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

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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. April 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

 

Janaka mahArAja said, " Please give your orders; please let me know what I should

do " .

 

daSaratha replied:

 

viditam te mahArAja ikshvAku kuladaivatam |

vaktA sarveshu kRtyeshu vasishTho bhagavAn RshiH || (bAla.70.17)

 

tUshNim bhute daSarathe vasishTho bhagavAn RshiH |

uvAca vAkyam vAkyaj~naH vaideham sapurodhasam || (bAla.70.19)

 

Do you know what his response was?!

 

" Janaka! Don't you know! Our ikshvAku clan's family deity is this VasishTha

AcAryan. He will tell you what all needs to be done. " So saying, daSaratha sat

down (laughter in the audience).

 

Just to hear this, everyone has been sitting with a radio close to his ears from

early morning!

 

viditam te mahArAja ikshvAku kuladaivatam |

vaktA sarveshu kRtyeshu vasishTho bhagavAn RshiH || (bAla.70.17)

 

He said that VasishTha bhagavAn is the family god and that he will say

everything.

 

Have you seen the folks who come for Question-Hour! They would not have uttered

a word in Tamizh till that time; but during that question-hour time, they will

come to give answers!

 

daSaratha said, " AcAryan will say; nothing else " .

 

People said, " They were saying that daSaratha will talk for a long time! This

was nothing! "

 

One person commented: " There is nothing to talk. This is the essence of

everything. 'AcAryan is the god for ikshvAku clan. He will lead over and

administer everything'. This is the SAstric meaning. What is there to talk

besides this; this is enough. "

 

Someone else said - 'What if one talks for a long time in the pretext of giving

an interesting talk? If one asks what is a good attribute of an upanyAsam, it

is that it should be finished on time (laughter in the audience). What if one

keeps talking on and on and wastes time?'

 

So, daSaratha gave the essence, and said, " AcAryar VasishThar will speak " .

AcAryan came. He was wearing a beautifully decorated 'Mango' shawl [an

expensive, finely hand-woven woolen shawl, very popular internationally]. He was

wearing a very nice-looking 'puLanda kuRi' dhoti [this must be a very

high-quality dhoti similar to the 'mango' shawl, but aDiyEn is unfamiliar with

this term that AcAryar is referring to]. He was seated on the kRshNAjInam

(black deer skin).

 

tUshNIm bhUte daSarathe vasishTho bhagavAn RshiH |

uvAca vAkyam vAkyaj~nO vaideham sapurodhasam || (bAla. 70.19)

 

He gave an account of the clan starting from BrahmA, MarIci, KaSyapa, Manu etc.

[Just as described in Manu smRti 1.4 to 1.57 etc., starting with 'AsIt idam

tamobhUtam' , giving the whole sequence of creation.]

 

'MarIci is BrahmA's son; his son is KaSyapar whose son is VivasvAn/sUrya.

sUrya's son is Manu. Manu's son is ikshvAku whose son is Kukshi; he was

followed by vikukshi, etc. " This lineage continues, with sagaran, asama'njan,

amSumAn, dilIpan, bhagIrathan, ambarIshan, nahushan, yayAti, nAbhAgan and ajan.

ajan's son is daSaratha cakravarti, rAma and lakshmaNa are daSaratha's sons.'

(bAla. 70.20 to 70.43).

 

VasishTha presented all the names of all the kings till daSaratha and then said

- " Now there are rAma and lakshmaNa. I am asking for your daughter's hand in

marriage for that clan. You should give sItA in marriage to rAma, and urmiLA

(your own daughter) to lakshmaNa. "

 

rAmalakshmaNayorarthe tvatsute varaye nRpa | (bAla.70.44)

 

In weddings, this is called vara-preshaNam [the sending of BrahmaNa-s by the

prospective bridegroom's father to seek the consent of the father of the

prospective bride]; that is what the AcAryan is doing here.

 

…. gotrasya … SarmaNaH naptrIm, ….. SarmaNaH poutrIm…. SarmaNaH

putrIm…..SarmaNaH naptre…, SarmaNaH poutrAya, ….. SarmaNaH …. putrAya

SaramaNe varAya - three generations must be mentioned for the girl's side and

three for the boy's side. This must be done before the niScitArtham is done.

Here, the priest is doing this after everything has been decided.

 

VasishTha narrates the three generations, and then says: " I seek this girl for

this boy " . He says - dharma prajArtham vRNImahe - for the sake of the upkeep of

dharma, I am making this request.

 

Girl's father says 'dAsyAmi' three times - " dAsyAmi, dAsyAmi, dAsyAmi " .

 

Why is the girl being sought? The SAstra says 'dharma prajArtham vRNImahe!' -

for upholding dharmam (righteousness) and for prajA (children). The boy will do

just one of the two (laughter in the audience).

 

For normal weddings, three generations are mentioned. Since this is

BhagavAn's wedding, Sage VasishTha is mentioning all the way from the beginning.

Without leaving anyone, he mentions all the generations of kings [starting from

BrahmA]. He has been officiating in performing the tarpaNam (the periodic

offerings to the deceased ancestors in the form water and sesame seeds) from the

first generation onwards! (audience laughs). So he is able to mention all the

kings in the lineage without leaving anyone out.

 

He said: " For such a person, you should give your daughter " .

 

evam bruvANam janakaH pratyuvAca kRtA'njaliH |

Srotum arhasi bhadram te kulam naH parikIrtitam || (bAla.71.1)

 

[With folded hands, King Janaka said: Kindly allow me to present before you my

lineage as well]. King Janaka says to VasishTha - " You did an excellent job

reciting the names of the generations like Manu, ikshvAku etc. Our vamSam is

not anything less significant " .

 

Srotum arhasi bhadram te kulam naH parikIrtitam ||

 

pradAne hi muniSreshTha kulam niravaSeshataH |

vaktavyam kula jAtena…. (bAla.71.1,2)

 

 

When a girl is given in marriage or received in marriage, the kulam or the

ancestry must be mentioned fully.

 

vaktavyam kula jAtena tannibodha mahAmune (bAla. 71.2)

 

The whole lineage must be mentioned, but some people don't say that.

 

If the birth happens to be in a family that is not worthy of pride, this lineage

will not be said. kula jAtena vaktavyam - if the birth is in a high pedigree

family, the lineage will be said aloud. . Look at the intricate point conveyed

[kula jAtena - by one who is born in a good family].

 

" pradAne hi muniSreshTha kulam niravaSeshataH vaktavyam kula jAtena "

 

kecit na vaktavyam asti, kecit na kathayanti, kutaH kulajAtatva abhAvAt, madhye

keShAmcit caritrasya aspRhaNiyaH - [if there is something that will be a

disgrace if mentioned, …something unenviable, etc.,] then the person may not

like to say; so, he may not reveal. Where is the problem with revealing if it

is a noble ancestry?

 

Janaka says - " Please permit me to present my lineage " .

 

nimiH parama dharmAtmA sarva satvavatAm varaH | (bAla.71.3)

 

" There was a noble soul named 'nimi'. His son was Mithi, who created this city

called MithilA. He was the very first Janaka mahArAja. Then came udAvasu,

nandivardhanan, suketu, devarAtan, bRhatrathan, mahAvIran, sudhRtI, dRshTaketu,

haryaSvan, maru, pratindhakan, kIrtirathan, devamIDhan, vipudhan, mahIdhrakan,

kIrtirAtan, mahAromA, svarNaromA, and hrasvaromA. I and my younger brother

KuSadhvajan are sons of this great follower of dharma, HrasvaromA. My brother,

kuSadhvajan came here only today morning. (This Janaka - sItA's father, is

called SIratvajar). This is my lineage. I will give my daughter. " (bAla. 71.2

to 71.13).

 

Just as family priest VasishTha reported the ancestry for daSaratha, shouldn't

SatAnandar - the family priest of King Janaka - have narrated the lineage for

Janaka's family? SatAnandar did not do the narration. If you ask the question

'why', the answer you get is: " Only they know the answer; how do we know? "

(AcAryar is laughing).

 

Why didn't SatAnandar narrate the lineage? He had just taken over as the priest

of Janaka's family; he did not know Janaka's lineage. Gautamar [satAnanda's

father] would know. But he left for Himavat mountain. SatAnandar is not

familiar with the lineage. So, Janaka himself narrated the lineage. How did

Janaka know? Because it is not like the modern times!

 

I had a daughter to give in marriage. I went to tanjAvUr. Somebody said there

is a good boy. I went to that house to discuss marriage. The boy was there. I

asked him where his father was. He said that he had gone for a walk and would

come soon. So, I was just sitting. I asked the boy what his gotram was. He

said, " I do not know. Father will say when he is back. " I was concerned that

he did not even know his gotram. Father came and welcomed me. He sat down. I

asked him what his gotram was.

 

" I do not know; I will ask the vAdyAr [house priest] " (laughter in the

audience). Priest was in the next house; he went and called him. I asked him

about the gotram. He said, " I do not know. I am only an assistant to their

family priest; I will bring the actual priest " . (audience laughs) I said,

" Enough, enough! "

 

Like that, SatAnandar is the new family priest to Janaka. So, King Janaka spoke

about his lineage himself. Now I hope everything is squared out!

 

ViSvAmitra stood up thinking, " No one is paying any attention to me! VasishThar

spoke. Janakar spoke. I am the one who brought the kids here. I brought them

here on the pretext of the protection of my yAgam and arranged for this wedding.

Is anyone paying any attention to me? They both are wedding parties; they are

doing things together. I am being ignored " . He said, " Oh, King Janaka! I am

going to say a word. "

 

Everyone started trembling with fear.

 

tamuktavantam vaideham viSvAmitro mahAmuniH |

uvAca vacanam vIram vasishTha sahito nRpam ||

(bAla. 72.1)

 

When ViSvAmitra said he wanted to say something, all the people were afraid. He

said that everyone should listen.

 

acintyAnyAni aprameyAni kulAni narapu'ngavaH |

ikshvAkUNAm videhAnAm naishAm tulyo'sti kaScana ||

(bAla. 72.2)

 

" You talked about your lineage. He talked about their lineage. It is all true.

I have been around all these days. There is no other family equal in status to

these two families. I am the one responsible for the breaking of this bow. I

am going to say something; no one should object " .

 

bhrAtA yavIyAn dharmaj~na esha rAjA kuSadhvajaH |

asya dharmAtmano rAjan rUpeNa apratimam bhuvi ||

sutA dvayam naraSreshTha patnyartham varayAmahe || (bAla. 72.5)

 

bharatasya kumArasya Satrughnasya ca dhImataH ||

(bAla. 72.6)

 

" Janaka's brother is KuSadhvajar. He has come here only this morning after

knowing about the wedding arrangement. His two daughters are mANDavI and Sruta

kIrti. I am making a request that they should be married to Bharata and

Satrughna. "

 

Everyone was taken by surprise, " What is this! Good words are coming out of even

ViSvAmitra's mouth! " (audience laughs)

 

kulam dhanyam idam manye yeshAm no munipu'ngavau |

sadRSam kulasambandham yadAjn~ApayathaH svayam ||

(bAla. 72.10)

 

Janaka replied: " I am very happy. There is no family that is as blessed as ours

is. Because you two [VasishTha and ViSvAmitra] have been enemies of each other

in all the eighteen purANa-s, and you two have now come together here for the

sake of the good of my family! You two Rshi-s are ordaining like this! I am

very happy. We will do as you say " .

 

ViSvAmitra sat down with a great satisfaction that he also accomplished

something. What happened next?

===========

(End of translation of AcArya rAmAmRtam as it appeared in the April 2008

issue of SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA)

To be continued …..