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

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SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan’s SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam

 

25. vivAhaSca vivAdaSca samayoreva Sobhate – ‘mama sutA’ means:

daSaratha kumArasya tava, janakasya mama sutA iyaM sadRSI ityarthaH – This,

my daughter sItA, is equal in all respects to You – daSaratha’s son.

 

vivAhaSca vivAdaSca samayoreva Sobhate - Arguments and marriages shine only

between equals. One boy was doing adhyayanam with me. Some girl’s parents

offered 2 lakhs dowry, and someone proposed this boy. They should look for

someone who is very rich. If one party is bankrupt, the other one should be

too. If one is a rich person, the other should be rich also.

 

Some forty years back, there was a rich father; he could not get a good match

for his daughter. He said he will give her in marriage to a boy in vaidIkam.

He gave first class fare to 20 people, and asked them to come. The boy and the

party were very excited, and boarded the train. One person in the party did not

know where to hang the tiruppul kuDalai (the basket containing the cloths etc.,

meant to ke kept pure, for wearing after the next bath etc.), and hung it on the

fan in the first class coach. The item got caught in the fan, the fan made big

noises, and stopped. A few manutes later, the lights went off, and a few

minutes later, the train itself stopped (laughter in the audience)! vivAhaSca

vivAdaSca samayoreva Sobhate.

 

26. iyaM sItA - daSasu dikshvat apratihataH rathaM gacchati iti daSarathaH -

daSarathan is capable of driving his chariot in all ten directions at the same

time and vanquishing his enemies. I also fought and won over several people who

came to fight asking for sItA's hand in marriage. She is the daughter of a great

warrior. Even Your father has referred to me as the valiant warrior of mithilA

- ‘mithilAdhipatiM SUraM janakaM satya vikramam’ iti vasishThaH. When

daSaratha was doing aSvamedha yAgam, he said, " VasishThar asked me to invite

Janaka mahArAjA, who is the king of mithilA and a great warriorâ€. I am not

just a vaidIkan doing Acamanam and AcAram. I can fight wars and win.

VasishThar has said of me - 'mithilAdhipatiM SUram'.

 

27. mama sutA na bhIruH - she is the daughter of a warrior. So, she will not

feel afraid of You. When a girl who is afraid is given in marriage to a

military guy, she will become scared even to look at his boots. Military people

keep a huge holder for carrying water – it will probably look like it is made

of skin, and will be very heavy. This girl would feel frightened when she looks

at that. sItA is not like that; she is the daughter of a valiant soldier –

she is a vIra patni. If You go to fight and kill thousands, ten thousands or

sixty thousand people, she will embrace you happily.

 

tam dRshTvA SatruhantAraM maharshINAM sukhAvaham |

babhUva hRshTA vaidehI bhartAraM parishasvaje ||

(AraNya.30.39)

 

iyaM sIta mama sutA

 

28. sUrya vamSa prasUtaSca tava candra vamSa prasUtaSca mama sutA ityarthaH –

I am offering this sItA, my daughter, from candra vamSam, to You, from sUrya

vamSam.

 

sUrya vamSa samudbhUtaM candra vamSa samudbhavAm |

vasishThAnumadAcArAm …… || mama sutA.

 

29. vasishTha Sishyasya tava ucitA, yAj~navalkyasya Sishyasya mama sutA

ityarthaH – Just as You have the great vasishThar as Your AcAryan, we have the

great yaj~navalkyar as our AcAryan. I, with that greatness, am offering this

daughter of mine – iyaM sItA mama sutA, to You.

 

People say - " I am a Sishyan of ahobhila maTham; Who are you? " " I am a sishya

of ANDavan ASramam " , right? (AcAryar is laughing slightly). Sometimes audience

will start sleeping. That is why I am saying this (laughter in the audience).

" You are vasishTha's student. Do you know who I am? I am the disciple of

yAj~navalkya mahaRshi. "

 

yAj~navalkya is not any ordinary person. King Janaka had arranged for a

thousand cows all decorated with golden coverings for their horns, golden

anklets for their legs, silver vessels for collecting milk from them, calves,

golden ornaments for them, straw supply for an year etc. He announced that any

scholar who answers all the questions posed by anyone in the gathering will get

all these cows. [in bRhadAraNya upanishad, a gathering of mahaRshi-s ask

interesting questions.] yAj~navalkya answered every single question and drove

away all the thousand cows and kept them in his cowshed.

 

vasishTha Sishyasya daSarathasya sutaH tvam yAj~navalkyasya Sishyasya mama sutA

ityarthaH .

 

Accept her hand in marriage soon! Why?

 

30. cintArNavagataH pAram nA''sasAda aplavo yathA |

I have suffered sleepless nights like sailors losing ships in mid ocean, because

of my worry to get this girl married for so long.

 

pati samyoga sulabhaM vayo dRshThvA ca me pitA | (ayodhyA.118.34)

 

cintArNavagataH pAraM nA''sasAda aplavo yathA || (ayodhyA. 118,36)

 

When sItA tells anasUyai in atri mahaRshi's ASramam about her marriage, she

says, " Do you know how much my father suffered when I attained marriageable age?

He fell into the ocean of worry " . ‘kanyA pitRtvaM duHkhAya’ (this is the

quote in uttara kANDam from kaikeyi's father sumAli and also from maNDodari's

father mayan). To be a girl’s father is to be worried always. No matter what

he gives, no one is satisfied. Mother-in-law of the daughter will say, " There

is no good silver vessel in the house. It becomes crushed no matter how it is

kept. Make a strong one with a good footing for aupAsanam " When the father

obliges and makes one such vessel and asks if it is okay, she will say, " It

looks good, but the mouth of the vessel looks the mouth of the girl's mother " .

No matter what you give, she will complain. (laughter in the audience).

 

kanyA pitRtvaM duHkhAya - A father could not find a suitable boy for his girl.

He went to TiruchirApaLLi. He looked for a boy in all the three colleges -

Saint Joseph’s college, National College, Bishops College, and a few others.

He looked in all classes for boys about to complete their B.A. He could not

find anyone. It was the thirty-first day of Ani month. He had already spent

five hundred rupees in train fare. He thought he would at least go and pray to

PerumAL in temple, went to the store and bought bananas for a cheap price; he

had already spent five hundred rupees in train fare. He went to see

Ra’nganAthar. kastUrI kalitordhva puNDra tilakam - ranganAtha is lying down

with exquisite beauty. How is He sleeping?

 

ma'njUshAyAm marakatamiva bhrAjamAnaM tadantaH |

ceto dhAvatyupahita bhujaM Sesha bhoge SayAnam

dIrghApA'ngaM jaladhitanayA jIvitaM daivam Adyam ||

(Hamsa sandeSam 1.46)

He is lying down on AdiSeshan like a green gemstone placed in a silver box.

 

itya’nkam Seshe ra'ngAdhipatvam - " Oh rA'ngAnAtha! You are sleeping! I am

not able to sleep the whole night! How are you able to sleep?! "

 

dhana mAna harA kanyA kiM na jAtA kule tava | - " Did you not beget a daughter,

or what? You are sleeping without any worries. "

 

dhana mAna harA kanyA kiM na jAtA kule tava | - kanyA jAtA iti dhana harA mAna

harA ca – ‘Will you sleep lying down like this peacefully if You had a

daughter?!’

 

cintArNava gataH pAram nA''sasAda aplavo yathA iti cintArNava magnasya mama

sutA iyam ityarthaH saha dharma carI tava || - Take this daughter of mine, I

having been deeply immersed in worry all these days.

 

31. " Take her with You " – sahadharmacarI tava. If you ask “Will she cook

etc.,? - na tu bhogArthA, api tu dharmAcaraNatAM - dharma prajArthaM vRNImahe

iti bhavatA sa~Nkalpita rItyA dharmeshvapi sahakAriNI bhavati ityarthaH – saha

dharma carI tava.

 

dharma prajArthaM vRNImahe - said VasishThar. ‘She will be accompanying You in

practiding dharmam. When You are doing aupAsanam, she will stand by You and

keep touching You with darbha [sacred grass] such that it will be touching the

back and tickling.’ When the husband is doing aupAsanam, the wife must hold

the darbha so that one end is touching the husband's body. If the officiating

priest does not like the kartA [the person doing the karma], he will give male

darbham; tt will create a tickling sensation in the back (AcAryar is indulging

in humor here - Female darbham is soft; male darbham is coarse)

 

32. iyaM sItA mama sutA saha dharma carI tava - She will be helpful in all Your

vratams. If You have to fast for two days and do yAgam (sacrifice), she will

also fast. She won’t mind it. She will fast for the vratam.

 

bhavataH yo dharmaH sa eva dharmaH asyA api iti saha dharmacarI tava | She

will follow whatever dharmam - code of conduct - You follow. Your dharmam will

be her dharmam. What is Your dharmam? SaraNAgata rakshaNa dharmam is Your

dharmam. Her dharmam will also be the dharmam of SaraNAgata rakshaNam.

 

………………..

kAkaM taM ca vibhIshaNaM SaraNam ityukti kshamau rakshataH |

sA naH sAndra mahAgasassukhayatu kshAntiH tavAkasmikI ||

(guNaratna. 50)

 

mAtarmythili rAkshasIstvayi tadaivArdrAparAdhAstvayA

rakshantyA pavanAtmajAt laghutarA rAmasya goshThIkRtA ||

….. (guNaratna. 50)

 

If You do SaraNAgata rakshaNam of kAkAsuran, vibhIshaNan etc, she will do the

same for the rAkshasi-s [female demons]. She also has the dharmam that You

have.

 

33. ASrita dosha adarSItvam –

 

ASrita dosha adarSanaM bhavatu avij~nAtA sahasrAmSuh iti dosho yadyapi tasya

syAt ityAdinA – Just as You will not look at Your devotees' deficiencies, she

also will not look at their deficiencies.

 

She will also follow suit. She will say -

 

pApAnAM vA SubhAnAM vA vadhArhANAM plava~Ngama |

kAryaM karuNam AryeNa na kaScinnAparAdhyati || (yuddha. 117.49)

 

Your dharmam is para duHkha asahishNutA dharmam. She will say, " kAryam karuNam

AryeNa " (yuddha.116.49). She will say it is the duty of elders that they must

show compassion.

 

iyaM sItA mama sutA sahadharma carI tava |

 

34. vAnarANAM narANAM ca katham AsIt samAgamaH (sundara.35.2) - If You mingle

with the monkeys because of Your sauSIlyam – the extreme ease with which You

move with those who are much lower in level than You - , she will also do the

same. vAnarIbhiH saha vartamAnA - She will mingle with the female monkeys with

the same sauSIlyam. sItA made all the female monkeys in kishkindA board the

plane in which she and rAma were traveling. All the female monkeys came dressed

up in saris etc. Wouldn't female monkeys have sari-s?! They came in the

plane. She took them all and presented them to kausalyai. kausalyA devi combed

the hairs of all the female monkeys and braided their hairs. Monkeys won't show

their heads that easily! She tried to tell them stories, and with great

difficulty, did their hairs. vAlmIki describes this. When we come to the

paTTAbhisheka sargam, we will talk about this.

 

35. vyasaneshu manushyANAM bhRSaM bhavati duHkitaH |

 

You say, " I cannot bear it if one who has resorted to Me is suffering " . This

is how you are referred to.

 

She will say, " marshayAmIha durbalA " (yuddha.116.45) – She can’t stand to

see the ASraya-s suffer.

 

36. Arjava guNam – rAma will never tell a lie to anyone under any

circumstance. When SUrpaNakhA asks Him who He is, He responds in elaborate

detail:

 

“We are the sons of daSaratha; we have come to the forestâ€, etc.

 

When ravaNan asks SitA, what does she say? She also describes that she is the

daughter of King Janaka, consort of rAma, etc., all the true facts in

elaborate detail.

 

37. All the dharma-s that You observe, she will also observe. All her dharma-s

will be compatible and consistent with Yours

 

If You give Your ring as an identifying symbol, she will give her cUDAmaNi [an

ornament she wears on her hair] as her identifying symbol . Her actions will be

consistent and compatible with Yours.

 

38. She will understand Your mind just from Your gesture.

 

rAma told sItA - " I do not like to see you " . When did He say this? Right after

rAvaNa was killed! " Go anywhere you want! There are four directions! Or eight

directions! Go somewhere! "

 

He had been crying for her all these days; He cried for ten months. Doesn't she

know? She knows that He is saying that in a superficial manner.

 

A husband got angry at his wife and said, " Get lost! Go somewhere " . She went

inside the house and lied down. He goes and looks for her in the backyard and

everywhere around.

 

When rAma said: " Go somewhere " , is it to be taken literally? dIpo

netrA'turasyeva pratikUlA'si me mataH (yuddha. 115.18)

 

He says to her: ‘Just as someone with a sore eye is not able to look at a

bright light, I am not able to look at you.’ By appropriate analogy, He

indicates to her that it is not her fault. She understood what He was saying -

It is the fault of the eye, not the fault of the flame. sItA understood that

she is not at fault. Just as He said those words without meaning to say them,

she also went through the act of entering into agni [fire]. She can read His

mind from His gestures. sItA is that kind of girl.

 

39. ata ca pratIccha cainAm – ‘Take her.’ Shouldn't Janaka say, " I give " ?

Why is he saying, " Take her " ?

 

" I cannot ‘give’ her. " How can I ‘give’ You what belongs to You to

start with? If she is mine, I can give You. She is Your belonging – She is

apRthak-siddhai – inseparably united with You in all Your incarnations. She

does not leave You in any of Your avatArams. So You take her - pratIccha -

‘ca’kAreNa yatheshTaM bhu~Nkshva ca ityarthaH. "

 

Then he said: “Proceed with the rest of the marriage activities. "

 

40. viSvAmitra vacanAt dhanur gRahaNam iva mama vacanAt enAm api gRhANa - You

held the bow because of ViSvAmitra's words. Now listen to my words and hold her!

ca enAm - - 'ca' has the sense of 'eva’kAram here.

 

41. enAmeva nastvanyA - I am giving her in marriage; Do not have a second

marriage! Do not say that Your father had two or three wives and so You will

have other wives, too! Be an ekadAra vratan [with just one wife].

 

nArAyaNo mama patiH na tu anyaH purushottamAt |

ASraye niyamaM ghoraM nArAyaNa parIpsayA || (uttara. 17.18)

 

She was vedavatI in her previous birth, and has done intense penance to have You

as her Consort; she has come now as sItA.

 

42. pratIccha cainAM bhadraM te pANiM gRhNIshva pANinA |

 

She is beautiful, and will be a good match to Your blue cloud-hued

tirumeni(divine body). " hiraNyavarNAm hariNIm suvarNa rajatasrajAm " – Your

tirumEni will have a pleasing hue, only if she is with You. " , said Janaka.

 

What is PerumAL's color? Based on the upanishad-s, the learned people who are

well-versed in veda-s have determined that PerumAL’s tirumEni’s complexion

resembles that of the peacock’s neck.

 

nIla toyadamadhyasthA vidyullekheva bhAsvarA |

nIvAraSukavat tanvI pItAbhAsyAtyanUpamA ||

 

upanishad bhAshyam says ' mayUra kaNThacchavI tulya varNaH'. The neck of a

peacock will have blue color intermixed with yellow color. How did PerumAL get

that kind of a color?

 

dUrvA daLa pratimayA tava deha kAntyA

gorocanA rucirayA ca rucendirAyAH |

AsIt anu'njhita SikhAvala kaNTha Sobham

mA'ngalyadaM praNamatAM madhuvairi gAtram ||

(godAstuti-22)

 

BhUmi pirATTi is on one side. Her hue is that of harialli grass – arugampul

– dark-green colored. LaskhmI is on the other side; she has the color of

gorocanai – yellow colored. The two colors are shining brilliantly on either

side of PerumAL. So, PerumAL is reflecting the peacock neck color. " If these

two are asked to leave that spot, then one will come to know Your true

complexion! It is only because the two are always on your sides, Your color is

the mayUra kaNTHachavi. "

 

43. Immediately, Janaka added: bhadraM te - Slokam is not complete yet, before

that, Janaka says - 'bhadraM te'.

 

bhadraM te dRshTi dosha parihAraH-– She belongs to You; don’t think I am

giving her to You. When I look at both of you, It looks like my own jealous

eyes will fall on You. I, who am a rAja Rshi give You my blessings- bhadram te.

 

44. Take her. Before You marry her, Your name has been rAman. Only after You

marry her, Your name is going to be rAmabhadran. bhadram te. Let all

auspiciousness come to You. If she does not exist, You will be like ParaSurAman.

 

sItA parigrahe rAmabhadra iti nAma siddhiH anyathA parasurAmavat

purushottamattva siddhiH bhadram te - Another interpretation is she provides You

purushottamatvam.

 

45. Alternately, bhadram can mean - pANiM bhadram, bhadraM pANiM gRhNIshva -

Hold her auspicious hand. pANiM gRhNIshva - do pANigrahaNam.

 

As I pointed out yesterday itself, pANigrahaNam is a very significant act. In

the avAntara prakaraNam – one of the associated chapters dealing with

marriage, this is one of the most superior prakaraNa-s. Out of all the marriage

activities, pANigrahaNam is the most auspicious activity.

 

How should pANigrahaNam be done? In a marriage, the girl's hand must be held;

how to hold her hand?

 

yadi kAmayeta strIH eva janayet iti a~NguLIreva gRhNIyAt |

 

Have you read this sUtram? What is this sUtram? In a house, only boys were

born for two or three generations. Boy's mother said, " It would be nice if at

least this new bride has a daughter. We keep getting only boys in our family " .

If one wishes to get a daughter – a'nguLIreva gRhNIyAt - the boy should hold

only four fingers of the girl's hand. yadi kAmayeta pumsa eva janayet iti

a'ngushTham eva. If it is felt - " In our house, only girls are born. It would

be nice if a son is born " , then he should hold only the thumb. pANiM gRhNIshva

pANinA - ‘Do pANigrahaNam as per SAstram.’

 

The officiating priests nowadays don’t say either of these specifically in

their instruction – neither that the boy should hold the four fingers only,

nor that he should hold the thumb only. . The purohita-s (officiating priests)

are ones who are extremely merciful - interested in the general welfare of the

family. purohitaH – purataH hitam paSyati iti purohitaH – They are ones

who think of the welfare of the family even before the family thinks about it.

 

When a boy is born, even before us, they will be thinking of when the

aksharAbhyAsam [initiation for learning] should be performed. After that is

over, they will ask when he will have upanayanam [sacred thread ceremony]. They

think about our family's good before us. purataH hitam paSyatIti purohitaH. If

upanayanam is over, they will think he should get married soon. Next they will

worry about when the sImantam (ceremony prior ot birth of the child) will come.

 

The priest should say how to do pANigrahaNam during the marriage. Janaka told

rAma to do pANigrahaNam - pANiM gRhNIshva pANinA.

 

Janaka did kanyAdAnam [gave away the girl]. He gave away none but LakshmI

herself. What a great blessing he had! pANigrahaNam, saptapatI , aSmArohaNam

etc., were all conducted.

 

Next, he invites LakshmaNa and asks him to accept UrmiLA.

 

(In the Sri ranganAtha pAduka edition of next month - sarvadhAri ADi month -

bAla kANDam will be completed. The second volume of " AcArya rAmAmRtam "

containing up to the end of bAla kANDam will be released by our Acarya sArva

bhauman SrImad SrImushNam ANDavan during his 20th cAturmAsya sa'nkalpa vaibhavam

in tirupullANi.)

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

issue of SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA)

 

To be continued …..