Naarayaneeyam Day is celebrated at the famous Guruvayur Sree
Krishna Temple in Kerala annually
on the 28th day of the Malayalam month of Vrichikam. In 2013, the Naarayaneeyam
Day at Guruvayur Temple is on 13th December 2013.
"Naarayaneeyam" is the masterly work of Melpathur
Narayana Bhattatiri AD 1559-1632) A great devotee-poet who lived in Kerala
during the 16th century AD. Naaraayaneeyam
is a
medieval Sanskrit text,
comprising a summary study in poetic form of the Bhagavata Purana in 1036 verses divided into 100 Dasakas
or cantos. The work occupies a
very high place in Sanskrit literature, both
because of the intense devotional fervour of the verses, because of their
extraordinary literary merit and one of the most popular religious texts in
Kerala and Tamil
Nadu.The devotional
fervour of this work is extremely high and the
exposition of the Vedanta philosophy, especially in the last ten chapters, has
no comparison. The ruling sentiment is Bhakti or
devotion to the Lord, which serves as the means for attaining the four
Purusharthas or values of life, viz. Dharma (righteousness),
Artha (worldly prosperity), Kama (desire for sensual enjoyments) and Moksha
(emancipation from worldly ties).
Tracing back to history Naarayaneeyam was written as an
offering to Lord Vishnu after sitting in Bhajan at his lotus feet at a place
called Guruvayoor in South India of Kerala.The reason for the offering was Achyuta
Pisharadi, Guru of Bhattatiri fell a victim to a severe attack of paralysis and
suffered unbearable pain.Bhattatiri, the devoted disciple could not bear the
suffering of his Guru and therefore prayed that the disease may be transferred
to him and his Guru freed of suffering. Bhattatiri accepted the
"Karmavipaka Dana" by which the sins of his Guru were transferred to
him which no one could cure.
A "Bhajanam" in the temple
of Guruvayoor was considered as a sure cure for paralysis and so Bhattatiri
went to Guruvayoor for 100 days of "Bhajanam" along with his younger
brother, Mathrudatta. Before going to guruvayur Bhajan he met Tunchath Ezhuthachan an eminent Malayalam poet and Sanskrit scholar of
the time for an advice
and the Sanskrit scholar told him to star with
fish ("meen thottu koottuka").The disciples of Bhattathiri who heard
this were shocked because Bhattathiri was a devout Hindu and therefore a
vegetarian who would consider it sinful to eat fish. Bhattathiri however
understood the inner meaning of Ezhuthachan’s advice and took it in the proper sense hence decided to present the various
incarnations of Lord Vishnu starting with the fish, as narrated in the
Bhagavatham in a series of Dasakas ( Groups of ten slokas) .
When Narayana
Bhattathiri goes to Guruvayur to compose verses describing the Lord’s 10
avataras, he calls upon Lord Guruvayurappan to listen his composes and verses.
He narrated the incidents in each avatara and used to ask Guruvayurappan if
indeed these things happened then Lord Guruvayurappan must acknowledge that
Bhattathiri is right by just nodding his head. Guruvayurappan agreed for that
and Bhattathiri says he will compose about 10 or 11 verses every day, and he
will finish his work in 100 days. Guruvayurappan wonders if Bhattathiri is
seeking to claim that even God nodded His head in appreciation of his
(Bhattathiri’s) verses. But Bhattathiri says he is only seeking to spread
Guruvayurappan’s fame, not his own. He reminds Guruvayurappan that as Lord Rama
he heard Lava and Kusa narrate the Ramayana and as he did so, he nodded His
head in approval. The Ramayana has 24,000 verses, so He nodded His head 24,000
times. The work Bhattathiri is proposing to write is going to have only
thousand-odd verses. Can the Lord can not nod a little over a 1,000 times Bhattathiri
asks. Moreover, while He heard His story as Rama, He didn’t listen to the
Srimad Bhagavatam that describes the Krishna avatara and if he now does not listen to Bhattathiri’s
work, will not the people say that the Krishna avatara is not as great as the
Rama avatara, for the Lord listened to the Ramayana but did not listen to His
exploits as Krishna ? Guruvayurappan then agrees to nod His head for each of
Bhattathiri’s verses.
During the
hundred days of his Bhajanam at the temple of Guruvayoor he summarized the
entire Bhagavata Purana in 1034 verses at the rate of one Dasaka (canto) consisting
generally of ten verses everyday. Each Dasakam ended with a prayer to
the Lord of Guruvayoor to remove the ailments and sufferings. The 100th canto composed on 28th day of Malayalam month Vrichikam and it is a gem of a narration of the deity from head to foot. After 99
chapters in 100 Dasakam Guruvayoorappan had appeared in front of the poet in
the form of venu gopala and On the same day he became
completely cured of his disease.
This immortal composition,
Naarayaneeyam, is so named for two reasons as mentioned by the poet himself in
the 100th canto. It is about Lord Narayana and secondly because it was composed
by Narayana Bhattatiri. These episodes are now being presented again by yet
another Narayana!
To
Guruvayur also, Naarayaneeyam is of utmost importance. No work of this magnitude
has ever been dedicated and addressed to the deity of any other temple in
India. It offers to the devout devotee an opportunity to visualise and worship
Mahavishnu by reading it or listening to its rendition. It will shine and
conjure up at Guruvayur in the heart of posterity. The Devaswom celebrates the
Narayaneeyam Day every year with great enthusiasm and splendor.
In
the Srimad Bhagavata and the Vishnu Purana it is told that the nine forms of
Bhakti are Sravana (hearing of God's and stories), Kirtana (singing of His
glories), Smarana (remembrance of His Name and presence), Padasevana (service
of His feet), Archana (worship of God), Vandana (prostration to the Lord),
Dasya (cultivating the Bhava of a servant with God), Sakhya (cultivation of the
friend-Bhava) and Atmanivedana (complete surrender of the self). A devotee can
practise any method of Bhakti which suits him best. Through that he will attain
Divine illumination.
The
literal meaning of sanskrit word Sravanam is hearing or listening to the name of God,
being uttered, is one of the nine types of bhakti. But in the language of the Vedas, this word means "
experiencing God through sravnedriyam or the instrument of hearing.Hearing of the holy name of the Lord
(sravanam) is the beginning of devotional service and the best way of worshipping
God. Although any one of the nine
processes is sufficient, in chronological order the hearing of the holy name of
the Lord is the beginning. Indeed, it is essential.Listening is an art,
and it has to be cultivated. Hearing
or reading stories full of Devotion (bhakti) is very pleasing to the heart and
strengthens our love and devotion. In order to enter into deeper stages of
bhakti we require a profound understanding about the nature of the Lord and our
relation with him.
Lord Krishna as Guruvayurappan has
demonstrated the value of listening
as a form of bhakti. If the Lord Himself listened to Naarayaneeyam and
acknowledged each verse, the significance of Devotees (bhaktas) listening to
the Narayaneeyam being recited or explained can be seen easily. Narayaneeyam is a
summary of the Bhagavatha and its parayana (reading) confers great benefits; it
is an effective faith therapy. It makes one God-conscious , it concerns mainly
about our present life - Aarogyam (health and freedom from diseases) and
saukhyam (happiness).
Last but not
least The essence of Narayaneeyam is the presence of Guruvayurappan.
No comments:
Post a Comment