sri rama navami- rama sthuthi - 13

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri vaishnava perunthagaiyeer,

 

In the earlier post, the highlight of viraadha sthuthi of the supreme Lord

raamaa was expressing gratitude to bhoodhEvi. This is so, because that is

the route, by which, he is released from this world of births and deaths

[lakshmaNa digging a pit, raamaa pushing viraadhan into the pit so that

viraadhan will die in the lap of mother earth or bhoodhEvi. Those who joined

this series in the middle, please refer part 1]. This praise to mother earth

also came as an indirect question to the Lord, "if you favour bhoodhEvi like

this, will mahalakshmi not get angry with you, oh lord". Kamban's poetry is

adik karumbu- sugarcane at the route - the more you munch the more you

realise the sweetness.

 

Now the next verse.

Meyyaith thaan siRidhu uNarnthu nee vidhiththa mannuyirgaL

Uyyaththaan aagaathO? Unakku enna kuRai uNdO?

Vaiyaththaar vaanaththaar mazhuvaaLikku anRu aLiththa

Iyaththaal siRidhu iyam thavirththaarum uLar iyaa!

 

Word by word meaning for few words:

Mey- udambu- body

Mey- uNmai - sathyam - truth

Vidhiththa- created, assigned, destined, conditioned

Mazhu- the spear like tool to kill

Mazhu aaLi- one who wields the tool called mazhu- paramasivan- because he

has the tool called mazhu -

aiyam - santhEgam- doubt

aiyam- pichchai- begging [ in aaththich choodi by ouvvaiyaar the sentence

for the letter I the line is aiyam ittu uN- pichchai pOttu vittu pin

saappidu- what in samskrit is athithi samskaaram - first feed the poor and

then you get fed]

 

Meaning: Oh, supreme lord raamaa! These human folk creations of you, are not

realising you are the supreme lord (parama purushan) and not thus seeking

you. By making them realise this, what is that you are going to loose? So

why not make them realise. That paramasivan who weilds the weapon mazhu (a

three legged split at one end, the other enda simple straight edge- iron

tool -soolam) was given release from begging for food, by you, the supreme

Lord. This also cleared the doubts of some (people and dhEvaas) on who is

the supreme lord, because others failed to give relief and only you could

give that. So why not show your grace and release these creations.

 

Points: 1. Please note here that one realised soul (viraadhan) pleads to the

Lord, for other souls, requesting the Lord to shower his grace on all

equally. That is the quality of these realised souls. Viraadhan was a killer

and even caused trouble to that very same Lord [before realisation] raama

seethaa and lakshmaNa. But once realised about the supreme lord and his

grace, now he pleads for others. Thus he has become an aachaarya.

 

2. In the previous two verses sridhEvi and bhoodhEvi are praised and by

that viraadhan has ensured any further pleas to the lord will surely have

the dhEvees' recommendations. Piraatiyai munnittuk koNdu perumaaLidam pOga

vENum- pleading to the Lord with the recommendation of the piraatty.

 

3. See the command in "Unakku enna kuRai uNdO?" It is not only pleading but

asking as a matter of right. aaNdaaL has described him "kuRai onRum illadha

gOvindhaa" in 28th pasuram and then seeks the paRai, iRaivaa nee thaaraai

paRai. Here viraadhan got the liberation, got the paRai first, and then

seeks paRai, blessings for others.

 

4. This kamban's "mannuyirgaL uyyaththaan aagaadhO unakku enna kuRai uNdO"

is a question raised later, since answer is already available in nam

aazhvaar's verse 4- 10- 6. If every body is liberated then there is no more

ulagu is the answer from aazhvaar. For this sake, the maayan keeps playing

on people.

pORRi maRROr dheivam pENap puRaththittu ummai yinnE

thERRi vaiththa thelleerum veedu peRRaal ulagu illai anRE

sERRil sennel kamalam Ongu thiruk kurugoor adhanuL

aaRRvallavan maayam kaNdeer adhu aRinthu aRinthu OduminE

 

Meaning: Oh folks, do not have any doubts. That supreme Lord of thiruk

kuruhoor can liberate all at a time. But due to his maayam he makes you to

seek others [demigods and other people] and thereby binds you here in this

world. If this is not done then there is no world. So realise that it is his

maayam. Realise that seek him alone.

 

Actually ulagu is given a meaning of saasthram. Then the saasthram becomes a

lie for it says human folks have to live through the results of their good

and bad actions (puNNiyam and paapam) in this karma bhoomi. So his maayam

keeps binding and so seek him and himalone so that realisation is

materialised. Is this not an answer to kamban's question.

 

This viraadhan's question also has a direct answer like reference in

baghavath geetha ch7 - verse 14

Dhaivee: yEshaa guNamayee mama maayaa Dhurathyayaa!

MaamEvayE prapaDhyanthE maayaa mEdhaam tharanthi thE!! "It is my maayaa, the

people of wisdom mEdhaa never leaves me and surrender to me alone".

 

5. What that "mei uNarnthavargaL" realised souls, will do is also given in

another beautiful verse.

Kaappu maRanthaRiyEn kaNNanE enRu iruppan

Aappu angu ozhiyavum pal uyirkkum aakkai

Koduththu aLiththa kOnE guNap paranE unnai

VidaththuNiyaar mei theLinthaar thaam. 93 naanmugan thiruvanthaadhi

 

Meaning: Oh, my supreme Lord kaNNaa [krishna], the king who gave this body

to me and all, the embodiment of all good characteristics [guNap paranE-

this is a very special coinage of words], those who have realised you are

the supreme lord will not dare and think of leaving you. They will just be

living leaving everything to kaNNan and his protection.

 

Please see lines kaappu maRanthu aRiyEn, vidath thuNiyaar- just even think

of leaving that krishna.

 

6. In early times sivan and brahma both had 5 heads. To avoid confusion

sivan plucked out one head from brahma's head. That got stuck to his hand

(brahmahaththi dhOsham). To get rid of this sivan tried all ways and means

but it did not go. The solution offered to sivan was to beg his food using

that kapaalam (maNdai Odu) as the container. Who ever gives food so that the

kapaalam is full then automatically the kapaalam will leave the hand of

sivan. He begged to all. But only when he came to naaraayaNan [Thirumaal] he

offered food saying akshayyam into the kapaalam. It got filled and left

sivan's hand. So the Lord only can give relief in such hard circumstances.

The 3rd and 4th lines of kamban here describe this episode.

 

Few references in 4000 prabhandham on this episode are

PEsa ninRa sivanukkum biraman thanakkum piRarkkum

naayagan avanE kabaala nan nOkkaththuk kaNdukoNmin - nammzhvaar

 

PiNdiyaar maNdai Enthi piRar manai thirinthu uNNum

muNdiyaan saabham theerththa oruvan oor-

kuRunthaaNdagam - 19 thirumangai aazhvaar

 

Venthaar enbum suduneeRum meyyil poosi kaiyagaththu or

santhaar thalai koNdu ulagu Ezhum thiriyum periyOn thaan senRu en

enthaai saabham theer enna-1-5-8 thirumangai aazhvaar periya thirumozhi

 

Vaanaar madhi podhiyum sadai mazhu vaaLiyodu orupaal

Thaanaagiya thalaivan avan amararkku adhipathiyaam- 7-9-4 thirumangai

aazhvaar periya thirumozhi

 

MEl naanmugan aranaiyittaa vidu saabham than naaraNan ozhiththaan - 31

naanmugan thiruvanthaathi

 

Before we conclude this post the next verse-

Annam aai aru maRaigaL aRainthaai nee, avai unnai

Munnam aar Odhuviththaar ellaarum mudinthaarO

Pinnam aai onRu aadhal pirinthEyO? PiriyaadhO?

Enna maa maayam ivai Enam aai maN idhanthaai!

 

Dhaasan Vasudevan M.G.