GITA 10.33

GITA 10.33

KATTUMANNAR KOIL RAJA GOPURAM

Swami Alavandar has explained the essence of Gita in his Gitartha sangraham. We are at the Kshetram, where Swami Alavandar and his grand father Swami Nathamuni belong to. It is Kattumannar koil [காட்டு மன்னார் கோயில்]. We are at the temple of Sri Veera Narayana Perumal in Kattumannar koil. We have already seen Raja Mannar koil [Mannargudi]. We are entering the main gopuram with Five tiers.

MAIN ENTRANCE

Crossing the Gopuram, we come to the tall dwajasthambam. From there we can straight reach Sri Veeranarayana Perumal sannidhi. We will see why the Lord came to this place and how Sri Mannanar [மன்னனார்] became Sri Veeranarayana. The Lord came to this place because of sage Mathanga [மதங்கர்]. Near Sri Andal sannidhi, there is a sannidhi for sage Mathanga. As a witness to the appearance of the Lord to the sage, the pair of Divine Feet of the Lord is nearby. In a yagna performed by lord Brahma, Mathanga participated but was humiliated and sent out as there was a mistake in chanting mantras. To get rid of that defect in him, he arrived at this place and did severe penance. To eliminate that defect and to grant better status, the Lord appeared here. Therefore, it was sage Mathanga, who first worshipped the Lord here. Initially, only the sannidhi of the Lord was here. Sage Jhrumpana lived nearby. He meditated on the Lord and prayed that Sri Maha Lakshmi should be born as his daughter. Conceding to his request Sri Thayar was born as his Daughter, Sri Marakathavalli. She grew up to the proper age for marriage. The sage desired to conduct a swayamvaram [choosing the bridegroom by the bride in an assembly of prospective grooms] and organised it. The Lord of this place also participated, in the guise of a mannan [king in Tamil -மன்னன்]. His vehicle Garuda became His horse and attended the swayamvaram. Thus He is known as Sri Mannanar. Sri Marakathavalli selected Him and after marriage, they returned to this place. While returning He defeated all other kings who waged a fight against Him. After reaching, the Lord showed His real form of Sri Narayana and considering His bravery, He was called Sri Veera Narayana (Tamil veeram means bravery). Thus from that time the Lord is known as Sri Veera Narayana Perumal and He is gracing along with Sri Marakathavalli Thayar. Moolavar is in standing pose along with the Twin Consorts. The Utsavar Lord appears as Sri Gopala.

SRI GOPALAN or SRI MANNANAR

 He appears with left arm on the shoulder of a friend and holding a whip in the right hand, and along with His Consorts. This Utsavar is quite large and so for processions, a smaller Utsavar is employed.

SRI UTSAVAR

 Kattu Mannar means the King of forests. It can also be interpreted as kattum + mannar [காட்டும் + மன்னார்], that is He has shown to us the Two great Acharyas Swami Nathamuni and Swami Alavandar. Or, for the Sri Vaishnava sampradaya, He showed Nalayira Divya prabhandam [நாலாயிர திவ்ய பிரபந்தம்], through Swami Nathamuni. This Kshetram is also known as Veeranarayanapuram. The lake here is Veeranarayanapuram lake, and in usage has transformed to Veeranam [வீராணம்] lake.

 We will now see sloka 33:

aksharanam a-karo ’smi
dvandvah samasikasya ca
aham evakshayah kalo
dhataham vishvato-mukhah

"Of letters, I am the letter A, and among compound words, I am the dual compound. I am also inexhaustible time, and of creators, I am Brahma."

Another Four groups are mentioned. Aksharanam = among alphabets or syllables, akara = alphabet or syllable 'a' [அ or अ ]. Samasikasya = among compound words, dvandva = dvandham. Aham = I [Sri Krishna] am, akshaya = never ending, kala = time, vishvato-mukha = four faced, dhata = Brahma. In Thirukkural [திருக்குறள்], the first kural is akara mudhala ezhuthellam... [அகர முதல எழுத்தெல்லாம்.. ]. Just like the Lord is the cause for all Universe, letter 'a' is for all letters. From this letter, all sounds are emanating. Vedas say that the Lord resides in the beginning and end of chanting of Vedas, pranavam - AUM [ஓம் or ॐ ]. In Pranava, the first letter is 'a'. All letters and syllables will merge in pranavam and pranavam merges in 'a'. Akarartho vishnu: - the letter 'a' is Sri Vishnu. 'A' in Sanskrit is a root syllable. If someone is denoted with syllable 'a', he is the protector. Since the Lord protects all at all times, 'a' denotes Him. Samasam means the joining of two words. When letters join it is called sandhi; for joining words it is samasam. There are Four types of samasam:

• Advayi bhava samasam - upa-ganga means the shore of river Ganga. Upa indicates near and ganga means the river. In this junction, upa gets the importance as we talk about the shore. The first word gets the prominence.
• Tatpurusha samasam - Raja-purusha means the servant of the King. Here the prominence is for the employee or servant and not the King. The latter word is important here.
• Bahivridi samasam - Here, the joining of the words will be given importance. In pithambaram, which means yellow [pitham] cloth [ambaram], neither of the two words get importance but a third word pithambaram gets importance.
• Dwandha samasam - Both the words get importance as in Rama-Lakshmanau. Both Rama and Lakshmana get importance.

In this Kshetram also both Swami Nathamuni and Swami Alavandar are given importance. Time can never end and it goes on forever. Dhata denotes lord Brahma and he sees everywhere with his four faces.

                                                                                                        (continued)