||    GeethA and Prabhandham    ||

Lord SrI Krishna giving Geeta Upadesham to Arjuna

There are indeed a number of references to the essence of GeethOpanishad taught by "Arjuna SakhA" to KaaNdeevan on the battle field of Kuru KshEthram. Srimans Sampath RengarAjan, Ranganathan Venkatesan, Professor VasudhA NaarAyaNan wrote earlier about some of the connection.

An abundance of "hyperlinks" are in NammAzhwAr's Thiruvaimozhi paasurams. I was able to identify no less than 61 elaborations of the thoughts of GeethAchAryan in Thiruvaimozhi alone. These links have been cited by the poorvAchAryAs like Namjeeyar, NampiLLAi, PeriyavAcchAn piLLai, Vadakku Thiruveedhi PiLLai and other original commentators in their eedus ( maNi pravALa granthams ) on Thiruvaimozhi.

It is not surprising that Thiruvaimozhi has such a rich connection to the upadesams in GeethOpanishad. Lord ParthasArathy Himself declared that He is of the form of Saama Vedam among the vEdAs; Thiruvaimozhi is generally revered as the essence of Saama vEdam. Hence, the connections between the doctrines elaborated by the GeethAchAryan and the paasurams of NammAzhwAr in Thiruvaimozhi appear appropriate.

I will describe two examples of such connections outlining the elaborations of the Lord's upadesam in the AzhwAr's paasurams.

Example 1: ThiruvAimozhi 3.2.3:

" kollAmAkkOl kolai seythu BharathappOr
yellA senaiyum irunilatthavittha YenthAi
pollA aakkayin puNarvinai aRukkalaRA
sollAi yAnunnai cchArvathOr soozhcchiyE "

(Meaning): " Oh , Lord ! Even as KrishNA , what miraculous feats that You accomplished ! I missed them too. YOU SAT AS THE DRIVER OF THE CHARIOT OF ARJUNA WITH NO WEAPON. YOU ONLY HAD THE WHIP TO GOAD THE HORSES WITH. And yet, You carried out the great MahA BhArathA battle, slaying all in a design, all Your own ; this physique of mine is a heavy load that perpetrates the samsArA chain. Please suggest a sure path of overcoming the sorrows of samsArA and reaching You. "

The reference here is to the first verse of Bhagavadh GeethA,
" Dharma KshEthrE Kuru kshEthre SamavethA yuyuthsava: ".

The two opponents were assembled for battle and were facing each other. The Lord positioned the chariot of ArjunA as his charioteer (ParthasArathy) in the middle of the two armies. ArjunA was overcome by inconsolable sorrow. AzhwAr is experiencing a similar mood of grief over the bonds of SamsAra that has tied him down. He asks for relief from their overpowering grip and appeals to the Lord like ArjunA.

Example 2: ThiruvAimozhi 6.7.1
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" uNNum sORu paruhu neer thinnum VeRRilaiyumellAm
KANNAN , yemperumAnenruenrE kaNkaL neer malhi
maNNInuL Avan seer vaLam mikkavanoor vinavi
tiNNa menniLa maan puhumoor ThirukkOloorE "

"Here the mother of ParAnkusa Nayaki decribes the KrishNA-conscious state of her daughter: " My dear young daughter has gone to ThirukkOLoor. She would not have gone anywhere else. To her, ALL is KrishNA . Food (eaten to satisfy the appetite), water (drunk to quell the thirst) and betel leaves (chewed for digestion after partaking of food) are all KrishNA only in her case. Saying KrishNA, speaking of His (auspicious) qualities, thinking (always) of Him , she would feel she has eaten and enjoyed . She would not eat food at all since KrishNA-consciousness is enough food for her. Reciting the Lord's names and inquiring of every one that she comes across, " Am I on the right track for ThirukkOLoor ? How far is it from here ? , she would be going. The very thought of the place (of the Lord of ThirukkOLoor) serves as her (total) nourishment in her walking- journey ."

Sri GeethAcharyan's slOkam ,

bahoonAm JanmanAmanthE j~navAn maam prapadhyathE I
VAASUDEVA: SARVAMITHI SA MAHAATHMAA DHURLABHA : II
---- Srimadh Bhagavadh GeethA
7.19

Our Lord says here that rare indeed is that person, who believes that VaasudEvan is the essence of every purushArtham, the goal, the means, the nourishment and enjoyment. Such a rare person reaches this state of J~nanam at the end of many births and secures this level of wisdom that Kannan is his ALL.

I will list other selected instances of such echos between GeethA slokams and Thiruvaimozhi Paasurams in future postings.

Arjuna SakhAya Nama:
AzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Oppiliappan Kovil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

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