1. ATHIMAANUSHA
STHAVAM OF SRI KOORATHAAZHWAN
Part 4
(Slokas 13 to 15)
(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)
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SLOKAM 13: THE BURNING CITY

Yasya aatmataam tripura bhanga vidou adhaas tvam
Sva shakti tEjita sarO vijayee cha yO abhoot /
Daksha kratou tu kila tEna vinirjitas tvam
yuktO vidhEya vishayEshu hi kaamachaara: //

?Oh! Lord! When Siva embarked on the destruction of the tri-cities, he could do
so only because you took your position at the tip of his arrow and actually
accomplished the mission, but yet you allowed Siva to take all the credit for
the same! It is no wonder that you did this because you are known to remain
humble and submissive in the case of your Bhaktas. It was this quality that you
exhibited when you appeared as if you were vanquished by the same Siva during
Daksha Yagjnam?

COMMENTS:
? Taarakaasura had three sons named TaarukaaDan, kaalaaDan and
Vidhyunmaali. The trio did severe penance and obtained from Brahma several
boons. They created three whole cities made of gold, silver and iron that could
fly in the air. They were playing havoc on the celestials with their newfound
powers. The celestials prayed to Siva for help. Siva agreed provided they would
accept him as the Lord of the cattle and they assisted him in the fight against
the asuras. As agreed, Siva made the earth his chariot, the Sun and the Moon as
the wheels of the chariot, the four Vedas as the four horses, Brahma as the
chauffer, the Meru mountain as the bow, AadisEsha as the string for the bow,
Lord Hari as the arrow, the Wind god as the wings of
the arrow and Fire god as the blaze, and destroyed the tri-cities by a raging
fire.
? Of course, PuraNas describe the event assigning credit to Siva for
burning the cities. The truth, however, is that it is Lord VishNu who sitting
on the edge of the arrow who actually performed the destruction.
? That the celestials agreed to Siva?s condition of being accepted as the
Lord of the cattle is borne out by the Vedic utterance ?ahamEva pasoonaam
eesai?

? Kaasikaakaara Vaamanar clarifies this deal thus:
? upasamvaada: paribhaashaNam, kartavyE paNabandhah? yadi mE bhavaan idam
kuryaat aham api bhavata idam daasyaami iti? upasamvaadE ? ahamEva pasoonaam
eesai?- A pact in which one party (here Siva) says: ?If you do this to me, I
will do this to you (celestials)?

? The incident is reported in MB KarNa Parvam (Chapter 23), also as to
how it was NOT Siva but VishNu who burnt down the tri-cities.
?vishNuraatmaa bhagavatObhavasya amita tEjasa:/
Tasmaad dhanur jyaa sam sparsam sa vishEhE mahEswara: //

? Why did the Lord appear as vanquished by Siva during Daksha Yagjna?
Azhwaan answers: It is the quality of really great ones to act as if they
submit themselves to those who submit to them. Did not Sri Rama say that he
sought protection from Sugriva, as if he needed protection from Sugriva whom he
protected from Vali?
?lOkanaatha: puraa bhootvaa sugreevam naatham ichchati?

? If we have a closer look at the Tripura episode, we come across several
other anecdotes connected to it.

THE MAGIC WAND:
1. Since the asuras had faith in the Vedas, they could vanquish the
celestials who were totally devoted to the Lord, with lots of boons they
secured from Kshudra dEvatas. The only way to disarm the Asuras was to vitiate
their faith and thereby emaciate them. Therefore, the Lord took a special
Avataara as ?Adhi Buddha? (not to be confused with the historical Goutama
Buddha, who established Buddhism). The purpose of this ?Adhi Buddha? was to
mislead the asuras and lose their strength.
?kaLLa vEdathaik koNDu pOi puram pukkavaarum kalandu
asuraraiuLLam bEDam seidiTTU uyir uNDa upaayangaLum?
says Azhwar (5.10.4)

CAN A TREE ROB ONE?S MODESTY?
2. The wives of Tripuras had no issues. Emperumaan advised them to embrace
a pipal tree (arasamaram). He transformed himself into such a tree (aswatha
NaaraayaNa) and made them embrace it thereby making them lose their chastity.
The second source of the strength of the Tripuras was thus demolished and they
became emaciated.

THE COW AND THE CALF:
3. The Asuras commanded ?Mayaa?, their architect, to construct a well
filled with divine nectar, (amritam) with the result that every time an Asura
got killed in the fight against dEvas, they would dip his body in the well of
nectar and the dead would come alive. This facility was not available to the
celestials and their ranks got depleted. The Lord took the form of a cow with
Brahma as a calf and licked the entire nectar in the well. The well became bone
dry. The asuras could no longer bring the dead back to life.

Thus, the Lord disabled the strength of the asuras. These are narrated in
VishNu Dharmam panjara Stotram:
?tripuram jagnusha: poorvam brahmaNaa vishNu panjaram/
sankarasya kurusrEshTa! rakshaNaaya niroopitam?//

? In spite of accomplishing all these, the Lord is so humble as to assign
all credits to his Bhaktas.
? In MB, though KrishNa was mainly responsible for the killing of KarNa,
he says?tvayaa mayaa cha kuntyaa cha?, as if it was the joint effort of Arjuna,
Kunti and himself!
? Now, to the story of Daksha Yagjnam:
Daksha was the father-in-law of Siva. When Daksha entered the hall of a yagjna
called Viswasruja, everyone stood up, except Siva, his own son-in-law and
disciple. Enraged at this, Daksha did not invite Siva and Paarvati to a yagjna
that he himself performed. But, Paarvati, out of affection for her father,
attended the yagjna against the wishes of Siva. When Paarvati arrived at the
venue, she was not accorded the usual welcome and no havis was allotted to
Siva, as one of the dEvatas entitled to it. She walked out but could not go
back to Siva after this disgrace. So, she ignited a fire out of her chastity
and calling herself as ?sati?, she jumped into the fire
and self immolated herself. (That is how the practice of ?Sati? seems to have
come into vogue, in which the widowed women immolated themselves on the funeral
pyre of their husbands). The story is narrated in the 4th Skhaandam of Sri
Bhaagavatam, where there is no mention about the Lord being vanquished by Siva.
But, works like ?dakka yaaga bharaNi? and some Taamasa PuraaNas (that are NOT
authoritative) do mention as if Siva vanquished the Lord.
That is why, KoorEsar refers to the incident and explains that if at all the
Lord appeared thus, it was also only as a leela for him.
? This is like Andal saying:
?oruthi mganaai pirandu Ore iravil oruthi maganaai oLithu vaLara?
The Lord had no fear; yet, he acted as if he was afraid of Kamsa and hid
himself as the son of YasOda.
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SLOKAM 14: ?BANYAN LEAF IS BABY SITTING?

Mugdha: sisu: vaTa dale sayitO ati tanvaa
Tanvaa jaganti bibrushE savikaasam Eva /
Aiseem imaam tu tavasaktim atarkitavyaam
Avyaajata: prathayasE kim iha avteerNa:? //

?How come, you with all sentient beings and insentient things in the world kept
in safe custody in your tiny tummy, took the form of a small baby lying on a
single tiny banyan leaf? How else could it be explained except by way of saying
that it is due to your wish (Sankalpam) to mingle with us in this mundane
world, in exercise of your extraordinary powers that none else can ever boast
of??

COMMENTS:
? This has been described in Harivamsam, Vana Parva of Srimad
Mahaabhaaratam and AcharyOpakhyaanas.
? Paancharaatra actually lists this ?vaTa patra saayee? as one of the
Avataras.
? BhaTTar lists the following 14 naamas in Sri VishNu Sahasranaamam as
dedicated to this VaTa patra saayee:
-yugaadikrit, yugaavartO, naikamaayO, mahaasanah/
adrisyO vyaktaroopas cha sahasrajit anantajit//
ishTO visishTa: sishTEshTa: sikhaNDee nahushO vrisha: //
? It would appear that when MaarkaNDEya was scared when he saw this
phenomenon of a baby floating on the tiny leaf when all the worlds had been
washed away in the deluge and wondered as to who this baby was, wherefrom it
came, who were its parents etc., the baby called him and dispelled his fear.
Katham tu ayam sisu: sEtE lOkE naasam upaagatE?/
Tapasaa chintayan cha api thum sisum na upalakshayE //
? athitanvaa tanvaa: refers to how the small baby could contain within
itself the entire world.
? This has been referred in PaaN perumaaL?s
?aalamaamarathin ilai mEl oru baalakanaai bagiraNDathu
oru maanilam ezhumaal varai murrum uNDadu?
? MaarkaNDEya describes this scene to PaaNDavas and describes how he saw
that for millions of years ?business as usual? was taking place - with Brahmins
doing Yagjnas, Kings ruling their kingdoms, agriculturists raising crops in
their fields, Ganga, Yamuna and other rivers flowing, mountains rising to the
sky - all within the tummy of the baby.
? He is indeed ?ulagamuNDa peruvaayan? and all the beings including
Brahma, Rudra and others were just ?Emperumaan uNDU umizhnda echil dEvar?
(spittle of Emperumaan) says Azhwar.
? MaarkaNDEya Rishi wonders ?mahat hi Etatachintyam cha yad aham
drishTavaan prabhO??- What I have seen is so incredible, inconceivable and
beyond thought?
? All this proves how Sriman Narayana is the cause of the worlds
(jagatkaaraNan)
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SLOKAM 15: ?SKY IS THE LIMIT- MAY BE NOT?

brahmEsa madhya gaNanaa, gaNanaarka panktou
indra anuja tvam aditEs tanayatva yOgaat /
ikshvaaku vamsa-yadu vamsa Janis cha hanta!
Slaaghyaan amooni anupamasya parasya dhaamna: //

?Though you have your superior and unique effulgence, you decided to appear
- as one among the three entities of Brahma, VishNu and Siva,
- as one of the 12 Adityas in your role as the son of Aditi,
- as the younger brother of Indra (upEndra),
- as being born in the Ikshvaaku and Yadu clans,
All these only show that you are incomparable even in your Souseelayam and
Soulabhyam?

COMMENTS:
? Only the wise will know the secret behind this.
?ajaayamaanO bahudhaa vijaayatE/
tasya dheeraa: parijaananti yOnim?
? What is ?Avataara?? The one that is far superior comes down to the
level of those far inferior and mingles with them as equal to them.
This is the meaning of the word ?Avataara?.
? Wherever grief etc is exhibited, it should be remembered that for the
Lord, it is only an act of empathy with the downtrodden.
?Manushya dEhinaam chEshTaam,
eesaan api mahaayOgi,
tEna vanchayatE lOKaan?
? Thus, taking different Vibhava Avataaras does not diminish His Paratvam
but only a confirmation thereof.
? brahmEsa Madhya gaNanaa:
Counting him as one among three deities, namely, Brahma, VishNu and Siva does
not detract his glory. On the other hand, it only augments it - says KoorEsar.
Of course, lay folk would be tempted to think that he is after all one of the
three deities in charge of creation, sustenance and destruction.

Only those who know how the Lord kept the worlds in safe custody in his tummy
during the long PraLaya will know that he is the Only one who can create,
protect and destroy and Not an ?also ran?
?ananya saadhyE svaabheeshTE na hi
paalana saamarthyam rutE SarvEswaram ?harim? - praised Brahma.
? Did not Bhagavaan Himself declare that such noble souls who realize his
incomparable greatness are the rarest of the rare?
?vaasudEva: sarvam iti sa mahhatmaa sudurlabhah?

gaNanaarka panktou
He appeared as one of the 12 Adityas (sons of Aditi) and bore the name
?VishNu?. In fact, however, he shines uniquely in the middle of the orb of Sun
(Savitru manDala madhyavartee). For that reason he is known as ?Tridaamaa?

Indra anujatvam: That he presented himself as the younger brother of Indra
calling himself ?upEndra? is also surprising. Though he was younger to
Balarama, it was KrishNa who had prominence in KrishNa avataara. Likewise,
though he called himself ?upEndra?, he was, is and will always and in all ways
be prominent.

ikshvaaku vamsa Janis:
Similarly, his taking birth in the Ikshvaaku lineage as Sri Rama is a matter of
surprise. As per garuDa PuraaNa, the story goes that when Ikshvaaku returned
from BrahmalOka after receiving the moorthi of Lord Ranganatha and was doing
penance; Cupid (Manmatha) shot his flowery arrows at him. Ikshvaaku used the
same arrows to shoot back at Manmatha who lost his powers. It is because that
vamsam was so steadfast in their devotion to Lord Ranganatha that Bhagavaan
wanted to take birth in that family.

yadu vamsa Janis:
Yadhu vamsam was equally famous. When Yayaati lost his youth due to a fight
between his two wives, he asked his son, youthful Yadhu to trade his youth with
his own old age. Yadu refused on the ground that if he agreed, he would be
guilty of ?maatru gamanam? and become responsible for complicity in his
father?s misconduct, while bringing shame to his mothers. So, he preferred to
forego the kingdom to committing such a heinous crime. Thus, yadu saved the
vamsam from ignominy and stuck to Dharma. The Lord wanted to be born in
such righteous family of Yadu.

Thus, all his appearance in the different situations was for ?saadhu
paritraaNam and Dharma samsthaapanam? and therefore only adds to his glory.

It is only Sriman Narayana who took Avataaras out of his Sankalpam.
Others are born out of their karma and perish on account of karma.