Srimate SirivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
The Celebrated Chauffeur
Many of us have cars, especially those living abroad, for
whom the four-wheeler is not a luxury, but a dire necessity. And some of the
car-owners have chauffeurs, to whom they entrust the safety of not only their
vehicles, but also of themselves and their precious families. It is the
considered opinion of some car-owners that it is as providential to land a good
driver, as it is to wed a good woman. Not only marriages, but also the
owner-chauffeur relationship too would appear to be made in heaven, for, as
many would attest, drivers are a lackadaisical lot. They have a penchant for
reporting sick or just not turning up, especially when you require them the
most. They have a short memory for favours received and the niggling notion
that they are grossly underpaid, however handsome be their wages. MahAkavi
BhArati refers perhaps to drivers, when he says in "KaNnan en SEvakan"-
"Kooli miga kEpAr, koduttadellAm tAm marappAr
Velai miga irundAl veettilE tangiduvAr
PAattiyAr setthu vitta pannirandAm nAL enbAr
PAnayilE tEL irundu pallAl kadittadu enbAr"
And woe betide the master who dares to discuss family matters while travelling
in the car with his wife or others-in no time they would be dutifully
communicated to jealous and gossip-mongering neighbours.
This piece is not a diatribe against the worthy profession of drivers-the
object is entirely different, viz., to extol the praises of a member of the
same profession, who, despite His exalted stature, comported Himself so
excellently as an obliging chauffeur to a demanding master, that the whole
world sings His praises till date.
There might be any number of instances of the Lord's extreme accessibility
(Soulabhyam) and His readiness to mingle as one with lowly mortals
(Souseelyam)-but there is no other single act of His which demonstrates the
aforesaid traits explicitly, than His role as a charioteer to Arjuna. When
DuryOdana and Arjuna both seek the support of Sri Krishna in their battle
royal, the former is content with material assistance in the form of the vast
YAdava force, all of them fierce warriors of exceptional calibre. Arjuna, on
the other hand, asks Krishna for the rather strange favour of having Him
(Krishna) as a simple charioteer, one who would wield no weapons, but would
merely pilot the chariot wherever required at His master's command. One knows
not what made the PANdava ask this of Sri Krishna, but the former, in
hindsight, appears to have displayed admirable perspicacity in doing so.
Thus begins a relationship, which would last the duration of the battle between
the PANdavAs and the KouravAs at KurukshEtra. From day one of the battle, Lord
Krishna transformed Himself from the omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent
ParamAtmA, into a humble charioteer implicitly obeying the dictates of his
royal master. Gone were the Divine Discus and the Cosmic Conch from His
handsome hands, to be replaced by the reins of the horses and a stick with
which to goad them on. Gone were the urbane appearance and debonair demeanour,
with attire and ornaments better than the best royalty could afford, to be
replaced by the humble clothes of a driver, His face and torso coated with the
grime and dust of the battlefield, His benign countenance (normally resembling
a blooming lotus) covered with pockmarks from arrows which were aimed at the
master, but which the chauffeur thought fit to intercept bodily, saving the
master from certain death on many occasions. The normally broad, beautiful and
lotus-like eyes were now red-lined and half-closed with fatigue and
battle-wearines. The curly, jet-black hair, the envy of even women, was not
coated with dust and grime. While the overhead canopy provided shade and
comfort to the master Arjuna, the SArathy had no such advantage, with His
already dark visage made the more so due to constant exposure to the blazing
Sun. His entire body was covered by a fine film of sweat, as He manoeuvred the
horses and the chariot in appropriate directions, weaving between the vehicles
of opponents with expertise and expedition, confounding enemy warriors with the
speed and dexterity of movement.
Sri Ramanuja is so enchanted with this endearing portrayal by the Lord that he
devotes quite a few majestic phrases to its depiction-
"GnAna shakti bala ishvarya veerya shakti tEjasAm nidhim, sva sankalpa krita
jagat udaya vibhava laya leelam, HrishIkEsam, parAvara nikhila jana antara
bAhya karaNAnAm sarva prakAra niyamanE avastthitham"
Marvels Sri Bhashyakara-"It is this exalted Parabrahmam, the repository of
innumerable auspicious attributes, having for its sport the creation,
sustenance and destruction of this entire universe of sentient beings and
non-sentient objects, the Supreme Controller of all the faculties (external and
internal) of all beings in this vast world-it is this ParamAtma who stood as a
humble charioteer, in front of Arjuna's chariot." Adducing reasons for this
apparently impossible role-change, Sri Ramanuja says, "Asrita vAtsalya vivasa
tayA", chronicling the glory of the Lord who permits Himself to be ordered
about like the lowliest of underlings, all due to His overwhelming love and
affection for His devotees. Unable to shake off his wonderment, Sri Ramanuja
exclaims, "Ratham stthApaya iti achOdayat" (Arjuna ordered the chariot to be
parked between the two armies ready for battle), moved beyond measure by the
ParamAtmA, the Supreme Lord of all Universes, being ordered about by a mere
mortal and, on top of it, carrying out the orders meekly. Supplements Swami
Desikan, "Sarva prashAsitA niyOjya: abhavat iti Ashcharyam iti bhAva:"
When ordered by Arjuna to place the chariot amidst the two armies, the Lord
obeys instantly and with alacrity, with all the world watching His menial
demeanour, says Sri Ramanuja, still unable to shake off his wonderment at the
Almighty's greatness in putting Himself at the beck and call of a human
master-"Sa cha tEna chOdita: tat kshaNAt Eva BhIshma DrONAdInAm sarvEshAmEva
mahIkshitAm pasyatAm yathA chOditam akarOt".
Sri Tirumangai Mannan too is extremely moved by the SArathI's role assumed by
the Lord-"Indiran siruvan tEr mun nindrAnai TiruvallikkENi kaNdEnE". Indra, the
chief of all celestials, is himself a non-entity vis-à-vis the ParamAtmA: his
son Arjuna, being a mortal, is more so. Despite all this, the Lord consented to
be SArathy of this PANdava prince, who did not have a bit of land to call his
own, solely out of love and affection. And while Arjuna was ensconced
comfortably on the chariot's cushioned seat, with a canopy to protect him from
rain and shine, the Lord stood on the ground ("tEr mun nindrAnai"), the
personification of servility and submissiveness, holding the horses' reins and
the goad ("KOl kaiyil koNdu PArtthan tan tEr mun nindrAnai") in His beautiful
hand.
Sri Kalian's emotion is all the more understandable, when we consider that the
Azhwar enshrined the Lord in a glorious chariot, made up of the glorious verses
of Tiruvezhukoottrirukkai.
Arjuna might have been attired in princely robes and presented a picture of
virility and might, but the real adornment to the chariot was the Lord, who,
despite His humble habit and meek demeanour, shone like a thousand Suns despite
the coating of grime and grist of the battlefield, says Swami Desikan, in
VairAgya Panchakam-"Dhananjaya syandana bhooshaNam dhanam". And because of its
Distinguished Driver, the Chariot itself acquired glory, which is evident from
the descriptions of Sri Kalian ("PArtthan selva tEr Eru SArathiyAi") and of Sri
Ramanuja ("Mahati syandanE").
We know only too well that the Lord adapts Himself admirably to the role He
chooses from time to time. He delivers a stellar performance, whether as a
Magnificent Monarch, an angry young Rishi bent upon annihilating the ruling
classes, a diminutive bachelor come to beg for an insignificant three feet of
land from an Emperor or a ferocious Man-Lion materialising out of a palace
pillar to put paid to one of the vilest of asurAs. He puts His life and soul
into the performance, so to say, to emerge as a player worthy of a million
Oscars.
In His role as a chauffeur too, the Lord excels, as is His wont. We are struck
with wonder as to how Emperuman is able to play diametrically opposite roles,
as the Prince of Ayodhya, used only to riding in chariots driven by the best of
charioteers, to that of a lowly chauffeur, piloting the carriage to the
directions of a perishable human master. Listen to Sumantra, the exalted
minister of Dasaratha and a charioteer par excellence, praying to Sri Rama to
ascend the chariot for a quick drive to wherever He might wish-
"Ratham ArOha bhadram tE Rajaputra! MahAyasha:
Kshipram prApayishyAmi yatra mAm Rama! vakshyasi"
We are told too that Sri Rama's chariot was magnificent, glittering with a
golden body studded with precious stones, verily like the Sun-"tam ratham
Soorya sankAsam"
"athO jvalana sankAsam chAmIkara vibhooshitam
tam Aruruhatu: toorNam bhrAtarou RAma LakshmaNou".
It is not only the Lord who is accustomed only to riding in a chariot, when but
His constant Consort too is accustomed to ride with splendour in a glorious
chariot ("ashva poorvAm, Ratha madhyAm"-Sri Suktam), which appears
irreconcilable with the Lord's occupation during the Kurukshetra war. Despite
all these, if Emperuman could turn in a commendable performance as a charioteer
to Arjuna, executed with admirable aplomb and effortless ease, it is no mean
tribute to His histrionic talents.
When He takes up something, the Lord does it perfectly. As a charioteer, He
tended to the horses with the high degree of love, affection and commitment,
which prompted them to turn out their best on the battlefield. He never ate
before ensuring that the animals had their belly-full and ensured that they
were always well-fed and cared for, with their strong, white bodies gleaming in
the Sun, their heads held high with the pride of performance. At the end of
each day of battle, the Lord washed down the horses, cleansing them of the dust
and grime of the day and applied soothing salve to their wounds, before having
a wash Himself.
Once, in the midst of raging war, sensing the horses slowing down due to
dehydration, the Lord even arranged for an impromptu spring on the battlefield,
from which the horses drank their fill and were fit and rearing to go once
more. This is not mere canard, but well-chronicled history, to which the
following pasuram of Sri PeriyAzhwar bears testimony-
"Mannar maruga maitthunanmArkku oru tErin mEl
mun angu nindru mOzhai ezhuvittavan"
Swami Desikan's Acharya, Sri KidAmbi AppuLLAr, sees Arjuna's chariot and the
Lord's own position therein, as representative of Emperuman's role as the
Universal Saviour. The picture of Sri Krishna seated ahead of Arjuna at the
front of the chariot, protecting Arjuna from all possible dangers, is
reminiscent of the "akAra" (the letter "a") in the PraNava mantra depicting the
Lord's role as the Saviour, and ArjunA's own position at the rear of the
chariot, of the last letter, the "makAra" (the letter "im" in the Pranava)
representing the JeevAtma-
"abhirakshitum agrata: stitham tvAm PraNavE PArttha rathE cha bhAvayanta:"
When we stand before Sri Parthasarathy Swami at TiruvallikkEni and throw our
thoughts back to that battlefield of Kurukshetra, we find our eyes brimming
with tears at the sight of the Lord, whose handsome visage sports innumerable
pock-marks, bearing testimony to His boundless love for his bhaktAs and His
readiness to do anything, but anything, to please His devotee. The word "infra
dig" appears not to figure in His lexicon, as far as doing the bidding of His
bhaktAs is concerned. If we perform Prapatti and entrust to Him the job of
piloting the vehicle of our lives, He would surely guide us unerringly to the
Promised Land, steering us with care amidst the minefield of SamsAra. All that
we have to do is to hand over the reins of our lives to Him and relax, with
absolutely no care in the world, saying with Swami Desikan-"nirbharO
nirbhayOsmi".
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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