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

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

There is a place by name kAmASramam near the place where the two rivers, sarayU

and ga’ngai merge; that is the place in a’nga deSam where Sivan burned

kAman. The three of them go there.

All along the way until they reach mithilai, viSvAmitrar tells them stories

about the lands they pass through, about the rivers, ASramams etc. perumAL

listens. It is all new to Him. Only because of all these stories, bAla kANDam

is voluminous. Otherwise, it would be small.

vAlmIki narrates a lot of stories on the way. There is a reason why he is doing

that. vAlmIki will not have a single Slokam that is not useful. (I am writing

only the story about rAman and am leaving out other extra stories. It is all

with the desire that I can start writing from SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan’s

actual upanyAsam as soon as possible - Editor).

(That night, they stayed with a lot of mahaRshi-s in kAmASramam; perumAL, iLaiya

perumAL and viSvAmitrar took leave of them the next morning, and after doing

anushThAnams in the morning, crossed sarayU-gangai sa’ngamam and proceeded

through deep forest areas).

It was a dense forest. Was viSvAmitrar taking them in a path with which he was

familiar, or was he taking them through a path that was unfamiliar to him? He

had taken them to a forest that was so dense that it was impossible to walk

through it. That was the taTakA vanam.

There were fierce animals, and other very cruel life forms. The forest beetles

were creating a lot of noise. perumAL asked – “What is this place?â€

“rAma! This is where the two cities of maladam and karUsham were. It used to

be a good place to live. People were all living well. A woman named tATakA was

born here. Her husband was sundan. He went to fight with agastyar. Some

people have such horoscopes – they will search for, and pick up a fight with

good people. agastyar got angry and cursed him. sundan died. His wife tATakai

and her son mArIcan got angry and went to fight with agastyar. agastyar cursed

them to become demons. They both started destroying this whole area. They ate

the people; a lot of them ran away, abandoning this place. The whole land

became a big forest with grass, weeds, plants and trees. Did you notice? This

wicked lady has the strength of a thousand elephants.

enAm rAghava durvRttAm yakshIm parama dAruNAm |

go-brAhmaNa hitArthAya jahi dushTa parAkramAm || (bAla. 25. 17)

[O rAghava! For the benefit of the four-legged life forms as well as the

brAhmaNa-s, You have to kill this cruel woman].

perumAL was taken aback. When He asked, “svAmi! What is this place? Why is

it like this?†viSvAmitrar kept telling stories, but then he concludes by

saying: “You have to kill a woman. That is why I have brought You hereâ€.

perumAL is worried: “Killing a woman will result in great sin! If I sin,

vasishThar will get angry! It will be an eternal black mark for ikshvAku vamSam

if a woman is killed!â€

Even tiruma’ngai AzhvAr makes fun [in his nAyikA bhAvam] in periya tiru maDal

manniya tiNNenavum vAitta malai pOlum

tan-nigar onRillAdat tATakaiyai – mAmunikkAt

ten-ulagam ERRuvitta tiNDiRalum – maRRivai tAn

onRi ulavA ulagaRiya Urvan nAn (periya tirumaDal 146,147)

“There was a woman, tATakai, with good health and with the strength of a

thousand elephants. This perumAL could not stand that. Just because someone in

a pink robe said so, He killed that tATakai. What injustice! I am going to tell

the whole world the ulterior motive of this perumAL, who is acting always

against the whole class called women. I have decided to do maDal Urdal [ a

practice where the lady in love goes in the street declaring her love for the

lover]; oh friend! I am proceeding with maDal Urdal!†So, said AzhvAr [in

his nAyikA bhAvam]!

Are you asking - Will parakAlan speak ill of perumAL like this? This is maDal

prabandham. This is anger mixed with love. Here AzhvAr is getting angry at

perumAL only; we are angry at bhagavad vishayam itself (laughter in the

audience).

viSvAmitrar read perumAL’s mind. Mind reading is a great art. Some people

know that art. I will tell you one story.

Someone had a problem in my office. He went to a malayAli person who knew the

art of treating through mantram; the latter said – “Okay! Sit down.†So

saying, he made him sit on a coconut. That sorcerer sat a little farther away

and made the coconut rotate fast, and this person sitting on the coconut also

rotated with the coconut. Howsoever the sorcerer moved his hand, the coconut

was also going around the same way. And this person was also spinning with it.

The magician stopped spinning the coconut through his magic, and asked my office

mate to start spinning the coconut to the right and to the left. That coconut

would not budge. That sorcerer could make it spin this way and that way at his

will. Otherwise, it would not spin. So the sorcerer is showing that he is great

at his art.

Then he said, “Why have you come? You do not have to tell me. I can tell

youâ€. My office mate is very clever. That sorcerer tried several guesses.

My office mate kept saying: “I did not come for this, I did not come for

thatâ€.

Because my office mate found out that the sorcerer is just trying to read his

mind and saying things, he started thinking about random things. Only if he

thought of the right reason, it could be read. The sorcerer tried in several

ways. He could not read his mind at all.

Then, that sorcerer agreed that my office mate was very clever – “you are

thinking something different on purpose; I am not able to read your mind; tell

me why you cameâ€.

“Okay, nothing else; somebody borrowed money from me and ran away. Tell me

where he is! That is why I came to you.â€

The sorcerer said, “Okay, give me ten thousand rupees. I will tell youâ€.

My friend said, “I have only hundred rupees. If you want to tell me for

hundred rupees, tell me. I will not give you any more than that.†The

sorcerer asked for at least five thousand. In the end, he asked for two hundred

rupees. My friend said that he has only one hundred and he cannot give more

than that. The sorcerer got angry that he was made that cheap; so, he said,

“go awayâ€.

My office mate asked him, “Why are your fingers so shriveled?†For that, the

sorcerer said, “Sir! My business is a sinful one. I do billi, SUnyam,

mAntrIkam etc. That will affect me. Our lives will not be good.â€

Some people get stuck with sorcerers like these. That is why I said. If mind

reading is done for gaining something for oneself, it is a sin. Here

viSvAmitrar guessed what perumAL had in His mind. viSvAmitrar is a great

tapasvI (one who has done penance)! I am not saying his mind reading was wrong.

He is viSva + mitrar. Anything he does is for the good of the world. He is a

good friend for everyone. He is not viSva + amitrar. Are you asking why the

‘va’ in the middle is long in viSvAmitrar? maitra + varuNan is

maitrAvaruNan; canDa + mArgan is caNDAmargan ; you have to add ‘A’ ; that is

grammar.

viSvAmitrar tells rAman –

na hi te strI vadhakRte ghRNA kAryA narottama |

cAturvarNya hitArthAya kartavyam rAjasUnunA || (bAla. 25.19)

 

“Do not feel distaste thinking that I have brought You here and am asking You

to kill a woman. It is not wrong to kill a woman. Why is not wrong? - because

it is not wrong for a prince to kill a woman to protect the people of the four

castes. Since the people in the four castes are protected, it is only puNyam.

nRSamsam anRSamsam vA prajA rakshaNa kAraNAt |

pAtakam vA sadosham vA kartavyam rakshatA satAm ||(bAla.25.20)

“Whether it is cruel or not, whether it is sin or a wrong doing, this has to

be done - because there are certain karma-s that must be done. If it is argued

that it is wrong, and if You say You will do only dharmam at all times, then at

this time, this is Your dharmam. Whatever adharmam is contained in this

dharmam, You have to do that also. It is fate. Someone is a judge. There is a

serious murder case. He has to give punishment of death by hanging. Alas! He

has to feel sad that he is making a person die. But, he has to pass the

judgment of death by hanging. And he has to feel sorry. If he does not feel

sorry, it does not matter; it is his duty.

“A woman has to be killed. pAtakam vA sadosham vA kartavyam rakshatA satAm |

- Even if it is sinful and wrong, it has to be done. You are a kshatriyan

(warrior); and a king’s son. It is a sin if others do it. If You do it, it

is not a sin, because Your first duty is to protect. When You are doing it, You

have to punish also, including killing. You have to do this.

rAjya bhAra niyuktAnAm esha dharma: sanAtana: |

adharmyAm jahi kAkutstha dharmohyasyA na vidyate | (bAla.25.21)

“From very ancient times, this has been considered a dharmam for those for

whom it is the duty to protect. rAma! Do not think I am confusing You. You

have to commit this act. I am not saying that this is Your predicament as a

kshatriyan. I am saying that this is not wrong. It is the best dharmam. Do

not think this is adharmam. Just think of this as dharmam. Can I show you an

example of a woman being killed? Didn’t indran kill virocanan’s

daughter�

vishNunA ca purA rAma! bhRgupatnI pativratA |

anindram lokam icchantI kAvyamAtA nishUditA || (bAla.25.23)

viSvAmitrar tells rAman: “perumAL Himself has killed a woman! Don’t You

know? vishNu killed bhRgu’s wife, who was SukrAcArya’s motherâ€! So

saying, viSvAmitrar tries to outsmart rAman.

In one sense, bhRgu is perumAL’s father-in-law. pirATTi is bhRgu’s

daughter. Mother-in-law is khyAti. perumAL killed His mother-in-law. What a

great son-in-law! (laughter in the audience).

Leave all that. jahi mat SAsanAt nRpa (bAla.25.2) – “I am ordering You. You

kill herâ€, says viSvAmitrar.

rAman folds His hands in salutation, and responds - rAghava: prA’njalir-bhUtvA

pratyuvAca dRDha vrata: | (bAla.26.1). Why? When He hesitantly asked “Should

one kill a woman?â€, viSvAmitrar outsmarted Him saying, “perumAL Himself has

killed a womanâ€! rAman says,

pitur-vacana nirdeSAt, pitur-vacana gauravAt |

vacanam kauSikasyeti kartavyam aviSa’nkayA ! (bAla.26.2)

“svAmi! When I started, what did my father say? He said, “Act according to

what viSvAmitrar says. Listen to what he saysâ€. I will not go against my

father’s words. Not only that. My father does not even have to tell me. It

is not that I will do only if my father says, and will not do if you say it.

Even if you alone tell me, I will do that also.â€

“Can my father earn a bad name that he has a son who does not listen to the

words of elders?

karishyAmi na sandeha: tATakA vadham uttamam | (bAla.26.4)

Certainly, I shall kill tATakai. This action is a great one [because it is an

order from one who meditates on Brahman]â€.

So saying, He took His bow and plucked the chord of the bow; and it sounded like

a loud thunder. At the same moment, a storm of stones and sand started blowing.

tATakA came there. perumAL said to lakshmaNan – “lakshmaNa! She is a

woman; how to kill her? Shall I do one thing? Should I just take her power and

immobilize her?â€

viSvAmitrar said, “rAma! Do not look at her as a woman! Look at how she has

destroyed this good land and has made it into a forest. She is yaj~na

vighnakarI yakshI (bAla.26.23) – do You know how many yAgams she has

destroyed? Do not spare her. When the night arrives, her magic powers will

increase. Kill her right away.†She was showering mountains on them; rAman

killed her by aiming a single arrow at her chest. Kula sekhara AzhvAr describes

this as: vandedirnda tATakai tan urattaik kIRi varu kurudi pozhi tara van kaNai

onRu EvinAr (perumAL tirumozhi 10.2)- just one arrow.

kamban says –

Sol okkum kaDiya vEgac cuDu Saram kariya Semmal

al okkum niRattinAL mEl viDuttalum vayirak kunRa

kal okkum ne`njil ta’ngAdu appuRam kazhanRu kallAp

pullarkku nallOr Sonna poruL enap pOyiRRannE!

What is it like when perumAL aims an arrow? When I speak, the words fall right

away in your ears that same instant. Like that, the arrow will go and strike

the target that same instant. Sol okkum kaDiya vEgac cuDu Saram kariya Semmal

al okkum niRattinAL mEl - how was that she-demon? She looked as if the

tattuvam called ‘night’ itself took on a shape of a black ghost and came in

her form. She looked that dark; that ghastly. What did the arrow that peurmAL

released do? Her chest was hard like very hard stone. rAma’s arrow pierced

that stone and went past fast. How was that? Just as the words of good people

fall on one ear of a bad person and immediately leave through the other ear,

rAma’s arrow pierced the stone-like chest from the front and came through the

back and flew away very fast. Probably kamban did not know that we all take

elders’ words through one ear and leave them out through the other ear.

(audience laughs).

kallAp pullArkku nallOr Sonna poruL enap pOyiRRannE !

On the very day that tATakai died, that land turned into a pure, holy and divine

kshetram. The whole forest turned into a heavenly garden.

mukta SApam vanam tacca tasminneva tadA’hani | (bAla. 26.37)

ramaNIyam hi babhrAja vanam caitra ratham yathA || (bAla.26.40)

At that very instant, it was proved that tATakA vadham was not a case of sin

committed by the killing of a woman, but a very auspicious event. If a place

has big sinners, it will not flourish. If they leave, that itself will bring

good to the world. Because of tATakA’s sin, that land had become a horrible

place. As soon as her life was gone; at the same moment, the whole place turned

good. It became heavenly.

In the place where bharadvAjar was, it is said that even a tiger and a deer, a

peacock and a snake, would co-exist peacefully, and would be friendly with each

other. The places where good people are will all be pure. The places where

wicked people are will all get destroyed. When tATakai died, all the bad things

went away. The place became like the caitra ratha vanam in gandharva land.

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To be continued …..