8th day of Sri Raama Navami Navaaham

[Guest guest]

Dear Raama Bhakthaas :

 

I will cover the 7th and 8th charaNa vaakyams in this posting .

 

SEVENTH CHARANAM

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puraaNa purusha nruvaraathmajaasritha

paraadheena karaviraadha raavaNa

viraavaNa anagha paraasara manOhara

vikrutha THYAGARAAJA SANNUTHA (jagadhaanandakaaraka)

 

This charaNam was the second level at which the Saint

was going to stop . Hence he added another svanaama

mudhraa . Then he thought about it and added three more

charaNams to reach the level of 108 naamaas for his

ashtOtthara pancharathnam .

 

The Naamaas enshrined in this SEVENTH charaNam

are SEVEN in number :

 

1. Om PuraaNa purushaaya nama :

2. Om nruvaraathmajaaya nama:

3. Om aasrtitha paraadheenaaya nama:

4. Om Kara viraadha RaavaNa viraavaNaaya nama :

5. Om anagaaya nama:

6. Om Paraasara manOharaaya nama:

7. Om vikrutha Thyagaraajaaya sannuthaaya nama :

 

Sri Raamaa is without beginning and end as revealed

by VishNu sahasra naamam : " Anaadhi nithanam VishNum

sarvaloka mahesvaram " . He is anaadhi or akaalOpadhikan .

Sage Valmeeki has pointed out that those , who think about

the puraaNa purushotthaman, Sri Raaman , will receive all

the blessings in this life and the hereafter:

 

yE tvaam dhruvam bhakthaa: puraaNa purushOtthamam I

praapnuvanthi sadhaa kaamaan iha lokE parathra cha II

 

Om PuraaNa purushaaya nama: is also one of the naamaas

of Sri Rama AshtOttharam .

 

The second naamam of this charaNam is " Om

nruvaraathmajaaya nama: " . Nruvaran refers to Dasaratha

chakravarthi . His aathmajan (progeny ) is Raaman ( Chakravarthy

kummaran ) or Daasarathy . The name Daasarathy is very

close to the heart of the saint . He has celebrated the Nruvaraathmajan

(Dasarathy ) in number of his krithis :

 

1 .DaasarathE dayaa charathE (Kokilapriyaa raagam )

 

2. Dasaratha nandana dhaanava marthana

dayayaa maam paahi (Asaaveri raagam )

 

3. Daasarathee nee ruNamu theerpa taramaa (Thodi Raagam )

 

The third namaskaaram of this charaNam is " Om aasritha

paraadheenaaya nama: " . Raama has been caught up in

the net of vaathsalyam (Bhakthi ) of his devotees and is

under their influence (paraadheenan ). Raamaa is readily

accessible to His devotees through Dhyaanam as indicated by

the following passage of the verse :

 

bhaktha priyam , bhaktha samaadhi gamyam ,

chintaaharam , chinthitha kaamadhEnum --"

 

For those meditating on Him with amala hrudhayam

through His Taaraka manthram , He readily becomes

accessible and is " commanded" by them

(vide : Thirumozhisai Aazhwaar ) :

 

nithyam Sri Raama manthram

nirupamaadhikam neethisugyana manthram I

sathyam Sri Raama manthram

sadhamala hrudhayE sarvadhaarOgya manthram II

 

VaseekaraNam of Sri Raama is made possible for these

pure hearted ones reciting Rama naamam . Saint ThyagaraajA

performed 96 drores of Rama japam and attained

the privelege of seeing Raamaa in person at his house

on the Thirumanjana veedhi of Thiruvaiaaru .

 

The fourth salutation of this charaNam is : " Om Kara

viradha RaavaNa viraavaNaaya nama: " . This salutation

is for the Veeraraaghavan and follows along the line of

Bhagavatham and Nammaazhwaar . Bhagavatham salutes

Raama as " Kaladhava dahana: kosalEndraavathaannaha " .

Bhagavatham asks for the protection of the wild fire(Raamaa)

that burned the trees of the rakshasa kulam (Karan, Viraadhan

and RaavaNan ) to cinders . NammaazhwAr salutes Sri Raama in

this context as : " Irudeekesan Yemmaan ilangai arakkar kulam

murudu theertha piraan , yemmaan amarar pemmaan " .

 

The fifth salutation of this charaNam is : " Om anagaaya nama: " .

The saint of Thiruvaiaaru has already saluted Sri Raama as

" Anagaa paripoorNan " in the first charaNam . He comes back to

that name" Aangaa "once again , when he gets overwhelmed

by the thought of the blemishless and paripoorNa

mangaLa svarupam of the Lord . The parama paavanan ,

who declared , " Abhayam sarva bhoothEbhyO

dadaam yethadh vratham mama " is saluted here as anagan .

 

The sixth namaskaaram is for the Lord celebrated by Paraasara

Muni , the author of VishNu puraaNam known for spreading

the Raamaa NaraayaNa naama siddhaantham . Paraasara Muni

has revealed to us the greatness of Raama naama japam in

his puraaNam :

 

Yasmin nyastha mathi : na Yaathi narakam

svargOpi yacchintanE vigna :

Yathra nivEsithaathmamanasO brahmOpi lokOalpakaa:

mukthim chetasi ya: sthithOamalavidhyaam pumsaam

dhadhathyavya : kim chithram yadhadhyam

pryaathi vilapam tathraachyuthE keerthithE

-- VishNu puraaNam

 

(meaning ) : Those , who spend their life time on Raama

naama mantra japam and svarupa dhyaanam will never

land in narakam . For those , who have developed the ruchi

(taste) for his naamam , the world of devaas (svargam ) will

not have any attraction. The world of Brahmaa will be like a

inconsequential real estate. The sanaathana , saasvatha prabhu,

Sri Raama resides in the hearts of such Bhakthaas and grants them

moksham . When one knows the above -mentioned fruits of

Raama nama japam and understand the anagaa nature of

Sri Raaman and recognize Him as sarva paapa naasi , there

is no surprise for them about His power and

Bahktha paraadheena guNam .

 

The seventh and the last salutation of this seventh charaNam is

a complicated one : " Om Vikrutha Thyagaraaja sannuthaya nama: ".

This naamam can be split into two : " Om vikruthaaya nama: and

Om Thyagaraaja Sannuthaaya nama: " . The naama Vikruthaaya nama:

is connected with the Lakshmi sahasranaamam , " Om vikruthyai

nama: ". Here the word "Vikruthi " means limitless or aadhi antha-

rahitha paramaathma svarupam . In this context , one can intrepret

the saint"s salutation to the limitless form and guNaas of the Lord.

The second namaskaaram , " Om Thyagaraaja sannuthaaya nama : "

would mean the Lord , who is eulogized very well by Thyagaraajaa .

 

If we use the naamaa in an undivided sense , then , it would refer

to the pitiable and helpless state of Thyagaraaja , who was longing for

the Lord"s grace and darsana bhaagyam . This can also be considered as

a naicchaanusandhaanam (self-depreceatory statement ) of the saint

lamenting over his inability to have dhruva smrithi ( unceasing

rememberance ) of the Lord . The following Garuda PuraaNa

slokam describes the misfortunes that befall such a vikruthaa

not having dhruva smruthi :

 

Yann muhoortham kshaNam vaapi

VaasudEvO na chinthyatE I

saa haani : tann mahacchithram

sa braanthi saa cha vikriyaa II

 

(meaning ) : Great losses happen to those , who forget

VaasudEvaa even for a moment . Inappropriate thoughts and

associated paapams accrue to those dhayaana heenis

(those with lapses in dhyaanam ) . They become vikruthaas .

 

Saint Thyagaraajaa , who was always immersed in Raama

naama Japam and naama sankeerthanam and aarAdhanam

has criticized himself severely for his lack of dhruva smrithi and

considered himself a vikruthaa . For instance , Saint confesses

in his varaaLi krithi , " nO rEmi Sri Raama ninnAda " about his

deficiencies. Again in his kaapi raaga krithi , " Meevalla GuNa

dhoshamEmi , Sri Raamaa " and in his punnaga VaraaLi krithi,

" Paahi KalyANa sundara " , he states that he is full of vikruthis

and begs for the Lord's grace for dhruva smruthi . As a nija bhakthaa

in a mood of aarthi prapatthi , the saint cried out " OM vikrutha Thyagaraaja

sannuthaaya nama: " .

 

8TH CHARANA VAAKYAMS

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THERE ARE SIX NAAMAAS HERE :

 

1. Om sajjana maanasa abdhi sudhakaraaya nama:

2. Om Kusuma Vimaanaaya nama:

3. Om Surasaa ripu karaabhja laalitha charaNaa

VaghuNaaya nama:

4. Om asura gaNa matha haraNaaya nama:

5. Om sanaathanaaya nama:

6. Om Aja nuthaaya nama:

 

In the first namaskaaram , Saint Thyagaraajaa indicated that

Raamachandra murthy is like the chandran for the ocean (mind )

of great bahkthaas with dhruva smrithi such as the child Dhruvan ,

the old lady Sabari , the asuraa child Prahlaadhan , Bheeshmar,

Vithurar , Vyaasar , Sukar and Parasarar . They have niradasiaya

sraddhaa , bhakthi and mahaa viswaasam in the Lord and therefore

are of the kind of sajjanaas , whom the saint wants to emulate.

 

In the second namaskaaram , " Om Kusuma vimaanaaya nama: " ,

Here the reference is to the journey of Raamaa back from Lankhaa

on Pushpaka vimaanam to Ayodhyaa with His dear consort Sitaa ,

the Lord of Lankhaa , VibhishaNaa , LakshmaNaa and the monkey

king Sugreevaa , Hanumaan and others brought back to life from

the battle field . BhOdEndrAL prays for this Pushpaka vimaana

sanchaari to play in his mind always :

 

svetha pushpakamaaruhya Sithaayaa saha Raaghava: I

SugreevAdhi bhavath bhakthai : manOmadhyE ramasva mE II

 

The third namaskaaram of the 8th charaNam is connected with

an incident that happened over the Ocean , when Hanumaan was

jumping over it to reach Lankhaa and search for Sitaa there.

During samudhraa lankanam described in the Sundara Khaandam ,

the mother of sarpams , Surasaa devi took a gigantic form and

obstructed the flight of Hanumaan .She commanded Hanumaan

to be her food . Hanumaan shrank his size from the gigantic one to

that of the size of a thumb and entered her outstrtched mouth and

left it very quickly . Valmeeki salutes Hanumaan's daring performance

as similar to the exit of chandran from the mouth of Raahu . Surasaa

devi was pleased with Hanumaan's cleverness and assumed the figure

of a beautiful youg woman and blessed Hanumaan to be victorious

in his endeavour.

 

Saint Thyagaraajaa addresses Hanumaan in this

namaskaaram as " Surasaa ripu " or the enemy of Surasaa.

Hanumaan"s kaimkaryam in pressing RamachandrA's tired feet

with his soft hands is described in the rest of the namaskaaram as

" {(Sarasaa ripu ) karaabhja laalitha charaNaavaguNaaya nama: } " .

 

The fourth namaskaaram of this charaNam is : " Om asura gaNa madha

haraNaaya nama: " . The madham or the arrogance of the hordes of

the servants of RaavaNaa was destroyed by Raamaa in the battle field.

Saint ThyagarAjA saluted the valour of Raghuveeran here .

 

The fifth namaskaaram Is " Om sanaathanAya nama: " . This naama

is closely asociated with the 898th VishNu sahasra naamam ( Om

sanaathana tamaaya nama: ) . The name sanaathana refers to the

ancient, timeless aspect of the Lord. " Even in the past He was new .

Despite the fact that His existence is eternal , He is always more

enjoyable and fresh , as though He is new and never seen before ."

He is the PuraaNa purushan, Sanathanan as saluted by BodEndraaL :

 

vedhyam visvamayam svaleena bhuvana svaraajya soukhya pradham I

purNam purNataram puraaNa purusham RAAMAM bhajE taarakam II

 

The sixth and the final namaskaaram is , " Om Aja nuthaaya nama: " .

Here the reference is to the salutations of Chathurmukha Brahmaa

after recovery of the VedAs with the help of the Lord , who took

Matsyaavatharam and Hamsaavatharam and Hayagreevaavathaaram

for helping His son . Ajaa is the name for Brahmaa.

 

Om Sri Raamabhadra ParabrahmaNE nama:

 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan