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

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SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan’s SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam

 

rAma looks at sItA and says,

 

devi devaSca devI ca samAgamya madantare |

mantrayete dRvam kincit abhishecana saMhitam ||

(ayodhyA.15.15)

 

He calls His wife. ‘devi’! New fashioned vaishNava! ‘devi’! He says

– “devaH ca devI ca – sumantra says -father is in kaikeyi’s palaceâ€.

 

rAma says - “mother – devi and father – devarâ€; that is okay to say.

Calling His mother ‘devi’ is fine.

 

Will anyone call a wife devI? Look at this! Is this fair? Is anyone calling a

wife devI? They call something else!

 

devi devaSca devI ca samAgamya madantare |

 

“It looks like father went to mother kaikeyi’s palace. There, both devar

and devi are contemplating! Father would have told mother the news about the

coronation. They must be thinking what AsIrvAdam, presentation [gift] they can

give! They both would have thought about it the whole night and decided! Or,

they might have talked that may be, they should ask Me what I prefer and then

bestow that gift upon Me.â€

 

Friends attend marriages. They will think about what gift to give. Finally,

they will buy something that is too heavy to carry.

 

Some will ask the groom himself – What gift do you desire? What do you think?

The groom will say – get me a shaving set (audience laughs). You see such

things in the world.

 

rAma says to sItA, “They must have decided to ask Me what I will be pleased

with and give me whatever I wish. I will go and see father and mother

kaikeyi†and leaves the palace.

 

devi devaSca devI ca samAgamya madantare |

mantrayete dRvam kincit abhishecana saMhitam ||

 

Is it right that rAma calls His wife, ‘devi’?

 

A husband must not call his wife, ‘devi’. devasya patnI is devI. ‘deva’

means ‘svAmi’; like that, ‘devI’ means ‘svAminI’.

 

rAma calls His wife, ‘devi’! Taking the root “divu†- kriyAyAm, the

word ‘devi’ means ‘one who plays’!

 

What rAma means is this - “Now, our game is going to start, sIte!†He calls

her ‘devi’ to indicate that indirectly.

 

They have come here with a plan to play for eleven thousand years!

 

vAlmIki has said, “daSavarsha sahasrANi daSavarsha SatAni ca rAmo rAjyam

upAsitvA†(yuddha.128.108), right! “According to the plan, paTTAbhishekam

has come! Be prepared! Father is calling Me to kaikeyi’s palace, devi! The

time has come for us to playâ€.

 

rAma is telling sItA that the play time is going to start. That is how this must

be interpreted; ‘devi’ must not be meant otherwise.

 

‘devi’ is not ‘devasya strI. It must be taken as coming from ‘divu

krIDAyAm’..

 

devi devaSca devI ca samAgamya madantare |

mantrayete dRvam kincit abhishecana saMhitam ||

 

lakshayitvA hyabhiprAyaM priyakAmA sudakshiNA |

sancodayati rAjAnaM madarthaM madirekshaNe || (2.16.15,16)

 

sItA’s eyes have captivating power; enthrall and enrapture anyone.

madirekshaNe! “One who has such irresistable eyes! kaikeyi is sudakshiNA –

very clever. She is priyakAmA – she will think about what we like.

sancodayati rAjAnam – She is calling to find out what I like and decide on the

gift. I will go nowâ€, says rAma.

 

rAma leaves immediately. sItA does not want to miss looking at rAma’s

paTTAbhisheka sight. How can one miss? He has worn sandalwood on Him for the

paTTAbhishekam.

 

Even when those who are not that pretty leave to go out of town, it will be

difficult to bear the separation. Household members will go along in a car or

bus, buy platform ticket and after the person boards the train, when the train

leaves, will keep flagging with a kerchief cloth!

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To be continued …..