AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. August 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. August 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)

 

SrImad ANDavan tiruvaDi,

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri

 

 

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

SrI:

AcArya rAmAmRtam

SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam by SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan

 

[daSaratha asks]: I am thinking of doing the yAgam on the other bank of

sarayU. What do you all say?

vasishThar was very happy. He was very surprised too.

 

sambhArA: sambhriyantAm te tura’ngaSca vimucyatAm |

saravyAScottare tIre yaj~nabhUmir vidhIyatAm || (bAla. 8.11)

 

[He says: Let all materials required for the yAgam be collected; Let the horse

be released; Let the sacrificial place be set up on the northern banks of the

sarayU river].

 

yasya te dhArmikI buddhi: iyam putrArtham AgatA | (bAla. 8.12)

 

“Who will have this kind of dharma buddhi? You belong to a family that will

earn every desired benefit (purushArtham) only through dharmam. If rain is

needed, a special yAgam will be performed to get rain. If a son is needed,

yAgam will be performed. There is this intellect to obtain all purushArthams

by doing dharmam. Who will get this dharma buddhi?” If people do not have a

son nowadays, they will look for a lady hospital [for medical treatment].

 

yasya te dhArmikI buddhi: iyam putrArtham AgatA |

 

“Who will have this kind of buddhi? You have got it. I am very happy. So,

let us do it”, said vasishTar.

 

na aparadho bhavet kashTo yadyasmin kratusattame | (bAla. 8.16)

 

There should not be any mistakes in the yAgam. svaram should not go wrong in

the mantra-s. You should not leave out any steps. Why? If there are

mistakes, the desired benefit will not be attained. Not only that; there are

some svAmigaL who come to the yAga just to find out what mistakes are made.

 

chidram hi mRgayante`tra vidvAmso brahma rAkshasA: | (bAla. 8.17)

 

[There are some vidvAn-s who have been cursed to be brahma-rAkshasa-s, who come

only for the purpose of identifying the faults].

 

vAlmIki gives the title ‘brahma rAkshasas’ to vidvAns. What a surprise!

Whoever comes to a marriage, shouldn’t they just put akshadai (yellow rice) and

give blessings. Instead they will say, “That is wrong, don’t sit here”, “svAmi,

this is the way to say it svAmi!” etc. That is why those kinds of people will

be asked to sit as brahmA, just so they won’t open their mouth! It is some

peoples’ nature. Do they have to point out that svaram is not right? What is

wrong if svaram is wrong? After all, they are going to do prAyaScittam at the

end! madhye sambhAvita mantra tantra svara varNavidhi viparyAsa nyUnAtirikta

prAyaScittArtham prAyaScittAhutIr hoshyAmi!

 

They are going to do that. If they had left out any karmA or steps, they are

going to say, “etat karma samRdhyartham jayAdi homam karishye! Cittam ca svAhA,

cittiSca svAhA AkUtam ca svAhA”.

 

Come to think of it - Why is this person even concerned about that? It is his

nature. - chidram hi mRgayante`tra vidvAmso brahma rAkshasA: | (bAla. 8.17)

 

tata: sa gatvA tA: patnI: narendro hRdayapriyA: | (bAla. 8.22)

 

tAsAm tenAtikAntena vacanena suvarcasAm |

mukha padmAnyaSobhanta padmAnIva himAtyaye || (bAla. 8.23)

 

[The king of kings – daSaratha, went to his consorts and told them about his

decision to perform the yAga for begetting a son. Hearing this, their already

beautiful faces blossomed like beautiful lotuses].

 

For aSvamedham, the horse should be let loose. It will wander at its own will.

A troop will follow the horse. No one should tie the horse. If one does, the

troop must fight that person, win and bring that horse. SAstram says that the

horse should wander like this for a year; then the aSvamedha yAgam must be done

with that horse.

 

One who does aSvamedha yAgam must have 3 wives. (daSarathar) had 3 wives. He

told them – mukha padmAnyaSobhanta – they were very happy. They did not tell

him, ‘You are 60,000 years old; you still have not abstained from having

desire’. mukhapadmAnyaSobhanta – their countenances became bright. They were

all interested in dharmam. padmAnIva himAtyaye – their faces were brilliant

just like the lotus flower after the winter season.

 

Okay, let the horse run loose.

 

At one time, rAman and lakshmaNan did yAgam. Did you know? At that time,

sItai was in vAlmIki ASramam. rAma and lakshmaNan had let loose the horse for

an year. lakshmaNan’s son is candraketu; he went as a guard for the horse.

After lakshmaNan came back from the forest after 14 years, he also had a son by

name candraketu. He was the guard for the aSvamedha horse. He and others went

after the horse that was let loose and was accompanied by the whole army. That

horse went to vAlmIki’s ASramam. kuSa and lava were there. They saw the

horse.

“Hey, we learned about aSvamedha yAgam in rAmAyaNam! That kind of horse has

come here! “

“ Oh, is that right?”

“ Look at this horse. It does not have horns; did you look at the tail? It

looks like the broom in our house.”

So described the two kids. Saying it is beautiful, both kuSan and lavan tied

the horse. candraketu who was looking for the horse came there. He asked, “Who

tied the horse?” kuSa and lava said: “We did”.

candraketu: “Let the horse go loose. Did you know this is rAman’s aSvamedha

horse? Let it go”.

kuSa and lava: “We know all that. Now, you get going”.

candraketu: “Do you know what I will do if you do not untie the horse?”

kuSa and lava: “If you want, go ahead and do a battle with us; that is fine

with us”.

candraketu: “Do you know who rAman is? Do you know He vanquished rAvaNan? Do

you know His valor?”

kuSa and lava: “Yes! Of course. Don’t we know!”

 

kuSan tells candraketu -

 

vRddhA: te na vicAraNIya caritA: tishThantu kim varNyate? |

sundastrImathanepyakuNTha yaSasa: loke mahAnto hi te ||

 

“We know about your elder uncle (father’s brother). rAmar is an older person;

we should not say anything. We should not talk about old stories. He is in a

good condition now. We should not talk about His young age. vRddhA: te na

vicAraNIya caritA: tishThantu – so be it; let me say anyway!

 

sundastrImathanepyakuNTha yaSasa: loke mhAnto hi te – Born in ikshvAku clan, He

learned from teacher vasishThar and also from viSvAmitrar. Having attained an

AcAryar, the first thing He did was to kill a woman, don’t we know Him! loke

mahAnto hi te – they are all respected people. Elderly ones. We should not

talk about them. Only if we extend the story, we will see. rAman killed

tATakai; a woman should not be killed. When He battled karan, He stepped back

3 steps. You want more! He killed vAli”.

candraketu: “No; not any more. Will you let loose the horse or do battle?”

They (lava and kuSan) did battle with candraketu. The horse was tied inside

the ASramam. The battle went on ferociously. kuSan released an arrow. It was

called jRmbhakAstram. That tied lakshmaNan’s son candraketu. The latter could

not even move his legs and hands. He stopped the battle and asked, “ Who are

you?”

kuSa and lava said: “Why do you need that? Do not keep talking. Do what you

have to do further. First you did battle and now you want to know who we are!

Why do you care who we are?”

candraketu: “No, I am asking for a reason”.

kuSa and lava: “What if there is a reason? Do you want to do battle or not?”

candraketu: “No! This astram you released – my father has told me. People

who do not belong to our clan have not been taught about this astram. You

released this. I asked if you belong to ikshvAku clan”.

kuSa and lava: “We know our mother – sItai. We are students of vAlmIki Rshi.

Our mother is here”.

sItai arrived there and asked them, “Why are you fighting like this?”

kuSa and lava: “ There is a rAman. This boy is His brother’s son. We tied the

horse and he has come to fight with us.”

sItai: “Oh! He is brother-in-law’s son. He is your brother. Withdraw your

astram.”

The astram was nullified. sItai asked them to untie the horse and they did.

It wandered over all places; finally, the aSvamedha yAgam was conducted.

 

When rAman was doing aSvamedha yAgam, He sent a letter to vAlmIki inviting him

to come to the yAgam. vAlmIki looked at the letter. It was in samskRtam. Not

in English. sItai was watching. [He gave it to her, and] She read the letter

in a loud voice. Immediately vAlmIki started crying loudly.

sItai: “He is doing aSvamedha yAgam. Why are you crying aloud?”

vAlmIki: “when He does aSvamedha yAgam, the patni (wife) should be there. You

are here. I am crying thinking if He remarried”.

sItai: “Read the letter carefully. You are crying without reading it right”.

sItai is laughing.

 

sItAm pratikRtim kRtvA yakshyeham dharma kAraNAt – He had written that He is

going to do the yAgam after making a golden statue of sItai. See how He has so

much loyalty to sItai. vAlmIki did not read the letter correctly. A chief gets

a letter. He says [to his assistant] ‘I have read it! You dispose it”. What

if he reads “dispose” as “dismiss”? One should read the letter correctly.

vAlmIki did not read the letter right. It says sItAm pratikRtim kRtvA. After

sItai read it, vAlmIki kept quiet. Then rAman Himself sent for vALmIki.

vasishThar came to get vAlmIki. vAlmIki called all his students, “Today is a

holiday. No lessons”. It is said that when mahAns (great people) come, that

guest must be worshipped. When great people come, that day is anadhyayanam (no

recitations allowed). No lessons will be taught. When they were told there

were no lessons, they were all happily shouting and went to play. kuSan and

lavan asked them which great person had come. They said that vasishThar had

come. “Oh, somebody said a great person has come”. vAlmIki enquires

vasishThar – “Is your disciple [rAman] okay?. That disciple of yours – Is he

okay?” vasishThar started crying. He said, “Yes, He is my disciple alright.

He left His wife in the forest” and started crying.

 

uttAralokatraya kaNThakepi – even though He vanquished rAvaNan who was the

enemy of all the three worlds and all the Rshis, and He has established

dharmam, I am sad with regard to His doing this. astyeva kopo bharatAgraje me

– I am angry at bharatan’s elder brother. Do not point it out to me. He has

another brother; you can talk about him. bharatAgraje me – rAman can be found

fault with. But, not bharatan; AKASa iva nirmala:

 

Thus, a horse will be let to wander freely as part of the aSvamedha yAgam.

Consistent with this, daSaratha cakravarti declared: “Let the aSvamedha horse

go around wherever it pleases for one year. After that horse comes back, we

will do the yAgam. SarayvASca uttare tIre yaj~na bhUmir vidhIyatAm (bAla.

8.11) – let the yaj~na bhUmi be constructed and yaj~nam take place per rules”.

We will talk about that aSvamedha yAgam and pAyasa pradAnam ) tomorrow.

 

svasti prajAbhya: paripAlayantAm

nyAyyena mArgeNa mahIm mahISA: |

gobrAhmaNebhya: Subham astu nityam

lokA: samastA: sukhino bhavantu ||

 

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(End of translation of AcArya rAmAmRtam as it appeared in the August 2006 issue

of SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA)

 

To be continued…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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