Musings on Raghuveera Gadhyam-- Part 7(Bala Khaandam)

[Guest guest]

GS 9 : RANNADWARA DHURYA BHAVYA

DIVYAASTHRA BRUNDHA VANDITHA !

 

Hail to Thee ! O Raghuveera saluted by the assembly of

sacred and mighty arrows waiting humbly for your command to

invoke them in the yaga known as the battle .

 

Here the allusion is to the gift of sacred and powerful

arrows/missiles by sage Viswamitra to Sri Ramachandra

at the conclusion of the destruction of ogress Tataka by

him . Impressed by the valour of Rama and pleased with

the destruction of the evil Tatakaa , the gratified Sage

imparted to Sri Rama the secret knowledge about the

use of never failing celestial missiles to destroy one's enemies

in the battle fields . The sage also taught Sri Rama about the recall of

these missles once invoked and set in motion against a target ( Bala

KhAndam --sargas 27&28 ).

 

As the Sage recited the mantras for the missiles , all of them

appeared before Sri Rama in their shining ethereal forms and

saluted him humbly and offered their services . Sri Rama thanked them

and commanded them to appear in his mind at the time of emergency

to render assistance. SWami Desikan refers to this incident here .

 

GS 10 : PRANATHA JANA VIMATHA VIMATHANA

DHURLALITHA DHORLALITHA ! JAYA JAYA !

 

Hail to Theee , O Raghuveera shining with the fearsome

shoulders that engage in the destruction of the enemies

of those , who seek refuge at your feet !

 

Swami pays tribute to the powerful and mighty shoulders

of the Lord engaged in the battle with the enemies of those,

who sought his protection . Swami points out that

those shoulders of the Raghuveeran are

unsurpassable in their beauty and majesty.

 

GS 11: THANUTARA VISIKHA VITHAATANA VIGATITHA

VISARAARU SARAARU TATAKAA TAATAKEYA ! JAYA JAYA !

 

Hail to Thee , O Valorous one who used tiny arrows to

destroy Tatakaa and humiliate her sons not tormented until

then by anyone .

 

Here , Swami refers to the killing of Tataka at the command

of Sage Viswamitra and the controlling of the arrogant sons

of hers (Maaricha and Subaahu) and making them powerless

to interfere with the Yajna of Sage Viswamitra at Siddhaasramam .

 

GS 12 : JATAKIRANA SAKALADHARA JATILA NATAPATHI

MAKUTA THATA NATANAPATU VIBHUDASARITH ATHIBHAULA

MADHUKALANA LALILATHAPADHA NALINARAJA UPAMRUDHITHA

NIJAVRUJINA JAHADHUPAALA TANURUCHIRA PARAMAMUNI

VARA YUVATHI NUTHA ! JAYA ! JAYA !

 

This Gadhya salutation is one of the two long passages in

Bala Khandam providing an excellent example of

the figure of speech known as onomotopoeia ,

where the rhetorical effect resulting from reciting merges

with the meaning intended . Words flow from the tongue and mind of

Swami Desikan as a result of the blessings of Lord Hayagriva ,

his Upasana Murthy . The other passage of Bala Khandam resonant with

musical sounds is the twentieth Gadhya salutation dealing with

Parasurama Garva Bhangam .

 

In the twelfth salutation , Swami Desikan visulaizes the

Lord of Dance, Siva and the dancing waves of fast flowing Ganga

on His matted Jatai ,which is also the home of the crescent moon .

That small piece of moon is known for its cool rays (JATA KIRANA ).

and Siva is the SAKALA DHARAN ( wearer of the crescent moon )

on His JATILA (Matted tresses -Jataa Mudi ) . He is indeed the Lord

of Dance ( NATA PATHI -Nataraajaa ) . What do we see inside the

Jataa( MAKUTA THATA ) of this NATAPATHI ? Swami Desikan

visualizes the VIBHUTHA SARITH ( the celestial Deva Ganga ) there.

What is Her name for Fame ? She carries the sacred dust of the

Makarantha(pollens) of the lotus feet (Charanaaravindham )

of Sriman Narayana and she becomes thus holiest of holy rivers

as a result of that blessing . The reference here

is to her origin as a result of Brahma's washing the feet of Trivikrama

with his Kamandalu water at the time of those lotus feet reaching

Satya Lokam . She removes all the sins of mortals and Devas , who

bathe in her waters . The Lord's Paadha ThuLi is the root cause of her

sacredness .

 

Now , Swami connects the holiness and redeeming quality of

the Makarandha dust particle originating from the Lord's

Paadhaambhujam . That speck of dust fell on the stone by

the side of the road , which was Ahalya, the wife of Sage Gowthamaa .

She had been cursed by her husband for her infidelity and

was condemned to stay as a stone until the dust from

Sri Rama's feet came in contact with her stone form.

That holy association with the sacred dust associated with Sri Rama's

feet transformed her back (JAHAT UPALA TANU )

to her beautiful form (RUCHIRA TANU ) as the beloved

wife of the celebrated sage ( PARAMA MUNI VARA YUVATHI ) .

Ahalya offered her salutations(YUVATHI NUTA ) to Sarveswaran

standing infront of her as a young prince

for restoring her form to that of a beautiful woman .

Ahalya Saapa Vimochanam is thus the subject of

this salutation . Srimad Valmiki Ramayanam

describes that Ahalya was cursed to be invisible

due to her misconduct . other sources refer to her

form as astone due to the curse.