AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. August 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. August 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)

 

A short note on the letter scheme used for samskRtam and tamizh words in these

postings:

 

Grammar dictates that all proper names should begin with capital letters. Both

saMskRtam and tamizh have small [mellinam in tamizh] ‘ra’ and capital

[vallinam in tamizh] ‘Ra’, this distinction will be made wherever

appropriate. Because of the necessity to show this distinction [rAma begins

with small letter ‘r’, not ‘R’ for RAma], all proper names will begin

with small letters to avoid confusion, sometimes justifiably. Same logic applied

for ‘na’ and ‘Na’ (nArayANa instead of NarAyaNa).

 

saMskRtam –

- has only elongated ‘e’ [neDil in tamizh]; no separate short ‘e’

[kuRil in tamizh]. kaikEyi will be written as ‘kaikeyi’;

only elongated ‘o’ [neDil]; no separate short ‘o’ [kuRil]. Hence,

capital ‘O’ will not be used for saMskRtam words [‘rAmo na paSyati’].

 

tamizh –

- has both short ‘e’ (‘ettanai’) and elongated ‘E’

(‘kaikEyi’);

- has short 'o' (‘tol’) and elongated 'O’ (‘pOip pukku’).

 

Use of letters – ‘A†and ‘a’, ‘D’ and ‘d’, ‘T’ and

‘t’, ‘U’ and ‘u’, ‘S’ and ‘s’, ‘I’ and ‘i’, ‘L’

and ‘l’, ‘M’ and ‘m’, ‘H’ and ‘h’ - is self-explanatory.

 

The theme used for letters in these postings makes it easier to transliterate

into International saMskRtam notations (using softwares for both saMskRtam and

tamizh) when they are published in book format.

 

(Please set your encoding to Unicode UTF-8).

 

SrImad ANDavan tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam,

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri

=====================================

SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan’s SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam

 

vAlmIki writes – rAma holds His head down in shame when He goes. One can win

over the five senses, not the wife!

 

He has to inform sItA; how is He going to tell her that He has to go to the

forest? So, He goes to her with His head facing down. sItA asks Him,

 

na te SataSalAkena jalapena nibhena ca |

AvRtaM vadanaM valgu chatreNAbhi virAjate ||

vyajanAbhyAM ca mukhyAbhyAM

SatapatranibhekshaNam |

candrahamsa prakASAbhyAM vIjyate na tavAnanam ||

(ayodhyA.26.10,11)

 

na hastI cAgrataH srImAMstava lakshaNapUjitaH |

prayANe lakshyate vIra! kRshNamega giriprabhaH ||

 

na hastI cAgrataH srImAMstava lakshaNapUjitaH |

apUrvo mukhavarNaH ca na praharshaH ca lakshyate ||

(ayodhyA.26.16,18)

 

sItA asks – What is this? Why are You coming like this?â€

 

na te SataSalAkena – The white, royal umbrella will have a hundred iron

threads holding pearls in them. Those who are to be coronated will get this

umbrella which is white like the foam of water. When that umbrella is held, the

face of the ‘prince’ will shine like the moon.

 

“That umbrella seems to be missing. It is also customary to have the cAmaram

[fan]; that cAmaram is also not to be seen. An elephant would have normally

come in the front; where is that elephant?

 

na hastI cAgrataH srImAMstava lakshaNapUjitaH |

 

A high pedigree elephant must have come in the front.

 

na hastI cAgrataH srImAMstava lakshaNapUjitaH |

 

What happened? The royal insignia are missing. There are no signs of

abhishekam. Your face is not the same as before.

 

apUrvo mukhavarNaH ca na praharshaH ca lakshyate ||“

 

Earlier, vAlmIki had said, ‘sarva lokAtigasyeva lakshyate citta vikriyA’

[ayodhyA.19.33] – rAma looked like a mahaRshi who had renounced all wordly

connections; His face looked like ‘appOdalarnda centAmaraiyinai ottadammA’

[kamban.kaikeyi suzhcci.112].

 

Now, when He comes to sItA,

 

apUrvo mukhavarNaH ca na praharshaH ca lakshyate ||

 

sItA asks, “There is no happiness in Your countenance. You have a strange

color in Your faceâ€.

 

Did He conceal His sorrow and show His happy outward face earlier? Now He has

“apUrvo mukhavarNaH�

 

He did not lose His face color because of losing the kingdom. He is thinking

how to reveal the news to sItA. That is the dilemma.

 

There was a case in our place. It was a case for division of property. The

case was that a husband had bought his wife jewelry for 2 lakh rupees even

before he divided his property. A 'receiver' was appointed by the court. It

was ordered that he must surrender the jewelry to the court. He did not do

that. The judge told him, “I had already ordered you to bring the jewelry to

the courtâ€.

 

The husband’s lawyer said, “It is true that my client bought 2 lakh rupees

worth of jewels. We are not denying that. How can he ask his wife to take off

all that jewelry? My client is wondering about that. “ The judge agreed and

let it go.

 

Like that, apUrvo mukhavarNaH – everything else is fine; how to console the

wife – that is the worry.

 

Women are very smart.

 

StrINAM dviguNam AhAraH budhiH cApi caturguNam |

 

Women are four times wiser than men. See, as soon as sItA looked at Him, she

found out.

 

apUrvo mukhavarNaH ca na praharshaH ca lakshyate ||

 

rAma is smarter than her; He is bhUpati, right! When womenfolk have matter to

worry about, He knows how to talk so that they will not worry. He says,

 

“kule mahati sambhute dharmag~ne dharmacAriNi

SruNu jAnaki! yenedam kramenAbhyAgatam mama || (ayodhyA.26.20)

 

sIte! You come from an exalted family, a royal vamSam. When a lady is from an

ordinary family, and she is praised, she will forget everything else. You are

from a very high family, right! You know all the dharmam. There is nothing you

do not know. You follow dharmam. Aren’t you the daughter of janaka! Listen

to me. I will tell you what the news is. kramenAbhyAgatam mama | “

 

He has to release the news a little at a time. Only few people know how to do

that. In those days, a specific person will be appointed to relay bad news like

death (laughter in the audience). He will be appointed in the palace for a

salary of 200 rupees. Death news will come only once in a while. He has to

report that. For that, he will get a monthly salary.

 

He will say – “mahArAja enquired about you all. His mother was not feeling

well. Doctor came and treated her. Still, she was not getting better. Another

experienced doctor came to treat her; her sickness was giving trouble. A doctor

from another country came to look at her; even then she was not any betterâ€

etc etc. He should know how to talk for a long time so that the listener would

be made to think – Oh, when is he going to say ‘she is dead’? (Audience

laughs). Thus, the news must be released very slowly.

 

Like that, rAma says, “Everything was getting ready for the coronation.

sumantra came and took Me. I was talking to father. He was not feeling

well.†etc. etc. Then, He says,

“caturdaSa hi varshANi vastavyaM daNDake mayA | (ayodhyA.26.23)

 

Father has ordered Me to go to the forest for fourteen years. Do you know how a

wife must be when a husband goes out of town? vratopa vAsatarayA bhavitavyaM

tvayA’naghe (ayodhyA.26.29)! You should observe vratams, fastings etc.

kAlyam utthAya devAnAm kRtvA pUjAm yathAvidhi (ayodhyA.26.30)– wake in the

early morning, take a bath and worship svAmi with pUjA, vanditavyo daSarathaH

– go and pay your respects to your father-in-law; pitA mama janeSvaraH |

(ayodhyA.26.30)

 

mAtA ca mama kausalyA vRddhA santApakarSitA |

dharmameva agrataH kRtvA tvattaH sammAnam arhati ||(ayodhyA.26.21)

 

Worship my mother. Serve her. Serve my father.

 

Do not ask me – You are leaving me. Why should I serve them? dharmameva

agrataH kRtvA – there is a dharmam called strIdharmam. Do serve my mother.

 

bharata will be the king from now on. You should not ignore the king. A king

may get angry all on a sudden. So, be very careful. Do not disrespect him.

Even though he is My brother, you should respect him. Keep doing things that

are beneficial to him. Serve your father-in-law and mother-in-law. Fourteen

years will fly away like a minute. I will come back.

 

sItA! I came here to tell you thisâ€.

 

sItA responds –

 

“kimidaM bhAshase rAma vAkyaM laghutayAdhruvam |

tvayA yadapahAsyam me Srtam naravarAtmajaH ||

 

Aryaputra! pitA mAtA bhrAtA putraH tathA snushA |

svAni puNyAni bhunjAnAH svaM svaM bhAgyam upAsate ||

 

bhartuH bhAgyantu nAryaikA prApnoti purusharshabha |

ataScaivAham AdishTA vane vastavyam ityapi ||

(ayodhyA.27-2,3,4)

 

What svAmi! You have pronounced so quickly!

kimidaM bhAshase rAma vAkyaM laghutayA – You have said so lightly – do serve

mother, do serve father, worship perumAL, I will come back soon etc.â€

 

sitA calls Him ‘Aryaputra’; a husband must be called as

‘father-in-law’s son’.

 

“Aryaputra! pitA mAtA bhrAtA putraH tathA snushA |

svAni puNyAni bhunjAnAH svaM svaM bhAgyam upAsate ||

 

I have learned from my father. Great dharma SAstra vidvAn-s come to my father.

They have all been paid their due respects there also. Hey Arya putra! Father,

mother, sons or daughters-in-law - svAni puNyAni bhunjAnAH – they all reap

the benefits of their puNyam-s – virtues. Whatever dharmam they have done,

they reap the fruits for those. svam svam bhAghyam upAsate || They enjoy only

what is destined for them. Their karma decides their fruits. If they had done

good karma-s, they will be blessed with a lot of money etc; otherwise, they will

not have them.

 

bhartuH bhAgyantu nAryaikA prApnoti purusharshabha |

 

But for wife alone, she has her own karma along with her husband’s bhAgyam.

Husband’s puNyam will apply to wife also. All others, father, mother,

brother, daughter-in-law, have only their own karma results. They have to reap

the results of their own puNyam or pApam. Wife alone has her own karmA as well

as her husband’s bhAgyam. That is what SAstram says.

 

If your father asks You to get coronated instead of going to the forest, then, I

will also get to sit by You during paTTAbhishekam, right? I have to partake in

that. But, can You say I cannot come to the forest? Shouldn’t I get that

bhAgyam also? Can you say that I should share only in happiness and not in

sadness? SAstram says that wife gets the good effects of the husband also.â€

 

Today is vaikuNTha ekAdasi. Mother has to go to tiruvallikkENi and asks her son

– give me some change for the bus. Son gives her money - 4 aNA-s for going; 4

aNA-s for coming back; so 8 aNA-s. Then, 8 aNA-s for a coconut; so that is 1

rupee. “I need 2 aNA-s for camphor; 2 aNA-s for betelnut and seeval. And for

bananas too.†He gives her 1 and a ½ rupees.

 

Mother asks him, “You are giving me 1 and a ½ rupees like this! When my

daughter-in-law wants to go to a movie, you give her ten rupees! For me, you

give only 1 and a ½ rupees. Is that all!â€

 

Immediately the daughter-in-law says – “Who is preventing you from asking

your own husband [for money]â€. (laughter in the sabhai)

 

bhartuH bhAgyantu nAryaikA prApnoti purusharshabha |

 

She is a mother. Will a son’s money belong to mother?

 

bhartuH bhAgyantu nAryaikA prApnoti purusharshabha |

 

Only wife gets her husband’s puNyam or prosperity. I am not saying this. sItA

says this.

 

bhartuH bhAgyantu nAryaikA prApnoti purusharshabha |

ataScaivAham AdishTA vane vastavyam ityapi ||

 

When coronation is done for You, I will also wear silk and sit by Your side! I

am allowed to do that! And, now, when You going to the forest, You are saying I

do not get to take part in that fortune.

 

na pitA nAtmajo nAtmA na mAtA na sakhIjanaH |

iha pretya ca nArINAm patiH eko gatiH sadA ||

(ayodhyA.27.5)â€

 

So, sItA says that she will also accompany rAma and continues to quote several

other dharmam-s. vAlmIki is going to talk about those. kuSa and lava are going

to sing in the upanyAsam to be continued tomorrow about how sItA forces rAma to

take her, how lakshmaNa does SaraNAgati to rAma and how they all go to

kaikeyi’s palace to take leave etc.

 

svasti prajAbhyaH paripAlayantAM

nyAyyena margeNa mahIM mahISAH |

gobrAhmaNebhyaH Subham astu nityaM

lokAH samastAH sukhino bhavantu ||

 

mangaLam kosalendrAya mahanIya guNAbdhaye |

cakravarti tanUjAya sArva bhoumAya mangaLam ||

mangaLASAsanaparaiH madAcArya purogamaiH |

sarvaiH ca pUrvaiH AcAryaiH sakRtAyAstu mangaLam ||

===========

To be continued …..