Post by saidevo on Oct 4, 2012 9:05:27 GMT 5.5
Pages 161-166
We were in the nivedana stage of the nitya pUjA. We have given ample time for ChandraMauleesvara to finish his bhojana, saparivAram (food and dishes) leisurely. Let us get back to where we left.
Along with the many kalpokta pakSya-bhojaya naivedyas the simple AhAram (food) prepared by pakvam exclusively for SriCharaNar, if any, will also be offered. The reason for saying 'if any' is that since he used to be on fast on many days there wouldn't be any exclusive AhAram prepared for him in those days.
The correct meaning of the term 'pakvam' is 'boiled'. In that sense, PeriyavaaL's bhikSA is not made pakvam at all. Following the Shastra (rule) that a Sanyasi should have no agni sambandham (relationship with fire), even in his bhojanam, his niyama (routine) was to only take apakva AhAram such as aval (flattened rice) soaked in buttermilk, prepared without putting it on the oven. That was why apart from the food prepared for the puja and brAhmaNa santarpaNam (feeding brahmins), exclusive food for him is prepared in addition.
His submitting to another vidhi (rule) of the Shastra should also be mentioned here. (For us who are svantara yuki (people of freedom) let this alternate medicine be visible in letter-form to our eyes as much as possible!) It is the vidhi for us that we should necessarily take pitRsheSam. If the shrArdam (ancestoral annual ceremony) falls on an Ekadasi, even then we should take pitRsheSam. Like the pitRshrArdam for us, the ArAdhanam (homage) of his Guru Swamy for that turavi (ascetic)! Only on that day, he would eat pakva padArtha (cooked dishes) also as gurusheSam!
If he finds that he created a reason for someone thinking that he gave room for the temptation of the tongue, he would remain on rigorous fast for many days and punish himself.
It is the Dharma Shastra vidhi that one should not take food after sunset on Sundays. In his eighty-fifth year of age when he was camping hear Belgaum, he drank milk on a Sunday after sunset, as he became tired in the hot sun. For this act, he stopped taking milk at night for the next fifteen days. Was he not the daNDam (staff) bearing ascetic king who dispensed punishment for himself just like a king orders punishment for a citizen?
At last we have finished (the narration up to) ChandraMauleesvara naivedya upachAram!
Thick flames become visible through the curtain. It means that the puja assistant lights all the mukhas (faces) of the dIpArAdhana plate, turning them one by one towards him.
At that very moment there will raise a bustle among the bhaktAs. With sakala vAdyas (all kinds of musical instruments) playing loud, the curtain will be drawn aside. All the thickset flames will shine clearly tapering into cones. Our Gurunathan would raise the large dIpArAdhana plate with his frail hand and do the dIpArAdhanam. Whose tapas is this that such a pavitram (pure event) happens in this world full of flaws? No one can at that time refrain from patting on the cheeks saying "HaraHara HaraHara".
Our Gurunathan will get up, resting on his daNDam. The beauty of his ground round the Puja Mandapam foot by foot, as if he is careful that the Parashakti Anubhavam filled up to the brim inside him should not spill over, can be known only by seeing it. Those who remained confused until now whether to see the Swami to which the puja is done or the SwamigaL who does the puja, would have now engaged their eyes and mind completely with our Gurunathan. Shrivelled as a green creeper, when he goes fixing his cotton-soft feet deftly on the ground, disappearing behind the back of the Puja Mandapam and then reappearing pradakSiNa (clockwise) on its left side, something within us will rise shivering up. Appearing parama shantam, when SriCharaNar turns around himself as Atma pradakSiNam and then does daNDa vandanam, even iron hearts would melt on their own.
The Puranas mention that in Kanchi and Tiruvanaikka and many other places Ambikai Herself worshipped Iraivan as Kamakshi and Akhilanda Nayaki. As to how the puja that Ambikai does would look like, we can see it today when our Gurunathan does pradakSiNa namaskAram.
It is the puja that a Jivanayaki does for her Anmanayakan. Manivacakar has sung that Parama Jnanis also worship Shiva the Ekapurusha, by becoming a woman.
pappaRa vIttirun^ dhuNarumn^in adiyAr
pan^dhanai van^dhaRuth thAr avar palarum
maippuRu kaNNiyar mAnudath thiyalbin
vaNaN^guki RAr aNaN^ ginmaNa vALA!*
He does upachAras such as chatram chAmaram (umbrella, handfan) to Swami. After waving the fan of flowers for Swami, he sticks the fan itself into the cluster of the flowery garlands of the Puja Mandapam. They all stick to their places nicely as if listening to whatever he says. We might even get the tApam (heat of feeling) that we can't be like them, staying at where we are placed by him. (In the same way, since the feet of AmbaaL, who is Sri Guru RupiNi is located on the shiras (head), when he heaps on his head the flower garlands offered by the devotees, it is a wonder they nicely stay in place (on his head) and look beautiful! There is a photograph in his tirukkOlam of wearing a large rose garland as summAdu (turban) and a jasmine garland as its droop that stayed still as he conversed moving his limbs.)**
After the chatra-chAmaram, the shAstrokta upachAras multiply as nRtta-gIta (dance and song)! In shAstronusAra (following the Shastras), this Sanyasi will make a small adavu (basic movement) and do nRttopacAram, his movement being so short that most of those who witness the puja can't make it out as an adavu! And then for the gItam (song), our (Indra) Saraswathi will play just one small 'sarigamapadani' on the little svarNa vInA (golden veeNa) and rest the vAdyam on the Chakra RupiNi. (We have darshan of him as Saraswathi, resting on him a small wooden veeNa in the photo pages
We were in the nivedana stage of the nitya pUjA. We have given ample time for ChandraMauleesvara to finish his bhojana, saparivAram (food and dishes) leisurely. Let us get back to where we left.
Along with the many kalpokta pakSya-bhojaya naivedyas the simple AhAram (food) prepared by pakvam exclusively for SriCharaNar, if any, will also be offered. The reason for saying 'if any' is that since he used to be on fast on many days there wouldn't be any exclusive AhAram prepared for him in those days.
The correct meaning of the term 'pakvam' is 'boiled'. In that sense, PeriyavaaL's bhikSA is not made pakvam at all. Following the Shastra (rule) that a Sanyasi should have no agni sambandham (relationship with fire), even in his bhojanam, his niyama (routine) was to only take apakva AhAram such as aval (flattened rice) soaked in buttermilk, prepared without putting it on the oven. That was why apart from the food prepared for the puja and brAhmaNa santarpaNam (feeding brahmins), exclusive food for him is prepared in addition.
His submitting to another vidhi (rule) of the Shastra should also be mentioned here. (For us who are svantara yuki (people of freedom) let this alternate medicine be visible in letter-form to our eyes as much as possible!) It is the vidhi for us that we should necessarily take pitRsheSam. If the shrArdam (ancestoral annual ceremony) falls on an Ekadasi, even then we should take pitRsheSam. Like the pitRshrArdam for us, the ArAdhanam (homage) of his Guru Swamy for that turavi (ascetic)! Only on that day, he would eat pakva padArtha (cooked dishes) also as gurusheSam!
If he finds that he created a reason for someone thinking that he gave room for the temptation of the tongue, he would remain on rigorous fast for many days and punish himself.
It is the Dharma Shastra vidhi that one should not take food after sunset on Sundays. In his eighty-fifth year of age when he was camping hear Belgaum, he drank milk on a Sunday after sunset, as he became tired in the hot sun. For this act, he stopped taking milk at night for the next fifteen days. Was he not the daNDam (staff) bearing ascetic king who dispensed punishment for himself just like a king orders punishment for a citizen?
At last we have finished (the narration up to) ChandraMauleesvara naivedya upachAram!
Thick flames become visible through the curtain. It means that the puja assistant lights all the mukhas (faces) of the dIpArAdhana plate, turning them one by one towards him.
At that very moment there will raise a bustle among the bhaktAs. With sakala vAdyas (all kinds of musical instruments) playing loud, the curtain will be drawn aside. All the thickset flames will shine clearly tapering into cones. Our Gurunathan would raise the large dIpArAdhana plate with his frail hand and do the dIpArAdhanam. Whose tapas is this that such a pavitram (pure event) happens in this world full of flaws? No one can at that time refrain from patting on the cheeks saying "HaraHara HaraHara".
Our Gurunathan will get up, resting on his daNDam. The beauty of his ground round the Puja Mandapam foot by foot, as if he is careful that the Parashakti Anubhavam filled up to the brim inside him should not spill over, can be known only by seeing it. Those who remained confused until now whether to see the Swami to which the puja is done or the SwamigaL who does the puja, would have now engaged their eyes and mind completely with our Gurunathan. Shrivelled as a green creeper, when he goes fixing his cotton-soft feet deftly on the ground, disappearing behind the back of the Puja Mandapam and then reappearing pradakSiNa (clockwise) on its left side, something within us will rise shivering up. Appearing parama shantam, when SriCharaNar turns around himself as Atma pradakSiNam and then does daNDa vandanam, even iron hearts would melt on their own.
The Puranas mention that in Kanchi and Tiruvanaikka and many other places Ambikai Herself worshipped Iraivan as Kamakshi and Akhilanda Nayaki. As to how the puja that Ambikai does would look like, we can see it today when our Gurunathan does pradakSiNa namaskAram.
It is the puja that a Jivanayaki does for her Anmanayakan. Manivacakar has sung that Parama Jnanis also worship Shiva the Ekapurusha, by becoming a woman.
pappaRa vIttirun^ dhuNarumn^in adiyAr
pan^dhanai van^dhaRuth thAr avar palarum
maippuRu kaNNiyar mAnudath thiyalbin
vaNaN^guki RAr aNaN^ ginmaNa vALA!*
He does upachAras such as chatram chAmaram (umbrella, handfan) to Swami. After waving the fan of flowers for Swami, he sticks the fan itself into the cluster of the flowery garlands of the Puja Mandapam. They all stick to their places nicely as if listening to whatever he says. We might even get the tApam (heat of feeling) that we can't be like them, staying at where we are placed by him. (In the same way, since the feet of AmbaaL, who is Sri Guru RupiNi is located on the shiras (head), when he heaps on his head the flower garlands offered by the devotees, it is a wonder they nicely stay in place (on his head) and look beautiful! There is a photograph in his tirukkOlam of wearing a large rose garland as summAdu (turban) and a jasmine garland as its droop that stayed still as he conversed moving his limbs.)**
After the chatra-chAmaram, the shAstrokta upachAras multiply as nRtta-gIta (dance and song)! In shAstronusAra (following the Shastras), this Sanyasi will make a small adavu (basic movement) and do nRttopacAram, his movement being so short that most of those who witness the puja can't make it out as an adavu! And then for the gItam (song), our (Indra) Saraswathi will play just one small 'sarigamapadani' on the little svarNa vInA (golden veeNa) and rest the vAdyam on the Chakra RupiNi. (We have darshan of him as Saraswathi, resting on him a small wooden veeNa in the photo pages
).
The pITham on which Swami and AmbaaL rise-and-bless is a swing attached to the vitAnam (awning) of the Puja Mandapam. SriCharaNar will sway this swing with his slender fingers. We would then have the vishrAnti (rest) that he also sways us in a cradle.
Mantras will be showered by the vedavids (Vedic pundits) from the caturvedAs (four Vedas). After the mantra puSpam is offered, SriCharaNar will do a short punar pUja. Total silence for sometime. The sound of our Gurunathan taking up water in a dhonnai to offer arghyam and even the tiny sound of the rice grain falling onto the vessel when the mangalAkSata is offered will be audible. He would scoop and throw flowers and leaves. Suddenly, with a mudrA (sign) of twisting his hands he would take from the flowers offered to Swami, touch his eyes with them and complete the puja, his heart filled like a flower bouquet.
Can there by any end to this puja? Is it not that our Gurunathan is one who lives as Thayumanavar said, 'oru kAlamanRitu, sada kAla pUjaiyAi oppuvittEn' (this is not a puja for single time, so I recited it as an all-time puja)? The madhyAnakAla pUja (afternoon puja) done with so much of specialities will go on for about three hours.
With what end does that Avatara Murti all these Mahapujas? Only for our sake. It is only for our sake that he prays with melting heart 'SarvE janAH SukhinO bhavanthu' (may all the people be happy) in all his mukkAla pUja? Is there any greater welfare to the world than that?
Note:
*pappaRa vIttirun^ dhuNarumn^in adiyAr
pan^dhanai van^dhaRuth thAr avar palarum
maippuRu kaNNiyar mAnudath thiyalbin
vaNaN^guki RAr aNaN^ ginmaNa vALA!
cheppuRu kamalaN^gaL malarumthaN vayalchUz
thirupperun^ thuRaiyuRai chivaperu mAnE
ippiRap paRuththemai ANdaruL puriyum
emperu mAnpaLLi ezun^dharu LAyE)
Meaning:
Staying liberated, Your slaves experiencing (You), cutting off the bonds, they, many in number, worship with the human feeling that of the (dyed eyed) women. Oh the Groom of the Lady! Oh Lord shiva of thirupperun^thuRai encircled with the cool fields blooming with red lotuses! My Lord, who cuts off this birth blessing taking us slaves, Bless getting up!!
** Between pages 180 and 181 of the books there are eight plates of rare black and white photographs of MahaswamigaL. The rose turban is one among them.
(Source: siddhanta.shaivam.org/thipalli.htm)
Glossary:
dhonnai - cup like vessel made of leaves pinned up at corners
punar - back, home, in an opposite direction, to go back or away, to give back, restore, to turn around, again, once more
santarpaNam - satisfying, causing happiness, gratifying
sheSaH, sheSam - remainder, part left out
vedavid - knowing the Veda, conversant with it
vitAna- m.n. spreading out, extension; awning, canopy; abundance, multitude
The pITham on which Swami and AmbaaL rise-and-bless is a swing attached to the vitAnam (awning) of the Puja Mandapam. SriCharaNar will sway this swing with his slender fingers. We would then have the vishrAnti (rest) that he also sways us in a cradle.
Mantras will be showered by the vedavids (Vedic pundits) from the caturvedAs (four Vedas). After the mantra puSpam is offered, SriCharaNar will do a short punar pUja. Total silence for sometime. The sound of our Gurunathan taking up water in a dhonnai to offer arghyam and even the tiny sound of the rice grain falling onto the vessel when the mangalAkSata is offered will be audible. He would scoop and throw flowers and leaves. Suddenly, with a mudrA (sign) of twisting his hands he would take from the flowers offered to Swami, touch his eyes with them and complete the puja, his heart filled like a flower bouquet.
Can there by any end to this puja? Is it not that our Gurunathan is one who lives as Thayumanavar said, 'oru kAlamanRitu, sada kAla pUjaiyAi oppuvittEn' (this is not a puja for single time, so I recited it as an all-time puja)? The madhyAnakAla pUja (afternoon puja) done with so much of specialities will go on for about three hours.
With what end does that Avatara Murti all these Mahapujas? Only for our sake. It is only for our sake that he prays with melting heart 'SarvE janAH SukhinO bhavanthu' (may all the people be happy) in all his mukkAla pUja? Is there any greater welfare to the world than that?
Note:
*pappaRa vIttirun^ dhuNarumn^in adiyAr
pan^dhanai van^dhaRuth thAr avar palarum
maippuRu kaNNiyar mAnudath thiyalbin
vaNaN^guki RAr aNaN^ ginmaNa vALA!
cheppuRu kamalaN^gaL malarumthaN vayalchUz
thirupperun^ thuRaiyuRai chivaperu mAnE
ippiRap paRuththemai ANdaruL puriyum
emperu mAnpaLLi ezun^dharu LAyE)
Meaning:
Staying liberated, Your slaves experiencing (You), cutting off the bonds, they, many in number, worship with the human feeling that of the (dyed eyed) women. Oh the Groom of the Lady! Oh Lord shiva of thirupperun^thuRai encircled with the cool fields blooming with red lotuses! My Lord, who cuts off this birth blessing taking us slaves, Bless getting up!!
** Between pages 180 and 181 of the books there are eight plates of rare black and white photographs of MahaswamigaL. The rose turban is one among them.
(Source: siddhanta.shaivam.org/thipalli.htm)
Glossary:
dhonnai - cup like vessel made of leaves pinned up at corners
punar - back, home, in an opposite direction, to go back or away, to give back, restore, to turn around, again, once more
santarpaNam - satisfying, causing happiness, gratifying
sheSaH, sheSam - remainder, part left out
vedavid - knowing the Veda, conversant with it
vitAna- m.n. spreading out, extension; awning, canopy; abundance, multitude