When bhakti reigned
SUGANTHY KRISHNAMACHARI
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The three-day event organised by Vijay TV looked at religion from various angles.
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Photos: R.Ragu
experts: (Clockwise from top left) Saraswathi Ramanathan, Karunakaracharyaar and Ganesh.
It may be unusual for a TV channel to organise a programme to celebrate bhakti, but then Vijay TV is known for its novel ideas.
And as Saraswathi Ramanathan, one of the speakers said, it could well be a trendsetter. The audience included many 20-somethings. And the programme had sponsors too!
It was a lecture-discourse-namasankirtanam combination that was offered for three days — June16-18. The participants on Day Two were V.S.Karunakaran, Dr. Saraswathi Ramanathan and Dr. Ganesh.
Believers are often put in a spot by rationalists, who ask them ticklish questions. For example, how can you explain Krishna’s Rasa Leela? But these doubts and questions are the first step in understanding God’s omnipotence and omnipresence, said V.S.Karunakaran, who spoke on “Kuravaiyar Koothu,” which is nothing but the Tamil version of Rasa Kreeda.
Convincing explanations
Krishna, even as He danced with the gopikas in Brindavan, also assumed the form of the gopikas in their homes and carried out their duties there. “Undannodu Uravael, Namakku Ingu Ozhikka Ozhiyaadu,” Karunakaran said quoting Andal.
But what about Radha, who was 18 when Krishna was two? What kind of perversity is this, the rationalist asks.
No, it is not a perversity, because as Jayadeva says in his Ashtapadhi, Krishna assumed the form of a 20-year old man when He was with Radha. God is ageless.
The Gopika Gitam is an echo of the Upanishads.
Karunakaran’s lecture, which had references from the Divya Prabandhams and the Tirukkural, from Desika, Kalidasa, Valmiki, Kambar, Jayadeva and Narayana Bhattadri was an example of how erudition need not stand in the way of simple and convincing explanations.
Role of women
With down-to-earth examples, Saraswathi Ramanathan highlighted the role of women in the spread of Saivism.
Tirugnanasmbandar had three mothers — his biological mother, Goddess Parashakti, and the Pandya Queen Mangaiyarkkarasi. Of the three, Mangaiyarkkarasi is the one to be saluted, said Saraswathi, for when she saw the child Sambandar, her breasts swelled with milk that spilled over.
It was this mother, who was responsible for Saivism regaining its supremacy in the Pandya Kingdom.
Karaikkal Ammayar, the lone nayanmar to be seen in a seated posture, has pride of place in Chidmbaram. She was addressed as “Mother” by Lord Siva Himself.
After the death of her parents and her fiancé in quick succession, Thilakavathi soldiers on for the sake of her brother, and later brings him back into the Saivite fold. Her brother is eulogised as Thirunavukkarasar, but there is no separate saga for Thilakavathi in the Periya Puranam. But this is not surprising, Saraswathi Ramanathan said. In temples, a small lamp is taken round to light all the big lamps.
The job done, the small lamp is put away. That is what a mother is like too. She lights the lamp of knowledge in her child’s life and fade into the background.
Saraswathi’s digressions were interesting but that eroded into the time so much so that she had to rush through her lecture.
Dr. Ganesh’s namasankirtanam that evening was too loud to have the desired effect — that of creating a divine atmosphere.
And finally a word for the organisers — the lectures, slated to begin at 6 p.m. started an hour late.
When three programmes are packed into an evening, it is important to adhere to the schedule, so that the audience do not become restless.
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