AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. July 09 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. July 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 tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam,

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri

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SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan’s SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam

 

rAma says, “Do not talk like that, lakshmaNa!

 

RshiNA ca pitruvAkyaM kurvatA vratacAriNA |

gour hatA jAnatA dharmaM kaNDunApi vipaScitA || (ayodhyA.21.31)

 

pituH hi vacanaM kurvan na kaScit nAma hIyate | (ayodhyA.21.37)

 

rAma says a lot of Slokams here. “What is this? You should listen to

whatever father says.

 

gour hatA jAnatA dharmaM kaNDunApi vipaScitA ||

 

there was a great mahaRshi named kaNDu. His father said, “Kill the cow that

is coming to kick meâ€. KaNDu killed that cow because his father said so.

 

gour hatA jAnatA dharmam – kaNDu killed; was he not a brilliant person?

 

jAnatA dharmam (AcAryar is laughing) He knows all the dharmams.

 

In the vibhIshaNa SaraNAgati chapter (yuddha.18.26), vAlmIki says, “RsheH

kaNvasya putreNa kaNDunA paramarshiNAâ€.

 

The son, kaNDu was more knowledgeable than his father, kaNva Rshi.

 

kaNDunA paramarshiNA – he knew all the dharmam-s. He was the one who wrote

that SaraNAgata rakshaNam [protection of the one who has surrendered] is

mandatory. That great a Rshi says one must listen to one's father.

 

khanadbhiH sAgaraiH bhUmim avAptaH sumahAn vadhaH | )ayodhyA.21.33)

 

In our ikshvAku vamAam, there were the sons of King sagara. There were sixty

thousand of them. They were asked by their father to go look for the horse

[yAga horse that was stolen] even if they had to go to the underworld. They dug

into the earth and went to the underworld; they were turned into ashes by the

curse of kapila mahaRshi. They were not in any lowered in their status;

afterwards, they obtained svargalokam in a surprising manner.

 

pituH hi vacanam kurvan na kaScit nAma hIyate |

 

Look at parasurAma. jamadagni looked at his son, parasurAma, and asked him to

slaughter reNuka, his mother. And parasurAma did that.

 

pituH hi vacanam kurvan na kaScit nAma hIyate |

 

You cannot find in a dictionary that someone fell from listening to one's

father. Does it say anywhere that a person listened to his father and got his

position lowered in life?

 

You do not know that no one who listens to his father's words fails miserably.

 

Did kaikeyi ask me to go to the forest? Did she say? How was she till

yesterday? When that mandara tried to poison her mind, she gave her a diamond

bracelet.

 

kathaM prakRti sampannA rAjaputrI tathAguNA |

brUyAtsuprAkRteva strI matpIDAM bhartRsannidhou || (ayodhyA.22.19)

 

What kind of person is kaikeyi? She is a princess! She is the daughter of the

great aSvapati mahArAja. She was so virtuous before. She loved us so much.

Will she ask for something like ordinary women to bring the downfall of her

husband's, cakravarti's son?

 

sukhaduHkhe bhayakrodhou lAbhAlAbhou bhavAbhavou |

yasca kincit tathAbhUtaM nanu daivasya karma tat || (ayodhyA.22.22)

 

So, kaikeyi did not say this. This is a divine act. God is making her say like

this. She was affectionate towards us till yesterday. Will that virtuous

kaikeyi say like this?

 

yadacintyaM tu tatdaivaM bhuteshvapi na hanyate | (ayodhyA.22.20)

 

One cannot even comprehend divine interventions. They cannot be stopped by

anything. Goodness, sorrow, fear, anger, gains and losses, cycle of worldly

existence, salvation - yasca kincit tathAbhUtaM nanu daivasya karma tat || -

everything is God's work. It is not a human doing. So, rAjyaM vA vanavAso vA

vanavAso mahodayaH | (2.22.29) God has given us a special gift. Like in the

forest is a special one, right!

 

Only bharta is going to have difficulty. Which is better?

 

rAjyam vA vanavAso vA – Think about which is greater, kingdom or life in the

woods.

 

vanavAso mahodayaH |

 

I told kaikeyi herself.

 

vanabhuvi tanumAtratrANam Aj~nApiM me

sakalabhuvana pAraH sthApitho vatsamUrdhni |

 

That is what I told kaikeyi herself.

 

'Mother, kaikeyi! You have shown that you love Me more; why? What did you ask

for your son? And, what did you ask for Me?

 

vanabhuvi tanumAtratrANam Aj~nApiM me

 

For Me, you asked for life in the forest for fourteen years. It is enough if I

take care of My body; I do not have any other botheration. I can eat vegetables

or roots; I have a bow in My hand; I can protect Myself for fourteen years.

What did you do for your son?

 

sakalabhuvana pAraH sthApitho vatsamUrdhni |

 

My brother is a child. You are placing a big burden of protecting the earth on

his head. He has to take care of so many people. What is kingdom?

 

rAjyam nAma mahAvyAdhiH acigitso vinASanaH || (Sukar)

 

Sukar calls the kingdom, a big disease. It is an un-curable disease. 'oru

kaLai midittAl oru kaLai kiLamba' – if one treads on a weed, another one will

start growing. Subdue one politician; another one will sprout in his place.

There are so many hardships.

 

rAjyam nAma mahAvyAdhiH acigitso vinASanaH ||

 

Kingdom is something that can destroy the very soul. dushyanta ruled over his

kingdom. He was engaged in investigating cases that came to his attention. It

was 2 pm. Then, he went to eat. He was very hungry. He said he would look

into other cases the next day and went to eat. At that time, two Rshi-kumara-s

came with a lady. They had come from kaNvar's ASramam. The king thought –

these Rshikumara-s have come; if I do not look into this case, they may curse

me.

 

So, he came back and sat down. He was feeling so bad, thinking about the kinds

of predicaments a kingdom presents.

 

outsukhyamAtram avasAsadayati pratishThA

rAjyaM svahastadhruta daNDam ivAtapatram |

 

Kingdom is like an umbrella that one holds in hand during a highly windy raining

time. The umbrella must be held very carefully. When the wind blows, the

umbrella cloth will tear off easily and rain water will fall on head; it is very

hard to hold the umbrella.

 

It is said everyone wants to rule over kingdoms. They may end up having a void

feeling for not getting to rule over kingdoms, but really, the ruling is the

hard part. outsukhyamAtram avasAsadayati pratishThA – kingdom is not something

to be yearned for.

 

What if someone comes to house when one is going to take food at 3 pm? It does

not matter to the visitors; they will just come. In the case of the king, he

found it awkward. He suffered [because of the arrival of the new case].

 

Thus, looking after a kingdom is very hard work. You are giving that to

bharata. For Me, all I have to do is take care of My health; you gave Me life

in the forest. So, mother kaikeyI, do you love bharata more or do you love Me

more?

 

dadiha taratamAyAm AvayOH cintitAyAm

mayi patati karIyAn amba te pakshapAdaH

 

You are favorably partial only towards Me.

 

lakshmaNa – do I have to teach you? You also studied with Me under vaSishTha.

In the case of this vanavAsam – 'yavIyasI matA na atiSankayA' – step mother

kaikeyI does not have any fault. Do not say anything bad about her.

 

If you say she asked [for the boon], did she ask by herself? She asked being

goaded by God to do so. It is all ISvara Sankalpam. Nothing will take place

without ISvara Sankalpam. Look how she was till yesterday. She was full of love

for us.

 

jAnAsi dharmam ca tathA prabhAvam (ayodhyA.22.30) – Do I have to tell you?

Don't you know dharmam? jAnAsi – you know everything. You know the

importance of virtue. You know the significance of God's power. Do not talk

like this'.

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To be continued …..