AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. Aug 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. Aug 07 Part 2) English Translation of SrImad rAmAyaNa

upanyAsam in tamizh by SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan As published in SrI

ra’nganAtha pAdukA bySrI u.ve. nATTEri kiDAmbi rAjagopAlAcAriyAr (Editor of

SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA) SrImad ANDavan tiruvaDi,kalyANi

kRshNamAcAri===================================== SrImad

tirukkuDandai ANDavan’s SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam RAma agreed to kill tATakai

[as per ViSvAmitrar’s instructions]. pitur-vacana nirdeSAt pitur-vacana

gauravAt |vacanam kauSikasyeti kartavyam aviSa’nkayA || (bAla.26.2) ‘My

father has told me that I should listen to what the Rshi says. vacanam

kauSikasyeti – if it was my AcAryan [VasishThar], I would

have convinced him to come to my way by patiently talking to him. vacanam

kauSikasyeti – But you are kauSikar. You are known for your anger. I will

do what you say’. So saying, He plucked the chord of His bow and produced a

sound. As soon as she heard the sound, tATakai came there running. Every time

she puts her foot on the ground, the ocean waters start rising. Swinging her

SUlam, she came there. ViSvAmitrar said, “Look! She has comeâ€, and he

fainted. RAman said, “LakshmaNa, did you see?†and aimed His arrow at her.

She threw heaps of sand and stones at them. She threw her SUlam (trident) at

them. Sol okkum kaDiya vEgac cuDu Saram kariya Semmalal okkum niRattinAL mEl

viDuttalum vayirak kunRakal okkum ne`njil ta’ngAdu appuRam kazhanRu

kallAppullarkku nallOr Sonna poruL enap pOyiRRu anRE! He aimed at her chest

and hit her with an arrow that hit her like a Rshi’s curse that would hit its

target. That arrow hit her chest,

tore it, came out through the other side and came back to RAman’s quiver.

papAta ca mamAra ca (bAla.26.27) - RAman said, “She has fallen downâ€.

papAta ca – “AcArya ViSvAmitra! She has fallen down.†ViSvAmitrar did

not have the courage to get up still. He asked RAma to check if she was still

breathing. mamAra ca – RAma said she has fallen down and is dead also. Then

only the Rshi opened his eyes with a sigh of great relief. ViSvAmitrar came

back to life. kallAp pullarkku nallOr Sonna poruL enap pOyiRRu anRE – advice

given for a stupid or violent person will enter through one ear and go out

through the other ear right away; like that, the arrow entered her chest and

came out right away. ViSvAmitrar took RAman and LakshmaNan and went to the

banks of the river. He asked them to do Acamanam. They did. He said He would

teach them all the astram-s (weapons). He taught those astrams that he learned

after he had quarreled with

VasishTar. One whole sargam is about all these astra-s - kAla cakram, VishNu

cakram, daNDam, pASam etc. RAman absorbed everything with enormous ease.

ViSvAmitrar then took a look at RAma’s face. When he saw Him, he became very

sad at heart. What was the reason for the sorrow? It was because ViSvAmitrar

could not find any happiness in RAma’s face. “I am giving him astra-s that

I have acquired by performing penance for thousands and thousands of years, and

this person is not even feeling happy. Leave alone even that - He did not even

say a simple ‘Thanks’. How unfair! Shouldn’t He have at least said,

‘Thanks’! Shouldn’t He have said, ‘You gave me astrams; I am very

fortunate; I feel myself blessed’? He did not even say that. ViSvAmitrar

felt very sad. He thought, ‘I will forget about him. Let me teach the

brother’. He called, “LakshmaNa, you come!†He told LakshmaNan: “Do

Acamanam. I will teach you!â€

LakshmaNan responded: “I am not interested. Are you trying to make me your

Sishyan? I am not coming. I do not need your astramâ€. Who is going to

observe ViSvAmitrar’s tirunakshatram? Who is going to prostrate to him?

kumbiDuvAr Ar enRu tEDuginRArguNa’ngaLaiyum ta’ngaLukkuk kURuginrAr.

(paramata bha’nga: - vaibhAshika bha’nga..) He said he would teach.

LakshmaNan said, “It is enough that you have taught my elder brother. I do

not need itâ€. ViSvAmitrar asked, “Don’t you need the astram?â€

LakshmaNan said, “ I will learn from Himâ€. pitA mAtA ca bandhuSca guruSca

mama rAghava: | (ayodhyA. 59.31) - For me, my elder brother alone is father,

mother, relative and teacher. I will prostrate before Him. Do not look for a

person to prostrate before you.†ViSvAmitrar looked. He felt very sad. “I

did penance for so many years and then taught the astrams; Couldn’t He have at

least

said, ‘dhanyo’smi’ [i am fortunate]? Couldn’t He have said one word -

‘kRtArtho’smi’ – I am blessed? Could he not have just said at least

for the sake of saying: - [even without meaning it] “mahRshi! How am I going

to repay you?†Not only did He not do that, but He did not even show any

happiness in His face. If you ask how much sorrow ViSvAmitrar felt – There

was a great man! A multi-millionaire! He only had one child - a daughter. He

brought her up in a nice way. He gave her in marriage to a wealthy person.

That boy was also the only child to his parents. That in-law (bridegroom’s

father) was also a wealthy man. He was doing 84 dAnam-s {charities} every day.

He was also a multi-millionaire. At the stroke of dawn, everyday the priest will

come with svAmigaL to his house. As soon as he gets up in the morning, he will

start giving away charities. Doing sa’nkalpam - mama putrasya Ayu: Arogya

aiSvarya

abhivRddhyartham – he will give away charities praying that his son should

live long. Everyday, he gave dAnam 84 times. The first multi-millionaire gave

his daughter to this multi-millionaire’s son, saying their horoscopes match.

It was a wedding performed like it used to be performed in the olden days. One

year went by – the girl attained puberty. Girls’ parents wanted to take her

to the boy’s house. Boy’s side said, ‘I will call for her only on a good

and auspicious day. I have to look at horoscopes and find a good day. SAnti

has to be done well. udakaSAnti should be done well. SAnti muse be done for

the removal of doshams saying - asyA: kanyA: prathama rajasa: prAdurbhAva kAle

tithi vAra nakshatra yoga karaNai: yo dosha: samajani tad dosha parihArArtham

bhagavad prItyartham ebi: SrI vaishNavai: saha bodhAyanokta prakAreNa udaka

SAnti karma karishye | Before that, the girl cannot even be seen by the boy.

The boy’s parents

said that the girl should not even be seen by the boy before udakaSAnti is

done. They said they have to look for an auspicious day. They asked the

astrologer. The boy himself knew how to read horoscopes. Typically, the

astrologers nowadays will take a horoscope and do calculations with it using the

English method. They will say that such and such a ‘planet’ is in such and

such a position; they will not use the word ‘graham’. They will use

‘degrees’ to do their calculations, and say that the ‘planet’ has to

come to some particular ‘degree’. Finally they will conclude that the

horoscope itself is wrong. They will say there is a mistake in the horoscope.

“My boy knows how to read horoscopes using the English system. He will look

at the horoscope and say which day is good. Only on that day, we can have the

girl.†One year passed, two years passed. The girl’s side sent mail, and

the boy’s side kept saying: “We have

not found a good dayâ€. He (the boy’s father) was a very rich man. There

were five cars in his family. Father had a bungalow. Son had a bungalow.

Within one compound, there were separate bungalows; it was not co-operative

society (audience bursts into laughter) – separate bungalows inside the same

compound. Girl’s mother very much wanted to send the daughter to the boy’s

place. “ So many days have passed by. I told you that day itself. We could

have given her to a poor man. They belong to higher status. It has been

long.†Father said, “What can I do? vivAdaSca vivAhaSca samayoreva

Sobhate†– [Arguments and marriages shine only when they are between equals]

- we did this because of their high status.†Mother said, “You go in person

and talk to themâ€. So, father agreed and went to the in-law’s house. He

went by train and got down in the morning. A car had been sent to the station

to pick him up. Boy’s father

took him and offered him tiffin etc., and then asked him the reason for his

coming. “I have to bring my daughter over. So I came to discuss and

finalizeâ€. “You can bring her here; I do not have any objection. Four or

five days were considered. Son himself said that the days were not good. He is

sitting inside there. You yourself go and talk to himâ€. The son was sitting

in his own room. He had beautiful perumAL pictures hung all over the walls.

There was a big SrInivasar picture on his table, SrInivAsar on the door,

SrInivAsar on the window, SrInivAsar in the paper weight and SrInivAsar in the

stair case. The boy’s father had said that if the son says yes, he does not

have any objection. So, the girl’s father went to the son. The boy stood up

and invited him, “Please be seated on this chairâ€.“What book are you

readingâ€?The son-in-law said, “I am consulting the almanacâ€.Girl’s

father said, “I have come just for that.

This is a good omen. I came to find a good day to bring my daughter here. You

are checking the almanac. Everything is falling into place. Quickly tell me

which day is goodâ€! “Yes! I am looking at the almanac, but not for your

daughterâ€! “Then, what forâ€? “I am looking for a good day for my getting

sanyAsam [renunciation]â€, said the boy. (slight laughter in the audience)

Imagine how sad the girl’s father would have felt at that time. ViSvAmitrar

underwent the sorrow that was equivalent to the sorrow that the girl’s father

had. When he was getting ready to bring his daughter, if the boy is looking for

a day for renunciation, how will it be? yad ahareva virajet tad ahareva

sanyaset (JAbAla upa. 4.1) - [A person may renounce worldly life that very day

on which distaste for it dawns on him]. There is nothing that says that one has

to wait for ekAdaSi day to take sanyAsam. Why should one look for a ‘good

day’ to renounce? Why

should one look for a ‘good’ day for that - it is like looking for a good

day for dying. Maybe just to make sure that the person does not come back from

sanyAsam back to the house, one may look for a ‘good day’ for it! (AcAryar

laughs lightly).=========== To be continued …..

 

 

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