by VINAY LAL
Vishnu as Anantha Sayana
Why the recital of the shlokas should give rise to dispute can only be understood if one is aware that the principal idol that is installed in the temple features Vishnu in the Anantha Sayanam pose, one of the nine postures in which the Lord is found in eternal yogic sleep on the serpent Adishesha. As argued by advocate K K Venugopal, who represents the Royal family of Travancore, for whom Sri Padmanabhaswamy is the tutelary deity, Vishnu is in eternal yogic sleep and thus cannot, and must not, be woken up from his deep slumber. Venugopal further submitted that the recitation of the Suprabhatam at Tirumala, where Vishnu is installed in the form of Venkatachalapathy, is appropriate since here the idol is in a standing position. Speaking as amicus curiae, Gopal Subramanium took the opposite stance; according to NDTV news, he “argued that Suprabhatam is being recited in the temple and since stanzas of the shlokas mention Lord Padmanabhaswamy it must continue.”
As the two-judge bench of the Supreme Court (wisely) noted, “How [the] Lord is awakened and by what song is a matter of faith. We would not like to go into this. Let the Chief Tantri (priest) decide.” The secularists will likely find some relief at this pronouncement, even if they are unhappy that the court’s time should have been wasted when there are urgent problems calling for the court’s attention. But what, really, are the pressing issues that call for the court’s attention, and how attentive has the country been in any case to the Supreme Court’s rulings? If one were inclined to take even a remotely sympathetic view of this matter, one might perhaps shrug one’s shoulders and look upon the entire event as furnishing some comic relief from the daily digest of news in India that revolves around instigation to communal violence, politically inspired assassinations, the molestation of women, the denigration of Dalits, the intolerable levels of pollution, and the various shenanigans of those who have style themselves the defenders of Hindus. It’s pleasant, indeed, to be reminded that Vishnu needs no alarm clock to wake up, and that where one is accustomed to hear of babies being serenaded to sleep, that the Lord is partial to opening his eyelids to the accompaniment of music and chants.
Lal Salaam for more