Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya
nama:
"Please Be Seated!"
When are we the most comfortable-while standing, lying down
or sitting down? Standing, as a posture, is one adopted preparatory to some
form of energetic activity like walking or running. A reclining posture, on the
other hand, is what we adopt prior to giving ourselves up to NidrA dEvi, the
goddess of sleep, whose embrace is so tight that we become oblivious to
everything else in the world. Thus, while standing up or lying down, we can't
claim ourselves to be consciously comfortable. It is while sitting down,
whether on earth or in a chair, that we can claim to be truly comfortable and
be aware of it too. Sitting is the posture ideally suited to the pursuit of
most of our academic, aesthetic or spiritual activities, be they reading,
studying, music or Veda parayanam. It is the PadmAsanam which most of our
Maharshis adopted for performing penance, certifying to the efficacy of the
seated posture for contemplation of the Divine. Indian cultural mores, laying
stress on hospitality, prompt us till date to offer the guest a seat,
immediately after he enters our home-we don't ask him to just stand or to lie
down. The seated posture thus appears to be the preferred one for all restful
forms of human activity.
The arcchAvatAra is the form taken by the Supreme Lord residing in
innumerable temples across the globe, to entice us with His beauty beyond
compare, to entrap us with His countless auspicious attributes and ultimately
emancipate us through the adoption of an appropriate strategy for liberation,
through a merciful Acharya. Of all His forms, this is the most accessible to us
mortals, forming the object of even our impaired vision.
We would hence expect the Lord to adopt the sitting posture in these sannidhis,
for He has nowhere to rush to. Contrary to our suppositions, we find a major
number of His moorties in the temples to be either on His holy feet or supine,
apparently in deep slumber. It is only at a few temples that we come across the
Lord adopting a seated posture. Does this mean that He prefers only to stand or
to lie down, eschewing the sitting posture as far as possible? At the holiest
of holies, the BhoolOka Vaikunttam, Srirangam, we find Him lying down, while at
the other principal divya desams like Tirumala, KAnchi and YAdavAdri
(TirunArAyanapuram), we find Him standing. Does this reveal a marked bias on
the part of the Lord against the seated posture?
No, says the DhyAna slOkam to the sacred ashtAkshara Mantra-
"Savyam pAdam prasArya srita durita haram dakshiNam kunchayitvA
jAnunyAdAya savyEtram itara bhujam nAga bhOgE nidhAya"
The Lord may stand or lie down as He pleases on earth, but His permanent
posture, the one He adopts eternally in His glorious and natural abode of Sri
Vaikunttam, is that of being seated. And the way He sits is also extremely
captivating, with His left leg stretched, the right one slightly bent, leaning
back regally, with one of His lower hands placed on His beautiful knee and the
other on the supple snake bed, with the Divine Discus and the Cosmic Conch
adorning His upper arms. As a Sovereign holding court in Paradise with an
adulating audience consisting of celestials, the Lord prefers to sit
splendorously on His throne of AdisEsha ("irundAl simhAsamAm").
It is this glorious posture of the Universal Sovereign that comes in for
admiration from Sri Nammazhwar-
"Veetrirundu Ezhulagum tanik kOl sella veevil seer
Attral mikku ALum ammAnai"
With all the worlds, galaxies and universes under His undisputed control and
command, the Lord reigns as the Magnificent Monarch, seated in splendour on the
soft snake bed, all His glory, power and majesty reflected in all their bounty
in the regal way He is seated.
As behoves the Supreme Ruler, the Lord is accompanied on His eternal and
inimitable seat by His Divine Consorts, says Sri Alavandar-"tayA sahAseenam
annta bhOgini".
If the occasion is one of pomp and splendour and is momentous, the Lord prefers
a seated posture, we find. Thus, on the occasion of His coronation as the
undisputed monarch of Ayodhya, we find Vasishtta and other worthies requesting
Sri Rama to sit on the diamond-studded throne of IkshvAkUs-"RAmam ratna mayE
peethE saha Seetam nyavEsayat".
We are told by Sri Valmiki that the seat was in every way befitting the exalted
occupants-made of the purest of gold and studded with unimaginably precious
stones of a bewildering variety, with a profusion of them adding brilliance to
the glittering regal seat-
"Ratnai: nana vidaischaiva chitritAyAm sushObhanai:
nAnA ratna mayE peethE kalpayitvA yathAvidhi".
Another occasion on which the Prince of Ayodhya affected a seated posture was
when He was about to perform the last rites of the magnificent bird, which gave
up its life while battling with Ravana to free Sri Janaki. We can see this till
date at Tirupputkuzhi, where the Lord is reported to have afforded MOsham to
JatAyu.
We are able to discern a sort of pattern to the Lord's postures-whenever He is
accompanied by His Consorts and whenever the occasion is formal, He prefers to
sit, rather than stand, perhaps out of consideration for His MahishIs. We thus
find Him sitting splendorously on a magnificent golden throne, under the cool
and comforting shade of the PArijAta tree, apparently enjoying Himself in the
company of His Consorts Sri RugmiNi and Sri SatyabhAmA, dressed in all His
finery and apparently posing for a family snapshot-
"CchAyAyAm PArijAtasya hEma simhAsanOpari
Aseenam ambuda syAmam AyatAksham alankritam
ChandrAnanam chatur bAhum SrivatsAnkita vakshasam
RugmiNI SatyabhAmAbhyAm sahitam Sri Krishnam AshrayE".
Whatever be the seat and however comfortable it be, we see that children prefer
to sit on the laps of their parents-Shri Dhruva is an example. The Lord too, as
a toddler, prefers to ride on the hips of Sri Yasoda. We have this on the
authority of Sri Periazhwar, the conscientious chronicler of all the Lord's
deeds, who describes the Lord demanding the Moon in the sky, from His perch on
Sri Yasoda's hips-
"Chakkara kaiyan tadam kaNNAl malara vizhittu
okkalai mEl irundu unnayE chutti kAttum kAN".
And though His mother's hips are His preferred seat, the mischievous toddler
Krishna never sits still, but moves constantly, jumping up and down, causing
irritation and pain to His mother-"edutthu koLLil marungai irutthidum".
Those who offer a seat to the Lord with malicious intent never live to tell the
tale. This is demonstrated by PoothanA, KamsA's messenger of death, who arrives
at Nandagopa's palace disguised as a beautiful damsel. When she seats Sri
Krishna on her hips and offers Him a poisonous breast, the Lord sucks out her
life along with the milk, making her fall down lifeless, while remaining
unharmed Himself.
The huge tirumEni of the PANdava Dootan at Kancheepuram makes us wonder, with
other Azhwars, whether the Lord is seated due to the cumulative weariness of
measuring all the worlds with His tiruvadi ("andru ivvulagam aLanda asavE
kol!"), the fatigue occasioned by constantly standing before Arjuna's chariot
in the Kurukshetra battlefield ("Indiran siruvan tEr mun nindrAn"), the strain
of traversing long and unending jungle paths barefoot during the Ramavatara
("nadanda kAlgaL nondavO") or that of performing the role of a menial
messenger, bearing an epistle of peace from Pandavas to the Kauravas.
It goes without saying that the Lord is entitled to the best of AsanAs, which
is to be offered to Him with devotion and love. This is the spirit behind the
various AsanAs offered to the Lord during our daily worship, TiruvAradhanam.
However, what would you call someone who deliberately submits to Him a seat
with the malicious intent of causing Him bodily harm, as did Poothana?
Sri MahAbharata narrates the episode of the dastardly DuryOdhana preparing a
glittering diamond throne for the Lord in the royal court hall, but placing it
on light bamboo sticks, so that the moment someone sat on it, the sticks would
give away and plunge the throne, along with its unsuspecting occupant, into a
cellar below, where wrestlers with bulging biceps waited to finish off the poor
victim. Fully aware of all this, the Lord sat on the throne and when it gave
away, He descended into the cellar, and assuming a gigantic form which filled
the four directions, made short work of the wrestlers, emerging victorious and
unscathed, making DuryOdhana look foolish in the eyes of the astounded and
august luminaries adorning the court of HastinApura. This episode is chronicled
by Sri Tirumangai Mannan thus-
"aravu neeL kodiyOn avayuL Asanatthai anjidAdE ida, adarkku
periya mA mEni aNdam ooduruva perum disai adangida nimirndOn"
The Lord demonstrates that for penance too, the ideal posture is to sit. This
can be found at BadarikAshramam, where He sits in eternal contemplation,
apparently fulfilling the criteria He Himself laid down for the performance of
Yoga-
"Suchou dEsE prathisthApya stthiram Asanam Atmana:
nAti ucchritam nAti neecham sailAjina kusOttaram"
The seat chosen for Yoga or tapas should be neither too high nor too low,
should be stable and comfortable and spread with holy darbha grass or the
purifying skin of a deer, and the Asana should be in clean and spiritually
uplifting environs, all of which are conducive for contemplation. This is what
Sri BadarInArAyana's posture tells those of us who are inclined towards
spiritual sAdhana.
When we come to think of it, one Emperuman who is always to be found in the
sitting posture, with rare exceptions, is Sri Nrisimha. We find Him always
seated, in the close embrace of His constant Consort. Of the nine Nrisimha
moorties at Ahobilam, we find only one (perhaps two) in the standing posture,
demonstrating His preference for being seated, this being the position at other
sannidhis too, whether it is ChOlasimhapuram, TiruvallikkENi or PAtalAdri
(SingapperumAL kOil).
Again, with rare exceptions, we find the Divine Consort too always seated, with
Her feet decorously covered by the folds of Her apparel. The Lord may stand or
lie down, but His Empress never stands, if She can help it.
And She always prefers soft seats like the lotus ("aravinda nivAsinIm",
"PadmAsinI") or AdisEsha ("tayA sahAseenam anata bhOgini").
While mortals like us are able to see Him in all His glory, seated at PAdagam
(Pandava dootan sannidhi), the Lord seats Himself resplendently and permanently
in the heart of the pious devotee, finding the same to be much more pleasurable
than the best of thrones fashioned out of the most precious of gold and gems.
Sri Tirumazhisai Piran tells us that once we realise the inalienable
relationship subsisting between the Lord and ourselves, Emperuman takes up
permanent residence in our hearts, seating Himself comfortably, never to leave-
"nindradu endai ooragatthu, irundadu endai PAdagatthu
andru Vekkanai kidandadu ennilAda munnelAm
andru nAn pirandilEn pirandapin marandilEn
nindradum irundadum kidandadum en nenjuLE"
Whatever glorious seats we may offer Him, the Lord prefers to seat Himself in
our lotus hearts, if only we invite Him in. He stands at our doors, constantly
knocking, seeking to be let into our homes and hearts. As it is, our heart can
at best be a "hot seat", filled with innumerable impurities like anger,
intolerance, hypocrisy and arrogance.
To offer Him a seat in our hearts, we must first make it a place fit for His
residence, by making our mind large and receptive, by ridding it of all unholy
thoughts and filling it with the fragrance of devotion and piety and fashioning
a throne fit for Him out of unalloyed adoration and the purest of love. The
Lord has been standing at our heart's entrance for quite long now, knocking
till His knuckles hurt, loathe to giving up despite our unpromising attitudes.
Now is the time to let Him into ourselves and seat Him in all the splendour
that He deserves. For, more than the soft, snaky bed, more than the holy
sannidhis constructed for His residence by Maharshis and Sages, more than any
magnificent throne fashioned out of glittering gold and glorious gems, it is
our hearts that He prefers for a seat.
When are we going to tell Him, "Please come in and do be seated"?
Srimate Sri LakshmInrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
Dasan, sadagopan
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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