AcArya rAmAmRtam - Oct 05 - 3

[Guest guest]

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 - Oct 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)

 

SrImad ANDavan tiruvaDi,

kalyANi krshNamAcAri

 

 

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

SrI:

AcArya rAmAmRtam

SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam by SrImad tirukkuDandai

ANDavan

 

In order to propagate to everyone the meaning of vedam

in a simple style, vAlmIki taught this to sItA’s sons.

Another significance of this rAmAyaNam is that the

hero Himself listened to the story and gave a

certificate saying it is correct.

 

Sometimes, nobody writes about a person’s history; and

that person starts writing his own history. I am not

saying that it is wrong. But, they will leave out all

the bad things and write only the good things. There

are some great people who write the whole truth as

well. I am not saying that there aren’t any. If the

history is written after the person passes away, then

there may be things included in the history that might

or might not have actually happened. But (in the

case of SrImad rAmAyanam), the story writer himself

has taught it to his disciples, the hero Himself has

listened to it, and they can feel: “Everything has

been included here, including the laughter, and even

the events like sitting down, getting up, etc.”.

 

“pAThye geye ca madhuram, hasitam bhAshitam caiva”..

…. I do not know English; am I going to be able to

learn it now? They may be able to read tamizh; but, I

won’t be able to read English (audience laughs).

Someone told me about a poet named Shakespeare: “How

wonderfully he has written! While writing the

history, he has even written about his pulling on a

twig and bending it while taking a walk on the ocean

coast. How wonderful his writing is! He writes

about nature that way, not leaving out anything. Is

there anything equivalent in your samskRt?” “hasitam

bhAshitam caiva” - He (vAlmIki) has described even -

the characters’ laughter, their talking, their

feelings of sadness, etc. “dharma vIryeNa paSyati” –

it has been written such that it reflects the true

history; that is why, even the hero listened to it and

felt satisfied.

 

There is something very humorous; let me tell you just

one thing and finish up. I don’t think there is much

time left; what is the time?

 

am pon neDu maNimADa ayoddhi eydi

araSeidi agattiyan vAi tAn mun konRAn

tan perum tol kadai kETTu mithilaic

celvi ulaguyyat tiruvayiRu vAitta makkaL

Sem pavaLat tiraL vAi tan caritai kETTAn

tillai nagar tirucitra kUTham tannuL

emperumAn tan caritai SeviyAl kaNNAl

paruguvOm innamudam madiyOm inRE (kulaSEkara AzhvAr)

 

There is no one who has listened to rAmAyaNam like

kulaSEkhara AzhvAr. Once when AzhvAr was listening to

rAmAyaNam, indra came from dEva lOkam and offered

amRtam to AzhvAr, and AzhvAr said “No” to him -

“innamudam madiyOm inRE” - “we do not care for the

sweet amRtam at this time”.

 

Instead, he said” “emperumAn tan caritai SeviyAl

kaNNAl paruguvOm” - We will drink rAmAyaNam with our

ears and eyes " . If you read rAmAyaNam, it is after all

tamizh poetry. Meaningless. You may drink with ears;

how can you drink with eyes? But that is what

kulaSEkara azhvAr has written. What does he mean when

he says: Let us drink with our eyes? Is he talking

about looking at rAmAyaNam with our eyes? Do we see

if paintings (pictures) are nice? Do we see if the

printing is in big letters? What does it mean when he

says: “Let us drink with our eyes?”

 

“I listened to rAmAyaNam and when I was listening to

it, I could feel that I was seeing all the things that

were being described, as if they were happening in

front of my eyes” - that is what is meant by “drinking

with the eyes”.

 

AzhvAr is reflecting what vAlmIki has said using the

words “pratyaksham iva samvRttam”.

 

Here is the humor. Listen to this. rAvaNan has been

vanquished. rAma came back to ayoddhi. Had His

coronation. He is sitting on the simhAsanam. He has

suffered enough all these years. At least from now on,

it should be good time. He wants to listen to stories.

Rshis came - people with beards came. He asked why

they had come. They said – “You killed rAvaNan. He is

a very wicked person; we came to thank You for killing

him”. Do the Rshis have to thank Him? So many Rshis.

Would it be nice if they don’t thank the ones who did

a good deed?

 

rAma asked “Was rAvaNan that wicked? Do you have to

say thanks for killing him?” That was it; They

started immediately: “Don’t you know anything about

rAvaNa?”, and started telling Him the whole story all

the way from the start..

 

After His paTTAbhishekam was completed, He listened to

the whole story about rAvaNa who was long gone –

 

- “tAn mun konRAN tan perum tol kadai kETTu”

- “konRAn tan perum kadai kETTu”

- “konRAn tan perum tol kadai kETTu”.

 

He felt: “It is okay; let them tell Me everything,

and let Me just listen to them”.

 

Then one day, when He was seated in the manDapam, kuSa

and lava came. When they came, they sang in a very

pleasing and melodious voice. What did they sing?

“mithilaic celvi ulaguyyat tiruvayiRu vAitta makkaL” –

kulaSEkara AzhvAr uses this wonderful phrase here.

Those kids were born in the tiruvayiRu of sItAdEvi;

such wonderful kids. She got 2 children such that the

whole world benefited. KulaSEkhara azhvAr says

nicely. One may ask: “Why? Did kausalyA not get a

child? In what way are sItA’s children better than

Kausalya’s child? KausalyA gave birth to none other

than rAma. How could this be (that sItA’s children

are better than KausalyA’s child)?

 

mannu pugazh kausalai tan maNi vayiRu vAittavanE

tennilangai kOn muDigaL SinduvittAi Sempon cEr

kanni nan mAmadiL puDai SUzh kaNapuratu en karumaNiyE

ennuDaiya innamudE rAghavanE tAlElO!

 

“Kausalai tan maNi vayiRu vAittavanE”:

 

“ulaguyya tivayiRu vAitta makkaL” - He called

Kausalyai’s womb as “maNi vayiRu”, and sItA’s womb as

tiruvayiRu. If we have a paTTi manRam today, people

will discuss which is better - maNi vayiRu or

tiruvayiRu. I don’t know those things! (laughter in

the audience). What is the ‘difference’ between maNi

vayiRu and tiru vayiRu? That too, the same azhvAr has

sung maNi vayiRu and tiru vayiRu – I do not know

anything. Only if there is “tiru”, “maNi” (money!)

will come - that much I know (audience laughs).

“mithilaic celvi ulaguyyat tiruvayiRu vAitta makkaL”;

mithilaic celvi – celvi belonging to mithilai nagar. I

will tell you how Kamban talks about mithilaic celvi

on the day we talk about guhap paTalam; You all come

that day. Just remember this term “mithilaic celvi”.

If one should explain this term as used by AzhvAr,

Kambar should be the one doing that vyAkyAnam.

 

“tiruvayiRu vAitta makkaL SempavaLat tiraL vAI tan

caritai kETTAn”. One meaning is – He listened to His

own caritai from the reddish coral like lips of kuSa

and lava. rAman listened for 27 days. On the 27th day,

he gave ‘presentations’. vAlmIki wrote all this in

rAmAyaNam itself. After listening to kuSa and lava’s

rAmAyaNa gAnam, the Rshis gave wooden bark clothes,

kRshNAjinam, sacred thread etc. It is a habit to give

presentations when rAmAyaNam is said; not for

bhAratam. If you take rAmAyaNam, people give gifts

according to whether it is sItA kalyANam, pAdukA

paTTAbhishekam, sugrIva paTTAbhishekam or SrI rAma

paTTAbhishekam; but not for lankA dahanam! (loud

laughter in the audience); paTTAbhishekam is very

special.

 

27 days He listened; then rAma went and prostrated

before vasishTha; vasishTha did not talk to rAman;

sishyan is prostrating before him and he is not

talking. He says “aDA! There is no wicked person like

you; I have told you one should not listen to one’s

own praise - Atma stotram; if one praises about us, we

should not listen to it; we should close our ears;

that is what I have told you; that is what is good;

nothing else.”

 

“If I had said your story for 27 days, somebody else

can listen; can you listen to it in that gathering?

You are my student – How could you do this? There was

a person named hariScandran; he was very firm in not

lying; and you are like this”.

 

rAman said – “Being your student, will I be like

that?. “VasishTa vyadeSina:” Being your disciple in

this incarnation of Mine as rAma, will I do anything

in violation of whatever you have ordained?”

vasishTar asks again: “Why did you listen to

rAmAyaNam?”

rAman said “you did not pay close attention to the

story; I would not have listened if it was my story”.

VasishTar: “they sang only your story”.

rAman: “kAvyam rAmAyaNam kRtsnam sItAyA: caritam

mahat” – that was sItai’s story; that is why I

listened. Where did I listen to my story?”

 

That is why kulaSEkara azhvAr says: “SempavaLat tiraL

vAI tan”; this “tan” is a ‘sixth case singular’ in

tamizh; He listened to the story of sItai, who is

SempavaLat tiraLvAi. See the relation between samkRt

and tamizh. “emperumAn tan caritai SeviyAL kaNNAl

paruguvOm innamudham madiyOm inRE” - the hero SrI

rAmacandran Himself listened to His caritam and gave

importance to it saying it is truly depicting His

story; thus the caritam is acknowledged by bhagavAn

and is a divya kAvyam and Adi kAvyam. So saying,

people have been listening to it right from tretA

yugam till today, and will listen tomorrow and

forever. If there is a discourse on rAmAyaNam, mostly,

there will not be many who will not attend. This

rAmAyaNam and tiruppAvai have the same quality. This

is the blessing from AzhvAr. This is the blessing of

bhagavAn. This is ANDAL’s blessing. Today, that divya

grantham has been initiated by an elder. I have also

started the discourse. Nothing will happen well

without emperumAn’s blessing. With sarveSvaran SrI

rAmacandran’s anugraham, this discourse must reach a

good completion; by completion I do not mean

sambhAvanai (audience laughs); I mean that the

discourse must reach completion, with everyone

getting to enjoy the great divine meanings that

bhagavAn should generate by being seated inside me.

“anta: pravishTa: SAstA janAnAm sarvAtmA”. Bhagavad

gItA says “sarvasya cAham hRdi sannivishTa: matta:

smRti: j~nAnam apohanam ca”. I cannot utter even a

word by myself unless Isvaran makes me say it. I pray

to bhagavAn and pAdukA-s, that He should generate in

me the ability to describe His guNa-s well, that He

should generate in all of you the interest to listen,

and that all of us should lead a happy life of

fulfilled accomplishments through the blessings of

Lord rAma.

 

End of Oct 05 article.

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To be continued………