Page 39 - Bhakthinivedana 2012 January English Magazine.pmd

...Continued from Pg 36 Lord as protection to Him from evil eyes. Likewise,
Go:da:de:vi too sang mangalam to the Lord, for she
Sri: Namma:lwa:r, out of love for the Lord, became
imagined that the Lord’s feet have become tender
eager and anxious to serve that Lord eternally who
due to His placing of footsteps!
possessed such supreme, auspicious qualities and
In a text called Sri: Gunaratnako:sam, Bhattar out
who is called Ma:dhava. Hence Manava:lama:muni
of utmost love for the Mother, praised Lakshmi:de:vi
glorified Sri: Namma:lwa:r as pre:ma vila:saya
as ‘pa:da:rum thudame:va pankajarajaha’ – ‘My
which means ‘to be with faith’.
Mother Lakshmi, the buds on the Lotus over which
A:saya, means to have a determined faith that the you are standing may be pricking you like thorns;

Lord alone is one’s means and also the fruit of Your attendants are standing still charmed by your
attainment of the Lord! A:vila means to believe that beauty and so your body is becoming tender; The
God alone is the One to be attained; the Lord alone lotus flower which you are holding is also becoming

(and not one’s self-effort) is the means to attain heavy for you!’
Him.
Similarly, Namma:lwa:r, consummated in the love
Namma:lwa:r who turned restive as if in a hurry to for the Lord, began to grow apprehensive about

attain the Lord, swore to the Supreme Being that Him. Such obsessive love for God is never wrong.
he shall resort to a practice called madal, if not Ra:ma:nuja, considered such a Namma:lwa:r as a
granted the grace quickly! Supreme Guru who possessed the highest form of
devotion and knowledge.
Madal is an ancient practice in South India, where -
when a man does not wed his lover, the girl with her Ma:muni describes the benefits of taking refuge in
disheveled locks of hair, carrying the photograph of Ra:ma:nuja as ka:ma:dido:shaharam. Let us take a
her lover and holding a palm leaf between the legs peek at those details in the next edition.
goes around streets crying piteously about her lover!
Footnotes:
Namma:lwa:r threatens the Lord that he would take
[1] va:thsalyam – Compassion
up madal if the Lord does not come to Him soon! If
[2] saulabhyam – Easily approachable and
not madal, Namma:lwa:r swears to the Lord that he
attainable
would observe several rituals to attain Him!
[3] sausi:lyam – To live and identify with a common
One should give up materialistic worry and man despite being of a Supreme stature.
anguish; but the distress that arises for the Lord is

not wrong.

Athisne:haha pa:pasanki – Too much of love can
lead to anything ominous. Namma:lwa:r was

concerned that bad things might happen to the
Lord due to his extreme love for the Lord! And so
he sang mangalam or blessings and glories to the

Jan 2012• Bhakthinivedana 39