AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha PAdukA dt. Jan. 08 Part 1)

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SrI:

SrImate ra’ngarAmAnuja MahA deSikAya namaH

SrImate SrInivAsa rAmAnuja MahA deSikAya namaH

SrImate VedAnta rAmAnuja MahA deSikAya namaH

SrI ra’nganAtha divya MaNi PAdukAbhyAm namaH

 

AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha PAdukA dt. Jan. 08 Part 1)

 

English Translation of

SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam in tamizh by SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan

 

As published in SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA by

SrI u.ve. nATTEri KiDAmbi rAjagopAlAcAriyAr (Editor of SrI ra’nganAtha

pAdukA)

 

(Please set your encoding to Unicode UTF-8)

 

SrImad ANDavan tiruvaDi,

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri

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

SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan’s SrImad rAmAyaNa

upanyAsam

 

" This ViSvAmitrar is an exceptional mahaRshi. There is no one in the

world like him. He has achieved impossible accomplishments by doing

very severe penances. Let me tell You his story. ViSvAmitrar was

ruling over a kingdom as a king. He went for hunting one time and when

he was wandering, he went to VasishThar's ASramam.

 

VasishThasya ASrama padam nAnAvRksha samAkulam |

…

praSAnta hariNAkIrNam dvijasa'ngha nishevitam || (bAla. 51.23,24)

 

VAlmIki BhagavAn describes VasishThar's ASramam - Very exciting

description. He says there is no other ASramam like that; he gives a

beautiful narration.

 

VasishThasya ASrama padam nAnAvRksha samAkulam |

 

The ASramam is surrounded by many different kinds of trees. praSAnta

hariNAkIrNam - all the animals are soft-natured. There are birds.

There are plenty of brahmaNas.

 

brahmaRshi gaNa sa'nkIrNam devarshi gaNa sevitam | (bAla. 1.24)

 

brahmaRshi - in VaSishThar's ASramam, there are the best of brahmaNas

- Rshi-s who have realized paramAtmA - parabrahmam - devarshi gaNa

sevitam. MahaRshi-s like nAradar, tumburu etc., have come to visit

this ASramam.

 

tapaH caraNa samsiddhaiH agni kalpaiH mahAtmabhiH |

 

ab-bhakshaiH vAyu-bhakshaiH ca SIrNa parNASanaiH tathA |

phala mUlASanaiH dAntaiH jita roshaiH jitendriyaiH ||

 

RshibhiH vAlakhilyaiH ca japa homa parAyaNaiH || (bAla.51.25-27)

 

describes VAlmiki graphically; when we see that, and compare that with

how brAhamNa-s are these days, I feel like crying. How were they?

Agni kalpaiH mahAtmabhiH - they were all great souls. svAmi! They had

brilliance like that of agni - fire. Think of how those Rshi-s were

in those times, and how we are today!

 

ab-bhakshaiH vAyu-bhakshaiH ca SIrNa parNASanaiH tathA |

 

There were lots of Rshi-s. What was their food? ab-bhakshaiH

vAyubhakshaiH ca - they were taking in only water. There is no cost

incurred if the ASramam has such kinds of Rshi-s! The only cost is

for eating, isn't it! (AcAryar laughs slightly). ab-bhakshaiH

vAyu-bhakshaiH - some take in only water; some live on only air.

SIrNaparNASanaiH tathA - There were Rshi-s who were practicing the vow

of non-violence, and they considered it a sin to pluck leaves from the

trees, and they ate only the dry leaves that fell down from the trees

after drying out in the trees. They were following that kind of

ahimsA.

 

It is said that our KUrattAzhvAn was like that. KUrattAzhvAn was

rAmAnujar's Sishyar; there was no one who observed ahimsA vratam like

him. One time, Bhagavad rAmAnujar was late in getting his bhikshai

[getting alms]. It was around 3 pm. Ultimately he sat down to take

his bhikshA (his sustenance). There was no leaf to eat on.

KurattAzhvAn was asked to go and bring a leaf quickly.

 

He went and did not come back for a long time. They informed bhagavad

rAmAnujar that KUrattAzhvAn had gone and had not returned. rAmAnujar

said, " Why did you ask him to go and pluck a leaf? He would be sitting

under the tree and crying. " So, someone went to look for KUrattAzhvan;

he was sitting under the banana tree with a knife in his hand and

crying. He was feeling unhappy that he had to hurt the tree by cutting

it. If SishyAs are like this, AcAryan [just has to go hungry!]

(laughter in the audience). He was feeling sad that he had to cut the

banana leaf. So, the person who had gone to look for him cut the leaf

and took it for rAmAnujar so he could eat. KUrattAzhvAn was practicing

ahimsA vratam so seriously. He could not hurt anyone or anything.

nAlUrAn was the person who betrayed KUrattAzhvAn to the SOzha king.

When KUrattAzhvAn asked for boons from PeurmAL, he asked, " Whatever

blessing I get, nAlUrAn must also get " . He was a great soul who asked

for good blessings even for his enemies. Such kinds of mahaRshi-s who

were practicing ahimsA vratam were there - SIrNaparNASanaiH tathA -

they were eating only the dry leaves that fell from the trees.

 

RshibhiH vAlakhilyaiH ca japa homa parAyaNaiH - there were some Rshi-s

called vAlakhilyA-s. They were all meant to offer arghyam before

sunrise. They had all come to vasishThar's ASramam to learn the

intricacies of SAstram. So many Rshi-s had come. What are they all

doing? Are they all sitting in the front and gossiping? Every divya

deSam has a place for gossiping. Was it like that?

 

japa homa parAyaNaiH - they were doing japam [meditation]; they were

doing homam.

 

anyaiH vaikhAnsaiScaiva samantAt upaSobhitam - Rshi-s who were

vaikhAnasa Rshi-s had also come there. There were lots of them.

 

vaSishThasya ASrama padam brahmalokam ivAparam |

dadarSa jayatAm SreshThaH viSvAmitro mahAbalaH || (bAla.51.27)

 

ViSvAmitrar looked at the ASramam. Look at how all these Rshi-s were!

What were all those Rshi-s eating - and what do we eat nowadays! Leave

alone gRhasta-s. What are the sanyAsi-s eating? It is a disgrace if

you look into it. It is a matter of shame to talk about it openly.

Look at how they were all of such virtuous conduct, and look at the

state of brAhmins today!

 

VasishThar's ASramam was like brahma lokam. So many Rshi-s were doing

meditation. So many were doing homam. They lived on air, the leaves,

water, etc. - Such kind of mahaRshi-s.

 

ViSvAmitrar left his army in the front and went inside to pay his

respect to VasishThar. Even though he was a king, VasishThar offered

him arghyam, pAdyam and AcamanIyam. He asked him for what reason he

had come there. King said, " I came for hunting. I just dropped by to

see you. I left all my army outside, just so that they do not disturb

the ASramam environment " .

 

VasishThar said, " Bring them all in; I will do Atithyam [i will feed

them]. "

 

King said, " How can you do that? The army is huge! You Rshi-s do not

have anything " .

 

VasishThar said, " We will see about that. You bring them in " . The

whole army came. He asked them to sit down for eating. They all sat

down at 10:30 am to eat.

 

They all looked. Are there any provisions around? Nothing. No rice,

no tamarind, no salt, nothing. How is he going to feed them rice?

Rice was ready at 11 o' clock. How did it come?

 

ehyehi SabaLe kshipram SruNu cApi vaco mama |

sa-balasyAsya rAjarsheH kartum vyavasito'smyaham ||

bhojanena mahArheNa satkAram samvidhatsva me || (bAla. 52.21)

rasena annena pAnena lehya coshyeNa samyutam |

annAnAm nicayam sarvam sRjasva SabaLe tvara || (bAla.52.23)

 

VasishThar went to the back of the ASramam. There was a cow tied in

the cowshed. The cow was named SabaLA. She belonged to the vamSam of

KAmadhenu. He went to that cow. ehyehi SabaLe kshipram.

 

He called, " My dear " ! The cow came running on seeing VasishThar. He

told her - " VisVAmitrar is a rAja Rshi; he has come with his army. I

have told him I will feed them all. We should give them a very grand

feast. bhojanena mahArheNa satkAram samvidhatsva me " - 'Make

arrangements for entertaining them with a great feast. They should all

be great, costly food items. Make the arrangements.' How should they

be? khAdyam, lehyam, coshyam, peyam - four kinds of food.

 

rasena annena pAnena lehya coshyeNa samyutam| -There are four kinds of

foods. VasishThar asks SabaLA (KAmadhenu) to prepare food items.

 

annAnAm nicayam sarvam sRjasva SabaLe tvara |

 

" Be quick in your preparations. " MahaRshi had given arghyam, pAdyam

etc. What happened next? Very exciting food was created by KAmadhenu.

No one knew how.

 

ViSvAmitrar sat down. Everyone ate very well. VasishThar fed the

whole army with sumptuous food. ViSvAmitrar wondered: How did this

Rshi do all that? khAdyam, lehyam, coshyam, peyam - four kinds of food

- one kind that is taken by sipping, one by licking … halva - like

wheat halvA, almond halvA etc., belong to lehyam type. Right? One

food is for crunching with teeth, like murukku, tEn kuzhal etc. - they

belong to khAdyam type. Mixed rices are the ones that are swallowed.

Everybody knows peyam - water, coffee, tea etc., are all peyam.

 

rasena annena pAnena lehya coshyeNa samyutam| He provided all four

varieties of food items. They all ate very happily.

 

They asked vasishThar's disciples where all these food items were

prepared. They said that the cow KAmadhenu in the ASramam gives

everything. Immediately, ViSvAmitrar went to VasishThar and said,

" MahaRshi! It is I, the king " . VasishThar said, " Yes, I know. What do

you want? " ViSvAmitrar said, " It would be nice if you give me this

cow " .

 

gavAm Sata sahasreNa dIyatAm SabaLA mama |

……

ratnam hi ca bhagavan! etat ratna hArI ca pArthivaH || (bAla.53.8-9)

 

jAtau jAtau ca yad utkRshTam tad ratnam | - When one talks about

ratnam, it does not refer to just the costly stone. We can call

something a ratnam if it is the best in a category; for example, strI

ratnam (best among women).

 

tATakA nAma bhadram te strI ratnam - says vAlmIki (AcAryar is quoting

from bAla kANDam 25.6 - kanyA ratnam dadau rAma tATakAm nAma nAmataH )

- tATakA is called strI ratnam (one svAmi, who is close by, breaks

into a laughter). It is said tATakA is a strI ratnam. ratnam refers

to the best of things.

 

ViSvAmitrar says to vasishThar: " SAstram says that if there is a thing

that is the best, the king can take that without even asking the owner

- ratna hArI ca pArthivaH.- the king is the natural owner of the best

of things. Since this best of cows is with you, give her to me. If

not, I will take her myself. I am asking you to give her to me. "

 

VasishThar said,

 

SASvatI SabaLA mahyam kIrtiH Atmavato yathA | (bAla. 53.12)

[Just like a person's fame, this SabaLa is something that cannot be

transferred to you.].

 

asyAm havyam ca kavyam ca prANa yAtrA tathaiva ca ||

Ayattam agnihotram ca baliH homaH tathaiva ca | (bAla. 53.13)

[All my anushThAna-s, and even my breathing in and breathing out, are

dependent on this KAmadhenu.].

 

kAraNaiH bahubhiH rAjan! na dAsye SabaLAm tava || (bAla. 53.15)

[This KAmadhenu is everything for me, and there is no way that I can

give it to you.]

 

etat eva hi sarvasvam etadeva hi jIvitam | (bAla. 53.23)

[This is my life and my everything.]

 

bahunA kim pralApena na dAsye kAmadohinIm || (bAla.53...25)

[Why keep wasting words? I cannot give the KAmadhenu to you.]

 

" This is my permanent wealth. You are asking for it. kIrtiH Atmavato

yathA - this wealth is like the fame of a person who has controlled the

five senses and the mind. Can someone take away somebody else's fame?

Just like that, you cannot take away the KAmadhenu. "

 

asyAm havyam ca kavyam ca prANayAtrA tathaiva ca | (bAla. 53.13)

" Only with the help of this cow, I am doing homams for devatA-s

everyday and doing srAddhams. "

 

" SrAddham comes only two times every year. Why do you need KAmadhenu

for that? "

 

" I can be without doing SrAddham; but the people who are with me have

to do SrAddhams, right? What can I do for that? (Here, AcAryar reflects

his own position).

 

Even though it is only two times a year, I have to help all the others

perform SrAddhams. What can I do for those? Who else will help?

(AcAryar laughs slightly).

 

asyAm havyam ca kavyam ca deha yAtrA tathaiva ca - My life's sustenance

itself is carried on only because of this cow. agnihotram, bali, homam

etc., are all happening only with the items created by this cow.

 

kAraNaiH bahubhiH rAjan! na dAsye SabaLAM tava | - There are so many

reasons. I cannot give the cow to you.

 

etat eva hi sarvasvam etadeva hi jIvitam |

bahUnA kim pralApena na dAsye kAmadohinIm ||

 

This cow is my life. She is everything for me. Why do I have to tell

you all this?

 

na dAsye kAmadohinIm - " I will not give you this cow that gives

whatever is asked with desire. "

 

ViSvAmitrar said, " Oh, you will not give me? " He called his army and

asked them to snatch the cow away and bring to him.

 

Four strong men went and pulled the cow from the cow shed. The cow

went with them thinking, " Has AcAryan given me to him? What is

happening? " . Forcing her way out, she came to VasishThar and prayed, "

What! Have you given me away? ViSvAmitrar is taking me " .

 

" No, my dear! What can I do? ViSvAmitrar is a strong king. When

strong men are taking you away, what can I do? Will I give you away

willingly? He is a strong person and he is taking you by force. I am

only a brahmaNan. I have no power. He is a wicked person; he is a

warrior. He has armies. What can I do? "

 

" That is nothing. Give me permission. I will take care of this! " said

KAmadhenu.

 

" Okay, if you have the strength, take care of it! "

 

When the men pulled SabaLA, she shook her body. From her body came a

huge army consisting of yavana-s, Saka-s, turks etc. [different groups

of warriors] - they all came from a single hair of KAmadhenu. They

all battled and totally demolished ViSvAmitrar's army. After that, she

came and paid her respect to VasishThar saying, " I have vanquished

them; do not worry " .

 

" Okay, that is good! " said VasishThar.

===========

To be continued …..

 

 

 

 

 

 

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