BG 14.24

We are in Thirumoozhikalam, in Malayala Desam. The Lord here is Sri Srisookti Nathan. Sage Haritha meditated on the Lord. The Lord appeared and enquired what he needed; the sage asked the means to attain the Lord, by simple ways. The Lord, with love, advised the sage and these words were Divine. Thus, those words became Thiruvaimozhi [not to mistake with Nammalwar's; but since the words were spoken by the Lord Himself, they became Thiruvaimozhi!]. Thus the Lord got the name Sri Srisooktinathan. Thirumangai Alwar and Nammalwar have praised the Lord. Sri Thayar is Sri Maduraveni Nacchiyar or Sri Maduravani Nacchiyar. Veni means braid and vani means voice. Vimanam is Soundarya vimanam.



The corridor and the temple are very beautiful. Temple is built with wood and there are many rows of lamps attached to the wooden walls. Thirumangai Alwar in every pasuram describes Moozhikalatthu vilakku மூழிக்களத்து விளக்கு [Lamp of Thirumoozhikkalam]. The Lord is the Lamp of Thirumoozhikalam. Like a lamp, the Lord is visible and makes the surroundings visible! Thirunedunthandakam is a composition by Thirumangai Alwar. In the ponnanai [பொன்னானாய்] pasuram, he describes the Lord as the Light of Thirumoozhikalam, worshiped by the latecomers [pinnannar vanangm chothi பின்னானார் வணங்கும் சோதி]. Who are these latecomers? When Sri Rama was alive in this world, if we had lived, we could have had the opportunity of worshiping Him. Since we missed that, we are now latecomers. Alwar beckons all these latecomers to Thirumoozhikalam, to worship. We are going to see in each of the following Kshetrams, one quality of the Lord, which He showed to Nammalwar. In this Kshetram the Lord exhibited His quality of Mardavam [मार्दवं]. Mardavam means soft nature. This can be physically soft or mentally soft natured. The Lord has a very soft body; or, He is sorry, when His dear ones go away from Him. Soft nature makes one unable to hear bad news or unable to see others suffering. Swami Azhagiya Manaval Perumal Nayanar says that Sri Srisooktinathan has this quality mardavam, in abundance. He can not bear the separation of His dear ones, like the Alwars! In Thiruvaimozhi 9.7 decade, Alwar sends an emissary! The Lord appeared to Alwar, exhibiting His mardava quality! We also should worship the Lord by coming in great number to this Kshetram and get His blessings. In Malayala Kshetrams, only Sri Moolavar is there and so it is not possible to view any photograph of the Lord. The Lord appears standing with Four arms. He is holding discus and lotus in the right arms and conch and mace in the left arms. In the sloka 22, the Lord is going to tell Arjuna, exact opposite of the quality exhibited in this Kshetram! We can not have the same mind as the Lord, as He is Lord and we are mere servants! When devotees leave Him, He melts down like a wax. But a person who has crossed the Three qualities, never melts down! He is beyond such feelings. He is neither happy when loved ones come to him or hated ones depart, nor sorry when the vice versa happens! His mind is hardened and unmoved by any. This is the identification of a person, who has crossed the Three qualities. Here, the Lord is moved when His devotees go away; but the Lord says that a person having crossed the Three qualities is unmoved! Of course, the Lord is beyond the Three qualities, but He can melt down when devotees depart. We also can, in respect of God. We can feel very much for not having worshiped the Lord here. But we should never exhibit any feelings on worldly matters and for our kith and kin. If we do, then we will be bound in samsaram and we can never get liberated. Sloka 21 was Arjuna's querry, how to identify the person who has crossed the Three qualities and how he did that. The Lord replies in sloka 22:

śrībhagavān uvāca
prakāśaṃ ca pravṛttiṃ ca moham eva ca pāṇḍava
ta dveṣṭi saṃpravṛttāni na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati 14.22

Prakasam = luminous Gyana, this is the symptom of satva guna's prominence, we saw earlier. Pravrtti = efforts, symptom of rajo quality. Moham = delusion, symptom of tamas quality. These Three symptoms will be seen as long as we have the Three qualities, till our atman is in a body. Na dvesti = never dislikes, when these symptoms are exhibited. That is, this person, crossing the three qualities, does not show dislike, when some thing he likes does not happen or when some thing he wants to avoid, happens. These are called anishtam, and as long as we are governed by the Three qualities, such anishtam would happen now and then. But, this person does not show hatred when such anishtam is encountered. Na kankshati = never likes. When desirables happen or undesirables do not happen, they are called ishtam. This person does not show liking for ishtam, either. That is when a desired one is going away, he does not take efforts to get it back. Thus, when anishta is encountered, this person does not show dislike; nor, this person takes efforts or yearns to get the desired ones or ishtam. Thes are the identifications of a person having crossed the Three qualities. He is beyond likes and dislikes. We should remember that such likes and dislikes should not be shown on worldly matters only, and not in atman or Paramatman matters.