Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
The Well-dressed Gentleman
Most of us are very particular about our dress. We would never wear a dress
that is rumpled or soiled. A person wearing such apparel is liable to be
construed to be down at the heels. We know how a well-dressed person elicits
respect and regard even from strangers, while one who sports inelegant wear
draws only derisive glances, though he might otherwise bedeserving of regard.
Thus dress considerably enhances one's impact, thoughit may not disclose the
true nature of the wearer.
If we reflect on wherefrom we inherited our penchant for sartorial elegance,
analysis leads us to the conclusion that it is indeed from theLord. It is He
who has set an example, by sporting impeccable outfits. In fact, we might even
call Him a dandy; so particular He is about His costume. Everyone who is
acquainted with Him says He is extremely finicky about His gear and always
wears the best. "YuvA suvAsA: pariveeta AgAt" says the Shruti, attesting to His
sartorial elegance (Paradoxically, this mantra is uttered when those
officiating in a ShrAddha are offered new clothes!).
The Lord is clothed in the finest of silks, says the Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram-
"peeta kousEya vAsam". Though there are colours aplenty, everyone would agree
that yellow silk has a beauty of its own. With an unerring eye for the best in
clothes, much like a lady, the Lord too is robed in yellow silk-"sa peeta
vastram". He looks verily like the pleasing Moon, attired as He is inthese
yellow robes. That these are His habitual wear is attested by Sri Periazhwar-
"peetaka Adai pirAnAr", "udutthu kaLainda nin peetaka Adai" etc.Sri
Krishnashtakam says that He is ever resplendent in silken yellow
costumes-"peetAmbara susObhitam". Sri Alavandar loses himself to the brilliant
combination of the bright yellow silk and the beautiful black tirumEni of the
Lord-"virAjamAna ujjvala peetavAsasam". Swami Desikan brings to our mind the
beautiful thighs of Sri Rangaraja, which are clothed in yellow silk-"Kshouma
Aslishtam kimapi KamalA Bhoomi NeelA upadAnam"(Sri Bhagavat DhyAna SOpanam)
"PeetAmbarENa parivAravatee sujAtA" (Sri Devanayaka Panchasaat).
Sri Tiruppanazhwar differs from others. To this Azhwar, the Lord appears to be
wearing red silk and not the customary yellow one. Perhaps He wanted a change,
perhaps He put on new, colourful clothes to welcome Azhwar-whatever it might
have been, Azhwar is very specific about His sporting red silk around His
midriff-'arai sivanda adayin mEl chendradam en sindayE". The cloth itself is so
bewitching that it captures the senses, preventing Azhwar from proceeding
further with the enjoyment of other parts of the Lord's handsome tirumEni. Sri
Nammazwar, steering clear of the colourful controversy, merely mentions that He
is clothed in silk, without indicating its hue-"pAngu thOndrum pattum nANum
pAviyEn pakkatthavE".
When the Lord sets His mind on beautiful clothes, He gets to wear them by hook
or by crook. Thus, in Sri Krishnavatara, while entering Mathura (for the
purpose of slaying Kamsa), Sri Krishna wants to shed His cowherd-clothes and
adorn Himself with robes befitting a Prince. When He goes to war, the Lord
takes care to see that He is impeccably attired. Sri Krishna and Sri Balarama
encounter a washerman bearing clothes freshly washed and pressed, for use by
the King (Kamsa). When the dhobi doesn't part with the clothes voluntarily, Sri
Krishna fells him with a blow and appropriates the regal robes. In so doing, He
puts on the yellow one, leaving the blue one to His brother. We must really
admire the Lord's dress code-He knows fullwell that yellow would sit well on
His black body, as would blue on His fair brother's. Imagine Kamsa's
indignation when the boy he detests comes to fight with him, dressed in his own
clothes.
However beautiful the cloth, if the wearer doesn't have the figure to go with
it, the end result would be unimpressive. Conversely, however humble be the
apparel, if the person for whom it is intended is of exceptional beauty, the
combination is a treat to the eyes. This is what happens, when Sri Rama leaves
on his fourteen-year exile to the forests. Readying himself for the life of a
forest-dweller, Raghava relinquishes his princely robes for the ones made of
deerskin and tree-bark. The citizensof Ayodhya, watching the heart-rending
spectacle of the Prince assuming the demeanour of a vanavAsi, are hardly
surprised to find that the robes of skin and bark suit Sri Rama to a T, giving
Him a serene look of austerity and penance.
Sorry as they are to see Sri Rama in modest clothes, itis when Sri Mythily is
called upon to wear such apparel, that the AyOdhyAvAsIs, including the famed
Vasishtta, rise up in protest. When She is handedover the garments of deerskin,
Sri Janaki hardly knows how to wear them, being unaccustomed to anything but
the softest, finest and the best of silken wear. Wouldn't the delicate body be
bruised beyond tolerance by the clothes of tree bark She was required to wear,
wonder the grieving ladies of Ayodhya. What a cruel woman that Kaikeyi must be,
to demand that the Princess wear such coarse clothes, a Princess hardly into
Her teens and used to a sheltered life of creature comforts! Rushing valiantly
to the rescue of His beloved, who holds the sackcloth in Her hand, knowing not
how to wear it, Sri Raghava drapes the coarse cloth around Her upper and lower
body, over theclothes She is wearing. At this, the eyes of all on-lookers fill
with tears of anger and grief and they demand that at least Sri Vaidehi be
permittedto retain Her normal garb.
Turning to happier matters, the Lord often assumes the garb ofwomen, as a
matter of sport. We call it the NAcchiar Tirukkolam, where Emperuman puts on a
saree, blouse, bangles and other paraphernalia his Consorts normally wear. Only
those who have witnessed the spectacle can attest to its immeasurable beauty.
All the virile manliness of the Lord just disappears and there is a total
transformation from his normal impressive masculinity, to a bewitching feminine
façade, with a posture and expression to match. To enhance the effect, the Lord
also wears his ample unruly locks in a braid and adorns it with a choodamani.
The cumulative effect makes for sucha delightful damsel, that even the hearts
of senior citizens do a somersault when they witness the Lord in this attire
and long-forgotten feelings ofromance are rejuvenated. Is it any wonder then,
that the asurAs were mesmerised by Him with His MOhini roopam and readily
agreed to forego their quota of nectar churned out from the sea with so much
effort?
Sri Bhattar, however, refuses to be impressed by this attempt on Emperuman's
part to imitate His better half. He points out derisively that however much the
Lord may try to simulate a maidenly comportment, His eyes give Him away. After
all, they are the inimitable broad, long, blackand redlined eyes of the
ParamaPurusha ("KariavAgi pudai parandu milirndu sevvariodi neenda ap periavAya
kaNgal"), which can never change, whatever costumes He may put on. Further,
these eyes of the Lord are no match for thebeautiful, mercy-filled eyes of
Piratti, with their long lashes. Thus the Lord is unable to impress His
intimate acolytes with such fashion-show attire and can never hope to
masquerade successfully as the Divine Damsel.
Like the consummate actor He is, the Lord uses the most appropriate costumes
suited to His current role. In Sri Vamanavatara, as the bewitching brahmachari,
He was attired in a knee-length cloth and deerskin. As theleader of the
cowherds in Sri Krishnavatara, he sported a flashy red clothdraped around His
head (we can still see this in the Mannargudi Rajagopalaswamy temple), as the
Prince of Vrishnis, He wore nothing but the finest ofyellow silk, and as the
exiled Prince of Ayodhya, He wore modest apparel made of deerskin and tree bark.
If the Lord is adept at wearing clothes suited to the calling, our Acharyas
too, especially those who have embraced the sanyAsa Ashrama, are not far
behind. We hear a lot about the beautiful ochre robes that Sri Ramanuja used to
wear. They were beautiful not because they were of fine material ordue to
glossy mercerising, but because they adorned the majestic tirumEni of the
Bhashyakara. They emitted a glow of pride at covering the handsome body of the
Yatiraja- "KAshAya sObhi kamaneeya shikhA nivEsam". Sri Ramanujahad to revert
to the white robes of a grihasttha briefly, when his life was threatened by the
cruel KulOtthunga ChOza. Concerned disciples of the Acharya compelled him to
switch to a white vEshti in disguise and spirited himaway from the clutches of
the insufferable king. This event is re-enacted till date at SriperumbUdUr, the
Saint's birthplace, during the annual festival and is known as the "VeLLai
sAtthuppadi utsavam".
Though fond of spotless clothes Himself, it was Sri Krishna's favourite sport
to splash mud over the neat and spanking-new clothes the Gopis wore. Not
content with this sort of harassment, He also hid the clothes of the Gopakanyas
bathing in the Yamuna, ensuring that they could not come outof the cold water
without outraging their modesty. He condescended to restore the clothes to
their owners who were half-dead with shame, only after alot of entreaties and
after extracting numerous promises.
The very same Lord who made the Gopis stand bereft of dress in the
freezingriver, rushed to the rescue of Draupadi, when she faced an outrage to
her modesty at the hands of the dastardly DucchAsana. Once she appealed to the
distant Lord, her saree grew and grew in length, till the Kourava trying
todisrobe her fell exhausted in sheer fatigue.
Even in arcchAvatara, the Lord sports the best of clothes at most divyadesams.
At Tirumala, He is adorned with a specially-woven, very long upper cloth and a
lower one ("MelchAtthu and the uLchAtthu"), designed to ensure thatthe Lord's
delicate tirumEni is not scratched by the numerous ornaments Hewears. During
cold winters, Sri Parthasarathi sports a dress suit of wool,known as "GabAi",
while He doesn't forget His jodhpurs when He goes on a horse ride during
Brahmotsavam. Sri Veeraraghava Swamy of Tiruvallur is adorned with a checked
cloth resembling a bed sheet. At Guruvayur, the kutti Krishna is to be seen
with just a loincloth, in the early mornings. In many of the north Indian
temples, the Lord is found wearing trendy pants and shirts, in keeping with
times.
If anyone wants new clothes, it is to Emperuman he has to pray-the Emperuman
who turned KuchEla (one wearing torn, ill-fitting garments) into SuchEla
(well-dressed), the Lord who bestowed bountiful supplies of robes to a maiden
battling for her modesty. On birthdays and festive days, when we remember to
buy our children and ourselves beautiful new outfits, do we think of the Lord
and of adorning Him with new clothes? At several divyadesams, when we find
Emperuman dressed in soiled or torn robes, our hearts go out tothe Provider,
who Himself languishes uncared for. How wonderful would it be if each one of us
were to adopt a divyadesam, especially one located in the countryside, and
undertake to adorn the Lord and His Consorts with new clothes on His birthdays
and on Deepavali or other festivals! It would make the festivities that much
more meaningful, instead of remaining as orgies of eating and merry-making.
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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