Iswara Samvathsara Sri Rama Navami Navaaham sampoorNam

[Guest guest]

Dear Rama bhakthaas :

 

With this posting , I will complete with the blessings

of Sithaa LakshmaNa Hanumadh samedha Ramachandraa

the"navaaham" that I started on April 16 . Due to my trip today,

I am compressing the Navaaham into a panchaaham .

May " Vara sangeethamu Mokshadhamani yenchi

Paramaathmudaina Sri Raamuni bhajinchina " Sadhguru

Swami' s blessings be with this special group

throughout this year and thereafter !

 

NINTH CHARANA VAAKHYAMS/NAMASKAARAMS

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There are 9 namaskaarams in this charaNam :

 

1. Omkaara panjaragheeraya nama :

2. OM Purahara SarOjabhava Kesavaadhi roopaaya nama:

3. Om Vasavaripu janakaanthakaaya nama:

4. Om Kaladhara klaadharaapthaaya nama:

5. Om gruNaakaraaya nama:

6. Om saraNAgatha jana paalanaaya nama:

7. Om sumanOramaNAya nama:

8.Om nirvikaaraaya nama:

9. Om nigama saarataraaya nama:

 

In the first salutation , our Sadhguru visualizes Sri Raamaa

as a beautiful parrot resting in a the cage of PraNavam . Here ,

he suggests that Sri Raaman is the parabrahmam known by

praNava naadham . GeethAchAryan reveals this truth

in a famous slOkam on the importance of PraNavam

and leaving the body contemplating on PraNavam and the

parrot inside that cage for reaching paramapadham :

 

OmithyEkAksharam brahmma vyaaharan maamanusmaran I

ya: prayaathi tyajan deham sa yaathi paramaam gathim II

 

Saint reveals to us that Raaman is the PraNava bheeja sArAthMakan.

 

The second salutation is : Om pura hara sarOja bhava Kesavaadhi

roopaaya nama : " . Here our sadhguru points out that Raaman

is the trimurthy with the forms of Lord Sivaa , who destroyed the tripuraas,

lotus-born Brahmaa and the kesi hanthaaran(VishNu) known as KesavA .

 

The third salutation is : " OM vaasava ripu janakaanthakaaya nama: " .

Vaasava ripu is Indrajith , the son of RaavaNaa . Vaasavaripu janakan

is the father of Indrajith, king of Lankhaa, RaavaNan . His destroyer

(anthakan ) is the great Ramachandra . He cut off the ten heads of

RavaNaa for loka samkrakshanam

( dasa vadana sira: pankthi vicchEdakaari ) .

 

The fourth salutation is : Om Kalaadhara kaladharaapthaaya nama: " .

Thyagaraaja swami salutes Raama as the friend of the sarva

kalaadharan , Lord Sivaa , who wears the crescent moon on his

red locks . Raama is the dear friend of Lord Sivaa , who recites

the Taaraka naamam of Sri Raamaa at VaranAsi . In his two krithis ,

Intha soukhyamani (kaapi raagam ) and " SaaramEgaani

(panthuvaraaLi raagam ) " , our sadhguru refers to

the friendship between Lord Sivaa and Sri Ramachandran .

 

The fifth naamam of Raamaa saluted in the ninth charaNam

is : " Om gruNaakaraaya nama: " . The word GruNaa means

dayaa . Raaghavan is the Apaara karuNaa moorthy . He even

forgave the crow that committed apacharam to His dear consort.

 

The sixth naamam is : " Om SaraNaagatha jana paalanaaya nama: " .

After the last namaskaaram , the saraNAgatha rakshathvam

of Sri Raamaa is very much on the mind of our Sadhguru.

Hence , he salutes Raamaa here as the unfailing protector of

those, wo performed saraNAgathi at His lotus feet .

 

In the seventh namaskaaram of this charaNam , Swami

remembers the DaakshiNya paratantrathvam of Raamaa.

The salutation is : " Om SumanOramaNaaya nama: " .

Swami salutes Raamaa as the Lord , who gladdens

the minds of asritha sujanams .

 

In the next namaskaaram ( Om Nirvikaaraaya nama: ) ,

Swami recognizes and salutes Raamaa as the integrated

essence of beauty in all the three worlds ( TrilOkya SammOhanan).

He has no vikhaarams , since he has all the 32 saamudrikha

lakshaNams . The nirvikhaara aspect extends beyond the physical

beauty to His guNaas as well . The whole VaraaLi pancharathnam

is a celebration of the divine beauty of Sri Raamaa .

 

The ninth and hte last salutaiton of this charaNam is : " Om

nigama saarataraaya nama: " . This naama is also from

Sri Raama ashtOttharam. In his Nilaambhari krithi,

" Veda saara sapalani jasusu Sri Raamaa " , Swami has

explained Sri Raamachandran as the Veda saaram .

He recognizes Raamaa as the inner meaning of Vedaas

and concludes this charaNam with a prayer : " Vedaantha

vedyaa ! tvam vinaa naanyathra jaanE " .

 

THE TEN NAAMAAS OF THE TENTH CHARANAM

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When the sandhis are broken , the ten naamaas break into

the following categories :

 

1. Om aganitha guNaaya nama:

2. Om kanaka sElaaya nama:

3. Om saala vithaLanAya nama:

4. Om AruNaapa samana charaNaaya nama:

5. Om apaara mahimaadhbhuthaaya nama:

6. Om sukavijana hrudh sathanaaya nama:

7. Om sura munigaNa vihithaaya nama:

8. Om kalasa neeranidhijaa ramaNaaya nama:

9. Om paapa gaja nrusimha varaaya nama:

10. Om Thyagaraaja nuthaaya nama :

 

In the ninth charaNam , Swami saluted Sri Raamaa

with nine naamaas . Here in the tenth charaNam ,

he chose ten naamaas to offer them as naadha kusumams

at the feet of the Lord .

 

Swami has praised the limitless (aganitha) kalyaaNa

guNaas of the Lord in many of his krithis. He saluted the Lord

in the manner of Vaalmeeki : " aksharam Brahma satyam "

in his first salutation of the tenth charaNam . One such krithi praising

agaNitha kalyaaNa guNaas of the Lord is a krithi set in

Useni raagam : " Bhaja Raamam sathatham maanasa " .

Here Swami decribes some of the limitless guNaas of

Raamaa as " Amitha subhaakaram , paapa timira vibhaakaram ,

sathamaka nutha geetham , sakalaasritha paarijaatham ,

parama Kapaali vinutha suguNam , dheeram , bharitha guNa kalaapam ,

bava jalanidhi potham " and concludes by identifying Raamaa

as his Jeevaadharam .

 

The second salutation is : " Om kanaka sElaaya nama: " .

The golden peethaambharam adorning Raamaa's waist

is the object of adoration here.

 

The third naama deals with the unmatched paraakramam

of Raamaa. He used one arrow to pierce seven teak

trees (saala vrukshams) to demonstrate His prowess to

the doubting Sugreevaa . The power of Raama bhaaNam

has been praised by Swami in two of His songs .

In the Hari Kaambhoji song , he saluted Raamaa as

" Oka Maata , Oka BhaaNa , Oka pathnee vrathudu " .

Here Swami asserted that Raamaa did not need more than one arrow

to bring down His target .The second krithi is set in raagam Saaveri:

" Raama BhaNa thraaNa " . The unfailing power of the Raama

BhaaNam is saluted here . In this tenth charaNam , Swami

praises the power of the arrow that pierced the saal trees and

then returned to the arrow cage of Raamaa at the end of its

mission .

 

In the fourth naamaa , Swami saluted the soundharyam

of Raamaa: " Om AruNaapa samaana charaNaaya nama: " .

The color of the lotus feet of the Lord is compared to

the unique red color (iLam sihappu ) of AruNaa at dawn .

 

In the fifth namaskaraNam , " Om apaara mahimaa adhbuthaaya

nama: " , Sadhguru concentrates on the unmatched vaibhavam

of the Lord , which he has sung about in many of his other krithis.

I will refer to three keerthanaas of this category :

 

1. Nithya roopa yevari paandithyamEmi naduchuraa ? ( Kaapi raagam)

2. Bhaagaayanayaa nee mayalenthO , Brahmakaiana

koniyaada tarama ( Chandra Jyothi raagam )

3. Yela teliyavErO poorva karma mE laaguna jesirO

Raamayya ( Darbhaar raagam )

 

In the first krithi , Swami asks Raamaa the question like

Sri NaraayaNa Bhattadhiri did at Guruvaayoor : O Raamaa!

is it not that your power that energizes Suryan to circumambulate

Meru mountain every day ? Is it not that your power that lets

AdiseshA carry this earth on his thousand hoods ? Is it not

that your power that lets MahAdevan perform upadesam of

your Taraka naamam to the jeevans at VaraNaasi during their

last moments to reach your lotus feet at Sri Vaikuntham ?

Indeed all of these are possible because of your apaara mahima

says the Sadhguru.

 

In the Chandra Jyothi krithi he refers further to the maayaa of the Lord .

He focuses on the GeethOpadesam of the Lord on the three yogaas

to set ArjunA and us on the right track .

 

In the Darbhaar krithi , Swami salutes the paraakrama mahimaa

of the Lord that was displayed at Sitaa svaymvaram and the destruction

of RaavaNaas' powerful moola bhalam at Lankhaa single handedly .

 

The sixth namaskaaram of the tenth charaNam is : " Om sukavi jana

hrudh sathanaaya nama: " . Here Swami salutes Raaman as

the resident of the heart lotuses (uLLa thaamarai ) of

auspicious poets like Vyaasa , Paraasaraa and Vaalmeeki .

 

The seventh namaskaaram is : " Om sura muni gaNa vihithaaya nama: " .

Here , Swami introduces Raamaa as the anugraha moorthy of

the devaas and rishis . BodhEndraaL has also saluted Raama

as the swan that plays in the heart ponds of Munis:

 

" Dhyana roota muneendhra maanasa sarOhamsaaya nama: "

 

The eighth namaskaaram is : " Om kalasa Neeranidhijaa

ramaNaaya nama: " . Here , Raama is recognized as the

one , who gladdens the heart of Maha Lakshmi ( Sitaa devi ),

who arose from the milky ocean , when the Lord churned it

for amrutham .

 

The ninth namaskaraNam is " Om paapa gaja Nrusimha varaaya

nama: " . Swami points out that Raama is like the powerful lion

that destroys the the elephants ( the sins of human beings ) .

 

The tenth and final namaskaaram of the tenth and ultimate

charaNam is : " Om Thyagaraajanuthaaya nama: " . Sadhguru

swami is one of the greatest Raama bhakthaas . From dawn to

late evening , he sang about the vaibhavam of " the Veda sirO

maathruja sapthasvara naadhachala deepan " . Raamaa was

like the jaajvalya deepam on the top of the Vedic mountain made of

the seven svaraas . There was not a single day in his life that he

failed to peform his aaraadhanam of the Lord . He has declared many times

that there is no joy equal in this world to the joy of singing about Him .

In his Bilahari krithi , " Intha kannayaanandhamemi , O Raama Raama " ,

he has described the exalted state and indescribable joy of one ,

who engages in the nava bhakthi to celebrate the Lord . Like

Kulasekharaa in Mukunda malaa , Sadhguru declared that

the world and its pleasures are worthless like a speck of dust

to the Raama bhakthAs who are engaged in Raama naama japam

and Jaanaki kaantha smaraNam .

 

I will conclude this Navaaham of the Isvara samvathsaram

with two verses from another great Raama bhakthaa , BodhEndrAL ,

who preceded our sadhguru and reached Raama Saamraajyam

while doing Raama naama japam at a village few miles away from

Thiruvaiaaru :

 

Neelabhradeha ! NikilEsa ! Jagannivaasa!

RajeevanEthra ! RamaNeeya guNaabhiraama !

Sridhaama ! Daithyakula mardhana ! Raamachandra !

tvathpaadhamoolam kalayaami chitthE I

 

Dasarahta varaputhram Jaanaki sathkaLathram

Dasamukha hara daksham Padma pathraayathaaksham

Kara dhrutha sara chaapam charu mukthaa kalaapam

Raghukula nruvarENyam Raamam eedE SaraNyam II

 

Vadhadhu Vadhadhu vaaNee Raama RaamEthi nithyam

Japathu Japathu chittam Raama Paadhaaravindham I

Namathu namathu deham santhatham Raamachandram

Na bhavathu mama paapam janma janmaantharEshu II

 

Sri Raama Jayam ! Sri RaamArpaNam .

Subhamasthu ! Saanthirasthu!

Lokhaa: samasthaa: sukhinO bavanthu !

 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan