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Srimate Srivan Satakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:



                          A Fruity Tale

 

                 "An Apple a day keeps the Doctor away" goes the adage, 
emphasising the importance of fruits to our health. No dinner table is complete 
without an assortment of seasonal fruits, which form the ideal dessert. It is 
perhaps with this in view that the Shastras too tell us to conclude our meal 
with a sweet (fruit)-"madhurENa samApayEt". There is a wide variety of fruits 
in God's creation, to suit every taste, palate and purse. If the rich man has a 
basket of Alphonso mangoes, the not-so-well-to-do can have bananas, which are 
cheaper and more nutritious. The Fruit thus occupies an important place in our 
everyday lives and represents the culmination of the tree or shrub's creative 
endeavour. Here are a few ripe ones, for the connoisseur's sampling.

 

              The Lord might have created any number of fruits for human 
consumption, but devotees consider Him to be a tastier and more fulfilling 
fruit than any other. He is the "KOdil in kani" of Sri Kalian ("Vizhumia 
munivar vizhungum kOdil in kani"). Other fruits may have blemishes such as over 
ripeness or immaturity, but this Divine Fruit has the perfect degree of 
"pakvam" and is ever ready for consumption by the devout. Mangoes, apples, 
oranges, pomegranates or guavas--most of the fruits are seasonal and are 
available only during the respective season: in comparison, the Divine Fruit is 
always available, throughout the year, 24 hours a day, to all those who seek it 
sincerely. This is thus a Fruit with absolutely no shortcoming or blemish 
("kOdilin kani"). This is no "forbidden fruit" denied to mankind, but a fruit 
which welcomes everybody to have a bite. While ordinary fruits are the result 
of a process of evolution from flower to fruit, this Fruit Extraordinaire 
doesn't undergo any change or "vikAra".

 

Fruits which have already been tasted by birds and bees are extremely sweet, we 
are told. By this standard, the Lord too should indeed be delicious, tasted as 
He has been by the most pious of devotees like Azhwars, Acharyas and MaharshIs, 
who have dedicated their thought, word and action solely to Him ("vizhumia 
munivar vizhungum kOdil in kani").

If the Vedas are to be described as a giant tree with branches spread far and 
wide, then the Lord is verily its ultimate result, the raison-de-etre, the 
Fruit-

"VEdattin suvai payan".

 

If this is what Sri Kalian has to say, then Sri Nammazhwar must have already 
said it, for Sri Parakala's poems are but products of Sri Parankusa's 
outpourings.

Predictably, we find a reflection of the aforesaid verse in Tiruvaimozhi, with 
but negligible variation-

" mikkAr vEda vimalar vizhungum en akkAra kaniyE"

Here too, the Lord is described as a delectable fruit, so sweet that it could 
be made of sugar candy- "akkAra kani". This akkAra kani is consumed with 
delight by no less than the Celestials-"vEda vimalar". 

Sri Nammazhwar seems to consider the Lord to be a "fruity" person, for there 
are several related references-'nei suvai tEral engO kani engO pAl engEnO",  
"kattiai tEnai amudai nan pAlai kaniyai karumbu tannai" etc.

 

The lips of the Lord resemble a beautiful red fruit, say all the Azhwars-

"kani irundu anaya sevvAi KaNNanai kaNda kaNgaL"

 "kovvai chevvAi"

 

If Sri Parankusa and Sri Parakala consider the Lord to be a "Kani", can Swami 
Desikan be far behind? For his part, the Acharya too likens the Lord to a 
fruit-bearing tree. However, this is a fruit with a difference. Tall people can 
pluck fruits from trees without much effort, while short ones may have to take 
recourse to ladders etc. This, however, is a tree that yields fruits to tall 
ones and short ones alike, but only to those who bend down to it, irrespective 
of their height. Whether you are tall or short, you can reach the fruit only if 
you bend down. Irrespective of one's stature in the academic, social or 
economic spheres, the Lord bestows Moksha only on those who "bend down" or 
perform Sharanagati to Him. Here is the beautiful sloka from Sri ParamArttha 
Stuti-

 

"SrImat Gridhra saras teera pArijAtam upAsmahE

  yatra tungai: atungaicha praNatai: grihyatE phalam".

 

Talking of Moksham, the Lord appears to have bestowed the ultimate reward on 
some people, just because they offered Him fruits. And these were not gourmet 
items to be found in rare lands or of exceptional taste. They were fruits of a 
mere common garden variety, to be found aplenty without much effort in the 
forest. The person who could wangle out liberation from the Lord in return for 
a few fruits, is none other than Sri Sabhari, whose offering the Lord accepted 
with great gusto, because it was accompanied by exceptional devotion and love. 
The Ramayana Mangala sloka records this for posterity-

 

"SAdaram SabharI datta phala moolAbhilAshiNE

 Soulabhya paripoorNAya sattvOdriktAya mangalam"

 

In accepting Sri Sabhari's humble offering, the Lord appears to have been 
guided by the dictum He Himself was to enunciate later in Sri 
Krishnavatara-that it is not the preciousness or price of the offering that 
matters, but the degree of piety and love that accompanies it-

 

'Patram pushpam phalam tOyam yO mE bhaktyA prayacchati

 tadaham bhakti upahritam asnAmi prayatAtmana:"

 

However, is it true that Sri Sabhari, out of her anxiety to offer Sri Rama only 
the best, tasted the fruits first and offered the half-eaten ones to the Prince 
of Ayodhya, as is depicted in some versions and in popular television serials? 
The answer appears to be No, for there is no mention in Srimad Ramayana of this 
happening. While Sri Valmiki does speak of Sri Sabhari's offering of fruits and 
roots ("mayA tu vividham vanyam sanchitam Purusharshabha!-tavArtthE Purusha 
VyAghra! PampAyA: teera sambhavam"), nowhere does he speak of the devotee 
savouring them first to ascertain their tastiness. In fact, to the contrary, 
Sri Valmiki tells us that all of Sri Sabhari's offerings were "proper" and as 
per ShAstrAs-"PAdyam Achamaneeyam cha sarvam prAdAd yathA vidhi".

 

Srimad Bhagavatam too recounts the tale of the Lord offering the priceless 
jewels adorning His infantile tirumEni to an itinerant fruit-seller, in return 
for a handful of "nAval pazham". Sri Yasoda tries to tempt the elusive Krishna 
to come and be dressed up decently, with an offer of fruits, and, in 
particular, "nAval pazham" and Jack fruit-"uNNa kanigaL taruvan", "nAvar pazham 
koNdu vaitthEn" "inia palA pazham tandu" etc.

 

Imparting an interesting twist to the fruity tale, Sri Periazhwar tells us that 
the jewels that the mischievous Lord offered to the fruit-vendor were not His 
own, but confiscated from an unresisting Gopi and when summoned to account for 
His misdemeanour, the Lord just laughed away the accusation-

 

"illam pugundu en magaLai koovi, kayyil vaLayai kazhattri koNdu

 kollaiyinindrum koNarndu vittra angorutthikku av vaLai kodutthu

 nalla nAval pazhangaL koNdu nAn allEn endru sirikkindrAnE" 

 

  

 The Lord's weakness for fruits is thus well demonstrated and chronicled. It 
would appear therefore that if you need some favour from Him, all you have to 
do is to offer Him some fruits: however, the catch lies in the phrases, "bhakti 
upahritam" and "prayatAtmana:"-the fruits, however humble or cheap, have to be 
offered to Him with impeccable devotion and love. Otherwise, He doesn't even 
touch, leave alone accept, costly offerings, if they are bereft of piety and 
sincerity. During TiruvArAdhanam, while submitting fruits for the Lord's 
consumption, it is customary to offer them duly cleaned, peeled and ready for 
use, and not just as they are available in nature.

 

Speaking of peeling fruits, there is the tale of a devotee, whom the Lord had 
honoured with a visit to his (devotee's) home, who, unable to take his eyes off 
the Lord's bewitching countenance and tirumEni, ended up offering all the 
banana skins to the Lord and throwing away the fruits inside, mixed up in his 
preoccupation with bhagavat anubhavam. This was none other than Sri VidhurA, 
who was so taken up with Emperuman's beauty that he offered the Lord what was 
to be thrown away and dutifully threw away the sweet bananas that were to be 
offered for consumption. However, since the banana peels were offered with the 
best of bhakti and piety, though by mistake, the Lord consumed them with all 
relish, without once drawing VidhurA's attention to the mix up.

 

Though the Lord appears to be quite fond of fruits, there are some that He 
looks askance at and doesn't partake of. The MundakOpanishad talks of a tree, 
which is inhabited by two beautiful birds, of which one eats the tree's fruits 
while the other doesn't. 

 

"DvA suparNA sayujA sakhAyA samAnam vriksham parishasvajAtE

 tayO: anya: pippalam svAdu atti, anasnan anya: abhichAkaseeti"

 

This beautiful allegory refers to the human body as the tree and the JeevAtma 
and Paramatma, who inhabit this shareeram, as the pretty-winged birds perched 
on the tree. The fruits of the tree represent "Karma phalam" or the results 
flowing from our accumulated baggage of merits and demerits, which the Jeevatma 
continues to enjoy or suffer, while the Paramatma, as the antaryAmi, just 
watches the Jeevatma's antics, without partaking of and being tainted by the 
fruits of the former's action or inaction.

 

We have seen the immense benefits that fruits, ordinary or otherwise, can 
confer upon us. However, there are instances of fruits proving fatal. We are 
told that ParIkshit Maharaja, who was told that he had only seven days to live 
and would meet his death through a snake, barricaded himself in a specially 
constructed enclosure with airtight security to prevent access to serpents. The 
wise King failed to reckon with the long arm of fate, which presented itself in 
the form of a Brahmin come to bless the monarch, carrying a citrus fruit in his 
hand as a token of respect. Daksha, the King of Serpents, who had hid himself 
in the fruit in the form of a tiny worm, came out hissing, at his venomous 
best, and struck the King dead.

 

Depiction of nature, in all its enticing beauty, comes automatically to 
Azhwars, who see the same as yet another manifestation of the Lord's Creation 
in all its myriad variety. Here is a sample of the same from the Third 
TiruvandAdi, in which fruits play an important role--
'PArttha kaduvan sunai neer nizhal kaNdu

 PErtthOr kaduvan ena pErndu-kArttha

 KaLam kanikku kai neettum VenkatamE- mEl nAL

 ViLam kanikku kandru erindAn verppu"  

 

A monkey, looking down into a well and finding its reflection, imagines the 
same to be another of its species and beseeches the latter to give it the black 
but delicious kaLA pazham. And where does this happen? At TiruvEnkatam, the 
abode of the Lord who, in His Krishnavatara, felled two mangoes in one stone, 
so to say, by dashing an asurA, who had come in the garb of a calf (VatsAsura), 
against another asura, who had transformed himself into a ViLA 
tree(KapittAsura). The moment the calf was flung with force at the tree, all 
the ViLA fruits rained down due the force and the tree itself was totally 
destroyed, along with the calf.

 

 Azhwars appear to be enamoured of this "fruitful" episode, for it receives 
their repeated attention and recording-

"kattru kuNilai ViLam kanikku kandru erindAn", 

"kandru kuNilA erindAi kazhal pOttri"  

"MElAl ViLavin kAi kandrinAl veezhttavan!"  

"tAzhnda viLam kanikku kandrerindu vEttruruvAi"

"kandrinai vAlOlai mAtti manigaL udira erindu") etc.

 

 It is perhaps to commemorate this event that even today, the offerings to the 
Lord on the SrI Jayanti day include KaLA pazham, ViLAm pazham etc.

 

Another instance where the innovative Krishna used fruits as ammunition for 
destroying an asura is recounted by Sri Tirumazhisai PirAn. DhEnukAsura was one 
more messenger of death dispatched by Kamsa to eliminate the apple of Yasoda's 
eye. The asura came in the form of a mule. Instantly identifying the marauder 
for what he was, the Lord caught him by his four legs and threw him against a 
sturdy palm tree ripe with fruit. The asura dashed against the fruits with such 
force that he was blown to smithereens. Says Sri Tirumazhisai PirAn-

"VAsiyAgi nEsam indri vandu edirnda DhEnukan

 nAsamAgi nAL ulappa nanmai sEr panam kanikku

veesi mEl nimirnda tOLin illai AkkinAi kazharkku

 AsayAm avarkkalAl amarar Agal AgumE?" 

 

To bring the "fruity" tale to an end, all of us like fruits, but do fruits like 
us? What a silly question, you might feel. However, fruits do have likes and 
dislikes. There are instances of fruits appearing suddenly on branches of 
trees, quite out of season. Even in these days of hybrid crop varieties and 
genetically treated seeds, it would be difficult to find mangoes on tree 
branches in November or December. We are told, however, that prompted by the 
joyous occasion of Sri Rama's homecoming after fourteen long years of exile in 
the jungle, fruits appeared on their own on all trees, quite out of season, 
even on those which had stopped bearing fruit years back-

"Bhoomi: sasyavatI chaiva phalavantascha pAdapA:"

 Contrast this with the sudden disappearance of flowers, fruits et al from all 
trees, when Raghunandana left for his jungle sojourn-

"api vrikshA: parimlAnA: sa pushpAnkura kOrakA:---RAma vyasana karsitA:"

Therefore it appears to be indeed true that the affinity between the Lord and 
fruits is mutual: He likes them and they too love Him.

 

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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