Premika Bhavanam, Chennai

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Sri Swamigal has been rendering ‘Upanyãsam’ (discourses), in Tamizh, in Premika Bhavanam. This is being brought to you here.

There may appear to be variations in the ‘tense’ of the language. This is due to the fact that great effort has been taken to maintain the original style of the ‘Upanyãsam’. Therefore, we request you to keep this in mind while reading the translated ‘words’ of Sri Swamigal.

Sri Swamigal,

" While Nimayi was running a Patalsala, Digvijay Pundit a great and proud scholar visited Navadweep. In those days Scholars visited different kingdoms and debates were held. The defeated should carry the palanquin for the victor and serve him in various ways as would a slave. Therefore, the moment the news of Digvijay Pundit’s intended visit was received all the scholars of Navadweep closed their patasalas and went out of Navadweep. It is described here that just as the deer would flee on hearing the Lion’s roar so did the Pundits flee from Navadweep on the receiving the news of Digvijay Pundit’s visit! They were scared to face his challenge for they knew the outcome. It would be shameful to not accept the challenge but if accepted they would end up as his slaves. But, Nimayi was totally unperturbed by this. He was his usual self, teaching his students in his Patasala.

The proud Digvijay Pundit went about Navadweep in search of a ‘prey’. He found the little Nimayi and asked him about the Patasala where he studied! Nimayi explained, “No, I am not a student. I am a teacher in this Patasala!” The visiting Pundit challenged the little one, “Oh! You are a teacher? Well! Can we hold a debate?” Nimayi accepted the challenge. The elderly scholar gave the ‘child’ the first choice to shoot questions. So Nimayi asked him to compose a sloka on the Ganges that was flowing nearby. A great poet that he was, Digvijay Pundit quickly composed 100 verses on the Ganga and questioned Nimayi, “What do you want me to do next?” Nimayi, “Please enumerate on the merits and flaws in the sloka.” The Pundit lost his temper and retorted, “My slokas contain only merits and not a single flaw can be found”. Nimayi refuted the Pundit’s argument, “No, there are flaws in the sloka.” Pundit, “Well! Point them out!” Nimayi repeated the 42nd verse in the sloka! Digvijay Pundit was astounded! While it is very difficult to remember a well-known sloka what to speak of one that had just been composed? But, Nimayi repeated the 42nd verse. Majestically, Nimayi detailed out five merits and five flaws contained in the poem. One of the major flaws pointed out was the appalling meaning revealed in the word ‘Bhavãni Bartuh”. ‘Bhavãni’ means ‘wife of Bhava’. Bhava refers to Shiva (Shiva - Bhavasya patni Bhavãni). ‘Bhavãni Bartuh’ would then mean ‘the husband of the wife of Shiva’ thus referring to another man!

Nimayi then offered to show the merit in the same verse. There is an interesting feature called ‘ãpãsa virodha’. Normally, it is only from water that Lotus is born. But here it has been written that water has been produced off a Lotus! Vishnu’s two Feet are like the Lotus. Ganga has been born from this Lotus. It is natural for lotus to be born in water but here water has been produced from the Lotus, contradicting Nature!

The defeated Pundit was totally shaken up. He felt very ashamed and could not appreciate Nimayi’s words. He returned home and called upon Goddess Saraswathi (Goddess of Learning), his Upãsana Devi, and questioned her about his defeat. But the Goddess said to him, “You can defeat a man in a debate but never Lord Krishna. ‘Krishnam vande Jagadgurum’ (Prostrations unto Krishna the Universal Guru)! Who is beautiful in the world? It is Krishna! Who is easily accessible (‘soulabhya’)? Krishna! Who is the Vidwan who knows all? Krishna! It is Krishna Paramatma who is greater than the others, in all ways. So, how can one ever defeat Krishna? Early the next morning Digvijay Pundit gave away all his wealth and sent away all the Vidwans who had accompanied him to Navadweep. He then rushed to Nimayi’s home. Nimayi who performed Tulasi puja every day was watering the Tulasi. The Pundit fell at Nimayi’s feet and prayed for ‘hitopadesa’. Nimayi said, “I will tell the essence of all the Shastras. What is the use of learning all these ‘sargams’? Leave everything and go to Srivan. Live in Vrindãvan. Vrindãvan ‘vasam’ (to live) is rare, indeed.” ‘Jayati tedhikam janmana vraja’. The three and thirty crores Devas desire this. Brahma and Rudra yearn for this life at Vrindãvan. Adi Sankara says, in one His poems, “Let me be born as a wolf (it is only the worst sinner who is cursed with the life of a wolf) but in Vrindãvan! And in that Vrindãvan I seek neither the Yamuna nor Krishna nor Govardhana. I will just be in Vrindãvan. I seek nothing except to just live in Vrindãvan!. ‘Jayati tedhikam janamna vraja shrayata indira shasvadatrahi’

Nimayi advises, “So, go to Vrindãvan. Never again touch all these Texts. And just sing “Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare! Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare!” Sing Hari Nãma Kîrtan. The Lord is pleased with nothing but Sankîrtan.” Digvijay Pundit immediately left for Vrindãvan. Mahaprabhu had only one Upadesa to anyone whom He accepted into His fold, “Go and live in Srivan (Vrindãvan). In Vrindãvan perform incessant Kîrtan.” This is because Mahaprabhu himself performed continuous Kîrtan. His whole body was soaked in Kîrtan. This is the reason that whoever saw him took to Kîrtan at once! Even animals that saw him performed Kîrtan! Whoever desires to do Bhakti as an upãsana and use Kîrtan for this purpose only and not as a concert or a means to earn money, to him the Lord becomes easily accessible. Is it not Bhagavãn’s blessing (‘anugraha’) that is important? What is the use of the whole world praising you if the Lord does not bother to look at you? But, if the Lord cared for us it will not matter even if the whole world ignored us.

Mahaprabhu was such a great Avatãra Purusha. It is Mahaprabhu who is the cause for the incessant singing of the Kîrtan “Hare Rama Hare Rama” in Vrindãvan. While walking about the Yamuna I have heard such incessant singing of the Keetan. The credit for Nama Sankîrtan all over Vrindãvan goes to Mahaprabhu. It is only because Mahaprabhu relentlessly performed Nama Sankîrtan that ceaseless Sankîrtan is performed in Vrindãvan, even today.

What ‘upadesa’ does Piratti who comes down to this earth out of deep compassion, offer? -- “Ongi ulagalanda uthhaman perpãdi”. All of you sing the praise of Vãmanamurti who took a colossal form. She is going to say later, “Vãyinãl pãdi manadinãl sindhittu” (may your lips sing and the mind think of His glory). ‘Pãrkadalul paiyath thuyindra paraman adipãdi’ and ‘Ongi ulagalanda uthhaman perpãdi’ - Sing the glory of the devotees of the Lord and sing the Name of Trivikrama murti of Lord Vamana. ‘Nãngalnam pãvaikuch chãtrinee rãdinãl’ - Let us all sing His glory. When should we sing His glory? While bathing! Why advise them to sing the Lord’s glory while bathing? Since it is first act of the day, start singing His praises from then! “Snãna, Pãna, japa thapagalu mãdutha Krishna ena bãrade” (Kanãda) sings Dasar. Chant His Name always, while bathing, lying down, waking up; let His Nãma be ever on your tongue. ‘Oh! Lord! Play ever on my tongue!’ Are you cooking? Keep chanting His Name. Are you sweeping? Sweep with the Bhagavan Nãma on your tongue. Are you at the bus stop waiting for the bus? Keep chanting His Name. Keep chanting Bhagavan Nãma always. So, ‘Ongi ulagalanda uthhaman perpãdi’ - Sing the Name of the Lord!

When we find some company we keep chatting away to glory all worldly affairs. For hours together we speak over the phone. Instead we can chant Bhagavan Nãma. Can’t we? If we do so we can quickly get ashore! There will be no turning back. So, both speaking and listening to worldly matters are wrong. Chant the Nãma always. ‘Ongi ulagalanda uthhaman per pãdi
Nãngalnum nampãvaikuch chãtrinee rãdinãl’ - Let us bathe performing Nãma Kîrtan. ‘Theenginri nãdelãm thingalmum mãripeidu’ - the whole world will benefit by your Nãma Sankîrtan. Here, ‘nãdelãm’ means the whole world. ‘thingalmum mãripeidu’ - good rains. Prosperity follows good rains. The sign of prosperity is good crops (‘Ongu perunjcheneloodu kayalugallap’). The stalks of the grains are large; and there is adequate water due to good rains. Fishes are found playing about in the field filled with water. Flowers have blossomed. Since they are large they hold large amount of honey in them and the black bees are seen sucking the honey from them.

Click here for Thiruppãvai (3) in Tamil

‘Thengãde pukkirundu cheertha mulaipatri’ - The Swami explains the milk yield of the cows, “Both the gopis and Krishna do not sleep. This is because each wants to out beat the other. The gopis are worried that Krishna would wake up early and let the calves drink up the milk and wish to milk the cows before Krishna plays his pranks. Krishna does not sleep lest the gopis milk the cows before he and the calves share the milk! But even if Krishna and the calves drink the milk the cows do not fail the gopis when they milk them! If their udders were heavy with milk they poured forth the milk without any help!

‘Vãngak kudamniraikkum vallal perumpasukkal
Neengãda selvam niraindelo rembãvai’ ----- All those who perform Nãma Sankîrtan will be blessed with prosperity. All the comforts of life are bestowed. Not only this but also Moksham (Liberation). It is Liberation that is eternal wealth. So, one who performs Nãma Sankîrtan is blessed with both worldly and eternal benefits.

The next pãsuram is, 'Ãzhi mazhaikkanna! Onrune kaikaravel’ This is a ‘Prasangath’ pãsuram.

The first five pãsurams are ‘avathãrikai’ (introduction). In the next ten (representing the ten Ãzhwãrs), Ãndãl wakes up her friends one by one, calling out to each by her name. In the next five pãsurams she wakes up Jaya Vijaya, Nandagopa, Yashoda, Balarama and Napinnai. In the next pãsuram she pleads with Bhagavãn to bless her truly, sitting on the throne. In the next pãsuram she sings ‘unriv ulagam alandãi adipotri!’ praising the Lotus Feet of the Lord that measured the three worlds. She then demands Bhagavãn of his conch and all his weapons - ‘kodiye, vidhaname’ and adorns them! She then surrenders (‘prapatti’) in the pãsuram, ‘paravaigal pinchenru’. In the next pãsuram, ‘Chitranj chirukãle vandunaich chevithu un……
‘Enraikum yezhezh piravikkum unthannodu utrome yãvom; unakke nãm ãtcheivom’ she prays for an everlasting, inseparable place with Bhagavãn.

Mahans, may, while speaking coherently on a subject suddenly divulge from it and speak on a totally unconnected matter. If we take up the Upanishads we find that while it speaks of Vedanta suddenly it speaks a line on some worldly matter. We cannot understand how and why it has been spoken. However, Mahans have spoken thus. There is no need for the Text that speaks of Atma Tatva to speak on the subtleties of dharma. If such a thing appears it is called ‘Prasangãth’. Thus, this particular pãsuram has come about ‘prasangãth’. It is not related to any of the other pãsurams.

So, in the first Pãsuram, Ãndãl says the time of their worship; then about the rules and regulations that they would follow. She then explains that the whole world will benefit by their ‘nonbu’. Ãndãl who first sang the Param, Vyooham and Vibhavam, sings the ‘archai’ in ‘Mãyanai vada madurai maindanai’. She sings Krishna in Vrindãvan in archãvatãr. But the pãsuram ‘ãzhi mazhai kanna’ is a ‘prasangãth’ pãsuram.

‘Ãzhi mazhaikku anna’ - ‘anna’ (Tamizh) means elder brother. Indra is the elder brother. So, here Ãndãl prays to Indra. Here, She sings ‘Ãzhi mazhaikanna’ - She is used to affectionately addressing everyone as ‘Kanna! Kanna!’. So here Ãndãl addresses Varuna (the rain God) as ‘Ãzhi mazhaikanna!’ ‘Onrune kaikaravel’ - Please help us. Will you please help us? We solicit your help. We approached Chãndilya Maharishi and informed him of our intention to take up the ‘nonbu’. We have informed Nandaba that the intention of the ‘nonbu’ was good rains for the Kingdom. But the underlying secret is meeting with Krishna to play divine amorous sport. We have come only with this desire. But if it fails to rain the people will get suspicious of our intentions and may stop our ‘nonbu’. So, please pour forth rains. ‘Ãzhi mazhikanna! Onrune kaikaravel!’ - “Are we not Bhãgavats? We wish to join Krishna. If you render us, Bhãgavats, help you will also prosper.” She then details how it should rain.

These days we speak of the progress of Science. But what sort of Science existed in ancient times? There are ever so many civil engineers in this modern world. A look at the Rameswaram temple creates a feeling of admiration for those who built such a structure. Was there a civil engineer then? How then did the people of those days build such beautiful structures? Rameswaram is an island, which is always prone to cyclones. Approach to this island was very difficult in those days. Trains came in only later during British times. One had to reach it only by boat or a ‘parisal’. Initially it was people from Nepal who went courageously to Rameswaram and performed puja. Even today the temple priests here are those belonging to Nepal. Even today the way to Rameswaram is not very easy. Rameswaram is filled with sand. How then stones, of which the temple has been built, were taken to that place which is prone to heavy rains and cyclones? Today, such temples can at the most be painted up. No repair works can be taken up. All these go to show that our India had high civil knowledge in days gone by. Our country is filled with temples of such colossal ‘gopurams’ (towers).

Similarly, these days scientists read the sky through telescopes. Whereas our ancestors, without the use of any telescope, have in our calendars (‘panchãngam’) fixed the date, time of various eclipse, have underlined the different grahas, the different stars, the movement of the earth, etc. None of the information given by them has gone wrong. Aryabhatta’s or any of our ancient scientist’s declarations have not failed. Our astronomers were of such high calibre. It is unfortunate that we have none to speak/spread the glory of our great astronomers. Be it astronomy, civil engineering or even civilization for that matter there is none to equal us. True civilization spread only from us. While conducting research of our Indus valley civilization it has been found that we are the pioneers in all branches of science even those pertaining to the design of a township.

The Vedas contain innumerable stories. Even Mahans take up these stories as examples. Kumaraguruparar placing Goddess Meenakshi in a cradle sings lullaby for her - “Ambuli ãda vãve! Pon oonjal ãda vãve! Ammanai ãda vãve!” This has been sung on Tamizh poetic lines. With the ‘bhava’ of the God being a child, he calls out to her in various ways, “oh! Child! Come and play in the swing. Come, we can enjoy the moon or shall we play ‘ammanai’?” Kumaraguruparar has thus sung ‘Pillai Tamizh’ for Meenakshi. Even Periãzhwãr has sung many pãsurams in this style on Lord Krishna. Kumaragurparar has amazingly sung, “Menakshi is sitting on the swing. Her ears adorn ‘jimiki’ (a hanging ear ornament). The ‘jimiki’ is swinging in her ears. And the swing is also swinging.” Over here he derives Newton’s law! What does Newton say? There is a long string to which a weight has been strung. If this string is oscillated the time taken remains the same as long as the length of the string remains the same even if the oscillated distance varies. The time varies only when the length of the string varies.

From the stature of a child we keep growing up. Arunagirinathar points out that we grow in sleep. Today the scientists have said the same: that our cells grow while in sleep! Kumaragurparar has sung that the mountain grows. The scientists have agreed on this ground, too. The Vedas contain innumerable such stories. If you have ‘chevãi dosham’ (Mars) you are advised to wear coral. Now those who have studied the Mars say everything there is reddish! So, our Maharishis have given us all these through their dhyãna. The findings of the modern man through his studies with the limited brain are not anything new. The studies of modern man are nothing - nothing at all (‘alpam!’) - when compared to the knowledge of our Maharishis. No mathematics is greater than Vedic mathematics. The modern scientists, scholars are today only approving all that have been given by our Maharishis from the Vedas.

So, here, did Nãchiãr attend any school? Or was she educated on these by someone? She speaks of how it should rain!

‘Ãzhi mazhaikanna onrune kaikaravel
Ãzhiyul pukku muganduko dartheri’
She appeals to the rain god - ‘come! Do a job for me’. She does not say pour down the rains. Instead, says, “Go to the ocean and carry the water up to the sky and from their pour down the rains.” ‘ãzhiyul pukku’ -- go deep down into the ocean. ‘muganduko dartheri’ - “carry lot of water. The clouds should be water bearing ones and not just ordinary clouds. Some clouds have very little water in them and just drizzle down as they pass over. Gather a lot of water.” How should the clouds look? ‘Oozhi mudalva nuruvampol meikaruthu!’ Dark like Lord Krishna! The clouds should be very dark like our Krishna! Dark clouds are rain-bearing clouds. It means large amount of water has been consumed by them! The clouds should be as dark as Krishna (‘oozhi mudalvan’) who appeared at the time of Bhoo srishti (birth of the world)!

Click here for Thiruppãvai (4) in Tamil

‘Pãzhium tholudai padmanãban kaiyi
Ãzhipol minni, valampuripol ninradhirndu’ - What does Padmanabha (Krishna) hold in his hands? Conch, Chakra (the divine wheel), Kothanda, etc. ‘ãzhipol minni’ -The Lord’s Sudarshana (Chakra) is glowing brightly. The lightning should be as dazzling as the lustre of His Sudarshana. ‘valampuripol ninradhirndu’ - During the War when the Lord lifted up his conch and blew on it a shiver went down the spine of Duryodana and his army. They felt as if they had been wrenched of their lives at that very instant. Here, Ãndãl says that the sound of the thunder should be like the conch blown by the Lord.

‘Thãzhãde sãrnga mudaitha saramazhaipol’ - Do not just drizzle down. Valmiki describes the arrows shot by Lord Rama. He sends down a heavy rain of arrows. He appears like the Sudarsanamurti standing amidst the rains of arrows. So, let the whole world enjoy heavy rains just like the rain of arrows sent down by Lord Rama. ‘Vãzha ulaginil peithidãi’ - Pour down heavily so that the whole world would be blessed.

‘Nãngalum mãrgazhi neerãda maghizhndelo rembãvãi’ - we have come to play amorous water sport. How can we enjoy our play if the water is very shallow? Only if it is filled with water can we enjoy our divine bath. We will take pleasure in this bath and the world will also appreciate us. They would say that on the very fourth day of our ‘nonbu’ it has poured down heavily. And they would permit us to carry on with our ‘nonbu’! "

"GOPIKÃ JEEVANASMARANAM
GOVINDA! GOVINDA!"

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NOTE: Any discrepancy/lapse in the translated version of the Upanyasam is the sole responsibility of the person/s who translated the work from Tamizh into English.

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