AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. March 09 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 09 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

 

perumAL is seated on a magnificent throne. vAlmIki writes - sauvarNE

sottaracchade.

 

tam vaiSravaNa sankASam upavishTam svalankRtam |

dadarSa sUtaH paryanke sauvarNe sottaracchade ||

 

varAha rudhirAbheNa SucinA ca sugandhinA |

anuliptaM parArdhyena candanena parantapam ||

 

sthitayA pArSvatascApi vAlavyajana hastayA |

upetam sItayA bhUyaH citrayA SaSinam yatA ||

 

tam tapantam ivAdityam upapannam svatejasA |

vavande varadam vandI vinayaj~no vinItavat ||

(ayodhyA.16.8-11)

 

kuzhaiyum vAnmugattEzhaiyai tolaivilli mangalam koNDu pukku

izhaikoL cOdic cendAmaraikkaN pirAn irundamai kATTinIr

mazhaipeydAlokkum kaNNa nIrinoDu anRutoTTum maiyAndu

ivan nuzhaiyum sindaiyan annaimIr tozhum attisaiyuRRu

nOkkiyE!

(tiruvAi.6.5.5)

 

pollA vaDivuDaip pEycci tunjap puNarmulai vAimaDukka

vallAnai

mAmaNivaNNanai maruvumiDam nADudIrEl pallAyiram

perundEvimAroDu

pauvam eRi tuvarai ellArum SUzha singAsanattE irundAnaik

kaNDAruLar (periyAzhvAr.4.1.6)

 

vIRRirundEzhulagum tanikkOl cella vIvil sIr

ARRalmikkALum ammAnai vemmA piLandAn tannai

pORRi enRE kaigaLArat tozhudu solmAlaigaL

ERRa nORRERku ini enna kuRai ezhumaikkumE

(tiruvAi.5.1.1)

 

PerumAL is sitting. He looks like kuberan. tam vaiSravaNa sankASam upavishTam.

svAmi has dressed up for His coronation. How does He look? tam vaiSravaNa

sankASam.

 

He is wearing sandalwood. vAlmIki describes. How is the sandalwood? It is a

wonder!

 

varAha rudhirAbheNa SucinA ca sugandhinA |

anuliptaM parArdhyena candanena parantapam ||

 

vAlmIki writes a Slokam for the sandalwood. The sandalwood is like the blood of

a pig. Pig's blood is very red and very thick. Look at the sandalwood we wear!

Some of the svAmi-s come wearing the sandalwood, right! There will be no

difference between tirumAN color and sandalwood. It will be pure white! How

should one wear the sandalwood? varAha rudhirAbheNa SucinA ca sugandhinA |

sandalwood should be mixed with edible camphor and a lot of saffron and applied

on the body. During KRshNAvatAram also, perumAL wore sandalwood. Very

intriguing. He used the sandalwood given by the hunchback.

(AcAryar is referring to the incident where kaNNan took the sandalwood that the

hunchback lady trivakrA was taking for kamsan).

 

SucinA ca sugandhinA - it was a superior quality sandalwood. In which shop was

it bought? Some buy in black market, right! That is not good. SucinA ca - it

was ground in the palace. The purest form of sandalwood, like the one in

SrIrangam. In olden days, the chief kaiMkaryapara himself must grind the

sandalwood. SucinA ca - very pure sandalwood. Some sandalwood will have a good

color, but not have a pleasant smell. It will only have an adulterated powder.

SucinA ca sugandhinA.

 

anuliptaM parArdhyena candanena parantapam, sItayA - rAma is wearing the

sandalwood and very radiant!

 

He asks sItA - " sIte! I have applied sandalwood! Does it look okay? "

 

sItA - " You have not applied it right " !

 

It looks like the one who pulls the chariot! It looks like how

vaidhikA-s/paramaikAnti-s [devotees with a mind fixed on God alone] apply!

(Acaryar is making fun of purisai kalyANam svAmi!) Have you seen them wear

sandalwood? Because, they already have the tirumaN symbol in 12 places. Each

tirumaN has perumAL's AvAhanam [invocation] - keSavAya namaH, nArAyaNAya namaH,

mAdhavAya namaH etc. They have installed lakshmI also! Can that symbol be

rubbed off? In order not to rub it off, they will apply the sandalwood in

between two tirumaN marks (audience laughs). It is like the person who wears a

tiger costume! (laughter in the audience). Why can't they wear the sandalwood

on top of the marks! Are we rubbing off perumAL when we wear sandalwood! Can

we possibly remove perumAL? They will wear the sandalwood in between the marks

in a funny way.

 

There is a festival called 'allAp pATTi' (audience laughs).

 

[Thanks to SrI M.G. VAsudEvan for providing a possible explanation for this

festival - there is one very grand, nAgUr sandana kuDam (sandalwood vessel)

festival for muslims in Tamilnadu; on that day a 'tEr' /chariot is decorated and

taken in procession with much fanfare; during that time, people apply a lot of

sandalwood paste on others as they meet, in a crude fashion; naturally it will

be crude with no proper application. It is customary to use the term ‘'allA

pichai'; since AcAryar says here pATTi, it is possible ‘patti’ became pATTi.

’ patti’ means paRRi- kai kOrthu or hold hands - piRagu sandanam pUsudal -

applying sandalwood paste afterwards; it is possible this festival takes place

in vaikAsi/June to apply sandal on one another to keep cool in the hot days.]

 

" You have applied sandalwood like that. May be, your hand could not reach well!

I will apply it for You! "

 

anuliptaM parArdhyena candanena parantapam, sItayA - sItayA must be added to

this phrase! liptam, anuliptam, anuliptam sItAyA!

 

parArdhyena candanena - what is the cost of that sandalwood? No price can be

put on that; it is such high quality sandalwood. In kRshNAvatAram, kUni gives

sandalwood! balarAman and kRshNan are observing that everyone is wearing

sandalwood in mathurA city. kRshNA said, " Brother, we do not have it " . " So

what, we will get it " . A hunchback lady came. There was a good smell. She was

asked to stop. That hunchback lady was not like rAmAvatAra hunchback lady; she

was good! They asked her to give them sandalwood so they both can apply. She

gave a little from a small box. sugandham etat - they asked her to give a

better quality sandalwood. She gave that saying it was 'rAjArham' - one that

kings wear. She was asked to give better one. She gave another kind. sugandam

etat rAjArham ruciram rucirAnane - " It looks nice. But, it has a lot of color

powder! Give me another one " , said kaNNan. The kUni laughed at this. " Why do

you laugh when I am asking

like this? " kUni said, " pAl ney tayir vAsi aRiyum piLLaigaL candanattin vAsi

aRiyumpaDi enganE! " kRshNa would be able to say how many days old the yogurt

is. He would say how old the ghee is. He can say if that ghee is kept

specifically for sammandi [fater/mother of a son/daughter] (laughter in the

audience); He would be able to say what that ghee is meant for. The kUni is

laughing saying, " Having been born in a family where You know how to distinguish

ghee and yogurt, how can You know the quality difference in sandalwood also. "

 

kRshNa said, " Give me the best quality sandalwood. Do not give me sandalwood

thinking about the value of the sandalwood. "

 

If we go to the shop and ask for sandalwood, he will ask us, " Do you need the

one that costs 8 aNA-s for one kilO or one rupee for one kilO or two rupees for

one kilo or a five rupee sandalwood. If we say 'five rupees', he will make us

sit and take care of his business with his left hand. He will have a porcelain

plate and it will have sandalwood paste. He will take some from that and mix

turmeric powder, javvAdu [a perfume taken from the excretion of the civet cat]

and attar [essential oil distilled from roses] and give it to us. You have seen

all these, right?

 

" Do not give such kind of sandalwood. "

 

Avayor gAtra sadRsam dIyatAm anulepanam (vishNupurANam 5.20.6)

 

" Look at our bodies and give. Do not give as per your inventory. Give the

sandalwood fit for our bodies. "

===========

To be continued …..