BG5.11

Perialwar's original name was Vishnuchittha. In his Upadesa RAthnamalai, Swami Manavala Mamunigal, tells that while all the Alwars had care for the Lord, Perialwar had overflowing care and love and so he is called Perialwar. Like a mother he was worried about the welfare of the Lord as He stole butter and ate, and the troubles Asuras were making around Him. His daughter Sri Andal married the Lord. He has sung devotedly about Sri Kallazhagar of this temple. Though he was a native of Srivilliputhur, he expired in Thirumaliruncholai. The place where great persons like Alwars join the feet of the Lord, is called 'Thiruvarasu' and today's [ 30th November, 2007] lecture is from the Perialwar Thiruvarasu. It is a small mandapam amidst enchanting garden surrounding. This hill gets another honour as the launch pad where Perialwar joined the Lord in Vaikuntam. In his songs on this Kshetram, Perialwar tells us the history that the Pandyan king Malayadwaja worshiped the Lord here. Normally in all Kshetrams, Nammalwar's joining the feet of the Lord is celebrated on the last day of Adyayanotsavam, that is on the last day of Irappathu [ ten nights]. But here to mark the special significance of Perialwar's association with this Kshetram, on the tenth day of Pagalpatthu [ ten days], Perialwar's joining the feet of the Lord is celebrated. This place is surrounded by trees, plants, hill peak and the animals and birds,and all are reflections of nature's beauty. Nammalwar, that is why calls it ' mayal migu cholai' or making us crazy garden. In this Perialwar Thiruvarasu, we can recollect an incidence associated with Nammalwar. When Nammalwar was getting ready to depart from this world and start his journey to Vaikuntam, the Lords of three Divya Desams arrived at him. They were, Sri Kalamega Prumal of Thirumogur, Sri Adikesava Perumal of Thiruvattaru and Sri Sundarabahu of this Kshetram. Sri Kallazhagar told Alwar that he could now go to Vaikuntam. But Alwar was perplexed. Normally, none goes to Vaikuntam wih this mortal body and so Alwar has to cast off his mortal body here. But the Lord said that, just as in the modern day we preserve great souls' bodies, He wanted to show Nityasooris in Vaikuntam, the wonderful body of Alwar and preserve it there! But Alwar refused saying that everyone wanted to discard the earthly body as that was the cause of so many miseries. Finally, the Lord conceded and took his soul alone along with Him. This shows the great love the Lord had for the body of Alwar. This happened because of this place driving everyone crazy. We will now see the 11th sloka:

kayena manasa buddhya
kevalair indriyair api
yoginah karma kurvanti
sangam tyaktvatma-shuddhaye

"The yogis, abandoning attachment, act with body, mind, intelligence and even with the senses, only for the purpose of purification."

Here Sri Krishna is setting up the the Customs of eldrs [aacharam] as an example we have to emulate. Earlier He told that just as water does not stick to a lotus leaf, papa of any Karma will not stick to that person who does Karma with the concept that the organs are doing their assigned duties, that karma is not done by atman[ me] and that not desiring for lower rewards. Now He cites that ancestors lived like that only. Kayena = by body, manasa = by mind, buddhya = by resolve, kevalair indriyair api= and even by the organs without 'I-am-doing' feeling, yogina = he who has practiced Karma yoga, karma kurvanti = is doing his activities, sangam tyaktva = relinquishing rewards, atma shuddhaye = but only for the purification of his mind. In every action we have to have the unity of mind, body and word or speech. That is one should speak what the mind thinks and act according to speech. Such persons are all called Mahatma. Karma yogi will act like this and will always be constantly thinking of atman. They do not desire any rewards because they want their mind to be removed of all pollutants and become pure.