AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. March 06. Part 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 - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. March 06. Part 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 footnotes are indicated by the letters “fn” followed by a number.

 

SrImad ANDavan tiruvaDi,

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri

 

 

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SrI:

AcArya rAmAmRtam

SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam by SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan

 

rAmo nAma janai: Sruta: - ramayatIti rAma: - He has that much saundaryam.

daSarathar sat in the throne and asked vasishThar: “Do you know what my age

is?”

vasishThar: I have told you it is sixty thousand.

daSarathar: No.

vasishThar: Is it six thousand?

daSarathar: No.

vasishThar: Is it six hundred?

daSarathar: No, not even that. I am sixty years old. dRshTvaiva punar-yuveva –

I am in my youth, svAmi. Don’t think of elderly people as old. Because,

purushA: dhana yauvanA: - when men become rich, they become especially young. A

twenty-five year old will be like an old man if he has no money. He will not be

able to get up and walk. Give a lakh of rupees to an old man, and he will send

application for joining the army (to do battle). Wealth is power. Power brings

out youth.

 

nidiyinai pavaLat tUNai neRimaiyAl ninaiya vallAr

gatiyinai ka’njan mALak kaNDu mun aNDam ALum

madiyinai mAlai vAzhtti vaNa’ngi en manattu vanda

vidiyinaik kaNDu koNDa toNDanEn viDugilEnE (tirukkuRuntANDagam- 1)

 

vaitta mAnidhiyAm madhusUdanaiyE alaRRi (tiruvAimozhi 6.7.1)

 

vaippAm marundAm aDiyarai valvinait

tuppAm pulanaindum tu’njak koDAn avan

eppAl yavarkkum nalattAl uyarnduyarndu

appAl avan e’ngaL Ayar kozhundE ! (tiruvAimozhi 1.7.3)

 

dhanam madIyam tava pAda pa’nkajam

kadA nu sAkshAt karavANi cakshushA (stotra ratnam - 30)

 

nAsti pitrA’rjitam ki’ncit na mayA ki’ncit Arjitam |

asti me hasti SailAgre vastu paitAmaham dhanam (vairAgya pa~ncakam - 5 )

 

When I see that wealth that is rAman’s saundaryam, I become a yuvA (youth),

says daSarathar. He is ikshvAku vamSa prabhava: rAmo nAma janai: Sruta:.

rAmo nAma – it is enough if one says rAman’s nAmam. Anyone you ask will say

they know that name. He (daSarathar) has given his son a very beautiful name.

That name is rAman.

 

It is said that even if the name is uttered, the sins will vanish. If one

says, “Okay. I have said the name just now; but if I accumulate sins by

tomorrow?” The answer is “the sin will not come”. How? When one says “rA”, the

mouth opens. So, with “rA”, the mouth will open. When one says “ma”, the two

lips close. When “rA” is uttered, all the sins go out (through the mouth).

When “ma” is uttered, the mouth closes; the gate is closed. (The sins) cannot

get inside. The nAmam is such a wonderful one. Didn’t kambar say? What will

be obtained when rAma nAmam is said? Abundant wealth will accumulate.

 

When I went for yAttirai, I have gone up to badrikASramam. There is no place I

have not gone to. Only one is left. I do not know when that yAtttirai is

going to happen (AcAryar laughs lightly). I visited a village in that

yAttirai. It so happened I had to stay in that village. There was an

intriguing bangalow. Very big. There was a lady in that house. She said, “My

children are here. I will ask them to prostrate before you”. They did. That

boy could not speak. He looked like a mute. He did not say anything. That

lady said, “Sit down, I will tell you”. I sat down and then, she told me the

story. She said, “This is my son. I asked him to read; he is not able to

read. He cannot read ‘a’, ‘ka’, anything. Nothing. But, he eats four times a

day; he will eat quite a bit; he will eat two times in the morning and two

times in the night without fail. Nothing besides eating food. I work out of

town, buy rice and we eat. I do not know what to do. I am aged now. I was

wondering how to sustain this boy. One day, a yogi came here from RshikeSam.

He said he was very hungry and asked for food. I had kept some old food, one

paDi (measure) for my son. He would have eaten it in one sitting. I gave that

to the yogi. He ate. After eating, he said, “Listen to me. Tomorrow, a

zamIndAr will come from 10 miles away. He will ask for money. Show him this

spot. There is treasure inside. Give that to him. He will take that and give

his daughter to your son. He will have a good life.” I believed him.

 

The next day, the zamIndAr came in a car. He was very wealthy. He had taken

loans, and had gotten warrant (notice to repay the loan); he got caught. It

was like that in those days. If you borrow loan now, you do not have to give

it back (slight laughter in the audience). He kept postponing saying he would

pay the next day. He was struggling. The next night, when he was lying down,

rAman came to him in person and said, “Go and ask that lady. She has a son.

She will show you a buried treasure. Take that and give your daughter (in

marriage) to her son”.

 

He came. The lady showed the treasure spot to him. And, he gave his daughter

to her son. That girl is taking care of (house) work. The lady says, “ I am

just eating”. AcAryan asked her what upAyam did the yogi tell her. She said,

“the RshIkeSa yogi asked the son to write ‘rAma’ in the slate. The son wrote

“rAma”; then he erased it; he wrote it again and erased it. He would have

written one lakh times. [fn1]

As a result of writing rAma nAmam, he got this benefit”.

 

“In the spot shown by the yogi, there was a treasure. The zamIndAr gave his

daughter (in marriage). This boy has not studied anything. But the girl has

had good education. The girl earns . She takes care of all administration. I

am just eating. This is that boy”. Kambar said that if rAma nAmam is said,

“Selvamum nALum nalgumE”. So much wealth came even when the rAma nAmam was

written and erased continuously. rAma nAmam is the root cause of all aiSvaryam.

Kambar said, “mummai SAl ulagukkellAm mUlamAya mandirattai immaiyai maRumai

tannai”. VAli says, “What a beautiful nAmam. The one who has this nAmam hit

me with the arrow. I would like to ask him a question.” rAmo nAma janai:

Sruta: |

 

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[fn 1]: what AcAryar says ‘lakh’ here can be taken to be “several thousands”.

About a thousand rAma nAmams can be written in the slate in an hour.

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Conclusion of March ‘06

 

To be continued………