AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. April 06. Part 1)

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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. April 06. Part 1)

 

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

 

rAmo nAma janai: Sruta: -He is known among people by His name as rAman.

ikshvAku vamsa prabhava: - He was born in the ikshvAku vamsam. niyatAtmA - He

is by nature very calm. mahA vIryah - vIryaSAli (valorous – whatever feat He

accomplishes, He will not even perspire because of it. vIryam means the body

will not feel the strain even when very strenuous work is done.

 

dyau: sa-candrArka nakshatram kham diSo bhu: mahodadhi: |

vAsudevasya vIryeNa vidhRtAni mahAtmana: ||

 

He is supporting this whole prapa’ncam steady, right? He does not feel the

slightest strain because of this. He never tires even when He has accomplished

a very big achievement. Some people try to do some big things, like lifting a

bag; then they will sit in an air-conditioned room, wipe their perspiration

with a towel and drink a couple of large cups of coffee; even then they are not

relieved of their strain. Look at how it is for us, For bhagavAn there is no

such thing as strain - niyatAtmA mahAvIrya: |

 

konvasmin sAmpradam loke guNavAn ka: sa vIryavAn – he (vALmIki) asked who is

vIryavAn; so, he (nAradar) answers; he explains a lot.

 

rakshitA jIva lokasya svajanasya ca rakshitA |

rakshitA svasya dharmasya dharmasya parirakshitA ||

 

Since vAlmiki asked: “cAritrena ca ko yukta: “, nAradar mentioned rAman’s Atma

guNam-s, SarIra guNam-s, lakshaNam-s etc., and thus by describing His whole

nature, he instructed the whole rAmAyaNam in a very short form and then left.

vAlmIki was very pleased to listen to rAmAyaNam as told by nAradar.

 

Adi (first) slokam in tamasA river bank:

 

Immediately, he called his students. He said, “I have to go to take the

afternoon bath; take the cloth made of tree barks, the deer skin etc. and let

us go to tamasA river”. bharadvAjar took those and also a vessel to bring

water for his acAryan’s anushThAnam and followed him. AcAryan stepped into the

tamasA river bank.

 

Looking at the tamasA river, AcAryan said, “sishyA”. bharadvAjar said,

“aDiyEn”. AcAryan said, “Did you see the tamasA river water? Look how it is. “

 

 

“akardam idam tIrtham bharadvAja niSAmaya |

ramaNIyam prasannAmbu sanmanushyamano yathA ||” (1.2.5)

 

AcAryan said, “Hey bharadvAja! “ This bhardavAjar is different from the

bharadvAjar who is going to come later in the ASramam. The initials are

different!

AcAryan continued, “Do you see how this tIrtham is?”

 

akardam idam tIrtham bharadvAja niSAmaya | In those days, people felt happy

looking at tIrthams. vALmIki said, “See how great this tIrtham looks”. “san

manushya manoyathA!” Look at the example he gives. One should cite example

that the listener would know. What the listener would not know must not be

given as an example. The example given for the river water being clear is

-“san manushya mano yathA!” He said it is clear like the mind of a sAdhu. A

sAdhu’s mind will be pure and clear without any kAmam or krodham – desire,

anger etc

 

kalusa jalesu va hamso kasoya kaburesu ThAsi accuya Na gaNam (acyuta Satakam -

6)

 

bhagavAn will not reside in a form suitable for meditation in a mind that has

kAmam and krodham. How is that? It is similar to a swan not getting into

water that is turbid. A swan will leave the water during rainy season because

the water will get muddled. It will stay only in clear waters. Otherwise, it

will leave the water.

 

kashAya garpureshu acyuta na thishTasi kshaNamapi |

 

declares dESikan in acyuta Satakam. The mind must be very clear.

 

akardamam idam tIrtham bharadvAja niSAmaya |

ramaNIyam prasannAmbu san-manushya mano yathA ||

 

He told his Sishyan he was going to take his bath. There is a separate vastram

for him during taking his bath. One should not take a bath with the vEshTi

(dhoti) one is wearing. There has to be a separate vastram for taking bath.

 

The dhoti worn on the waist should not touch the angavastram worn on top. It

should be worn separately. That is why a string (called arai j~nAN kayiru in

tamizh) is worn in the waist. The dhoti that is to be worn in the waist should

not be used for the top portion of the body. What if it touches the sacred

thread? This is all dharma SAstram. There should be a separate towel for

drying the body after bath. There are many such declarations in the SAstra-s.

Who follows these now? Some place the koupInam (under garment) on the shoulder

where the pUNal is (audience laughs); they dry themselves with the vEshTi

itself; they argue that it is all the same.

 

vAlmIki is one who observes the codes of conduct rigorously. He got the sNana

vastram from his Sishyan. He looked around; the forest looked extremely

beautiful. vAlmIki is called “vanam kaNDa vAlmIki” – one who ‘found’ the

forest . He is such an admirer (of nature). vyAsa bhagavAn describes battles

a lot. In mahAbharatam, out of one lakh Sloka-s, 60,000 Sloka-s are gone in

describing the war. He is very satisfied in describing battles. If vAlmIki -

“vanam kaNDa vAlmIki” - sees a forest, he will start .. kovidArAmSca.

 

It is hard for those who do rAmAyaNam upanyAsam. vAlmIki will say the names of

a lot of trees and describe them. The upanyAsakar may not recognize all these

- they will have samskRt names; the upanyAsaka will just say that it is the

specialty of the tree.

 

vAlmIki who came to the forest, was admiring to bharadvAjar how clear the

tIrtham (of the river) was. There were two krau’nca (curlew) birds together.

A hunter came there and aimed an arrow at one of the birds. The male bird fell

down vomiting a lot of blood. vAlmIki saw this. He felt very sad. Without

his knowing, a Slokam came out of his mouth.

 

mA nishAda pratishThAm tvam agama: SASvatI: samA: |

yat kraunca mithunAt ekam avadhI: kAma mohitam || (1.2.15)

 

“You killed a bird which was enjoying with its female partner! And that too

when they were united. You will not live well for several years!” so lashed

out vAlmIki at the hunter. Then he contemplated - “The Slokam I just said

seems to be a good Slokam. This Slokam came out when I saw the bird! It is

very good! When I look at the meaning again it sounds very good! mAnIshAda!

pratishThAm tvam agama: SASvatI: samA: | mAnIshAda – mA nIshIdati asmin iti

mAnishAda. Oh paramAtmA, who has lakshmI living in Him! You should live

happily and steadily for a very long time. Because, yat kraunca mithunAt ekam

avadI: kAma mohitam - You killed rAvaNan who was consumed by lust! Oh my

disciple! This Slokam turns out to be a Slokam with reference to rAman! What a

wonder! “

 

“This Slokam is very well structured – it has 4 x 8 = 32 letters. There is not

one letter extra. pAda baddha: akshara sama: tantrIlaya samanvita: ; All the 4

pAdams (the four lines) are beautiful. All the letters are right. The dhvani

(sound) resonates with the meaning very well!”

 

The kAvyA darSam declares: “catushpAt sloka:”.There was an AcAryan who was

blind. He taught his Sishyan “catushpAt sloka:” – That which has 4 pAda-s (one

meaning being that which has four quarters or four lines) is called a Slokam.

This blind AcAryan was sitting in the front porch of his house. A bull came

charging on him. Sishyan said “Slokam is coming, Slokam is coming”. (One

meaning for the word ‘pAdam” is ‘leg’; since this animal had four legs -

catush-pAt, the Sishyan screamed “Slokam – catushpAt according to the AcArya’s

instruction, was approaching him. The AcAryan did not move from his place.

The animal came and charged at him. He asked his Sishyan why the Sishyan did

not warn him that the bull was charging at him. Sishyan responded, “ You said

catushpAt Sloka:! This animal had four legs, and that is why I said like that”

(there is laughter in the sabhai). The bull also has 4 pAdams (feet), right!

 

Will something become a Slokam just because it has 4 pAdams (parts)? It should

have dhvani that reflects the meaning. It is said – dhvani pradhAnam kAvyam.

Many meanings must emanate from the dhvani. Then, it should have “SayyA”; that

is, the syllables must all line up smoothly like a bed. Instead of the

syllables being uncoordinated, they should line up like a velvet bed that has

been freshly laid out. The syllables should not be misaligned liked the

crooked teeth of some people that looks awkward and unattractive.

 

“How nice this Slokam has turned out! That too, look at it - it is on bhagavad

vishayam!”

 

“Hey cakravarttit tirumaganE! SASvatI: samA: - for many years; pratishThAm

tvam agama: - May You live long! - it has turned out as a ma’ngaLASASanam for

Him! bharadvAja! Look, it came out on bhagavad vishayam! This has not

happened before! It has 4 pAdams (parts); I do not know if it is for good or

bad. Is something good going to come out of this? Or, is something bad is

going to happen! But, “Sayyai” is good! On top of everything, it is on

bhagavad vishayam!” So saying, vAlmIki felt very happy.

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To be continued………