AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. March 08 Part 2)

[Guest guest]

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 2)

 

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

 

nOkkiya nOkku enum nudi koL vEl iNai

Akkiya madukaiyAn tOLin Azhndana

vIkkiya kanai kazhal vIran Se'nkaNum

tAkku aNa'ngu anaiyavaL tanattil taittavE. (kambar. bAla. Mithilai.36)

 

Beautiful expression from Kambar. nOkkiya nOkku enum nudikoLvEl iNai

Akkiya madukaiyAn tOLin Azhndana.

 

sItA belongs to kshatriya clan! She is a vIra patni - [fit to be the

wife of a valorous soldier)! When sItA saw rAman's shoulders, how were

they! Her eyes fell on His shoulders. He also saw her.

 

vIkkiya kanai kazhal vIran Se'nkaNum

tAkku aNa'ngu anaiyavaL tanattil taittavE

 

His eyes fell on her chest.

 

parugiya nOkku enum pASattAl piNittu

oruvarai oruvar tam uLLam IrttalAl (kambar. bAla. Mithilai.37)

 

Using her eye as a rope, she bound His mind. He bound her mind the

same way. variSilai aNNalum vATkaN na'ngaiyum iruvarum mARip pukku

idayam eydinAr. Her mind came to Him and His mind went to her.

 

asyA devyA manastasmin tasya cA'syAm prathishThitam (sundara.15.51)-

says VAlmIki in sundara kANDam; that is what Kambar says here. Can

vidvAns [learned people] be fooled? His heart went to her and her

heart came to Him.

 

iruvarum mARip pukku idayam eydinAr

 

What happened after that?

 

maru'ngu ilA na'ngaiyum vaSaiyil aiyyanum

oru'ngiya iraNDu uDaRku uyir onRu AyinAr

karu'nkaDal paLLiyil kalavi nI'ngip pOyp

pirindavar kUDinAl pESal vENDumO? (kambar. bAla. Mithilai.38)

 

Kambar is composing rAmAyaNam. He has a Sishyan - disciple.

 

Sishyan asks - " Okay, His heart went to her; her heart came to Him.

What happened next! "

 

Kambar says, " I am not ready to write about that. I have laid my pen

down " .

 

Why? pirindavar kUDinAl pESal vENDumO? How can I talk when long-last

people get together?

 

A person has gone on military duty for five years. He had no leave for

five years. Then, one day he came. Military son-in-law was offered

all kinds of welcome. Who cares if the neighbor cannot sleep when

folks who have been separated for five years got re-united?

 

pirindavar kUDinAl pESal vENDumO?

 

Like that, two separated people have been united now. It has been

twelve years since they have been separated.

 

They were both in KshIrAbdhi. They have taken incarnations now. " You

come to ayoddhi for rAvaNa samhAram; I will appear in MithilA " -

conjuring up a program like this, He appeared in ayoddhi and sItA

appeared in MithilA.

 

karu'nkaDal paLLiyil kalavi nI'ngip pOi

pirindavar kUDinAl pESal vENDumO!

 

They have come from there; it has been twelve years now. A couple who

had been separated for twelve years have been re-united now. What can

we write? What can we talk about? pESal vENDumO! [is there a

necessity to talk?]

 

Someone is pointing out - there is a mistake in Kamban's song. They

got separated in KshIrAbdhi. But, Kambar says - karu'ngaDal paLLiyil

kalavi nI'ngip pOi - 'The two who had been separated in the dark

ocean'. KshIrAbdhi is white hued ocean. Will milk be dark in color?

It is a white ocean.

 

The answer is that the term has been taken from AzhvAr; it is '

karu'nkaDal' [dark hued ocean]

 

mAlum karu'nkaDalE en nORRAi vaiyagamuNDu

Alinilait tuyinRa AzhiyAn - kOlak

karumEni Se'nkaNmAl kaNpaDaiyuL enRum

tirumEni nI tINDap peRRu - (mudal tiru. -19)

 

PerumAL is lying down in dark hued ocean. How? When a green emerald

stone or a blue sapphire stone (indra neelak kal) is bought, there is a

way to figure out if the stone is pure.

 

Experts will look at the stone through a lens to see if it is a foreign

stone, a stone from Rangoon or a local stone, if it has red dot,

fractures etc. If we look at them, they will all look the same. What

can we do for that? How can we test the green emerald and blue stones?

The green stone must be dropped into milk; if the whole milk looks

green in color, it is real emerald stone; otherwise, it is a stone from

the China Bazaar Road [fake] (laughter in the audience). The same

with the blue stone; drop it in milk and if the milk turns blue, then

it is a real blue stone.

 

Like that, because of PerumAL who is shining dark like the blue cloud,

the Milk Ocean appears black.

 

karu'nkaDal paLLiyil kalavi nI'ngip pOi

pirindavar kUDinAl pESal vENDumO!

 

So, I cannot talk [says Kambar].

 

oru'ngiya iraNDu uDaRku uyir onRu Ayinar

 

They had two bodies, but their souls became one.

 

karu'nkaDal paLLiyil kalavi nI'ngip pOi

pirindavar kUDinAl pESal vENDumO!

 

Kambar said he does not know what to describe. They were looking at

each other like that.

 

ViSvAmitra said, " rAma! dhanuH pASya! " - 'rAma! Look at the bow!'

There was no necessity to say - 'Look at the bow.'

 

Instead of saying, " rAma! Take care of the action in hand " , he said,

" Look at the bow " ; so, it is sItA darSana vyAvRtti [asking Him not to

keep looking at sItA].

 

ParakAla svAmi has written in a tiruppAvai vyAkyAnam- 'rAman looked at

sItA. He did not look just at sItA. sItA was playing ball.'

 

In those days, people would comment adversely if she came specifically

to look at this boy, right! So, what did she do? She cooked up an

excuse of playing ball and came to the terrace. When she was playing

ball,

 

eka eva tasyAH karatala rAga rakta raktaH - when she is using her hand

to throw the ball down, it looks like a red ball. When it rises,

 

tasyAH nakha raSmi gaura gauraH - it is coming up as a white ball. She

keeps watching where that ball in rising and hits it down again; then,

it become a black ball. rAman does not know this. He is a spinster. If

He gets married, He will know. sanyAsi-s [ascetics] will also know,

even though they might not have known earlier (slight laughter).

rAman did not know. 'What is this? The same ball appears red and

black; has she put any light inside? I don't know. Is the black light

flickering? I don't understand anything', so saying, He is watching

the ball.

 

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

 

" rAma! Look at the bow. You will understand those things later. You

can also play. The same ball will appear in three different colors.

Concentrate on what you came for! " [FN 1]

 

He said, vatsa! rAma! dhanuH paSya iti rAghavam abravIt |

 

So said VAlmIki. He made a Slokam like this. He said this to rAma.

How many Slokams has VAlmIki written? He has written 24,000 Slokams.

Has he ever made a grammar mistake in any of the 24,000 Slokams? No.

He has made one in this Slokam.

 

vatsa! rAma! dhanuH paSya iti rAghavam

 

dhanuH paSya iti - will come as dhanuH paSyeti, and it well be one

syllable less.

 

But,

 

vatsa! rAma! dhanuH paSya iti rAghavam abravIt |

 

" What is this? There is yati bha'ngam (caesura or pause in the rhythm

or meter) in your Slokam! That is wrong. Meter is broken. "

 

His response is: " What can I do? Meter is showing that the bow is

going to be broken " (laughter in the audience).

 

" Take the 24,000 Slokams; is there a grammar mistake anywhere? When I

say here, it reveals itself; it shows what is going to happen " .

 

idam dhanurvaraM brahman! samspRSAmIha pANinA |

yatnavAnSca bhavishyAmi tolane pUraNepi vA || (bAla.67.14)

 

rAman said - 'I will touch and feel it'. He went closer after tying up

His clothes; went and stood in front of the bow. He took it with His

left hand itself. What did He do after that? " Whom are you asking? "

 

taDuttu imaiyAmal irundavar, tALil

maDuttadum, nAN nudi vaittadum nOkkAr;

kaDuppinil yArum aRindilar; kaiyAl

eDuttadu kaNDAr; iRRadu kETTAr. (kambar. bAla. kArmuka.34)

 

No one knew what happened! Did He take the bow? Did He bend the bow?

Did He string the bow after bending it? Nobody knew.

 

There were so many people watching; what were they doing? Were they

watching?

 

taDuttu imaiyAmal irundavar - they were looking without batting their

eyelids. What did they see? They did not see anything. What was

visible? eDuttadu kaNDAr; iRRadu kETTAr - They saw the He lifted the

bow; then they only heard a big sound. They did not know how He

lifted or what He did. He lifted up high, the humongous bow with one

hand. How was that? In KA'ncIpuram, during GaruDa sevai, the tall

umbrella that is eighteen spans in length [a span is a unit measured

with the thumb and the little finger of the hand stretched out as far

as they will go] is lifted and held high for PerumAL; it was like that.

Can we touch that umbrella? The experts will tighten their dresses

and lift the umbrella very high, in one push, all the way up. Like

that, rAma lifted the bow. He bent it. It broke immediately; a

deafening sound was heard. They all looked - there is a tremendous

sound! He broke the bow! rAma turned thinking- ' Is anyone going to be

upset because it is broken'!

 

All the kings fell down in amazement. Janaka did not fall. rAma,

lakshmaNa and ViSvAmitra did not fall. Every one else fell.

BrahmaNa-s who had come there, spectators, Rshi-s [here, AcAryar uses

his favorite humor word - dADi - those with beards], all fell. Why

didn't ViSvAmitra fall? He was a kshatriya first and then became

'ayyar' [brahmin]; so, he was courageous (laughter in the audience).

rAma and lakshmaNa were valorous; so, they did not fall. Every one

else fell. They all got hurt from the fall.

 

'AriDaippugudum nAm?' enRu amarargaL, kamalattOn tan

pEruDai aNDa kOLam piLandadu enRu E'ngi naindAr;

pAriDai uLLatanmai pagarvadu en? pArait tA'ngi,

vErenak kiDanda nAgam iDi ena veruviRRu anRE!

 

pUmazhai SorindAr viNNOr; ponmazhai pozhinda mEgam;

(kambar. bAla. kArmuka.35,36)

 

As soon as He broke the bow, devatA-s showered flowers. King Janaka

said happily, " Call sItA! " and asked her to garland Him. rAma said,

" My father has to give consent to this. I cannot consent on my own " .

" Then, why did you break the bow? " " You said - nirvIram urvItalam? -

Isn't there anyone to bend this bow? Everyone has come and failed;

isn't there anyone? " - that is why I bent it; wedding cannot be done

without my father knowing! "

 

tasya Sabdo mahAn AsIt nirghAtasamanisvanaH |

bhumikampaSca sumahAn parvatasyeva dIryataH || (bAla.67.17)

 

VAlmIki says - The sound [of breaking the bow] was like that of a

mountain falling apart. rAma said, " I cannot marry. You have to ask my

father. I just demonstrated my valor by breaking the bow " and went and

sat on a chair. He sat in the chair with a beautiful posture. It was

cushioned chair with springs in the bottom. lakshmaNa hugged Him

saying, " Well done! Great job! "

 

What happened next? ViSvAmitra was very happy. The reason for which

he had brought rAma here was achieved. He asked Janaka to send word to

daSaratha.

 

janakena samAdishTA dUtAste klAntavAhanAH |

trirAtram ushitA mArge te.ayodhyAm prAviSan purIm || (bAla.68.1)

 

Immediately, messengers left; they traveled in carriages for three days

and saw daSaratha in ayoddhi.

 

dadRSuH deva sa'nkASam vRddham daSaratham nRpam | (bAla.68.3)

 

They went and saw daSaratha in his palace. He was sitting in his

court. Very striking in appearance. His hair is all white like the

white stuff in sugarcane.

 

baddhA'njalipuTAH sarve dUtA vigata sAdhvasAH | (bAla.68.4)

 

The messengers approached him without any fear, and spoke the following

words: - rAjAnaM praNatA vAkyam abruvan madhurAksharam ||

 

maithilo janako rAjA sAgnihotra puraskRtam |

kuSalaM cAvyayaM caiva sopAdhyAya purohitam ||

 

muhurmuhur madhurayA sneha samyuktayA girA |

janakastvAM maharaja.a.apRcchate sa puraH saram ||

 

pRshTvA kuSalamavyagram vaideho mithilAdhipaH |

kauSikAnumate vAkyam bhavantam idam abravIt ||

 

pUrvam pratij~nA vihitA vIrya SulkA mamAtmajA |

rAjAnaSca kRtAmarshA nirvIryA vimukhIkRtAH ||

 

seyam mama sutA rAjan viSvAmitra puraHsaraiH |

yadRcchayA AgataiH vIraiH nirjitA tava putrakaiH || (bAla.68.4-9)

 

The messengers said: " svAmi! Our great king asked us to tell you this.

ViSvAmitra came with your sons. You know that I had declared the bow

as a price for sItA's wedding. This prize was won by your valorous

sons who had come there by chance. We have been asked to request you

to come " .

 

yadRcchayA AgataiH vIraiH - says vAlmIki. rAma and lakshmaNa - only

two persons have come. Yet ValmIki has used the plural [not dual] term

- yadRccayA AgataiH vIraiH.

 

Even if the two princes who have come are young, plural must be used to

show respect. That is why he says like that. In samskRtam, for

bahuvacanam [plural], there must be a minimum of three persons, right !

Only two princes have come. The messengers said that the prize was won

by the valorous ones. Who are those valorous ones? rAma is only one

person. The bow was broken only by rAma. The term used is vIraiH,

which is a plural term. The plural is used here as a mark of respect.

When the messenger is talking, he has to refer to the prince in plural

terms even if the prince is a small child - ValmIkI is revealing this

intricacy of SAstra here.

 

A daughter-in-law has to refer to even a three-year old brother-in-law

with respect. She has to say, " maccinar [term used in Tamizh for

brother-in-law with respect] has gone to the backyard " , because it is a

relationship in the in-law's house! Even if the baby brother-in-law is

lying in the crib, manni [a term used in Tamizh for the daughter-in-law

by the sister-in-law] has to say, " maccinar is lying down in the crib;

he has not gotten up " ! (laughter in the audience). We may have moved

away from SAstram; our womenfolk have not abandoned it.

 

tacca rAjan! dhanurdivyaM madhye bhagnaM mahAtmanA |

rAmeNa hi mahAtejo mahatyAm janasamsadi ||

 

asmai deyA mayA sItA vIrya SulkA mamAtmane |

pratij~nAm kartum icchAmi tadanuj~nAtumarhasi || (bAla.68.10,11)

 

The messengers conveyed King Janaka's message: " When thousands and

crores of people were gathered, in that big court, your son rAman broke

the bow. I have to fulfill the promise I had made. I have to give

sItA in marriage to rAma. Prabho! What is your response? " What else

did Janaka say?

 

sopAdhyAyo mahArAja! purohita puraskRtaH |

SIghram Agaccha bhadram te drashTumarhasi rAghavau || (bAla.68.12)

 

" You have to come quickly to see the children. Bring a priest with you

as well. " He was asked to bring the priest with him! This is like our

saying nowadays - 'there is no one for bodhAyana sUtram, and no one for

sAma vedam; bring someone from your place for those areas!'

 

The reason for his being asked to bring the priest was that it was

traditional to have the priest from the bridegroom's side be the

officiating priest in the marriage. That was the practice in that

place. Some places have that practice. In some places, it is done by

girl's side. In Bombay, it is done by whoever happens to do it! (a

loud laughter in the audience).

 

" If you like the relationship, you can come " .

 

daSaratha called VasishTha and asked him - " Can we proceed with this

relationship? "

 

ikshvAkUnAM videhAnAM sambandhaH kasya na priyaH |

 

Who will not like the relationship between ikshvAku vamSam and janaka

vamSam! 'AhA, you can proceed', said VasishTha.

 

-------------------

FN 1: sItA will not take a boy for her husband, if he is looking

specifically at her. She is the daughter of sadAcAra SreshThar and

karma yogi Janaka! Sri rAma will not enjoy looking at any girl who is

not married to Him. SrI rAma is the very embodiment of dharmam. Even

after breaking the bow, He said that marriage can take place only after

His father daSaratha consents. VAlmIki will not say that SrI rAma

enjoyed looking at sItA for His own pleasure. He did not say. But,

other great poets write that they both exchanged glances for the sake

of romance in the epic. Great AcArya-s engage in deep discussions

about this. This is what our AcAryar has shown us. sItA will not like

love before marriage. If she desired like that, SrI rAma will not like

that girl. This is what SrI VAlmIki's heart is.

===========

(End of translation of AcArya rAmAmRtam as it appeared in the March

2008

issue of SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA)

To be continued …..