Secrets in Thiruppavai. Secret - 4 (Nappinnai -6)

NILaa suktam:-

"Rich in ghee, O Savitr, through thy overlordship,

Be the bounteous region rich in milk, for us.

The firm among the quarters, lady of Vishnu, the mild,

Ruling over this strength, the desirable,

Brhaspati, Matariçvan, Vayu,

The winds blowing together be gracious to us.

O Prop of the sky, supporter of the earth,

Ruling this world, lady of Vishnu"

Looking at other attributes,

'dhruvaa dishaam'

firm in the quarters, in the directions,

she rules over this strength, the desirable.

Other clues about her

is that the winds blow

together with Brihaspati, Matarishvan and Vayu

and with them

she props or supports or sustains

and rules the earth.

Looking at each of these to know what texture or stature, NIla has, let us analyse further.

She is firm in her quarters, firm in her directions.

Brihaspati, Matarishvan and Vayu blow with wind!

From the other verses from the same chapter in which NiLa suktam is found,

we gather the following.

Brihaspathi prepares the ground

and places the agni on the ridge of earth,

full of light, for every expiration, inspiration.

Vayu is the Universal Life force.

Matarishvan is all Space (all the directions) and carries everything in this earth.

All these descriptions plus the meaning of Pinnai

make me conclude

that the NIla in form and works

is the magnetic sheath enveloping the earth.

Upanishads say that there is a name, form and work

associated with every deva or celestial being, physically and metaphorically.

If we say the sun god,

the name sun is associated with a form (which we see)

and it represents some activity as can be seen or felt.

This is at the perception level of the physical world.

Metaphorically, the Sun is also the All pervading God,

with a name, form and works.

Applying this version to NILa,

there must exist in nature the Pinnai,

the later born of the earth.

She must also fulfil the role of Vishnu patni as His Vital level of existance.

The magnetic envelop of the earth

was the later born!

When the earth came into existence,

this sheath was not there.

It came up later.

But without this sheath,

the earth could not have become a place for life.

The earth or Bhu devi is described in Bhu suktam as "Hiranya garbhini",

the one who contains everything in her womb.

She is described as not just the land form

but also as one who has the waters and the air (jalasayani, vaayumati).

The Bhudevi contains all that is within her or on her.

But when did she start containing everything with her

in such a way that she was able to become 'sarva siddhyai',

by making them usable?

It was only after the earth became protected with a magnetic sheath

that had fixed directions

at North and South.

It will be interesting to relate that

everything connected with growth or its opposite

is talked by the vedas

in terms of North and South (uttar or dakshin) only.

No other planet in our system of Sun

could sustain life,

nor could they lead a least bombarded journey,

like our earth,

mainly because

there is no protection to them from harmful

solar flares and cosmic waves

that continuously bombard their surface.

The earth is special.

All those who are eagerly working on

to find life elsewhere in this Universe

must first know

that no life can sustain,

if there is no Triad

in terms of Bhu, Bhuvah and Svah!

A sheath of Vayu helps in protection.

But the sheath of strong magnetic covering anchored at two directions

as two horns of the BULL

is the real cause for thwarting away any attack

to the body of the earth

by cosmic flares.

This sheath is supposed to be indigo in colour!

This sheath was "pinnai" born from the earth.

This sheath makes it possible

for life to thrive on earth

and extract all wealth from it.

This sheath acts as a medium between

the earth (Bhu)

and the wealth (Sri)

that is derived from it.

This sheath is fixed on the yajna kunda of earth by Brihaspathi.

This sheath is supported by Matarishvan

This sheath contains and supports wind and everything else under it.

In short, the earth without this sheath can not have become a place for life to thrive.

The Lord Chose this earth, as His Bhu.

The NILa was fixed on her.

Therefore He becomes the IRai (Lord) of these two.

"nar puvi thanakku IRaivan,

than thuNAi

aayar paavai Nappinnai thanakkirai" (Periya Thirumozhi)

He created the Puvi (earth), therefore He becomes its Lord.

Her thunai (companion) is Nappinnai or NILa.

Therefore He is Lord for her too.

But He is "inban" sweet-heart for Lakshmi, the wealth or prosperity

or the Svah level symbolism of Lord Himself!

As per texts,

NILa must be represented in physical form.

She was Nappinnai in physical incarnation,

in colour, nature of birth and works.

Nappinnai was born in ayar kudi.

Aai in Tamil means mother.

The mother and the sect of aayars are known for giving -

giving milk and ghee without any fuss,

like the NILa without whom we can not live

but whose presence we hardly notice.

Nappinnai came to be Lorded by krishna,

after he won the bulls by embracing the horns of the bull

and rode on the bull with his chest thrust in between the horns,

as though they were the breasts of Nappinnai.

The earth also is running fast in space and it needed to be controlled or tamed.

The Lord (Vishnu) is riding on it holding NILa by her breasts

represented by the two poles,

and thrusting himself in between the poles,

thereby covering the earth away from all dangers

and with Bhoo and NILa firmly under His control

He too is going along with them in what is known as Leela vibhuthi!

When He is riding Bull of earth like this,

His dearest consort,

Lakshmi

is sure to rule the world,

with prosperity of any and every kind becoming a reality.

The taming of the bull resembles the speeding off the earth with Nila

embraced by God!

The sleep of Krishna on Nappinnai's breast

resembles the 'sthana giri', called poles

on which the Lord as Krishna (black space) sleeps.

It is in the early hours before sunrise,

the aurora lights in indigo and blue hues dance in the poles

as though it is a kuravai-k-kootthu.

Below them lies the world with sky as the limit.

Beyond them , it is KrishNa, the blackened and endless outstretch.

The ghee offered by this NILa is all the faculties of Rajas arising from the 5 elements,

which can never escape from her.

A continuous churning of these vital factors occur inside her

giving rise to new thougthts,

activating intelligence.

She is best realised at night,

so too Nappinnai is remembered at night.

The dark outer space seems to sleep on her,

like krishna sleeping on the kongai of Nappinnai.

The picture is complete with vishnu

fixed on this 3 fold Triad -

of whom the two are perceptible

and NILa alone non-perceptible.

That is why the birth and life of Nappinnai

also was made less perceptible.

Only those aspects of NiLa

that are needed to be remembered,

recollected and eulogised

have been associated with Nappinnai.

At the physical level,

Krishna came, married her

and danced with her the Kuravai-k-kootthu.

At the ethereal realms too,

He is continuously dancing with the speeding earth and her younger sister, NILa

as though He is constantly dancing to keep the earth in equilibrium.

This is the cosmic dance of Kuda-k-kootthu in which the dancer

ably balances the pots on his head while dancing.

The balance or equilibrium is the essence of kuda-k-kootthu.

The Lord is doing that

by holding the earth at its poles (horns) and

riding on her with Himself present everywhere!

That is the symbolism.

That seems to be the symbolism!

(concluded)