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

 

VaSishTha and others agreed and told daSaratha he should do the coronation

immediately.

 

This incident is being referred to in " mArgazhit tingaL madi niRainda nannALAl "

[tiruppAvai 1] vyAkhyAnam.

 

caitraH SrImAn ayam mAsaH (ayodhyA.3.4) - it is a good month. The month is full

of riches. Flowers are all blossoming. The trees are desirous of crowning rAma

and shower Him with fully blossomed flowers. puNyaH pushpita kAnanaH

(ayodhyA.3.4) - it is a propitious and prosperous month. An extraordinary

month. We can do the coronation in this month itself.

 

daSaratha orders for the collection of things for the yuvarAja paTTAbhishekam.

 

An effusively enthusiastic daSaratha cakravarti asks sumantra saying, " Go and

bring rAma; I need to break the news to Him that His coronation is tomorrow " .

sumantra goes. As soon as He hears about " aNNA's (appA = father) orders, rAma

leaves with sumantra [it is customary for some families to call the father as

'aNNA' - elder brother]. daSaratha is sitting in the court hall. rAma and

lakshmaNa arrive. daSaratha takes a look at them and he is overwhelmed with

happiness. rAma's arrival is fascinating. How is His gait?

 

gandharva rAjapratimaM loke vikhyAta pourusham |

dIrghabAhuM mahAsatvam mattamAtanga gAminam ||

candra kAntAnanam rAmam atIva priyadarSanam |

rUpoudArya guNaiH pumsAm dRshTi cittApahAriNam |

gharmAbhitaptAH parjanyam hlAdayantam iva prajAH |

na tatarpa samAyAntam paSyamAno naradhipaH (2.3.26.. 30)

 

nAma svayam SrAvayan rAmaH vavande caraNou pituH | (2.3.33)

 

rAma comes to daSaratha. daSaratha looks at rAma from his throne. How does

rAma look?

 

gandharva rAjapratimaM - in vaDuvUr temple, the arcaka will say this Slokam

during seva kAlam. PerumAL will look like He is standing there in person.

 

gandharva rAjapratimaM - emperumAn has superb beauty. He is equivalent to

gandharva king in beauty. One meaning is - He has extraordinary charm. Another

meaning - rAma looks so elegant; gandharva rAjapratimaM - gandharva king will

appear like tiruppati marappAci [wooden doll] when compared to rAma. tiruppati

dolls are made of red wood. Not made of brass. You know how the wooden dolls

are. svAmi looks like an idol. If gandharva rAja looks at rAma - gandarva

rAjapratimaM - he will look like a wooden doll. rAma has so much grandeur.

 

gandharva rAjapratimaM loke vikhyAta pourusham |

 

loke vikhyAta pourusham | - He is the only valiant male [in the world]. He is

that renowned. All the other males are like women dressed up like men. That is

how it will appear when rAma's masculinity is observed.

 

dIrghabAhuM mahAsatvam - He looks majestic. He has a lot of power. His

majestic gait is like that of a haughty elephant.

 

atIva priyadarSanam - anyone who looks at rAma will like Him. Even an enemy

will get attracted Him when he sees Him. rAma has such a beautiful figure. The

more one looks, the more one will be fond of Him. It will never get dull and

dreary. Some men will be likeable before the wedding. It will get monotonous

after a while. Not like that. " maruviniya maindA' says AzhvAr (kaliyan in

'nummait tozhudOm' periya tiru.4.9.2). maruva maruva iniya maindA.

 

nammAzhvAr says, " payilaviniya nam pARkaDal sErnda param " (tiruvAi.3.7.1). The

more one spends time with Him, the sweeter He will seem to be. It will never

get weary. One will start taking to Him more and more. atIva priyadarSanam.

rUpoudArya guNaiH pumsAm dRshTi cittApahAriNam |- when men folks look at Him,

His loveliness will steal their eyes and minds. Once they take a look at Him,

His aesthetic form will fill up their whole eyes. He will totally occupy their

minds. They will not want to look at anything else.

 

en amudinaik kaNDa kaNgaL maRRonRinaik kANAvE (amalanAdi.10)

 

Another meaning - rUpa guNaiH dRshTi apahAriNam | oudArya guNaiH cittApahAriNam

|

 

The beauty of rAman's tirumEni will completely captivate the eyes; such is His

eye-snatching charm.

 

His gracious attributes will encapsulate the minds.

 

Another meaning. rUpoudArya guNaiH - rUpasya oudArya guNaiH pumsAm dRshTi

cittApahAriNam |

 

" kAdaganAgilum viDa voNNAda vaDivazhagiRE " (even if rAma comes to cut off with

His sword, He will not be looked at as a killer). Instead, the thinking of the

other person will be - " Oh, my, what a divine spectacle! How enchanting rAma's

beauty is! I am so happy that this man of superb charm came in front of me for

me to see Him! "

 

" What did rAma do for you? What did rAma give you? " If such questions are

asked, the answer would be, " The striking splendor of His tirumEni is alone

enough. One should be lucky to see His form. The mind gets fulfilled as if

everything has been achieved. " Another meaning. When we enjoy rAma's beauty,

that magnificent sight itself blesses us with all the goodness. What a wonder!

How amazing! Is there anyone else like that? rUpoudArya guNaiH pumsAm dRshTi

cittApahAriNam |

 

It is enough if we get perumAL's divya mangaLa vigraha seva.

 

ApIThAn mouLi paryantam paSyataH purushOttamam |

pAtakAni ASu naSyanti kiM punastu upapAtakam ||

 

[sANDilya smRti vacanam - Meaning as given by HH azhagiyasingar: panca mahA

pAtakAs will vanish immediately from people, who see perumAL (purushottaman)

starting from His tiruvaDi to tirumuDi [crown]. Is there a need to tell about

other upapAtakAs that are minor sins when compared to panca mahA pAtakAs? This

vacanam explains the 'Subhatvam' of perumal's tirumEni in crystal-clear terms

(suspashTam).]

 

immaikku inbam peRROm endAi indaLUrIrE !

…. nammai orukAl kATTi naDandAl nAngaL uyyOmE! (periya tiru.4.9.1)

 

The sight of divya mangaLa vigraham itself will remove all sins and shower one

with all blessings.

 

rUpoudArya guNaiH pumsAm dRshTi cittApahAriNam |

 

His rUpam itself is generous. perumAL's tirumEni has the nature of showering?

What is it giving? VyAkyAnam is - His august form speaks for the auspicious

attributes that are in His mind.

 

One can guess if a man is a liar, a lazy bum, a glutton or a fighter by just

looking him. One can find if the eyes are kingly or stealthy, right?

 

The form itself will demonstrate if a man is ascetic, a great man etc.; it

illustrates what kind of a person he is. Like that, rAma's form has all the

sAmudrikA lakshaNa-s [traits outlined by treatise on physical beauty]. His form

itself shows how He is endowed with enormous auspicious attributes, how

broad-minded He is, how compassionate He is, how truthful He is, how valorous He

is, how much patience He has etc.

 

There is no one else who will have so many kalyANa guNam-s, right! His

beautiful form will let us be drenched in them by letting us enjoy seeing Him.

rAma steals the eyes and minds of those who look at Him.

 

BhagavAn's nAmam is " OrAyiramAi ulagEzhaLikkum pErAyiram " [tiruvAi.9.3.1] ; His

nAmam alone can provide all blessings to bhakta-s. Like that looking at His

soundaryam alone - the seva alone, can bless bhakta-s with all benefits. rUpam

is udAram; rUpam gives generously.

 

gharmAbhitaptAH parjanyam hlAdayantam iva prajAH |

 

When people are suffering in a scorching summer when the earth becomes dry,

crops fail from the heat, fields become parched and barren and extreme heat

becomes unbearable, like in Delhi summer, if a cold breeze blows and the clouds

rain profusely, what a big a relief will it be! Like that, it will be a

tremendous relief when one looks at rAma.

 

That is what His divya soundaryam will do.

 

rUpa saMhananam lakshmIm soukumAryam suveshatAm |

rAmasya vismitAkArAH dadRSur vanavAsinaH ||

 

vAlmIki says in AraNya kANDam (1.13). The Rshi-s who live by eating dry leaves

are astonished when they look at rAma's physical attributes and gracefulness.

 

Kambar says in mithila (ulAviyaRpaTalam.19).

 

tOL kaNDAr tOLE kaNDAr, toDu kazhal kamalamanna

tAL kaNDAr, tALE kaNDAr taDakkai kaNDArum aHdE

 

Who looked at the whole form of rAma? Those who saw His shoulder kept looking

only at His shoulder. Those who looked at His feet kept seeing His feet only.

Their eyes did not move away from the parts they saw.

 

taruNou rUpa sampannou sukumArou mahAbalou |

puNDarIka viSAlAkshou cIra kRshNAjinAmbarou || (AraNya.19.14).

 

sUrpaNaka is describing rAma's beauty Whoever looks at rAma will say He is a

beauty. tirumangai AzhvAr says:

 

silayilangu ponnAzhi tiNpaDaitaNDu

oN Sangam enginRALAl

malayilangu tOLnAngE maRRavanukku

eRREkAN! enginRALAl

mulaiyilangu pUmpayalai munbODa

anboDi irukkinRALAl

kalaiyilangu mozhiyALar kaNNapurat

tammAnaik kaNDAL kolO! (periya tiru.8.1.1)

 

A neighbor lady is asking the mother - " Hey, how is your daughter? She had

become delirious with devotion; how is she now? " ParakAla nAyaki's mother says

- " Now, it has become beyond control. She does not think of ordinary men as

males. Even when she sees other perumAL, she stays within a boundary. But,

now, she says 'pon sArngam', 'pon Azhi', 'oN Sangam', 'malaiyilangu tOL nAngE'.

Even if the ocean churns, she thinks the mandara malai is doing it. She must

have seen kaNNapurattu perumAL. My daughter, who is never disturbed by any

man's beauty, has now become mad [with love]. The beautiful form of

tirukkaNNapura perumAL must have made her like that " .

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To be continued …..