Sri U.Ve.VeLukkudi KrishNan Swamy's UpanyAsam on Srimath RaamAyana TanislOki: Part II

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Srimath KrishNa samAhvAya namO Yaamuna SoonayE

Yath KatAkshaika LakshyANaam Sulabha: Sridhara: SadhA

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

Sri KrishNan Swamy commented extensively on the deeper

meanings of the follwing SlOkam along the lines of

the commentary of Swamy PeriyavAcchAn PiLlai:

 

" aham vEdhmi MahAthmAnam Raamam Sathya-parAkramam

VasishTOpi MahAtEjA yE chEme tapasi shtithA:"

---Baala KhANDam: 19th sargam, 14th Slokam

 

(meaning):Oh DasarathA ! I fully comprehend Raaman

as the greatest of Souls and as the most valorous

and righteous One . Sage VasishtA of great lustre

due to his superior penance and others like him in

Your court also understand these qualifications of

Your young son , Raaman .

 

The depth of meanings of the first three words

(aham vEdhmi MahAthmAnam ) alone took an hour and

half to cover . Here is a brief summary of

the covered material:

 

Brahma Rishi VisvAmithra arrives at Emperor

Dasarathan's court to request Sri Ramaa's help

to protect a visEsha Yaagam at His Aasramam

from the marauding RaakshasAs , who were bent on

preventing that Yaagam from being completed.

Sage VisvAmithrar pointedly did nor seek

the great warrior Dasarathan's help , but

asked for the help of his young son .

 

Sri Raaman is not even Sixteen in age and

the concerned Dasarathan in his role as a

doting father is of firm mind that his son

Raaman is too young and inexperienced to handle

the onerous task of fighting with the powerful

RaakshasAs and protect the Yaagam. Sage VisvAmithrA

rejects the arguments of Dasarathan by pointing out

that he (VisvAmithrar) understands fully well

the sathya-parAkramam (unfailing valour ),

the Veeryam (heroism)and indisputable glories of

Raamachandran and His Yogyathai (credentials/

qualifications ) to handle the task at hand.

Sage VisvAmithrar states that few more in DasarathA's

court have the same understanding of the valour

and power of Raaman and can attest to that .

He says that the IshvAku Kula Guru, Sage

VasishtA of austere penance and few other

Maharishis of great spiritual accomplishments

comprehend fully well the true power and strength

of Raaman to serve as the protector of his Yaj~nam.

 

Commentary on "Aham vEdmi Raamam"

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

Swamy Periya VaacchAn PiLLai intreprets

the words of Sage ViswAmithrA (aham Vedhmi)

in eleven different ways to help the confused

Dasarathan understand that he alone does not

comprehend the fitness (yogyathi) and capabiliites

of Raaman to acheive victory in the task of

protecting the Yaj~nam. The reasons that Sage

ViswaamithrA adduces to proove his competence

in the rightful comprehension of Raaman's

glories are :

 

(1) Oh DasarathA ! I grasp the glories of Raaman

with my inner eye (uttkkaNN) .You fail because of

your use of the physical eye (veLikkaNN) as

the tool for your comprehension.

 

(2) Oh DasarathA! I who has sat at the feet of

many AchAryAs comprehend the glories of Raaman,

whereas you, who is saluted by common folks

can not understand such glories of your son.

 

(3)Oh DaasarathA ! I who hold the sacred grass

(kusa dharbha dharan )in my hand can understand

clearly the Vaibhavam and parAkramam of Raaman ,

where as you holding a bow in your hand can not

understand them.

 

(4)Oh DasarathA! I with matted hair on my head

can understand the prabhAvam of Raaman, whereas

you with a crown on your head can not understand

Raaman's greatness.

 

(5)Oh DasarathA ! I of saathvika nature can comprehend

the glories of Raaman , whereas you of raajasic nature

can not understand the supermacy of Raaman.

 

(6)Oh DasarathA! I who sat few steps below

the aasanam of my AchAryan with revenrence and

modesty can understand the satya paraakramam

and Vaibhavam of Raaman , whereas you, who sit

high up on your throne haughtily can not comprehend

the glories of your son .

 

(7)Oh DasarathA ! I who follow the path of Yogam

can fully understand the glories of Raaman , whereas

you who chase bhOgam can not understand this.

 

(8)Oh DasarathA! I who performed Moksha KaamEshti

Yaagam ( a Yaagam to earn Moksham ) can understand

clearly the Vaibhavam of Raaman, whereas you

who performed puthra KaamEshti yaagam (a yaagam

for the boon of progeny) can not understand

his glories.

 

(9)Oh DasarathA! I who is involved with

the pursuit of Dharma-Moksha PurushArtham

can unmistakably understand the true glories of

Raaman , whereas you who is involved with

the pursuit of artha-kaama purushArthams can not.

 

(10)Oh DasarathA! I who learnt with great effort ,

the svarUpa and svabhAva lakshaNams of Isvaran

from great AchAryAs can relate to the vaibhavam of

Raaman ,whereas you who have not bent your head

in front of an AchAryan to learn these

tattvams and think of yourself as a sarvaj~nan

(who understands every thing) can not comprehend

the glories of Raaman.

 

(11)Oh DasarathA ! I who is engaged in

the understanding of the ParamAthmA through

veda sabdham , Yaj~nam and imperishable tapas

can understand the Veeryam ,Sathya ParAkramam

and Vaibhavam of Raaman ,whereas you who are

involved in such efforts can not comprehend

the greatness of your son , Raaman.After these

strenous efforts involving Vadam , Yaj~nam and

Tapas , I say confidently to you (DasarathA)

"aham Vedmi Raamam mahAthmAnam Sathya parAkramam ".

 

The commetary on the word "MahAthmAnam "

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

 

Dasarathan now intervenes and asks:

Oh Sage VisvAmithrA ! You say my son

Raaman , who is only twelve now is a MahAthmA .

What are your reasons to recognize Him

as a great soul ?

 

Sage ViswAmithran cites ten reasons

for recognizing and saluting Raaman

as a MahAthman as response to the chastised

DasarathA's question. Sri VeLukkudi Swamy

quoted extensively from ThiruvAimozhi ,

Upanishads and AchArya Sri Sookthis as

he commented on the individual reasons

for Sage ViswAmithrA's deduction that Raaman

is a MahAthman and not a twelve year old prince .

The ten reasons are:

 

(1)AathmA -Jeeavn: He is SarvAthma SarIri ;

He is the aathman for sarva aathmAs (YasyAthmA

sarIram; ya: aathmani thishtannAthmanOanthara:).

 

(2)AathmA-Dhruthi or Dhairyam: He is a MahAthman

because of His superior dhairyam (Courage).

Even in the most dangerous times ,He stands firm

and undistracted to accomplish His task . I recognize

Raaman as a Mahaathman for His matchless dhairyam.

 

(3)AathmA-dEham: He has a dEham , which is eternal

and imperishable (saathvatham) ; that dEham of His

is blemishless and has svayam jYothi (maasuNAcchudar-

udampu described by NammAzhwAr in ThiruvAimozhi).

This dEham has also been saluted as : nithya Niravadhya

niradhisaya oujvalya Vigraham .It is not made of

prAkruthic materials.That is why I (ViswAmitharn)

consider Raaman as a MahAthman.

 

(4) AathmA-SvabhAvam:He is MahAthmA since He has

stated that it is His vratham to save all , who

seek His protection. He is MahAthmA because He

has described His vrutthi ( calling) as "PaasupAlyam"

( protection of chEthanams in danger ). Aasritha

RakshaNa svabhAvam and aanrusamsyam (Krupai) are

cited by Swamy PVP as the reason for MahAthmA

nature of Raaman.

 

(5) AathmA-ParamAthmA: Here Sri KrishNan Swamy

used the ThiruvAimozhi passage:"OtthAr mikkArai

ilayAya MaamAmAyA " to illustrate the MahAthmA

nature of Raaman. adiyEn was thrilled to hear

the reference to my Kula Dhaivam , TannappOrillappan,

ThiruviNNagarAn by Sri KrishNan Swamy here.Raamn

exemplifies the dictum , "YasmAth param

naaparamasthi kimchith ". There is no equal to

Him or superior to Him. Hence , He is a MahAthman.

 

(6) AathmA-Yathnam: AathmA is Yathnam ,

Prayathnam and UthsAham . Raaman is the embodiment

of MahA Yathnam , MahA UthsAham in Saadhu RakshaNam

and dhushta nigraham. Hence , Raaman is a MahAthman.

 

Swamy Periya VaacchAn PiLLai goes on to give

four more reasons behind the recognition of Raaman

as the MahAthman . The recognition of Raaman as

Sooryan , Agni , Buddhi and Vaayu are the additional

reasons adduced .

 

These additional desiderata for the recognition

of Raaman as the MahAthman will be covered by

Sri VeLukkudi KrishNan Swamy along with other

Saakshis , who can support his(ViswAmithrar's)

assessment of Raaman as MahAthmA in the second

upanyAsam tomorrow.

 

Swamy Periya VaacchAn ThiruvadigaLE saraNam,

Daasan,Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan