Fwd: Enjoying Valmiki's sundara-kaandam with the aid of TiruppAvai phrases - Part 2

[Guest guest]

tiruvenkatam, "sudarshan madabushi"

<sudarshan.madabushi wrote:

 

Dear members,

 

Tomorrow, the 20th December ("maargazhi") by a happy coincidence

happens to be "Hanumath-jayanthi"! It is auspicious augury for me to

begin this seriesof postings on the subject of enjoying or

experiencing Valmiki's "sundara-kaandam" with the aid of select

phrases and expressions from the TiruppAvai.

 

The hero of the Ramayana is Lord Rama but in the "sundara-kaandam",

it is Hanuman who is the true show-stealer.

 

In Sanksrit the word "ayan'a" means "movement or journey along a

definite path or trajectory". The movement of the sun from the

southern hemisphere to the northern is called "uttarAyana" and the

journey of the sun to the opposite equinox is called "dakshinAyana".

The story of the epic journey that Sri Rama took along the path

of "dharma", the path of Righteousness, is called "raamAyana". By the

very same token, it would not be inaccurate to describe and celebrate

the great and eventful journey undertaken by Hanuman in the 'sundara-

kaandam' --- from Kishkinda to Lanka and all the way back ---

as "hanumaan'ayana". Every bit like the Ramayana and no less, the

"hanumaan'ayana" too teaches us the valuable lessons and truths of the

wisdom of life.

 

During this "maargazhi" let us study the "sundara-kaandam" with the

aid of certain select and choice expressions found in the TiruppAvai

that one may safely say describes or fits the daring exploits of

Hanumaan to the proverbial tee.

 

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

 

The "Sundara-kaandam" of Valmiki Ramayana begins with a scene that is

packed with edge-of-the-seat, commando-style action. Upon the orders

of his king, Sugriva, the hero Hanuman embarks upon what is seemingly

Mission Impossible:Cross the sea, slip unnoticed into Lanka, search

and locate Sita, conduct military reconnaissance and return safely to

base -- all to be accomplished in a matter of days.

 

The story is told by Valmiki indeed with a truly gripping sense of

drama and in splendid style.

 

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

 

>From the heights of the Mahendra mountains, Hanuman first surveyed the

hundred leagues of sea that separated him from the shores of Lanka. He

gauged the vast distance he knew must somehow be covered by a single

leap.But then how was it to be achieved? How was he to land on the

soil of Lanka-- a place he had never been before? How was he to find

Sita? What would he do if he failed? How would he elude discovery and

capture by Ravana's men? For a fleeting moment, as the grim thoughts

flashed through his mind, Hanuman was overwhelmed by the gravity and

difficulty of the mission that lay ahead.

 

Reading the passages in the Sundara-kaandam, one can easily empathize

with Hanuman since his plight and predicament is no different from

ones which we too, in our common lives, often encounter. Many are the

situations we come across in our life when the we contemplate the

difficulty of achievement of a task or mission at hand, and we lose

self-confidence. Our heart sinks a bit but we won't of course show

it. But deep inside we will ask ourselves: "Oh my God, what have I

got myself into? How am I going to accomplish this? How am I going to

surmount all the difficulties along the way? Will I succeed?" The

feelings of insecurity and self-doubt that creep upon us in

such situations are well reflected in the plight of Hanumaan too in

the opening scenes of the Sundara-kaandam.

 

Then Hanuman said a prayer to himself. He raised his hands to the

skies and reverently prayed to the gods --- the Sun, Indra, Brahma,

the legions of devotees of the Almighty, to the Wind-god and finally

to Lord Rama and Lakshmana:

 

anjalim prAngmukhah kurvann pavanAyAth-mayOnayE

manasA'vandhya raamaaya lakshmaNaaya mahA harih: II

(Shloka 9)

 

It is a sign of those ancient times in which Rama and Hanuman lived --

the "trEta-yuga" as it was called --- that even simians of the

forests like 'vAnaraas', apes and other lowly creatures, conducted

themselves with impeccable Vedic manners. It is our age-old Vedic

custom to commence any effort in life or any new initiative in life --

- especially when we foresee challenges and hardships along the way --

- to say silent prayers to the pantheon of all Vedic gods like Surya,

Indra, Brahma and Vayu besides offering worship to the Supreme

Almighty. The monism and monotheism of the Vedic faith is an all-

encompassing and catholic one. It embraces polytheism and pantheism

too. Hanuman by the act of silent prayer to gods as well as to

the one Supreme Almighty, just before he vaulted himself through that

great and magnificent leap of faith he executed in the "sundara-

kaandam", clearly proclaimed to the world that he was first and

foremost a Vedic adherent and votary.

 

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

That Hanuman was a true and steadfast adherent of the Vedic faith is

left in no doubt at all by Valmiki. The fact gets attested by none

else than Sri Rama himself in the "kishkinda kaadam" (IV.3.28):

 

"nAnrug-vEda-vineetasya nA-yajur-vEda-dhAriNah:

nA-saama-vEda-vidushah: shakyam-Evam prabhAshitum " II

 

After wandering for months in the forests of Dandakaaranya in

desperate search of Sita, utterly tired of limb and completely

dejected in spirit, Rama and Lakshmana finally reached the outskirts

of the kingdom of Sugriva called "kishkinda". The first person they

met was Hanumaan. When they met, an instant and magical rapport

seemed to appear between Rama and Hanuman. It was as if two long-lost

soul-mates were recognizing each other. And by some fortuitous play

of hand, Fate had once again re-united them. Each felt, while looking

at the other, a deep and endearing bond of mutual attraction stirring

in their breast. When Hanuman began speaking to Rama by way of

self-introduction, he did so with such measured and elegant manners,

that the words and their tone and the captivating expressions used

simply bowled Rama over.

 

After listening to Hanuman speak so eloquently and pleasingly, Rama

could'nt help turning to Lakshmana and mutter in his ears the above

words, meaning "O Lakshmana, for one to speak so elegantly and

masterly as this person has just spoken, one must know surely all the

3 Vedas, Rk, Yajur and Saama and have them all at his command too!".

 

The incident above is not without its significance. It tells us that

those of us who tread the path of the Vedas must continue to do so ---

as "adhyAyins", "adhyApakas", "pArAyanArs", "veda-samrakshakars" or

as mere "vEda-abhimaanis", We will need never fear then that when the

day arrives for us to meet face to face with the Maker, our Lord, the

ALmighty would fail to recognize us! If we are Vedic adherents, the

Lord will instantly take to us and endearingly too... in exactly the

way He took to Hanuman the moment He set his eyes upon him.

 

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

 

As in any uncertain but daring military mission, it is the launching

that is most critical to ultimate success. The mission-control team

that had gathered there that day on Mt. Mahendra -- comprising

Angada, Jaambavaan, Sampaati and other Sugriva lieutenants -- were

really anxious about accomplishing a near-perfect, snag-free perfect

lift-off for Hanuman.

 

Hanuman needed to defy gravity, propel himself up like a massive,

powerful missile, gather critical mass to become air-borne and then

finally tear away through skies at near-Mach 2 levels of speed in

order to conquer the vast expanse of sea that stretched between

Mt.Mahendra and Lanka. It was a technical and logistical challenge of

immense, daunting proportions. But mission-control and Hanuman went

to work on it bravely.

 

Hanuman first chose the highest spot on Mt.Mahendra as perfect launch-

pad. Then he satisfied himself about flight and navigational bearings

to ensure he was positioned correctly. Then on cue from mission-

control, he used his unique and innate biological ability to

transform himself in size and form. Within a few minutes, Hanuman, as

if powered by some sheer supernatural force, morphed himself into a

leviathan --- a mammoth of an ape, with gigantic limbs and gargantuan

body, sleek and stream-lined like a towering rocket of modern times

at a NASA launch-pad. Suddenly the hills and tall trees of the

forests around him all seemed to shrink in size as Hanuman's

strange and extrarordinary form simply dwarfed everything in the

vicinity.

 

Then, as everyone in mission-control watched, and as hundreds of

teeming, shrieking 'vaanarAs' of Angada's patrol pranced and danced

excitedly round his mammoth legs, Hanuman let out a resounding roar

the sound of which crashed through the forest ranges and valleys,

blasting out sound-waves so powerful they sounded like the rumbling

of some giant turbine-engine cranking up. It was the kind of deep

and menacing sound that we may well want to describe using that

famous Tamil phrase of AndAl in the TiruppAvai:

 

"valampuri pOl ninradirndhu!"

 

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

Valmiki then describes the flight of Hanuman.

 

Pressing his mighty body hard on the Mt. Mahendra, Hanuman exerted

enormous pressure on the earth with his giant feet. Every sinew and

muscle in his body strained and twitched. Hanuman drew himself up,

breathed hard, heaved and coiled himself into a posture of pent-up,

roiling energy about to burst forth with volcanic force. The

mountain range crumbled, the earth shuddered. The giant trees shook

like little twigs. The creatures of the forests burrowed in caves and

crevices panicked and ran helter-skelter, hither-thither....

 

In a few minutes, Hanuman lifted off from ground-zero. His great big

body climbed into the skies with ferocious speed. The leap thrust him

into the clouds making him seem like a great arrow of fire racing

through the air spewing jets of fume and flame and fulmination ...

leaving behind a trail of magnificence and marvel! When we imagine

this scene in the innards of our mind, it brings to recollection

instantly the vivid expression of the TiruppAvai:

 

"thaazhaadhE without tarrying, instantly

saarngam Lord Vishnu's bow

udhaiththa shoot forth (lit. kicked forth)

saramazhai pOl like a blazing shower of arrows

 

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

 

As Hanuman catapulted into the skies, the force of momentum left

behind was so overpowering it uprooted trees and scooped up

branches, dragged and carried them too along the air-borne path

before they all finally fell into the sea at a distance. In a single

deft phrase of marvellous poetic imagery, Valmiki describes the scene:

 

"prasthitham deerga-madhvAnam sva-bandhum-iva baandhavAh:"

 

The great trees of the forest were sucked up by the centifugal force

of Hanuman's flight and went flying after him for a distance before

dropping off into the sea --- like kith and kin seeing off a relative

for some distance along the way as he embarked on a long, long

journey!

 

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

 

In the air now and cruising at altitudes unimagined by the human mind

of those times, Hanuman slowly faded into the skies until he became

but a flashing speck to the naked eye. But the trail his flight

blazed behind resembled blinding streaks of lightning. Behind him it

left the waves of the sea all heaving and roaring! The wind too was

sucked in first and then quickly sucked out at near gale-wind speeds!

His outstretched arms and legs in flight made him look like a surreal

bird of the heavens -- like the legendary Garuda; like an extra-

terrestrial dirigible flashing across the sky; a mighty zeppelin

travelling at the speed of sound and gathering yet more speed!

 

"samuth-patita-mEGhasya samudhDhootha-jalasya cha I

sama-mAseetha-tada roopam saagarasyAm-barasya cha II" (sk- #64)

 

This magnificent scene of Hanuman indeed brings to one's mind the

beautiful TiruppAvai expression:

 

"aazhi pOl minni...."

 

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

 

In the very first verse of the TiruppAvai, we come across this very

evocative expression of AndAl:

 

"kaar mEni chengan kadir madiyam pOl mughatthAn...."

 

The literal meaning of the above Tamil expression is: He whose

countenance at once seems to blaze like the sun one moment and

blossoms forth too in the next like a lotus in moonlight!

 

It is an extraordinary phrase! In a single poetic stroke, it seeks to

describe the dual quality of a face that shines both with the

splendor of the sun as well as the lustre of a lotus in full bloom

under a moonlit sky.

 

In the Sundara-kaandam, Valmiki too attempts to do precisely the same

while describing the face of Hanuman --- now in full and glorious

flight over the seas on his way to Lanka. In ShlOka #68 we come

across this description:

 

"pinggE pinggAksha-mUkhasya bruhatee parimandalE

chakshushee samprakAshEthE chandra-suryA-vivOditOw II"

 

"The two great tawny-hued eyes of Hanuman in full flight blazed! One

looked like the sun, the other like the moon both shining forth

across the horizon on a full moon day!"

 

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

(to be continued)

 

Regards,

daasan,

Sudarshan

 

--- End forwarded message ---