Living for 100 Years

A Hundred is a magic figure. The fascination with the hundred begins with us as a child, when we are urged by our parents to get a "centum" in exams to denote that everything is well, people say that they are "one hundred percent okay". In Cricket, it is every batsman's dream to get a hundred, on debut and in every innings thereafter. Similarly, bowlers are also after the hundredth wicket, which is a landmark in their career.

There are batsmen who have the distinction of a hundred centuries to their credit. Historians measure time and happenings in terms of centuries, viz., a hundred years. When we are busy, we lament that we have a "hundred things to do". It is customary to perform archana to the Lord by reciting His hundred (and eight) tirunAmas-an ashtotthra Satha nAmAvali. Currency is usually measured in units of hundred- hundred paise make a Rupee, hundred
Cents a dollar and so on.

It is every man's ambition to live to be a hundred. The Shruti too considers a benediction to live a hundred years to be the ultimate in AsIrvAthams. Whenever we prostrate before elders, they invariably utter a blessing that we may live a hundred years- "SatamAnam bhavati.pratitishttati". The bride, during the lAja hOmam ("poriyidal"), prays to the Lord to bless her groom with a hundred long years of life-"deerghAyu: astu mE pati: jeevAtu sharada: shatam." We pray to the Lord to afford us a hundred years of familial happiness-"shatam jeevEma sharada: sa veerA:"

Not content with an occasional prayer for hitting a century in life, we pursue the matter with the Lord painstakingly on a daily basis, during the Madhyahnika SandhyOpAsanam, with the mantra beginning with "pasyEma sharada: shatam."
And what sort of a life do we pray for, during these hundred years? Let's find out from the aforesaid the upastthAna mantra-


"PasyEma sharada: shatam"-

Our first prayer is that we should see for a hundred years. See what? Not
the mundane sights which only add to our desires and lead us on the path to
nowhere, but the sort of sights that Sri Nammazhwar says he saw-"KandOm
kandOm kaNNukkiniyana kandOm". We should spend these hundred years making
the Lord, (residing in the middle of the Solar orb and in His numerous other
abodes) the object of our sight.
Sri Kulasekharazhwar says "Krishnam lOkaya lOchana dvaya!?
Emperuman's devotees, the things which are of utility in His kainkaryam,
like fragrant flowers and TirutthuzhAi, our Acharyas who lead us to
Paradise-all such auspicious sights should greet us, says the ShAnti pAta-
"Bhadram pasyEma ashabhir yajatrA:? Impliedly, we pray our eyes should be
spared all painful or inauspicious spectacles.

2. "JeevEma sharada: shatam"-


We pray that we may live to be a hundred. Such a life should be one filled with utility to others and to the Lord. There is absolutely no point in
living a hundred non-descript or inglorious years, with nothing to show for
all that time. We must be remembered, for all the right sort of things. When
we leave these mortal coils, our contemporaries should wish we were with
them for longer or that we should live on forever. Even today, we fervently
wish that Swami Desikan were with us and voice our desire daily that he
should live on for centuries-"VEdAnta DEsikanE innum oru noottrAndu irum".
Our lives should be Such as those of a Bhashyakara, an Alavandar, a Swami
Desikan-all of whom lived beyond a hundred years and left the earth a much
better place than it was.

3. "nandAma sharada: shatam"-

There is no use of living long, if our days are to be filled with loneliness
and desolation-such a life is hardly worthwhile living. Hence the prayer to
bless us with happiness in good company, the enlightening company of
bhAgavatAs, with whom we can exchange experiences and tales of the Lord and
His innumerable auspicious attributes. Let us rejoice for a hundred years in
Satsangham says this mantra.

4. "ModAma sharada: shatam"-


Bless us with a hundred years of unalloyed happiness, we pray to the Lord.
If our lives are one of grief and unhappiness, who would want to live a
hundred years? We pray therefore for a life filled with fun, frolic and
happiness. The happiness sought here is not of the type arising from
ephemeral enjoyment or sensual pleasures, but one afforded by selfless
service to the Lord and His devotees, which provide as much pleasure as that
experienced by the permanent residents of Paradise.
5. "bhavAma sharada: shatam"-

Let our long lives be brightened by fame. Let us not be "also ran"s, and
make a mark for ourselves in this world, marks that would live on long after
we leave.

6. "ShrunavAma sharada: shatam"-

Let everything that is good fall on our ears-"Bhadram karNEbhi: shrunuyAma
dEva:" says the Shanti Pata, invoking the Lord's blessings for a lifetime of
listening to Veda parayanam, Prabanda anusandhanam, grantha kAlakshEpam,
bhagavan nAmAs, tales of the glorious Lord and his celebrated devotees, etc.
A hundred years of only glad tidings, only the most auspicious of sounds, is
what we pray for. A similar prayer is voiced in the Upanishad-"KarNAbhyAm
bhoori vishruvam".

7. "PrabravAma sharada: shatam"-


Only the most propitious of words should pass our lips during these hundred
years. And what could such words be, other than the Lord's haloed names? Let
our lips always be vibrant with Bhagavan nAma, prays this mantra. Stotras
extolling the Lord's glory should be the daily diet for our tongue.
Conversely, the praise of mere mortals or that of demi gods should not be
uttered in all these hundred years that are sought, as Sri Nammazhwar
declares-" mAnidam pAda vanda kaviyEn allEn".
Even when interacting with our co-passengers in this life's waiting room,
our tongue should be as if dipped in honey-"jihvA mE madhumatthamA" says the
Upanishad. Our lips should be busy learning and reciting the Vedas, Divya
Prabandas, Stotra patas and Stotra patas and the like.

May we live a life of constant victory and never taste defeat in these
hundred years, we pray. What sort of triumph is sought here? Is it over our
rivals in the economic, social or academic spheres? Not at all, for the
victory we seek is over our own senses, which are the worst foes a man could
encounter. What is worse is that these enemies form a part of our own
system, which makes them that much more difficult to conquer. Everybody
knows how treacherous it is to deal with internal foes, which remain dormant
till the crucial moment and emerge suddenly to fell us with a single blow.
As victory over our faulty faculties (indriyAs) is essential if we are to
make anything of our lives, a life of sustained success over these internal
enemies is prayed for.
We see thus that the Shruti envisages a full life of a hundred years for all
human beings and elders bestow a benediction upon the younger ones that the
latter may live with distinction and devotion for a century, as ordained by
the "Veda nool".

We come across a rare instance of a devotee blessing the Lord with an
interminably long life. In this reverse flow of good wishes, Sri Periazhwar,
enthralled at the sight of Emperuman on His Garuda vAhanam and apprehensive
that the evil eye might befall Him and prove injurious, prays that the Lord
be granted a long life. The Azhwar's concern for the Lord's continued
welfare comes through in his seeking a life of not merely a hundred, but
several billion years, for the Lord. Azhwar begins reasonably, with a prayer
for a several thousand years of life ("pallANdu, pallAndu,
pallAyiratthANdu") for the Lord, but then his overwhelming maternal love for
Emperuman makes him extend the benediction to cover not merely several
thousand, but several billions of years ("pala kOti noorAyiram"). It is not
that Azhwar is unaware that the Lord is without a beginning and an end, and
is not bound by limitations to life, like the rest of the creation-it is his
tremendous love for the Lord and an over-powering feeling of protectiveness
that make him pray for a long life for Him. And he doesn't mean just
billions of years, when he says "pala kOti noorAyiram"-what he means is that
the Lord should live on and on, infinitely. He mentions these numbers simply
because these are the largest his imagination could grapple with, and not
because he wants Emperuman's life to be limited to several billion years.
If the Lord alone lives on and the rest of His companions don't, won't He
feel bored and lonely? Azhwar hastens to extend the mangalasasanam to cover
not only the Lord, but Piratti too-"vadivAi nin vala mArbinil vAzhgindra
mangayum pallAndu"-and to Sri SudarsanAzhwar and Sri Panchajanya Azhwan, who
are the Lord's constant companions and protectors too- "sudar
Azhiyum...Panchajanyamum pallANdE"

While seeking an interminably long life for the Lord, Azhwar seeks such a
boon for himself and ourselves too-"adiyOmOdum ninnOdum pirivindri Ayiram
pallANdu". There are people, who, in the guise of seeking favors for others,
incidentally favor themselves too, though indirectly. Azhwar's love for the
Lord is such that he wants to be with Him always, without a moment's
separation ("pirivindri"). And this would be possible only if Azhwar too
were to be endowed with an equally long life. We should note clearly that
Azhwar prays for such a life only to ensure uninterrupted and constant
kainkaryam and not out of a mundane desire to live on and on. And kainkaryam
is always more enjoyable if performed in the company of like-minded
BhAgavatAs- "koodi irundu kulirndu", as the Azhwar's beloved daughter too
confirms. Hence Azhwar includes us too in his prayer for a life of several
thousand (interminable) years.

Article by: Sri U.Ve. Anbil Ramaswamy Iyengar