AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. June 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. June 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

 

tottalar pU'ncuri kuzhal kaikEsi collAl

tol nagaram tuRandu tuRai ga'Ngai tannai

bhaktiyuDai guhan kaDatta vanam pOip pukku

bharatanukkup pAdukamum araSum Indu

cittirak kuDattirundAn tannai inRu

tillainagar tiruccittira kUDantannuL

ettanaiyum kaN kuLirak kANap peRRa

irunilattArkku imaiyavar nErovvAr tAmE! (perumAL tirumozhi 10-4)

 

This is KulasEkhara AzhvAr pASuram.

 

Yesterday we saw the great Slokam in sItA kalyANam -

 

iyaM sItA mama sutA sahadharma carI tava |

pratIccha cainAM bhadraM te pANiM gRhNIshva pANinA || (bAla.73.26)

 

I will tell you two or three sample meanings for this Slokam. Several

interpretations exist for this. [AcAryar says he will give two or three

interpretations, and then gives over 40 interpretations – just an indication

of the Ocean of Mercy that he is!].

 

1. iyaM sItA mama sutA sahadharma carI tava | This girl is my daughter; she

will perform dharmam (the prescribed code of conduct) along with you. She will

follow whatever dharmam you follow. sahadharma carI tava! pratIccha ca enAm -

accept her. pANiM gRhNIshva pANinA - Janaka mahArAjA is requesting cakravarti

tirumagan to do pANigrahaNam - marry sItA. That is how this Slokam is

interpreted [the simple meaning].

 

2. Do you see anybody say 'This girl is my girl' when they are doing kanyAdAnam

[giving a daughter away in marriage]? Isn’t it obvious to everyone who the

bride is! Right? Why does he alone say iyaM sItA mama sutA - 'this girl is my

girl'? Is he worried that, after having spent all the money, performing

jAnavAsam etc., the groom may marry some other girl and go away? Is that why he

is saying iyaM sItA mama sutA? One can raise that question, right?

 

Do those who are giving away daughters in marriage nowadays say - 'this girl is

my girl'? Why did Janaka mahArAjA alone say that? iyaM sItA mama sutA

sahadharma carI tava - He specifically points to her when he says - 'this

girl'. aparicchedya lAvaNyAdhikaM pratyaksheNa darSayati SrI rAghavAya – He

is showing the immeasurable beauty of SitA to SrI rAghavan directly, in front of

Him. " Look at this girl's beauty " - he is directing His attention to her beauty

in person. When he shows 'this girl' - 'iyaM' in grammatical sense,

pratyakshagatam - 'iyaM' denotes an object or person right in front of one’s

eyes. He is touching her and showing the enormous beauty of his daughter to

PerumAL.

 

3. rAma asks - 'Am I not charming? "

 

rUpa audArya guNaiH pumsAM dRshTi cittApahAriNam iti kathitam bhavantam

apirUpeNa mohayati iyaM sutA |

It is said that You attract even men's eyes and minds by Your rUpa audArya

guNa-s; this girl will attract even You with her beauty. By the phrase 'iyaM',

he is doing viSishTha nirdeSam – clearly distinguishing her supreme beauty.

 

4. iyaM - This girl is not like any other girl. Looking at her beauty, many

deva-s etc., came forward to attempt the dhanur bha'Ngam - yadarthaM devAH

bhUpASca pravRttAH dhanushaH tolane pravRttAH aSaktAH nirASAH nivRttAH sA iyaM

sItA mama sutA – This sItA, my daughter, is one for whose hand many deva-s and

kings came and attempted to string the bow, gave up and went away frustrated and

disappointed.

 

Some girls will not get married easily. Normally, twenty or thirty boys would

have come and seen the girl and said 'no' to her, right? There will be some

girls like that. This girl is not like that.

 

Desiring to marry this sItA – iyaM sItA, many deva-s, kings etc., attempted to

bend and break this bow and failed miserably; and gave up with broken desire.

This is that girl.

 

5. iyaM sItA mama sutA sahadharmacarI tava - siddhASramAt prabbRti bhavataH

kutUhala gocaratAm AsAditA sA iyam ityarthaH.

 

I had told you about this book! I have brought some points from this book (The

book titled ' iyaM sItA SlokArthaH 108') - siddhASramAt prabhRti - In

siddhASramam, VisvAmitra's disciples brought up the subject on sItA kalyaNam,

suggested showing the bow to rAma and had talked about sItA's exquisite beauty!

Janaka says: " rAma! This is the girl that You have been constantly longing to

see, with utmost joy and expectation in Your mind, ever since that time.†–

iyaM sItA - siddhASramAt prabhRti bhavataH kutUhala gocaratAm gatA sA - ‘iyaM

sItA mama sutA’.

 

6. Another interpretation for ‘iyaM sItA’: atra kalyANa maNDape ratna maya

stambheshu pratibimbitAH sItA pratikRtayaH bahvyaH dRSyante tAH drShtvA na mohaM

gaccheH iyaMeva mocate ityarthaH - The wedding hall was bedecked with precious

stones. Will that be like our halls? In our halls, if you lean against the

wall, the plaster will start falling off! In this hall, all pillars were

bedecked with precious stones.

 

paDiyiDai mADattu aDiyiDait tUNil

paditta panmaNigaLin oLiyAl

viDi pagal iravenRu aRivaridAya

tiruveLLiya’nkuDi aduvE - (periya tirumozhi 4.10.8)

 

Like that, sItA is being reflected beautifully in the stone-studded pillars.

There are a hundred sItA-s in reflected form. “Do not feel wonder-struck by

looking at those sItA-s. This one, sitting on my lap is the girl!†iyaM sItA

mama sutA sahadharma carI tava.

 

7. rAman said, " What, father-in-law, Janaka MahArAja!! Don't I know? " " No,

You cannot know! vidyut sphuraNavat pratibhAti iyaM " - She is shining

brilliantly like lightning. If an object is very bright, its form won’t be

recognizable.

 

mAgha kavi says - nAradar came down to the earth from deva lokam. Everyone felt

that 'tejas' [brilliance] itself was falling down from the sky.

 

cayastvishAm ityavadhAritaM puraH

tataH SarIrIti vibhAvitAkRtim |

vibhurvibhaktAvayavaM pumAniti

kramAdamuM nArada ityabodhi saH ||

(mAgha – SiSu. Vadham 1.3)

 

mAgha kavi says in SiSupAla vadha kAvyam. One should have read all the kAvyams.

nAradar is coming down from the heavens to see KRshNa BhagavAn. KRshNa's

grandsons say that a jyoti - brilliance itself - is descending from above.

 

After he descended somewhat - tataH SarIrIti vibhAvitAkRtim || - then, when they

saw hands, legs, body etc., they said that it has a form, it was a man. When he

got down and they saw the vINA [his musical instrument], they knew it was

NAradar – kramAdamum nArada ityabodhi saH.

 

niRainda SOdi veLLam SUzhnda nINDa pon mEniyoDum

niRaindu ennuLLE ninRozhindAn nEmiya'nkaiyuLadE (tiruvAi. 5.5.7)

 

kuzhumit tevar kuzhA'ngaL kai tozhac cOdi veLLattinuLLE ezhuvadOr uru en ne'njuL

ezhum Arkkum aRivaridE. ((tiruvAi. 5.5.10)

 

paramjyotirupasampadya svena rUpeNa abhinishpadyate tam devAH jyotishAm jyotiH

||

 

SrInivasAcAryar will like only if SrIbhAshyam is quoted; otherwise, he will not

like it. He is that kind of person.

 

nammAzhvAr did vyAkyAnam for the word jyotiH. nammAzhvAr has taken the 156

adhikaraNams of SrIbhAshyam and has incorporated these in his pASuram-s. I am

trying to write a book on that separately. This SrInivasAcAryar keeps inspiring

me on that. I am not able to find the time. Time is spent on earning money like

this; there is not enough time to sit and write; what can I do?

 

darSana samaye vidyutsphuraNam iva iyaM na sphurati ata eva imAm darSayAmi iyaM

sItA - because of her lightning- \like brilliance, her divine form cannot be

easily seen. So I am pointing her out to You. This is my daughter - iyaM sItA

- said Janaka.

 

8. Not only that. You have been thinking about sItA with bhAvanAprakarsham

[intense imagination].

 

vRkshe vRkshe ca paSyAmi cIra kRshNAjinambaram |

gRhIta dhanushaM rAmam …

 

(mArIcan tells rAvaNan in AraNya kANDam.39.14)

 

Because of bhAvanA prakarshaNam (imagination), when the wife goes out of town,

the husband will feel like she is still standing inside; he will feel like she

is standing near him or in front of the house. kALidAsan says this is the

result of bhAvanAviSesham. Like that, You are thinking, 'sItE! sItE!' and

everywhere you look, you see sItA. Those are not sItA! The one who is sitting

on my lap is iyaM sItA mama sutA.

 

9. rAghavatve'bhavat sItA rukmiNI kRshNajanmanI |

nityaiveshA jaganmAtA vishNoH SrIranapAyinI || (V.P. 1.9.141)

 

" bhavad apRthak siddhA sA iyaM sItA mama sutA " - she is the one who is never

separated from You. As the Slokam " SAntAnanda mahAvibhUti paramam " , she is the

one who is apRthaksiddhai [never separated from You] - so says Sruti; this is

her - iyaM sItA.

 

10. yathA sarvagato vishNuH tataiveyaM dvijottama (prameya ratnAvaLi 18a)- Just

as You are omnipresent, she is also a divine being and vibhu [present

everywhere]. bhavantam iva vibhuH imaM me sutA seyaM sItA mama sutA.

 

11. As declared in the Sruti-s: “SabdAH - pavitrA ityAdi SabdaiH Srutishu

pratipAditA iyaMeva sItA – She is 'iyaM sItA' who has been praised by Sruti

Sabdams like SraddhA, patishThA etc.

 

12. She will be very useful to You. " … nirdoshaH saisha jagate siddham udite

bhavAya vismArya svajanayasi mAtA tadasi naH iti bhavataH api sAhyakaraNe

pravRttA purushAkArabhUtA iyaM sItA mama sutA sahadharma carI tava " - She will

be a purushAkAra bhUtai for You! She will assist You in all Your activities.

 

13. iyaM sItA - My girl is even better than You. In Your case, You are

" kausalyA garbha sambhUtaH†– You were born from the womb of KausalyA;

iyaM sItA lA'ngala paddhatiH iti - yaj~na bhUmi kRshikAle lA'ngala paddhatyagre

samutpannA ayonijA ityarthaH " - You were born in KausalyA's womb. She is not

born to a human being – she appeared on her own when the yAga bhUmi was

plowed.- iyaM sItA

 

saundaryAdimatyaiH dushkalahInA ityarthaH – The meaning is “She is perfectly

beautiful because she is not born from a human wombâ€.

 

14. If someone is beautiful, generally the family history won’t be good.

BhagavAn seems to not create beauty in good families.

 

Those who came with perumAL belong to vaikhAnasam! See, how they are! It is

said that they all came directly with Devap perumAL.

 

Sauca tyAgishu hUNakAdishu dhanaM SishTeshu ca klishTatAm

durmedhastu dhanAdhipatyaM makuTam daksheshu bhikshATanam |

lAvaNyaM lalanAsu dushkala bhavAsu agryAsu nIrUpatAm

kashTaM sRshTavatA tvayA hata vidhe kin nAma labdham phalam ||

 

What a great Slokam! arasANippAlai ve'nkatAdhvari svAmi is questioning 'fate':

 

“Hey, doomed Lord! hata vidhe! You are not putting good things in good

places. Sauca tyAgishu hUNakAdishu dhanam - people do not do saucam [cleaning];

they do not use mud or anything to clean - the westerners do not clean at all!

You are giving them all the wealth.

 

“SishTeshu ca klishTatAm - there are good people who observe cleanliness

rigorously. They clean their right hand forty timeswith mud; they apply mud to

their left hand and leg to clean; they apply gomayam [cowdung] to the forehand

and keep themselves very pure and clean - their hands are all worn out because

of that cleaning. But they suffer from not having enough food to eat -

SishTeshu ca klishTatAm.

 

durmedhastu narAdhipatya makuTam - you give the power to rule to those with no

intelligence. daksheshu bhikshATanam - one who is very smart has to go for

u'nchavRtti [beg for alms].

 

lAvaNyam lalanAsu dushkula bhavAsu - you bestow beauty on women who are not born

in good families. agryAsu nIrupatAm - to those who have noble birth and come

in great families of AcArya-s and pUrvAcArya-s, you do not give beauty! Your

creation is like this! What benefit did you earn by that! We do not have any

benefits. Do you have any benefit? Tell me.

 

…………….SishTeshu ca

klishTatAm

durmedhastu dhanAdhipatyaM makuTam daksheshu bhikshATanam |

lAvaNyaM lalanAsu dushkala bhavAsu agryAsu nIrUpatAm

kashTaM sRshTavatA tvayA hata vidhe kinnAma labdhaM phalam ||

 

If someone is very beautiful, generally the family will not be good. The

KA’ncIpuram people won’t marry them. Is that the case here? No! “sItA

is ayonijai ; sItA lA'ngala paddhatI - not born in a human womb.

 

15. The term 'sItA' denotes sasyam - crop. sasyavatI - prajAnAm jIvanahetu

bhUtA ityarthaH - prajA-s - people will survive only because of her. Without

her, there is no life.

 

16. sItA ga'ngA ityarthaH ganguriva jahnuH dhanurbha~Nga prayatna labdhA - my

daughter is like ga'ngA. Was ga'ngA brought to the earth through ordinary

effort? She came only because BhagIrathan did a severe penance, right? Like

that, I waited in agony for the dharur bha~Ngam [breaking of the bow]. How many

kings would I have invited! How many went back unsuccessful! I suffered so

much. bhagIratha kuloddhAriNI bhavat kuloddhAraNI ityarthaH - just as ga'ngA

elevated bhagIrathan's libeage, she will elevate Your ikshvAku lineage.

 

un kulam unnadAkki uyar pugazh orutti Aya

tan kulam tannadAkki tannai it tanimai SeydAn

van kulam kURRu Indu vAnavar kulattai vAzhvittu

en kulam enakkut tandAL en inic ceyvadu emmOi?

 

Kambar writes in tiruvaDi tozhuda paTalam [chapter about worshipping His feet].

un kulam unnadu Akki - I will tell you about this when we come to sundara

kANDam; if I say now, it will become old news and get spoiled!

 

bhagIratha kuloddhAriNI ga'ngeva iyaM sItA Sabda vAcyA sItAyAH ga~Ngeti kaScana

arthaH nighanTu vartate. So, one meaning for the name sItA is ga’ngA, So

she is one who is going to uplift the ikshvAku lineage. [fn1]

 

un kulam unnadAkki uyar pugazh orutti Aya

tan kulam tannadAkki

 

She will behave just like the daughter-in-law of daSaratha should behave.

 

17. sItA = kRshi tulyA jagad ujjIvana hetu bhUte - kRshi = crop. She is like

a crop. sAyaM prAtaH kshetra darSI praLayepi na sIdati | When a crop is

planted, one should inspect it by carefully two times a day. If one does that,

even during the time of final doomsday of the earth, he will not incur any loss.

sAyamprAtaH kshetra darSI praLayepi na sIdati | This big uncle (puriSai

kalyANam svami) [ obviously, one of the Sishyas in the audience] has inspected

his crop for four months (AcAryar laughs slightly). sAyamprAtaH kshetra darSI

praLayepi na sIdati | - the crop must be inspected two times a day. If not,

Arazhal Ombum andaNan tOTTamAga nin manattu vaittAyE (periya tirumozhi 10.9.9)

 

Tiruma'ngai AzhvAr is taking normal, wordly adages and has composed ten

pASurams. PerumAL asks AzhvAr - 'You have bhakti towards me, what is your

problem?' AzhvAr says - 'Only You will be able to praise my bhakti. I am like

the garden of a brAhmin. Arazhal Ombum andaNan tOTTamAga nin manattu vaittAyE -

How will be the kRshi - crop - of a brAhmin who is doing agnihotram. What income

from the crops can a person sitting in Bombay expect from the crops in a village

far away? You have to be close by to get anything. Even for the lands of the

ASramam, we get nothing. We will get anything only if we go and watch closely.

 

kRshi tulyA jagad ujjIvana hetubhUte - “Your auspiciousness depends on

watching her constantly morning and evening. It will good for You if you watch

her two times a day.â€

 

sItA also denotes bhUmi. sItA kshamA yuktAm - kshamayA pRthivI samaH - that is

how rAman is praised. This girl is known for her extreme patience.

 

18. syati kopam iti sItA – [syati iti sItA - syati nASayati kaThinApi bhuvaM

iti sItA – refers to a plough, which can burrow through the toughest of

grounds) – iyaM sItA mama sutA – This sItA, my daughter, will destroy all

anger. She will drive away all Your anger. Syati kopam iti sItA.

 

19. syati anishTam iti sItA - She is one who destroys all inauspicious things.

 

20. syati saMsAram iti sItA - She will provide salvation from saMsAram.

AtmavidyA ca devi tvaM vimukti phala dAyinI (V.P. 1.9.118) saMsArArNava tAriNI

- says vishNu purANam LaskhmI's ashTottara SatanAmAvaLi - it is this sItA who

salvages people from samsAram. iyaM sItA.

 

21. iyaM sItA saulabhyam - very easy to approach.

 

22. iyaM sItA - pUrva janmani vedavatI idAnIM sItetyuktvA - When rAvaNan tried

to molest a girl named vedavatI, she jumped into fire and took an oath saying

she will come back to destroy rAvaNan herself; You have come for doing rAvaNa

vadham; that girl is this girl - iyaM sItA mama sutA.

 

23. mama sutA - Janaka said, " My daughter " ; so what? karma yoginaH mama sutA

ityarthatvAt |

 

karmaNaiva hi saMsiddhim AstithA janakAdayaH | (gItA.3.20)

 

j~nAnayogaSAlinaH daSarathasya sutaH tvaM karmayoginaH mama sutA ayaM darSaye

ityarthaH mama sutA.

 

kaNNan says in bhagavad gItA that King Janaka is the best karma yogi – he is

such a great king. She is the daughter of such a great person. karmataH sutA

AbhijAtyaM vivakshitam – “She was not born in a woman’s womb. I have

brought her up as a karma yogi-s. The kings of ikshvAku vamSam are j~nAna yogi-s

.. karma should unite with j~nAnam and that should lead to bhakti. Since

ikshvAku vamSam kings pray to ra~Nga vimAnam, they have j~nAnam and bhakti or

devotion. Since karma should be united with j~nAnam and bhakti, I am giving my

daughter to You - iyaM sItA mama sutA.

 

24. mahatA tapasA bahu vrato upavAsAdibhiH labdhaH – When viSvAmitra came to

ask for You, Your father said, " I got this boy with great difficulty " . I got my

daughter like that also. She was not bought for husk. aneka vratopavAsAdibhiH

labdhA - I performed a lot of vratams and penances and fastings and got her.

 

=========

[fn 1] The heavenly river gangA, who came to this earth because of BhagIrata

cakravarti's penance, came out of paramaSivan's hair and divided into seven

parts. The names of the seven ga~NgA-s are hlAdinI, pAvanI, naLinI, sucakshuH,

sItA, sindhu and alakanandA - bAla kANDam, 43rd sargam gangAdharaNam.

===========

To be continued …..