SRS AthimAnusha Sthavam SlOkams 21-30

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SlOkam 21 :

 

daasa: sakhaa samabhavath Tava ya: Kapeendhra:

tath vidhvisham kapim amarshavasAth jigAmsu:

Thvath snEha viklavadhiyam tamimam Kapeendhram

visrambhayan sapadhi saalagireen avidhya:

 

(Meaning): Oh Raamachandra! Sugrivan became the companion ,

and liege( daasan) to You . Vaali , the elder brother of Sugriavan

hated his younger brother and stole latter's wife and drove him

away from the kingdom . You were offended by the beavior of

Vaali towards Sugrivan and got angry at Vaali . You wanted to

destroy Vaali for his mighty offenses and took the side of

Sugrivan , who was agitated because of his doubts about

Your ability to win the mighty Vaali in a battle . To build up

the trust of Sugrivan in You , You piereced the seven saala

trees and the Kula Parvathams with one single arrrow of Yours .

What an athimAnusha (superhuman) act that was !

 

(Commentary ): Here KurEsar answers the question about

the inappropriateness of Sugrivan's doubt in the Lord and

the tests that Sugrivan made our Lord undrtake because of

his own doubt .Our Lord's dharmam is to protect those , who

sought His refuge. KurEsar points out with the choice of words

describing Sugrivan as " Daasa: , Sakhaa" that Sugrivan was

in reality a trsutworthy friend and servant although for outter

experience appeared like one without conviction about

Raamachandran's valour . Hence , our Lord went out of His way

(athimAnusha chEshtais) to convince the doubting Sugrivan .

 

SlOkam 22 :

 

yadhvaa mrugam mrugayuvadh mrugyApadEsAth

channO jaganTa na tu SathruvadhAbhimukhyAth

tadh yukthamEva Tava Raaghava-vamsajasya

tiryakshu naiva hi vipakshathayOpachAra :

 

(Meaning) : Oh Veera Raaghavaa ! You hunted down and

destroyed Vaali , the monkey with animal instincts and

conduct , like a hunter killing a fierce animal . Your act was

like a princely hunter hiding behind to kill a tiger , which was

destroying the cows . You did not kill him in a face to face

battle since You did not consider Vaali as an enemy . This conduct

is quite appropriate for a prince belonging to the kulam of

King Raghu . The kings of Your Raghu Vamsam never rated

the fools with despicable conduct as enmeies worthy of

direct battle . They treated them as unworthy animals

deserving slaughter to maintain royal dharmam .

 

( Commentary ) : KurEsar answers the oft debated question

about Raama not killing Vaali in a face to face battle instead of

hitting him with an arrow from a hidden place of vantage .

KurEsar explains here that the ancient Kshathriya Dharmam of

Raghu Vamsa Kings and Raamachandra's vow of SaraNAgatha

RakshaNam ( in this case abhaya PradhAnam for Sugrivan)

led to His classification of Vaali as an animal worthy of slaughter

instead of fighting him like an enemy worthy of direct fight .

Sugrivan had also performed Saranagathy to his elder brother

and yet Vaali rejected him and drove him out of he kingdom .

It is an unforgivable crime for any one who is capable to reject

one that sought refuge . Ramachandra took into account this

unpardonable behavior of Vaali and killed Vaali like killing

a wild beast .

 

slOkam 23 :

 

Maanushyaka-aacharitham Aacarithum pravrutthO

DEvAthigam charithamanga: kim ankyakArshee

yath sAgarE Bhatha BhandhiTa NaaTa ! sEthum

Sailai: plavangama samingitha sampraNunthai:

 

(meaning) : SarvEswarA ! during the sEthu bhandham ,

the mountains thrown by the monkeys floated on the ocean

instead of sinking because of Your sankalpa sakthi .

This is a feat that can not be achieved even by the dEvAs .

Such an act beyond the capacity of humans ( amAnusheekam )

was demonstrated by you then . This reminds one of Veda Vaakyam :

" VishNO: karmANi paSyatha " . VishNu's acts are beyond

normal comprehension by humans and totally outside

the capabilities of even a giant assembly of humans.

Oh EmperumAn ! Why indeed did you undertake such

an effort ( kim angyakArshee: ?) . You built the dam across

the ocean with the mountains thrown on the water by

the monkeys and bears ( plavanga sampraNUthai: Sailai:

sEthum Bhabhandhi ) . How can we understand that act

which is beyond the power of dEvAs or humans ?

 

SlOkam 24 :

 

yO vikramENa manujathva vibhUshaNEna

dEvam varam VaruNarAjam aja! vyajEshDA:

kruthvOpadhAm DasaraTam Vidhi-Rudhra mukhai:

dEvai: sthuthasccha , sa kilEndhrajihtA jithOasi

 

(Meaning) : Oh Lord without any births ! You are SarvalOka SaraNyan.

You are used to give refuge and not seek refuge .Yet , you followed

the counsel of a great BhagavathA ( VibhishaNan) and

rested on dharbham for three nights on the beach(prathisayanam)

seeking the permission of Your servant , the King of

the Oceans . When he did not respond , You were ready

to dry up thea Oceans for the indifference shown by the King

of the Oceans . The frightened Samudra Raajan showed up

in fear and sought Your pardon . You forgave him and deflected

Your arrow at a group of sinners in an island . All of these acts

are understandable proofs of Your SarvEswarathvam . We can

not however understand your being bound by the Naaga Paasam

aimed at You by Indhrajith . It is a great wonder that the power of

Naaga Paasam bound You up . This is indeed a great mystery .

One can only guess that this was acting/abhinayam on your part .

You pretended as though You were unable to overcome

the power of the Naaga Paasam. Perhaps , You wanted to give

Your servant and friend , Garudan an opportunity to perform

a Kaimkryam . Once Garudan rushed to the scene(battle field) ,

the snakes ran away and You were freed from their nooses .

 

SlOkam 25 :

 

aBdhim na tEriT jigETa na rAkshasEndhram

naivAsya jag~niTa yadhA cha BalABalam Thvam

nissamsSaya: sapadhi: tasya padhEyabhyashincha:

tasyAnujam kaTamidham hi VibhIshaNam cha

 

(Meaning) : How can we undrstand Your atimAnusha

activity of crowning VibhishaNan as the Emperor of

LankA on the banks of Sethu even before (1) You

had built a dam to cross over to LankhA (2) You had not

defeated RaavaNaa in battle (3) You were not even aware

of the strength of RaavaNaa and his army ? It is mysterious to

understand your statement and vow : "Raajanam thvAm

karishyAmi sathyamEthath SruNOthu mE " . You were firm

in Your declaration about PattAbhishEkam as LankAdhipathi .

KurEsar pays tribute here to the Sathya Sankalpathvam of

the Lord .

 

SlOkam 26 :

 

Thvam dakshiNasya nivasan udhadhE: taDEapi

dhUrAnthara uttharapayOdhi mahAnthareepE

dhaithyAn nijaika Sara-pAraNayan , kimEthA

LankhAm sTithOathra kurushE na khila sma bhasma:

 

( Meaning) : Here , KurEsar salutes the GuNam of the Lord

known as Dhairyam ( Courage) . He says : " Oh Lord without

birth ! You engaged in Prathisayanam at ThiruppullANi and

waited for permission from Samudra Raajan to build a dam

over him to reach the island of Lanka to engage RaavaNan

in battle and destroy him . Samudra Raajan ignored You

thinking that You are just a human being . You got enraged

at the insult of the King of oceans and got ready to send Your

fiery arrow to dry up the waters of the oceans . Samudra Raajan

was afraid for his life and appeared with his wives before You

and performed SaraNAgathy and begged to be spared .

You informed the king of Oceans that Your arrow was set

and can not be withdrawn ; You asked him to suggest

another target . Samudra Raajan begged You to send

Your unfailing arrow at the inhabitants of a remote island

in the north , who were abusing him . You obliged and

Your arrow destroyed them from an immense distance . If that

( Your power ) is so profound and far reaching , how can adiyEn

understand your inaction in not destroying RavaNa and his

army , which were not far away from your position in ThiruppullANi .

Sethu Bhandam and the invasion of LankA look in this context

appear like window dressing . You could have reduced to ashes

RaavaNAdhis from the banks of Sethu itself but you chose not to .

Why is that ?

 

 

SlOkam 27 :

 

Yath thAdhruSaagasam arim Raghuveera veekshya

visramyathAm ihti mumOchithTa mughdhamAjou

kOayam guNa: katharaKODigatha: kiyAn

kasya sthuthE: padhamahO Batha kasya bhUmi:

 

( Meaning): Oh RaghuveerA ! how can adiyEn eulogize

Your KaaruNya guNam demonstrated thru the gesture of

advising the Mahaa AparAdhi, RaavaNan to retire from

the battle field for the day and return the next day after

resting , when he had lost his chariot , bow and pride

during the first day's battle with You . This generosity

towards the most undeserving RaavaNan defies classification

under the category of all noble guNams . No one can

adequately eulogize this grand gesture of Yours . It is

a wonderous act , whose mystery defies comprehension .

 

SlOkam 28:

 

yEtEna vai suvidhithOabhavadhIndhraSathrO:

Maaysthra Bhandhana niBhandhanajO vimOha:

YallakshmaNasthvadhanujO ripuSakthi mugdha:

SathrO : guru: Hnaumathasthu laghuthvamApa

 

(Meaning) : Oh RaamabhadrA ! when your dear brother

LakshmaNa got hit by RaavaNan's weapon ( sakthi Aayudham)

and swooned , RaavaNan tried to lift the fallen LakshMaNan

and found that latter was too heavy for him to lift and take him

away to his palace. Then came HanumAn and lifted LakshmaNan

like lifting a feather and took him to the army physician , SushENan .

KurEsar concludes in wonderment that the same object appearing

in different ways at the same time ( heavy for RavaNa and light for

HanumAn) can only be attributed to an athimAnusha vyApAram .

In a similar vein , the great ones understand how you were bound by

the Naaga Paasam sent by Indhrajith and got reelased later .

 

SlOkam 29:

 

Haa hantha hantha bhavatha: charaNAravindha

dhvandhvam kadhA nu vishayee bhavithA mamakshaNO:

yOaham nirarkala vinirkala dhandhakArai:

vrukshai: truNaisccha sulabham samayam vyahteetha:

 

(Meaning) : Oh RaamabhadhrA ! what a misfortune ! I was

not living at the time of Your ascent to Sri Vaikuntam at

the end of Your avathAra kAryam at AyOdhyai. At that time , it has

been said that even the plants and trees ( filled with ajn~Anam)

reached with Your anugraham the Kaarya Vaikuntam of

SaanthAnika lOkam . Had I lived at that time , adiyEn would

have reached Sri Vailuntam with You and would have put

an end to the SamsAric sufferings .Alas , I lost that golden chance .

 

SlOkam 30:

 

vamsam ragOranujighrushu: ihaavatheerNa:

dhivyai: vavarshiTa taTAathra bhavath guNOghai:

thvath sannidhiprabhava SaithyanujO yaTA hee

vrushAsccha thAnthim abhajantha bhavath viyOgE

 

( Meaning): Oh Lord Raamachandra ! How did those trees

and plants attain Mukthi at the time of completion of

Your avathAram ? You incarnated in this world filled

with nescince to bless the vamsam of Raghu Chakravarthy

( RaghO: vamsam anujigrushu:) . Through Your athimAnusha

svaroopam , you inundated this world with the flood of

auspicious guNams unique to You . Even the trees and plants

in Your kingdom enjoyed the nectarine coolness , when you were

at AyOddhi as its ruler and withered , when You left the kingdom

to follow Your father's command of staying in the forest for

fourteen years . This is really a wonderous reaction by

the plants and trees to Your presence and absence .

They did not have the skills to engage in UpAsanam

( Bhakthi yOgam ) to reach sathgathi . They could not

perform SaraNAgathy to gain moksham . They just stayed

close to the shadow of Your sacred feet and as a result

reached Sathgathy .The very fact that they lived close to

the Lord qualified them to reach Sathgathy .

 

(To be continued )

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAcAri Sadagopan