Deepavali is a festival celebrated throughout India. Festival is different and pooja is different. Festival is celebration whereas pooja is like fasting for a prayer or on that day performing pooja to a diety. By being in fast and on that day if we do aradhana to the lord then it is a pooja. For a festival, celebration is most important. Wearing new clothes, making sweets, then eating it ourselves as well as giving it to others, being very happy is indeed a festival. In North India on the day of deepavali they will either celebrate with lakshmi poojai or kubera poojai. In Srirangam during aipasi madham, month of tula, during the whole month, water from the Cauvery will come in a great manner within a gold vessel and a golden fan and just looking at it will be like a uthsava porappAdu as we said earlier.
We also said during tula mAsam that there will be a unjal uthsavam. On the evening of Deepavali, inside the temple there will be oil alankaram for periyaperumal with lots of drums and divine sounds. For the person doing the kainkaryam and people helping them, oil and shikkakai will be given. As usual, on the morning of Deepavali, the first thiruvaradhanam, azhwars and acharyas will be brought out in the santhana mantapam and after their procession, perumal will be brought out into the santhana mantapam and there will be thirumanjanam performed for the perumal. Wearing the thiruvAbharanangal, there will be an alankaram called sali alankaram which will be offered to the perumal. 500 rupees will be tied into two cloth bags and offered to the perumal at his lotus feet. In the evening, after the namperuaml porappAdu, with the divine singing for azhwars and acharyas having been performed and with thirupatiettam being tied, then the sanmAnam having performed, perumal will come back to his asthAnam again. This is what will happen in Srirangam as a vaibhavam during Deepavali.
We also said during tula mAsam that there will be a unjal uthsavam. On the evening of Deepavali, inside the temple there will be oil alankaram for periyaperumal with lots of drums and divine sounds. For the person doing the kainkaryam and people helping them, oil and shikkakai will be given. As usual, on the morning of Deepavali, the first thiruvaradhanam, azhwars and acharyas will be brought out in the santhana mantapam and after their procession, perumal will be brought out into the santhana mantapam and there will be thirumanjanam performed for the perumal. Wearing the thiruvAbharanangal, there will be an alankaram called sali alankaram which will be offered to the perumal. 500 rupees will be tied into two cloth bags and offered to the perumal at his lotus feet. In the evening, after the namperuaml porappAdu, with the divine singing for azhwars and acharyas having been performed and with thirupatiettam being tied, then the sanmAnam having performed, perumal will come back to his asthAnam again. This is what will happen in Srirangam as a vaibhavam during Deepavali.
Azhwar tells this, "maran chuvar madiledutHu" the body is always growing and it is going to suffer several difficulties with ageing. In this world, when one is born death is a certainty that has been pre determined for him and one does not know when and where this will occur. Because we do not know, which is the reason why we are doing several and several things without losing the interest in this world. Even if we see death for somebody happening in front of us, we usually think that this is for them and not for us. A doctor operates on a body, splits it open and sees what is there inside, even when he does about 10 operations per day, yet his love for the body does not go away. The doctor sees the intestines, lungs, bones and heart, the blood, flesh and the smell emanating from it. But even though he sees all this, the doctor will feel that this body he is seeing belongs to another and will not feel that his own body is the same. In the burial ground, daily even when several bodies are burnt, even for the person doing this work always thinks that these are happening only for others and not for himself, this is indeed the maya. Because of the presence of such a maya, we are doing so many things in this world. We have to build this body, the body has hunger. When there is something called hunger in this world, no activity will happen. The body looks for food and when food is obtained this has to be tasty is what the tongue expects. If a very tasty food is offered by any chance, then the tongue always looks out for this and does not like tasteless food. Also the body needs good bed to sleep upon. To cover itself, the body looks for clothes but looks upon fashionable clothes and not just ordinary ones. One likes to often decorate his hair. One likes to smear some perfumed paste over his hands and body. Azhwar therefore says "maran chuvar madiledutHu" - yes, it is certain that one has to take care of the body but in doing so, he goes to any extremes and that is not right.
One likes to have lots of comfort and then it grows more and more. When this happens, what one does is even at the cost of cheating someone or fooling someone or troubling another, one tries to protect his body.
---
That is why azhwar says "aRanchuvar madhiL eduththu" - atleast by troubling someone we will try to save our body. What happens to he or she, why do I worry, only me is important, that is how one will save himself it seems. When seeing someone, one would think how we can use this person. Is he a person who can be easily fooled, he looks like a loose, can we cheat him or extract some money out from him, can we get some work done from him. Thus one's mind is always in analysing a person. By analysing, one tries his best to see how the other person can be fooled and money can be extracted from him, thinking that the other person will be easily swayed. Since he looks like a fool, the other person may ask him to take a bag and come behind him, get work done from him and save himself. What it means to save himself is that he wants to be comfortable and he should not have anything lesser. The person looking to save himself will only think how the other is useful to him rather than thinking how he will be useful to others. If he has a problem he will think that all of the people should come and help him, but on the other hand if another is suffering he will just comment that it is his fate and just go away. He will easily say that this is his headache and he cannot do anything to help. Selfishness thinking that all is for me only and I am not available for anyone and everyone.
The reason is "maRumaikkE veRumai pooNdu" - why he thinks like this is because he does not even think that there is a life after death. After death there is a world and we will have to go to that world. If we have done wrong then we will get the appropriate punishment for that. If we have done good, then according to that we will be living comfortably. Then based on the bad and good we have done, there may be cause for a rebirth into this world again. That rebirth should evolve as a good one again. But if we were to be born as a buffalo, then there will be lots of load put upon our backs and we need to carry them. If we are born as a dog, we may be tied to someone with a rope. Any rebirth will entail us to suffer the respective difficulties. So by analysing what we need to do is that in this birth itself we should never do any wrong. So "maRumaikkE veRumai pooNdu, puRamsuva rOttai maadam puraLumpO thaRiya maatteer" - how this body is "puRamsuva rOttai maadam" - before building a structure, before bringing in the bricks and the cement, he brings an concrete iron rod and verifying its strength he ties this first. He keeps tying the iron rod along the building. After that he puts the cement and bricks and makes it strong, how this body is constructed using the concrete iron rod which is the bones inside which the flesh and blood is mixed. Also as the building will need to be given a final finishing and given painting. Similarly the body is given a beautiful skin, eyes and nose. With this body what one will do is that he will say he will go here and there, attend this marriage or that, go to that place where there is a meeting like this one would be going hither and thither. Where all were you went with this body - marriage, excursion, tours, foreign tour where all you made this body to roll about on this world, will not one day you come to the temple of Sri Ranganathar. During the procession can I not come and perform seva, put the chAmaram, hold the chatram umbrella, since its so hot and these people walking on my street can I sprinkle water in front of the house?, can one give buttermilk to the people in the procession? when the people coming in the procession may not know the presence of thorns or some stones and can I remove them? when coming around the 7 prahArams, if I find any garbage can I remove them and put it in the dustbin? As much as possible can i refrain from doing any unclean things inside the temple.
"aRanchuvar aagi ninRa aranganaarkku aat cheyyaadhE
puRanchuvar kOlam seidhu puLkouwak kidakkinReerE" - one would not even give 10 paise as dharmam for anybody it seems, would not have put food for anyone even for just one time - "puRanchuvar kOlam seidhu" - would not have done any dharmam at all. Even if one comes to his door and asks for a glass of water, he would be told go there and drink from the corporation water tap. "puLkouwak kidakkinReerE" - in case the body is dead and lying somewhere even the jackals would not feed from it thinking this body has never been to the lord Sri Ranganathar temple. Even one day this person has not done any good, so we should not eat this body, the jackal would think it seems. puL in tamil meaning bird, the bird is going to come and devour it. if a very good man has left this body on earth and gone, even though he will attain the good world, the nature in this world will cry for him. If a durAtma leaves this earth and goes, the nature will be happy it seems. Like that our life should not become.
Therefore Azhwar says
"aRanchuvar madhiL eduththu maRumaikkE veRumaipooNdu puRanchuvar Ottai maadam puraLum pOdhu aRiya maatteer aRanchuvar aagi ninRa aranganaarkku aat cheyyaadhE puRanchuvar kOlam seidhu puLkouwak kidakkinReerE"
Subham
Radhe Radhe
Read more translations of the other episodes at: http://aranganinarumai.blogspot.com/
A Lifetime of Divine Treasure trove of great wisdom galore within Azhaikindran Arangan DVD. Dont miss this in this human lifetime! Order today for all the Complete Episodes...for your own treasured lifetime copy as well as preserving it for the generation next, do not hesitate to contact "Madhuram" - a Unit of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Namabhiksha Kendra +91 94426137102"
