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SrI:
SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:

Dearest Srivaishnavas,

Today is Sri Krishna Jayanthi. JanmAshtami... Krishna,
Rama avathArams are the most enjoyable and divine and
they always enchant us with the wonderful deeds of the
Lord. AzhwArs and Acharyans have deeply immersed
themselves in these avathArams in particular and had
seen the same Rama, Krishna in the archA mUrthys in
Dhivya Desams. Thsee special Rama Krishna avathArams
have got a spociality in them. The Sarvagnan,
SarvEshwaran, Sarva shakthan, the Supreme Lord- who is
unpapalleled and Peerless- who has none equal to or
above Him? oppAril appan- ParamAthmA- PurushOtthaman-
Jagath kaarNanan; Jagath rakshakan- The Only One who
could grant mOksham [mOksha pradhan]; the Ultimate
enjoyment for NithyasUris and mukthAs at Srivaikuntam.
One can go on describing and extolling His positions,
Roopam, Swaroopam, vibhuthi (rulership) i.e. this
world [leelA vibhUthi] and Paramapadham [Nithya
vibhUthi], His innumerous kalyANa guNas? In spite of
such Greatest qualities, His dayA [comnpassion] is
Supreme and the most important One; manisarkaay-
padaathana pattu- For the sake of human beings- what
all troubles; briths (as avathArams) He undertakes. He
took the avathArams in the lowly human forms ? and
stoops down so low with such east accessibility to
illiterate Gopas, GopikAs, pasu (cows), pakshis
(jatAyu), monkeys, boatmen- hunters (Guha), et al. His
sowlabhyam [coming down so low] and sowseelyam [easily
accessible for all] is amazingly true and present in
such Greatest Parathvam?

He moved with everyone equally and attracted them all
with His sowlabhyam and sowseelyam. He is thus
possessed with the most wonderful gunAs ?namely
Sowlabhya, Sowseelyams. Rama is addressed as Gunvaan-
mentioning this gunA especially. 

KrishnAvathAra sowseelyam is Ultimate and there is no
match for that. aRivonRum illAdha Aykulatthu- He
appeared in the group of cowherd folks who were
completely illiterate; having no saasthra jnAnam- did
not even know how to eat with right hand or left..
[idakkai, valakkai theriyaadha].. He mixed with them
as if He had been a cowherd Boy for ages and even
Devendran, Chathu mukha BrahmA were all misled. He
reared cattle; tendered calves; played with Gopa boys,
shared their food, taking a bite from their palms;
played with Gopikas and danced with them? He allowed
Himself tied down to a mortar by the illiterate Gopa
lady (YasodhA) and NammAzhwAr marveled as His such a
sowseelyam and fainted for about six months it is told
[etthiRam? etthiRam] . 

This sowseelya gunA which can not be seen in anyone
else in such grandest proportion is the natural
swabhAvam for the Lord.. It is His one of His inherent
kalyANa guNa for the sake of us- due to His mercy,
dayA on us. How many of us understand that? Hardly
any. The Lord Himself says in GitA- avajAnanthi maam
mUDA! ?. Sa mahatma sudhurlabha: 

Ravana talks lowly about Rama coming to the forest,
leaving His coronation for His younger brother;
Sisupalan talked in un-parliamentary language
(sudusol) about the deeds of KaNNan- as cowherd Boy. 

avyaktham vyakthimApannam manyanthE maam abuddhaya: |
param bhAva majaanantha: mamaavyayam anutthamam ||

I, who was born as the son of Vaudevar, am being
considered as if born due to the bondage with Karma;
and they do not understand my supreme sowseelya guNaa.
The same holds good for all His avathArams. Without
understanding His true nature and guNAs, we (people)
talk low about His deeds performed during these
avathArams. Those who do that are foolish; and who
equate Him with them as humans and evaluate His
actions in their view point as humans. 

Still, it continues. Even today such talking goes on.
Even sincere devotees sometimes get doubts on His
vaali vandham, Gopika dance etc.. The Lord Himself
tells Vaali: sookshuma: paramudhuehEya: Dharmam is
very subtle; it is not easily comprehensible. KaNNan
played with gopa sthrees ? and even today many of us
are not able to digest; But we, srivaishnavites,
should never get such thoughts about His such grandest
deeds. But it is essential to get our doubts cleared
so that we reinforce our devotion on Him stronger and
it grows from strength. There is no better time that
talking about it now on His janmAshthami. Please
forgive me if I am again trespassing where fools do
rush in where angels fear to tread. This is only to
clarify the foolish arguments and thoughts in us.
Swamy desikan himself most mercifully has enlisted the
Freqently Asked Questions on this incident and
answered to clarify our doubts. It is Swamy who
blessed us with the unparalleled abhaya pradhAna
saaram to clarify many aspects on Saranagathi during
RamavathAram. Swamy mentions in his
yaadhavaabhyudhayam about Krishna avathAram and let us
enjoy them and get our doubts cleared. [reference: the
most brilliant article written by Naavalpaakam SrI U
VE Dr Vasudevachariar Swamy, Trivandhrum in Sri
Hayagriva Priya and I was so lured by the article that
I wished to share with all of you- anything good in
these posts is only due to the wonderful original
article and Swamy Desikan?s excellent analysis.
Mistakes, errors, omissions are entirely mine. Sri 
Vasudevachar Swamy is the one who wrote the Tamil
meanings for Swamy Desikan Dhivya sahasranaamam
released and as blessed by Srimad PaRavaakkOttai
Andavan Swami. Also, asmadhAchAryan His Holiness
Srimad PaRavaakkOttai ANdavan Sri Gopala Desika
Mahadesikan Swami had delivered a two hours upanyasam
on this subject few years ago on a sravaNam day -
wonderfully quoting the very reference which is in
this article. It is Acharya anugraham that I am able
to find the same reference in this article and we
share here now]

It may take a few posts and the article is a bit long
and hence we will cover it as a series. 

suraanganaabhi: samayE Gruthaayaam swEnaiva gOpAkruthi
bhUmikAyAm |
akarmavaSyasya vibhOsthadhAseeth
arChAphalasparSanamaathraleelA ||
[from Yadavabhyudhayam- 8.67]

This sloka- a wonderful sloka- has answers for many
questions. 

1. Question: The ultilate pinnacle of Sowlabhyam
[eLimai] ? joined hands with Gopa sthrees and enjoyed
being with them, united with them. Even some of them
were married [to others]. They too were happy being
with Him. This is against saasthrAs. Does this deed
bring a bad name for KaNNan? 

Answer: We should first of all, not think that He
[Bhagwaan] and us- as one jaathi (one group). He is
Iswaran; Lord; ruler of all of us; It is His sankalpam
even for our very existence; breathing. He is never
touched by punya, paapams; He is akilahEya
prathyaneekan (untouched by imperfections; or bad
guNAs); He is not bound by Karma at all; His birth is
an avathAram for the sake of us. We are all bound
always by Karma; We are tied down by our papams and
punyams. He is above vidhi nishEdha saasthrAs;
SaasthrAs are for us to be on right track for getting
rid of our paapams, and accrual of punyas and to
please Him as SaasthrAs are His agnyA- instructions.
Sage Vyasa also says clearly: aroopavadhEva hi
tathpraDhAnathvaath. Bhagawaan DOES not belong to
human race; He is in manidha jaathi at all. We can not
hold Him down with the rules laid down for us. 

Also, We can not compare and equate our actions with
his dhivya chEshtithams )leelAs); Can we lift the huge
Govardhana mountain with the little finger as a Boy?
Can we dance on top of many heads of poisnous snake
Kaalingan? Sage Suka takes the example of Rudra
himself to explain this in Srimad Bhaagawatham:
Bhagawaan?e leelAs are very many. Rudra?s leelas are
few; Even them, we can not do or perform. Rudra drank
the poison and did not perish [as it was Deva kaaryam
and the Lord Sriman Narayanan blessed him to undertake
the task]. Can we drink poison and survive? When such
is case with Iswaran, why to talk about SarvEswaran? 

Hence, KaNNan does not belong to us ? human race.
Iswaran; Parabrahmam- is He. Veda declares Him as
apahathapaapma. Swamy EmperumAnAr Sri Ramanuja
comments this as: by His nature, He is not bounded by
Karma [apahathakarmathvam,
karmavaSyathAgandharahithatattvam ithyarTTha: ] 

So, if some of His acts appear to us the acts of
paapam, He is unbounded and untouched by such acts at
all. Hence, will paapam never ever affect or come to
Him due to these acts?- the question does not arise at
all for Him? Swamy desikan touches upon this aspect in
the above sloka with the word.. akarmavaSya.. Thus He
does not belong to jeeva jaathi; and also He is our
Ruler, Lordship and Isawaran and due to both aspects,
He does not get affected by Karma and Punya paapams
says engaLAzhwAn in the commentary on Vishnu purANa
for the same subject under IswaratvEna
apahathapaapmatvaat..  Hence no dhOsham for Him.

Question 2:  What are the avathArams for?
DharmasamsThApanArThAya- to establish and protect
dharma. Sri Rama being the Eka pathni vrathan,
followed strict codes of saasthrAs and set an example
for us. KaNNan hugged these Gopikas; played with them;
and Vedas and saasthrAs may roar saying He is
Parathvam and is unaffected; But is that approapriate
for KaNNan to do that? hugging other women? Can that
be termed as establishing Dharma? How can we say that
He followed saasthrAs and established, protected
Dharma in His KrishnA avathAram as avathaarams?

Answer: Same question was raised by Parvathi to Rudra:
Rudra replied promptly? swaSareeraparishvangAth rathi
naasthi varaananE.. ? We, jeevathmAs are in each body.
We are always united with our bodies. There is
absolutely no dhosham for that. There is no enjoyment
also with that unity; There is no ApAsam also in that.
Only when we hug the body which does not belong to us
? it is different and hence a paapam- dhOsham etc..
Then only does the problem arise. Iswaran ? vibhu; He
manifests everywhere; anatharbahischathas sarva vyApya
nArAyaNasthitha: - Narayanan manifests and pervades
everywhere inside and outside of everything and
everyone; We are all His sareeram; He houses Himself
in us and He houses us all as well; He hugs His own
body- can it have dhosham? was Rudra?s quip.. This
aspect is mentioned by swamy desikan in the above
sloka- as vibhO? He manifests and pervades everywhere.
Even for that matter, vaayu, air spreads everywhere
and hugs all. Is it his paapam? Is it dhosham? When
Vaayu himself doe not do anything worng, what can we
mention about the SarvEshwaran? We are all his
sareeram and when He hugs us- there is no dhosham
thus. Even Chathu mukha Brahma and others longed for
being born in Gopa kulam to be hugged by KaNNan;
Vishnu purANa also mentions this: vyApi vaaayuriva
sthiTha: 

Generally- among humans- there are kaamukhars (those
who are mad after sensual pleasures and carnal
desires); There also few virakhthars (those who detach
themselves from getting such thoughts and are
vairAgis) They even spurn thinking of women and hate
them as mere one collection of flesh, bones, blood.
OOnidai chuvar vaitthu enbu thooN naatti- says
Thirumangai AzhwAr- This body is with the lowly hair,
the wall of skins, flesh; bone as pillars and
reinforcing members to support. Thus these two kinds
of people exist in the world; Sri Krishna did not have
mOham (desire) for these Gopikas and their bodies; Not
dwEsham (dislike or hatred); They are His body after
all. Not due to his karma, but by His own very nature
as Their Lord. How can there be desire or hatred?
Swamy Desikan says this in Yadavabhyudhayam: 

na khalvamushya pramadhAmadhAnDhyam na kuthsanam
tatthadhabhIshtadhAthu: |
na DharmasamsThApana vADhaganDha SuddhAnuChinthayA hi
Subhasya leelA ||

Thus, KaNNan, hugging His own bodies namely Gopikas,
there is nothing against dharma; In fact, the
hunsbands of these Gopikas should have got angry at
these acts; Never did they get angry. Because KaNNan
was in their hearts and they too belong to Him;
Bhagwaan entered into their hearts as well, lured them
with His divine charning form and united with their
jeevans? thaan otti vandhu, thani nenjai vanjitthu,
oonotti vandhu uyirinil kalandhu? [says NammAzhwAr in
Thirumaynozhi]. These people had the same experience
and enjoyment. Thus for the, there was nothing wrong
seen in KaNNan?s acts and they could not talk ill
about KaNNan. It is one of KaNNan?s leelAs. Sage Sukha
mentioned in Srimad Bhagawatham:

gOpInAm tathpathInAm Cha sarvEShAmEva dhEhinAm |
yO(S)nthasvarathi sO(S)Dhyaksha: kreedanEnEha
dhEhabhAk||

Sri Vishnu purANa refers to this. Swamy desikan thus
touches upon of all of them as vibhO: to assert these
truths.

Let us look at other doubts that may arise in us
tomorrow. Tomorrow also the world celebrates SrI
Jayanthi..   Anything found good in these posts is
only due to the wonderful original article written by
Sri U Ve Dr Vasudevachar Swami from  Swamy Desikan?s
excellent analysis. Mistakes, errors, omissions are
entirely mine

Sarvam SrI KrishNArpaNamasthu
AchAryan ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam
Regards
Namo Narayana
dAsan madhavakkannan       



        
                
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