Reposting due to font problems - 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?â€, 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 timeâ€. As long as our kids are with us at

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

the right timeâ€. 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 difficultâ€.

Someone will write in a book: “perumAL is not going to deny moksham just

because sandhyAvandanam is not performedâ€. 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 “Ahnikamâ€.

 

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 Ahnikamâ€. “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

anushThAnamâ€. 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 youâ€, 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?â€, he should have said, “Yes, he cameâ€. But, he said,

“There is no kshatrian in the ASramamâ€! 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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