AcArya rAmAMRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. Jan. '10 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. Jan. '10 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 tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam,

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri

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SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan’s SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam

 

atha rAmaH ca sItA ca lakshmaNaH ca kRtA'ncaliH |

upasa'ngRhya rAjAnaM cakruH dInAH pradakshiNam ||

(ayodhyA.40.1)

 

taM cApi samanuj~nApya dharmaj~naH sItayA saha|

rAghavaH SokasammuDaH jananIm abhyavAdayat ||

(ayodhyA.40.2)

 

 

cakravartit tirumagan, iLaiya perumAL and pirATTi circumambulate the mothers and

keep standing with folded hands.

 

rathamAroha bhadraM te rAjaputra mahAyaSaH |

kshipraM tvAM prApayishyAmi yatra mAM rAma vakshyasi ||

(ayodhyA.40.12)

sumantra brings forth the chariot, ready to go.

 

taM rathaM sUrya sa'nkASaM sitA hRshTena cetasA |

Aruroha varArohA kRtvA'lankAram AtmanaH ||

(ayodhyA.40.14)

 

That chariot shines brilliantly like the sun. sItA happily gets on to the

chariot first. Then, the two brothers get on. The city folks start crying.

 

sumantra starts driving the chariot. They leave the palace.

 

PirATTi sits in the chariot first. Only then, rAma and lakshmaNa sit.

 

vAlmIki is showing who should sit first in the car when one goes on a journey.

When a person goes out of town for some marriage etc, who sits first in the car?

It is always the husband. The husband should sit only after the wife sits.

SAstram says that the journey should be auspicious. Only women should sit first

(laughter in the audience); I am just telling you.

 

samyaccha vAjinAM raSmIn sUta yAhi SanaiH SanaiH |

mukhaM drakshyAma rAmasya durdarSaM no bhavishyati ||

(ayodhyA.40.22)

 

People are all crying. Chariot is leaving. The folks hold on to the chariot

and keep running with it. They tell sumantra. “Drive slowly; samyaccha

vAjinAM raSmIn sUta yAhi SanaiH SanaiH | Take a firm grip of the reins; do

not go very fast. yAhi SanaiH SanaiH | Go slow.â€

 

mukhaM drakshyAma rAmasya durdarSaM no bhavishyati ||

 

“Let us see rAma's face. When are we going to see that face again? After how

many days? Who knows if we will be alive or not.

 

AyasaM hRdayaM nUnaM rAmamAturasamSayam |

yat devagarbha pratime vanaM yAti na bidhyate ||

(ayodhyA.40.23)

 

Take mother kausalyA, or kaikeyi; are their minds made out of iron? They are

still living even when their good son is leaving for the forest.

 

kRta kRtyA hi vaidehI chAye vA'nugatA patim |

(ayodhyA.40.24)

 

sItA is one who is very blessed. Just as the shadow follows a man, sItA is

following rAma. She is very lucky.

 

na jahAti ratA dharme merumarkaprabhA yathA |

(ayodhyA.40.24)

jAnakI will never part with rAma. The sun's rays never leave meru mountain.

The term 'sUya prabhai' does not refer to the vAhanam/chariot in the temple; it

denotes the sun's rays. In my place, there is a chariot called sUryaprabhai; on

the one side, it will look like the sun's chariot; the other side would be the

moon's chariot.

 

The sun's rays never leave meru mountain. Since the sun circumambulates the

meru mountain, there are no days when the sun's rays do not lighten up the

mountain. If there is no light on one side, there will be light on the other

side.

 

Like that, sItA will never part with rAma.

 

aho lakshmaNa siddhArthaH satataM priyavAdinam |

bhrAtaraM devasankASaM yastvaM paricarishyasi ||

(ayodhyA.40.25)

lakshmaNa! You are a great blessed person! You are going with Him~ You are

going to do kaiMkaryam to rAma, who is like a deva. You are very blessed.

 

priyavAdinam – when you do kaiMkaryam, rAma will say a word. When horses run

for six or eight or ten miles, if the driver pats them on their bodies, the

horses get relieved of all the tension and tiredness; they feel happy with that

pat. They forget everything. When rAma thinks how much kaiMkaryam lakshmaNa has

done, He would say, “lakshmaNa! Your kaiMkaryam is so great; there is no one

like my brotherâ€. Then, you will forget everything else.â€

 

If a husband tells his wife, “Look at your doomed face; your cooking will be

like your faceâ€, how will she feel?

 

Even if something is not done well, she must be praised. Only then, she will

feel happy. vAlmIki calls rAma – priyavAdinam He will only talk in a loving

way; He can never talk in an unpleasant manner.

 

mahatyeshA hi te buddhiH esha cAbhudayo mahAn |

esha svargasya mArgaH ca yadenam anugacchasi ||

(ayodhyA.40.26)

“lakshmaNa! This is a great wealth for you. rAma kaiMkaryam is the highest of

all riches. There is no other famous path. KaiMkaryam to rAma is the way to

salvation.â€

 

Crying thus, all the folks come running after the chariot pleading with sumantra

to hold the reins of the horses.

 

rAma ordered sumantra to keep driving fast. “People will talk like this.

After we leave the city, everything will be forgotten. Isn't it customary to

talk like this when one is closer?! When one is leaving town, they will say,

“You should not go; you should stay here and bless usâ€. After the person

leaves, they will look at this person only when he comes back next.

 

sUtaM sa'ncodayAmAsa tvaritaM vAhyatAm iti |

(ayodhyA.40.31)

This is the nature of peopleâ€.

 

hA rAmeti janAH kecit rAmamAteti cApare |

(ayodhyA.40.38)

They are all crying their hearts out, calling out, “rAmaâ€, “ramamAtAâ€

etc. The intensity of their suffering keeps increasing more and more.

 

With a great despair, daSaratha looks at his son going. He breaks out

immediately -

 

tishTheti rAjA cukroSa, yAhi yAhIti rAghavaH |

sumanrtrasya babhuvAtmA cakrayoriva cAntarA ||

(ayodhyA.40.46)

vAlmIki's wonderful Slokam here. All these Slokams are excellent. daSaratha

says – tishTha tishTheti rAjA - “sumantra, stop the chariot; I have to see

rAma; please stop a little.â€

 

yAhi yAhIti rAghavaH - they are all crying because of sorrow. You drive

quickly; let the horses go fast – says rAma to sumantra.

 

The time is not right for sumantra. He has done service for 60,000 years. He

has not retired yet. He has to get pension, gratuity etc. Shouldn't he listen

to what daSaratha says? He can listen to rAma if He is the king; and He is

leaving for the forest. Should sumantra listen to rAma or His father? What

should he do?

 

sumanrtrasya babhuvAtmA cakrayoriva cAntarA ||

 

sumantra's soul looks now like one caught between the front and the back wheels.

cakrayoriva cAntarA.

 

There is no comfort in getting caught between wheels. rAma says, “Goâ€.

sumantra looks back at Him and says, “Father is asking me to stopâ€.

 

“You keep goingâ€.

 

“He is asking me to stopâ€.

 

“nASraushamiti rAjAnam upAlabdhopi vakshyasi |

(ayodhyA.40.47)

If you are asking me what you can do if father gets angry and asks you, “Why

didn't you listen to me? Why did you keep driving the chariot?†etc,

nASraushamiti rAjAnam upAlabdhopi vakshyasi | You just tell him that in all

that crowd, in all that noise, you did not hear him. na aSrausham – his words

did not reach your ears. What can he do?â€

 

Some may ask – you are saying rAma is the personification of truth! And, He

is asking sumantra to lie.

 

rAma asked one person to lie one time. sItA lied once. We are telling lies

every day; nobody cares; but, they question about them. Why? Because, they are

the ones who are supposed to be very truthful and they are lying.

 

It is very difficult to avoid telling lies; satyaM Satena vighnAnAm – if one

determines to speak only the truth, there will be hundreds of obstacles.

sahasreNa tathA tapaH – there will be thousands of impediments for a penance.

 

… vighnAyutena govindAM nRNAM bhaktiH prajAyate (svAmi deSikan's pA'ncarAtra

rakshA) – if one wants to be devoted to SrIman nArAyaNa, ten thousand

hindrances will present themselves.

 

satyaM Satena vighnAnAm - a person makes takes up an oath saying he will not

say even one lie from morning till the evening. Only that day, someone will

come from the corporation (/municipality) and ask questions like “How many

occupants are there? What is the rent?†Can't he come a day earlier?

(laughter in the audience). satyaM Satena vighnAnAm Couldn't the corporation

guy have come the previous day? That is the result of sins. It is all God's

determination.

 

He will have to say something like, “My daughter is one of the renters; two

sons are living separately here; we have reserved that room for making coffee

(audience laughs).â€

satyaM Satena vighnAnAm - sahasreNa tathA tapaH – a thousand deterrants will

befall a person doing penance. See how many viSvAmitra had.

 

vighnAyutena govindAM nRNAM bhaktir nivAryate -

 

A person will meet with ten thousand obstructions if he wants to be devoted to

bhagavAn.

 

When one wants to go to the temple, work will present itself; baby will cry;

son-in-law will arrive; his parents will come. So many barriers; that is our

plight; it is hard to protect truth.

 

rAmo dvirnAbhibhashate | (ayodhyA.18.30)

anRtaM nokta purvaM me na ca vakshye kadAcana |

(bAla.58.19)

 

rAma is saying He will not lie; but, He asks sumantra to lie saying he did not

hear! Is this fair?

 

nASraushamiti rAjAnam upAlabdhopi vakshyasi |

 

In the laws for a kingdom, if one murders another, the murderer does not get a

lot of punishment. The one who instigates the murderer gets more punishment.

Like that, between the one who lies and one who instigates him to lie, the

latter accrues more sin.

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To be continued …..