BG3.38

Today [ 4th September,2007] we are at the sannidhi of Sri Vatapathra Sayee. Swami Desikan praises Sri Andal as the embodiment of patience [Kshama] and was born as though a competitor to Sri Lakshmi in mercy [Karunyam]. He surrenders to Her. Sage Sarabha was born as a hunter and was intimidating passers by. He was followed by two persons determined to kill him. So he approached his guru who told that these two persons were to be born as Villi and Kandan and will meet their fate. They were born as Villi and Kandan and were chased by a tiger in the forests here long ago. Tiger killed Kandan and Villi lost him. In his dream, the Lord appeared and showed him the place where the body of Kandan was, and asked him to perform the last rites and also construct a temple for the Lord at this place. From then on this place is known as Villiputhur. Here long ago there was a demon Kalanemi and agreeing to the prayers of Sages here the Lord killed the demon with His discus. When the Lord found blood stains on the Discus, as per His orders Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers assembled here to form a sacred pond and was known as Thiru Mukkulam. With that water Discus was washed. In this pond Sri Andal is bathed during festivals. The Lord also remained here as Sri Vatapathra Sayee. We can see the Banyan tree and Swans in the sannidhi. Unlike in any other place the Lord here is in green colour with red lips. At His feet are Villi and Kandan. By repeatedly worshipping the Lord here our satva quality will increase, which will eliminate the kamam in us making us suitable to take up Gyana yoga. We will now see the 38th sloka:

dhumenavriyate vahniryathadarso malena cayatholbenavrto garbhastatha tenedam avrtam
"As fire is covered by smoke, as a mirror is covered by dust, or as the embryo is covered by the womb, the living entity is similarly covered by different degrees of this lust."

In the last sloka when Sri Krishna identified kamam as the enemy, Arjuna asks how kamam could be enemy and prevent us from doing good. Sri Krishna tells how kamam is preventing in the 38th and 39th slokas.

Tena = by kamam, idam = the collection of atmans, avrtam = is covered, tata = similarly. Here he gives three examples similar to the covering of the atman collection by kamam. Each example is to highlight one property. Vahni =fire, dhumena = by smoke, avriyate = covered, yata = like. That is just as smoke covers the fire, kamam covers atman. Yata = like, athadarso= mirror, malena = covered by dust. That is just like a mirror is covered by dust. Yata = like, ulbena = ulba or the uterus, avreto = covers, garbha = fetus or embryo. That is just as the fetus or embryo is covered by the uterus when a woman is pregnant. These three examples are told to convey three properties. In the first example, fire is covered by smoke. The fire only started the smoke and similarly the atman only by its Gyana gets kamam and this kamam hides the Gyana. We have to remember that just as smoke and fire can not be separated, as long as the atman is in the body, the body related kamam can not be separated. Such is the intimacy. In the second example, mirror is covered by dust. By cleaning the dost the mirror is bright. But after sometime again dust collects and again we have to clean. Similarly we can clear the kamam surrounding the atman by good deeds. This is a repetitive action. Now the third example. The embryo or fetus is covered by the uterus. The child can not by itself decide to get delivered but it requires the help of an external force in the form of the efforts by the mother. Similarly, for the atman to come out of kamam, it requires the assistance of an external force of God's blessings. The mandapam or hall from where the lecture is given is called Goda Vilasa mandapam. Here the Pahal [day] pathu [ten] festival in Tamil month Margazhi [Dec-Jan] is celebrated.