Raghu Veera Gadhyam: KishkindhA KhAndam-- Part 3

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GS : 44 dhruta gatitha kailaasa koti vikata dundhubhi

kankALa kuta dhoora vikshepa daksha dakshiNetara

paadhAngushta dhara chalana viswastha suhrudhaasaya !

Jaya ! Jaya !

 

In this long salutation , Swami Desikan seems to suggest

the long distance over which an object was sent flying with

a miniscule exercise of the power of Sri Rama's left toe.

 

(Meaning ) : O Lord who with the slight movement of the toe of

your left foot sent the massive assembly of the bones of

the gigantic Asura by the name of Dhundhubhi flying over

a vast distance and thereby lifted the hope of Sugriva and

enhanced his faith in your prowess to destroy Vaali . Hail

to Thee ! Hail to Thee !

 

( Background ) : During the conversations with Rama , the monkey

king SugreevA had some doubts about the prowess of Rama to

match his brother Vaali"s strength in battle. SugriveeA narrated the

incident of Vaali making short work of the ogre Dhundhubhi , who

challenged him in battle. After killing the ogre , Vaali lifted and hurled

the body of Dhundhubhi . That corpse fell inside the precincts of

the hermitage of sage MatangA ( Matanga Vanam) and polluted

the sacred site with the blood and body remains .

Some drops of blood fell on the body of the sage himself .

 

The angry sage cursed the perpetrator of that offense, Vaali , to lose

his life , if he ever entered the precincts of his aasramam . Sugreevaa

explained to Rama that Vaali stayed away from Sage Matanga's hermitage

because of that curse and that he(SugreevA) took refuge there to escape from

the torments of his powerful brother .

 

On hearing that story and sensing Sugriveeaa's doubt about

his ability to handle VAli in battle , Rama playfully kicked

the colossal heap of bones of Dhundhubhi with his left toe.

That assembly of Bones flew a distance of eighty miles

as a result of that kick . Sugrivaa had only wanted Rama

to show his power and strength by kicking the bones

over a distance of 800 arms length. SugreevA was impressed and yet he

had some lingering doubts. He addressed Rama and pointed out that

Dhundhubhi's massive body with flesh and blood was hurled over

a great distance by an exhausted Vaali, when it was full of flesh

and body weight . Sugreevaa was implying that the shrunken bones

of the demon was no match to the weight of the corpse at the time

of Vaali's hurling it away. Thus SugreevA was questioning whether Rama's

strength was a true match to that of his brother Vaali.

 

SugreevA then pointed out a set of seven gigantic Saal trees that Vaali

used to shake to denude them of their leaves to demonstrate his strength.

Sugreevaa asked Rama : " O prince of Ayodhyaa ! How will you be able

to kill my mighty brother in combat ? " LakshmaNaa got angry at

the continuing doubt of Sugreevaa and asked him as to what more

Rama should do to convince him of Rama's superior strength. SugreevA

replied that Vaali used to pierce the seven Saal trees with a single arrow

of his and that he will be convinced of Rama's role as a killer of his brother,

if Rama could pierce even one Saal tree with his arrow. The incident that

followed the request of SugreevA is the subject of Swami Desikan's

next salutation to Raghuveeraa .

 

GS :45 athi pruthula bahu vitapi giri dharaNi yugapadhudhaya

vivrutha chitrapunkha vaichitrya ! Jaya ! Jaya !

 

(Meaning ) : O Hero whose fast-moving , powerful arrow with

marvellous decorations that appeared at the same time in

the seven Saal trees , mountains , earth and the nether world !

Hail to Thee! Hail to Thee !

 

( Background ) : When doubting SugreevA requested Rama to

demonstrate once again his prowess , Rama obliged him by

sending few arrows at the seven Saal trees. Those arrows moved like

a band of lightning. They pierced the the seven Saal trees in a trice

and continued on their way to neighboring mountains in their path

and broke the crests of those mountains, changed their direction

and travelled through the nether world (PaathALam/seventh of

the lower worlds ) and then returned quickly to their

home in the quiver of Rama. The awe-inspired and terror -stricken

SugreevA could not believe his own eyes about what had transpired.

He fell flat infront of the Raghuveeran of unquestionable veeram

and declared that his grief over the illtreatment of Vaali and doubts

about the adequacy of Rama's power to protect him from the wrath of

his brother were completely banished. In the words of Adi Kavi Valmiki ,

SugreevA said :

 

tamadhyaiva priyArtham mE vairiNam braathru rupiNam I

Vaalinam jahi Kaakuthstha mayA bhaddhoyam anjali : II

 

(Meaning ) : O the illustrious descendant of Kaakuthstha !

Please make short work of my tormentor(enemy) in the form

of my brother this day to make me happy (and to release me form my

terror) . My palms have been joined together in Anjali mudra

( Prayer with folded palms ) for that purpose .

 

Swami Desikan in one of his Sillarai Rahasyam named

Anjali Vaibhavam describes the power of Anjali as

" Praarthanaa poorvaka bharanyaasam of the Akinchanan "

( the saraNaagathi done with the folded hands as a first step

for the helpless to seek the Lord's succor and protection ) .

Swami Desikan goes on to describe Anjali mudrai as

" Pala visesha vyanjaka mudrai " ( the gesture that symbolizes

special fruits to be obtained from the Lord ) . Swami quotes

the slokam of VishNu DharmOtthamam which states

unambiguously that the anjali made in front of the Lord

quickly helps one to receive the Lord's immediate attention

and lets one become the object of his Dayaa :

 

ANJALI: PARAMAA MUDRAA KSHIPRAM DEVA PRASAADHINI

 

On a future occasion , I will dwell further on Anjali Vaibhavam

of Swami Desikan.

 

Sri VaishNava Daasan

 

Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan