What is the most important difference between the Lord and ourselves? This may appear to be a rather naïve and simplistic question and a rhetorical one at that, not really in need of an answer. The differences between Emperuman and ourselves are so vast, so many and so unbridgeable, that it seems futile to embark upon such an enquiry. However, at least for academic interest, it is worthwhile looking into how He differs from us. While the aspects of divergence are indeed many, one in particular is extremely significant and interesting, not to say rewarding too. We are told that one, who understands this particular distinction between the Jeevatma and the Paramatma, is freed of his mortal coils, never to be enshackled again.

To understand this specific aspect of difference between the Lord and ourselves, we must first study an aspect of identity between the two. Both, viz., the Supreme Lord and we insignificant mortals, are born time and again in this mundane world. As far as we are concerned, we are caught up in the bottomless cesspool of Samsara, sucking us down each time we try to get out of it. Despite our occasional and feeble efforts to rid ourselves of our mortal shackles during each birth, we fall again and again helplessly into the SamsAra sAgaram. The moment one birth is over, the soul has to hop into another waiting body, leaving its former lifeless shareeram behind. There appears to be no way out of this maze, which keeps us meandering for innumerable lifetimes. “Piravi Perum Kadal” is how Valluvar describes this interminable cycle of births and deaths, attesting to its depth, breadth, vastness and impossibility of surmounting. “Punarapi jananam, punarapi maraNam”, laments another worthy, referring to the monotonous regularity with which birth and death occur. The worthlessness of such an existence is brought out by Azhwars in all its despicability-

“pirandum setthum nindru idarum ip pEdamai”
“avattamE piravi tandAi”
“mAri mAri pala pirappum pirandu” etc.

If this is our plight, it appears that the Lord is not much better off. We hear from several impeccable sources that He too is born in this world, not once or twice, but innumerable times. We can’t believe our ears-the Lord, and being born here, just like ourselves, sporting a mortal form like us! And being born to human mothers, after a ten-month imprisonment in their wombs! And dying too occasionally, just like we mortals do! He displays extremely human emotions during His sojourn on earth, as we too do.

We thus see that just like us, Emperuman too is born in this world. There are a number of scriptural texts, which attest to the Lord taking birth amidst us, despite His exalted stature. Here is one from the Purusha Suktam, acclaimed to be the essence of all Shruti-”ajAyamAnO bahudhA vijAyatE”. This vAkya tells us that the Lord, though birthless, is born many a time. Sri Nammazhwar, in his faithful transcription of Vedas, renders the same thus-”Pirappil pal piravi PerumAn”. And Emperuman Himself tells Arjuna in the Gita that He is indeed born many a time, despite being birthless, immutable and the Lord of all-

“ajOpi san avyayAtmA, bhootAnAm IsvarOpi san
Prakritim svAm adhishtAya sambhavAmi Atma mAyayA”

Sri Nammazhwar is moved beyond measure by the Lord taking birth as a mere fish, boar, lion and turtle, despite being the exalted Lord of the Celestials-”ennindra yOniyumAi pirandAi imayOr talaivA!”

Lest we be misled, by this apparent identity between the Lord and ourselves, into believing that He is no better than us, let us consider in what respects His births differ from ours.

1.      Cause-We are born because our unending baggage of Karma pushes us again and again into mortal coils, to experience the fruits, good and bad, of our deeds. We have absolutely no choice in the matter, nor can we refrain from being born or to take a sabbatical in between two births. The inexorable rotation of the Karma Chakram ensures that we are endlessly imprisoned in our mundane shackles.

The Lord, on the other hand, is born out of His own sweet will. There is absolutely no compulsion for Him to take birth, nor is He subject to any external influence in this regard. When He is born in this world, it is because He wants to, not because He has to. “IcchA griheeta abhimatOru dEham” says Sri Koorattazhwan, attesting to the absolutely voluntary nature of the Lord’s avatArAs.

2.      Purpose-We undergo the phenomena of endless births, so that we can work off some of the accumulated baggage of Karma. However, in doing so, we tend to increase our burden through uninformed action. There is thus no noble purpose to our lives.

In contrast, the Lord has a three-fold and exalted purpose to all His noble births, as He Himself narrates in the Gita-

“ParitrANAya sAdhUnAm, vinAsAya cha dushkritAm
Dharma samstApanArtthAya sambhavAmi yugE yugE”

The first and foremost mission of Emperuman is the protection of the saintly, who know of no other refuge than the Lord. If it becomes necessary in this process, the Lord also destroys the evil-minded, which, however, affords Him little pleasure. A third purpose to the Lord’s births is the reestablishment of Righteousness on a firm footing. We are told that there was a fourth aim too, in the NrisimhAvatAra-that of proving the words of His ardent devotee to be true (“Satyam vidhAtum nija bhritya bhAshitam”). Sri PrahlAda had declared to his sceptical father that Sri Hari did indeed inhabit all beings and objects, including a pillar or an insignificant blade of grass. And when the asurA smote the palace pillar to test the truth of his credulous son’s words, Sri Nrisimha emerged therefrom the very same second, just to prove His devotee’s words true.

3.      Periodicity-”ShatAyur vai Purusha:” says the Shruti, pegging the human lifespan at a hundred years. There are instances of people living beyond a hundred, but they are rare. As such, even if one is able to live for a full hundred years, one has to be necessarily reborn at least once a century.

With the Lord, however, it is different-He is born only once in a Yugam (“sambhavami yugE yugE”)-roughly every 900000 years, on an average, allowing for the differing durations of various yugAs. Sri Ramanuja adds, however, that there is no fixed periodicity to the Lord’s avatArAs-He is born as and when necessary, sometimes twice or more in the same Yugam and sometimes not at all during a particular Yugam.

4.      Effect-Each new birth only adds to our woes and to our already unbearable baggage of dastardly deeds, with the result that the Soul is progressively clouded by successive layers of KArmic dirt, becoming totally unrecognisable, vis-à-vis its original luminous, wise and blissful self.

The Lord, however, adds more and more glory to Himself, with every avatAra. From each such sojourn on earth, His splendour increases manifold and He emerges with immeasurably greater grandeur every time He takes an avatAra-”navO navO bhavati jAyamAna:” says the Shruti.

5.      Form-The form we take in each birth is dictated by our Karma. Though we are human beings in this birth, we may very well be trees or frogs in our next, depending on the composition of our deeds and misdeeds.

Emperuman takes the form He wishes to, whether it be a fish, boar, or Magnificent Monarch. We only have to look again at Sri Koorattazhwan’s tribute mentioned above, to confirm that all the Lord’s forms are of His own choice.

6.      Timing-For us, there is no particular time for birth. As soon as one life ends, we are automatically pushed into another body and birth. The Lord tells us that He is born as and whenever Dharma is debilitated and adharma rears its ugly head menacingly-

“YadA yadA hi dharmasya glAni: bhavati BhArata!
abhyuttAnam adharmasya, tadA AtmAnam srijAmyaham”

7. Company-When we come to think of it, the Soul has to plough a lonely furrow, having none to accompany it on its births. Though each birth brings us new relationships in the form of mother, father, wife, sons and so on, essentially all these arise from physical relationships, which do not exist in the soul.

The Lord, however, is accompanied on all earthly sojourns by His beloved Consort, who never forsakes His side. Whatever role He adopts, Sri Mahalakshmi dons a supplementary and complementary role, eminently in accordance with Her Husband’s. We have this on good authority, that of Swami Desikan-”yat dharmai: iha dharmiNI viharatE nAnAkriti: nAyikA”.

8.     Mutual Utility-We scarcely achieve anything during our births. Even if we do, we are of hardly any utility to Emperuman. The Lord, on the other hand, is born every time specifically in an attempt to ensure that we are not reborn-”uyiraLippAn ennindra yOniyumAi pirandAi imayOr talaivA!” exclaims Sri Nammazhwar, marvelling at the Lord’s penchant for undertaking an avatAra, solely for the purpose of emancipating as many He can.

9.     The Exception-”Whoever is born must die: and as surely as that, whoever dies must be reborn” says the Gita (“JAtasya hi dhruvO mrityu:, dhruvam janma mritasya cha”). Till the very last of our Karma is worked off or is pardoned by the Lord, we have to keep on being born and dying. The Lord, however, is an exception to the general rule of the dead being reborn and the living destined to die. Birth or death is absolutely of His choice-He comes into the mundane world or returns to His permanent abode at Sri Vaikuntam, as He pleases.

Having considered some of the differences between our births and His, it would be interesting for us to look at some of the aspects of the Lord’s avatArAs.

1. How many avatArAs have been there so far? From childhood, we have been hearing of the DasAvatArAs and would be inclined to think that the Lord has come down to the earth ten times in all, as is evident from the following sloka-

“Matsya: KoormO VarAhascha NArasimha: atha VAmana:
RAmO RAmacha RAmascha Krishna: Kalki: iti tE dasa”

(Incidentally, this sloka also proves wrong, those who contend that Buddha was one of the Lord’s own avatArAs).

This, however, is not correct, for Emperuman Himself tells us that His avatArAs are not merely ten, but “many”. The fact that the usually precise Lord doesn’t care to mention a number, is indicative of the fact that the avatArAs are indeed countless. This is borne out by the Gita vAkyA, “bahooni mE vyateetAni janmAni tava cha Arjuna!”. The independent Shruti also attests to this fact, by employing almost identical words-”ajAyamAnO bahudhA vijAyatE”. We thus have to conclude that while the DasAvatArAs are the principal ones that the Lord took, there are also significant others like HayagrIva, Hamsa, Hari and innumerable others, assumed by Emperuman for similar purposes. The popularity of the DasAvatArAs is attested by the fact that Swami Desikan considered these ten avatArAs to be significant enough to compose a separate stOtra on the same. However, his equal reverence to other avatArAs is brought out by his Hayagreeva Stotram. The PAncharAtra records several of the Lord’s less-known avatArAs like RAhujit, Purukutsa, Rishabha, JanArdana, et al.

The same Swami Desikan indicates the Vibhava avatArAs as “thity-odd” (“Muppatthu chilvAnam”) in Srimad RahasyatrayasAram. This is based on the varying number quoted in the PAncharAtra texts. While the VishvaksEna SamhitA puts the number at thirty (“Shat trimsat bhEda bhinnAstu PadmanAbhadhikA: smritA:”), the Ahirbudhnya SamhitA says that avatArAs are 39 (“VibhavA: PadmanAbhAdyA: trimsascha nava chaiva hi”). He also says that while these are principal, there are innumerable auxiliary avatArAs of the Lord.

2. Sometimes, Emperuman doesn’t undertake a full-scale avatArA, but enters already existing JeevAtmAs and achieves His purpose through them. Examples are Sri ParasurAma and Sri Krishna DvaipAyana (VyAsa). These avatArAs were undertaken by injecting His power into existing JeevAs, for achieving specific purposes. While in the ParasurAma avatAra it was the annihilation of the corrupt and cruel ruling class, thereby affording relief to the populace, in the case of Sri Vyasa, it was for the purpose of dividing the endless Vedas into four suitable parts for convenient study and for the authorship of Sri MahAbhArata and the BrahmaSUtrAs.

3. We often confront a question from the cynical-If Rama and Krishna were indeed the Lord Himself, why should they be subject to pain, sorrow and distress on several occasions? Isn’t Emperuman, by His very nature, beyond all things bad and sorrowful? And if He does indeed suffer like ordinary mortals, how are we to attach credence to His supremacy?

Swami Desikan explains that the Lord, as required by the occasion and as warranted by circumstances, conceals or exhibits certain of His traits. It is for the actor to display appropriate emotions and actions as warranted by the scene and the script. Similarly, Emperuman too hides His supremacy and affects to be an ordinary mortal, during the Rama and Krishna avatArAs. The Prince of Ayodhya, who considered Himself to be a mere mortal (“AtmAnam mAnusham manyE, RAmam DasarathAtmajam”) and displayed extreme distress on Sri Mythily’s abduction, is not averse to showing us facets of His overwhelming supremacy and overlordship, on the occasions of JatAyu MOksham and Sethu Bandhanam (building a bridge across the unfathomable and vast waters of the ocean). Similarly, Sri Krishna, who ran away from battle with JarAsandha, hiding His traits of invincibility and boundless bravery, chooses to display His supremacy in all its indescribable splendour, during the Visvaroopa Darsanam accorded to Arjuna. Thus, merely because the Lord affects certain demeanours during His avatArAs, in response to the need of the occasion and hour, it doesn’t follow that any of His innumerable auspicious attributes are missing during His descents into the human world.

4. Another basic question is about the need for avatArAs. If the Lord is as omnipotent as He is touted to be, can He not destroy the wicked, protect the saintly and shore up Dharma, sitting at Sri Vaikunttam? Is His will not powerful enough to accomplish all these with a mere thought, without necessitating His personal attendance at the scene of action, in the form of an avatArA? For instance, let us consider the instance of embattled Gajendra and His plaintive appeal to the Lord for protection.

Having decided to help Gajendra, why did the Lord personally rush to the scene to do it? Could He not have done it sitting at Srivaikuntam itself and by merely willing the crocodile dead, thereby liberating the elephant?

Equally, He could have sent His Chakra to attend to the chore. What was the need for Him to indulge in overkill, as it were, by coming down all the way from His abode to destroy a mere crocodile?

A rich man kept asking the aforesaid question and was unsatisfied with all reasonable answers. To teach him a lesson, his friend came running to him one day and announced that the man’s son had fallen into a well. Dismayed at the news and in a panic, the rich man dropped whatever he was doing and rushed out to the well, only to find the news to be false. When he remonstrated with the friend for having misled him, the friend retorted, ” Even though you have a lot of servants, did you think of sending any of them for rescuing the boy? If this is the depth of your attachment for your boy, just consider the urgency the Lord, who is the Universal Father, might have felt for freeing Gajendra!”

Stories apart, the fact of the matter is that while the crocodile could have very well been destroyed by proxy, Gajendra’s happiness at the Lord’s appearance on the scene and his joy in feasting his eyes on the divine form, could not have been achieved without Emperuman’s personal presence. One of the important purposes of the Lord’s avataras is “ParithrANAya sAdhUnAm”. While mere “thrANam” or protection can be afforded even without the Lord being present, “ParithrANam” or comprehensive protection includes affording the devotee the immeasurable bliss of seeing the Lord, and could not be carried out without Emperuman materializing in person.

The Bhagavat Gita tells us that one who understands fully the purpose, nature and true glory of the Lord’s avatArAs, is liberated from his mortal coils, never again to be born in this mundane world.

We are again assailed by a doubt-if indeed liberation can be attained merely by knowing the avatAra Rahasyam, wouldn’t all the strategies therefor, prescribed by Shastras (like Bhakti, Prapatti, etc) become needless and futile? Who in his right mind would chose a difficult, strenuous and long-drawn upAya like Bhakti YOga, when the same goal can be achieved through a mere knowledge of avatAra Rahasyam?

Sri Ramanuja clarifies in his beautiful commentary, that wisdom as to the Lord’s avatArAs doesn’t lead directly to MOksham-it destroys the accumulated sins which stand in the way of adoption of an appropriate strategy for liberation. Once this is done, the individual concerned is enabled to follow the path to MOksham, as prescribed in the Shastras, like Bhakti or Prapatti.

The term “avatAra” literally means “to come down” or to descend. This is what the Lord does-He descends from His exalted abode of Paramapadam, to be born in this world of sin, sadness and sorrow. The Supreme Lord mingles as one with us sinning and decadent mortals, sharing our happiness and sorrow. Though, in the literal sense, this may be a descent for Him, it actually enhances His splendour and glory manifold, thus representing an ascent for Him in real terms.  Also, He descends to earth, so that we may ascend to paradise and liberation.

Let us conclude with an estimate of how effective the Lord’s avatArAs have been in achieving their objective of emancipation for all. Tiruvarangattu Amudanar tells us that we mortals have become such hard nuts to crack, with hearts made of stone and steel, that we would fail to be moved even if the Supreme Lord were to come in person and stand before us, appealing to us to return to the path of virtue. Swami Desikan too remarks that Emperuman, having failed to achieve fully the objective of His avatArAs, took another set of ten avatArAs in the form of Azhwars (excluding Sri Madhurakavi and Sri Andal), to cure the inhabitants of this world of their insatiable appetite for sensual pleasures and material possessions. And having found quite a few escaping the net even then, the Lord takes birth as Acharyas like Sri Ramanuja, his predecessors and his descendants, who, till date, have toiled hard to rescue us from the mundane morass and to lift us on to the terra firma of righteousness, leading us ultimately to Paradise, through the unfailing strategy of Prapatti. Hence, our merciful Acharya is the Lord incarnate, though he might appear to be one among us, made of flesh and blood. Just as we look beyond the stone and mortar of which divine forms at various temples are made, so too we should discard our view of the Acharya as a human being and accord to him the high pedestal we would to Emperuman. Thus our Preceptors are not merely messengers of God, but the Lord Himself in human form and are entitled to as much veneration, adoration and obedience, as we accord the other avatArAs of Emperuman.

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

dasan, sadagopan

The Scripture tells us that we all are but puppets, dancing to the tunes of the Eternal Puppeteer. The Cosmic Dance of the Jeevatmas is choreographed and controlled by the Lord, without whose will none can move a finger or a foot. All of us are thus dancers, directed by the Paramatma, exhibiting appropriate emotions and actions as desired by Him. However, would you be surprised to learn that even the Master Puppeteer Himself was made to dance, not once but repeatedly? And the person who made Him dance was no great colossus, but an ordinary one distinguished by neither birth nor attainments. If you are curious to find out more, please read on.

If we were to associate any of the Lord’s avataras with dancing, which one would come to our mind automatically and unprompted? It would be extremely difficult to imagine the stately and staid Sri Rama dancing-nothing would be farther from reality. Nor are we able to picturise the angry Parasurama or the ferocious Nrsimha engaging in this pastime. Because of His role as a Brahmachari, to whom such indulgences are taboo, the Vamanavatara too is out of the question. Nor can the Matsya, Koorma and Varaha moorties, due the very nature of their physiques, be expected to participate in dancing: nor are we able to visualise Balarama as a dancer. The one and only avatara left, for whom all fun, frolic and games would be quite in tune with character, would be Sri Krishna. Any form of pleasurable activity, whether it is singing, dancing, playing or others, we are immediately able to associate the Boy Wonder with it. It is perhaps thus that, among the innumerable avataras of the Lord, we hear of only Sri Krishna indulging in song and dance.

All movements of the Kutti Krishna were so beautiful, graceful and elegant, that His very walk could be termed a dance. The way His hips moved, His feet pranced in anything but a straight line, His eyes darted hither and thither in search of mischief to perpetrate, His long and beautiful hands swung with charm, the kaleidoscope of emotions that darted across His face with admirable facility-all these showed Him up to be an expert dancer, even in infancy. Everyone knows that the art of dancing has to be acquired with extreme diligence and hard work, with innumerable hours of practice having to be put in, before one can even approach the semblance of being a fair dancer. However, to Sri Krishna, dancing was second nature, every movement of His essaying an abhinayam. He could move everyone by the mere way He walked, displaying the elegant, graceful and flowing movements that are the hallmark of a professional artiste. Even when He came with a crowd, His fluid movements and impeccable style were distinct from the thousand others accompanying Him. Listen to Sri Periazhwar exclaiming about this-

“tan nEr Ayiram piLLaigaLOdu taLar nadai ittu varuvAn”.

The Gopis of Nandagokulam were extremely enamoured of Sri Krishna’s talents in this regard and would beseech the incomparable infant to dance a few steps for them. However, our Krishna would never oblige-He had better things to do than to stage a command performance for a few Gopis. These Gopis, thirsty for the experience of seeing the enchanting infant in fluid movement, used to lure Krishna with promises of fresh butter and curds. And when the enthralling infant came to collect, they used to lay down a precondition for delivering the delicacies-that He should dance for them. This sort of bargain our Krishna was not averse to, as it resulted in dairy products being available without the trouble of having to steal them with considerable difficulty. And He used to prance a few steps with His tender feet, all the while holding out His palm for the promised butter. The heartless Gopis were however unsatisfied with a token performance and insisted on a full-scale dance. And spurred on by the promised pot of butter awaiting Him at the end of the “concert”, Krishna too used to oblige, with His abundant locks swinging with His movements and falling on His broad and beautiful forehead, pearly beads of sweat, resulting from the exercise, adorning His upper lip, His beautiful eyes displaying a variety of instantly-changing emotions and His feet hardly touching the ground, in a whirlwind of movement.

Swami Desikan paints an enthralling picture of the mercenary dance the Lord staged, all for a palmful of butter. One beautiful foot was placed steadily on the ground, with the other crossed over at the ankles. The feet alternated in being steady and in movement, with the result that Yasoda was able to perceive only a whirl of feet. His expression was beseeching. The numerous garlands of flowers and of gold that He was wearing and His tiny earrings moved and shook with His graceful steps. And keeping perfect time was the sound of butter being churned by the Gopis, providing a steady and even-paced “TALam”.

Here is the beautiful slokam from Sri Gopala Vimsati-

“Avirbhavatu anibhruta AbharaNam purastAt
Akunchita Eka charaNam nibhruta anya pAdam
DadhnA nimantha mukharENa nibaddha tALam
NAthasya nanda bhavanE navaneeta nAtyam”

It is thus the “Navaneeta Natyam” or the dance for butter that earned Sri Krishna fame as a dancer par excellence. It is noteworthy that one of the Poorvacharyas, Sri Tirumalai Nambi, had christened the Krishna vigraham in his daily worship as “VeNNaikku Adum piLLai”. Even today, the idol of Sri Krishna worshipped at Sri Ahobila Mutt, who graces the homes of devotees resplendent in His “DOlai”, can be seen with an outstretched palm holding a blob of butter, His feet and body gracefully portraying a dance posture.

It is the ardent craving of every devotee that the Lord’s holy feet should adorn his head. We hear Sri Alavandar inquiring Emperuman with ardour as to when His tiruvadi would be placed on his (Alavandar’s) head-

“Trivikrama! Tvat charaNAmbuja dvayam madeeya moordhAnam (kadA) alankarishyati”.

Sri Ramanuja too, in his Gadyam, seeks this incredible good fortune. Predictably, such yearning on the part of Acharyas stems from that of the Azhwars.. It is thus the dream of every votary of the Lord to have the latter’s holy feet placed on his or her head. However, we would be surprised to find that there are cases of people totally opposed to the Lord, in fact battling with Him valiantly for all they are worth, being blessed with the coveted catch of these tiruvadis, with absolutely no desire therefor. Not only did the Lord’s feet merely touch the foe’s head, but stayed there for considerable time. Incredible as it may sound, this is indeed true.

A big pond by the side of the Yamuna was inhabited by a venomous serpent by name KALiya, who had made the waters so bitter and poisonous with his toxic secretions, that several of Sri Krishna’s friends lost their lives after drinking the water. After rejuvenating them with His mere nectarine glances, the Lord decided to cleanse the Yamuna and its environs of such an unwelcome inhabitant. We are told that the waters of this pond were so lethal, that even birds flying over it dropped down dead after inhaling the toxic fumes emanating therefrom and the waters of the pond were boiling hot with the serpent’s fuming breaths.

Despite His friends’ entreaty not to, Sri Krishna girded up His loins and dropped into the pond from the branch of an overhanging Kadamba tree. Once inside the pond, He made as much noise and commotion as possible to bring the snake out, beating the water with His hands and feet. KALiyA emerged in a rage, and finding that the intruder was a mere infant, immediately bit the boy at several places and encircled Him with his long tail. Witnessing their leader immobilised by the snake and rendered motionless, the Gopa lads were panic-stricken and brought all the elders of Nandagokulam to the banks of the Yamuna, for rescue. Those who came, however, could think of no strategy to rescue the boy, who was being well and truly crushed by the serpent and stood on the banks, tears flowing freely from their eyes at the danger that had befallen their beloved Krishna and at their own helplessness in the matter.

Seeing the distress of His mother and relatives, Sri Krishna decided that it was time to take matters in hand. He enlarged His body manifold, ridding Himself of the serpent’s embrace in a trice. And He started circling the hissing snake, in the fashion of an expert wrestler trying to tire out his opponent.

Enraged at the escape of the prey from his coils, the serpent KALiyA, his fury increasing by the second, started hissing threateningly, spewing out a venomous draft from his nostrils, his hood spread out and held high, eyes resembling orbs of fire, the split tongue in each head licking the lips in eager anticipation of its human prey. Made to circle constantly by the elusive Krishna, KALiyA started tiring and lowered all his hoods in an effort to sink his lethal fangs into the daring boy. Sri Krishna was awaiting just this moment, when the snake’s hoods were lowered. Immediately He darted on top of the broad and wide hoods and began pounding them with His strong and capable feet. Though they resembled soft red lotuses and felt the same to touch, KALiyA found out that day that these feet could be tough as nails and heavy as a pounding hammer, when the occasion so warranted.

And the artistic Lord, with His penchant for drama, made a song and dance out of the issue, trotting out a beautiful dance performance, putting to shame even acknowledged experts like Ramba, Tilottama, Urvasi etc.

On the pretext of putting down KALiyA, the infantile Emperuman exhibited all His artistry and agility, dancing with élan on the hoods of the serpent.. The gems (“nAga ratnam”) decorating the hoods of the snake provided footlights for the Lord’s performance, showing up His whirling tiruvadi in all its glory. The already red soles of His feet were turned more reddish by the glow of these ratnams. In this context, the Bhagavata Purana uses the word “Adi Guru” or the Primordial Preceptor, to describe the Lord, perhaps to indicate that as in the case of any vidyA, dance too owes its origins to Him..

And this dance performance was so enthralling that the entire universe gathered at Gokulam to witness the rare sight. The cheering celestials burst spontaneously into accompaniment, with GandharvAs, SiddhAs, ChAraNAs and the divine damsels singing, playing the Mridangam and other percussion/ wind instruments, making for an unprecedented and unparalleled artistic performance. The faithful chronicler of Sri Krishna’s deeds, Sri Periazhwar, records this event thus-

“KALiyan poigai kalanga pAindittu -avan
neeNmudi aiyndilum nindru nadam seidu”

Another superlative performance was staged by the Lord for the benefit of His bosom friends, the cowherds. The Bhagavata Purana tells us that in order to entertain them, Sri Krishna imitated the song of the swans, the drone of the bees and also the graceful dance of the peacock-

“abhinrityati nrityantam barhiNam hAsayan kvachit”

The Lord appears to have been an expert at not only conventional dance forms, but also at extremely difficult ones like dancing with pots balanced one atop the other. This is popularly known as “Kuda kootthu” and is attempted only by the lion-hearted among artistes, due to the difficulty of its performance. A moment of inattention or a faltering step would send the pots balanced carefully on the head, crashing down, with the resultant ignominy. Sri Krishna had perfected this art form and used to regale audiences at Nandagokulam by dancing with speed and splendour, with a pyramid of pots of various sizes carefully balanced on His beautiful head. Azhwars delight in calling Him “Kuda Koothan”, in commemoration of these sterling performances staged before adulating audiences of Gopis and Gopas-

“Kuravai kOttha kuzhaganai MaNivaNNanai Kuda Koottanai”
“KOvalan kuda koothan endru endrE kunitthu” (Sri Nammazhwar).

Another incredible form of dance the Lord appears to have engaged in, is the “Kuravai”, where He took as many forms as there were Gopis and danced with them individually. The Bhagavata Purana waxes eloquent in describing this “RAsa kreedA”. Deciding to afford the Gopis the unforgettable experience of dancing with their idol on a one-to-one basis, Sri Krishna took multiple forms and delighted them beyond measure. This is perhaps why He is called “MAya kootthan” by many an Azhwar.

To bring the concert to a close, while all of us would consider itan incredible good fortune to witness the Lord’s dance, a modern poet asks Him not to dance, but just to walk sedately-

“AdAdu asangAdu vA KaNNA!”.

When we investigate, we find that the poet fears that if the Lord were to dance, the entire universe would become unstable and be thrown into disarray, as it forms the body of the Paramatma-

“un Adalil eerEzhu bhavanamum asaindu asaindu AdudE
enavE AdAdu asangAdu vA KaNNA!”

The poet goes on to say that Emperuman’s artistry is so delightful that even an expert dancer like Sri Nataraja comes rushing from Chidambaram, to watch with undisguised admiration, forsaking his own performance.

We thus find that whatever the Lord does, He does with élan. If He sings, the entire world drops what it is doing and listens with rapt attention, down to the grazing deer calf which stands motionless like a picture, with the half-chewed grass dribbling out of its mouth with saliva.  If He dances, the entire universe turns up to watch, mesmerised by the magnificent movements, the incredible bhAvam and the unforgettable abhinayam.

Would you like to witness the Lord’s delightful performance not once, but repeatedly? Would you like to immerse yourself in the incredible bliss that only an accomplished professional like the Lord can afford the audience?

Well, you can. The ticket for the show is pretty cheap and, for a single season ticket, you become entitled to watch the concert forever. This ticket is nothing but Prapatthi. Once you perform the simple but effective Sharanagati or Absolute Surrender, the Lord is so delighted that He takes you to the best of theatres, viz., Sri Vaikuntam and puts on a command performance, just for you, forever.

Srimate Sri LakshmINrismha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

dasan, sadagopan

For long, whenever a caricature is drawn of a Londoner, he has always been picturised with a bowler hat on his head and an umbrella under his arm. He may forget even his preferred breakfast of bacon and eggs in the morning, but not to carry his umbrella, we are told. London weather is said to be so nasty that precipitations occur frequently and without notice– hence its residents’ attachment to the umbrella. We in India too like to carry an umbrella during the monsoon season (which, alas, has become almost non-existent during the last couple of years). And ladies prefer the umbrella during rain or shine, to protect their lily-white complexions from the Sun. This applies especially to Japanese ladies, whom you always find (at least in movies) sporting trendy umbrellas in their hands-so much so that it appears to be as much a part of Japanese traditional costume, as the Kimono.  However, as you would have observed, the umbrella appears to be on its way out during recent years, replaced by Raincoats, Duck-back wear and such-like, which provide comprehensive and body-length protection against a downpour. The younger generation perhaps considers the umbrella unfashionable and prefers to cover itself with shiny plastic, leather and vinyl, as its answer to rains. Before it becomes extinct, let us capture a few glorious glimpses of the umbrella’s hoary history.

The Lord appears to have created us in His own mould, perhaps in the fond hope that we would be as good and holy as He is. Though we have belied His expectations, we do stick on to things that remind us of our origins and parentage. We find, thus, that in carrying an umbrella too, we are only copying Him.

My ever-critical daughter, peering over my shoulder, remarks, “You have got away with quite a few wild statements in the past. You have linked the most insignificant of things to the Lord, like a speck of dust, a blade of grass, a strand of hair and even a piece of stone. This time, however, you are going too far by trying to connect a mere umbrella with Emperuman and are surely going to fail! Let me see how you do it!”

Ruing the misfortune of having to answer to mere infants with pretensions of being literary critics at sixteen and spurred on by the compulsion of having to prove her wrong, I lay the following lines before you, who are the final arbiters in the matter.

To repeat, it is very much the Lord who first held an umbrella. Whenever you see sculptures of the DasAvatArAs, you find that each avatAra is depicted with distinct items in the Lord’s hands. For instance, you are able to recognise Sri Rama instantly by the bow and arrow He holds stylishly, Sri Krishna by His flute, Sri Balarama by the Plough and Sri Parasurama by the murderous axe slung over His shoulder. Similarly, the observant among us would have definitely noticed the distinctive feature of the VAmanAvatAra-the Umbrella.

When the Lord makes His appearance at MahAbali’s asvamEdha yAga in the form of an enchanting BrahmachAri, short and sweet, radiating wisdom and penance, His attire is completely in tune with the role adopted. As a BrahmachAri, He holds a Dandam (a stick of the PalAsa tree) in His hand, has a belt of darbha grass, a yagyOpaveetam sprawling resplendently in His chest and holds a Kamandalu or water-container in His other hand. His chest is covered by deerskin, which the Lord uses to hide the presence of the inseparable Sri Mahalakshmi. Onlookers are so astounded by the beauty and splendour of the small boy, that they rise to their feet automatically. They wonder whether it is verily the Soorya BhagavAn who has honoured the sacrifice with his presence, or the illustrious Agni himself. Such was the impressive entry made by Emperuman at Bhrigukaccham on the banks of the Narmada, where the asvamEdha yAga was in progress.

The point of this lengthy description is that the BhAgavata PurANa tells us of one very important item held in the Lord’s hand, viz., an Umbrella-

“Cchatram sadandam sajalam kamandalum vivEsa bibhrat hayamEdha vAtam”. One wonders-against which element did the Lord need protection, that He carried an umbrella? Was it against the blazing Sun? It could not be, for the timely rise and set of the Sun is attributed to his fear of the Lord-”bheeshOdEti Soorya:” says the Taittiriyopanishad. Could it have been against pouring rain? This again was not possible, for Varuna the Deity of Waters, VAyu the Windgod and Indra the Chief of celestials, all of whom jointly send down rains, are in equal fear of the Lord, says the same Upanishad-”BheeshAsmAt VAta: pavatE, bheeshAsmAt agnischa indrascha”.

We are told that the umbrella was a gift to the Lord by the heavens above,  just as the Yagyopaveetam was gifted by Brihaspati, the belt of Munji grass by Kashyapa Maharshi, the kamandalu by BrahmA and so on-”koupeenam AcchAdanam mAtA dyou: cchatram jagata: patE:”

Does the umbrella’s association with the Lord stop with the VAmanAvatArA? Not at all, as we shall see presently.

During the Ramavatara, in describing Sri Rama’s return from His father’s palace without any of the trappings of the YuvarAjA due to KaikEyI’s machinations, Kamban says,

“kuzhaikkindra kavari indri, kottra veN kudayum indri
azhaikkindra vidhi mun chella, Dharumam pin irangi Ega”

To Kousalya, who had been expecting Her darling’s return with all the trappings of power like acolytes fanning Him on both sides, a courtier holding aloft a decorated umbrella made of the purest of white silk and so on, Sri Rama’s return unaccompanied by any of the aforesaid adornments comes as a severe disappointment.

We see thus that the Umbrella has for long signified power, prestige and honour. That this is true today too, even at much lower levels, is seen from the lackey following the village landlord, holding an umbrella over his head. And we find Emperors being described as “Eka CchatrAdhipati”, indicating that their umbrella of power extends over the whole world-this, however, is a misnomer, for it is only Emperuman who could truthfully claim this title, being the Supreme Lord of all the universes.

After His triumphant return from Lanka, Sri Rama accepts the throne of Ayodhya at the request of Bharata. At the Coronation, signifying His overlordship over all, a beautiful white umbrella is held over the head of Sri Rama. The good fortune of holding the same falls to the lot of Shatrughna-”Cchatram tu tasya jagrAha Shatrughna: pANdaram shubham”.

If Sri Rama was accorded the honour of a ceremonial umbrella only at His coronation, Sri Krishna managed to corner the same on the very first day of His birth. It is raining cats and dogs, the precipitation coming down in torrents, when Sri VasudEva leaves KamsA’s prison for the safety of NandagOkulam, bearing the just-born Krishna. He is worried what would happen to the infant, if it were to be drenched in the downpour. He need not have been concerned, for, the moment he stepped out of the prison, there was AdisEsha, holding his hoods protectively over the Lord, ensuring that not a drop of rain fell on the Paramapurusha’s tirumEni.

It is perhaps from this episode of the Strange Snake functioning as the Lord’s umbrella, that Azhwars, come up with the following formulation-

“chendrAl kudayAm irundAl singAsanamAm
nindrAl maravadiyAm-neeL kadaluL endrum
puNayAm maNi viLakkAm poompattAm, pulgum
aNayAm TirumArkku aravu”.

Here too, the primacy of the Umbrella is evident from its being mentioned ahead of the Lord’s throne, footwear, boat, luminous lamp and the softest of beds.

We have seen that others hold an umbrella over the Lord’s head, as a measure of protection, honour and adoration. Is there any instance of Emperuman holding an umbrella over the heads of others? Yes, indeed there is. He is so accessible and likes so much to mingle with us, that He doesn’t shrink from performing even the most menial of services for His ardent devotees.

The residents of Gokulam had the practice of performing poojA every year to Indra, the Chief of Celestials, who ensured timely rains, so essential for the sustenance of both man and cow. Sri Krishna, intent on teaching arrogant Indra a lesson, convinced His father and GOpAs that worship ought to be performed to the actual benefactors of Gokulam, viz., the cows which showered wealth through their munificent flood of milk, Brahmins who performed VEda pArAyaNam for universal welfare and to the Govardhana hill, which was responsible for the cows’ well being. The GOpAs, impressed by Sri Krishna’s well-reasoned arguments, agreed and performed worship to the aforesaid, ignoring Indra. Indra was furious at this and to teach the ignorant cowherds a lesson they wouldn’t forget in a hurry, sent down torrential rain, accompanied by terrifying claps of thunder and continuous flashes of lightning, enough to blind the eye. Due to the incessant rain, the entire Gokulam was almost submerged in floods, with men, women and children shivering in the sharp wind and drenched to their skins, not to speak of the cows and calves. And there was absolutely no sign of the downpour letting up. All the Gopas ran to Sri Krishna for succour. And the Lord came to their rescue by holding up a huge umbrella, under which all of them could stay safe and secure against the onslaught of rain and hail. And what was this umbrella, which could accommodate hundreds of cowherds and their families, along with the innumerable cows and calves of Nandagokulam?

Assuring the shivering Gopas of immediate protection and to send a strong signal to Indra, Sri Krishna, barely into His teens, just plucked up the massive Goverdhana mountain with little effort (as if it was just a toadstool) and held it up with a single hand for seven continuous days, not even shifting a foot, affording protection to all the residents, man and beast, of Nandagokulam. And Indra, having found out to his chagrin that his powers were nothing before Sri Krishna’s, stopped the rains and restored normalcy.

It is this episode, of the Lord having held a huge umbrella over His devotees, which comes in for generous praise from all Azhwars.

Listen, for instance, to Sri Andal-”kundru kudayAi edutthAi guNam pOttri!”

Azhwars are so enamoured of the episode, of the little Lord having held a massive mountain with His single palm for seven days together, to protect unlettered cowherds and dumb cows and calves, that they recount it time and again in their outpourings.

“malayai edutthu kal mAri kAtthu pasu nirai tannai
tolaivu tavirttha PirAn” says Sri Nammazhwar too.

However, I am forgetting the most obvious thing that comes to our mind, when we talk about Umbrellas-they are the ones that Sri Varadaraja sports magnificently over His majestic head, on the day of the GarudOtsavam. These umbrellas are indeed stately specimens of their species– broad, wide and fitting in every way to the Paramapurusha they serve. We are told by Sri DoddayAchAr Swamy that these umbrellas are studded with precious stones, with their sides decorated by pearls. It is indeed a great sight to witness Sri Devadiraja adorned by these umbrellas.

A great roar of devotion rends the air, as Sri TEpperumAL , in all His majesty and splendour, with a prasanna vadanam, with the chAmarAs waving gently, resplendent under the famous umbrellas adorned with pearls and precious stones, appears at the temple entrance, ensconced on Sri Garuda.

It would appear that there is close competition between Sri Adisesha and Sri Garuda, as to who would serve as an umbrella to the Lord. For, during Sri Krishnavatara, Sri Andal tells us that VainatEya circled overhead when the little Lord was tending to cows in the meadows of Brindavanam, protecting the Paramatma from the blazing Sun and thereby preventing His already dark body from acquiring a deeper shade of black-

“mElAl paranda veyil kAppAn Vinatai siruvan siragennum
mElAppin keezh varuvAnai VirundAvanattE kaNdOmE”

It goes to the credit of the Umbrella that it is one of the items to be offered to the Lord during daily worship or TiruvArAdhanam.

All of us may be having any number of umbrellas at home: we need, however, to acquire one more-one which would afford us comprehensive protection against a heat more cruel than that generated by the Sun and more penetrating than mere torrents of rain. This is the unbearable heat spawned by SamsAra, the unending and vicious cycle of births and deaths.

Prapatti or Saranagati is the only umbrella, which can afford us the shade of comfort against this heat. Once we surrender ourselves heart and soul to the Lord, He gifts us this protective umbrella of “abhayam”, providing us safety and security while we are in this mundane land and unimaginable bliss at the end of this birth.

Srimate Sri LakshmINrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

Dasan, sadagopan