Overwhelming love

May 25, 2015 09:09 pm | Updated 09:09 pm IST

When Periazhvar saw Lord Narayana on His mount — Garuda — looking resplendent in His raiment and with His ornaments, he was no doubt moved by the Lord’s charm. But he also worried that harm might befall Him! In order to reassure Periazhvar, the Lord displayed His strong arms which had defeated many powerful men. He also showed Periazhvar the presence of Mahalakshmi on His chest to indicate that with the Goddess bringing auspiciousness to Him nothing could harm Him.

But the sight of the arms only made Periazhvar more anxious. A mother will not worry as much about a puny boy as she will about a strong one, because a puny boy will not dare to pick fights with anyone. But the strong one, conscious of his strength, is likely to, explained Bhooma Venkatakrishnan, in a discourse. So Periazhvar worried that the Lord, because of His strength, would not hesitate to fight anyone and what if some harm befell Him then? As for Lakshmi being present with Him, did not Ravana kidnap Sita and cause Rama anguish? So Periazhvar prays that She too should remain blessed.

The Lord then displays His discus and conch. But even these only add to Periazhvar’s anxiety. True, the Lord is armed with the powerful discus. But what if, while He is engaged in tackling one enemy using His discus, another should steal upon Him and attack Him? So Periazhvar blesses the discus too. The conch strikes fear in the hearts of the Lord’s enemies. But Periazhvar’s thoughts run in a different direction. Will not the conch give away the location of the Lord when it is sounded? So he prays that the conch too should not come to harm, but remain serving the Lord always.

He recalls all the incidents that made His greatness evident, like the slaying of the demons in Ravana’s kingdom, the killing of Hiranyakasipu during His Narasimha avatara and so on. Periazhvar’s worry is that even these events of the distant past could make people cast their eyes on the Lord! So He prays for the Lord’s welfare, with maternal concern.

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