AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. June 07 Part 2)

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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. June 07 Part 2)

 

English Translation of the text in tamizh

 

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

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

Can one wake up a sleeping child? Shouldn’t one close all the windows well,

turn up two fans instead of one fan, cover the child very well and make sure

there is no noise and the child sleeps well? Why is he waking Him up?

 

If one asks: “Is it appropriate to wake up a sleeping child? Is it proper to

wake up perumAL when He is sleeping?”, the answer is: Vedam wakes up perumAL –

‘uttishTha purusha hare! SoNita pi’ngalAkshi dehi dehi’. Vedam teaches us how

to wake up perumAL. Anyone should be awakened if the time is past.

 

Rshi-s tell us that bhagavAn has given the concept of ‘kAlam’ or time for our

well-being. perumAL is happy only when the proper good deeds are performed

when the appropriate ‘kAlam’ or ‘time’ arrives for that act. He is happy no

matter who the subject is. bhagavAn took incarnation as rAman only to show

that anushThAnams (karma-s) should be observed according to ‘kAlam’ or time.

 

We do not realize the greatness of ‘time’. Rshi-s have advised us about

specific actions that should be performed at specific times, the sins accrued

if they are not performed on time, the welfare that results if they are

performed on time, etc. As an example, mahALaya paksham is coming now. So

many pakshams keep coming and going. Why should the ‘kAruNya pitR tarpaNam’ be

done only in mahALaya paksham? Why are these fifteen days important? The

kAruNya pitR-s are all waiting to see if this child will make any offering for

them. They are all waiting. We do not know. If they are made to starve, it

will be hard for them. They will become angry. If they are given sesame seeds

and water, they will feel very happy. They will bestow a lot of blessing.

There are no devatA-s who will bestow blessings like pitR-s. Even perumAL will

not come in person like the pitR-s and confer blessings. perumAL only comes in

the form of pitR-s to give that level of blessing. That is why ArAdhanam of

pitRs is considered more special than other ArAdhanams and is supposed to be

done with Sraddhai; and it is termed ‘SrAddham’. devatA-s do not confer

blessings like pitR-s, Rshi-s won’t bless like pitR-s, no relatives can bless

like pitR-s. pitR-s will bestow so much blessing. How do we know that they

will confer their blessings at this time? That is what SAstram reveals to us.

Who else will teach us?

 

SAstram says – ‘Perform the prescribed actions at the prescribed times. During

the morning sandhyA time, it will be considered appropriate only if ‘arghyam’

is given a little before the Sun rises. The effort is beneficial only if

arghyam is given to the rising Sun. That gives strength to our soul. We chant

gAyatri. It is more powerful only when gAyatri is chanted at the right time.

That power will come to us too. Those who chant after the time passes, do it

only to fulfill the deficiency of having missed the performance of

sandhyAvandanam. That is all. It is not the same as obtaining the power by

doing it at the right time. Are you asking me how I have conformed? I am just

saying what elders say.

 

Take the cooked okra vegetable. It should be cooked at the proper heat. If it

is cooked with insufficient heat, it will be half cooked. If it is cooked with

too much heat, it will become charred.

 

Like that, when the Sun rises, the energy resulting from the Sun’s rays at that

time are very special.

 

perumAL has given a big benefit for the whole world. He has shown to us

through the Rshi-s all the good anushThAnams (actions) such as teaching us that

the rising Sun must be worshipped, and that other karmas (actions) must be

performed at the appropriate times, so that people of this world will not lose

the benefit to be obtained. He has revealed all other anushThAnams in addition

to sandhyAvandanam through the Rshi-s.

 

“PerumAL has been very punctual and disciplined in His observance of all

prescribed anushThAnams. Everything went well under the teaching of

vasishThar. Then this viSvAmitrar took Him! Gone! Gone! He let Him sleep

without making Him perform sandhyAvandanam at the right time. He let Him miss

doing samidAdhAnam at the right time”. As long as our kids are with us at our

homes, we can exercise some control and say “boys, do sandhyAvandanam at the

right time”. What will these boys do? Let us say, they are taken away on

school excursion. If they go to the houses of relatives or friends, the

relatives/friends may say, “Alas! Every day this boy is doing sandhyAvandanam

and getting spoiled; should he do it here also? Let the child sleep”

“vasishThar has trained Him and made Him a great anushThAtA [observer of

anushThAnam-s]; Is it proper if I (viSvAmitrar) come in the middle one day and

spoil it?” That is why viSvAmitrar is waking Him up promptly now! kausalyA

suprajA rAma pUrvA sandhyA pravartate!

 

When we offer ‘arghyam’ before the Sun rises, complete the japam, and do

upasthAnam at sunrise and worship the Sun, some great brahma Sakti (power)

comes to us. There is nothing that cannot be achieved by that power.

 

A lot of times, we ask others how to achieve many things because we do not

know. There is a consultant for everything. “My name does not sound right;

how can we change it? Can I add an “A” or drop an “A”? vAstu [building

location, orientation etc.] is not right in my house. Because of this well,

there is some AcAram in the house. But will closing this well lead to

rectifying the vAstu? Tell me a way to close this well. Can we close it?”

The solution for all problems is gAyatrI. If gAyatrI is meditated upon at the

right time, it will give the right solution. dhiyo yo na: pracodayAt |

“Shouldn’t You perform this holy sandhyA vandanam, child? Get up! You have to

perform Your morning sandhyAvandanam!” - rAma! pUrvA sandhyA pravartate |

 

viSvAmitrar is instructing perumAL that sandhyA vandanam must be done at the

right time. Why? Because vAlmIki bhagavAn is showing that perumAL was an

anushThAtA (One who observed the prescribed karma-s).

 

[This is brought up] because some people say that when one is performing

kaimkaryam to arcA murti, there is nothing wrong if sandhyA vandanam is missed!

Shouldn’t one do it at least later? Is it right to say that it is not

necessary to perform the sandhyAvandanam that even perumAL observed on time,

and that the likes of bhAshyakArar observed on time? svAmi deSikan says in

rahasyatraya sAram that SrI bhAshyakArar stood up with great difficulty even in

his final days, and offered arghyam. He could not even get up. He was 119 or

120 years old. Is perumAL going to ask, “svAmi! Do you want moksham or don’t

you? Why didn’t you do sandhyAvandanam?” The greatness of bhAshyakArar is

that perumAL had given him ownership of His two vibhUti-s and gave him the

title ‘uDaiyavar’. In vaikuNTham also, perumAL will only sit in the Asanam

that bhAshyakArar provides from that time. If one asks whether that

bhAshyakArar had to perform sandhyAvandanam… That is why svAmi deSikan says –

“antima daSaiyilim varundi ezhundaruLi irundu” (even in his last days, he got

up with difficulty and offered arghyam). Some aged people will pour some water

for arhgyam while sitting down. Not like that – “varundi ezhundaruLi” – even

though he could not, he got up with difficulty and offered arghyam. Why? Some

people may say later – “bhAshyakArar used to do sandhyAvandanam; then he

discontinued gradually saying it was difficult”. Someone will write in a book:

“perumAL is not going to deny moksham just because sandhyAvandanam is not

performed”. So, in order to show the observance of dharmam, and just so the

world will be aware of it, .he stood up even when he was not capable because of

age, and offered arghyam with dedication.

 

It is not only sandhyAvandanam that needs to be performed on time. All other

anushThAnams follow. pUrvA sandhyA pravartate! uttishTha naraSArdUla kartavyam

daivam Ahnikam.

 

There is a book called Ahnikam. Some people do not know that there is a book

called Ahnikam - because that word falls in deaf ears. Even simple things

relating to sampradAyam are not talked about at all any more. Why? People

think everyone knows these simple things, and so do not talk about them.

Because they are not talked about, no one knows about them. So our AcArya-s

have blessed us with “Ahnikam”.

 

For instance, people go and get samASrayaNam done. They think once they get

samASrayaNam done, everything related to samASrayaNam is finished. Not like

that. Tradition was that after samASrayaNam was done, from the very next day,

the elders will explain and instruct the student on the “Ahnikam” book’s

contents. What is Ahnikam? ahna: means daytime. Ahnikam means observances to

be performed during daytime.

 

Our elders have documented all the karma-s that should be performed right from

the time one opens one’s eyes in the morning till one goes to sleep. That is

what is called Ahnikam. Tradition used to be that one should hear and learn

that from elders, and perform all prescribed nitya karmAnushThAnam (daily

activities) accordingly.

 

viSvAmitrar says – “kartavyam daivam Ahnikam”. “hey, rAma! You were doing

anushThAnams every day rigorously when you were with vasishThar. You came with

this viSvAmitrar; it should not be said that sandhyAvandanam got missed;

samidAdhAnam got missed; brahma yaj~nam got missed etc. What is Your

expectation from me? You want me to do my anushThAnams, right? Do You know

what my desire is? “I want to wake You up. As soon as I wake You up, I want

to see what this vasishThar has taught You to do [by way of anushThAnam-s]. I

want to see what that Rshi has taught sarveSvaran.” Do you know what this is

called? vaidika punai SuruTTu – deceitful conduct by a vaidikan (laugher in

the audience). Just watching what this person’s AcAryan has taught Him, and

what this Sishyan is observing. Some people take a drink as soon as they get

up, then take a bath and then wear tirumaN [srIvaishNava mark]; some will take

bath, wear tirumaN, drink coffee and do sandhyAvandam all freshened up

(laughter in the audience). Some will wear tirumaN and say ‘asmad gurubhyo

nama:, asmad parama gurubhyo nama: ‘ very fast. Some will say all the

AcAryars’ taniyans with great dedication. He wanted to see what this Sishyan

is going to do.

 

viSvAmitrar was extremely desirous to see what vasishThar has taught Him. It

is not vaidika punai SuruTTu – deceitful conduct by a vaidikan - I just said it

for the sake of the story.

 

“vasishThar who knew all there was to know, would have taught beautifully to

the parama purushan, who is the Knower of all veda-s. I want to see that

anushThAnam”. To learn SAstram, one does not have to refer to books. The

conduct of those who have learned from elders is SAstram at work. One should

enjoy the SAstram by looking at rAman’s anushThAnam.

 

vasishThar’s AcAram [observance and conduct according to SAstra-s] is very well

recognized and renowned. vasishTha AcAram is more well-known than all the

other Rshis’ AcAram. It is because of the greatness of his AcAram that when he

looked at a kshatrian [one belonging to a warrior caste] and declared: ‘You are

not a kshatrian anymore. You are a brAhmin’, it became true. vasishThar’s

words are that great.

 

It is not that vasishThar made only viSvAmitrar a brAhmin that way.

viSvAmitrar had to go through hoops and compete intensely and struggle against

all odds, and then only became a ‘brahma Rshi’ through vasishThar’s words.

There is a story. vasishThar was sitting in front of his ASramam. A king was

chasing another king. They had both come to battle each other with their

armies. The whole army of the king being chased was all lost in the battle.

He is escaping and coming here. He looked at vasishThar and said, “svAmi!

SaraNam, SaraNam” and surrendered. “Okay, you go inside. I will take care of

you”, said vasishThar. The king who was chasing the loser came there and asked

vasishThar– “Did a kshatrian come here? Did a kshatrian come here?” What

should vasishThar have said? When asked, “Did a kshatrian come?”, he should

have said, “Yes, he came”. But, he said, “There is no kshatrian in the

ASramam”! What if this person had gone inside the ASramam and checked? He

just left. Just because vasishThar had said, ‘There is no kshatrian in the

ASramam’, that kshatrian became a BrAhmaNan. How is this! This viSvAmitrar

did not know this short cut!

 

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To be continued ..

 

 

 

 

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