AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. March 09 Part 3)

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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. March 09 Part 3)

 

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

 

anuliptaM parArdhyena candanena parantapam, sItayA - sItA applied the sandalwood

on rAma. He is wearing that sandalwood.

 

sthitayA pArSvatascApi vAlavyajana hastayA sauvarNe sottaracchade - A golden

sari in folds is covering the throne. PerumAL is seated on the throne - a

magnificent sight. sItayA vAlavyajana hastayA - sItA is holding a white cAmaram

[chowry/whisk, bushy tail of a yak used as a fly-flapper for idols or royal

insignia]. Some people hold the cAmaram where the hair is (laughter in the

audience). vAlavyajana hastayA - she is holding it such a way that it gives air.

That cAmaram has a golden handle! sItayA pArSvatas cApi, upetam sItayA

vAlavyajana hastayA - He is sitting along with sItA.

 

This is comparable to the moon shining in the night of cittirai [mid-april to

mid-may] month along with citrA star when ArAvamudhAzhvAn's chariot is run.

citrayA SaSinam yatA citrA parvam - that is when it should be seen, according

to nakshatra yuktaH kAlaH vyAkaraNa sUtram. rAma is shining just like the

Moon that shines along with citrA star in cittirai month.

 

tam tapantam ivAdityam upapannam svatejasA |

 

Where is the limit to describing His radiance?! He looks like a blazing sun, He

has as much brilliance as He needs to have.

 

vavande varadam vandI vinayaj~no vinItavat ||

 

vavande varadam vandI - He knows how to respect and goes with great modesty and

prostrates before rAma. vAlmIki says - vavande varadam vandI - vavande varadam

vandhyeca - like

' tAsAm AvirabhUt SouriH' (SrImad bhAgavatam 10.32.2 - just like kaNNan gave a

special sevA as manmatha manmatha to gopi-s alone). vAlmIki feels - the sevA

that sumantra got was not given to us. We, who wrote 24,000 Slokams did not get

to see that auspicious sight. The one who drove the chariot for 60,000 years

got this blessing. He earned this gift for doing charioting without doing any

strike or anything and did kaiMkaryam. vavante varadam vandI

vinayaj~novinItavat |

 

Of all the sevA-s of perumAL, the seated sevA is supposed to be very beautiful.

It is a magnificent experience to watch the seated perumAL.

 

nammAzhvAr was born. He sang a song in the form a nAyaki's friend telling

nammAzhvAr's mother; the song was about the perumAL in tolaivilli mangalam in

tirunelveli district.

 

Ten days after nammAzhvAr made his avatAram, puNyAhavacanam [purifactory

ceremony] was done. The child did not even drink milk. Let us show [the

horoscope to] the astrologer. Will the child be okay? Will the child live? The

parents asked the astrologer. " This child is a great scholar! He will sing

about bhagavAn. He will live a very good life. But, one danger will befall

him. "

 

What danger? From water? From fire? From lightning? From the sky? What danger?

What kind of danger from the panca bhUtams? If the danger is from water, the

child will not be allowed to go to kAvEri, right? Like that, there is a danger

for him. There are several dangers in this world, like danger from water,

danger from fire etc. One has to be careful with them. Some people have a

danger from vidvatsamAgamam [coming together of intellectuals] in upanyAsams

(AcAryar laughs). When we are doing upanyAsam, ten vidvAns come to attend, then

we do not have any work to do. Like this, there are several dangers.

 

What was the danger for nammAzhvAr? " The danger is not from water or fire. Do

not show this child the sight of a seated perumAL! If the child sees SriyaHpati

nArAyaNan in a seated form in any place, it is the end for this child. As long

as the child does not see that sight, he will live " .

 

The parents followed that advice. They never showed him a seated perumAL. His

mother's mother was in AzhvAr tirunagari. There was a festival for perumAL in

tolai villi mangalam - reTTait tiruppati. It was a special festival. Everyone

in the town went to attend the festival. This girl also went [meaning

nammAzhvAr]. His mother herself took her thinking - let her do it just for one

day. After the girl came back from the temple, she lied down sick. What a

heavy breathing she had! She was running a temperature of 111 degrees. They

all try to wake her up in vain. They made her lie down on a banana leaf. The

leaf itself became dry. What a difficult time. They tried fanning. No matter

what sarbat [like a punch] they gave, it did not help. No amount of ice water

helped. There was no remedy for the heat.

 

The mother could not do anything. A friend was sitting close by. parAnkuSa

nAyaki's mother asked the friend how her daughter was.

 

" Everything is gone! You are coming to ask now!

 

tuvaLil mAmaNi mADam Ongu tolaivilli mangalam tozhum ivaLai nIr ini annaimIr

umakku Asaiyillai viDuminO

(tiruvAi.6.5.1)

 

You took this girl to the temple with the thought that you do not need this girl

anymore. You are now asking how she is! umakku Asaiyillai viDuminO [you do not

love her; just leave it] you did this just to make your daughter die, right?

Why did you show her a seated perumAL, when you were told not to?

 

tavaLa oN Sa’ngucakkaram ennum tAmaraik taDa’ngaN enRum kuvaLai oNmalark

kaNgaL nIr malga ninRu ninRu kumuRumE

(tiruvAi.6.5.1)

 

She saw that perumAL. He gave her darSanam. Now, she keeps talking about Him -

" But He did not give me samSlesham [union with Him]. I did not marry Him and be

with Him! tavaLa oN Sangucakkaram ennum tAmaraik taDankaN ennum - How His conch

is! How His discus is! How His eyes are like lotus! " and she keeps crying;

tears are coming out from her eyes which look like karuneydal [blue water lily]

flower. She has a soft corner for perumAL, especially for nArAyaNan temple.

 

kuzhaiyum vALmukattEzhayai tolaivillimangalam koNDu pukku izhaikoL cOdic

centAmaraik kaNpirAn irundamai kATTinIr –

 

repeat –

 

izhaikoL cOdic centAmaraik kaNpirAn irundamai kATTinIr - mazhai peydAl okkum

kaNNanIrinoDu anRu toTTum

maiyAndivaL

nuzhaiyum cindaiyaL annaimIr tozhum attisai uRRu nOkkiyE.

(tiruvAi.6.5.1)

 

Even though she is bed-ridden, she keeps looking at the direction of tolaivilli

mangalam. She points to the perumAL who has eyes like lotus flower, especially

to the perumAL who is wearing all the ornaments during the time when the whole

town takes up a festive look and says, " izhaikoL cOdic centAmaraik kaNpirAn

irundamai kATTinIr " izhai means ornament. From that day onwards, tears are

falling down from her eyes like rain - mazhai peydAl okkum kaNNanIrinoDu - with

that she keeps looking at the same direction.

 

nOkkum pakkamellAm karumboDu cennelOngu centAmarai vAykkum taNporunal vaDakarai

vaNtolaivillimangalam nOkkumEl attisaiyallAl maRu nOkkilaL vaigal nALtoRum

vAykkoL vAcakamum maNivaNNan nAmamE ivaL annaimIr.

(tiruvAi.6.5.6)

 

From that day onwards, she keeps calling 'maNivaNNA'. She is not looking at any

direction other than that. She never talks about any one else except maNivaNNa.

You showed her the seated perumAL and spoiled nammAzhvAr! Enough! You showed

this perumAL because you did not want this girl, right? “

 

Like that, perumAL's seated form is always very special.

 

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 ||

 

vavande varadam vandI vinayaj~no vinItavat - sumantra approaches rAma with great

respect.

 

vavande varadam vandI - To the question - " What does perumAL look like in

paramapadam? " SrI deSikan says in nigamanAdikAram of SrImad rahasyatraya sAram

-32 - see perumAL in rAmAvatAram; in paramapadam, perumAL will be hundred

thousand times better than this. The seated sight here is a duplicate of

SrIvaikuNTam, where lakshmI and paramAtmA live; it is avatAra Asikai [turn or

order of sitting]; so he calls the seated sight in SrIvaikuNTham as vyancitamAna

[distinguished] paramapada paryankam [bed].

 

sumantra folds his hands and pays his obeisance to rAma, who is magnificently

seated on the throne. He is amazed. Can anyone get this sevA? He has served

his father and done kaiMkaryam for 60,000 years. rAma gives this darSanam as a

special reward.

 

sumantra tells rAma that His father wants Him to come immediately and that he is

in kaikeyi's palace.

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(End of translation of AcArya rAmAmRtam as it appeared in the March 2009 issue

of SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA)

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To be continued …..