Raghuveera Gadhyam: KishkindhA khAndam-Part 1

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DhyAnam:

 

prAthar bhajAmi RaghunAtha KarAravindham

rakshogaNAya bhayadham varadhanm nijebhya: I

yadh rAjasamsadhi vibhidhya mahesachaapam

SitA karagrahaNa mangaLamApa sadhya : II

 

Sri Ramachandra and his brother LakshmaNA left

Sabari's asramam and continued their journey in the

direction suggested by KabhandhA along the banks of

PampA lake.The monkey king SugrivA was living on

the summit of a nearby peak named Rishyamukha

parvatham with his ministers . He was hiding from

his brother VAli . SugrivA caught sight of the two princes

in the dresses of hermits and got suspicious . He got

alarmed over the thought that they might have been agents of

his brother Vali sent to catch him. His minister HanumAn

reasoned with SugrivA and assured latter that the princes

could not be the agents of VAli . SugrivA then asked HanumAn

to meet the two travellers to find out the purpose of their

visit .

 

HanumAn took the disguise of a mendicant and approached

the brothers. He bowed before them and inquired about them

and the purpose of their journey to that forest area. HanumAn

appraised them of SugrivA's plight and advised them that his

master sought the good will of the two princes. Sri Rama was

very pleased with the diplomatic skills and the speech of HanumAn

proficient in Vedic diction and spotless Grammar ( VyAkaraNam ).

This is where the first salutation of KishkindhA Khaandham

of Swami Desikan's Raghu Veera gets its inspiration .

 

GS 42 : prabhanjana tanaya bhAvuka bhAshitha ranjitha hrudhya !

Jaya ! Jaya !

 

O Lord whose heart was filled with joy over the auspicious

and adroit conversation of HanumAn , the son of Vaayu

( prabhanjana) ! Hail to Thee ! Hail to Thee !

 

The conversation of HanumAn was rich in Vedic vocabulary

and correct in grammar . Sri Rama was very much taken up

by the scholarship and conversational skills of HanumAn that

soothed and charmed his heart. He praised HanumAn's skills

as a diplomat and scholar this way :

 

" O LakshmaNA ! It is only those who have studied Rg Veda with an

understanding of the meaning of its Rks as well as Yajur and Sama

Veda can speak like this. HnaumAn has surely studied further the

entire range of Sanskrit grammar in many ways as indicated by his

faultless speech . His facial expressions and body movements

during his conversation are exemplary in that there is nothing

dissonant or out of place. He utters a remarkably meningful ,

fluent and delightful speech that is pleasing to the mind. He is

indeed a worthy emissary of his king ".

 

Rama's words of praise are :

 

noonam vyAkaraNam kruthsnam anena bahudhA sruthamI

urastham kantakam vAkyam varthatE madhyama svaram I

ucchArayathi kalyANeem vaacham hrudhaya harshiNIm I

 

Swami Desikan has these passages of praise by Rama in mind ,

when he saluted Raghuveeran through his first namaskaraNam

in the KishkindA khAnda section .

 

Hanuman is revered as Nava Vyakarana Pandithan.He had

learned the different versions of grammar from the sun god

as a boy. His musical skills as a VeeNa player arose from

his adhyayanam of Sama Vedam.

 

Saint Thyagaraja in his vasanthavArALi krithi on HanumAn

named " pAhi Rama dhutha jagath prANa kumAra Maam ",

refers to Hanumaan"s Veda Saastra naipuNyam this way

in one of the charaNams :

 

veda sAstra nipuNa varya ! vimala chittha sathatham

karuNA rasa paripurNa ! kanchanAdhri sama deha!

parama bhagavatha VarENya ! varadha ! ThyagarAja Nutha !

 

( O HanumAn ! You are well versed in Vedas and SaastrAs !

You are the best of beings ! Your mind is always pure. Your heart is

full of compassion. Your body resembles the golden mount meru.

You are the foremost of Rama BhakthAs. You are a giver of

boons . Please bless me ).

 

Sri Mutthuswami Dikshithar's kruthi inviting HanumAn to

appear in his DhyAnam is full of reference to the vaibhavam

of HanumAn.This kruthi isset in ragam NAttA and starts majestically:

" PavanAthmaja aagaccha , paripurNa svaccha". In anupallavi ,

Dikshithar salutes HanumAn as " Nava VyAkaraNa nipuNa,

nava vidhAntha: karaNa ". In one of the charaNams , Dikshithar

pays tribute to HanumAn's skills in Kaavyam and NAtakam

and Vedas this way : " kAvya nAtaka Tosha, Upanishad pada

ghosha , PavanAthmaja aagaccha ".

 

Purandara Dasa has praised HanumAn's multifaceted talents

and heroic deeds in krithis set in ragAs nAgasvarALi , Riti GowlA,

sArangA , KalyANi and mohanam. For Purandara Dasa , HanumAn

was a very important deity , since he is considered as the Mukhya

prANan in MAdhva sampradhAyam. Dasar salutes HanumAn

iin his riti gowlA krithi this way :

 

" mukhya prANa yenna moola guruvE

rakkasAmdhaka Sri Raamana nija daasa "

 

" mAyAvAdhigaLE ghetthithu koosu

madhva madavanu uttarisuthu koosu

summene Udipili nimthithu koosu

purandara vitalana puNyatha koosu

(Koosina kaNtirA , mukhya prANaana kanNtirA )

-- SarangA krithi.

 

Sri Hanumadh Sametha Ranmachandra ara BrahmaNE nama:

 

Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan