B{gnced4m \pg&leñ oxlñi6 -- a{gé&l{gjjig

 

 

                                                                                                                      75

 

Behold Thiruvenkatam the exalted mountain of the Lord resembling thehue of the blue sky, where the tuskerdriven by 'mast' couldbe seen mesmerised in front of its favourite mate, and offering to it a succulent bamboo plant of just two rings plucked by it, and dipped in honey oozing from ahoney comb nearby.

 

This pasuram is set as testimony to the Azhwar's self-description as a gifted Tamil hterateur. The splendor and beauty of the literary flavour permeating these lines makes one feel as if the Azhwar breaks out in this poetic flurry in response to a possible poser from the Lord to prove his claim to being a Tamil literateur. Among the Azhwars, Sri Thirumangai Mannan has the reputation of having been a versatile poet ; hence one of the several feathers in his cap sets him out as a ' +e6liiSlu(ymeir '. He has, by way of tribute to the artistic excellence of the aforesaid pasuram, borrowed the imagery of this, in one of hips pasurams, in the followings lines, '                                                    in

 

 

6iu(y icy Cmpñ— The tusker looks like a hill on the Thiruvenkata mountain. ' m  H+ñ mñ                                                          ' — ( 61a -

— 1-2-5. ). The elephant oozes the juices natural to it when it is in heat.

 

in         (pNJ§i&|gj— mesmerisedly facing its favourite female partner with whom it is in love, biding a congenial moment to please the mate. '         ' — ( 6lu — Q(y. 1-2-5). The tusker seems to be looking into the eye of its mate waiting for its signal or command,

 

 

eiieijfiimé› gijiisQoauajAAa ugfi eojaitfir ;gjJuiJi gj@ : I

.       .     .                              .         .

(Sri Sthavam 1). When creating, in sustaining and dissolving the worlds, and when conferring the fruits of heaven, hell and moksha' on the worldly beings, Bhagava'n Hari looks into the face of the divine Mother, and carries out those functions in the light of her signals '. The tusker's behaviour is evocative of the Lord's action.

 

  - A succulent bamboo just grown two rings in size. ' current ', in Sri Paraka'lan's phrase. The tusker is alive to

 

the sensitivity of its young partner, and chooses a soft, succulent bamboo shoot. Sri Kaliyan adds, ' Knr6leuQJ curing', to indicate though a young plant, the bamboo is rich and succulent, due to the richness of the soil of Thirumalai.

 

& i& en&Hi - bamboo plucked with due care having regard to its delicate texture. Though the tusker in 'mast' is usually devoid of clear thinking due to a state of passionate intoxication, here since the act is in behalf of its mate, it is extra-vigilant.

 

Jy tip - honey dripping from a honey comb nearby.

In Sri Paraka'1an's phrase, ' in A C en

 

Jb JñQ;;&— offering the bamboo mixed with honey in supplication, entreating the mate to accept it. In Kaliyan's phrase,

 

 

Let us now savour the beauty of a pasuram on identical lines from Sri Bhutat Azhwar 's younger contemporary, Sri Pei Azhwar, in the following lines, '   ngCeapñ  curtly long                                    Q

 

Cei i Cn ' - ( Weir- .- 45 ). Sri Pey Azhwar in this pasuram, evokes a parallel imagery of a male and female elephant wandering in separation owing to the common misunderstanding, ( ccii ) typical between the spouses. Sri Bhutat Azhwar describes the coming together of the tusker and its mate after this separation.

 

' pen mm a m(ys Slwfiyñ ' — Kaliyan completes the imagery on a consummate note of grace on the part of the young female in demurely accepting the treat offered, in a felicitous reconciliation and rebonding, not unlike the divine Mother accepts the garland of her Lord graciously, at Her doorstep on the ' Pankuni Uttaram ' day and invites in the Lord signifying the happy ending of

 

the 'viraha". In his own ornate way, Paraka'lan uses the phrase, ' Weir Slai iyñ ', implying that the tusker is aware that if he gives the bamboo with the honey, it might choke the young partner, and so instead he chooses to wring the honey in the bamboo into the mouth of the mate.

 

Famed for this kind of happening, Thinivenkatam is the resting place of the Lord, whose complexion blends so beautifully with the colour of the sky.

What is the underlying 'ta'tparya" of the illustration handled in this pasuram ? It is to the effect that the Lord resides in that mountain where the tusker protects its mate by giving her the desired thing.As mentioned in Swami Nammazhwar 's pasuram, ' rein eursn

>sirgpii zisrnC                  C ñ ( Q(ysunfi— Sta. — 1-8-3.), it is proof that just as Sriman Narayana confers His grace on, and protects, the celestials, and people of this earth standing at Thirumalai, even the animals like the monkeys and elephants are an integral part of His 'rakshana" scheme.,