AcArya rAmAmRtam - Dec 05 - 2

[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 - Dec 05 - 2

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 footnotes are indicated by the letters “fn”

followed by a number.

 

SrImad ANDavan tiruvaDi,

kalyANi krshNamAcAri

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

SrI:

AcArya rAmAmRtam

SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam by SrImad tirukkuDandai

ANDavan

 

There is a story.

 

There was an AcAryan once. He had a Sishyan. He was a

devoted Sishyan. There was no other Sishyan like him.

He was learning a lot about books from him. He had

great devotion to his AcAryan. Once he had to go to

attend a marriage. He asked for 5 days of leave from

his AcAryan and left. The AcAryan said okay. The

Sishyan had to cross a forest; there was no vehicle;

there was a wild river; In the midst of his crossing,

a lot of water came rushing. This was unexpected

danger; he did not know how to swim. He was completely

taken by shock. Forest stream does not stop flowing.

It was flooding the area with great force. He felt:

Okay, there is no way I am going to come out of this

alive. So with folded hands he started saying –

AcAryan’s feet are my sole refuge, AcAryan’s feet are

my sole refuge, AcAryan’s feet are my sole refuge.

Only at times like that will people say that (long

laughter in the audience). The flood keeps increasing

and carries him away; even then he does not stop

saying what he is saying. After a long distance, he

feels sand below his feet; slowly the water starts

receding. It was only a forest stream; and so when the

rain stopped, the flood receded. He stood like that

for 10 hours. The flood totally receded. Then he

continued on his journey. He felt great in his mind

about how his AcAryan’s feet saved him in a miraculous

way. With great happiness, he went to attend the

marriage. By the time he arrived at the marriage

function, the tirumA’ngalya dhAraNam was over. It was

his brother-in-law’s marriage. They asked him why he

was so late. He replied that it was a miracle that he

managed to come alive, and that was not brought there

dead. He said his AcAryan’s feet saved him, for

otherwise he would have been swept away by forest

flood. He and his wife were honored with betel leaves,

arica, dhoti, sari etc. Along with his wife, he came

back home. Immediately, he went and fell at the feet

of his AcAryan, and said: “These feet alone saved me.

As I was being swept away by the waters, I kept saying

that AcAryan’s feet alone are my sole protection. I

was saved only by the AcAryan’s feet”. AcAryan thinks

– everyone is watching what I am going to say. He

feels he has very powerful feet indeed. He could not

get himself to say that the Lord saved his disciple.

 

 

5 or 6 months went by. AcAryan’s brother-in-law’s

marriage came. He went. The very first thing that

happened to him on the way was that a couple of

thieves waylaid him. They surrounded him and asked

him to remove everything he had in his possession and

lay them on the floor. His body started shaking. He

was looking for what to do. He remembered his Sishyan

telling him that his feet had saved the Sishyan from

great danger. He thought the same feet should be able

to save him too. So he lifted his hands over his

head and said “aDiyEn tiruvADigaLE SaraNam, aDiyEn

tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam” (I surrender to my feet, I

surrender to my feet) (audience laughs). When the

thief heard the word “aDiyEn”, the thief started

beating him; took every thing and left.

 

The AcAryan went to attend the marriage and came

back. The Sishyan came to pay his respects. The

AcAryan told the Sishyan: “I listened to you and got

destroyed. I said – I surrender to my feet (because of

what you said) – and I got beaten up. I got cheated”.

The Sishyan humbly told the AcAryan: “No svAmi! If

I say (surrender to) my AcAryan, you should say (you

surrender to ) your AcAryan (laughter in the

audience).

 

“mAmEkam SaraNam vraja”

“manmanA bhava mad bhaktO madyAjI mAm namaskuru” – All

He is saying is that if AcAryan says something, it

becomes true.

 

“manye prIti visishTA sA matto lakhmaNa SArikA |

yasyA’sou SrUyate Sabda: Suka pAdam areh daSa ||”

(rAmAyaNam ayodhyA kANDam 53.22)

 

Very beautiful Slokam. If we do not say all these

meanings, the real meaning of the Slokam will not be

known. That is why “samudramiva ratnADhyam, sarva

Sruti manoharam”. If one asks whether there are gems,

they will be there only if one dives deep and gets

them; that is how there are so many different

meanings.

 

BhagavAn thinks AcAryan is great. This is what AcAryAL

meant when he said “anyAm devatAm samadhikAm na

manyAmahe:”

 

anukalpa bhUta murabhit padam satAm

ajahat trivargam apavarga vaibhavam |

cala citta vRtti vinivartanaushadham

SaraNam yatIndra caraNam vRNImahe || (yatirAja

saptati: 20)

 

svAmi deSikan raises the question - Are rAmAnujar’s

feet more powerful, or are bhagavAn’s feet more

powerful, . He replies that rAmAnujar’s feet are more

powerful; perumAL’s feet come only second. - “anukalpa

bhUta murabhit padam satAm” - For the learned,

bhagavAn’s Feet are only second to rAmAnuja’s feet.

Does anybody explain this special meaning for the

rAmAyaNa Sloka that we dealt with? It is because

there are so many special meanings, rAmAnujar

listened to rAmAyaNam 18 times.

 

“tapasvAdhyAya niratam tapasvI vAk vidAm varam |

nAradam paripapraccha vAlmIki: munipu’ngavam || “

(rAmAyaNam bAla kANDam 1.1) [fn 1]

 

vAlmIki says that knowledge should be received

directly from an AcAryan. There are books; why can’t

we read them, if we have the desire for learning, if

we have the proficiency to understand. He says no

way. What do the upanishads say?

 

“AcAryAt ityadhIte niyamavidhirasau niscito nIti

vidbhi:”

 

What is that? Only when you hear from AcAryan, that

meaning will be useful in attaining moksham – path to

salvation. Otherwise, it will not be useful for that.

Some have written rahasya-s. BhagavAn is full of

compassion. He has been described as apAra kAruNya

souSIlya vAtsalya mAdhurya gAmbhIryAdi guNa

ratnAkara”. The question is raised - Instead of

serving Him directly, why do we need this noble soul

called AcAryan in the middle? BhagavAn is

compassionate. People prostrate before Him. Take hold

of His feet. rAmAnujar has written in his work that

if we seek refuge under Him as described in his book,

bhagavAn will bestow whatever we desire. So, why do we

need the nobility in the form of AcAryan in the

middle? This is meaningless. I get 6 birthday

announcements in a year (the whole audience laughs).

What to do? If the AcArryan is a sanyAsi, the number

of announcements is not much. But if the AcAryan is a

family man, then he will keep sending announcements

all the way starting with seemantham. Does that not

make it difficult? Why do we need this nobility called

AcAryan in the middle? BhagavAn is the One who gives

moksham. They insist that I need AcAryan as the

in-between. If I have sAstra j~nAnam (knowledge) and

know a few SAstra-s , can’t I know the meaning of

upanishad if I read it? There are so many translations

available. Wonderful translations. Can’t we just read

those to gain knowledge? But they say it is not

possible. Isn’t it enough if I have knowledge of a

few SAstra-s, to proceed further? No, that will not be

of any use.. It is said “tAli kiDantAl AbharaNam

pUNalAm; illAviDil avadyamAmiRE” ( If a lady has

tirumA~ngalyam to start with, it will look beautiful

when any other jewelry is worn; otherwise, it (the

other jewelry) will not look good; one can wear, but,

it will not look good. So also, if one has an

AcAryan, the j~nAnam that is gained will be

beneficial; otherwise, it will be of no use. Why? What

makes the lotus flower blossom? There is lotus in the

pond. What makes it blossom? It will blossom only if

heat from the sun’s rays fall on it. It will blossom

only if the rising sun’s rays fall on it. Otherwise,

it will not blossom. If it needs heat, can we bring

heated coal from the stove and drop it on top of the

lotus, will it blossom? “kamalam jalAt abhedam

Soshayati ravi: na toshayati”

 

SentazhalE vandu azhalai SeidiDinum Se’nkamalam

antaram SEr ve~nkadirOrkku allAl alarAvAl

ventuyar vITTAviDinum vittuvak kOTTammA un

antamil SirkkallAl agam kuzhaiya mATTEnE ! “

(perumAL tirumozhi 5.6)

 

KulasEkara AzhvAr says: “hEy Iswara! My mind will melt

only for your guNa-s (attributes). Otherwise, it will

not melt. It has to melt like butter” - antamil un

SirkkallAl agam kuzhaiya mATTEnE!

 

It will melt only for you. It won’t melt for anything

else. How is that? Lotus needs warmth; but, if one

brings heated coal from the stove and drops over it,

will it blossom? venkadirOrkku allAl alarAvAl - It

blossoms only for the sun’s rays; otherwise, it won’t

blossom. All right; it will blossom with sun’s rays.

So, one goes to the pond; takes fifty buds, goes to

the terrace and spreads them; will they blossom?

Kamalam jalAt abhedam Soshayati ravi: na toshayati “ -

Even though the sun makes it blossom, it needs

relation with water. Otherwise its nature is to dry”.

The sun will make the flower blossom only when it is

in the water in the pond; if the lotus is taken out

of water it will only become dry. The same way, even

though the compassionate bhagavAn is the One who

bestows moksham, association with AcAryan is

necessary, just like the association with water for

the lotus. Only if there is association with AcAryar,

bhagavAn will bestow the blossoming of moksham

(expansion of knowledge), on the jIvAtmA . Otherwise,

He will not give. That is what rAman says through His

words -

“manye prIti visishTA sA matto laskhmaNa SArikA”.

 

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

 

Fn 1: The vyAkhyAnam for the first Slokam of SrImad

rAmAyaNam starts here.

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

To be continued………