Raghu Veera Gadhyam: AaraNya Khaandham : Part 5

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Dhyaanam

 

Jayathu Jayathu RamO Jaanaki VallabhOyam I

Jayathu Jayathu RamO Chandrachootaarchithangri :II

 

Jayathu Jayathu vaaNinaathanaatha : paramaathmaa I

Jayathu Jayathu RamO nathanaatha: krupALu : II

 

Dear Bhakthaas of Jagadhaanadhaka Ramaa:

 

Swami Desikan covers the glorious incident of

Sabari Moksham in his last salutation related to

aaranya khaandham .

 

GS 41 : avandhya mahima muni jana bhajana mushitha

hrudhaya kalusha sabhari moksha saakshi bhuta ! Jaya !

Jaya !

(Meaning ) : O Lord who was the witness to the Moksha

attainment of Sabari , who through her devoted service to the

assembly of sages of unblemished reputation had

all of her blemishes removed ! Hail to Thee ! Hail to Thee !

 

Sabari was an old lady, who lived on the banks of Pampaa river.

She spent her life serving the sages doing penance in that

region . This service earned her a vast amount of PuNyams

which in turn destroyed any blemishes that she might have had.

She had started her Bhakthi Yogam in a previous birth and completed

that yogam in her next birth as a resident of Pampaa theeram .

When Rama stopped at Pampaa Vanam on his way to meet

Sugreeva , she met Rama and was blessed to have his darsana

bhagyam to her heart's content . She offered the Lord fruits that she

had collected from the forest with great affection . Then she ascended

Sri Vaikuntam right infront of Rama's eyes . Hence Swami Desikan

describes Rama as the witness to Sabari's Bhagyam.

 

Srimad RamaayaNam devotes the entire 74th sargam of

AaraNya Khaandham to describe Rama's visit to the asramam of

Sabari in Matanga Vanam on the banks of Pampaa river . Valmiki

describes Pampaa as a lake . Today's Pampaa is a river

where Aiyappa bhakthaas take a plunge before ascending the

Sabari Malai to continue with their pilgrimage to have the darsanam

of Dharma Saasthaa .

 

Sabari meets Rama and Lakshmana at her aasramam. She had already

attained perfection through Yoga saadhanaa . Rama asks about her

welfare and state of spiritual progress. Sabari replied ;" O Rama!

the flower of humanity ! My asceticsm has become fruitful today

and the highest heaven will defenitely fall to my lot , now that you

have been worshipped by me ( adhya praapthaa tapa: siddhi:

tava samdarsanAn maya , adhya mE sapalam janma guravasccha

sapujithaa : II adhya mE spalam taptham svargascchaiva bhavishyathi ) .

She entered the agni kuntam after clasping Rama's lotus feet and

ascended to heaven with DivyaabharaNam , celestial garlands

and heavenly raiment. Rama was a witness to this glorious

event on the banks of Pampaa .

 

Saint Thyagaraja celebrates Sabri's bhagyam in two

of his krithis. In the MukhAri krithi " entani nE varNinthunu

Sabari Bhagyamu " , he wonders as to how he can adequately

describe the special blessings that Bhaktha Sabari received

from Sri Rama . Sadguru states that there were many rishi patnis

of high stature at Matanga Vanam as a result of their penance

and yet Sri Rama selected

Sabari as his hostess and accepted her hospitality with great

affection. Sadguru wonders loud : " That grest blessed soul

saluted your lotus feet , got rid of her

cycles of births and deaths and attained moksham infront of You .

What way can I describe Sabari's unique bhagyam ?".

 

In a second krithi set in ragam KiraNaavaLi ( Paraaku nee kelaraa

Ramaa ) , Sadguru Thygaraja swamigaL is angry at Rama for His

indifference to him . Our Sadhguru is in a mood of Amarsha Rosha

Roshokthi . He asks : " Why should You , who are immanent in

the movable and the immovable , be indifferent where I am concerned ?

Have I treated You with scant courtesy like Sabari who gave You

the leavings of fruits after she had tasted them or have I , like

Guha , given You a bed of leaves without realising Your status ? ".

Here Saint Thayagaraja refers to one version of Sabari's

hospitality . According to this version , Sabari checked the ripeness

of the fruits that she collected for Sri Rama. She tasted them and gave

only those fruits that she thought was ripe enough for Sri Rama's

use. She gave the Yecchil (left overs) out of her great desire to give

nothing but the best among her collection of fruits. Our Sadguru

taunts Rama and asks Him how Rama ignored him , when he

behaved much better than Sabari. With great DaakshiNyam ,

Sadguryu asks these questions . Saint Thyagaraja's regards

for the exceptional Bhagyam of Sabari is very clear in his

Mukhari Krithi . Srimad RaamaayaNam has no support

for the reference of Sabari tasting the fruits first and offering

only those that were fit for Sri Rama's consumption.One another

version of RamAyaNam is the source of Saint Thyagaraja's

reference in his KiraNAvaLi krithi .

 

We will move next to the salutations of Swami Desikan to

the incidents of Kishkindaa Khaandam.

 

tridasa kumudha chandhrO dAnAvAmbhoja chandhrO

duritha timira chandhrO yoginAm jnana chandhra: I

praNatha nayana chandhrO mythili netra chandhrO

dasamukha ripu chandhra: paathu maam Ramachandra :

 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan