2.
chIdakkaDaluLamudhanna thEvagi - Devaki who is like the inner nectar
of the seas
This
is from Periyazhwar Thirumozhi 1-2-1. Devaki, who had let her son to
grow under Yasodha, is called the inner nectar of the seas. In the
same hymnal decade, she is also called "thiruvin vaDivokkum
thEvagi peRRa", where she is compared to Goddess Mahalakshmi,
the dear consort of the Lord, Herself!
The
same meaning is intended in calling her "the inner nectar of the
seas". It is well known of how the Lord churned the seas for the
sake of the Devas and gave them nectar. Really, not one, but two
nectars arose from the sea at the time of churning. One, the Lord
gave to the Devas; the other, He took for Himself. Bewildered? Look
at what Thirumangai Mannan says, "viNNavaramuduNa amudhil varum
peNNamudhuNDa emberumAnE!" - dismissing the Devas with the
superficial nectar, Thou took the nectar-like lady for Thyself! No
doubt, this nectar-like lady is Goddess Mahalakshmi who rose from the
seas at the time of churning and made Him worthy of the name
"Madhava". "Inner nectar" means "real
nectar"; the other nectar is superficial. Hence, the comparison
of Devaki to the "inner nectar" of the seas is a comparison
to Mother Mahalakshmi.
In
Nacchiyar Thirumozhi, "mandharam nATTiyanRu madhurakkozhunjARu
koNDa cundaratthOLuDaiyAn", Swami Koorathazhwan interprets
"madhurakkozhunjARu" as Mahalakshmi. He, himself, says in
Sundarabahu Sthavam, "udadhiga mandarAdri mathimanthana
labdhapayO madhurarasEndrAhvasudha sundaradO: parigham".
In
short, Devaki is celebrated by comparison with Mahalakshmi. As they
look in awe at the fortune of that Goddess who is consort to the Lord
Himself, they wonder at this lady Devaki as well, whose fortune was
to be the mother of the Birthless One!
Is it also not true that these
two divine women are together in being our greatest benefactors as well?