ThiruveLLUr Kaimkaryam: SapthAham --Third day

[Guest guest]

Dear Raama BhakthAs :

 

The date of July 6 , ThiruveLLUr MahA samprOkshaNam day

is fast approaching . I have received as of now pledges

of $450 from 8 BhakthAs . We are now at the level of 10% neeeded

to meet the short fall . Hence I plead with you all to

come forth and participate in this MahA Kaimkaryam and

receive the Divya Dampathi's blessings on this singularly

auspicious occasion and the MahA prasaadhams that Bhaktha

SironmaNi Sri K.G. KrishNan has pledged to send to the

participants .

 

Raghuveera Gadhyam and Sri Veeraraagahvan

*******************************************

 

During the December 1996 period , I covered

a significant portion of the tributes of Swami

Desikan to the unparalleled valour and parAkramam

of Sri VeerarAghavan. These postings are available

in the Bhakthi archives of December 1996 .

Sri VeerarAghavan , who became Sri Vijayaraaghavan by

destroying the evil RaavaNA has been saluted by

Sawmi Desikan in his ParamAtrtha sthuthi .

 

Srimadh VaalmIki RaamAyaNam & Sri VeerarAghavan

************************************************

Sri RaamachandrA's prowess has been displayed

right from the 12th year of His avathAram , when He

accompanied Sage VisvAmithrA to SiddhAsramam .

There , he defended the special Yaagam of Sage ViswamithrA

with Kodhandam in His hands ( KodhandI kousikasya

krathu varam avithum yAtha abhU : ). There , He broke

the evil TaatakA into two with the power of His arrows .

 

He travelled form there to King Janaka's court and

without effort bent and broke the mighty Siva Dhanus

and won the hand of SitA piraati in marriage . On the way

home from the wedding celebrations , He encountered

the haughty Sage ParasurAmA and subdued him .

 

After leaving AyOdhyA to obey His father's pledge to

KaikEyi , He entered the forest and destroyed

the fierce RaakshasAs , Karan , DhUshaNan , Trisiras

and 14,000 other RaakshasAs , who came to attack Him

single handedly . He lost SitA due to a trick by MaarIcha

and destroyed latter . After the trecherous and deceitful

act of the cowardly RaavaNA , Veera Raaghavan established

friendship with SugreevA and HanUmaan and killed

the mighty Vali , who had offended Sugreeva by stealing

his wife .

 

VeerarAghavan assembled an army of Monkeys , bears ,

built a bridge over the ocean to cross over

and proceeded to LankhA to fulfill His avathAra goals .

The entire Yuddha KhAndham is a vast treasure house describing

the matchless bravery of Veeraraaghavan .Adhi Kavi

VaalmIki has 128 sargams in the Yuddha KhAndam . In the 59th

sargam , RaavaNA meets face to face with VeerarAghavan and

gets a taste of the power of the Raaama BhaaNams . ValmIki

salutes Veeraraghavan here as "sathya Paraakrama: " to

emphaisze the Valour of Sri RaamA rooted in Righteousness.

In the battle that ensued , Veeraraaghavan humiliated RaavaNA

by overpowering him and as a great One advised RaavaNA

that He will not kill him that day , when he was exhausted .

The chivalrous Veerarghavan bid RaavaNA to retire to his

home , rest and come back next day to fight with him:

 

" tasmAth ParisrAntha ithi vyavasya na tvAm

sarair mruthyu vasam nayAmi "

 

( Oh RaavaNA ! You have fought well today . Knowing

that you have been fully exhausted by these efforts ,

I shall not put you under the sway of death with

my fierce arrows now ) .

 

The humiliated RaavaNA sent his brother , KumbhakarNA

to fight VeerarAghavan the next day . In a mighty battle

that ensued , VeerarAghavan tore off the arms and legs

of KumbhakarNA and cut off his head with IndrAsthram .

The collosal ogre fell into the sea like a mountain .

RaavaNA lamented over the death of his formidable brother .

 

In the ninty ninth sargam , the mighty batle between

VeerarAghavan and RaavaNA is described by Adhi kavi .

This description of the fierce battle is carried

over to the 108th sargam , where RavaNA is killed by

the greatest parAkramasAli , VeerarAghavan .

 

ValmIki describes this battle without any parallel

as " Raama RaavaNayOr Yuddham Raama RaavaNayOriva " .

RaavaNA's charioteer saves the life of his king by

whisking him off the battle field to protect him

from the Raama BhANams . Sage AgasthyA advises

VeerarAghavan to recite Aadhithya Hrudhaya SthOthram

to gain victory over RaavaNA .

 

The fierceness of the arrow that left the powerful bow of

VeerarAghavan and destroyed RaavaNA is described by ValmIki

this way :

 

sa VisrutO mahAvEga: sarIrAnthakara: para :

bibhEdha hrudhayam tasya RaavaNasya DhurAthmana:

 

(Meaning ) : As soon as released , the arrow , which was

endowed with terrific velocity and capable of putting an

end to the enemy's body , pierced the heart of the notorious

and evil-minded RaavaNA .He fell to the ground and the arrow

reentered VeerarAghavan's quiver after performing its task nobly.)

 

Celestial drums were sounded by the DevAs and pushpa vrushti

fell from the skies . The assembled Gods and sages watching

this fierce battle shouted , " Bravo , Bravo ! Well Done ! "

Sri Raamachandran became the RaNa Pungavan and shone like

the Sun in a cloudless sky .

 

Swami Desikan paid his tribute to the Raghuveeran

this way in Sri Raghuveera Gadhyam :

 

sitha Sara Krutha lavana Dasamukha mukha dasaka

nipathana punarudhaya dahara gaLitha janitha dhara taraLa

harihaya nayana naLinavana ruchi kachitha kathala

nipathitha surataru kusuma vithathi surabhitha Ratha patha !

Sri RaamabhadrA! Jaya ! jaya !

 

Saint ThyagarAjA swooned over the thought about

the power of Raama BhaaNam ( arrows of RaamA ) .

In his saavEri krithi , he saluted those matchless

and never-failing arrows of VeerarAghavan this way :

 

Raama BhaaNa thrANa souryamEmani dElupudhurA Oh ManasA

( Oh My mind ! How can I describe the saving valour

of RaamA's arrow , the arrow that kileld the army

of RaavaNA , who desired SitA ( BhaamA kaasaBatu Raavana

mUlabhalamula NElagula jEyu ) .

 

In his beautiful HusEni Raaga Krithi , " Raghuveera

RaNadheera " , The bard of ThiruvayyAru saluted

the valour of VeerarAghavan in the batlefield :

 

" Come Oh ! Hero of the Raghus , valorous in battle !

the destroyer of ParasurAmA's pride , the prop of (all)

Gods! an Indra , who destroys the mountains of RaavaNA ,

KumbhakarNa and Indrajith ! You who are of the form of

the static and the moving , You who abide in the heart of

ThyagarAjA ! ( RaavaNa gatakarNa BhalarAthi Ripunaga nagAri!

SthAvara Jangama rUpa! ThyagarAja HrucchAri , Raghuveera !

RaNa dheera raa raa RaajakumArA ! )

 

This VeerarAghavan is going to enjoy His MahA

SamprOkshaNam on July 6 , the day of Nathamuni's

Thirunakshathram at ThiruveLLUr .

 

Please join in this kaimkaryam and pledge your

support . May the Divya Dampathi's continued blessings

be with You all , who already enjoy His anugraha Balam .

Fifty Dollars is not much for us in this country .

You are welcome to give more like some of the BhakthAs

have already done .these funds as you know go a long way

to fill the gaps in Kaimkaryam set for July 6 .

Please come forward and help .

Thanks in advance to You all !

 

I will cover AzhwAr's anubhavam of the Valour of

Sri VeerarAghavan in the remaining postings

associated with the SapthAham .

 

Sri Kanakavalli SamEtha Sri VeerarAghava SwaminE Nama:

 

Oppilaippan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs of Sri Veeraraghavan :

 

I am very happy to share with you the note

from Sri Rangaswamy with his permission .

 

It is so wonderful to listen to this

magnificient KathA sangraham .

Please contact Sri Rangaswamy

incase you might wish to acquire

this text for PaarAyaNam .

 

Thank you Sri Rangaswami for your

generous offer to share this sthuthi .

 

V.Sadagopan

>Return-Path: rangaswamy_m

>X-Originating-IP: [198.151.159.54]

>"muralidhar rangaswamy" <rangaswamy_m

>sgopan

>Re: ThiruveLLUr Kaimkaryam: SapthAham --Third day

>Wed, 01 Jul 1998 06:06:38 PDT

>

>

>

>Dear Sri Sadagopan,

>

>Your note on the light of the Ikshvaku dynasty, inspired me to

>share a few thoughts on the Ramayana Katha Sangraha. This is a

>prose summary of the Valmiki Ramayana. It is divided into

>two parts. The first part covers instances from the Ramayana until

>Bharata's SharaNagati. The remainder of the Ramayana is covered in

>the second part.

>

>The Katha Sangraha extols Rama- the supreme righteous warrior

>(Satya Parakrama), the epitome of truth (this mirrors Swami Desikan's

>Dashavatara Stotram salutation "DharmO VigrahavAn"), his eternal

>association with Sita Piratti (this is described in the salutations

>"Nityam PrANa SamAhita" and "SitApyanugatA Ramam Shashinam RohinI

>Yatha"), the embodiment of KalyaNa Gunams (TvamEvam GuNa Sampannam is

>the salutation referring to this aspect), firm and unflinching desire to

>uhold his father's promise (Sa Satya VachanAt Raja Dharma PashEna

>Samyyata: is the Katha Sangraha salutation. This is closely related

>to Swami Desikan's Mahavira Vaibhavam salutation "Pitru Vachana

>Palana Pratijna VagnyAta YouvvarAjya") and Bharata's SharaNagati

>at the Lotus feet of the Lord (the saltuation "PadhukE ChAsya RAjyAya

>NyAsam Dattva Punah Punaha" reflects the Mahavira Vaibhavam salutation

>message "PadhukAgriyAbisheka Nirvartita Sarva Loka Yogakshema").

>

>I can make available part 1 of the Katha Sangraha for those desirous

>of engaging in a Parayanam.

>

>Best Wishes,

>

>Muralidhar Rangaswamy

>

>

>____

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>