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

 

rAma arrives at His father's palace and said, 'rAmaH abhivAdaye'. He takes

leave of kaikeyi. daSaratha said, “Ask rAma to stay a little. Call everyone.

I have to talk when all the queens are present.†kausalyA and sumitra are

beckoned there. He has three hundred and fifty other wives. ardha sapta Satam

(ayodhyA.34.13), right? What is half of seven hundred? Three hundred and

fifty. He has that many wives. Everybody comes there. siddhArta comes.

vaSishThar comes. Everyone is present now.

 

daSaratha starts crying, “rAma, this is not my idea. dharma pASena baddho'smi

– all the kings in ikshvAku clan are truthful. I also got caught by this

kaikeyi. She used the two boons that she already had earned and asked for them.

dharma pASena baddho'smi – I was caught in the dharma pASam [bound by dharma].

Do not think the mistake is with meâ€.

 

siddhArta says to kaikeyi, “Your order for banishing rAma to the forest is not

ethical. Whatever you have said, just withdraw the boon for making rAma go to

the forest.â€

 

kaikeyi - “Nothing doing. This is not customary for ikshvAku clan. There is

no second word. What you are saying is totally absurd! Then, I will go and

fall into the oceanâ€.

 

daSaratha thinks why she is talking like this and says, “tAdRSI krura darSinI.

They will go. Send garments, ornaments, cooks etc to hold for fourteen years.

They were brought up in the palace environment. They should not be alone in the

forestâ€.

 

kaikeyi – “This is very nice. Are you giving them everything and leaving an

empty kingdom to my son? He will not take itâ€.

 

rAjyaM gatajanaM sAdho pItam aNDAm surAmiva |

(ayodhyA.36.12)

Who will accept a wine drink that has been stripped of the essence? Who will

take essence-less juice? May be, in-laws will take it. My son will not accept

it. That kind of kingdom is not needed for my son. They should not take

anything.â€

 

So saying, she gives 'maravuri' [tree-bark garment] and kRshNAjinam [ a piece of

dark skin of a deer] to rAma.

 

She gives the same to lakshmaNa and also to sItA. rAma wears it and lakshmaNa

also wears it. sItai takes it and goes to the back of the hall to wear it. It

is customary for ladies to wear the bark garment with a piece taken over the

head.

 

kathaM nu cIraM badhnanti munayo vanavAsinaH |

(ayodhyA.37.12)

 

She calls for rAma, “Please come here. I don't understand how the RSi patni-s

wear this bark garment.â€

 

How will those who are accustomed to wearing silk garments and six-yards saris

know how to wear a bark garment?

 

In my home town area, when a congress leader comes, the wives of the

congress-men will be told, “Wear 'kadar' [home-spun cotton] sari today. There

is a big meeting. Leader is comingâ€. The wives will say, “If we have to

wear this hideously heavy sari, how can we wear it suddenly just for a dayâ€.

They do not have to wear it every day. Only on the day the leader comes. You

know that right?!

 

sItai asks how the wives of RSi-s dress.

 

vaSishThar pitches in - “What is this? This is atrocious.

Is this customary? If rAma goes to the forest. sItA can rule in His place.â€

 

Each person offers a different suggestion.

 

rAma helps sItA wear the tree-bark garment. All the people who are assembled

there cry their hearts out when they see her.

 

A lot of them try to object to their going. They do not listen and they leave

for the forest.

 

siddhArta tells kaikeyi - “You are behaving just like your mother.â€

 

kaikeyi - “What did my mother do, what for?â€

 

“kaikeyi's mother was lying down with her husband. mahArAja laughed suddenly

when he was lying down. The wife asked him if he was laughing at her.

 

King - “No. A RSi has blessed me with a boon saying, 'you will understand the

talk of any creature'. This ant is talking and when I listened to it, I

laughed.â€

 

The wife wanted to know what the ant was saying.

 

King - “If I reveal that, I will die with my head bursting into pieces.â€

 

The wife would not budge and forced him to say.

 

kekaya mahArAja says, “I will die, my wife. How can I say that?â€

 

Wife - “You are going to die some day anyway. Are you going to live here for

ever? You will go sometime. It would be better if you go in time. What did

the ant say?â€

 

You are talking like your mother, kaikeyi! Your husband, daSaratha is so

despondent and down-hearted now! His breath is taking leave of him. You are

so uncompromising and adamantâ€.

 

kaikeyi - “I will not withdraw my request. They have to depart for the

forest.â€

 

rAma leaves and asks sumantra to bring the chariot. He gets on the chariot and

sits down. vAlmIki shows how they all get on the chariot, who sits in the front

etc.

 

They are all up; chariot starts to leave. daSaratha takes a peek.

 

He calls sumantra saying, “Drive the chariot slowly. That way, I can keep

seeing rAma for a while.

 

tishTheti rAjA cukroSa yAhi yAhIti rAghavaH !

(ayodhyA.40.46)

Stop, stop.â€

 

rAma - “sumantra, keep driving, keep driving; this is how everyone will be

crying. They will be fine after a whileâ€.

 

daSaratha - “Stop the chariotâ€.

 

sumantrasya babhUvAtmA cakrayoriva cA'ntarA |

(ayodhyA.40.46)

sumantra does not know what to do. Should he listen to daSaratha or rAma? He

looks like he is caught between two wheels.

 

rAma - “Go, goâ€.

 

sumantra - “He is asking me to stopâ€.

 

rAma - “Let him keep sayingâ€.

 

sumantra -

“nASrausham iti rAjanam upAlabdhoo'pi vakshyasi |

(ayodhyA.40.47)

When I come back tomorrow, he will ask me why I did not listen to him and why I

was driving fast; what will I do?â€

 

rAma - “Tell him you were not able to hear what he was saying. If he gets

angry at you, just tell him you did not hear him.

 

nASrausham iti rAjanam upAlabdhoo'pi vakshyasi |

 

So, sumantra agrees and keeps driving the chariot.

 

rAma is asking him to lie! rAma is a personification of truth! This is a black

mark in rAmAvatAram.

 

Criminal act declares that encouraging and stimulating someone to lie is a

bigger crime than lying.

 

There is more severe punishment for one who induces and provokes someone else do

the killing. There are criminal procedures like Act 137, 144 etc. That act

ordains higher punishment for the inciter of the plan, do you know?! It is

lesser punishment for the killer; and more severe one for the instigator of the

crime.

 

rAma asked sumantra to lie! Is this right?

 

We lie everyday. No one bothers about us. rAma never lies. It is a blemish if

a person who never lies says even one lie, right?

 

rAma asked sumantra to say “nASraushamâ€.

 

It means, “Did not hearâ€.

 

It can mean 'the ear did not hear'. Another meaning is, 'did not listen to what

you said [did not obey you]'.

 

What rAma is telling sumantra is not 'ear did not hear'; He is not asking him to

lie.

 

“mAhArAja! Because rAma forced me, I did not listen to your word 'stop'. I

kept driving the chariot on.â€

 

This is what rAma is asking sumantra to say.

 

Will rAma lie? This is the explanation for this.

 

The chariot is gone now.

 

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

of SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA)

===========

To be continued …..