regards
Namo narayana
dasan
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