BG6.31

Thirumangai Alwar has composed Periya Thirumozhi, consisting of more than 1000 verses. In that, decades 9.3 and 9.4 are devoted to Thiruppullani Kshetram. These hymns are sung by the Alwar in the guise of a lady. 'She' sings languishing at the separation oh 'her' Lover, the Lord of Thiruppullani. In pasuram 9.4.2, 'munnam kuraluruvai moovadi mann kondalandha...', 'she' says 'maalagi ponpayandhen'. Maal means mad. 'She' says she is mad after Him. He as the Dwarf Sri Vamana, begged King Bali to grant Him three foot earth and captured the entire Universe! After hearing that story, 'she' became mad after Him. Because of this, 'her' body got paled. 'She' wants the swans to fly and convey 'her' status to the Lord. When the swans wondered how the Lord would listen to them as messengers, 'she' tells them that He would certainly liten to them as once He took avatar as Swan and so He would have fraternity for them. The pushkarini here is called Hamsa - swan - theertham. Once Lanka was ruled by a King called Mali and his sons were Sumali, Jambumali, Malyavan, etc. Unable to bear the harassment of Mali and others, the gods prayed the Lord for protection. He, riding on His vehicle Garuda, destroyed the King and others with His discus -Chakra. Chakra was stained with the blood and flesh of the slain King and comrades, prayed the Lord to suggest a way to cleanse the stain. The Lord by a wish - sankalpa- created this pushkarini and asked Chakra to bathe to find all the stains removed. Chakra did the same and so this pond is called Chakra theertham. It is therefore, believed that whoever bathes in this pond gets his stains - the beginning-less papa and punya karma- removed. We are indeed blessed to bathe in this pond where Chakra once bathed. By bathing in this holy pond we also, like the Chakra in His arm, can be near His feet and attain salvation. It is believed that those who bathe in Swami Pushkarini in Thirumala, will be identical to the Lord there. Identical here means in some respects only. In the sloka 30 also this message is conveyed that the yogi in the second stage becomes similar to the Lord. In the last sloka we saw that the yogi sees all others as equal to him and he is same as all others. In this sloka 30, the yogi feels, in a way, he is same as the Lord. Without the body all souls are same and identical. Why did we get these bodies? All past karma or actions have results, punya and papa. Those have to be experienced in the same birth or in the ensuing births. Therefore, atman needs a body in every birth to enjoy or suffer the fruits of past karma. Such births certainly have differences and they will have vast variances. One is born as bird or animal or human, and further as male or female, etc. If suppose the karmas are all spent and there is no papa or punya, then the atman will be in its original or natural form. Such atman will all be identical. Differences are perceptible only because of the body and a body-less atman is mukta atma swaroopam. We were practicing yoga to know our atman. If that is so, how by knowing one's own atman, all other atman are seen? It is as simple as seeing on grain of rice cooked in a pot full of cooked rice. By examining that one grain, one can conclude whether all the rice grains have all been cooked properly or not. Sri Andal also in the Thiruppavai pasuram, ungal puzhakkadai..., says that since the lotus has blossomed in the garden of the friend, who is sleeping inside with doors bolted, night is gone and day has dawned and so she should wake up and join Sri Andal. At that time the friend wonders how Sri Andal could know that the lotus had blossomed in her garden. It is because, Sri Andal has seen a lotus blossoming in Her garden, and so by this logic, all the lotus flowers in the town or village should have blossomed. Similarly, if in the yoga we could discover our atman and see its form of gyana and ananda, then all atman are identical and have the same gyana and ananda. But in today's [6th February 2008] sloka the yogi described is on a higher pedestal and he sees God in all atman and in his own atman also. Sloka 30:

yo mam pasyati sarvatra
sarvam ca mayi pasyati
tasyaham na pranasyami
sa ca me na pranasyati

"For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me."

Yo = [the one yogi] who, sarvatra = everywhere, pasyati = sees, mam = Me [Sri Krishna, theParamatman],ca = and, pasyati = sees, sarvam = all, mayi = in Me [Sri Krishna]. This yogi sees the Lord in all and sees all in Him. Tasya = to such a person, aham = I [Sri Krishna], na pranasyami = have not been unseen, ca = and, sa = he [the yogi], me = to Me [Sri Krishna], pranasyati = has not been unseen. Sri Krishna is always seen by that yogi and Sri Krishna always sees that yogi. Essence of this sloka is that the Lord is prevalent everywhere and all are existing in Him. He is pervading in all and all are supported by Him. This is going to be explained in detail in Chapters 7, 8 and 9 . But the purpose of this sloka is that all the atman are equal to Him and He is same as all the souls. With the body as a residence for atman, we can not claim oneness with the Lord. But the body-less atman - mukta atma swaroopam, has eight auspicious qualities and they are the same as the qualities of the Lord. They are like, no more stains of papa, no hunger, no thirst, no ageing, no death and completing the task determined, etc. With body, these qualities are impossible to have. So a yogi in mukta atman swaroopam sees Him in all atman and all atman in Him. Though this yogi claims equality in eight gunas, the Lord's unique qualities of the Spouse of Sri MahaLakshmi, powers of creation and rider of the vehicle Garuda, can never be acquired by anyone else. He will continue to be the Ruler and we, even after mukti or Moksham, will continue to be the ruled. This is the status of the yogi in second stage.