AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. March 08 Part 1)

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SrIH

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. March 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

 

In Janaka's palace in Mithilai, ViSvAmitra and Janaka were chatting

with each other. Janaka said that he would show the bow to the kids

next morning.

 

Next morning, everybody came to the court. Immediately on arrival,

ViSvAmitrar asked where the bow was.

 

nRNAm SatAni pa'ncASAt vyAyatAnAm mahAtmanAm |

ma'njUshAm ashTacakrAm tAm samUhuste katha'ncana || (bAla.67.4)

 

The bow was kept in a carriage with eight wheels. That carriage was

being pulled in and brought by many people, svAmi! How many people?

nRNAm SatAni pa'ncASAt vyAyatAnAm mahAtmanAm - 5000 people were pulling

that eight-wheeled carriage. The bow was kept on it. Were these 5000

people who were pulling it weak ones? Were they inflicted by yellow

fever? (laughter in the audience) vyAyatAnAm mahAtmanAm - they were

all well-built people. Only those kinds of people were pulling.

 

ma'njUshAm ashTacakrAm tAm samUhuste katha'ncana - they pulled the

carriage with great difficulty and brought it to the court.

ViSvAmitrar was informed that the bow has been brought. That bow's

height was reaching the sky.

 

uRuvali yAnaiyai otta mEniyar

SeRimayirk kal enat tiRaNDa tOLinar

aRupadinAyirar aLavu il ARRalar

taRi maDuttu, iDaiyiDai, taNDil tA'nginar

(kambar.bAla. kArmukap paThalam-3)

 

Kambar says that 60,000 people carried it and brought it. VAlmIki is

saying 5000 and Kambar is saying 60,000. How were those 60,000 people?

uRuvali yAnaiyai otta mEniyar - they were all valiant like elephants.

In PudukkOTTai palace, there were three elephants. We have seen them

when we were young. It will take four hours for the elephant to get up

(laughter in the audience). They were all the king's elephants. On

the day called svarNA savAri, they will decorate the elephants very

nicely and bring them.

 

uRuvali yAnaiyai otta mEniyar

SeRi mayirk kal enat tiRaNDa tOLinar

 

The shoulders of these people were strong like stone, granite stone.

There were 60,000 of those people - aRupadinAyirar aLavu il ARRalar -

they were all extremely strong.

 

taRi maDuttu iDaiyiDai taNDil tA'nginar. VAlmIki says 5000 people, and

Kambar says 60,000. Kambar is giving a higher figure; can he do that?

If we look at the word aRupadinAyiram (60,000) as aRu (cut) padinAyiram

(10,000), then the word aRu- padinAyiram can mean half of 10,000, which

is 5000, right? aRu [cut in middle] padinAyiram [10,000]; if you cut

10,000 in the middle, it is 5000. Interpret it that way. Kambar's

words are very deep in meanings. His words can be interpreted with

several meanings.

 

'Sa'ngoDu cakkaram taritta Se'nkai ac-

ci'nga ERu allanEl idanait tINDuvAn

e'ngu uLan oruvan? inRu ERRin, iccilai,

ma'ngai tan tirumaNam vAzhumAl' enbar

(kambar.bAla.kArmukap paThalam-5)

 

The bow was brought. Thousands of people had come there to look at it.

They were all sitting in the gallery. Do you know what gallery is? No?

People watch cricket sitting in the gallery! (Laughter in the

audience) Like that, they were all sitting and watching.

 

Sa'ngoDu cakkaram taritta Se'nkai ac-

ci'nga ERu allanEl idanait tINDuvAn

e'ngu uLan?

 

Who can bend this bow? Who can string the bow? Only paramAtmA who is

bearing the conch and cakram can do it. No one else can. inRu ERRin

iccilai ma'ngai tan tirumaNam vAzhumAl - our sItA will get married

today if this bow is strung today.

 

People wondered - 'tiN neDu mEruvait tiraTTiRRO?' enbAr (kAr.7) Was

this bow made by carving it out of the Meru mountain?

 

'vaNNa vAn kaDal paNDu kaDainda mattu' enbAr (kAr.7) - the Mandara

mountain was used for churning the ocean; has that mountain come here

in this form?

 

'aNNal vAL aravinukku araSanO?' enbAr (kAr.7) Is it tiruvanantAzhvAn,

who is the king of all serpents?

 

'viN iDu neDiya vil vIzhndadO?' enbAr (kAr.7) Or, is it the bow

[rainbow] that appears in the sky? Has that fallen down? Such a big

bow has been brought here.

 

People keep talking to themselves -

 

'en " idu koNarga " ena iyambinAn?' enbAr

'mannavar uLar kolO madi keTTAr?' enbAr

'munnai Uzh vinaiyinAl muDikkil Am' enbAr

'kanniyum iccilai kANumO?' enbAr (kAr.8)

 

Kambar has described the scene beautifully.

 

People were talking between themselves: en idu koNarga ena iyambinAn

enbAr - 'Why has this been brought? Can anyone bend this? Can this be

lifted? What is this? No one can do this.'

 

Uzh vinaiyinAl muDikkil Am - If a person has acquired enough puNyam

(blessing from good deeds) to marry sItA, may be he can do this. It

can only be possible because of previous good karmA, nothing else.

 

'iccilai udaitta kORkku ilakkam yAdu?' enbAr

'naccilai na'ngai mEl nATTum, vEndu' enbAr

'niccayam eDukkum kol nEmiyAn!' enbAr

ciRcilar 'vidi Seyda tImai Am' enbAr (kAr.9)

 

Why did he [Janaka] say that he would give his daughter in marriage

only to the person who bends this blow?

 

The reason is this - This sItA was playing ammAnai [ a game]. It is a

game with three marbles that are tossed up one at a time and caught

repeatedly and alternately without letting them fall on the ground.

There is a song that is sung during this game. When she was playing,

one of the marbles fell down; and it rolled beneath the box in which

Siva's bow was kept. King Janaka was watching this. sItA wanted to

continue playing ammAnai; so, she moved the box with her left hand!

She continued playing the marbles. Janaka wondered: " What is this!

Our girl is very small! She refuses to come if asked to clean the

eating place [in Tamizh, this is called 'eccal peraTTal'!] (audience

laughs). She is now moving a mountain. How do I deal with this girl!

How can I look for an alliance for a girl who is so strong as to move a

mountain-like bow? " King Janaka decided that he would give her in

marriage only to a person who can bend that bow.

 

So,

 

yaH SivadhanurAropaNam akarot, sa tu bhavati janaka jAmAtA, yenAropaNam

akRtam tasyApi janakajA mAtA.

 

Whoever strings this Siva's bow, sa tu bhavati janaka jAmAtA -only he

will become Janaka's son-in-law. If one cannot string the bow, he will

have janakajA mAtA - [note the difference in words]; one who bends,

becomes janaka jAmAtA - Janaka's son-in-law. One who cannot, will have

janakajA as mAtA - he should think of JanakajA [sItA] as his mother -

mAtA.

 

So, that great a bow was brought there to the court. A lot of people

are looking. Do the people who sit in the gallery sit doing nothing?

They look at whoever is coming to the field to play, and think: " Look

at how well this boy going to play! He will get a century [100 point

score]! Watch how many 'sixers' he is going to hit! " Then, it will so

happen that on the second ball itself, that player will be called

'out'! (laughter in the audience)

 

Like that,

'naccilai na'ngai mEl nATTum, vEndu' enbAr

'niccayam eDukkum kol nEmiyAn!' enbAr

 

The audience will look at the person coming to string the bow and

comment - 'Look at his style, he looks very confident; if you see the

way he sits, the way he looks, etc., I can say that he is definitely

going to lift this bow'.

 

ciRcilar 'vidiSeyda tImai Am' enbAr

 

Some said: " These kids [rAma and lakshmaNa] look like small boys.

This bow is so huge. We don't know how fate is. "

 

King Janaka brought this bow here.

 

'j~nAna munikku oru nAN ilai' enbAr;

'kOn ivanin koDiyOn ilai' enbAr;

'mAnavan iccilai kAl vaLaiyAnEl

pIna tanattavaL pERu ilaL' enbAr. (kAr.31)

 

Some people were saying: " There are so many Rshi-s here. This boy

[rAma] seems like a good match; why is this Janaka not giving his

daughter to him in marriage, and instead, bringing this bow? He has no

shame. So many kings have come and tried. "

 

'mAnavan iccilai kAl vaLaiyAnEl

pIna tanattavaL pERivaL' enbAr.

 

They were saying: " If this boy does not lift this bow, sItA will never

get married. Who else is going to lift this bow? "

 

King Janaka brings that bow and says - " This was given by deva-s. It

is Sivan's bow. We are paying obeisance to the bow in our family every

day. Nothing else.'

 

vatsa rAma! dhanuH paSya iti rAghavam abravIt ! (bAla.67.12)

 

VisvAmitra said: " Is that so? " . He called - " vatsa! " 'Child!'

 

vatsa rAma! dhanuH paSya iti rAghavam abravIt !

 

He said, " Child " ! As soon as lakshmaNan saw the bow, he got ready to

go and look at it to try his hand at the bow; VisvAmitra said, " I

didn't call you; go and sit down. " , and then he called: " rAma! "

 

rAghavatve'bhavat sItA, rukmiNI kRshNa janmani |

anyeshu cAvatAreshu lakshmIH SrIH anapAyini ||

(ParAsarar in VishNu purANam 1.9.141-142).

 

sitA came to this earth for rAma; rukmiNi took birth for KRshNa;

similarly, in all incarnations, SrI is inseparably together with Him. "

 

" lakshmaNa, you sit down. I have a different one for you. Sit down. "

 

" rAma! " - what is he going to tell rAma? He is a Rshi with anger.

vacanam kauSikasyeti kartavyam aviSa'nkayA - If ViSvAmitra says

something, it should be executed without question. ViSvAmitra will

easily become angry. VasishThar will not get angry. One can manage.

 

What is ViSvAmitra going to say? rAma! dhanuH paSya. He has brought

Him over a long distance only to see this bow. He said " rAma! dhanuH

paSya " . Why did he have to say " danuH paSya " ? Because rAma was

watching something else instead of looking at the bow! In the balcony,

sItA was watching with curiosity. rAma was watching that sItA! So, he

said, 'dhanuH paSya' - " Don't look at that! Look at this! If You do

this now, You can keep looking at Her all the time later. "

 

'paSya iti padena lakshmaNa vyAvRttiH; dhanuriti padena sItA darSana

vyAvRttiH kriyate " - lakshmaNa was excluded by the word 'paSya'

addressed to rAma; by referring to 'dhanus', looking at sItA was

excluded'. Keeping this meaning, Kambar created an interesting chapter

- [paTalam] called " sItai kAN paTalam' -The chapter dealing with

" Looking at sItA " .

 

vaiyam ennai igazhavum mAsu enakku

eydavaum ….

deyva mAk kavi mAtci terikkavE (kambar.bAla. pAyiram 6) -

 

Kambar has said at the beginning of the kAvyam itself, that he is

writing his Kamba rAmAyaNam only to bring out the divine poet VAlmIki

and his importance. There is no chapter in VAlmIki rAmAyaNam for

" looking at sItA " ! A question may arise - how is Kambar writing one?

The answer to this is given by this one phrase " dhanuH paSya " .

 

rAma has come only to see the bow.

 

A son-in-law has come to his father-in-law's house. He has taken bath

and has done sandhyAvandanam. He has come to the kitchen to eat! Why

should one serve him iDli [steamed rice cake] and then say " look at the

iDli " ! He has come only for that (laughter in the audience). Why does

ViSvAmitrar say " Look! " to the person who has come to look at the bow?

 

 

sItA's friends had told her: " This boy has come. Immensely charming.

He is dark-hued. ViSvAmitra says that he had brought Him to take a

look at the bow. " So, sItA came to see this boy also.

 

tan nEr illA ma'ngaiyar, 'Sengait taLir mAnE!

annE! tEnE! Ar amizhdE!' enRu aDi pORRi,

munnE, munnE, moy malar tUvi muRai Sara,

ponnE SUzhum pUvin odu'ngip pologinRAL

(kambar. bAla.MithilA kAtchi.30)

 

She has thousands of lady friends. They sprinkle flowers on the path as

she walks and praise her as deer and honey. Amongst them, she stood

- Sata kOTi min sEvikka min araSu ennum paDi ninRAL (kambar.

bAla.MithilA kAtchi.31)- when she is coming surrounded by friends, how

is she? She is like the queen of all lightning; amongst friends who

are all like lightnings, she is like the queen of all those lightnings.

 

 

hiraNyavarNAm hariNIm suvarNa rajatasrajAm |

candrAm hiraNmayIm lakshmIm jAtavedo ma Avaha ||

 

'kollum vElum kURRamum ennum ivai ellAm

vellum vellum' enna madarkkum vizhi koNDAL

Sollum tanmaittu anRu adu; kunRum, Suvarum, tiN

kallum, pullum kaNDu uruga, peN kani ninRAL.

(kambar. bAla.MithilA

kAtchi.32)

 

rAma looked. A look at sItA will make one melt. sItA was standing

there in such a beautiful form. rAma looked. What is this! There is

lightning standing here! " The court itself is wonderful. The bow is

in the court. In upper balcony, sItA is standing. And she is shining

like the queen of lightning.

 

eNNa aru nalattinAL inayaL ninruzhi,

kaNNoDu kaN iNai kavvi, onRai onRu

uNNavum, nilai peRAdu uNarvum onRiDa,

aNNalum nOkkinAn; avaLum nOkkinAL.

(kambar. bAla.MithilA kAtchi.35)

 

Kambar is describing kAma rasam - SR'ngAram.

 

rAmar looked -

eNNa aru nalattinAL inayaL ninruzhi,

kaNNODu kaN iNai kavvi, onRai onRu

uNNavum, nilai peRAdu uNarvum onRiDa

 

He is grabbing her with His eyes. She is also grabbing Him with her

eyes. Both are in the same state - tadeka darSane dRshTiH asya eva

darSane tasyAH dRshTiH.

 

aNNalum nOkkinAn, avaLum nOkkinAL - He looked. She also looked. Why

is this said? If one looks and the other doesn't, it is of no use

 

ekatra dRshTe'pi … rasAbhAsaH sa vig~neyaH (kuvalayAnandam)

 

What if he is looking and at the same time, she is looking at someone

else's back? It is like writing the numbers three and six. Three (3)

faces one way. Six (6) faces another way. Will it be correct if it is

like that - like 36? If a couple are like thirty six, you know what

that means. Do you understand? (laughter in the audience) Do I have

to explain it more! (laughter persists)

 

===========

To be continued …..

 

 

 

 

 

 

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