Srimathe Ranga Ramanuja Mahadesikaya Namaha:
WHY SRIVILLIPUTTUR IS KNOWN AS ‘’CHEVVAI’ (MARS) PARIHARA STHALAM ?
( by
Dasan Kudanthai Amudhan) PART - 8
CHEVVAI AND ANNAM BIRD ( SWAN ) – CONNOTATION WITH
VEERABHADRAN :
Chevvai
was not born out of biological mother
but by fire (agni) as a red child.Since he learned vedas and sastras from sage
bharathwaj muni and later got elevated to the post of graha by brahma, he is always conscious of himself of this fact in
spite of being a ferocious war god.According to macha purana, when Shiv dev got terrible angry to destroy
the yogna of daksha,he opened his third eye and emitted fire balls in which chevvai
assumed to take the form of a terrible figure by name “veerabhadra”.This
stands for meaning of veera for ferocious and bhadra for auspicious.
Veerabhadra beheaded daksha and killed many sages in the yagna causing great
destruction and havoc to the yagasala. Devas were terrified by the violence in
killing of sages and Brahmins by veerabhadra who immediately realized and
became conscious of their fear, transformed himself to his original form of chevvai riding on the
satvik bird ‘annam” (swan). Swan (annam) is the embodiment of perfect union
between garuda and serpent,inspite both being the bitter enemies. This union
stands for the highest wisdom concerning the union of opposites. Swans long
graceful serpentine neck is a kinship to the snake. Viruchika rasi owned
by chevvai is represented by Scorpion
the sign of Serpent and its enemy eagle garudan. Chevvai manifested in the form
of fire to emanate the rupa as veerabhadran.Hence chevvai is called as “agni
bhau” as well as “veera bhau” as the god of war.Murugan, an amsam of chevvai is portrayed to be seen riding in the vahana
of peacock along with a Snake around its leg.Peacock is the slayer of serpent
and the shimmering colors of its feather
tail is explained by its supposed ability to transform the snake venom in to
solar iridescence.Peacock blue color neck is believed to be the reason of its
having consumed poisonous venom of snakes. Yet they are seen together as a
symbol of such union of opposites similar to garuda and adiseshan .
Old
traditional jyotish books mention that chevvai
rides on annam bird (swan)
towards south as per macha purana
related to the legend of
veerabhadra, also as an amsam of
chevvai manifesting in the form of fire balls from shiva’s third eye to emanate.True
to this nature as said above,
Srivilliputtur was described by andal and parasarabhatter, a place for
existence of mythological bird annam (swan) in large numbers once upon a
time.Sri andal taniyan composed by Sri parasara bhattar start with ´அன்னவயல் புதுவையாண்டாள்” meaning that
srivilliputtur kshetram was full of swan birds (annam). Sri andal
mentioned this in her nachiyar thirumozhi 5-5th
pasurams -மென்னடையன்னம் பரந்து விளையாடும் வில்லிபுத்தூருறைவான் implies that beautifully walking annam birds
used to fly and played in srivilliputtur.Periazhwar mentioned in his thirumozhi
2-6 as மின்னையை
நுண்ணிடையார், விரிகுழல் மேல் நுழைந்தவண்டு, இன்னிசைக்கும் வில்லிபுத்தூர்
இனிதமர்ந்தாய்.”
Swan(annam)bird
has the ability to separate milk and water by drinking milk alone. Srivillputtur,
is famous for manufacturing of “milk
gova”(pal gova) where milk is separated by boiling the water.Chevvai denotes
spirituality, wisdom,red color while annam represents perfect union of balance
and highest order of spirituality. Hence sages and achariyars of holy status
are called as ‘paramahamsa’ as hamsam is said to be possessing the knowledge of
brahmam according to many upanisheds.In Sri Vatapathra sayee sannidhi one can see on the wall the images
of stone sculptures of annam birds and Banyan tree.There are two stone pillar sculptures of annam birds (swans) one of them as vahana for
Sakthi devi, wife of chevvai, the images of which are carved beautifully in
dwajasthamba mantapam of Sri andal temple.There are also many
massive monolith stone pillars with exquisite images in Srivilliputtur andal temple where one can see the sculptures of“Nruddhamuka Veerabhadran” on southern side and ‘Oordhavamuka
Veerabhadran’ images on the northern side of mantapam. Sri andal takes
procession around mada streets in anna pakshi vahana( swan) along with lord
rangamannar in garuda servai on the day
of aadi amavasya.This stands as testimony to this kshetram’s connection with
chevvai and annam bird being its vahana
as presumed from above.
MARS, THE ROMANIAN
GOD- Mars is the roman god of war and agriculture. He was later
identified with the greek god Ares similar to chevvai being identified with
murugan. According to different versions, Roman goddess Juno was jealous because
Jupiter’s daughter Minerva was born
without the help of a women. Hence juno wanted to have a child for her without
the help of a male. Flora, the goddess of vegetation gave her a magical flower
and by simply touching it, juno got pregnant and gave birth to Mars. The month
of march is named after Mars when he is celebrated with many festivals besides
in October. Mars holds in his hands a
long sphere and a shield and poised to be ready for war anytime (similar to velavan-murugan). Mars was a
fertility god and protector of cattle. Several festivals are attributed to
mars with elaborate fertility rituals (
similar to our aadi month) designed to bring prosperity in the harvest of
agriculture. A festival is held in his honor of farmers and soldiers by fasting
during Oct month when Romanians would lay aside their weapons after purifying (
similar to our Ayudhapuja ) in storage
places.During the festivals, mars is honored and glorified with sacrifices of
bulls and goats.The word Mars is the
prefix word for many words in English, the meanings of which are
governed by mars. Example – marriage, march of (soldiers) ,marital status,
martial law, marrow-in bone, martyr, marshal- field/court marshal all of which
are related to the karagathvam of chevvai.
Other names and characteristics of
chevvai - Chevvai
has many names like shakidhar-holding
shakti as weapon, Dharasuta-son of earth, Runaharta-destroyer of
debts,Vidyut prabho -generator of electricity,Vranakar-creater of wound marks,
Samaganapriya-lover of sama gana,Raktavastra–wearer of red cloth Grahanayak-
leader of all planets,Sarvakarmavarodhak-creater of anything.He has also names like Mahisuta, ara, avaneya, bheem, ugra, ranjan, rechanak,
agni -gandha,agnivardha,hemavati,Rechi, raktang, karkasha, lohitanga,
Yaganika,vakra, randhir,kurunetra,Rogakrut,ect.. Since chevvai is the god of
war, he is for self sacrifice by himself as a soilder. Hence he changed his
originality from chevvai to murugan as war god and later also assumed the form
of veerabhadra as a warrior to fight the enemies of shiva dev. As chevvai came
out from fire, he enlightens spirituality without any conscience regardless of
its consequences. Being the lord of weapon, he is compared to knife which can
be used for surgery, kitchen chores and for self protection. At the same time same
knife can be used to kill a person or cause injuries to others.As a god of war,he
causes widowhood to women in the war.Mars is the one who causes sudden rain
fall during summer time with thunders and lightening. He represent tribal’s,
wild life and nature lovers, environmental protectors, teachers of occult
science and study of mysterious happenings, siddhars and siddha medicines,martial
arts like varma kalai,spreader of yellow fevers,jaundice/small pox, typhoid
fever ect. Debts are created by chevvai who is the karaghan for 6th
house from lagna denoting ill health/enemies.
Chevvai and Sri
bhumi devi- Mars similar to earth spins in its
own axis at about the same speed of earth does.It takes 24 hours and 37
minutes to rotate one time. Mars
resembles closer to the earth by having seasons and polar caps.Since chevvai is
the deity of his own right distinguished from other grahas, he is the one who
constantly vitalizes the mother earth by
charging it from time to time as he is associated with pancha bhuthas
like earth,water,agni,vaayu and aakasam and five gunas of earth like form
(roopa) taste (rasa),fragrance(gandham),tactile features (sparsha) and
sound-dhvani. Both Sri bhumi devi and Six devis ,wives of saptha (7)-
rishes who were involved in the creation
of chevvai suffered on account of
manglik dosha as per the details given below -
1) Sri bhumi devi, personified as
mother of earth was the consort of Sri Varaha perumal who restored the earth in
to space from the pattalaloka,the cosmic ocean .She took avatar as “ Sita” meaning as “the line made by plow” in Sr Rama avatar.
She took the amsam of “Sathya bahma”in
Sri Krishna avatar and later she took avatar in srivilliputtur as “andal” in kali yuga.All of them in their
reincarnations had to suffer manglik dosha since sri bhumi devi was
instrumental for the origin of chevvai by getting the red coral from sri varaha
avatar after he killed the demon Hiranyakshan.
a) Sita, the divine amsam of Sri bhumi devi had to be separated from sri
rama for 14 years and later she joined with him after undergoing purification
ceremony by fire (agni) for showing her purity. Just
before the birth of chevvai, Sri bhumi devi
was abducted by the demon and taken to pattalaloka-cosmic ocean to be
retrieved later by lord vishnu by taking the form of Varaha.
b) The six devis the wives of
Saptharishes,who picked up the red coral dropped by Sri bhumi devi and
performed “agnisuthi” in the fire from which chevvai as a child came out, had to be separated from their husbands
because they banished their wives due to their suspicion about their wives
fidelity by connecting them in affairs
with agni dev.So all six devis suffered except arunthati,the devout wife of
vaishista rishi who did not join with them.The
banished six stars of Pleiades (
or weeping sisters) are brightly visible to our eyes in the sky while the 7th
star mizar at the tail end is invisible to our eyes as it symbolically
represent arundadhi.
c) Demon Naragasura was the son of Sri
bhumi devi.He got the boon from brahma
that he would meet his doom only at the hands of his mother. Chevvai who took
birth from Sri bhumi devi thus gets connected to naragasura by being his half
brother.So Shiva and Subramaniyan( murugan) came to the rescue of naragasura in the war and sided with him only to face defeat, when
lord Krishna fought with this demon who had to be eventually killed only by
Sathya bhama, an amsam of Sri bhumi devi, the mother of naragasuran.chevvai is
the karaghan for brotherhood which suffered at the hands of his mother sri
bhumi devi .Hence lightening of fire and bursting of crackers on the day of
deepawali appears to be connected with chevvai as he is the karaghan for fire
works and lightening.
d) Sri andal who longed to marry only
lord Krishna, merged with lord Ranganatha in his garbhagraham when she entered
inside.Another version believe that she
disappeared from her closed palanquin when it reached Srirangam.This
happened when she was just 13 years old. Her marriage with lord ranganathar at
srivilliputtur is the anubhavam of achariyars and devotees by visualizing the divine marriage in their imagination to spread bhakti.Similarly
Tulsi devi,an amsam of vrinda devi stepped in to fire when her demonic husband
jalandar had to die once she lost her chastity and purity at the hands of lord
vishnu.Yet lord vishnu humbly accepted the wrath and curse of her with pleasure
by wearing her body as salagram silas and her hair as ‘Tulsi leaves’ as
garlands. Sri andal took avatar below Tulsi plant as bhumi piratti. Thus chevvai will affect everyone in the life
to some extend even if it is well placed in a native horoscope.
Mangalan (chevvai), agni
dev and vedic marriage – Mars is the planet of fire. Agni dev has two heads
symbolically representing heat and light, the dual characteristics of fire.He
has seven red tongues and seven legs. His chariot is pulled by goats (Rams).”.
Fire is red and chevvai is also red.chevvai came out from agni dev.So fire is
connected with all vedic rituals from marriages to funeral. Ancient tamil names
of fire are Eri,Thanal,Kolli,Kanal,Neruppu,Deepam,Vilakku and kadir ect. In
sacred marriages bride groom is asked to lead bride around the fire symbolizing
the union with fire god denoting
fertility charm and energy in the form of heat
and fire in conception besides the chastity of women.Fire represent
purity,divinity and chastity of women.Hence
married women are entitled to light the fire first in all yognas, the
vedic rituals with fire performed by
grahasthas of Brahmins clad.Fire is aggregate of all demigods. Agni, the
mouth of supreme lord vishnu
accepts all sacrificial oblations through fire. Agnis two faces and 7 tongues
are meant to lick up the butter ghee in sacrifices.Agni is fond of cow
ghee.Agni is called as “mangal”.Hence we call fire as “mangala aarthi” and
“mangala jothi”.Chevvai is known as “mangalan” as he came out from fire.As mars
denotes marriages of union by heat of fire rituals, vedic marriages are closely
associated with its related names like mangalyadharanam, Thiru Mangalyam,
Mangalya suthram ect. All auspicious items like mirror (kannadi) are part of
the function and also mangala vadiyams (musical instruments like nathasvaram
ect ) are used on this occasion. Agni is the chief priest of gods and hence
vedic marriage symbolically identity bridegroom as an amsam of lord vishnu at
the time of vedic marriage rituals.Fire is the witness of such sacred union of
bride and bride groom as “ agni satchi”.During the rituals of Paani
graham,bride groom walks with the bride to the right side of sacred fire with newlyweds
taking vows in 7 steps known as Saptha padis as they walk hand in hand together around the holy fire. Arunthati,the
red star or ‘semmeen” is the symbol of chastity and purity which is denoted by
fire.Hence bridegroom is made to show the bride this red star in the sky to
follow her fidelity nature.During
pregnancy function of fire homam,the conceived women is applied with smoke
produced by a mixture of ghee and white mustard to ward off evils.Deads are
cremated by consigning the body to fire,one of the element in which our body
and earth are made up of.Agni appears in our body as warm temperature and also
as fever by forceful heat.In the sky,
agni appears as lightening.Agni stands for the fire of digestion as without
fire of agni there is no absorption of nutrients in our body and no life is possible.Lord Krishna swallowed
the scorching forest fire in vrindavan to save the lifes of gopikas and
cows.Sita devi stepped in to the fire to show her purity and divinity to the
world.Sri kanchi varadaraja perumal came out from agni kunda of yagna homam in
hasthigiri while Sri yagna varaha murthi receives his sacrifices from agni of
yangam(there are three varaha murthis–Aadhi varaha,pralaya varaha and yagna
varaha).Sri andal mentioned the elaborate rituals of vedic marriage in her
Varanamayuram pasurams depicting her imagination and visualization of celestial wedding with lord ranganathar,the
rituals of which one should follow in vedic marriages to appease mangalan the
chevvai, karaghan for union of souls by fire. Her pasurams talk of vedic
rituals like வாரணம்
ஆயிரம் சூழ வலஞ்செய்து, தோரணம் நாட்ட, காளைபுகுத, அந்தரி சூட்ட, காப்பு நாண்கட்ட, அதிரப்புகுத,
கைத்தலம் பற்ற, தீவலஞ்செய்ய, அம்மி மிதிக்க, பொரிமுகந்தட்ட, மஞ்சனமாட்ட, வாயும் நன்மக்களைப்
பெற்று மகிழ்வரே
which invariably
points out the karagathvam of chevvai, the mangalan through agni yogna during
vedic marriage rituals.Thus mangalan has its influence in marriage rituals to matching of horoscopes of life partners.
Sarvam sri krishnarpanam
!!OM NAMO NARAYANAYA!!
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