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Post 7

 

Dear sri vaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

 

We have studied the 'mOhanam' raaga 'dhayaraanee' krithi, in lengthy detail with

focus on 'narasimha' avathaaram of the supreme lord sriman naaraayaNan.

 

One reader expressed the doubt "Sir, why so much references on lord narasimha

from bhaagavatham, when the krithi is actually addressed to raama, thus what do

you want to convey?" May be I have not made it clear in the beginning or there

is not much clarity in what is said.

 

Since Sri Thyaagaraajaa included this krithi in the opera "prahlaadha bhakthi

vijayam" [one of the 3 operas he wrote, out of which only two are available to

us now], we have to study on narasimhan, even though krithi is actually

addressed to raamaa.

 

Also the krithi lines [or lyrics] are fully in tune with the lines of sreemadh

bhaagavatham [as we have already seen], bhaagavatham being time wise much-much

older [to ST].

 

We will now change gears and look into raamayaNam incidents where this krithi

very aptly sits eventhough it is included as part of prahlaadha bhakthi vijayam.

Thus the krithi gives us a smooth soulful joyous trip into raamaayaNam. The

relevant incident to this krithi is "sabari mOksham". If you have noticed in the

6 part series earlier, the second post gave the clue or tip, when sabari

addresses raamaa as 'purusha vyaagra' - the 'man-lion'- narasimha.

 

Just let us see the krithi once more. Sabari is waiting in the forest serving

the maharshis as their maidservant. The rishsis have already given information

to her and left the world, that raamaa one day will come to her place,

accompanied by lakshmaNa, his brother and the son of sumithra, and then she can

ascend to the mOksham that is being granted by raama, the supreme lord. As

stated by them, now raamaa has reached the place where sabari is, named matanga

rishi aasramam, and standing in front of sabari. This meeting is as advised by

kabhandhan. [That ref. we will see a little later].

 

So sabari starts asking raamaa

pallavi

dhayaraanee, dhayaraanee, dhaasarathee raamaa

meaning: hey raamaa, lord dhaasarathee, the One, who is not showing your mercy

on me!

 

charaNam 1

vivarimpa tharamaa raghuveera aanandha 'munu raamaa'

meaning: The acts done by you, Oh, bliss personified, raghu veeraa, am I

competent to explain them?

[the rishis have told her what happened at chithrakootam - the killing of 14000

raakshasaas etc, we have the ref, as slokam]

 

charaNam 2

thalachithE mEnella pulakarinchEnu raama

meaning: If I think of your leelaas, Oh raamaa, my entire body horripillates.

 

charaNam 3

kanugonan aanandhamai kanneeru nindhEnu raamaa

meaning: As I found your glory, I became blissful, my eyes are filled with

tears.

 

charaNam 4

charaNa kaugili vELa chelagi mai marachEnu raama

meaning: At the time of embracing your feet, I forget myself.

[slokam is available that she prostrates / falls at the feet of raama].

 

charaNam 5

chenthanuNdaga naadhu chinthalu tholagEnu raamaa

meaning: The day you were with me, my worries are no more.

[this is as per advise of rishis - when raama visits your place then you can

start of from this world. Hence]

 

charaNam 6

aasinchu vELa jagamantha thruNamaayEnu raama

meaning: When I wanted something [from you suddenly], entire world appeared to

be a blade of grass.

[When raama is granting that great grand thing 'mOksham' itself, what else is

required - all others are thruNam - grass only]

 

charaNam 7

marma heenula gooDa karmamana naiyyEni

meaning: my joining those, who do not understand the secrets of you, is due to

my old [bad?] deeds.

[the deeds of sabari - are always good - it is the question of the time factor

alone- otherwise how the lord himself will come to the devotee's place and give

that liberation - mOksham.]

 

charaNam 8

thanakai sree raamavathaaram eththithivO

meaning: Whether you incarnated as raama for that person? [for the sake of one

who has secret karmas as stated above]

 

charaNam 9

naavaNti dhaasula brOva vedhalithivO

meaning: Or whether you want to protect people like adiyEn?

[Combining 8, 9, she asks raama did you take avathaaram to save souls like me -

the doubt is expressed to the lord himself]

 

charaNam 10

moodu moorthulakaadhi moolamu neevE raamaa

meaning: The origin of thrimoorthi is You only.

[who else can grant mOksham? Or capable of doing that to sabari]

charaNam 11

sree thyaagaraajuni chelikaadu neevE raamaa

meaning: the friend of thyaagaraaja is You only, raamaa!

Dear bhakthaas, see how nicely the krithi fits to that incidence of sabari

mOksham.

On this sabari mOksham incident of raamaayaNam in his mail dated 17.11.1996 our

dear sadagopan swamy has written [bhakthi mail archives] as follows.

Saint Thyagaraja celebrates Sabri's bhagyam in two of his krithis. In the

MukhAri krithi "entani nE varNinthunu Sabari Bhagyamu", he wonders as to how he

can adequately describe the special blessings that Bhaktha Sabari received from

Sri Rama. Sadguru states that there were many rishi patnis of high stature at

Matanga Vanam as a result of their penance and yet Sri Rama selected Sabari as

his hostess and accepted her hospitality with great affection. Sadguru wonders

loud: "That grest blessed soul saluted your lotus feet, got rid of her cycles of

births and deaths and attained moksham infront of You. What way can I describe

Sabari's unique bhagyam?".

In a second krithi set in ragam KiraNaavaLi (Paraaku nee kelaraa Ramaa), Sadguru

Thygaraja swamigaL is angry at Rama for His indifference to him. Our Sadhguru is

in a mood of Amarsha Rosha Roshokthi. He asks: "Why should You, who are immanent

in the movable and the immovable, be indifferent where I am concerned? Have I

treated You with scant courtesy like Sabari who gave You the leavings of fruits

after she had tasted them or have I, like Guha, given You a bed of leaves

without realising Your status?" Here Saint Thyagaraja refers to one version of

Sabari's hospitality. According to this version, Sabari checked the ripeness of

the fruits that she collected for Sri Rama. She tasted them and gave only those

fruits that she thought was ripe enough for Sri Rama's use. She gave the Yecchil

(left overs) out of her great desire to give nothing but the best among her

collection of fruits. Our Sadguru taunts Rama and asks Him how Rama ignored him,

when he behaved much better than Sabari. With great DaakshiNyam, Sadguru asks

these questions. Saint Thyagaraja's regards for the exceptional Bhagyam of

Sabari is very clear in his Mukhari Krithi. Srimad RaamaayaNam has no support

for the reference of Sabari tasting the fruits first and offering only those

that were fit for Sri Rama's consumption. One another version of RamAyaNam is

the source of Saint Thyagaraja's reference in his KiraNAvaLi krithi.

May be without proper re slOkams you may not get convinced about that. So to get

that, we now travel into the pampaa saras portion of the aaraaNya kaaNdam.

Kabhandhan introduces the name sabari to raamaa after telling raamaa about

* the rich ecology of pampa saras,

* the need for befriending sugreeva etc.

The slOkam is from kabhandhan to raama

thEshaam gathaanaam adhya api dhrisyathE parichaariNee |

sramaNee sabaree naama kaakuthsthha chira jeevinee || 3-73-26

meaning: Oh, raama of kaakutstha clan, albeit, the passing of those sages

through the pearly gates, their maidservant, a long-lived one and an anchoress,

named sabari, can be seen there, even today.

thvaam thu dharmE sthhithaa nithyam sarva bhootha namaskritham |

dhrishtvaa dhEva upamam raama svarga lOkam gamishyathi || 3-73-27

meaning: Oh, raama, she, who always stands by probity, will depart to the sphere

of heaven, on attending to you, for you are the referent to god, and a reverent

for one and all.

Point: Here kabhandhan makes it clear that he has understood raama very well,

who he is, that supreme lord has come in human form. Also informs raamaa that

sabari is just waiting to get her release or mOksham at the behest of raama,

like how he got released from that demoniac large bodied roopam. Once these

suggestions from kabhandhan are over, raama and lakshmaNa walks to pampa and

sees sabari.

What happens then we will see in next post

Dhasan

Vasudevan m.g.