Guruvayoor has a unique place in my mind, in the minds of millions of devotees, in Kerala. When you enter that sacred temple premises, you forget everything, except of course, your wife, if she is accompanying you.
There is a silent flow of sanctity all over and you feel that it flows from the sanctum and after sometime you realize that your own soul is the source of that flow..”Eee then aruvi ennum vattaruthae Krishna !-
make this melody perennial, my Lord” was my only wish when I stood before Him for a few seconds, enjoying His divine form, though later, I realized that it was the internal divine flow, which mirrored the form of the Lord, as the time allotted to stand before the deity was too little to have a full few. The ambiance here awakens the dormant aspiration deep in our heart for being close to the divinity and we experience an unexplainable bliss and satisfaction of achieving a life-time longing. Our daily life, cramped in flesh, inextricably chained to earth, longs for fresh air, which the visits to holy places or dip in holy rivers provide, provided we are ready to absorb the flow from the Supreme Reality. For spiritual emancipation, knowledge in Vedasastras is not a must, though it might aid to some extend. But the knowledge that there is a Supreme Reality of which we are a part of, is required to prepare a fertile soil and that small land has to be maintained as clean as possible, to allow the Divine flow.
The devotees firmly believe that Unnikrishnan, the Lord Krishna, in the form of a child plays around the temple premises. Long ago, when I raised my head after a sashtangam, prostration in submission before the flag post, saw an elderly person standing beside me,who said, with eyes moist with devotion :” don’t knock your head so hard on this floor. Unnikrishnan is walking around here. You know the kid’ss feet are so tender that even Lakshmi, is careful, while pressing them with her soft, lotus-like hands”.
Sree Krishnan smiles, laughs, plays tricks, enjoys wearing good clothes and ornaments and behaves often like any of us. often cool, at times, emotional, angry, again like many of us. He never gives away boons, in a hurry, without thinking of the consequences like Brahma nor dances in the cremation ground, wearing an elephant skin, like Lord Shiva. He loves girls, all of them pretty, dances with them, plays tricks with them and carries one on his chariot and speeds up, when an arranged marriage was not possible. I think all these qualities, normal even for us, makes Him close to the heart of devotees.
Have you seen Brahma smiling or laughing despite having four faces? Or even Parameswara doing so ? How will Brahma smile or laugh when his position is shaky, on the petals of a tender lotus with a long tender stem emanating from the umbilicus of Vishnu on a serpent amidst the restless waves of an ocean? Wonder how he could involve in a whole- time job of creation, in a such a position. Do you need any other reason for the non -uniformity of his products? And how will Mahadeva smile, with one madam on his head and the other one occupying half his body. I stop laughing or smiling when my Ammalu comes 3-feet close to me and how will poor Sankara when both His wives, enslave him from the top and side, smile or laugh? And you know He is very old- mannered.
Instead of standing before the girl, who undergoes a severe penance, with all his weapons, in full height and glamor, He goes before Uma, in the disguise of a bramachary and waste time in doing kusalprasnam, formal talks.
” अपि क्रियार्थं सुलभं स्मिथकुशं जलानयापि स्नान विधिक्षमाणि ते
अपि स्वशाकत्या तपसि प्रवर्तसे शारीरमाद्यं खलु धर्मसादनं ”
” Are the samith, darbha grass and other materials required for your homajapams, available without much efforts for you, here? Is the water required for your bath easily available for you? You are straining much for your tapas . Please take care of your health”
Is this the way, though in disguise, a lover should talk to his girl at the first sight? And then He goes on speaking in self- degrading sentences :
“त्वमेव तावत् परिचिन्तय स्वयम् कदचिदेन यदि योगसंहित :
वधूदुकूलं कलहंसलक्षणं यचाजिनं शोनितबिन्दुवार्षि च ”
“Think for a while; will ever the blood-oozing elephant hide ( which is the drape of the one you seek ) be ever a match for your swan-designed, ornamental silk clothes ( you will be wearing for the wedding ?)
Again,
“वपुर विरूपाक्षमलक्षिता जनि : दिगम्बरत्वेन निवेदितं वसु
वरेषु यद् बालमृगक्षि मृग्यते तदस्ति किं व्यर्तमपि त्रिलोचने ”
” His ( Parameswaran’s) body is shapeless and He has an extra eye; His lineage is unknown; He doesn’t have even a cloth to wear. Has he a single attraction expected of a bridegroom in Him, Parvati, you, with the attractive eyes of an young deer?
And so on.
And poor Uma, instead of loudly saying,’no’ , or enquring whether ‘Parameswaran knows cooking, has he an MBA from A, B or C school or has he a green card or American citizen ship’, foolishly, submits:
” विभूषणोदभासि पिनद्रुभोगि वा गजजिनालंभि दुकूलधारी वा ,
कप्पली वा स्यादभवेन्दुशेखारं न विस्वमूर्थे रवधायथे वपु :”
The whole universe is His body; beyond any one’s comprehension is His form; Ornaments or snakes may be his adornments ; may be elephant hide or white silk; may be even skull or moon. Who can comprehend (the real nature of the Viswamoorthy ?”)
(I will marry Him and Him alone) . What will you do if your sister or daughter is uncompromising in her decision !.
Kumarasambhavam is unique Kaavayam . How decently Parameswaran speaks and behaves before Uma!
I participated in an Akshrasloka competition, while studying in SSLC and the prize awarded to me was that book, which showed me the way to the golden path of Sanskrit literature, thereby bringing ‘nithya ‘vasantham, perennial spring into my life.
But while standing before the sanctum of Guruvayoor, neither the Kumarasambhavam nor the divine couple, surfaced in my mind.
.”Eee then aruvi ennum vattaruthae Krishna !-make this melody perennial, my Lord.” was my only wish .
Let that celestial melody from His flute fill the soul of every one .
Love and regards,
sperinkulam,
Hyderabad,
Feb 7, 2013