paramaathma 1

[Guest guest]

Dear sri vaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

 

Generally we have heard stories that bhakthaas do crave and long for having a

dharsanam of the lords. If this dharsanam of that the supreme lord naaraayaNan

or even next level like brahma or sivan, is made available for a fraction of a

second only, then also it is okay with such staunch devotees. For having this

dharsanam for that small period for the lord to appear in front of the devotee,

the devotee has to perform a long and hard, some times harsh, thapas, like

* standing in the midst of fire,

* standing on one leg,

* eat only air and leaves,

* some times in standing in water, under water etc.

 

Meanwhile other demigods -the dhEvaas - like indhran tempt this devotee quite

often doing such a thapas to lose his thapas. Or at indhran's command some

ladies appear and spoil the devotee's thapas by pulling him into kaamam, making

him angry etc, by which his accumulated power out of the thapas is lost.

Examples are dhruvan [for the good], visvaamithra [on the losing side and then

making up] etc.

 

But, have you ever heard when the lord comes on his own in front of devotee.

 

May be that is a surprise - is it not? For such occasions may be far and few in

the corridors of our mythology, history, and collections of bhaktha vijayam

episodes. Perhaps we have to stretch out our imagination to a great extent what

could be that special status of that devotee, who made the lord appear in front

of him on his own. No dear bhakthaas - you need not. See slOkam below where it

is mentioned brahma came on his own.

 

aajagaama thatha: brahmO lOkakarthaa svayam prabhu: |

chathur mukhO mahaa thEjaa dhrashtum tham muni pungavam ||

 

srimadh raamaayaNam baala kaaNdam - 1 - 2 - 23

 

thatha: = then;

lOka + karthaa = worlds maker of [creator of 14 worlds]

prabhu: = almighty;

chathur + mukha: = four-faced one

mahaa + thEja: = great resplendent one

brahma = Brahma

dhrashtum = to see;

tham + muni + pungavam = him that sage the eminent

svayam = on his own;

aajagaama= arrived.

 

Meaning: Then, the great resplendent four-faced creator of fourteen worlds,

almighty Brahma, arrived there on his own, to see that eminent saint.

 

Since this slOkam is from raamaayaNam, and that too in the second sargam, we can

say it is in front of sage vaalmeeki, for in the next slOkam, it is said 'sage

vaalmeeki is surprised to see the creator in front of him'.

 

vaalmeeki: athha tham dhrushtvaa sahasaa uththhaaya vaagyatha: |

praanjali: prayathO bhoothvaa thasthou parama vismitha: || 1-2-24

 

athha = then

prayatha: = pious one vaalmeeki

tham + dhrushtva = Him [brahma] on seeing;

parama + vismitha: = highly surprised

sahasaa + uththhaaya = quickly on getting up

pra + anjali + bhoothvaa = humbly adjoining palms

vaagyatha: = spellbound

thathsthou = stood aside.

 

Meaning: Then that pious saint vaalmeeki is highly surprised on seeing brahma,

and on quickly getting up from his seat with his palms joined humbly, he stood

aside, as he is spellbound.

 

Point: After receiving such highly respected people, it is customary those days

[and even now] to offer to the guest argyam, paadhyam and aachamaneeyam - viz-

water to wash the hands first, then the feet, and, then water for sipping to

quench the initial thirst. Vaalmeeki also did the same to brahma, the creator.

Then vaalmeeki offered him a high seat and brahma sat. After his seating brahma

asked vaalmeeki also to sit by the side of him.

after these initial formalities are over in their meeting, no conversation

started between the two since sage vaalmeeki was brooding over the killing of

the male bird during the krouncha mithunam and the 'slOkam' he uttered as a

result of seeing that incident.

 

brahmaNaa samanujnaatha: sO~api upaavisath aasanE |

upavishtE thadhaa thasmin saakshaath lOka pithaamahE | 1-2-27

thath gathEna Eva manasaa vaalmeeki: dhyaanam aasthitha: ||

 

sa: + api = he [vaalmeeki] even

brahmaNaa + sam + anujnaatha: = by Brahma duly permitted

aasanE + upaavisath = on seat entered [sat]

thadhaa = then

thasmin + loka + pithaamahE = that worlds Grandparent of

saakshaath = manifestly

upavishtE [sathi] = seated [before him though] vaalmeeki

thath + gathEna + Eva = those happenings only

manasaa + dhyaanam + aasthitha: = mentally brooding recurred.

 

Meaning: Even though vaalmeeki sat on his seat when duly permitted by Brahma,

and though the Grandparent of the worlds is manifestly sitting before him,

vaalmeeki had the same broodings on those happenings occurred on that day have

recurring in his mind. [1-2-27-28a]

 

Dear bhakthaas, perhaps by now you get bored as to what this writer wants to

say? Why and for what purpose these slOkams are taken from raamaayaNam and

quoted here? What really he wants to say?

 

I wish to add here, as the answer to the above queries -"what brahma said to

vaalmeeki" is said by thyagaraaja in the following krithi. I want to talk about

that great krithi and hence this prelude. So let us see first what brahma said

and then what thyaagaraaja says in his krithi:

 

math chhandhaath Eva thE brahman pravruththE ayam sarasvathee | 1-2-31

raamasya charitham kruthsnam kuru thvam rishisaththama |

 

hE + brahman = oh, brahman

thE + ayam + sarasvathee = your that speech

math + chhandhaath + Eva = at my wish alone

pravruthtthE = sprang forth

hE + rishi + saththama = oh sage the eminent

raamasya + charitham + kruthsnam = raamaa's legend in entirety

thvam + kuru = you render

 

meaning: Oh, Braahman, that speech of yours sprang forth at my wish alone, hence

oh, eminent sage, you shall render the legend of raama, in its entirety.

 

dharmaathmanO bhagavathO lOkE raamasya dheematha: || 1-2-32

vruththam kathaya Dheerasya yathaa thE naaradhaath srutham |

 

dharma + aatmana: = virtue souled one

lOkE + bhagavatha: = in the world, god

dheematha: = an intellectual

dheerasya = intrepid one

raamasya + vruththam = raama's legend

thE + yathaa + srutham + naaradhaath = by you as heard from naaradha

kathaya = narrate.

 

Meaning: You shall narrate the legend of raama, the virtuous, intellectual and

an intrepid one, and a godly person in this world as you heard it from sage

naaradha.

 

Now the krithi of sri thyaagaraaja in the raagam vaagadheeswari starting as

paramaathmudu

 

Pallavi:

paramaathmudu veluga muchchata baaga thelusukO rE [paramaathmudu]

 

meaning: please know clearly that he is the paramaathmaa shining in [all those

people mentioned in anupallavi, charanam below]

 

anupallavi:

hariyata harudata suralata narulata akhilaaNda kOtulata andharilO

[paramaathmudu]

 

meaning: for all the hari, siva, dhEvaas, humans and all living beings in this

entire galaxy, he is the paramaathmaa shining in.

 

charaNam:

gagana anila thEjO jaala bhoomayamagu

mrga khaga naga tharu kOtulalO

suguNamulO viguNamulO sathathamu

saadhu thyaagarajaa aadhi aashrithulalO [paramaathmudu]

 

meaning: [continued] in sky, air, in fire , in light, in water and in earth,

[substance in all 5 boothaas] in animals, birds, mountains (naga), trees and

plants, in good and bad characters always in thyaagaraajaa and et al who seek

him He is the paramaathmaa who is shining.

 

The points as to how you can concluded this krithi is brahma's words to

vaalmeeki can be seen in next post.

 

Dhasan

 

Vasudevan m.g.