Goaded by concerted Hindu protests, Tamilnadu police arrested one Surendran Natarajan of the anti-Hindu Karuppar Koottam on July 16. What follow are the description of the offence committed by the person, his background, and suggestions for preventing a repeat of such heinous offence.
A youngster associated with Karuppar Koottam (a fringe group) posted a video in YouTube channel denigrating a Tamil Scriptual Text called Kanda Sashti Kavacham written Balan Deva Raya Swamikal. Tat was a week back. The video runs for about 15 minutes. The video is episode no. 12 of a series titled Aabaasa Puraanam (Obscene Puraana). As at the time of writing this article, 14 episodes have been released on this subject by Karuppar Koottam (referred as KK hereinafter).
Kanda Sashti Kavacham, is a shloka of around 120 lines praying Lord Skanda (Karthikeya) or Muruga, as widely called in Tamil Nadu. Kavacham (Kavach) means Shield or a protection gear.
As in any kavacha, the hymn prays for relief from various ailments afflicting various parts of the body – be it from the black magic attempts of foes, poverty and any misfortune. While seeking protection from various ailments, it mentions individual organs and different Vels (spears) of Skanda such as Veera Vel, Vetri Vel, Kanaga Vel, Rathna Vel, Punita Vel so on and so forth to take care of each of the parts. The shloka is common for male and female devotees. Hence, the organs mentioned includes private parts of a human body – be it of a male or a female.
In the episode 12 which is under fire now, KK presenter specifically picks up these many lines and ridicules the Hindu devotees in a filthy language. It is a downright oral diarrhoea. Though we consider it is beneath our dignity to reproduce the entire nonsense, for registering our complaint in a comprehensible manner to a general reader, we are forced to mention just two of the atrocious comments of KK:
1) in lines 75 and 76
maarbai irathna vadivel kaaka
serila mulaimaar thiruvel kaaka
Swamiji prays ‘ may my chest be protected by your spear beautifully made of Rathna and as a female ‘ may my breasts be protected by your spear symbolising health and prosperity’.
Here, the KK vilifier asks whether Lord will provide brassieres made of iron to protect a lady’s breast.2) In lines from 84 to 86
aan penn kurihalai ayilvel kaaka
pittam irandum peruvel kaaka
vattak kuthathai valvel kaaka
Devaraya Swamigal chants and seeks protection of genitals and anus. Here in again, the KK guy passes disparaging comments and poses cheeky question as to ‘ is your Lord your personal security guard (Gurkha) and is it not silly to ask Him to protect your anus?’
Devaraya Swamigal is believed to have been born between 1820 and 1830 in an affluent family. His father Shree Veeraswami Pillai served as Dubash of Mysore under the British rule, owning properties in Bangalore. Devaraya Swamigal’s ardent inclination towards the Tamil language resulted in his learning the language under Shree Thirisirapuram Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, a pundit from Tiruchy. Soon he started writing poems, with his teacher editing and correcting them. Devaraya Swamigal is said to have submitted his work to Lord Skanda at Tiruchendur temple. At this temple, Skanda is also referred to as Senthil Velan or Jeyavanthi Nathan (in colloquial Javanthi Nathan). (ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devaraya_Swamigal )and (Devaraya Swamigal’s contribution to ‘Murukanism’ by Dr. Sivagami Paramasivam, M.A., M.Ed., M.Phil., Ph.D., PGDTM http://murugan.org/research/sivagami.htm)
Skanda Sashti Kavacham is held in high esteem by all sections of Tamil population across the State without any caste, creed, age bias. Devotees recite Kavacham every day. On specific auspicious days such Sashti (6th day after New Moon or Full Moon) or Krithika Nakshatra or Maha Sashti (6th day after Deepavali), Kavacham is chanted for 36 times with shradhdha and bhakti. Working women in Chennai as a group sing even while travelling to office by a local train or in a private van. That being the fervour in a metropolitan city, you can very well understand the devotion of our mothers and sisters of smaller towns and rural area.
Lord Skanda of Tiruchendur was earlier worshipped by Adhi Shankaracharya ,who made a pilgrimage to this temple as he was suffering from stomach disorders, is said to have been caused by certain black magic acts unleashed by groups envious of Shankara’s victory after victory. Shankara wrote and recited Subramanya Bujangam and got rid of his ailments.
That is why reciting shlokams such as Kavacham or Bujangam is believed to grant a person good health by prevention or cure of chronic ailments. That is why there is a popular saying in Tamil which reads as ‘ chukkuvirkku minjiya marundhum illai Subbuvirkku minjiya deivamum illai’ which means ‘ There is no better medicine than dry ginger and there is no higher power than Subramanya’. During these Corona pandemic days, leave alone Bhakthi Channels, even commercial television channels have allotted half an hour slots twice a day – morning and evening – playing out Kavacham. A common man bombarded by constant negative news bulletins of media, firmly believes that Lord is the only refuge for him (her) to gain confidence and sanity of mind which are essential to strengthen one’s immunity.
Lines of Kavacham (ridiculed by KK and its ilk) are quite normal in many Hindu scriputres of several languages including Samskrit. For a Hindu, every part of his / her body is a holy one as Lord resides as antaryami. Hence, he / she has to take good care of body as it is a precious instrument handed over to fulfil duties for loka seva or service to the community. A devotee feels that ‘as a tenant I have to take good care of the body, use every part with a great sense of responsibility and not to abuse; and if something beyond my capacity strikes my body or any part, I have to immediately approach the owner (God) of the body and report the problem’. This precisely is the reason why shlokas such as Kavacham lists out parts of the body, head to toe or vice versa and seeks total protection or specific relief.
If we actually objectively view, this practice is quite akin to visiting a physician when we are afflicted by a fever or illness. The very first question a doctor poses is ‘what is troubling you’ and you start explaining your body status, symptoms and pains. Other tests follow later only, aren’t they? Similarly, in every system including Allopathy, the patient’s mental strength plays a more significant role than the medicine in the recovery process. The role of mind is more vividly explained in hypno therapies such as Reiki or Pranic healing. For example, Reiki teaches to meditate upon every part of the body for some duration to protect from or get rid of ailments.
Groups like KK try to hit at this faith of the devotees and cause confusion among them. These groups claim that they are fighting against the superstitious practices. However, they restrict their ‘noble services’ only to Hinduism. They do not dare to whisper even let alone thunder against Christians. For example. Pentacost Christians dictates to their followers not to take of medicines even in acute ill health and instead seek relief only by prayer. It further goes to the extent of saying that suffering is a way of redemption of sins! These groups like KK do not pause a minute to question such beliefs.
Only an uninitiated commoner will wonder as to why KK and its ilk do not question Christians or Muslims. There is every reason to believe that these spokespersons of such groups are essentially cryptos – Christians or Muslims. And they are actually funded by Christians or Muslims or Atheists- Dravidar Kazhakam and its splinter groups.
If we have to trace back the origin, it leads us to the arrival of Irish Bishop Caldwell in the eastern coast of Tamil Nadu way back in late 19th century. He was the first one to find ways and means to divide Hindu society to accelerate the increase of his flock by religious conversion. Later Dravidar Kazhakam and its founder EVR adopted these practices to divide the Hindu society on caste lines.
The leading opposition party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam relishes such Hindu bashing as the party believes that anti Hindu utterances will bring them rich political dividends. During Parliamentary elections of 2019, the KK presenter in current debate was sighted standing next to Dayanidhi Maran in the van canvassing votes from the people of the Central Chennai constituency where Maran was the candidate.
However, one positive development this time of slandering by Karuppar Koottam is the Tsunami of protest lodged by the Hindu Community. Swamijis of various denominations, Hari Katha exponents, media personalities and commoners registered their protests in social media. Even members of film industry condemned the Karuppar Koottam’s vicious propaganda. Hindu Munnani has lodged complaint with each of the District Collectors of Tamil Nadu seeking action including ban on groups such as Karuppar Koottam.
On the face of the huge uproar, KK removed the disparaging episode in question from YouTube and came out with a clarification n their Facebook page stating that they respected the feelings of fellow Tamilians and hence they had deleted the said episode. However, in their subsequent episodes 13 and 14, as usual, they pour venom on Sanatana Dharma. This writer listened to the episode 14 hearing once again nasty comments on Vivaha Mantras (mantras related to Hindu weddings) and Archana procedures or mantras in temples. They very clearly instigate a Dalit against priests of temples. It is very clear that groups of KK will continue to serve the interests of their masters – Christian – Muslim – Atheist axis in collaboration with Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam.
Therefore, we need to be vigilant and report to the State and Central Governments and initiate appropriate action whenever any individual or group tries to hurt the religious beliefs of a law abiding Hindu. It is high time a proper monitoring mechanism is established and working effectively to identify any audio or video uploaded in channels such as YouTube or in Social Media. Any obscene or inflammatory material has to be subjected to scrutiny by a statutory authority. In the meanwhile every service provider has to adopt a self regulating mechanism to stop such hateful audios and videos in the first place. If a post escapes the first round of scrutiny, the service providers should quickly act upon the protests of the aggrieved party(ies).
The danger of the forces inimical to communal harmony continuing with their nefarious activities unhindered will persist until they are served with exemplary punishment.
