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

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

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

paritushTo’smi bhadram te rAja putra mahAyaSa: |

prItyA paramayA yukto dadAmyastrANi sarvaSa: || (bAla.27.2)

[O great son of the King! I am very pleased, and will offer You all the

astra-s].

Subsequently, ViSvAmitrar gives all the astrams to rAman. If the question is

asked – couldn’t he have taught them earlier – the answer is: If

ViSvAmitrar had taught the astra-s earlier, someone will say that rAma was able

to slay tATakA only because ViSvAmitrar had given Him the astra-s, and that

otherwise He could not have killed her, that perumAL is not kodaNDa rAmar; just

plain rAmar – daNDa rAmar. So, in order to show that He is a great archer and

that He killed the demon who had the strength of a thousand elephants with just

one arrow, ViSvAmitrar waits till tATakA vadham is over, and then only teaches

the astra-s to Him.

Some may ask: Didn’t VasishThar teach the astra-s to rAma before? perumAL

has a different teacher [different from VasishThar] for the art of weaponry in

rAmAvatAram. The name of that teacher is sudhanvA. In ayodhyA kANDam, 100th

sargam,

ishvastra vara sampannam artha sAstra viSAradam |

sudhanvAnam upAdhyAyam kaccit tvam tAta manyase || (ayodhyA.100.14)

rAman is asking Bharatan in citra kUTam: “Bharata! Are you honoring

sudhanvA, our teacher who taught archery?†Only warrior caste people will

have the name ‘sudhanvA’.

Only kshatriya-s teach how to fight with bow and arrow. Brahma Rshi VasishThar

will not come for that. BrAhmins will not teach how to fight. They might at

best teach the mantra-s associated with archery. Nowadays, even this has become

extinct. dhanurvedam is a subset of yajurvedam.

In rAmAvatAram, perumAL has to take part in huge battles. So, ViSvAmitrar who

knew all the arts of weaponry transfers all his knowledge to perumAL. Why does

he need them anymore? He has become a BrAhmin. The art of archery is the wealth

of kshatriya-s. Some people think they don’t need sAlagrAmam perumAL in their

houses, and transfer them to perumAL temples. (laughter in the audience).

There are two things – astram and Sastram. Sastram refers to weapons. astram

refers to weapons which have special strength by association with mantram

(invocation). There are a lot of mantra-s called astra-mantra-s. It takes a lot

of effort to get proficiency in astra mantra-s, and to convert the Sastra-s

(mere weapons) into astra-s – those that have the additional power invoked

through the mantra-s.

You can see in bhAratam also – arjunan went through a lot of effort to obtain

pASupatAstram from paramaSivan. He did a lot of penance and got it from

paramaSivan himself, right! astrams do not materialize easily. They may not

materialize even if one knows the mantram. That is because it is not easy to

get the mantra-s under our full control. [in other words] it is not enough to

know the mantrams to convert the Sastra-s into astra-s. One should know how to

nullify the power of the astra also.

There is an astram called vaikuNThAstram. You probably know what it is -

nRsimha anushTup is vaikuNThAstram. We know the mantram starting with

‘ugram’. Some people know that by being taught. A lot of people know

because they have seen it in books. Similarly, it is said that

tiruvashTAksharam is nArAyaNAstram. That may be true. VyAsar describes the

nArayaNAstram in mahAbhAratam when baghadattan releases it. There are also

several mantrams for the same astram. But these will not materialize for us.

astrams have to have their mystical power when released. For that, does one

have to go through lots of effort like arjunan? ViSvAmitrar says to rAman,

“You do not have to labor. I will give them to You in a form such that they

will have their full mystic power right awayâ€, and gives rAman all the

astrams.

Do you know what the others should do for the astrams to have their power for

them? All the astrams will not have the same extent of mystic power for

everyone. Their power will correspond only to the extent they have mastered the

astram. yasya yAvAmSca viSvAsa: tasya siddhi: ca dhAvati | - The astram keeps

an ‘account’ of the mastery level.

After AcAryan teaches the mantram, one should chant that two lakh times; perform

homam while chanting the mantra another two lakh times; do tarpaNam chanting the

mantra again two lakh times; then feed BrAhmins, giving dakshiNai (fee) to their

satisfaction – this is all called pura: caraNam for the mantra-s. Like this,

for every mantram, pura: caraNam must be done separately; only then, that

mantram will deliver its full power for the one who uses it.

These are not easily achieved. All astrams have mantrams. They are all in the

books. Are you asking where? ahirbudhnya samhitai has the mantra-s.

cakkarattAzhvAn is heti rAjan. He is the king of all astrams and Sastrams.

ahirbudhnya samhitai [fn 1] is the pAncarAtra Agamam book that talks about

sudarSana prabhAvam.

Pura: caraNam must be done for every mantram. The mantram should be chanted a

total of eight lakhs times – including for japam, homam, tarpaNam,

japa-kumbha snAnam etc. Most would feel that if this is the extent of effort

one has to go through, it is not worth having the astram.

ViSvAmitrar gives all the astrams to perumAL without the need to do any pura:

caraNam - because he already has all the astrams under his full command.

devAsuragaNAn vA’pi sa-gandharvoragAnapi |

yai: amitrAn prasahyAjau vaSIkRtya jayishyasi || (bAla. 27-3)

tAni divyAni bhadram te dadAmyastrAni sarvaSa: || (bAla.27.4)

â€Do You wish to conquer the deva-s? Do You want to conquer the asura-s?

Here, accept these astra-s. All auspiciousness will be Yoursâ€.

stithastu prA’ngmukho bhUtvA Suci: munivaras-tadA |

dadau rAmAya suprIto mantragrAmam anuttamam || (bAla.27.32)

The one who gives the upadeSam (instructions) must face the east. The recipient

of the upadeSam must face the west. Recall that this is how brahmopadeSam is

done. They cover themselves with a silk cloth and do brahmopadeSam. The

priest, the boy, the father and mother too – she will be called ‘you also

come mAmi’ – (laughter in the audience); four people will put their heads

inside the space covered by the silk cloth; no one will know who is facing in

which direction. They do something. The purohitar will declare: “svAmi,

brahmopadeSam is overâ€. (audience laughs).

ViSvAmitrar teaches perumAL all the astrams that can be used. If vAyavyAstram

(…yaksha raksha: piSAcAdIn amitrAmSca dUram utsAraya utsAraya) is released,

wind will blow like a storm. If AgneyAstram (…. vRttapi’ngale locana

viSvAmitra praSamana daha soshaya bhIshaya) is released, it will shower fires.

If sammohanAstram is released, everyone will swoon. If jRmbhakAstram is

released, everyone will be yawning.

He also teaches how to withdraw the effect of the astrams. It is very important

to know how to pull back the astrams. I do not know anything. But there is an

astram called prasvApanam. I know how to use that. That will make everyone

fall asleep. I will release that when I start the upanyAsam (sudden outburst of

laughter in the audience). But, I do not know how to take it back (laughter

again for a long time).

==========

[fn 1] Very recently, Sri u.ve. vidvAn SrImushNam SrInivAsaAcAryar has

translated this samhitA into easily understandable tamizh through Lifco. Price

is Rs. 200.00. It is available for the first time. This is a very rare and

special book – Editor.

===========

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

issue of SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA)

To be continued …..