In Srivaishnava sampradaya, one word which can constantly be heard is ‘Adiyen’. The word means, ‘I, the servant’ – दासोऽहम्. It is common practice in Srivaishnava sampradaya to replace words/phrases like ‘Ok’, ‘yes’, ‘Here I am’,etc with the word ‘Adiyen’.
There is an anecdote that Acharyas share, to explain how embedded this word is in the Srivaishnava vocabulary. An old Srivaishnava was called upon by a court as a witness in a case and the Srivaishnava appeared before the judge. The judge asked, ‘What is your name?’. The Srivaishnava replied, ‘Adiyen is so and so’. The judge sternly ordered, ‘No adiyen, podiyen in my court’. The Srivaishnava obediently replied, ‘Adiyen’. 🙂
Why is this word so important? It’s because it indicates the innate quality of servitude towards Bhagavan, which is intimate to every Jeevathma. It is through the realisation of his subservient nature that a Jeevathma can attain Bhagavan.
For Azhwars and Acharyas, the realisation of subservience resulted in the expression of ‘Adiyen’. They always remember their nature and use the word ‘Adiyen’ with the right intent and with the right understanding. But for people like me, who are still to attain the realisation, it has just become a habit to utter the word ‘Adiyen’ without realising it’s true meaning and essence. And of course there exist plenty more who are not aware of the word ‘Adiyen’ nor the concepts behind it.
This is adiyen’s request to the readers who are new to this word – Please add this word ‘Adiyen’ to your dictionary. Replace the words ‘I’, ‘நான்’, ‘నేను’, ‘ನಾನು’ ‘मैं’, ‘अहम्’ with the words ‘Servant’, ‘அடியேன்’, ‘దాసుడు’, ‘दास’, ‘दासः’ and so on, whenever addressing Bhagavan or His devotees.
And to those(including adiyen), who often utter the words ‘Adiyen’, let’s pledge to remember the essence of this word everytime we utter it. It’s tough, really tough..! But let’s give it a try!
We have talked a lot about some ‘subservient nature’ of the Jeevathma. Let’s explore more about that in the upcoming post.