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

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri

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SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan’s SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam

 

lakshmaNa responded - “What is this brother? You keep talking about Godâ€.

 

viklavo vIryahIno yaH sa daivam anuvartate |

vIrAH sambhAvitAtmAnaH na daivaM paryupAsate ||

(ayodhyA.23.16)

 

laskhmaNa is taking a stab at his brother.

 

“What are You going to do? viklavo vIryahIno yaH – only one who is

suffering from being weak and meek; sa daivam anuvartate - will keep talking

about daivam/God.

 

vIrAH – those who are strong; sambhAvitAtmAnaH – and those who respect

themselves; na daivaM paryupAsate – will not resort to bowing to God.

 

sambhAvita AtmAnaH - sambhAvitaH AtmA eshAM te sambhAvitAtmAnaH (aCAryar

laughs); avA na daivaM paryupAsate – they do not agree there is a God. Does

that God come right in front? It is kA purushAH vadanti – there is no such

thing called God. When a person is very disturbed and sad, in order to console

that person to live on, this concept of God is handled. People try to comfort

him saying, 'it is all God's doing' when he is cornered in a dangerous

situation. If there is such a God, show me and I will kill Him with this arrow.

 

daivaM purushakAreNa nivartitum utsahet | (mahAbhAratam)

 

I will make that God go away; I will strike Him with my arrow.â€

 

All these Slokams will be useful later on. He says he can drive away God; what

happens to that brother?

 

mAnyA guruvinItasya lakshmaNasya gurupriyA |

yadi sItApi duHkhArthA kAlo hi duratikramaH || (sundara.16.3)

 

lakshmaNa says he will drive away God. He could have done that and changed

sItA's sorrow, right? But, then, lakshmaNa is also crying along with rAma. All

these Slokams would become useful then.

 

rAma asks him to keep quiet and to obey father's command.

 

kausalyai tells rAma, “You listen to Your brother; he is telling You what to

do. You take over the kingdom; he is vowing that he will take care of any one

who opposes.â€

 

“Mother, you should also keep quiet. We should listen to what father says.

Nothing wrong will come out of it. I came here only to tell you that I am

taking leave as per father's words. Please have a peaceful life.

 

vratopavAsa niratA yA nArI paramottamA |

bhartAraM nAnuvarteta sA ca pApagatiH bhavet || (ayodhyA.24.25)

 

No matter how many austerities a wife performs, how many SravaNa vratams she

takes up, how many ekadasi vratams or krittika vratams or thursday night

palahArams she takes (AcAryar laughs),

 

bhartAraM nAnuvarteta sA ca pApagatiH bhavet ||

 

if such a wife does not serve her husband, she will only go to the pApa lokam.

She may say that she had done so many vratams. Of what use are they?

 

vratopavAsa niratA yA nArI paramottamA |

 

The wife may be very great and very austere. She may be doing a lot of vratams.

 

bhartAraM nAnuvarteta sA ca pApagatiH bhavet ||

 

bhartuH SuSrUshayA nArI labhate svargamuttamam

api yA nirnamaskArA nivRttA devapUjanAt (ayodhyA.24.24)

 

If a wife serves her husband, she reaches the highest svargalokam.

 

api yA nirnamaskArA nivRttA devapUjanAt |

 

It does not matter if she does not worship the perumAL in the temple. She does

not have to prostrate before perumAL. It is enough if she attends to her

husband.

 

api yA nirnamaskArA nivRttA devapUjanAt |

 

It does not mean one should stop this (meaning rAmAyaNam). Even if a wife

cannot do pUja to devas or worship God, if she serves her husband, that is

enough – labhate svargam uttamam.

 

SuSrushAmeva kurvIta bhartuH priyahite ratA |

esha dharmaH purAdishTaH loke vede SrutaH smRtaH || (ayodhyA.24.25)

 

Mother, this is what has been said in veda-s and old sayings in the world. So,

mother! You stay here.â€

 

kausalyai says, “rAma! I cannot stay without You. I will definitely come

with You.â€

 

rAma knows what to say at what time so that she will listen. So, immediately, He

says,

 

“patihInA tu yA nArI – a woman will go with her son only when her husband is

dead.

 

agnikAryeshu ca sadA sumanobhiH ca devatAH | (ayodhyA.24.26)

 

For father's agnihotram [havan], you are the eldest wife to accompany him. If

you are not here, the agni hotra fire that you have been saving for father for

sixty thousand years will go to waste. Your dharma and father's dharma will

vanish. Do not lose the dharma practiced for sixty thousand years; virtue

alone will protect. You stay here and look after the agni and father.

 

prApsyase paramaM kAmaM mayi pratyAgate sati | (ayodhyA.24.29)

 

I will come back and do everything you desire. I am taking leave. Service to

husband is important for you.â€

 

kausalyai regained her form and asked her servant to bring mantrAkshadai [yellow

rice for blessing].

 

yam pAlayasi dharmaM tvaM dhRtyA ca niyamena ca |

sa vai rAghava SArdUla! dharmaH tvAm abhirakshatu || (ayodhyA.25.3)

 

“Hey, rAghava! Let the dharma that You are practicing with great strength and

austerity protect You.â€

 

kausalyai, who was crying all this time and trying to support lakshmaNa, calmed

down as soon as rAma said one Slokam. She blessed Him with mantrAkshadai.

PerumAL knows how to talk.

 

ANDAL says ' what magic power does perumAL have in His face'.

 

peyyumAmugil pOl vaNNA un tan pEccum seigayum engaLai

maiyalERRi mayakka un mugam mAya mandiram tAn kolO |

noyyar piLLaigaL enbadaRku unnai nOva nAngaL uraikkilOm

seyya tAmaraik kaNNinAi engaL ciRRil vandu cidaiyElE (2.4)

 

“ un mugam mAya mandiram tAn kolOâ€

 

arjuna's abhimanyu got killed in the battle. Arjuna was very melancholic. He

cried saying that he did not want anything, and he wanted to go to the forest

and he wanted to die. He dropped his kANDIvam, wore kRshNAjInam and started

doing unja vrtti [getting alms]. He cried saying that the kingdom was nothing

to him anymore. bhImadeva cried and everyone was crying. sahadeva cried saying

there is no need for battle anymore and it should be stopped.

 

duryodhana and party were very happy that the pANDava-s were going to beg for

alms and there would be no battle. kRshNa was informed that the battle was going

to be stopped.

 

He went to see them. “What is this, you are crying! You are saying – stop

the battle. Instead of taking a soldierly vow to revenge your son's death,

saying you will vanquish your son's killer by tomorrow evening sunset, you are

crying like a brahmin [AcAryar uses the term 'pAppAn' here jokingly; pAppAn is a

slang term for brahmin]. Only a brahmaNan will cry (AcAryar laughs). Are you

not a kshatriya? A valorous soldier like you are crying and saying - I do not

need this and I do not need that.

 

Will you take a vow for revenging your son's killer by tomorrow evening or will

you be sitting here crying? Are you a coward?â€

 

“hA! Look, I will kill him by tomorrow eveningâ€, said arjuna.

 

PerumAL knows how to talk appropriately at the right time so that one will

listen to Him. What kind of magic does He have in His face? ANDAL says she does

not know.

 

peyyumAmugil pOl vaNNA un tan pEccum seigayum engaLai

maiyalERRi mayakka un mugam mAya mandiram tAn kolO |

 

We all wanted to beat up the mischievous kaNNan; but, when we saw His face right

in person, everything was forgotten. un tan pEccum seigayum engaLai maiyalERRi

mayakka un mugam mAya mandiram tAn kolO.

 

kausalyai makes up her mind and utters a lot of mangaLa AsIrvAdams for rAma.

 

“yebhyaH praNamase putra! caityeshvAya taneshu ca |

te ca tvAm abhirakshantu vane saha maharshibhiH || (ayodhyA.25.4)

 

Let all the Gods in the temples You pray to, protect You. Let all the Rshi-s

protect You.

 

May You receive all the blessings that devendran's mother aditi conferred on him

when he was going to vanquish vRtrAsuran.

 

yanmangaLaM suparNasya vinatA'kalpayat purA |(ayodhyA.25.33)

 

May You receive the blessings offered by mother vinatA to her son, vainateyan -

 

amRtaM prArthayAnasya tat te bhavatu mangaLam |†(ayodhyA.25.33)

 

The whole sarga is full of mangalASAsanam-s.

 

“May You be blessed by creatures starting from ants, animals, snakes, spirits,

trees, forest fairies and plants in the forests and from all the directions.â€

 

PerumAL feels at peace. He has permission [to leave] from one party. He has

to do that with His wife next. That will be even more difficult. He will have

to coax her. Because, it is difficult to tell a wife that a husband lost all

the wealth.

 

praviveSA'tha rAmastu svaveSma suvibhushitam |

prahRshTa jana sampUrNaM hriyA kincit avAngmukhaH || (ayodhyA.26.6)

 

He goes to His palace where everyone was rejoicing [not knowing about the latest

development]. hriyA kincit avAngmukhaH - He is going with His head down

because of shame.

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

SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA)

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To be continued …..