I am stumped out by the latest avatar of Mr Karunanidhi!!
He has been praised as the “Bhageeratha of the Modern Age”
yesterday in the Tamilnadu assembly
-the title as Bhageeratha to the one
who refuses to accept that his descendant Rama ever lived!!
Any guesses who had given this title??
It was given by none other than the descendant of Mr Karunanidhi,
Mr Stalin who has surpassed his father in his knowledge of
Mr Stalin has praised his father as Bhageeratha of Modern age
(‘naveena kaala bhageerathan nam mudhalvar thaan’),
for bringing water from Hogenakkal.
It is said in the puranas that Bhageeratha brought the
from the sky to the earth.
It is called ‘Bhageeratha prayathnam’.
He added that our CM has taken the Hogenakkal water
to the people of Hosur living at a height of 980 meters (from land to sky presumably)
Therefore he can be called as “Bhageeratha of the Modern Age”
I wonder whether he or his father ever thought
what a contradiction it makes to talk of Bhageeratha
when his father is not ready to accept the historicity of Rama.
Did he or his father realize that this statement by him gives a semblance
of their acceptance of Rama as real?
No, I don’t think they had ever known that Bhageeratha was related to Rama.
Had they known that Bhageeratha lived about 1000 years before Rama
and that this incident of bringing down
has been detailed in Valmiki Ramayana,
Stalin would not have made this comparison
nor had Karunanidhi happily accepted this title.
If Bhageeratha’s effort had been so tough,
equally tough was Rama’s feat
in having constructed a bridge across the sea.
By his lack of knowledge of Puranas
and particularly of Rama,
Mr Stalin had denied his father
an opportunity at an opportune time in future,
to question,
who this Bhageeratha was and
what ladder he used to bring the
No one could have raised any talk about Bhageeratha on any account.
for, Mr Karunanidhi would have skillfully and intelligently
shut the mouth of any one
who dared to talk about Bhageeratha.
How can Karunanidhi accept the ancestor of Rama
when he can not accept Rama himself??
But we will be missing this hypothetical scene in future,
thanks to Mr Stalin’s urge to show off that he too knows puranas
and that he is capable of giving explanations for terms such as
‘Bhageeratha prayathnam’.
We saw in the previous post how Varudam is not a Tamil word
(about aaN varudan and aaN varudi, only Mr Karunanidhi must explain).
The son follows the father in decoding Tamilised words
such as prayathanm
in ‘Bhageeratha prayathnam’!!
That is all!
Once again in this context too,
my sittrarivu propels me to look into scriptures
which I share here.
Many must have been wondering
why people who bait Rama and other gods and
who undermine our Faith seem to flourish.
Rational teaching of any religion is that
that those who do wrongs will be punished.
But we don’t see this to happen in life.
It is because of certain ways by which dharma works.
For any action (cause), the reaction will anyway happen.
But when it will happen is the question.
It takes time for the action to fructify into re-action.
Most of the times it may take very long as to be in another birth,
for the one to undergo the reactionary phase for his previous actions.
This is what sanatana dharma says.
But in the case of Gods of Vishnu’s manifestation, the rules are different.
Vishnu is a ‘kaakkum kadavuL’, the Protector among the Trinities.
He is not inclined to destroy anyone for his follies and wrong deeds.
He will give a long rope and
a number of chances to people to rectify themselves.
ChoodamaNi nigaNdu defines Thirumaal or Vishnu as
“kaappukku mun edukkum kadavuL-thaan MaalEyaagum” (12-139)
It means that Vishnu is protector.
If Vishnu goes on forgiving offenders and giving them long rope,
how can he and when can he destroy wrong doers,
is the question we get.
He does destroy
but he destroys his enemies by his “fame and greatness”.
Let me quote authenticity for this from Tamil texts.
In his praise of Pandyan king, Ilavanthigai thunjiya Nanmaaran,
the poet KaNakkayanaar Maganaar Nakkeeranaar, (PuranaanUru 56)
compares the king with Gods.
“pughazh ottheeyE igazhunar adunanai”
(urai :- ‘pughazhaal pagaivarai-k-kollum MaayOnai voppai’)
This means -You are like Vishnu / Thirumaal / MaayOn
in destroying enemies by your FAME.
(The other Gods he compares are
Shiva for his death-inflicting nature,
Balarama for strength and
Muruga for accomplishing what he wants)
Vishnu’s fame is something that makes his detractors furious
and commit more crimes to invite their own ends.
It happened with Sishupala.
He could not stand the praises on
and in the end Sishupaala met the logical end of his actions.
As a god in the act of Protection,
at the moment they commit adharmic acts.
It also happened with Ravana.
A deeper analysis of Ramayana reveals that
Ravana could not withstand
the popularity of Rama right from the beginning.
He had his first humiliation at Janaka’s court
when he failed to lift the Shiva dhanush,
to get the hand of Sita in marriage.
But Rama won in that contest.
Rama became the hero
and Ravana could not stomach the praises on Rama.
Rama’s fame and popularity was some thing that burnt his heart,
which can be noted from the many dialogues of him,
teasing or denouncing or humiliating Rama at every occasion.
Every time he tried to lure Sita with rosy words,
he would end up with a disparaging note on Rama,
that Rama was a wanderer in forests who had no kingdom
and that he was no match for him (Ravana).
Rama too gave him a long rope, even after entering into war with him.
Rama sent him back to replenish himself
and that time was used by Mandodhari to advise him not to fight with Rama.
But the one who had to be destroyed by Rama
would find those words of greatness about Rama
as molten lead fed into his ears.
It is by their nature of not being able to accept and understand
Vishnu’s greatness and fame,
that His detractors had sought their own ends.
The reason why God gives such a long rope was
to give them opportunities to correct themselves.
The counsel by
and Mandodhari (in Ravana’s case)
acted as opportunities to correct themselves.
Mandodhari even lamented at Ravana’s death
how she cautioned that it was unwise to go on war with the one
who did the impossible feat of building a bridge on the sea!
But Ravana did not listen.
But such counsel always does not go waste.
The more time that is given to the offenders,
the longer the exposure of His saatwic vibrations
that God provides to them.
Yes, the rationale of God giving opportunities is that
more the people are exposed to talking or knowing about Him,
more they get exposed to the satwam of God.
This exposure gradually turns them saatwic
and in course of time
they become saatwic in nature.
(refer my post in my blog listed in the links section
on Sita telling about how constant expose to something turns one into that.)
We can see such a gradual change in Ram-baiter, Mr Karunanidhi.
Not long ago he has said that had there been a God, let Him give long life to him!
What a climb down for an atheist of his kind!!
But let us not find fault with him for this.
He has to change and he will change.
Because he has taken cudgels against Rama, the Protector
who is never found tired of giving opportunities.
And now his son has shown the way,
by bringing in the lineage of Rama.
Karunanidhi must have been the happiest person
to be compared with Bhageeratha.
Why Bhageeratha, if we compare him with Rama, will he say no???
He would welcome and accept it with magnanimity,
while Rama will be having hearty laugh at Vaikuntha.
We must understand Mr Karunanidhi in the right way.
Even if Stalin or someone someday praises him as ‘Naveena Rama’
for bringing out bridges on the tough traffic areas of Chennai,
do you think he will say no to it.
Never.
As long as it gives him Name and fame (!?),
he will have no qualms to accept those praises and titles.
But his acceptance of Rama will be like this:-
“Raman kadalil paalam kattinaan endru kadhai undu.
Aanaal nam Kalaingar kattina palangal uNmai kadhai”
(It is just a story that Rama built bridges on the sea.
But it is a true story that Karunaidhi built bridges in Chennai)
That is the way Kalaingar replicates the characteristics of Rama.
That is the way Rama
overpowers his detractors by His fame and greatness!!
