AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. January 07. 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. January 07. 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

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

This vAlmIki has composed 24,000 Slokams - not one, not two, but 24,000. Even

bhAgavatam has only 18,000 Slokams. This has 24,000 Slokams. Shouldn’t there

be a Slokam for describing rAman’s crawling? Shouldn’t there be a Slokam to

describe His standing up for the first time? A Slokam for playing? How many

have been written for kRshNan? He was taught how to walk. There are Slokam-s

describing that. deSikan says in yAdavAbhyudayam

 

padai: tribhi: krAnta jagat trayam tam

bhavyASayA bhAvita bAlabhAvam

kareNa samgRhya karAmbujAgram

sa’ncArayAmAsa Sanai: yaSodA |

(yAdavAbhyudayam 4.19)

 

The crawling baby will try to stand and start walking. He will fall down.

yaSodai taught Him how to walk. svAmi deSikan writes a Slokam for that. How?

She taught kaNNan how to walk. kareNa samgRhya karAmbujAgram. kaNNan’s

baby-hand is soft like the lotus. On the other side, yaSodai’s hand is rough

and hardened with a lot of marks because of constant churning of the yogurt.

She held His hand with her hand. deSikar is concerned that it is going to

hurt. kareNa samgRhya karAmbujAgram. sa’ncArayAmAsa Sanai: yaSodA: - she held

His one hand and taught Him how to walk. deSikan writes. What is so great if

she taught the child how to walk? Didn’t we all do that? padai: tribhi:

krAnta jagat trayam tam - A woman is teaching how to walk to the person who

measured the whole universe with three feet of measures. kaNNan has started

walking. There is a pASuram for that. The bottom of His feet will have

Sa’nkham and cakram signs.

 

oru kAlil Sa’ngu oru kAlil cakkaram uLLaDi poRittamainda

irukAlum koNDu a’nga’ngu ezhudinARpOl ilaccinai paDa naDandu

(periyAzhvAr tirumozhi 1.7.6)

 

He [kaNNan] made marks of Sa’nkha and cakra symbols in many places. kaNNan

applied His seal on the Earth. He set the seal saying - From now on, kamsan

and the likes of him will not get the kingdom; this bhUmi is Mine. Shouldn’t

there be some three of four Slokams like this [for rAman]? Couldn’t there be

some Sloka-s saying He did some mischief? Can’t he write – he dropped some

vessel? Was rAman a fat child who was just sitting in one place without

moving? There are 24,000 Slokams. ayodhyA kANDam has 150 to 160 Slokams [in

some sargam]. In yuddha kANDam, one sargam has 180 to 190 Slokams. If you

start pArAyaNam in nine days, you cannot finish it easily. It will end only if

the yajamAna (the one who has sponsored the chanting) gets up and goes inside

(laughter). Do you understand? One may ask - Why is this vAlmIki going

through all this? The whole yuddha kANDam contains all kinds of unnecessary

things – one starts wondering when yuddha kANDam will be over. Why did he

write like this? It is said in our vyAkhyAnam – this is rAmAyaNam; vedAnta

grantham. It is a SAstram that applies to family. It reflects vedAnta

SAstram; artha SAstram, SaraNAgati SAstram etc. rAma, lakshmaNa etc studied

under vasishThar. kAlakshepam was under vasishThar. He is the purest. A

Rshi pure like fire. Highly virtuous. daSarathar is the one who brings up the

children with great tenderness and love. He is a cakravarti. The kids did not

know what mischief was. They were all very studious. Kids who study a lot will

not have time for playing. Only if they do any naughty thing, some Sloka-s can

be written describing that. A story about an honest, good person is, by

necessity, very short. A bad person’s story can be written at length. rAma:

satya parAkrama: - rAman was very, very good; he was honest. He never said a

lie or did anything wrong. So, there is no Slokam. A lot can be written about

kaNNan. Take our letters for example. When everything is going well, one would

write – “ubhaya kuSalam; keep writing frequently about your safety”. The

letter will be short. If there is any gossip, fight, argument etc., then space

in the letter won’t be enough!

 

rAmAyaNam is a SAstram that applies to family. Kids in a family, until they

grow up, should be quiet and inconspicuous, should be good, not get involved

into any mischief or trouble, study well, and obtain knowledge. The world

should exclaim, “It looks like we just saw him as a baby, that baby has become

a big man so quickly”. That is what vAlmIki has indicated by not saying much

about rAman’s childhood years. This is the 18th sargam. In this, up to the

20th Slokam, he describes the incidents of the children being born, their

naming etc. Then, he says they were all very good, they studied well, had great

reverence for their father – that is all from the 21st to 36th Slokam-s. In

37th Slokam, daSarathar starts thinking that he should look for a bride for

rAman. That is all. The marriage talks start even in the sargam about birth.

 

 

atha rAjA daSaratha: teshAm dArakriyAm prati |

cintayAmAsa dharmAtmA sopAdhyAya: sabAndhava: ||

tasya cintayamAnasya mantrimadhye mahAtmana: |

abhyAgacchan mahAtejA: viSvAmitro mahAmuni: ||

(bAla. 37-38)

 

cakravarti is talking to ministers about rAman’s marriage. “What can we do?

Where can we look for a bride?” etc. At that time, the great Sage viSvAmitrar

arrives – that is how the story is going to go tomorrow.

 

svasti prajAbhya: paripAlayantAm…….

 

(AcAryar starts the upanyAsam the next day with ma`ngaLa Slokams.)

 

tasya cintayamAnasya mantri madhye mahAtmana: |

abhyAgacchan mahAtejA viSvAmitro mahAmuni: ||

(bAla. 18.38)

 

18th Sargam. SrImad rAmAyaNam. bAla kANDam. vAlmIki described rAma avatAram.

In another five or six Slokams, vAlmIki talked about education, growth etc.

Then, [he moves on to describe that] the king started thinking about the kids’

weddings. So fast. But of course, we have seen the reason for this yesterday

itself. So,

 

cintayAmAsa dharmAtmA sopAdhyAya: sabAndhava: |

(bAla. 18.36)

 

He started thinking about wedding. Normally, the house priest will not be left

out in discussion about house matters; so, it is said ‘sa upAdhyAya:’.

 

abhyAgacchan mahAtejA: viSvAmitro mahAmuni: - vAlmIki says beautifully – then,

viSvAmitrar came. The front guard came and said, “a dADivAlA [a person with

beard] has come. He wants to see the king. He says he is getting delayed.

What to do?” “Ask him to come in”. viSvAmitrar came in. daSarathar went with

others to welcome him. viSvAmitrar enquired daSarathar about everyone’s heath

and welfare. He then did the same with vasishThar. He is his long-time enemy

after all. All the 18 purANams talk about the fight between viSvAmitrar and

vasishThar. After vAlmIki became brahma Rshi, this is the first time he is

going to talk to vasishThar.

 

vasishTham ca samAgamya kuSalam munipu’ngava: |

RshImScAnyAn yathA nyAyam mahAbhAgAn uvAca ha ||

(bAla. 18.47)

 

He inquired vasishThar. kAtyAyanar, suya~jnar, kASyapar – they were all there.

He inquired about their welfare. They gave him arghyam, pAdyam, AcamanIyam

etc. and honored him and offered him in a seat. “svAmi! You have come here.

It is very surprising. My happiness knows no bounds. I am so happy that I

cannot control it”.

 

yathA’mRtasya samprApti: yathA varsham anUdake |

yatA sadRSadAreshu putra janmA’prajasya ca ||

praNashtasya yathA lAbha: yathA harsho mahodaye |

tathaiva Agamanam manye svAgatam te mahAmune! ||

(bAla. 18.50,51)

 

How much happiness? [vAlmIki suugests that] We can only infer through

examples. yathA amRtasya samprApti: - the happiness is equivalent to the

happiness that will be experienced when one gets amRtam.

 

yathA varsham anUdake – when there is no rain for a long time, everyone is

suffering. Wells are all dry. Everyone has to bring water from very far away.

Suddenly it rains profusely. Imagine how happy the people will feel!

[daSarathar tells Sage viSvAmitra] “My happiness is like that. I experienced

that; nothing else”.

 

yathA sadRSadAreshu putra janmA apajasya ca – ”When child is born to a wife,

who was wedded accompanied by proper mantrams, there is happiness; my happiness

is similar to that, svAmi”. daSarathar is talking about his own experiences

here. Nothing else. Do you know how happy he was that viSvAmitrar came? He

had the same level of happiness that he had felt when a divine person came out

of the sacred fire [in the agni kuNDam] and gave pAyasam to be given to his

wives. yathA varsham anUdake – daSarathar’s friend, King romapAdar suffered

for twelve years without any rain. Nowadays, the rainless days are short. In

those days, it did not rain for twelve years. They said – bring RSyaSRngar and

it will rain.

 

As soon as he came, it rained profusely. The happiness that the people

experienced at that time is the same happiness that is now experienced by

daSarathar. yathA sadRSadAreshu putra janmA’prajasya ca – he writes

beautifully. vAlmIki’s writing is always beautiful. The happiness I felt

when children were born to anurUpa (worthy, fit, agreeable), sajAtIya (like,

similar, compatible) wives, that too, when four sons were born - “I have the

same happiness now”. He is saying what he experienced. If after the wedding,

babies are born every two years, and if the couple keep getting more children,

they will not be happy. putra janmA aprajasya ca – ”My happiness is the same

as the happiness experienced when a child is born to parents who have never had

children. Added to that, my AcAryan [vasishThar] and you have been fighting

for a long time. Right from hariScandra upAkhyAnam, there has been fight. You

had fight even before that. You had a fight with vasihThar’s students. You

fought with vasishThar and became brahma Rshi. We have been vasishThar’s

Sishya-s for a long time. I thought that you will not come to our palace.

Will anyone come to a place where the enemy is present? I wanted to do atithi

poojA (Atithyam – receive you as a guest and offer homage), prostrate before

you. But, I thought I was never going to get that blessing in this birth. I

got that now, got something that I thought I would never get”. yathA mRtasya

samprApti: - forget the (correct pATham) ‘amRtasya’! “It feels like a dead

person coming back to life, svAmi! My happiness is like the happiness

experienced when a dead person comes back alive. praNashtasya yathA lAbha:

yathA harsho mahodaye! When a thing is lost and then is recovered, there is

happiness. My happiness [on seeing you] is also like that. My happiness is

like the one experienced during a grand festival. I am having that much

happiness. svAgatam te mahAmune – I am extremely happy; svAgatam – Welcome!

Welcome!” said daSarathar.

=========

(End of translation of AcArya rAmAmRtam as it appeared in the January 2007

issue of SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA)

 

To be continued …..

 

 

 

 

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