AcArya rAmAmRtam - Nov 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 - Nov 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

 

I will tell you one more thing. There is a Slokam in

rAmAyaNam ayodhyA kANDam.

 

They (rAmar, sItai and lakshmaNar) are going to

bharadvAja ASramam. They are under a tree on the way.

PerumAL looks at lakshmaNar and says something. In

vaishNava sampradAyam, when we want to refer to rAman,

we should refer to Him as cakravarti tirumagan. When

we talk about lakshmaNan, we should say iLaiya

perumAL. We should say SatrughnAzhvAn for Satrughnan.

sugrIvan must be referred to as mahArAjar; jAmbavAn

must be mentioned as periya uDaiyAr. AnjanEyar is

tiruvaDi. This is all vaishNava terminology. If I say

anything different, my Sishya-s will not accept me as

vaishNavan (laughter in the audience). That is why I

am saying all this up-front. But what I say should be

such that everyone understands me. So, I have to keep

that in mind that too. But what if vaishNava-s

forsake me…. (laughter in the audience). lakshmaNa

svAmi is traditionally called iLaiya perumAL.

Cakravartit tirumagan is addressing iLaiya perumAL. A

very beautiful Slokam. I asked some people who give

discourses on rAmAyaNam to recite this Slokam, and

they asked me – where this Slokam occurs in rAmAyaNam

(laughter in the audience).

 

manyE prIti viSishTA sA

matto lakshmaNa SArikA |

yasyAsau SrUyate Sabda:

SukapAdam are: daSa || (rAmAyaNam ayodhyA kANDam

53.22)

 

rAman tells lakshmaNan after they leave ayodhyA and

before going to bharadvAja Asramam - “lakshmaNa!

kausalyai had a pet SArikai bird. In tamizh, it is

called nAgaNavAippuL; like a parrot; okay, let us say

she had a pet parrot. She likes that kiLi more than

she likes me. Alas, I am not an object of love. I

did not do any help to the extent that kausalyai’s

kiLi did”.

If one asks why,

 

“yasyAsau SrUyate Sabda:

SukapAdam are: daSa || “

 

I will tell you ‘word by word’ meaning for this

slokam. Listen. “ Oh lakshmaNa! more than me, this

SArikai (brought up by kausalyai) has earned

kausalyai’s love. Because she is repeatedly hearing

that parrot saying “hEy kiLiyE, bite the enemy’s

foot”.

 

What is the meaning of this? KausalyA devi brought up

a parrot for fun like the other upper class people. It

was an amazing female parrot. She made a golden cage

made of golden strands for it. She only fed milk rice

in a golden vessel to the parrot. At the time of

marriage for this parrot, she sent a male parrot into

the cage. She dressed the female parrot with tissue

skirt, put diamond nose stud in the nose, put a

necklace around her neck and performed the marriage.

The male parrot and the female parrot will play with

each other. She will feed only milk rice.

 

She brought up the bird in the sense portrayed by

“pADakkETTu vaLarttadanAl payan peRREn varugavenRu

maDakkiLiyai kai kUppi vaNanginALE”. That bird was

also very fond of her. What did it say? It said “Suka

pAdam arerdaSa” – “hey Suka! are: pAdam daSa”. In

other words, when the male parrot came back after

flying around and playing, the female parrot will tell

the male parrot: “hE Suka! Bite at the enemy’s foot”.

Immediately, kausalyai would fondly give milk rice to

the parrot and gently fondle the parrot. What she

understood when the parrot said “Go and bite the

enemy’s foot” was “Go and bite that kaikEyi’s foot”.

So, she affectionately fondled that parrot. The parrot

was actually asking the male parrot to bite the foot

of the cat that came there; but, kausalyai

understands it the other way – “bite kaikEyi’s foot”.

That female parrot brought up by kausalyai talks as if

it is issuing orders to the husband! Even to that

extent I have not said anything to help kausalyA who

brought me up. Whenever I have to go out anywhere,

she will bless me -

 

“yam pAlayasi dharmam tvam dhRtyA ca niyamena ca |

sa vai rAghava SArdUla dharmas-tvAm abhirakshatu ||”

( rAmAyaNam ayodhyA kANDam 25.3)

 

I parted without saying one good word. The simple

meaning is that he feels bad that He did not say even

one word to comfort her.

 

But there is svApadesArttam (inner meaning) for this

Slokam. “samudramiva ratnADhyam sarva Sruti

manoharam”, right!

 

rAma said, “lakshmaNa,

 

manyE prIti viSishTA sA

matto lakshmaNa SArikA |

yasyAsau SrUyate Sabda:

SukapAdam are: daSa ||

 

First He said “adyaiva prathamA rAtri: “ - this is

our first night after we crossed Sringibherapuram and

the Ganges.

 

I made everyone in ayoddhi cry and came to the forest.

 

 

I took this incarnation in this world to make everyone

a devotee of the Lord by showing my divinity, and to

take them all to parama padam! See how much suffering

I am facing! Look at this SArikA bird. It is much

superior. PerumAL is showing through this Slokam who

is superior between perumAL and AcAryan. PerumAL is

one step lower than the AcAryan. It is vaishNava

sampradAyam that AcAryan is always on a higher level.

All sampradAyams accept AcAryan. No one denies that.

Even the cArvAka says that mukti is attained only if

one hears from the AcArya that the body is the AtmA..

 

adhyAsIna tura’nga vaktra vilasat jihvAgra simhasanAt

AcAryAt iha devatAm samdhikAm anyAm na manyAmahe |

yasyAsau bhajate kadAcit ajahadbhUmA svayam bhUmikAm

magnAnAm bhavinAm bhavArNava samuttArAya nArAyaNa: ||

(rahasyatrayasAram - SishyakRtyAdhikAram)

 

It has to be said that AcAryan is on a higher pedestal

than perumAL. In some places, we have to talk about

ourselves too; that is why I am starting this

(laughter in the audience). Nothing else. Who is

better? ‘adhyAsIna tura’nga vaktra vilasat jihvAgra

simhasanAt’ – Compared to the AcAryan who worships the

paramAtman in the form of the Lord of words by keeping

Him in the throne at the tip of his tongue, ‘anyAm

devatAm’, ‘samadhikAm na manyAmahe’ – I do not

consider the Supreme Deity SrIman nArAyaNan to be

better. This is the Slokam by vedAnta deSikan. Why

does he say so?

 

yasyAsau bhajate kadAcit ajahadbhUmA svayam bhUmikAm

magnAnAm bhavinAm bhavArNava samuttArAya nArAyaNa: |

 

Because, bhagavAn appears in the guise of the AcAryan

in order to accomplish what He wants to do. The

tradition is that AcAryan is in reality, bhagavAn

Himself. All traditions admit this. Who is AcAryan?

 

sAkshAt nArayaNo deva: kRtvA martya mayIm tanum |

magnAn uddharate lokAn kAruNyAt SAstrapANinA || (SrI

guru paramparA sAram)

 

bhagavAN takes His incarnation. Brings all His

weapons; brings His five weapons. He has not

accomplished His objective. There is no point coming

like this. He thinks He has to elongate these

‘weapons’; these are not long enough; Sastram

(weapon), if elongated, becomes ‘SAstram’. “kAruNyAt

SAstra pANinA”

 

He abandons His hand carrying the Sastram and comes as

the AcAryan carrying SAstram.

 

EtangaLAyinavellAm ira’ngal iDuvittu

pItakavADaip pirAnAr piramaguruvAgi vandu

pOdil kamalavan ne’njam pugundum en Sennit tiDaril

pAda ilaccinai vaittAr paNDanRu paTTinam kAppE.

(periyAzhvAr Tirumozhi 5.2.8)

 

pItakavADaip pirAnAr piramaguruvAgi vandu – It is only

He, bhagavAn, who puts on AcArya vEsham and salvages

several jIvAtmAs.

 

“Sruti smRti purANAnAm Alayam karuNAlayam” – what

comes next? (SrImad ANDavan asks some iyers – they all

laugh) What if you also do not know? I, an iyengAr

am able to say! - “namAmi bhagavadpAda Sa’nkaram loka

Sa’nkaram”. Sa’nkara bhagavad pAdAL – Who is he in

truth? It is said that he is none other than

Sa’nkarar Himself, ParameSvaran Himself - the KailAsa

nAthan, pArvatI kANtan - has come as Adi Sa’nkarar.

In our faith, we say that Lord nArAyaNa Himself has

come as the AcArya. There is no difference. Both of

them have Sastram – Sa’nkara has Sastram, and nArAyaNa

has Sastram. Leaving that Sastram, they took

SAstram and came as AcArya-s - “kAruNyAt SAstra

pANiNA”

 

manye prIti visishTA sA matto lakhmaNa SArikA |

 

(rAma says to lakshmaNa) – “These AcAryA-s do not

undergo any difficulty. They happily impart knowledge

to the jIvAtmA-s and elevate the jIva-s to moksha.

Look at me compared to them!”

 

“he Suka ! are: pAdam daSa” “yE kiLiyE!” means “ye

AcArya!”; are: pAdam daSa - bite at the enemy’s foot.

What does “enemy” mean here? It refers to ‘prakRti’.

One meaning for the word ‘pAdam’ in samskRt is

‘one-fourth part’. “pAdo’sya viSvA bhUtAni tripAd

asyAmRtam divi” – Out of the entire Universe, mOksha

lOkam is 3/4 part; the samsAra maNDalam in which we

live is ¼ part. “are: pAdam daSa” – “Chip away the

one-fourth part that is the enemy in the form of leelA

vibhUti. I don’t want the burden of samsAra. I want

to attain moksham yE AcAryanE! Help me in

accomplishing this”– kiLi is AcAryan. AcAryan is being

called kiLi here. Because, bird flies over to all

places! AcAryan also flies (goes) from place to

place. (SrImad ANDavan laughs Himself!) Maybe that is

why AcAryan has been called pakshi! No, it is not

like that. What is pakshi? “j~nAnam anuTTAnam ivai

nanRAgavE uDaiya j~nAna guruvai aDaindiTTAl tEnAr

kamalat tirumAmagaL kozhunan tAnE vaikuntam tarum”.

(upadeSa rattina mAlai – 61).

 

ubhAbhyAm api pakshAbhyAm yatA ke paskhinAm gati: |

tataiva j~nAna karmabhyAm bhavam tarati deSika: ||

 

A bird should have two wings. If it has only one wing,

it cannot fly. If it has to fly high, it has to use

both its wings. Just like that, if we have to cross

samsAram, we need two wings. ‘tataiva j~nAna

karmabhyAm’ ISAvAsya upanishad declares: “avidyayA

mRtyum tIrtvA vidyayA amRtam aSnute”. Here avidyA is

karma; we need both karma (anushThAnam) and j~nAnam

(knowledge). It is not enough if one has just j~nAnam;

nor is it useful if one just has anushThAnam. If one

takes bath all the time and keeps wearing the tirumaN

and asks – will I get mOksham, there is no use.

 

mIna: snAnavata: phaNI pavana bhuk, mesha: ca

parNASana:

 

There are fish in the Ganges. They are always taking

full bath; snake lives on air. Will it get moksham if

it takes only air? One name for the snake is

vAtASanan. What if one eats only dry leaves that fall

naturally from the tree; mesha: ca parNASana: - mesham

(sheep) eats only leaves. Will it get moksham? j~nAnam

pradhAnam hi tat. advaita, dvaita, viSishTAdvaita –

all three faiths say ‘j~nAnAt moksham’. There is

argument about “what kind of j~nAnam”; but, there is

no debate about “j~nAnAt moksha:” Because j~nAnam

gets one mokhsam, we need to get j~nAnam. But, is it

enough if we get j~nAnam only?

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

End of November 2005.

 

To be continued………