Raghuveera Gadhyam: Yuddha KhAndham--part 13

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the group :

 

As I hurried to finish the postings on Yuddha Khandham to

bring us to enjoy the Pattabhishekam of Sri Ramachandra

before the advent of Dhanur Maasam tomorrow ,

a mistake in the numbering of the gadhya pieces have crept in .

Please correct them .

 

I have also skipped commenting on GS 65 ,

which is a revelatory gadhyam realting to the wise Mandodhari's lament

over her Lord's demise at the hand of Sri Raghuveeran . I will comment on that

gadhyam portion in this posting . In part 12 , there are two Gadhya slokams

which have the same number (62) . Please correct them as 62 and 63 .

 

Thanks , V.Sadadgopan

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GS 65 : akhila jagadhadhika bhuja bala dasa lapana dasaka

lavana janitha kadhana paravasa rajanichara yuvathi vilapana

vachana samavishaya nigama sikhara nikara mukhara mukha

muni vara paripaNitha ! Jaya ! jaya !

 

In this beautiful passage resonanat with sound effects and TaaLam

synchronized with the heaving heart beats of lamenting MandOdhari, the

principal

queen of RavaNa , Swami Desikan's poetic skills

reaches once again a high water mark .

 

In the section , " Bhuja Bala , vara Bala , dasa lapana , lapana dasaka ,

lavana janitha " , the playful as well as the skillful use of the same words

( Bala , Lapana , dasa lapana , lavana dasaka ) to denote a different context-

based meanings, is an illustration of the skills of our immortal poet .

 

Swami Desikan starts this gadhyam section by describing RavaNA's

mighty shoulders known for their power to destroy his enemies:

" akhila jagadhadhika bhuja bala ." Swami says that RavaNA (until he met RamA

in battle ) had the bhuja parAkramam that was superior to all the denizens

of this earth and heaven . Bhuja balam is related to his "Vara Balam " referred

to

in the next section . RavaNA had earned many boons from BrahmA and

Maheswaran through the performance of severe penances . His bhuja

balam came from this vara Balam .

 

Swami alludes next to the ten heads of

RavaNA as dasa Lapana and rhymes it with " lapana dasaka lavana " ,

which means" as a result of cutting off of the ten heads ." First we see

those

diadem decked heads of DasagreevA on his neck and next we see

them rolling on the floor of the battle field at the feet of Sri RamachandrA .

 

When MandOdhari saw this sad sight , she was overcome by grief

and lost herself in an avalanche of sorrow . She lamented loudly

in her inconsolable grief . This state of hers is described by Swami Desikan

as " Dasa lapana lapana dasaka lavana JANITHA KADHANA

PARAVASA RAJANICHARA YUVATHI VILAPANA VACHANA "

 

The sufferings of MandOdhari arose from the (death) severance of the ten heads

of her husband ( Lapana dasaka lavana janitham ) . She was beyond herself

(paravasam ) due to that grief . She was RavaNA's young wife (Rajanichara

Yuvathi ) . Her words of Lamentation ( Vilapana vachanaas ) rang out in the

battle field and melted the hearts of the onlookers . Those words however

contained Vedanthic truths and were tributes to the PARATHVAM of Sri Rama

in addition to serving as lamentations over her widowhood . Swami calls

those lamentations mingled with vedanthic wisdom as "NIGAMA SIKHARA

NIKARA SAMA VISHAYAM " . Their sAmyam ( equivalence ) to the Vedanthic

truths describing the nature of Brahman (supreme being ) is the purport of

our Acharya's words. The great sages always praise ParamAthma

using words and thoughts with Vedic origin . .

 

Swami Desikan concludes this salutation by stating

that the victorious Rama was eulogised by great sages with stotrAs ,

which had Vedic connotations similar to the ones used by the wise

and chaste MandOdhari , while she lamented over her personal misfortune.

" NIGAMA SIKHARA NIKARA MUKARA MUKA MUNIVARA PARIPANITHA "

are Swami's words. Nigma sikhara Nikara stands for the assembly of Vedanthic

truths. Mukara Nikara Muka munivara reminds us of the great sages

euologising their Lord Rama with praises steeped in the Vedic

tradition . Paripanitha stands for the saluting by the Muni gaNaas .

 

The lamentation of Mandodhari is housed in the 111th canto of

of the Yuddha khAndam of Srimadh RaamAyaNam .

 

Sri VaishNava Daasan ,

 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan