AcArya rAmAmRtam - sept 05 - 3

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SrI:

SrImate ra’ngarAmAnuja mahAdeSikAya nama:

SrImate SrInivAsa rAmAnuja mahAdeSikAya nama:

SrImate vedAnta rAmAnuja mahAdeSikAya nama:

SrI ra’nganAtha divya maNi pAdukAbhyAm nama:

SrI ra’ngarAmAnuja mahAdeSika divya pAdukAbhyAm nama:

 

AcArya rAmAmRtam - sept 05 - 3

Translation of

SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam in tamizh by SrImad

tirukkuDandai ANDavan

 

As published in SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA by

SrI U.Ve. nATTeri kiDAmbi rAjagopAlAcAriyAr (Editor

of SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA)

 

The explanatory footnotes are indicated by “fn”

followed by a number.

 

SrImad ANDavan tiruvaDi,

kalyANi krshNamAcAri

 

 

=====================================

SrI:

AcArya rAmAmRtam

SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam by SrImad tirukkuDandai

ANDavan

 

We saw SrI ValmIki using the term “sarva Sruti

manoharam” (in Sloka 1.3.8 above). Since “sarva Sruti

manoharam” is in samskRt language, several meanings

can be given for the same. In his introductory

speech, the Governor said that whichever way a Slokam

reads, the phrases of the Slokam can be transposed as

needed. What did he say for “jAte daSaratAtmaje”? He

said it should be changed to “daSaratAtmaje jAte”.

This is a prevalent practice for “prose order”. In

“samudramiva ratnADhyam sarva Sruti manoharam”, the

phrase “sarva Sruti manoharam” means “pleasing to

everyone’s ears; pleasant to everybody’s mind;

attracts everyone’s ears and minds”. Here is another

meaning:

 

sarva Sruti manoharam: sarva = all; Sruti = veda’s;

mana: = mind; haram = haratIti – pulls. In other

words, this book has pulled the veda purushan’s heart

into it, and revealed it to us.

 

vedavedye pare pumsi jAte daSarathAtmaje |

veda: prAcetasAt AsIt sAkshAt rAmAyaNAtmanA ||

 

BhagavAn who is the Lord of SrI vaikuNTham, is

Supreme over everything else (sarvasmAtparan); He is

daivatam daivatAnAm – He is the God above all the

Gods. nammAzhvAr says “kOil koL deyvam ellAm tozha

vaikuNTham kOil koNDa kuDakkUtta vammAnE” and

“maniSarkku dEvar pOla dEvarkkum dEvAvO”. The vedam

will praise devadevan who is seated in vaikuNTham. If

that bhagavAn descends down a little from there, and

takes the vyuha incarnations as vAsudeva, sankarshaNa,

pradyumna and aniruddha, the vedam describes Him

through the pAncarAtra Agama-s. The same BhagavAn

also resides in everyone’s heart.

 

The vedam declares:

 

“a’ngushThamAtra: purusho madhya Atmani tishThati |

ISAno bhuta bhavyasya sa EvAdya sa u cva: || “

 

The meaning is: “BhagavAn resides in everyone’s

heart with the size of the thumb. He who rules over

what happened in the past, what is going to happen in

the future and what is happening in the present, is

the same One who exists now, and Who will exist in the

future”.

 

nammAzvAr says about Him:

 

“kaNgaL Sivandu periyavAi vAyum Sivandu kanindu uLLE

veNpal ilagu SuDar ilagu vilagu makara kuNDalattan

koNDal vaNNan SuDar muDiyan nAngu tOLan kuni SA’rngan

oN Sa’ngadaivAL AzhiyAn oruvan aDiyEn uLLAnE!

 

nammazhvAr is translating “madhya Atmani tishThati”

into tamizh - “aDiyEn uLLAnE”. If that bhagavAn

takes the antaryAmi form, that vedam changes its form

and talks as dharmaSAstram. [fn4]

 

When the same bhagavAn descends down further and

takes His incarnations as rAma, kRshNa, etc., the

same vedam becomes “prAcetasAt AsIt sAkshAt

rAmAyaNAtmanA” - If He takes birth as rAma, the vedam

takes birth as rAmAyaNa; if He is born with daSaratha

as His father, the vedam is born with vAlmIki as its

father; if He is born as the son of vasudeva, the

vedam will take birth as the son of vyAsa – in other

words, as SrImad bhAgavata; if the same Lord takes

His incarnations as Lord rAma, kRshNa, etc., lives in

this world for sometime, and then returns back to SrI

vaikunTham, but then comes and resides in the temples

with the desire to be easily accessible to all of us,

and to enable us to enjoy Him and reach our ultimate

destiny of reaching His Divine Feet, the vedam

completely changes its form, and presents itself to us

as divya prabandham.

 

 

“vedavedye pare pumsi jAte daSarathAtAtmaje |

veda: prAcetasAt AsIt sAkshAt rAmAyaNAtmanA ||”

 

When bhagavAn thus took His incarnation (as Lord

rAma), the vedam took its birth as rAmAyaNam. How is

that? rAmAyaNam presents all the inner meanings of

the vedam in a simple way. sarva sruti manoharam -

“sarva SrutInAm mana: asmin granthe hriyate iti

sarvaSruti manoharam”. All the teachings of all the

veda-s have been assimilated into rAmAyaNam. That is

what is revealed in the Sloka “vedavedye pare

pumsi…”.

 

 

=======================

Explanatory Footnotes by SrI NKR svAmin:

 

fn4: The life-forms that are endowed with only one to

five senses (in other words, without the sixth sense),

are not constrained by the rules and regulations of

dharma and adharma. If a cow treads on a tulasi

plant, it does not incur any sin. If a man plucks a

leaf from tulasi plant at a wrong time, he incurs a

great sin. dharma Sastra-s apply only to people.

BhagavAn is present in His as antaryAmi – as a divine

incarnation - only in peoples’ hearts. People must do

dharma-s with all their hearts, and should avoid all

adharma-s with all their hearts. PerumAL is the

witness as an antaryAmi in people’s hearts to the

dharmams committed by them. So, in general, dharma

SAstra-s are for the enjoyment of hRdya antaryAmi,

whom nammAzhvAr enjoyed as “oruvan aDiyen uLLAne”.

tonDar aDippoDi AzhvAr says “uLLuvAr uLLiRRellAm uDan

irundu aRidi” in tirumAlai. It means “Oh Lord! You

are the witness to peoples’ thoughts on dharmam and

adharmam as you are the antaryAmi in the jIvan’s

heart”. Sakuntalai, tells emphatically to dushyantan,

who forgets her:

 

“ekAhamasmIti manyase tvam na hRuccayam vetsi munim

purANam |

yo veditA karmaNa: pApakasya tasyAntike tvam vRjinam

karoshi ||

 

“Oh king! You think you fooled me in solitude. The

Lord who is antaryAmi in your heart is the witness to

the sin you commit. You are committing offense against

Him”.

 

 

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To be continued………

 

 

 

 

 

 

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