You are here: SriPedia - SriRangaSri - Archives - Feb 2003

SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00107 Feb 2003

 
Feb 2003 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


Srimatey Nigamantha Maha Desikaya Namaha
Dear Bhagavatas,
Is there any slokam(s) in Srimad Bhagavatam / Mahabharatam / Puranas mentioning 
Nappinnai Piraatti? North Indians seem to be of the view that Nappinnai 
Piraatti is the imagination of the Alwars and Andal. They consider Radha to be 
an authentic person. Pl. enlighten.
Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan
V.K.Vasudevan
sadagopaniyengar <sadagopaniyengar@xxxx> wrote: 
Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:



For the Sake of The Better Half 



Tales of Kings and Queens are indeed fascinating. Most of us must have listened 
to our grandparents or parents recounting to us absorbing anecdotes of this 
King or that. These tales were as enthralling as they were informative, for the 
exploits, real and imaginary, of the Kings of yore used to fire children with 
enthusiasm and inspiration.



What used be a recurring feature in such tales was the trouble to which the 
Kings had to go, to wed damsels of their choice. We hear of Swayamvarams being 
held to enable the princess choose her life mate, of competitions being held to 
decide who would win the fair maid's hand. The romantic aspirant would be asked 
to bring a flower dear to the damsel's heart, which would be blooming only once 
a year and that too, on an inaccessible island beyond the seven seas, guarded 
day and night by deadly dragons. Only the bravest and most enterprising would 
even attempt such a venture and the successful Prince would indeed be a fit 
candidate for the post of the princess' husband.

For winning Droupati's hand, Arjuna had to hit a moving target with an arrow, 
looking only at its reflection in a pot of water. History and folklore are 
replete with instances of princes being asked to exhibit their valour, 
perseverance and resourcefulness, for bidding for the affections of the fair 
princess. Thus the fair sex has always demanded of its suitors that they prove 
their mettle, before the former would consent to matrimony.



When we mull over what troubles men have gone to over the ages to gain the 
affections of women they love, we are surprised to find that even the Supreme 
Lord is no exception to this requirement of having to prove Himself, for 
winning the hand of Piratti, during His avataras. He might be the 
personification of virility, bravery, handsomeness and magnificence-all these 
do not help Him, when it comes to the question of bidding for Piratti's fair 
hand. Like any ordinary mortal, He has to provide proof positive of His 
capabilities, before She would consider wedlock with Him.



Consider, for instance, the Ramavatara. Lifting the mighty bow of Shiva and 
fitting it with an arrow were considered to be extremely difficult, if not 
impossible. The bow was so heavy that some rulers just staggered under its 
weight and fell, while most could not move it at all. Though the cream of the 
ruling class of the whole earth was represented at Sri Janaka's court on that 
day, none could succeed in even lifting the bow, attesting to the arduousness 
of the endeavour. Sri Janaka himself admits that the task he had set was 
impossible of performance even by mighty devas, brawny asurAs, beefy rAkshasAs, 
gandharvas, KinnarAs or YakshAs. What to say then of puny mortals, who are 
absolutely no comparison to the rAkshasAs who are veritable mountains of muscle?

"na Etat sura gaNA: na asurA na cha rAkshasA:

Gandharava Yaksha pravarA: sa Kinnara mahOragA:

Kva gati: mAnushANAm cha dhanushOsya prapooraNE

ArOpaNE samAyOgE vEpanE tOlanEpi vA"

This mighty bow of Shiva was so big and heavy that it had to be wheeled in on a 
huge eight-wheeled barrow. And it took five thousand repeat five thousand men, 
all strong as oxen, to pull the vehicle laden with the bow, with very great 
difficulty.



Readers would appreciate that it was this formidable bow, which must have 
weighed hundreds of tons, that Sri Rama, a budding youth of hardly fourteen 
years, was expected to hoist and equip, if He was to win the hand of Sri 
Mythily. Is this not proof enough that women have always played hard-to-get and 
Piratti is no exception? That He did it playfully and that the huge bow could 
not stand the pull of His hands and broke into pieces, ("edutthadu kaNdAr, 
ittradu kEttAr" says Kamban, attesting to the one swift and fluid motion in 
which Sri DAsarati lifted the bow, pulled the drawstring, inserted the arrow 
and broke the bow) are testimonies to His phenomenal strength and bravery, but 
are irrelevant to this story. What this goes to demonstrate is that the Lord 
Himself is no exception in having to compete for the attentions of Piratti and 
having to prove Himself worthy of Her.



In the KrishnAvatAra too, it was no cakewalk for the Lord to wed Sri RugminI. 
Having exchanged love letters and fixed up a rendezvous for eloping, the Lord 
and His bride-to-be found themselves confronted by an army of irate princes led 
by Rugmi, the brother-in-law to be of the Lord, who had no wish to be 
associated in any fashion with the cowherd Krishna, leave alone giving his 
sister in marriage to Him. There ensued a bloody battle, fought valiantly by 
both sides, in which Sri Krishna emerged victor and proudly wed Sri RugminI. 
The point of the matter is that Sri Krishna, the exalted Supreme Being that He 
was, still had to go into battle and fight hard, to win the hand of His Consort.



Again in the same avatara, for wedding Sri Nappinnai, Emperuman had to undergo 
a test of ability-"veerya sulkam"- that of conquering seven mighty bulls. Even 
ordinary bulls are dangerous animals, as many a matador has found out to his 
chagrin. Only those who have tried their hand at this hazardous sport would be 
able to appreciate fully the feat of the Lord in taming not one but seven 
ferocious bulls, for the ones Sri Krishna was asked to confront and conquer 
were no ordinary animals, but the most virile specimens of the species. Azhwars 
are so enamoured of this exploit of the Lord that they recount it numerous 
times- "ErEl Ezhum adartthu", "PinnaikkAi muttral muri Erin mun nindru moimbu 
ozhitthAi" etc. Whereas even seasoned matadors never approach the bull from the 
front, for fear of being gored by the deadly horns, Sri Krishna had no such 
inhibition, faced the animals head on ("mun nindru") and comprehensively 
conquered them ("moimbu ozhitthAi"). Thus Sri Nappinnai was no exception to the 
Divine Consorts' practice of putting the Lord through gruelling tests of 
bravery and prowess, before she deigned to wed Him.



In most of the avataras, it is the same old story of the poor Lord being asked 
to undertake Missions Impossible or engage in gory combat, to wed Piratti. Take 
the KoormAvatAra now-Emperuman had to bear the unimaginable weight of the 
Mantara Parvatam on His back, in the form of a giant turtle, to enable the 
DevAs churn the Milky Ocean, with the snake VAsuki as a rope and the gigantic 
mountain as churning rod. If you think that all this superhuman effort was 
undertaken by the Lord merely to enable dEvAs to obtain nectar (and immortality 
thereby), you are mistaken. It was all for the sake of Sri Mahalakshmi, who 
emerged from the ocean as a result of all that intensive churning, that the 
Lord put up with the monumental trouble and inconvenience. It is no easy joke 
to have a huge mountain rest on your back, especially if the mountain were to 
move from side to side in a churning motion, boring into your back all the 
time. If the Lord didn't think much of all the effort, it was because He wanted 
His consort badly and no trouble was too much in that regard. After all, He is 
the MAlOlan, enamoured beyond measure with His exalted spouse.



It is the Lord's lot not only to go to extraordinary lengths to prove Himself 
every time He weds His Consort, but also to confront countless challenges for 
retaining or reclaiming Her. The best evidence in this regard is the 
VarAhavatAra. Since Sri Mahalakshmi made the Lord go through the ordeal of 
bearing the Mantara mountain on His back, BhoodEvi felt slighted and arranged 
for a leela, by being abducted by the formidable HiranyAksha. The mighty asurA 
just rolled up the earth and hid it at the bottom of the ocean, beyond the 
reach of anyone. The Lord had to assume the form of a giant boar ("MAnam ilA 
pandri"), battle valiantly with the asurA who was fortified by all sorts of 
boons, slay him and rescue Mother Earth. BhoodEvi felt satisfied now, having 
had the Lord take an avatara and considerable pains, on Her account. She was 
now even with the Lord's principal Consort.



If you need another case in point, this time concerning the arcchAvatAra, you 
need not look far-Srinivasa of the Seven Hills is still said to be reeling 
under the burden of debt to KubEra, for the money He borrowed from the latter 
to meet expenses of His marriage with Sri PadmAvati. (In a lighter vain) It 
would seem that the phenomenal sums this Lord is gifted through the hundi, 
represent His devotees' efforts to relieve Him of the age-old debt.



It would appear that having to perform impossible feats for winning the loved 
one's hand is not confined to the Lord alone-it extends to His devotees too. 
Sri Thirumangai Mannan is thus put to the onerous task of feeding a thousand 
bhAgavatAs a day, as a precondition for wedlock with Sri Kumudavalli. The 
extents to which Azhwar goes, raiding and robbing, waylaying and plundering, 
defaulting on tributes due to the Emperor and being imprisoned for that, etc., 
all for the sake of winning Sri Kumudavalli's hand, are ample proof that women 
have put not only the Lord but His votaries too to severe test, for granting 
them the favour of matrimony. 



It is indeed fortunate that the number of eligible bachelors today is less than 
the maidens available, but for which we poor males might have to emulate the 
Lord and go through all sorts of ordeals, to prove ourselves to prospective 
better halves.



Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka Srivan Satakopa Sri Narayana 
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

Dasan, sadagopan





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



Yahoo! Groups SponsorADVERTISEMENT

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Srirangasri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxx



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. 



---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, and more

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





[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list