AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. March 06. Part 2)

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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 - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. March 06. Part 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)

 

 

SrImad ANDavan tiruvaDi,

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri

 

 

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SrI:

AcArya rAmAmRtam

SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam by SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan

 

tai: yukta: SrUyatAm; nara: tai: yukta: SrUyatAm – Listen. It is a man

(nara:) He is the one who has all the qualities you said. The answer is naran

(man). The answer to vAlmIki’s question is nara:. Who is nara:?

 

Is it “ tai: yukta: SrUyatAm nara:”? or “tai: yukta: nara: SrUyatAm”?

 

If it is “tai: yukta: nara: SrUyatAm”, it means – I will tell you who the man

is that has all those qualities.

 

If it is “tai: yukta: SrUyatAm nara:”, it means – I will tell you which person

has those kalyANa guNams. He is nara:. nara: - that is the answer. Who is

the one who has so many guNams? It is ‘naran’. Who is that ‘naran’? He is the

one who has all the qualities you asked for. Fine, who is that ‘naran’?

jahnu: nArAyaNO nara: (sahasra nAmam) - That is His name. nAradar said a famous

name of His. nArAyaNan is the One who is referred to by the word naran.

 

vAlmIki said: “I specified - asmin loke - in this world”. ikshvAku vamSa

prabhava: rAmo nAma janai: Sruta: - He was born in ikshvAku vamsam. He is the

One who is referred to as ‘rAman’ by everyone. rAmo nAma janai: Sruta: -

everyone knows ‘rAman’. There is no one in the world who does not know the

rAma sabdam. ramante yogino yasmin – the moment yogis look at that rUpam, they

will all be immediately attracted. They will preserve that experience in their

minds for their meditation. When He was walking in daNDakAraNyam, He changed

the order in which they walked (says vAlmIki). GovindarAjar says in his

vyAkyAnam that He followed different orders when he walked in different places.

When He walked in daNDakAraNyam, He said: “lakshmaNa, you come as the last one,

in the end. I will go first. Let sItai be in the middle”. When He went to

kishkindai, it was a different order. It was different again in pampA saras

bank. It was different when He went to citra kUTam. When He started first, it

was one order -On goes vAlmIki. In AraNya kANDam, He says, “We have to be

careful here. They will all be in dhyAnam. I have to show that I am the one in

their meditation. We have to show Sesha Seshi bhAvam here.” He will walk

accordingly.

 

When one visits different places, one should dress accordingly. When one goes

to the court, one should wear coat, ribbon etc or wear full suit. When one

goes to play badminton, one should wear just banian (under garment), nothing

else. When one goes to play cricket, one should dress in an appropriately

impressive way. The same applies when playing football. When one goes to the

beach, one should wear airy clothes. When coming to see AcAryAr, people can

come anyway they want (the whole audience bursts into laughter). Nobody

questions in whatever way they come. So, there should be dress etiquette for

each place!

 

(He told lakshmaNa): When going to visit the Rshi-s who are following their

discipline, one should go with appropriate attire consistent with that

discipline. So, bhagavAn went that way. ramanto yogine yasmin

 

mUnRezhuttu adanai mUnRezhuttu adanAl mUnRezhuttu Akki mUnRezhettai enRu

koNDiruppArkku irakkam na’nguDaiya em puruDOttaman irukkai

mUnRaDi nimir’ndu mUnRinil tOnRi mUnRinil mUnRu uruvAnAn

kAn taDam pozhil SUzh ga’ngaiyin karai mEl kaNDam ennum kaDi nagarE

(periyAzhvAr 4.7.10)

 

When He went there, the mahaRshi-s who were meditating on the meaning behind

praNava, left everything and came running to see Him.

 

rUpam samhananam lakshmIm saukumAryam suveshatAm |

rAmasya vismitAkArA: dadRSur vanavAsina: || (AraNya 1.13)

 

All the yogis indulge in deep meditation on His divya ma’ngaLa vigraham (Divine

and auspicious tirumEni), but never feel satiated - “Alambanena paricintya na

yAnti tRptim” (SaraNAgati dIpikai 22).

 

If they are meditating on some bhagavat rUpam in their heart, they will stop

the dhyAnam; and will start meditating on rAman. Thus He (rAman) is One who

makes the yogi-s rejoice at His sight - ikshvAku vamSa prabhava:.

 

rAmo nAma janaih Srutah - Known to all people as rAma. Who is rAman? He is

one who is ramyam - very pleasing to everyone. Everyone will like Him.

ramayati iti rAma: - who is that?? vAlmIki writes – He is the Lord who took

incarnation and who stunned everyone in the country with His handsome form.

He is One who made everyone in this world subservient to Him with just His

beauty. There are different ways to make different people come under one’s

control. What will bhagavAn do? He will show His soundaryam (beauty) and

entice everyone. He has that divine beauty. Very astoundingly ravishing

attraction.

 

I will tell you an interesting story; listen. rAmo nAma janai: Sruta:

 

My AcAryan told me this. I am not saying. Don’t do sambhAvanai for me saying I

am narrating this so well (laughter in the audience). That is why I am telling

you. rAmo nAma janai: Sruta: - daSaratha cakravarti lived in ayodhyA. He was

sixty thousand years old. He is not able to kill time at this age. If there

are enemies, he can go and vanquish them; but everybody is good to him. No

enemies. Cannot go to war. Have to kill time somehow! Time will be occupied

if there are kids. That too, if there are seven or eight kids, time will pass

very nicely. One will be making mischief. Another one will be fighting. If

you pacify them, the third one will start crying. Time will pass in consoling,

buying something, buying a dress if the child asks for it etc. Time will pass

like that - there will be no time to think about bhagavAn. Time will pass in

buying clothes and getting them tailored etc. It is convenient if there are

seven or eight kids; we do not have to get them tailored according the correct

size (laughter in the audience). Otherwise, the dresses have to be made

according to size.

 

We have to feed them; make them go to sleep. There will not be enough time.

If there are kids, time will fly.

 

What can daSaratha cakravarti do? Time will pass if he has any case to

adjudicate. There is not even a single case, because everyone is very good.

So, his time doesn’t pass. He contemplated what he could do. He started

reading sAstram. Retired people come to me for kAlakshepam. If I ask why,

they say, “We are not able to pass time” (laughter in the sabhai). What can

they do? “talaiyum veLutta pin tAnE azhiya iSaiginRilIr” – Those of you who do

not want to die even after your hair has greyed (SrI deSika prabandham

amRtAsvAdinI – 23) (after all hair turned white and I retired, I asked for

extension and they refused to give, svAmi. What can I do? So I thought I will

at least do kAlakshepam…. “ (laughter in the audience).

 

dASaratha cakravarti did kAlakshepam. There are 64 art forms. He read one by

one. VasishThar did kAlakshepam. dASarathar read. Every time after a

kAlakshepam is done, He should do sambhAvanai (gift offering) to VasishTha

bhagavAn - thousand or two thousand (money units), or a shawl or something -he

is daSaratha’s bRhaspati or purohitar.

 

Thus he read books one by one. In the end, he read sAmudrikA SAstram.

sAmudrikA SAstram is the greatest lakshaNa sAstram. How long should a person’s

nose be? How broad should the eyes be? How long should the ears be? If it is

according to this way, that is the best lakshaNam. They are the people from a

higher pedigree. Those are the most attractive ones. How will it be for

medium people? How long will the hands be, fingers etc; all this will be known

from that book. The same way – with women; that sAstram says what is the best

lakshaNam for women also. After two years of reading, the kAlakshepam is going

to end tomorrow. People will know what to do if it is going to end the next

day. They were told the end is the next day.

 

vasishThar finished the kAlakshepam. He should be given sambhAvanai. He was

looking for the sambhAvanai, and there was no sambhAvanai. He kept thinking.

“I should not ask for it. He has done sambhAvanai 63 times. He will not

abstain from doing sambhAvanai. May be he forgot. I can ask for it tomorrow.”

He left for home. After 5 or 6 days, he sent for daSarathar. He thought he

would do sambhAvanai that day. Still there was no sambhAvanai. He went there

after fifteen days for doing puNyAhavAcanam or something else. He did not get

sambhAvanai that day also. “I should ask for it and get it. If it is

forgotten, then it will never be given”, thinking so, he asked daSarathar after

two weeks, “I taught you sAmudrikA sAstram. Tradition is that I should have

been given sambhAvanai. I think you forgot.” daSarathar said, “ I will not

forget that when it is you. I just stopped it on purpose”. Why? Because, it

is false sAstram. It says nose should be this long; mouth should be this long.

I have roamed around in ten different directions. I am known as daSarathan.

There is no one in the world like that (as per that SAstram). Why should I do

sambhAvanai for a false book? I just read it for killing time, not for the

sake of the book. “ What can vasishThar do? “There may not be a man in this

bhUlokam like that. But there will be in devalokam; somebody in deva-s,

kinnara-s, kimpurusha-s may be like that ”. daSarathar said, “I have seen

there also. When SambAsuran was killed, they placed me on the throne in

devalokam. I have seen UrvaSi, rambai etc. there is no one among women (as per

sAmudrikA SAstram). There are no men also conforming to this Sastram. It is

without doubt a false SAstram. I cannot give sambhAvanai for that. Just for

that alone, I cannot give. Don’t ask me for it”. VasishThar said, “You said

you cannot give sambhAvanai for my book. I will get sambhAvanai from you one

way or the other one day”.

 

Some days went. VasishThar helped daSaratha perform the aSvamedha yAgam. He

guided him in performing putra kAmeshTi yAgam. Child rAma was born. He went

for naming the child and saw Him. He thought – the baby is born with the

sAmudrikA lakshaNams I said; May be I can ask for sambhAvanai now. Then he

thought – let me not ask now; I will wait. If I ask now, he may say, “ Baby

will be beautiful now because it is early; after some time ….. you will get

the real sEvai “ (there is a continuous laughter in the audience as they enjoy

these places). The baby may get the facial characteristics of parents,

forefathers etc. So, he left the matter for a few more years; baby became 12

years old.

 

aham punar deva kumAra rUpam ala’nkRtam tam sutam Avrajantam | (ayodhyA

12.104)

 

daSarathar is very happy. He enjoys rAman’s beauty very much. VasishThar

thought of asking for sambhAvanai now. He postponed that thought thinking he

may say, “There may be men who conform, but not women”. Anyway I am going to

get sambhAvanai. So, he keeps quiet. sItA kalyaNam comes. sItai and rAman come

together and do gRhapravEsam; it was wonderful.

 

dayA sa rAjarshi suto’pirAmayA |

sameyivAn uttama rAja kanyayA || (bAla. 77.29)

 

says vAlmIki. It is a superb experience to see both of them. VasishThar

thought of asking for sambhAvanai now. No, he is busy with the function. If I

ask now, he will get mad. After we eat in the afternoon and have betel leaves,

betel nut etc, I can ask. He went to him (daSarathar) in the afternoon when

the latter was relaxed and called him “cakravarti”. daSarathar said “aDiyEn”

and did abhivAdaye.

 

VasishThar: I did not get sambhAvanai; it is twelve years now.

daSarathar: I told you.

VasishThar: Don’t they have the laskshaNams I told you? Look at rAman and

sItai.

daSarathar: I told you already; no sambhAvanai for you. That is false sAstram.

Why are you bringing this up again?

VasishThar: I showed you rAman and sItai.

daSarathar: Yes svAmi. I am saying this after seeing them. That is false

SAstram.

When we read the SAstram, I did not give sambhAvanai because it was

exaggerating the beauty characteristics. Now, I am not giving because it is

downplaying the same (laughter for a long time in the audience).

That book is wrong anyway. It should talk about the best lakshaNam. It does

not come up to the mark of describing the beauty of sItai and rAman. That book

is not right. No sambhAvanai.

VasishThar : I am not after sambhAnai. I want to know if you are enjoying

looking at your kumAran and sItai. They have such divine beauty! I am not

after money.

 

rAman is that beautiful. His beauty cannot be described in a book.

 

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To be continued………