sri rama sthuthi- post 2

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Vaishnava perunthagaiyeer,

 

We saw in post 1 vaali the anti-hero saw the raama naamam in the arrow,

which pierced his chest and made him fall down. The raama naama mahimai was

dealt with in the points 1 to 5 as addendum to that kamban's verse of

"mummai saal". Continuing the points on the raama naama mahimai,

 

Point 6: "raama ennum thanip perum padham"- let us see the specialty of this

coinage. This word padham has 4 meanings.

Padham- sol- word- raama ennum sol

Padham- pakkuvam -suitability- maturity- ripe - eligibility

Padham - paadham- foot - thiruvadi to say respectfully

Padham- nilai- status- elevation- position

 

For this "raama ennum thanip perum padham" each of the 4 meanings for padham

are fully apt and we will see how it is.

 

a. raama ennum thanip perum padham- the word raama is so sweet. Swami

bhadhraachala raama dhaasar [bR] has a krithi in raaga poorvi kalyaani

starting -

"oh raama nee naamam Emi ruchiraa

sree raama nee naamam Emi ruchiraa"

 

meaning: Oh, sree raama! what a taste is in your name- [means I can

only enjoy the taste but could not describe how it is, whether that is for

the tongue or for ear etc -the plain absolute taste].

 

[Vidhvaan late Madurai Somasundaram made this song very famous.

Whenever he sings this song, he will stop in the course of singing with

choked voice, shed few tears on the taste of the music and the lyrics, then

continue the song. This will make the rasikas also shed tears - that is his

sam-geetham - sangeetham- music. Perhaps our Dr.V.S. can vouch this aspect

on this krithi]

 

In another krithi same BR sings (krithi in raaga aanandha bhairavi -

pallavi is raama naamamE jeevanamu) the second line is

Raama naama sudhaa madhuramu adhi Emaraka bhajiyinchu maakika

Meaning: raama naamam is very sweet like nectar, praise, utter or

chant the naamam without any let up in the chanting.

 

In these two krithis it is clear the naamam is sweet, but not very

clear whether it is very sweet to tongue or ears.

 

See 69th verse of naanmugan thiruvandhaathi -

Sevikku inbam aavadhuvum sengaN maal naamam

puvikkum puvi adhuvE kaNdeer- kavikku

niRaip poruLaai ninRaanai nErpattEn paarkkil

maRaip poruLum aththanaiyE thaan

 

meaning: The name of thirumal - peyar- naaraayaNa dhivya naamam is

sweet to the ears. The food for the gourmet is also same. The earth's

support is also the same naamam. When you want to write poems, that naamam

is the base on which you can frame your poems. That person who has such a

namam I met. Then I realised all the vEdhaas are that naamam only.

 

Aazhvaar simply puts out the naamam is sweet to the ears, the food

for the connoisseur is also his naamam only. [puvi is bhuji in samskrit - in

tamil pu and bhu are same]. All the vEdhaas are also same naamam.

Such a sweet raama ennum semmai sEr naamam thannaik vaali kaNgaLil

theriyak kaNdaan.

 

b. raama ennum thanip perum padham nalgum thanip perum padham - that

word raama will give the unique pakkuvam- ripeness or maturity. The naama

uttered continuously by a person- he gets the ripeness - maturity to become

a thamar- an anbar- lovable person- raama naama japam brings a

transformation in the person- he starts loving others and others too start

loving him.

 

See 44th verse of mudhal thiruvandhaathi

Thamar uganthadhu ev vuruvam av vuruvam thanE

Thamar uganthadhu eppEr maRRu appEr thamar ugandhu

EvvaNNam sinthiththu imaiyadhu irupparE

AvvaNNam aazhiyaanaam -

 

Now read the first and second line- thamar- the bhakthaa- how they like the

lord, how he wants the lord, in that way the lord changes himself - to that

roopam (shape), that name, that colour etc. When he can change as his

bhaakthaa pleases, will not the bhaktha change after seeing the lord. Oh

what an amount of easiness (soulabhyam) the lord gives his bhakthaas. So

raama naama automatically gives that pakkuvam- padham- thanip perum padham.

 

That such a naamam was seen by vaali in that arrow. AppEr ev vaNNam av

vaNNam aazhiyaan- the rama naamam transformed vaali- started thinking on

the naamam- sinthiththu imaiyaadhu- started praising the Lord- raama sthuthi

by vaali which is our topic.

 

Incidentally a "sevi vazhi kadhai"- tale heard somewhere- whether it has a

basis in bhagavatham etc or not, I can not say. It runs like this. [You can

decide to take it, if you like, or leave it].

 

Sri krishna wanted to show how great a bhakthaa is Hanumaan to his consort

rukmiNi. He invited hanumaan to visit him. But hanumaan refused saying "I am

worshipping my raamaa, that is enough for me. I am not interested in seeing

krishna". But the person who went to invite said "oh hanumaan, he is the

lord raama himself having come here now in this krishna avathaaram" etc.

After much persuasion hanumaan agreed to visit krishna. When he came to

krishna bhavanam, krishna was ready at the door step to receive him with

rukmiNi. What hanumaan saw at the doorstep was raama and seetha standing at

the entrance. Next minute scene changed. Krishna and rukmiNi were standing

there, to receive hanumaan. This scene changing went on for a while till

hanumaan realised raama and krishna are one and same. The palace was filled

with raama naamam instead of krishna naamam.

 

After the athithi pooja and bhOjanam etc by krishna and rukmiNi, hanumaan

returned to his place. Then rukmiNi started cleaning the place where

hanumaan stayed, seated etc. But the raama naamam was still heard by

rukmiNi. She was wondering where from this come. After a lot of search she

found a hair of hanumaan lying there and that is the cause of that raama

naama hearing by rukmiNi. She felt ashamed about what she was thinking

earlier [that she is the great servant of the lord and always thinking of

him]. When a small hair that too after falling from body also still recite

the naamam, means what about that great soul which had a number of many such

hairs, besides a great mind to utter the naamam.

 

That is raama naama mahimai. From this 3 lessons are for us.

1. Firm belief on one's ishta dhEivam.

2. How Lord changes according to his bhakthaas' will and wish.

3. When a parama bhaagavathaa leaves the house allow that eerie to be

there for a long time and do not clean the house immediately.

 

c. "raama ennum thanip perum padham"- feet of that exalted raama- the

feet which walked in the forest, without even a paadhukai - to give vaali

that perum padham- the feet themselves- asylum- thiruvadi charaNam- maam

Ekam charaNam vraja- mokshayishayaami.

 

This padham -feet and sol- word are combined in that beautiful 26th

thirumaalai paasuram of thoNdar adip podi aazhvaar

 

POdhellaam pOdhu konDu un ponnadi punaiya maattEn -- en seivaan

thOnRinEnE!

 

POdhu- time- samayam- kaalam - vELai- paruvam

POdhu- moggu- the bud of a flower about to blossom

Pon adi- poRpaadham - golden feet-

Pon adi- pon pOnRa kavi - poem which is worth millions for each

words- means that much beautiful poem

 

Meaning: I will not bow my head to your golden feet uttering that

golden raama naamam. Neither I will worship the golden feet with beautiful

flowers. Nor I will compose a poem with golden words using your naamam. Oh

what a useless birth - janma - I have.

 

Once this realisation comes immediately the status is elevated to

that of a thamar. See the adi - padham has both meanings, and enjoy the

raama naamam.

 

d. padham - status- nilai.

The raama naamam gives such a status to the person who utters. See

periyaazhvaar in 2-6-9 who usually sings krishna but here raama.

Min ilangu pooN vibeedaNa nambikku en ilangu naamaththu aLavum arasu enRa

Min alankaaraRkku oru kOl koNdu vaa, vEnkadavaaNaRku oru kOl koNdu vaa.

 

En naamam ilangum aLavum unakku arasu- a boon granted by raama. When is

that the raama naamam going to die, so that vibheeshaNan going to loose his

kingdom- NOT AT ALL. So vibheeshNan is a permanent king and also a

chiranjeevi. Because he utters raama naamam, did charaNam to that feet-

padham solluvadhaal- padham vaNangiyadhaal intha nilai- status.

 

Such a "padham" vaali "kaNgaLil theriyak kaNdaan".

 

Again since the post has become long, I stop here and continue few more

points before we really take up vaali sthuthi.

 

Dhaasan

 

Vasudevan M.G.