Musings on #39 of Desikan's RG

[Guest guest]

srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNe namaha

sri vedanta desika guravE namaha

 

Dear 'bhAgavatOttamA-s',

 

If you closely examine the role and actions of Jatayu in the 'Ramayana' you

will realize that the Great Bird exemplified all aspects of "dharmA"

extensively discussed by us in my postings so far.

 

True to the sentiment of the "charama-shlOka" of the Lord in the

Bhagavath-Gita, Jatayu "transcended", indeed, all "dharmA". In fact the

magnificent Bird, that poor little creature, "transcended" all 3 orders in

the "hierarchy of dharmA-s" we described earlier. Further, Jatayu also

showed great wisdom in embracing, at every step in the narrative context of

the "Ramayana", lofty "visEsha-dharma" in preference to "sAdhAraNa-dharmA"

or "sva-dharmA". We shall see how in my next posting.

 

More importantly, dear 'bhAgavatOttamA-s', Lord Rama too, in this incident,

"transcended" the "hierarchic dharmA-s". He too clearly opted to embrace

"visEsha-dharmA" in preference to "sAdhAraNa-dharmA". Exactly as right

through all the epic Ramayana, Lord Rama demonstrates "dharmA" by personal

example in this incident too. We shall see how in my next posting.

 

When we examine the actions of the Lord and of Jatayu in this great and

immortal incident involving them, we cannot simply help being enthralled by

the sight of each competing with the other in zealously upholding "dharmA"

and ultimately "transcending" it. It appears as if Jatayu, a mere creation

of God, is matching the Creator, "blow for blow", as it were, and even

trying to excel the Lord in a "battle royale" to uphold "dharmA".

 

It is this strange and mystifying "battle", between Rama and Jatayu, that

has caught the imagination of generations of poets from the times of Sage

Valmiki to those of Swami Desikan and to the times of Kamban, too. It is a

classic ever-unparalleled and ever-unfading in history.

 

The Jatayu episode, dear 'bhAgavatOttamA-s', is one of the grandest panaroma

of "dharmA-sastra" in all the history of religious literature. It is a sight

for the gods, indeed, where two moral paragons or peers pit their lofty

sensitivities against one another.

 

It is one of the greatest dramatic moments in the "Ramayana" brimming over

with inexhaustible layers of latent meaning and shrouded significance which

one can unravel only with "deiva-" or "AchArya-anugraham" (i.e. the 'aid'

of the Lord Himself or of a preceptor).

 

Unfortunately, dear friends, I am bestowed with neither type of "anugraham".

 

The best I can do, therefore, is to try and faithfully reproduce what I have

heard my revered 'manaseega-guru' Sri.Mukkur Swami discourse on the subject.

That is the nearest I can get you all, dear 'bhAgavatOttamA-s', to a genuine

and cathartic experience of this moving incident in the 'Ramayana' that

Swami Desikan, that master-craftsman of poetic-jewellery, fashioned in that

famous stanza #39 of the 'Raghuveera-gadyam' which reads as follows:

 

vikrama yashOlAbha-vikrIthajIvitha-gridhr-rAja

dEhadidhakshA-lakshita bhakthajana dhAkshinya !

 

We shall continue in my next posting.

 

srimathE srivan satagopa sri narayana yathindra mahadesikaya namaha

 

sudarshan