Forgetting To Remember

The word “bhakti” is a very difficult word to translate into English. The closest is “religious devotion”. It is the adulation felt by the devotee towards his favourite God or ishta devata. But none of these actually convey the intensity the devotee feels towards his or her favourite God and the compulsive need to feel “belonged to” the God, which is what the original root word bhaj really meant.

The ultimate surrender to God at the end of the bhakti marg is the goal of a bhakta. The salvation can be achieved only by total surrender at the time of the culmination of the earthly life. Saints strove at length to retain the thought of the Lord when the end came and resorted to all sorts of tricks to ensure that. Though the story of Ajamilan in Bhagavatam speaks of a horrible sinner being taken to heaven just because he uttered the Lord’s name at the end even though he did so unintentionally, bhaktas were mortally scared of not being able to do so when the time came.

Composers have implored their hearts to never forget the Lord. Tyagaraja’s maravakara *nava manmatha* roopuni and Muthu Thandavar’s maravAthiru *nenjamE are typical examples. Muthu Thandavar says that it is the only way to avoid re-birth. Unakkidhu* piRavA* marundhAmE recognizes the need to continue one’s devotion even in the next janmam.  Papanasam Sivan goes one step further and pleads that he should not be re-born and in the event that it happens, should still remember the Lord’s name.  piRava* varam* thArum* pemmAnE*, piRanthAlum* thiruvadi* maRavA* varam* thArum….This is complete bhakti and comes very close to identifying oneself with God. This way there is no fear of forgetting to say the Lord’s name or remain devoted at the most appropriate time – be it while asking for a blessing or when the end is near.

In Thirumozhi, Periazhwar resorts to a novel method to ensure that he doesn’t miss out on remembering Lord Ranganatha’s name when the end was near. He sort of books “in advance” the name of the Lord lest he forgets or is rendered disabled by disease, when death comes knocking at the door. This from the man who had blessed the Lord himself with his pallAndu* pallAndu!

Eippu * ennai* vandhu* naliyum* pOthu* angu

Edhum *nAnunnai *ninaikka *mAttEn

Appothaikku* ippothE* solli* vaiththEn

Arangath *tharavaNai *paLLIyAnE

 An interesting concept no doubt, considering that the senior-most of the twelve alwars literally spends his entire life praising Narayana. To be able to remember at the appropriate time what to ask of the Lord or even merely utter his name at the end is a task indeed. How does a mortal not be over-awed by the presence of the Lord who appears before him all of a sudden? There are several other impediments which might lead one astray from remaining focused on the thought of just devoting oneself to God.

Mahakavi Bharati complains that he has forgotten the face of Krishna even though his heart still fondly remembers the love. In Asai* mugam* maranthu* pOche, he laments that kaNNan* mugam* maranthu* pOnAl* intha* kaNgaL* irunthu* payan* uNdO. Though this song was purportedly written when he had lost the only photograph he had of his mother, it was couched as a bitter memory loss addressed to Krishna.  “kaNgal*  purinthuvitta* pAvam*, kaNNan* uru* maRakkalAchu”. Dripping with irony, the fiery poet expresses his deep anguish also. He is puzzled by the loss of memory as it is totally unnatural – as the bee forgetting to gather honey or a standing crop not looking forward to rain. The stark juxtaposition between remembering the love a heart feels while forgetting the face is brilliant and thought-provoking philosophy.

Oothukadu Venkata Kavi too forgets to ask what he wanted to, distracted by many things. He begins a song with a fervent plea for a boon or a blessing. In a composition on Muruga, fittingly tuned in Shanmugapriya, Venkata Kavi never really completes the request. More than once he ‘forgets’ what he came to ask, once distracted by the beauty of Muruga and the other time by dance of his vahana – the gorgeous peacock; finally he forgets himself as he utters the name of Muruga repeatedly.

pallavi

varamonRu* thantharuLvAi* – vEla

varamonRu* thantharuLvAi* vadivEla* - engaL

maragatha* mAmayilERum* ARumuga* vadivElA

anupallavi

param* enRa* sollukkoru* poruLE* – paraththil

param* enRa* sollkkoru* poruLE* – iLam

pachaikkum* ichaikkum* nadup* poruLE

palaporuL* kEttunai* adhu* idhu* enAdhu

pattenRu* oru* poruL* kEttiduvEn

charanam

ponnum* maNiyum* enthan* budhiyilE*  pattavai

puLithu* puLithu* pOchE* – EnenRAl* unthan

punnagai* mugam* kaNdathAl AchE

innum* ulagamuRum* inbam* enRavai

eppadiyO* maRanthu* pOche* – EnenRAl* un

ERu* mayil* nadam* kaNdathAchE

Munnum* manamuruga* murugA* murugA* enRu

mOgamIri* thalai* sutRalAchE* – solla* vandha

mozhikooda* maRanthuthAn* pOchE

ponnAr* mEniyan* kAdhil* sonnAyE* andharangam

pOdhumenRu* kEtkavum* AsaiyAchE

madhyama kAlam

punithamAna*  ARupadai* veIdudaiyAi* – pugu* madha* kaLiRu* nadaiyudaiyAi

initha naRu* vainkalavaiyathaninum* – initha* thinaiyinai*  suvaiudaiyAi

enakkum* oru* padham* thantharuLa* – maNa* maNakka* varu thamizh* aruLudaiyAi

annaiyinum* siRanthathAna* aruLodu* niRainthathAna* arumuga *vadivElA

The pallavi begins simply enough with a plea for a blessing as he begs for a boon from Lord Muruga who is also addressed using other names like vadivEl and Arumuga; the peacock acquires a grandiose title as “maragatha mAmayil”.

But the anupallavi is so loaded with superb word-play, multiple meanings and deep philosophical insights that those five lines by themselves deserve a separate essay.  The word param has so many meanings- excellent, Vishnu, God, Heaven, completeness, front, mendicant etc. So the line “param* enRa* sollukkoru* poruLE can, at the face value, can mean that Muruga is the Supreme Being. The line can also mean that he is the only meaning for the word, as oru* poruLE can also intend that there can be no other meanings! It is interesting to note that param can also mean a mendicant or an andi as Muruga became when he renounced everything.

Venkata Kavi has not finished with his word-play. In the next line he hails Muruga as “parathil* param enRa* sollukkoru* poruLE” which means that even among the multiple meanings of param, you are the inner meaning. If one considers that param means heaven, the sentence can also mean that even among the many Gods in heaven, he is the supreme. Considering that the phrase “oru* poruLE” can either mean “one of the meanings” or “the only meaning” and the multiple meanings for the word param, the permutations and combinations become tremendous.

The next line “iLam *pachaikkum* ichaikkum* nadu* poruLE” again contains profound philosophical connotations as the composer places Muruga as the most neutral – between tender green wishes and deep desire. The neutrality of the Supreme Being is clearly emphasized, couched in a beautiful rhyme. And then he avers that he knows precisely what he wants and that he will ask for that. The word “poruL” has been used throughout the anupallvi very cleverly to mean both “meaning” in one place and a “material object” at the other.

In the charanam, Venkata Kavi goes on to ‘contradict’ himself, in his usual inimitable style. He had averred that he knows precisely what “poruL” he wants, but the moment he sees the beautiful smiling face of Muruga, he is disgusted with the thought of riches which were perhaps on his mind to ask for as a boon. The worldly pleasures too are forgotten when he witnesses the gorgeous dance of Muruga’s peacock.

As he chants the name Muruga, he goes into a trance, loses his head to the intoxication of the mere name and forgets to speak as words fail him. Mozhi* kooda* maRanthuthAn* pOchE. He forgets what he wanted to ask, forgets worldly pleasures and finally forgets himself. The smiling face of Muruga, the dance of the peacock he rides on and the mere mention of the name are enough to make him forget the very purpose of the prayer. At the end he manages to blurt out that he perhaps would like to hear the pranavopadesam, what Muruga whispers into the ears of Shiva.

Is it the least in value or the most valuable? After forgetting material wealth, worldly pleasures and even his tongue or ability to speak, the composer settles to ask for something which no one knows. ponnAr* mEniyan* kAdhil* sonnAyE* , andharangam* pOdhumenRu* kEtkavum* AsaiyachE. Irony indeed!

The fitting finale to the melody comes in the form of four lines sung in madhyamakalam, where Venkata Kavi extols the virtues of Muruga; he is after all “initha* thinaiyin* suvaiyudayai”. The composer packs so much into these four lines. He doesn’t “forget” to praise Muruga, doesn’t forget to praise “maNa* maNakka* varu” Tamil, doesn’t forget to thank Muruga for enabling him to write this verse and signs off with a grand reference to mother’s love. He places Muruga above even that which is considered the most supreme form of love.

Compare the three. Venkata Kavi places Muruga’s aruL  above a mother’s love. Periazhwar’s  Kannan Thiruavatara sirappu brims with maternal love. He often described a devotee’s love for God as comparable to Yasodha’s motherly love for Krishna.(Yasodha was after all the adopted mother of Krishna - just like how he was the adopted father of AndAl) Bharati’s profound angst after he loses his mother’s photograph makes him compose a song complaining that he has forgotten Krishna’s face!

Bhakti at its best.

(This article was published in the November 2014 issue of Nadabrahmam)