Question on Etula Brothuvo/ekAnta rAmA

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/Om namO/nArAyanAya |

 

/namskAram. One meaning of the phrase /ekAnta rAmA means lityerally "rAmA,

having a single goal or aim". It is an extremely apt phrase to describe Lord

rAmA, because His divine incarnation had only a single goal, that of putting an

end to rAvaNA, who was matchless in so many ways. He was even a very good

composer of music, and there is at least one known composition of his in praise

of Shri civA. As you know civA is not so thoughtful as mahA/vishNu as ciVA is

easily carried away by the bhaktAs. Lord vishNu, Who has the burden of running

this complex world, is ever thoughtful and extremely clever. In many ways,

rAvaNa's power and his many atrocities derive from the /varam (gift) he got from

Lord civA.

 

In spite of His /ekAntA, winning rAvaNa was no mean task for the Lord. Finally,

He had to invoke Lord Sun and assume His true potency. This /manthram or stOtram

was given to Lord rAmA by the sage agastyA as /Aditya hrudayam.

 

Of course, we use the word /ekAntam as being alone. That meaning is an

application of the expression "having a single goal". If we are single-minded in

our purpose, we, ordinary mortals, have to seek a lonely place to think, plan

and devise a means of implementation. What we call today research and

self-evaluation. I do not think there are many of us who can do research or

devise strategies without spending sometime on our own. Seminars help, but

finally /ekAntam is necessary to put it into a workable form.

 

/nalam/tarum collai nAn kaNTu/koNTEn

 

/nArAyanA ennum nAmam.

 

[ Though the discussion has been very interesting, I request members

to wind this topic down as it has to do with a Tyagaraja kirtana

and is not directly within the focus of this group. I should point

out that some Sri Vaishnava scholars are of the opinion that the

Aditya Hridayam, though a fine piece of poetry within nothing bad

per se in it, is an interpolation in Valmiki's Ramayana for contextual

reasons. -- Moderator ]