Raghu Veera Gadhyam--Aaranya Khaandam: Part 3

[Guest guest]

DhyAnam :

 

dandakAranyavAsAya kandithaamarasatrave I

Janakee prANanAthaya sadhaa RamAya mangaLam II

 

Dear Bhakthaas of Raghu NandanA :

 

In the remaining four salutations relating to AaraNya

KhAndam, Swami Desikan covers mAricha vadham ,

JatAyu samskaram (final rites) , Kabhandha vadham

and Sabhari Moksham. Thereafter, he moves on to

salute the incidents of KishkindhA khAndam . I will cover

two of the four salutations in this posting.

 

GS 38 : mAricha mAyA mruga charma parikarmitha

nirbhara dharbhAstharaNa ! Jaya! Jaya !

 

O Lord whose darbhAsanam is decorated by the skin of

the deceitful mArichA , who appeared before You as a

beautiful deer ! Hail to Thee! Hail to Thee!

 

RavanA ws intent on kidnapping Sita by deceit and hence

commanded mAricha to take the form of a beautiful deer

and to prance in front of Sita's parNasAlaa at Panchavati .

Sita dEvi was charmed by the golden deer and begged

her husband to catch it and present it to her for use as a pet .

Rama followed the " deer " and killed it and brought back its

skin. He returned to the parNasAla and put that deer skin

(KrishNAjinam ) under the darbhaasanam for His daily

anushtAnam. That Aasanam got beautified by that deer skin.

 

GS 39 : vikrama yasO lAbha vikreetha jeevitha grudhrarAja

deha didhakshaa lakshita bhakthajana daakshiNya !

Jaya! Jaya !

 

O DayALu who demonstrated your special attachment to

Your devotees through Your act of performing the

final rites for the mortally wounded eagle king JatAyu ,

who put his life on line to fight the evil RavaNA and to

foil RavaNA's attempt to get away with the kidnapping of

SitA dEvi .

 

(Background ) :Maricha gets killed by the arrow of Sri Rama.

While Rama was away on pursuit of Maricha , the golden deer ,

RavaNa arrives at the parNasala of Rama in the guise of

an ascetic. Sita invites him to accept her hospitality. She

tells the visitor about Her husband and the reason

for their visit to the forest . RavaNa now takes his real form

and expresses his desire to make Sita his chief queen in

Lankhaa. Sita is shocked by the audacity of the insolent

and deceitful Visitor . She reproaches RavaNa for

his unrighteous thought .

 

RavaNa gets angry at her harsh words and forcibly

kidnaps her and places her in his celestial car and begins

his travel to his kingdom . The heart broken Sita wails and

calls all the animals and plants of the forest to tell her consort

that she is being borne away by the evil RavaNa and for him to come

to her rescue. As she was being carried away , Sita catches sight of

the eagle king Jataayu perched on a tree. She addresses JatAyu

and begs him to report her abduction by RavaNa and to ask her husband

to hurry and rescue her. Jataayu , the friend of Dasaratha engages

RavaNa in a fierce battle to deter him form taking Sita away.

JatAyu is mortally wounded in that ferocious battle and lies half dead

on ground. Soon, Rama searching for his missing consort

arrives on the scene and learns from JatAyu about the events

that transpired . JatAyu had hung to his life until he could see

Rama and brief him on the terrible events that happened. At the

end of his narration, JatAyu dies. Rama was overcome with inconsolable

sorrow over the heroic fight of JatAyu . He performed the final

rites to the dead eagle king , which even his own father Dasaratha

was not priveleged to receive. Swami Desikan salutes the Bhaktha

Daakshinyam (Partiality for the Bhakthaas) by Rama .

 

The first slokam of Swami Desikan's Parmaartha sthuthi salutes

Vijayaraaghava PeruMaaL of Thirupputkuzhi divya desam as

" Srimadh grudhra sarastheera PaarijAtham ". The sthala puraaNam

states that Rama and LakshmaNaa conducted the anthima Kriyaas

for Jataayu at Thirupputkuzhi ( Thiru=sacred ; Putkuzhi= hole in the

ground dug for the bird , Jataayu ) . The site of cremation is recognized

today as Jataayu PushkaraNi ( Grudhra saras ) . Swami Desikan

salutes the valor of Vijaya Raaghavan of Thiruputtkuzhi by

addressing Him affectionately as Aahava Pungan, RaNa Punghan

( the supreme hero in the battles ). That RaNa pungavan recognizes

the valour shown by jatAyu and responds to it by performing the

final rites and giving Moksham to JatAyu asa token of his gratitude.

 

"saraNaagatha rakshaNa vrathi maam

na vihaathum RaNapungavaarhasi tvam "

-- ParamArtha Sthuthi : slokam 8

 

( O Lord of unmatched valor in Your battles!

O Lord who has taken the vow of protecting Your

SaraNaagathaas ! it is not appropriate for you to

forsake me ).

 

Sri Raamam nisaachara vinaasakaram vandEh

 

Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan