AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. February 07. Part 3)

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

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

viSvAmitrar was boiling mad, uncontrollably. He started to go back. He was

extremely angry. He said he will leave and started. But, he did not leave.

If you get angry at your son-in-law, will he leave? He may just yell and

scream, but will not take his bag and leave. mithyA pratij~na: kAkutstha sukI

bhava sabAndhava: - he was fretting and fuming. He raised his brahma daNDam

high. Everyone got scared. vAlmIki gives Slokams here saying that at this

time, vasishThar advises daSarathar. This is a very beautiful section.

“mithyA pratij~na: kAkutstha sukI bhava sabAndhava:” is not a blessing.

 

If he says, “You will live well, having lied”, it is only a curse. “Those who

lied have lived happily. Having lied, you also will live happily with your

relatives” – means ‘You will also perish along with your relatives’. What does

it mean if he is saying this with anger? One may ask why he got that mad.

People ask in surprise. “This is the case with brahmins! They will ask for

some charity; if it is not given, they will curse. This is routine business for

the brahmin. If this is the case with viSvAmitrar – who is after all only a

converted brahmin, imagine how a real brahmin will be”. (Laughter in the

audience).

 

daSarathar got a son with so much difficulty, after so much penance, 60,000

years of sorrow, yAgam etc. dharmaj~nasya mahAtmana:, sutArtham tapyamAnasya –

how much has vAlmIki said [about daSarathan’s efforts]? If he does not give

his son, why is viSvAmitrar getting mad? “This is the nature of brahmins.

Look at how angry he gets – he is getting ready to curse, raises his brahma

daNDam, etc. He is not asking for what belongs to him. If daSarathan does not

want to give away what belongs to him, why on earth is viSvAmitrar getting mad?

Is it fair that viSvAmitrar got angry? Look at what vasishThar is doing. He

is taking the side of the converted brahmin; this will not happen in the

current day. He sided with viSvAmitrar and asked daSarathar to give rAman. Is

this all fair?” That is why [elders] give the significance behind the

principle involved here.

 

There is a meaning here that is adhyAtmam - that is related to the AtmA.

Otherwise, viSvAmitrar would not have become angry. If the Object he is asking

for had not been his, he would not have become angry. He became a brahmin -

he got his title as a brahmaRshi only based on his peaceful disposition. He

did penance for 1,000 years on empty stomach! At the conclusion of this

penance, he was going to take a tiny amount of food for breaking his fast the

next day -

 

indro dvijAti: bhUtvA tam siddham annam ayAcata |

(bAla. 65.5)

 

indran came in the guise of a brahmin to the person [viSvAmitrar] who had

fasted for a 1,000 years and was about to take some food, and said: “I am very

hungry. Please give me some food”. indran’s plan was to induce anger in

viSvAmitrar and thereby reduce the effect of his penance. Even then,

viSvAmitrar did not get angry, and instead, gave his food to indran and started

doing penance again. If we do ekAdasi vratam for one day, we get angry at

anyone who eats the next morning; if there is this ‘harivAsaram’ (first quarter

of dvAdasi when pAraNai must not be done) mentioned in the almanac; we get mad

at the person who compiled the almanac. viSvAmitrar was on empty stomach for a

1,000 years and he was going to do pAraNai; when he was about to break his

fast, the food was made only for one person, not much. indran tested him

thinking if he had to give away that little food, he will get infuriated that

he has to go hungry again. But, viSvAmitrar was cool; did not feel angry at

all. Thus, he was given the title of brahmaRshi. That viSvAmitrar is getting

this angry now; obviously, this anger must be justified. Because there is so

much tattvArtham (significance of principle), he got mad.

 

What is the tattvArtham? He asked daSarathan; daSarathan did not give; so,

viSvAmitrar got mad. “You took something that belongs to me, and you are not

giving it back to me; so I am angry”. That thing is not daSarathan’s. Our

pUrvAcAryar-s in SrI vaishNava tradition say that that is the siddhAntam here,

and give this meaning. We should not say something new. What is it? He asked

for an object that he legitimately considered was his - aham vedmi mahatmAnam

rAmam satya parAkramam | vasishTho’pi mahAtejA: ye ce me tapasi sthitA: ||

 

“This Object that I am meditating on, is not being meditated on just by me.

This vasishThar is also meditating on It. These Rshi-s are meditating on It.

When perumAL, who belongs to us, takes a tirumEni, who owns that? The devotees

own that. [The Sruti declares] – vividishanti – The seekers of Brahman wish to

realize Him…[bRhadAraNyaka. 4.4.22 – tam etam vedAnuvacanena brAhmaNA

vividishanti yaj~nena dAnena tapasAnASakenaitameva viditvA munir bhavati – The

seekers of Brahman wish to realize Him through recital of veda-s, sacrifices,

charity, and religious austerities associated with fasting]. [in SrI bhAshyam,

bhagavad rAmAnuja says the following – in laghu siddhAnta for sUtra 1.1.1]:

vidyupAsyo: vyatikareNa upakrama upasamhAra darSanAt – vedanA (vedic knowledge)

and upAsanA (meditation) are equivalent… This should also be taken into

account. “We do upAsanam (religious meditation). I meditate every day. I had

agreed to leave my belonging in your house. Do you know why perumAL took His

incarnation? Would you know the Slokam that says why He did that? Just

because He had to come to some place, He came to your house; But He is our

property”.

 

“What is this unfairness?”

 

“Unfair”?

 

na te rUpam na cA’kAra : nA’yudhAni na cA’spadam |

tathA’pi pururshAkAro bhaktAnAm tvam prakASase || (jitante. 1-5)

 

bhagavAn does not have a form. No color. No weapon. Nothing else to depend on

or support Him. When it is like that, bhaktAnAm tvam prakASase!

 

tamar ugandadu evvuruvam, avvuruvam tAnE;

tamar ugandadu eppEr, maRRu appEr; - tamarugandu

evvaNNam Sindittu imaiyAdu irupparE

avvaNNam AzhiyAn Am!

(mudal tiruvantAdi – 44)

 

Does bhagavAn have His own rUpam? Does He have a weapon - cakra? He has two

hands! He also has four hands! There is a perumAL with eight hands as well -

ashTa buja perumAL. What is His nature? What is His real Form? na te rUpam na

cA’kAra : nA’yudhAni na cA’spadam. They say He is ocean-hued. Does He have

His own form? tathA’pi purushAkAra: bhaktAnAm tvam prakASase – His avatAra

tirumEni belongs to His devotees. viSvAmitrar gets angry at daSarathar for the

following reason: “I am a devotee. aham vedmi mahAtmAnam. I am a bhaktan.

That Object belongs to me. You are keeping it and not giving it to me;

wouldn’t I get mad if you keep it and refuse to give it to me?” daSarathan

does not know; AcAryan has to tell him that. That is why viSvAmitrar asked him

to check with vasishThar. Okay. Is viSvAmitrar like tiruma’ngai AzhvAr?

 

tiruma’ngai AzhvAr went to some kshetram. He could not get darSanam of perumAL

(in temple). “I, a bhaktan, have come. You are sitting without showing

Yourself to me”? He asked perumAL: “Do you realize who I am”?

 

nummait tozhudOm num tam paNi Seydirukkum num aDiyOm

immaikku inbam peRROm endAi indaLUrIrE!

emmaik kaDidAk karumam aruLi AvA ! enRira’ngi

nammai orukAl kATTi naDandAl nA’ngaL uyyOmE !!

( periya tiru. 4.9.1)

 

There is a perumAL in tiruvindaLUr in mAyavaram (district). indaLUr perumAL

has been sung by AzhvAr. The pASuram-s on Him resulted from AzhvAr’s anger.

Very beautiful pASuram-s. There is no song like that in all the four thousand.

nummait tozhudOm – svAmI! We have come to worship you. num tam paNi

Seydirukkum num aDiyOm – We are your servants doing kaimkaryam to You; numtam

paNi Seydirukkum num aDiyOm - We feel the ultimate happiness by doing

kaimkaryam only to You, by our being eternal servants to You alone. endAI

indaLUrIrE! – Oh Lord residing in indaLUr! We came to worship You! “nammai

orukAl kATTi naDandAl nA’ngaL uyyOmE “ - Wouldn’t we enjoy seeing if You show

Your tirumEni one day by walking in the front of the temple? Instead, You are

inside with the door locked? Shouldn’t You show Yourself to a bhaktan when he

comes?

 

perumAL said, “You said you meditate on Me in your mind”.

 

Sindai tannuL nI’ngAdu irunda tiruvE! maruviniya maindA!

andaNAli mAlE ! Solai mazhakaLiRE !

nandA viLakkin SuDarE ! naRaiyUr niNRa nambI! en

endAi indaLUrAi! aDiyERku iRaiyum ira’ngAyE!

( periya tiru. 4.9.2)

 

There is no song like this. Look at how much bhagavAn blesses if one calls Him

with chidings. AzhvAr calls Him, “en SelvamE! (my object of joy)”. He calls

Him “tiruvE (my blessed wealth)”! He calls Him his wealth and his riches. Who

do we write letter to, calling them “my object of enjoyment! my wealth!”?

AzhvAr is addressing perumAL. “Sindai tannuL nI’ngAdu irunda tiruvE” – “Lord,

if I close my eyes to meditate on You - Sindai tannuL nI’ngAdu irunda tiruvE –

You are stationed in my mind, without ever leaving, so that I can keep seeing

You. maruviniya maindA – maruva, maruva, maruva iniya maindA – He is more and

more sweet the more and more we meditate on Him. nammAzhvAr also says, “payila

iniya pARkaDal SEr’nda paraman (tiruvAi. 3.7.1) – perumAL has the names payila

iniyan, maruva iniyan. The more you learn about Him, the sweeter He will be.

Happiness will keep increasing, the more and more we move with Him and get to

know Him. That is perumAL’s attribute. With people, the more we get to know

them closer, the more sorrow we go through. AzhvAr refers to perumAL as payila

iniyan. He will become very intimate to us. A person was friendly with

another one for 20 years. Then he stopped talking. When asked how come he was

friends with him so much and why he is not talking now, he said – ‘We happened

to be friends; the more and more I moved with him, I saw more and more faults

with him; so, I moved away him”. We have faults, but we keep them hidden.

During the course of a friendship, when these faults reveal themselves, the

friendship is lost. PerumAL has auspicious attributes. He has attributes such

as Bliss. He will be sweeter and sweeter the more we move with Him and get to

know Him. maruviniya maindA – payila iniyavan, maruva iniyavan. “No matter

how long and how much we meditate on You, You continue to delight us”!

maruviniya maindA! andaN Ali mAlE! - You who resides in tiruvAli which is

beautiful and cool! SOlai mazhakaLiRE! – You are like the elephant wandering

in tirumAlirum SOlai! nandA viLakkin SuDarE – You are like the light of a lamp

that never extinguishes! naRaiyUr ninRa nambI! You who reside in the divya

dESam called tirunaRaiyUr! en endAi – You are my Mother and my Father!

indaLUrAi! - You reside in the temple in indaLUr! aDiyERku iRaiyum ira’ngAyE!

- Show me a little bit of Your mercy, show me a tiny bit of Your mercy, I want

to see the beauty of Your tirumEni. I am not going to ask You for anything

else. I am not going to ask You to go and kill rAvaNan. I am not going to ask

You to kill hiraNyan. I have not come here to ask you to kill kamsan. I have

come only to see You.

 

kArAr tirumEni kANum aLavum pOi –

SIrAr tiruvE’nkaTamE tirukkOvaLUrE!

(Siriya tirumaDal )

 

aDiyERku iRaiyum – Show me a tiny little bit of mercy- Show me Your form – said

AzhvAr. PerumAL did not show Himself. Imagine how AzhvAr would have felt!

PerumAL did not show His tirumEni even after such an intense devotee of His is

pleading so much. AzhvAr became angry.

 

pESuginaradu iduvE vaiyam IraDiyAl aLanda

mUSivaNDu muRalum kaNNi muDiyIr! ummaik kANum

ASai ennum kaDalail vIzhndu i'ngu ayarttOm (repeat)

nummaik kANum ASai ennum kaDalil vIzh’ndu i'ngu

ayarttOm - ayalArum

ESuginRadu iduvE kANum indaLUrIrE!

(periya. tiru. 4.9.3)

 

 

You who measured this bhUmi – all the worlds, with Your two feet! You who have

exquisite locks of hair! ummaik kANum ASai ennum kaDalil vIzh’ndu i'ngu

ayarttOm – Do You realize that I am experiencing intense pain? I have fallen

into the ocean of desire to see You. And I am suffering. The town folks are

directing harsh words at me. They are saying, “One should not be born as a

vaishNavan”. ayalArum ESuginRadu iduvE kANum indaLUrIrE!

 

The other devatA-s give the fruit even if japam is done for just four days. If

you throw a lemon, they grab and eat it and get satisfied. [fn 1] If we make

cakkaraip po’ngal (Sweet pudding) and keep it in front of perumAL, it stays

there just like that (laughter in the audience). He neither takes it, nor does

He give any benefits. Even if you chant one lakh of ashtAksharam, there is no

use. “Should one even be praying to vishNu”? - ayalArum ESuginRadu iduvE kANum

indaLUrIrE! So, what do people say about vaishNava-s? “vishNu can only give

moksham. If you want to lead a good life in this Earth, do not pray to vishNu.

moksham icchet janArdanAt - When you are going to die, meditate on perumAL.

Do not pray at other times! It is very difficult. PerumAL will not show

Himself. He will not give the result quickly, do not go to vishNu” – some sit

in some place and do upanyAsam like this. [AzhvAr asks perumAL]: “Is that

fair? I am calling You with so much sorrow, You did not come. ayalArum

ESuginRadu iduvE kANum indaLUrIrE! I am leaving”. So saying, AzhvAr left.

 

He got angry like viSvAmitrar!

 

mithyA pratij~na: kAkutstha sukhI bhava sabAndhava: - I will go. You keep

living! mithyA pratij~na: sukhI bhava.

 

ASai vazhuvAdu Ettum emakku ingu izhukkAittu aDiyOrkku

dESam aRiya umakkE ALAi tiriginROmukku!

kASin oLiyil tigazhum vaNNam kATTIr emperumAn

vAsi vallIr indaLURIr! vAzh’ndE pOm nIrE!

( periya tiru. 4.9.4)

 

mithyA pratij~na: kAkutstha sukhIbhava sabAndhava: “It was a great mistake on

my part to have developed a love for You. It is wrong to love You. It would

have been very good to be your enemy. Someone insulted You with harsh words

and struck a blow on You. You go to their places and show Yourself to them,

like You did for rAvaNan and kamsan. Like that, it is better to be Your foe”.

 

ASai vazhuvAdu Ettum emakku i’ngu izhukkAittu – some people will not help if

you are their friend. But they will help the enemies, feeling sorry for them.

 

 

ASai vazhuvAdu Ettum emakku i'ngu izhukkAittu – What a great devotee I am. You

did not show Yourself to me. ADiyOrkku deSam umakkE ALAi tirginROmukku – ask

anyone in this world, they will say that tiruma’ngai AzhvAr is a devotee of

vishNu - vishNu bhaktan. I am wandering around with that fame like that and

the nAmam sign on my forehead. I am going around declaring that I am a vishNu

bhaktan. When it is like that, You, who are beautiful, most enjoyable and most

attractive, and who can subjugate anyone You wish [with these qualities] –

kASin oLiyil tigazhum vaNNam kATTIr emperumAn – People say that You are my

Lord, the Lord of my whole race. They say You are the family Deity for my past

seven generations. And yet, You did not reveal Your Form to me. I am leaving.

sukhI bhava sabAndhavah – vASi vallIr indaLUrIr! vAzhndE pOm nIrE! – “You just

live well. You know what is good and what is bad. But You will not get a

devotee like me. You keep Your form to Yourself and continue to live well” -

AzhvAr said angrily. Why? What is perumAL’s Form for?

 

na te rUpam na cA’kAra : nA’yudhAni na cA’spadam |

tathA’pi pururshAkAro bhaktAnAm tvam prakASase ||

 

This tirumEni belongs to devotees. You are keeping my property and You are not

showing it to me, nIr vAzh’ndu pOm. If you look at periya parakAla svAmi’s

vyAkhyAnam for this pAsuram, - “AzhvAr says: inda ummuDaiya divya rUpamAnadu

aDiyArgaLAna e’ngaLukku enRu eNNi irundOm. ippodu idu i'nganE Agil ummuDaiya

tirumEniyai nIrE pArttuk koNDu nIrE mOndu pArttuk koNDu nIrE kaTTik koNDu

vAzh’ndu pOm” (AzhvAr says: We had been thinking that this divine form of

Yours is for Your servants like us. But if it is this way, then, You keep

looking at Your own tirumEni, You keep enjoying the fragrance of Your own

tirumEni and You keep embracing Your own tirumEni, and continue to live well).

 

vASi vallIr indaLUrIr? vAzhndE pOm nIrE!

 

na te rUpam na cA’kAra: - jitantA stotra Slokam. “I have heard that this

rUpam belongs to bhaktA-s. All bhagavAn’s avatAra tirumEni-s belong to

bhaktA-s. I, a devotee, am standing here. If You do not come and show

Yourself to me, who is going to enjoy You? You can enjoy Yourself by Yourself.

You can touch Yourself and feel the pleasure. You can smell Yourself to see if

You smell good. You can embrace Yourself. No one else will embrace You. You

Yourself embrace Yourself. You did not show Yourself to me” - said AzhvAr

angrily. vAzh’ndE pOm nIrE – sukhI bhava sa bAndhava: , the two are like

direct translations of each other. He said – vAzh’ndu pOm.

 

=========

 

[fn 1] In the paccaikkALi amman festival in Kumbakonam, the lemons are thrown

into the air as offering. AcAryar has referred to this in other aruLicceyal-s.

 

 

==========

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

issue of SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA)

 

To be continued …..

 

 

 

 

 

 

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