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

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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. September 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)

 

The explanatory footnotes by SrI nATTEri svAmi are indicated by “fn” followed

by a number.

 

SrImad ANDavan tiruvaDi,

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri

 

 

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

SrI:

AcArya rAmAmRtam

SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam by SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan

 

daSaratha cakravarti was a practitioner of rigorous dhArmic life. He knew that

he could accomplish anything by following dharmam. He decided that since he

wanted a son, he could attain his wish by performing the greatest dharmam,

namely, yAgam (sacrifice).

 

saha ya~jnA: prajA: sRshTvA purovAca prajApati: |

anena prasavishyadhvam esha vo’stu ishTakAmadhuk || (bhagavad gItA 3.10)

 

[in the beginning, prajApati, creating man along with the sacrifice, said: “By

this, you shall prosper. This shall be the cow of plenty, granting all your

wants”]

 

rAmAnujar points out that ‘prajApati’ is none other than ‘Sriya: pati’ Himself.

‘prajApati’ does not mean the four-headed brahmA. It is bhagavAn Himself. He

created the people. When He did, He did so along with karmA-s – “yaj~nai:

saha”. What did perumAL say? He said, “I have created you. I have done so

along with these karmA-s. If you need anything, perform these karma-s and get

the benefits. “anena prasavishyadhvam esha vo’stu ishTakAma dhuk”; So, attain

your desired pururshArthams by observing the karma-s that are denoted by the

word yaj~na “ So, daSarathar says that he wants to do the yAgam because it is

declared that we should get desired benefits by performing dharma.

 

sumantrar, who is his charioteer, says secretly to daSaratha cakravarti –

“sanatkumAro bhagavAn pUrvam kathitavAn kathAm (bAla. 9.2) – long time back,

sanatkumArar has said – “kASyapar has a son by name vibhaNDakar. His will have

a son by name RSya SR’ngar. He will be a very pure brahmacAri. He will be

brought up such that he would have never even seen any woman. His father will

bring him up in the middle of a forest [to ensure his son has no contact with

women]. At that time, there will be a king named rOma pAdar in a`nga deSam.

There will be a drought due to lack of rains and he will be thinking what to

do. He will be told that if RSya SR’ngar is brought into his territory, it

will start raining. Court women sent to bring him by somehow tricking him will

fetch him. Then it will rain in a’nga deSam. rOmapAdan will have an adopted

daughter by name SAntA. He will give SAntA in marriage to him and make RSya

SRngar his son-in-law. RSya SR’ngastu jAmAtA [fn 1] putrAnstava vidhAsyati

(bAla kANDam 9.18). He will come to perform yAgam for daSarathar, and

daSarathar will beget sons“. sumantrar suggested to daSarathar that

sanatkumArar’s advice be followed. He also reminded daSarathar that

sanatkumArar had said that if he performed yAgam with RSya SR’ngar guiding the

yAgam, daSarathar will beget 4 sons.

 

“putrA: cAsya bhavishyanti catvAro`mitavikramA: |

vamSa prathishThAnakarA: sarva lokeshu viSrutA: || (bAla. 11.10)

 

If one uses the house vAdyAr (priest) for amavAsya tarpaNam, srArddham etc.,

and calls a different special vAdyAr for weddings, seemantam etc, wouldn’t the

house vAdyAr get mad? Wouldn’t vasishThar get mad that a different Rshi is

called to do a major yAgam, when he is around? There is really nothing wrong.

vasishThar is the adhvaryu (officiating priest) in the aSvamedha yAgam. He is

also one of the important Rtvija-s (priests who officiate at a sacrifice).

RSya SR’ngar is going to be brahmA in the yAgam. An ishTi (wish for an

object) called putrakAmeshTi after asvamedha yAgam. That is what RSya SR’ngar

will officiate for. We will look into why that is the case when we come to it.

Who will miss the opportunity of a particular purohitar (priest) if his

officiating will result in getting 4 sons? Taking what sumantrar said,

daSarathar consulted vasishThar. The latter also knew; he said yes.

daSarathar went to a’nga deSam and brought back the daughter and son-in-law

[see footnote 1].

 

He said - we could begin aSvamedha yAgam.

 

vasishTha pramukhA: sarve pArthivasya mukhAt cyutam |

RSya Sr’nga purOgAS ca pratyUcu: nRpatim tadA || (1.12.11)

 

SarvathA prApsyas putrAn caturo`mitavikramAn || (1.12.13)

 

Look what boldness the priests of old ages had. They said, “ we will officiate

in your performing the yAgam; you will definitely get 4 sons”; they had so much

trust in their own anushThAnams (practices). Those purohitas could make the

karma-s come true; they were that austere.

 

puna: prApte vasante tu pURNa: samvatsaro`bhavat (bAla. 13.1)

 

A lot of preparations were made before the aSvamedha yAgam. It took one year to

get ready

 

dAtavyam annam vidhivat satkRtya na tu leelayA | bAla. 13-12)

 

sarva varNA yathA pUjAm prApnuvanti susatkRtA: ||

na cAvaj~nA prayoktavyA kAma krodha vaSAdapi || (bAla. 13-13)

 

yaj~navATa gatA: sarve yathASAstram yathA vidhi | (bAla. 13.37)

 

SrImAn ca saha patnIbhi: rAjA dIkshAm upAviSat || (bAla. 13.41)

 

daSarathar observed yaj~na dIkshai along with his wives. When a yAgam is done,

a lot of food must be served to many people. All should be satisfied with the

amount of food. There should be no childishness or indifference; no partiality

should be shown to those who are dear and who are not dear to the kartA etc.,

like serving more for some and less for some. While offering food, it should be

done with a gentle smile. One should never get angry while doing that. Thus

ordains daSarathar.

 

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[fn 1] daSarathar already had a daughter. “SAntA” was that daughter. He had

given her in adoption to his close friend rOmapAdar. That is why this Slokam

refers to RSya SR’ngar as the “jAmAtA” (son-in-law) of daSarathar. daSarathar

had a total of 350 wives – says ayodhyA kANDam 34-13 “ardhasaptaSatA: tatra

pramadA: tAmralocanA:”. It does not say whose daughter SAntA is.

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To be continued …..

 

 

 

 

 

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