Thus Spake the Divine - Annapoorani

Thus Spake the Divine

Annapoorani

Acharya’s agony for starving stomachs is quite visibly depicted in this chapter. Poojyasri Maha Periyava says we should fall at the Feet of Annapoorani to mitigate our hunger. He highlights the Annapoornashtakam composed by our Acharya rhrough which He pleads for eradicating starvation and hunger of mankind.

Hunger and starvation are on the increase not only in India, but the world over. We can invent many machines; we can have any number of factories. But agricultural production is not in our control. Unless vegetation reaches prosperous proportions and there is self-sufficiency in agricultural production, whatever discoveries or inventions made will be useless. Scarcity of food and starvation will continue to daunt the whole world.

An engineer can construct a dam, but he cannot make rain fall. The only recourse available to us is to pray sincerely to Annapoorani (Goddess of Nourishment), who can absolve us of our sins and ensure sufficiency in agricultural production. We thus need alms from Her to eradicate scarcity and starvation.

Our Acharya, Shankara Bhagavadpada, when in Kashi (Varanasi), composed a Shloka on Annapoorani. In that composition, at the end of every the Shloka, He sincerely prays with a melting heart as follows:

“bhiksham dehi krupavalambanakaree;

maata annapoorneshwari.”

This means Annapoorani stands like a staff around which find support the young creepers to hold and grow. He begs for alms from Her.

When he asks for alms, it is not for him. People will give him alms with great reverence. Moreover, Acharya never had any affinity for his body or filling his stomach. He was much beyond “I” and “Me”. There is a story to highlight his dispassionate trait, which goes as given:

A Kapalika, an observer of Tantra, performs austerities to receive a boon from Shiva, which would enable him to attain Kailasa with his human form. Lord Shiva declares that the Kapalika’s desire will be fulfilled, provided he performs a sacrifice offering to the fire the head of a king or a sage. When the Kapalika approaches Shankara and narrates the background, the Acharya, full of compassion, tells him: “You will lose your head if you aspire for a king’s head. Therefore, take this Sanyasi’s head”, he says showing his head.

My point here is not to narrate the whole story, but highlight Acharya’s absolute detachment from his body. If a person of such a calibre pleads for alms, what does it mean? You will know the implication of this once you read the last Shloka, where he says, “Parvati is my mother! Parameshvara is my father! All Shiva Devotees are my relatives! All three worlds are my home. Therefore, please give me alms”. This evidently shows that he pleads for alms to feed the entire Universe.

The Acharya alters his prayers to suit common people like us. He beseeches for wisdom and determination for getting alms on behalf of us. As a result, Annapoorani, who is holding a vessel containing rice and milk with a ladle in hand, showers Her grace on all of us, so that we can attain wisdom.

Annapoorani encompasses Kanchi Kamakshi. She nurtures 32 Dharmas with just two Naazhis of paddy offered to her. (Naazhi is the smallest measuring vessel associated with rice-paddy in Kerala. 1 Naazhi is around 200g). There is a shrine for Annapoorani in Kamakottam. Sundaramurti Swami, in a lighter vein, asks Shiva in his beggar form (Bikshandi), “Why do you choose to beg when Annapoorani Herself is in Kamakottam?” Let us to pray to Annapoorani, who nurtures both body and soul, to eradicate hunger and starvation from the whole of this Universe!

Kamakshi, in the form of Annapoorani, showers Her grace on even people suffering from starvation as a result of their sins. Even a sinner should not suffer from hunger, She feels. There is a place in Kerala called Cherukkunnam, where there is an Annapoorani temple. All devotees there are provided food there. Not only that. A bundle of rice is also left hanging to a tree for hungry thieves who pass by!

Despite such a compassionate Mother, there still exists starvation and hunger in this Universe. From this, we can assess the magnitude of our collective sins. In Charaka Samhita, Athreya says, “If Heads of a country, city or village violate the norms of Dharma, people also tend to follow their route”. When Adharma becomes the norm of the day, even Devas (God-appointed authorities for managing Nature) abandon people. As a result, seasons fail or act erratic; rains are either too heavy or too light; epidemics spread; vegetations and plantations are rendered dry; there is absolute scarcity of food; whatever available food is of poor quality. As a result, the entire Universe suffers.

In order to escape from such vicious cycle of starvation and resulting implications, we must realise our own blunders and reform ourselves. Then, Annapoorani Herself will grant food for our stomach and wisdom for our soul. Her Body is the epitome of wisdom. Acharya says She is in the form of all alphabets from ‘a’ to ‘ksha’ (In Sanskrit, equivalent to ‘a to z’ in English). Since She is the Mother of all alphabets, She will also provide us wisdom that nurtures our soul, apart from the food that nourishes our body.

What sort of wisdom does Annapoorani bestow on all of us? In the last Shloka, Acharya, highlighting the same, says: “Annapoorani turns Mother and Parameshvara becomes the Father of Universe. As a result, all living beings become brothers and sisters. All the three worlds are one’s home.” This is something much above what we call today as “National Unity or International Unity”. This is the unity of all the three worlds! Once the mind is filled with devotion for Ambal and there is a sense of fear that Ambal is watching all our actions, then, we will automatically imbibe the feeling of brotherhood. There will be no need for any propaganda, discourse or moves to inculcate the feeling of brotherhood.

From time immemorial, there has been such a sense of unity in our country. People from South went to Kashi (North) in search of God. Similarly, people from North came down South to Rameshwaram for the same purpose. Without any lectures on national integration, without speeches of “Brothers and Sisters”, we were all united as children of one Mother. Over and above, Sanskrit, as the common language, integrated all the four corners of our country. But, now, it is the era of ‘secularism’. Under the pretext of secularism, religions have lost significance. Enough efforts have been put in to completely eradicate Sanskrit. I don’t point to our people alone; even Hindi speaking people have their share in this mission. There are people who even want to delink English, which came up as an interim link between people.

Even language issue is secondary. Once we foster Bhakti, there will be no place for clashes with regard to “My State”, “My caste”, “My Language” etc. Disintegration amongst us has come only after too much of talk on integration and unity. Now, neighbouring states are ready to get into conflicts with each other, rather than sharing water or food grains. Lack of Bhakti towards God and fanning of religious and regional emotions are the fundamental reasons for conflicts on the basis of languages and castes. The binding factor of religion and Bhakti, which bound the society together, is no more there.

As such, the panacea for all our problems is only Bhakti. True Bhakti of Ishvara will make Him shower love on all His children. There is no place for anything other than mutual help. Tirumoolar says, “Anbe Shivam”, which means Shivam is love. Thayumanavar adds to that saying Shivam is both love and knowledge. Let us pray to Annapoorani for that love and knowledge. The same is the prayer of Adi Shankara too.

“anna poorne sadha poorne

shankara prana vallabhe

jnyana vairagya sidhyartham

biksham dehi cha parvati.

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.