The Holy Cloud

On the eve of the Thirunakshatram of

prakrutam Srimad Azhagiasingar, adiyen would like to
offer this little piece at His lotus feet.
From time immemorial,the Megham(cloud) has
been an object of irresistible fascination for our
AlwArs,AchAryAs and,mahAkavis like Sri ValmIki and
KalidAsa. When adiyEn was on a flight of fancy,it
struck adiyen as to what a lot of similarities the
cloud had with our AchAryan ,and I ventured to put
this down to paper(or the Word Pad-in modern idiom)
and offer it to the bhAgavatAs.
Sri DEsikan,in Sri GuruparamparA Saram ,says
Meghangal samudra jalatthai vAngi sarvOpajeevyamAna
thanneerAga umizhumAp pOlE. How well this description
suits our Srimad Azhagiasingar for HE ,through
constant toil ,imbibes the scriptures in all their
multitude and gives us the sAram,in a highly palatable
manner. This simile is fitting in more than one way1.The boundless body of shastraic knowledge
(comprised of the shrutis,smritis,ithihAsAs,purAnAs
and dharma shAstrAs) is akin to an ocean.It is
impossible for human beings with limited faculties
like us to master all these, for the time available
is short (alpascha kAla:)and the impediments to
knowledge, many(bahavascha vignA:). Further, often
conflicting and varying concepts may emerge from an
untutored perusal of shAstrAs(shAstra gnAnam bahu
klEsa kAranam).
It is here that Srimad Azhagiasingar comes to the
rescue of mithapragyAs like adiyEn. He absorbs ,like a
cloud from the ocean, all that is of the
essence(sArabhootam) and delivers it to us in an
easily digestible capsule form. One who has heard His
upanyAsams or read His arulmozhis ,would definitely
agree with adiyEn that each of them incorporates the
quintessence of sampradAyic scholarship absorbed by
Him through decades of hard toil and AchArya
susrUshanam, which we are able to obtain second

hand,without undergoing any difficulty whatsoever. So

much so, that the tribute to SwAmi Desikan-Orondru
thAne amayAthO thAraniyil vAzhvArkku vAnErap pOmalavum
vAzhvu-can be equally well applied to our AchAryAs
sree sookthis.
2.Further,as clouds absorb sea water, and deliver
it in the form of rain to the crops and to quench
peoples thirst, Srimad Azhagiasingar has tapped the
ocean of riches in the possession of various dhArmikAs
and carried out several bhagawat,bhAgawata
kainkaryams with the funds so obtained. While rain
water provides bAhya tApa shanthi,a cooling dharshan
of Sri VeerarAghavan or Sri PrahlAda Varadan in their
new thiruvAbharanams ( lovingly submitted by Srimad
Azhagiasingar ) provides tApatraya shAnthi.
3.EmperumAn is described by several poorvAchAryAs
as an ocean of virtues (samastha kalyAna guna
amrutOdadhi:, asankyEya kalyAna guna ganougha
mahArnavam, aparimita guna sAgaram, karunA varunAlayam
etc.).Each of these gunAs is immeasurable, so much so
that the vEdAs themselves, engaged in such an
endeavour, return thoroughly vanquished (yethO vAchO
nivartantE ,aprApya manasA saha---tEyE satam iti
anukramAth,etc.).Our AchAaryan delves deep into the
bhagawat guna sAgaram and encapsulates the kalyAna
gunAs in a manner which is anubhAvyam for us.
Dark,rainbearing clouds are the darling of
peacocks,which dance with their beautiful plumes
spread out wide.Similarly,the very sight of Srimad
Azhagiasingar is enough to provide immeasurable bliss
to anaya bhaktAs and to vidwAns.
.Carrying the analogy further, clouds never stay in
the same place in the sky and are always on the move.
Our AchAryan is also constantly on sanchAram, as
ordained by Sri MalOlA. While clouds are propelled by
winds,our vriddha yati is driven by bhakta vAtsalyam,
and has already traversed BhArata Varsha several

times,AsEthu HimAchalam, in his eternal search of

souls to be saved through pancha samskAram, ,bhara
samarpanam and sadupadEsam.
One feels,as Sri Madhurakavi did,that the mere
mention of Srimad Azhagiasingars thirunAmam and His
guna keerthanam bring eternal bliss to our
tongue(annikkum amudhoorum en nAvukkE). One also
feels like exclaiming, with IlayaperumAl,Gunair
dAsyam upAgatha:. .Hence,tempting as it is to
continue in the same vein,adiyEn would like to end
here with a presumptious prayer to Sri MalOlA to keep
prakrutam Srimad Azhagiasingar hale and hearty in our
midst for a hundred more years atleast(adiyOmOdum
ninnOdum pirivindri Ayiram pallAndu).
Etri manatthu ezhil gnAna vilakkai
irulanaitthum
MAtrinavarkku oru kaimmAru mAyanum
kANagillAn
Potri ugappadum pundiyil kolvathum
pongu pugazh
ChAtri valarppathum chatrallavO munnam
petratharkkE.
(Comment from SrI. Hari Dated: 03.12.2000:
Dear Members,
The article by SrI SatakOpan Iyengar "The Holy Cloud" is very
interesting. I thank him very much for sharing his anubhavam reg.
AachArya-bhakthi.)