When we go to kshetrams such as Pandaripuram, Brindavanam, Puri and Srirangam, we also meet the sadhus, mahans and bhAgavatOttamars present there. Just as there is such a great benefit when we take bath in the theertham near the kshetrams, likewise there is the even greater benefit of having the darshan of the bhagavan there. Many people come to Tirupathi to have the darshan of Sri VenkatamudayAn. All these people who come have a very great desire to see the bhagvan are bhAgavattOtamars.
Those who perform namakeerthanam even one time are also bhAgvattOtamars. All these people are with a great desire to somehow be able to have the darshan of the bhagavan.
Even amidst all the worries of the outside world, when the bhakthas climb the mountain and come closer to the sannidhAnam, they are all filled with the one desire and expectation of when they would be able to get the darshan. When will they get the darshan, how long to wait is the only tapas these bhakthas will be having all the time. The desire to see the bhagavan is a tapas in itself.
When king Parikshit was cursed that within 7 days he will die of snake bite, he decides to go the shores of the river Ganges because it is there thar he can find many mahans and they will be able to show a good path for him. We see that Suka Brahmam then does paramAnugraham of Srimad Bhagavatham to him. Similarly in pandaripuram, we see that at every foot distance there is a sadhu.
Not just that, there is Nama on the lips of the mahatmas.
Wherever we come within Srirangam there is “Ranga Ranga”.
Whenever there is perumal parappAdu and if you are in Srirangam, on all routes that perumal would travel and at specific junctions of the street where people are residing, all the people will assemble with the expectation to see the Lord. Likewise at an other junction, there will be people from that street and so on. Whilst standing in those different junctions, people would keep inquiring as to the whereabouts of perumal and where is the porappAdu happening, currently and to know where the perumAl is coming and in which street he is coming with lots of expectation! Daily perumAl would be going in those streets in Srirangam. In other places we find that there would be porappAdu only during yearly brahmostsavam or in those 10 day uthsavams only. In Srirangam, however both the perumal nor the bhakthas are tired of porappAdu. They don't think that perumal comes daily in porappAdu at all and so we will wait to see the next day as even if it’s a just a daily event, they will still assemble. Why because, when seeing the tirumEni of perumAl, one would never get tired of seeing the.poradppAdu any number of times. Daily on seeing the perumal, HE looks different, today dressed beautifully in one alankAram, tomorrow in a different alankAram altogether. The Gopis in the GopikA Geetham of the Srimad Bhagavatham fight with Brahma and ask why did he create eyelids for them. They worry that during the time when they bat an eyelid, they are not able to see Krishna in that interval! They worry that within the split second time when the eyelid is being closed, the time is being wasted for them as they are unable to see Krishna. The person nearby tells why you forget Krishna in that instant, is not Krishna available always in your heart? Yes, but they see Krishna in various alankarams every time they bat an eyelid even though they have Krishna in their hearts. They see Krishna in different forms in those instants, likewise our Ranganathar is also in different kolams. Even in archavataram, perumal is so beautiful as in the vibhavavataram.
When we go to those kshetrams we see so many Bhagavathar's, mahatmas and sadhus and we wonder how great they will be. One bhaktha prays that I wish to be born as a dog on the streets of Srirangam. Even born as a dog when perumal comes in a porappAdu, I will be wagging my tail and coming behind the perumal.
After 10 or 20 days, everyone would wonder why this dog keeps coming daily and maybe it has done some punyam in its earlier janma, done some bhakthi and therefore would put a mala and would honour it. Even as a street dog with a disease, I would have the good fortune to be born in Srirangam in the ranga street says a bhaktha. I should be born as a worm and live in the drains and I am ready for that but I will tell you which drain it will be. I will tell you which type of drain it will be, the drain where the sadhus who perform harinamakeerthanam and clean their legs with the theertham and the theertham that will flow into the drain, that is the drain where I would be ready to be born as a worm in it.
We think that temples and kshetrams are the places where we visit is a punyam and the very place where we are living, if that is a kshetram as well then that is a punyam. In that kshetram, if we see a donkey or a horse or even a pig, we wonder what punyam these animals have done over the janmas that they should be born in this kshetram. Unless this kshetram has a punyam for them they would not be born here. What will the sadhu in that kshetram get? A sadhu will eat something there and then he will put the remains of his eaten food here and there and the dog will eat it and thus get the uchhistAnnam as a result. What will a cow eat there, the leftover leaf of a sadhu will be the uchhistAnnam for the cow. The prabhAvam of the uchhistAnnam is told in the Srimad Bhagavatham itself. Under the prabhAvam of such an uchhistAnnam did Sage Narada himself get bhakthi. EnperumAnar himself desired only such an uchhistAnnam as we read in the bhagavan stories. As we see within the charithrams, the dog, donkey, monkey, pig, horse or cow or the creepers and trees in the kshetram should not be ignored or treated as low in these kshetrams.
The poet as he describes the surrounding and the nature around the kshetram, the tatAgam (pond), the theertham, trees, creepers and the sOlaighazh (orchard or garden) is essentially describing the kAvya rasam. That is how the poets will usually describe them.
Even in the Valmiki Ramayanam, the poet Valmiki will describe this in a similar fashion. In the Srimad Bhagavatham, whilst describing the Gajendra Moksham, the forest where Gajendra was residing as the king with all of its trees and their varieties, the different types of animals and their sObhai (beauty) is being described. Why because, these are purely based on poetry.
Even amongst the azhwArs, thirumangaiazhwAr, when describing the kshetrams, will perform mangalAsAsanam by including all the natural surroundings in his description of the kshetram. Although we can view them in this fashion, however, as they were very closely associated with the bhahavan, they were indeed bhagavattOtamars. Have they not been associated in some way with the kshetram and since it is the bhagavan and the perumal who resides here, so how can we ignore them?
In this pAsuram, so beautifully the kAveri, the sOlai (flower garden) and the Ranganathar in the middle of it all has been described by the azhwAr.
"vandinam murazhum sOlai
mailinam Azhum sOlai
kondazhmidhanavum sOlai
kuilinam koovum sOlai
andarkOn amarum sOlai
AnitirumarangumennA
mindarpaythunnum sOtrai vilaikki
NayikkindumeerE"
"vandinam murazhum sOlai" - it seems there are a lot of bees. Where will the bees usually be? "bramaram pushpam" - it will be the place where there will be lots of flowers and honey. There must me madhu or honey in it and a sugandham with that honey. The bees won't be attracted to a flower which does not contain honey or sugandham.
How should the flower be? it should be with its petals fully spread out beautifully. Say there is a lotus which one has picked up with petals closed and then when he pulls out the petals from it in order to spread it out, it will never be as good as the lotus that has the petals already spread out naturally isn't it. In the nature surrounding within a wonderful thadAgam (pond) amidst the river kAveri are present most beautiful lotuses with petals spread out. On such a lotus, if there is honey and sugandham, there is one who will desire it the most, which is the bee. How does this lotus flower grow so well and spread it's petals wide. It is because of the plentiful water and the good soil there.
In the bhagavatham, amongst the 5 geethams there is the "bramaram geetham". The Gopis sing based on the bramarageetham only. They tell the messages based upon the bee only. A bhakthar tells about the bee, "you make the "darrr" sound, go and sit on the flower then go away and come back to sit on the flower again". But once the flowers are turned into a garland then it is going to adorn the perumal and it's thirumEni. A few of the flowers in the garland will be close to the ear of the perumal. For a whole day therefore, these flowers are going to be sitting close to the ear of the perumal whilst being close to it's ear. So when these flowers are created as a garland, we cannot be sure of which flower will be sitting close to the ear (thirucevi) of the perumal. There is no way to tell.
The bee knows the secret of talking to the flowers. The bee just like the ArOhanam, avarOhanam making the sound, "darrr" he goes about and comes back to sit on the flower again. One bhakthar therefore says to the bee
"oh! bee. I will tell you of all my wants and desires to you and can you do me a favour. You often go and sit with freedom on this flower and you say some message to the flower. l am always thinking of the perumal and praying to him, the kAmam and fear in my mind should go away. They need to be above others and jealousy should go away from the mind. All the dirt in the mind should go away. I need to get jnAnam and vairAgyam, filled with bhakthi. My thoughts should never get diverted from anything other than the bhagavan is what I am worrying always. I am making so many prayers like this always, has the perumal lent his ears my prayers yet. I don't know whether my prayers have reached the ears of perumal, can you please do me a favour? You go to the flower and sit on the lotus and speak in your own language, please pass on all my prayers to the perumal via the flower. There is a bhakthar there who is always seeking your kripa always, the bhakthar told me all his desires and worries. In the bhakthar's mind the worldly attachments of kama, krodha are affecting him very much inside his heart, only if he can get your kripa will the jnAna, bhAkthi, vairAgyam be bestowed upon him. When are you going to shower your kripa upon him, he is always expecting it. Please tell the flower all this". "When the flower is made into a garland and placed upon the shoulder of the thirumEni of the perumal, oh flower, just like a person who listens to the person next to him speaking, yet conversing with another, could you likewise please keep telling the perumal about me all day being so close to HIS ear, the bee tells the flower".
Therefore keeping the bee as the instrument is usually a piece of wisdom used by the poets. That is quite a natural thing. In this manner, the pAsuram is begun.
Initially it has been described that srirangam is surrounded by the samudram, but now it has been described as an island amidst two rivers - "kollidam" and "kAveri". This island of Srirangam is where perumal resides. The island itself is like a sOlai. Why because of the availability of plenty of water and it's flow. The nanjai (growing soil) is also so well suited for growth. Therefore there is plenty of flowers blooming here and it is like a sOlai. It is not known whether the bees residing in other places sing a different tune. The bees of Srirangam by virtue of their residence in Srirangam being bhagavathars themselves and the greatness of being in this place are indeed making the 'darrr' sound. In this instance they are actually singing as 'ranga', 'ranga','ranga' like that says azhwAr here. Just like they say about the parrot ("kootilinthu kili Govinda"), likewise this being a kshetram, if you hear closely the bee seems to be saying 'darrr', but indeed it is saying 'ranga', 'ranga','ranga'...
"Vandinam murazhum sOlai" - there are lots of bees, plenty of water everywhere and also due to the plentiful water, lots of clouds also appeared. Now when lots of clouds appear, the bird who becomes very happy is the peacock. What does the peacock do now, "mailinam Azhum sOlai", it seems this area is being ruled over or taken over by the peacocks. We can say these peacocks resemble the bhagavathars and when perumal comes in a porappAdu, these bhagavattOtamars are singing and dancing without being shy - "visrujja lajjam".
While seeing these bhagavattOtamars, azhwAr thinks if these could be the hordes of peacocks who having spread there feathers are dancing in front of the perumal. Peacocks always dance whenever they see a lot of clouds in the sky. Like that the thirumEni of the perumal - isn't he "kArmukhizh vannan" himself and his body is like the cloud. Just like the peacocks that dance in front of the cloud with so much of anandam spreading there feathers, here is the perumal coming in a porappAdu and just like the cloud, all these bhagavattOtamars performing harinamasankeerthanam are dancing in a state of anandam, says azhwAr.
Radhe Radhe!
Subham
