AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra'nganAtha pAdukA dt. April 07 Part 3)

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImate ra’ngarAmAnuja mahA deSikAya nama:

SrImate SrInivAsa rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya nama:

SrImate vedAnta rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya nama:

SrI ra’nganAtha divya maNi pAdukAbhyAm nama:

 

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

 

English 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

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

 

Do we look more beautiful when we are lying down, or when we are sitting?

After all, we are also beautiful – in our opinion anyway. (AcAryar laughs

lightly. There is a light laughter in the audience also). So, let us say we

ask the question - are we more beautiful when we are lying down or when we are

sitting?

 

There are so many folks here. I am also here. I have also had many

photographs taken - in my pUrvASramam, as well as now. You all take

photographs of yourselves. Have any of us had a photo taken while we are lying

down? Have any of you taken a photo while sleeping? If someone takes a photo

of a person who is sleeping and shows it to anyone, the question will be asked

– “Was this taken after this person attained paramapadam (died)….”? (audience

bursts into laughter) - “Was this taken before or after the person had breathed

his last?” This is because, when we sleep, our beauty will be only like that.

The only One who is beautiful in a reclining position is perumAL, and no one

else. What a beauty!

 

kuDa tiSai muDiyai vaittu guNa tiSai pAdam nITTi

vaDa tiSai pinbu kATTi ten tiSai ila’ngai nOkki

kaDal niRak kaDavuL endai aravaNai tuyilumA kaNDu

uDal enakku uRugumAlO ! en SeygEn ulagattIrE ! (tirumAlai – 19)

 

ga’ngaiyil punidamAya kAviri naDuvu pATTu

po’ngu nIr parandu pAyum pUmpozhil ara’nagam tannuL

e’ngaL mAl iRaivan ISan kiDandadOr kiDakkai kaNDum

e’nganam maRandu vAzhgEn EzhaiyEn EzhaiyEnE ! (tirumAlai - 23 )

 

AzhvAr is enjoying perumAL’s Sayanat tirukkOlam (the Divine reclining posture

of perumAL) in tirumAlai. Everyone knows rAmAyaNam. I started rAmAyaNam

discourse only to quote pAsurams - not for presenting rAmAyaNam. rAmAyaNam is

being enjoyed everywhere. You may ask: Aren’t pASuram-s being enjoyed

anywhere? It can be experienced in some way. But, rAmAyaNam will not be

lively without reference to AzhvAr’s pASuram-s.

 

kausalyA suprajA rAma – the beauty is more exquisite in the Sayanat tirukkOlam

(in His reclining posture). AzhvArs enjoy this in SrIra’ngam. Periya PerumAL

is in reclining position. deSikan says that when he thinks of this posture of

SrIra’ngam perumAL, his mind runs from kA’ncipuram to SrIra’ngam rightaway.

“What can I do when dEvap perumAL is here in His standing posture?” He says in

hamsa sandeSam – ceto dhAvati upahita bhujam Sesha bhoge SayAnam dIrghApA’ngam

jaladhi tanayA jIvitam daivam Adyam. Each Slokam of svAmi deSikan is a gem.

deSikan writes that rAman says that He just remembers [His reclining position

is SrI ra’ngam]

 

svayam udayina: tasya dhAmna: prasa’ngAt - He remembers about the ra’nga

vimAnam. His mind is racing on thoughts of how ra’nganAthan is reclining in

ra`nga vimAnam. ma’njUshAyAm maragatamiva bhrAjamAnam tadanta: He will be like

a precious green stone (maragatam) inside a silver box. Close your eyes and

think about it – There is a silver box; there is a green gem filling up the

whole box. ‘paccai’ is green stone. Very special green gem. He will be like

that.

 

ma’njUshAyAm maragatamiva bhrAjamAnam tadanta: That ra`ngan will be like a

green gemstone in a silver box. ceto dhAvati upahita bhujam Sesha bhoge

SayAnam dIrghapA’ngam – look at the beautiful words he chooses! . To indicate

‘long eyes’, he uses a word containing all long syllables - dIrghApA’ngam.

The ‘dI’ is long, ‘ghA’ is long. ‘pA’ is also long. dIrghApA’ngam - just that

phrase itself indicates length. Look at how beautifully he composes the

Slokam!. deSikan’s Slokam is very special indeed! I know you are saying that

that is what I say about everyone’s Slokams! (SrImad ANDavan laughs loudly!)….

About kALidAsan also… (He laughs).

 

dIrghapA’ngam jaladhi tanayA jIvitam daivam Adyam

 

“He is laksmI prANa nAthan – He is dearest to mahA lakshmI. My mind runs to

ra’nganAthan from kA’ncipuram. I am here in tUppul in kA’ncipuram. I am

worshipping dEvap perumAL. If you ask me why my mind is going there (to

SrIra’ngam), it is my mind that is doing it. It is all because of the writing

in my head; that is why I am not in the presence of ra’ngan, and I have come

away to kA’nci”. That is how one is driven to feel about the exquisite beauty

of the Sayanat tirukkOlam of perumAL.

 

kuDa tiSai muDiyai vaittu guNa tiSai pAdam nITTi

vaDa tiSai pinbu kATTi ten tiSai ila’ngai nOkki (tirumAlai – 19)

 

“He has created the east, west, north and south directions. Now I see the

usefulness for that” – says AzhvAr. AzhvAr says that only now he sees the use

for the existence of an eastern direction and a western direction - one

direction is to enjoy His tiruvaDi (divine feet), and one direction is for

enjoying His tirumuDi (divine head). vaDa tiSai pinbu kATTi - in order to

attract the scholars from the North who are proficient in the difficult

samskRt language but do not know the taste of the sweet tamizh language, He

reveals to them the beauty of His back. PerumAL looks exceptionally beautiful

when we look at Him from the back. When we look at Lord ra’nganAthan with

His four arms, with the Sa’nkham and cakram on two of His hands, and the

beautiful back part of His tirumEni - pinbazhagiya perumAL – He looks beautiful

when seen from the back. Some people will look okay when seen from the front;

not so from the back. Some will be attractive when seen from the back, but the

front view will not be good. Some will be beautiful up to the neck; not above

that. The two lips will look like they are stitched together. How is our Lord

ra’nganAthan? “pinbum azhagiya perumAL” – “pinbazhagiya perumAL vandAr.

mazhiSai vanda SodiyODu pESa vanda perumAL vandAr, padinmar pADum perumAL

vandAr”.

 

vaDa tiSai pinbu kATTi – He is reclining with His back side towards the North

so that the scholars from the North who do not know the sweet tamizh language,

but who only know samskRtam, can come and worship Him. Why?

 

SrImAn aSesha jana sa’ngrahaNAya Sete

ra’nge bhuja’nga Sayane sa mahA bhuja’nga: | (nyAsa tilakam – 6)

 

[He is reclining on His AdiSeshan bed in SrI ra’ngam with the intent of

attracting all people to the righteous path]. He wants to show His exquisite

beauty to those in the North so that they also can worship Him and be redeemed.

For those who know tamizh, they will get immersed in Him even if He reveals

only a tiny bit of His beauty [because of the beauty and simplicity with which

AzhvArs reveal Him to us]. “muraTTu samskRta j~nAnargaLukku pinnazhagaik

kATTiyum”.

 

ten tiSai ila’ngai nOkki kaDal niRak kaDavuL endai – what a great perumAL!.

What is His color? kaDal niRak kaDavuL – He has the color of the sea. . He is

like that ocean.

 

kunRADu kozhumugil pOl kuvaLaigaL pOl kurai kaDal pOl

ninRADu kaNa mayil pOl niRamuDaiya neDumAl Ur

kunRUDu pozhil nuzhaindu koDiyiDaiyAr mulaiyaNavi

manRUDu tenRal ulAm madiL ara’ngam enbaduvE (periyAzh. tiru. 4.8.9)

 

He is reclining in Srira’ngam. How? He is lying in such a way that the wind

that blows over the bodies of the ladies who are bathing in cAveri river, blows

through the flower gardens and then over ra’nganAthan’s tirumEni.

 

cAveri vara kallola SIta mAruta sevita: |

 

rAmAyaNam has now gone to SrIra'ngam. If it goes, let it go! (AcAryar laughs).

==========

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

issue of SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA)

 

To be continued …..

 

 

 

 

 

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