Thiruvaheendhrapuram RathnAngi Kaimkaryam Special: Part 193/Sundara KahANDam/2004 SrI Raama Navami Series :Third Posting .

[Guest guest]

SrI Raama Jayam

 

RaamAya RaamabhadrAya RaamachandrAya vEdhasE

RaghunATAya NaaTAya SeethAyA: PathayE nama:

 

Dear Raama BhakthAs:

 

Sundara KaaNDam has 2874 slOkams housed in 68 Sargams.

With the 121 slOkmas of PattAbhishEka Sargam , the nine days"

PaarAyaNam of Sundara KaaNDam comes to 2995 slOkams

of the set of the total 24,000 slOkmas of SrImath RaamAyaNam

of Sage ValmIki ( 12.48% of the total).

 

For us to plan our PaarAyaNam time schedules ,

here is the breakdown by the number of slOkams

for the nine days:

 

First Day: Sargams 1-5 : 375 SlOkams

 

Second Day: Sargams 6-15: 440 SlOkams

 

Third Day: Sargams 16-20 : 154 SlOkmas

 

Fourth Day : Sargams 21-26 : 216 SlOkmas

 

Fifth Day : Sargams 27-33 ; 201 SlOkams

 

Sixth Day : Sargams 34-40 : 390 SlOkams

 

Seventh Day: Sargams 385 SlOkmas

 

Eighth Day : Sargams : 53-60 : 460 SlOkams

 

Ninth Day: Sargams 61-68 :374 ( 253 SlOkams + 121 PattAbhishEka SlOkams)

 

Please pace yourself for Days 1, 2 , 6 , 7 , 8 and 9 , when the slOkams to be

recited are more than Three Hundred and Fifty .

 

Observations from Today's PaarAyaNam ( Sargams 1-5)

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Reflections on Sargam 1:

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At the end of KishkindhA kaaNDam , the King of Bears ,

JaambhavAn reminded AnjanEyar about His prowess and that cheered

the mind of HanUmAn to engage in the mighty jump over the ocean

to search for SithA Devi in LankApuri.

 

The first slOkam of Sunndara KaaNDam starts therefore with the word :

"TathO " . That means , thereafter . HanUmAn was now all set to start on

His jump over the broad & deep ocean , which many could not even

dream about attempting. Sage ValmIki describes this effort of HanUmAn

as " Dhushkaram and Nishprathidhvandvam " ( Unattainable by others and

matchless).

 

The Preparations of HanUmAn

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

HanUmAn arrived on top of MahEndhra Parvatham , offered His salutations to

the DevAs , His Father ( Vaayu BhagavAn) for success in the Raama Kaayam .

He grew now in to a gigantic proportion , planted His feet and hands firmly on

the mountain to push against it to gain velocity and momentum. Many slOkams

of this sargam describe this gigantic effort of HanUmAn in preparing

for the leap over the ocean and its impact on the residents of the mountain

(Trees , animals , GandharvAs , VidhyAdharAs , Maharishis ) . HanumAn's

tail was lifted up like a victory post for the mission that He was undertaking.

The winds generated from HanUmAn's supersonic speed agitated the waters

of the ocean and made the denizens of the ocean terror-stricken.

 

Hospitality offered by MainAka Mountain

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

As HanUmAn rode the sky , the King of Oceans asked the golden peaked

MainAka Parvatham to come out of the Ocean and offer hospitality to

HanUmAn on his behalf to show his respect for Lord Raamachandra

and His messenger . HanUmAn could not spare even a moment to tarry

and to accept the offered hospitality ; He thanked MainAka mountain

and Samudra Raajan , recieved their benedictions and continued with

His leap over the wide ocean.

 

Naaga MaathA Surasa Devi's testing

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

The next incident during this heroic leap was the interference by Naaga MaathA ,

Surasai , who was goaded by the DeavAs , GandharvAs , SiddhAs and Sages.

Latter group wanted to know more about the power of HanUmAn . Surasai took on

a gigantic form and demanded that HanUman was ordained as her food and therefore

He should enter her cavernous mouth . HanUmAn explained to her that He was

on the mission to find SitA PirAtti for His Lord and promised Surasai that He will

fulfill her wish on the return journey . She would not listen . Hence , HanUmAn

shrank His body to the size of a thumb , entered Surasai's mouth and came out of that

open mouth instantly. On exit , HanUmAn pointed out that He had fulfilled her wish

and therefore He felt free to continue His Journey without interruption. Surasai was

very pleased with HanUmAn and blessed Him to be victorious in His mission

to help SrI Raaamachandran:

 

" ArTasiddhyai HarisrEshta gaccha Soumya YaTA Sukham

SamAnAya VaidEheem RaaghavENa MahAthmanA "

-- Sundara KaaNDam : 1.170

 

(Meaning): Oh the Lofty One among the VaanarAs ! Please proceed with

comfort to continue Your journey and become victorious in the mission

for Lord Raamachandra. Please succeed in Your efforts and unite VaidEhi

with Her dear Lord !

 

Upadhravam by Simhikai

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

The last incident during the leap over the ocean was by a Raakshasi

by the name of Simhikai , who had the power to catch one by grabbing one's

shadow and pull the person towards her so that she can eat them as her food.

She saw the mighty long shadow of HanUmAn on the waters of the Ocean and

grabbed it to slow HanUmAn and began to pull Him towards her . HanUmAn

slowed down , jumped in to her mouth and tore her heart and destroyed her .

 

The denizens of the sky , who witnessed HanUmAn's valour , sagacity

praised Him this way through a famous slOkam dealing with Raaja Nethi :

 

Yasya thvEthAni ChathvAri VaanarEndhra YaTA tava

Dhruthi-dhrushtimathir-dhAkshyam Svakarmasu na seedhathi

--Sundara KaaNDam: 1.198

 

(Meaning): Oh the preeminent One among VaanarAs ! Whenever the four

attributes of resoluteness(dhruthti) , farsight ( dheerga dhrushti) ,

intellect and analytical skills ( Mathi) and dextrity in execution

( DhAkshyam) are present together in one , then he will never fail

in his endeavours .

 

Arrival at LankA

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

As He approached LankA' sshores , HanUmAn shrank His gigantic

body and lowered His speed to escape detection by the RaakshasAs

of LankApuri. He landed on the peak of Lambha parvatham . He had

His first glimpse of the rich city of LankA , which resembled the capitol

of Indhran , the city of AmarAvathi.

 

2. SECOND SARGAM: LANKAA PRAVESAM

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

There are 58 slOkams in this Sargam .Here HanUmAn visualizes

LankA as a city in the sky (Puram aakasagam ) .This city was constructed

by the architect of the DevAs , ViswakarmA for KubhEran before and

appropriated by RaavaNan later .It had mighty defenses and was well protected

by the RaakshasAs. HanUmAn decided that He had to take a subtle

form to cheat the RaakshasAs to accomplish the mission of freedom of

movement inside the city to search for SithA PirAtti.He decided to enter

the city after sun set and shrank His size to that of a cat to escape detection

by the well armed guards of RaavaNa .

 

THIRD SARGAM : VICTORY OVER LANKAA DEVI

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

This sargam has 50 slOkams. HanUmAn arrived at the ramparts

of the city.The presiding deity of the city , LankA Devi detected

this stranger in her city .As adhishtAna dEvathai with responsibility

for the defense of the city , she challenged the small sized HanUmAn

and warned Him that He can not enter LankA . HanUmAn responded

that He had come to experience the beauty of the city of LankA and

its immeasaurable wealth . Once again LankA Devi said that HanUmAn

can not enter unless He defeated her first.She hit HanUmAn to stop Him.

The surprised and angry HanUmAn used His left fist to knock her off

her feet and did not use too much power since she was a woman.

The humiliated LankA Devi got up , hailed HanUmAn and revealed

that the time had come for the death of RaavaNa and the destruction of

his city due to his evil deed of stealing SithA PirAtti . LankA Devi

gave HanumAn now the total freedom of access to the city of LankA

to accomplish His goals of finding Jaanaki .

 

FOURTH SARGAM: ROAMING IN THE CITY( LANKAAPURI PARIBRAHAMANAM)

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

This sargam has 30 slOkams. After LankA dEvi's permission ,

HanUmAn entered the city gate. He put His left foot first as

is done , when one enters the house of one's enemy .It was

equivalent to putting one's foot on the head of the enemy .HanUmAn

moved from house to house undetected looking for SitA PirAtti.

He arrived ultimately at the inner chambers of RaavaNan .

 

FIFTH SARGAM: CONTINUING SEARCH

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

After all these extensive searches , HanUmAn did not have

any success in finding SithA Devi (SeethAm apasyan manujEswarasya

Raamasya pathneem vadhathAm varasya) . HanUmAn became

depressed because of His lack of success inspite of the enormous

effort he had put in . He felt like a dullard and was overcome

with sorrow ( BhabhUva dukkhAbhihathascchirasya plavangamO

mandha ivAchirasya).

 

The slOkams of this sargam are beautiful from a poetic point of view .

With the blessings of Brahma Devan and His consort , Saraswathi ,

the Goddess of Learning , Sage ValmIki's poetry reached new heights .

The rhyming became superb throughout this sargam and the slOkams are

most pleasing to recite . Here is an example , where the rhyming is focused

on the word " rEkhAm" :

 

avyaktha-rEkhAmiva chandra-rEkhAm

pAmsu-pradhigdhAmiva hEma rEkhAm

kshatha-prarooDamiva BhANa-rEkhAm

vAyu-prapannAmiva mEgha-rEkhAm

---Sundara KaaNDam: 5 . 26

 

Here noble SithA PirAtti's helpless and Her pitiful status as

a prisoner of RaavaNan is imagined with intense emotions

by HanUmAn. He says : She would be like the rays of Moon ,

which are not seen clearly (avyaktha chandra rEkhA ) ;

She would be like a dust-covered golden rod , whose full

beauty idoes not become explicit ; She would be like an arrow

that has entered inside a wound that is already there; She would be

like a cloud that is being scattered by a fierce wind (Vaayu-prabhinna

mEga rEkhA ). Heights of despondency of HanUmAn over

His difficulties in finding SithA PirAtti in LankA are described here.

 

SrImath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Raama DhAsan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan