lakshmaNa 46

April 19, 2007

Post 46

Dear Sri vaishnava perunthagaiyeer,

In the previous 45 posts, we saw 'lakshmaNa' donning 12 roles. The study on the 12

th role of the servant is taken up in last post. Just to recollect the servant lakshmaNa said, 'I will do everything'. This is the real servant's attitude. So what all he did is worth a listing –

1. The errand boy lakshmaNa –

raama thu anEna vaakyEna supreetha: prathi uvaacha tham |

vraja aapruchchhasva soumithrE sarvam Eva suhruth janam || 2-31-26

meaning: Raama, very much delighted on hearing these words, said to him: " Oh, LakshmaNa! Go, take leave of all your friends. "

Point:

This order came once raama accepted the formal application [slokams 2-31-24, 25] for recruitment of lakshmaNa as a servant of him. Since in the application itself lakshmaNa reminded raama about his purposes, the 'candidature offer' for recruitment was immediately accepted, and further immediate order to carry out a specific duty is also assigned. See meaning of slokams below - slokams 2-31-27 to 29: Oh, LakshmaNa! At a grand sacrifice performed by Janaka, [seethaa's father] the great-souled VaruNa (god of water) personally gave

§ heavenly bows, which are dreadful to look at,

§ divine impenetrable pieces of armour,

§ quivers containing an inexhanstible stock of arms,

§ two swords decked with gold and with spotless lustre like that of a sun

All these were kept at the residence of our preceptor Vasishta. After paying due reverence, take all those arms and return soon. "

So, as directed, Lakshmana, the tiger among princes, brought them and showed to Raama all those arms, which were divine, being worshipped and decorated by garlands. [slokam 2-31-31].

Point

: to note here is that varuNan is the repository of all divine arms generally. In the bow story article also, we saw that Vishnu gave the bow to varuNan, once the fight between Siva and Vishnu was over. May be during wedding of seethaa, janaka gave these arms as a proper gift to maappiLLai – son in law - raama – for his bravery in breaking the siva dhanu: and raama has deposited all these arms to guru vasishta for safe custody. 'Brahmins were the custodians for arms' that message is clear from this. Visvaamithra also had lot of asthrams and sasthrams which he gave to raama.

Continuation:

tham uvaacha aathmavaan raama: preethyaa lakshmaNam aagatham |

kaalE thvam aagatha: soumya kaankshithE mama lakshmaNa || 2-31-32

meaning: Raama, who had fully controlled his mind, affectionately spoke as follows to LakshmaNa who arrived: " Oh, LakshmaNa, the excellent man! You came in time as desired by me. "

Point:

In management science it is said a worker [or servant or subordinate] should be appreciated at the appropriate time. And that appreciation itself is a big motivator for the servant to do great things. That is what raama did here. See two things described by vaalmeeki

– raama is a person of fully controlled mind,

– he spoke affectionately.

Even while appreciating any servant – it should be explicit, it should be truth, and there should be affection or love in it – not a plain 'lip service appreciation'.

Another point is also said by raama - the 'timely action' by the servant – it is not that the servant does the job at a time as he pleases – at a time when the boss wants it to be done – is more important.

That is what vaalmeeki puts it across. Dear Sirs – see what extent of humanistic and management points are placed in these simple Sanskrit slOkams by vaalmeeki. Great.

Continuation:

aham pradhaathum ichchhaami yadh idham maamakam dhhanam |

braahmaNEbhya: thapasvibhya: thvayaa saha paranthapa || 2-31-33

meaning: raama continues, "LakshmaNa, the chastiser of foes! Along with you, I want to give all this wealth pertaining to me to braahmaNas practising austerities. "

Raama further continued, "I also desire to give to those excellent brahmanas residing here as strong devotees to their preceptors and to all my dependents. You bring soon the venerable Suyagna, the son of Vasishta, the best. After adoring all other brahmanas who are cultured, I will go to the forest. " [2-31-34, 35 and 36 below]

Thereupon, LakshmaNa obeying his brother's order, which is kind and auspicious, went immediately to the house of suyajna.

Point:

in slokams 33 to 35, the role of servant has suddenly stopped for a while, that loving brother lakshmaNa is brought into picture. So raama says, 'hey brother, you join me in doing yaathraa dhaanam - distributing the wealth before we take off'. Again the servant lakshmaNa is being ordered to do errand - in bringing suyajna the son of vaishta.

Thus it alternates and goes on. So it is time to see that list as a servant what all lakshmaNa did –

1. the errand boy as seen above.

2. the boat builder – to cross river – already seen

3. the envoy to meet sage agasthya, hanuman, sugreeva - as seen in detail

4. the scavenger – in viraadhan and kabhandhan episodes – as seen in detail

5. the cook to prepare bali – for vaasthu samanam, and also meat in chithrakootam

6. the house builder or engineer

7. the security guard to [or protector of] seethaa

[Of course the warrior and minister is excluded from the gambit of servant, since a servant cannot be an adviser to the king and do dharma upadhEsam.]

Doing such a great kainkaryam to raama and seethaa, lakshmaNa should have had a big bhaagyam – for who will get that 'kainkarya sree' unless he has that bhaagyam - that is what sri thyaagaraja observes – as mithri bhaagyam - soumithri bhaagyam - in his krithi in raga karaharapriyaa – [respected sri sadagopan swamy wanted me to touch on this krithi in the series]

pallavi:

mithri bhaagyamE bhaagyamu

soumithri bhaagyamE bhaagyamu - mithri

meaning: The fortune of the son of sumithra [lakshmaNa] is the real fortune indeed.

anupallavi:

chithra

rathnamaya sEsha thalpamandhu

seethaapathini yunichi yoochu sou - mithri

meaning: The fortune of the son of sumithra is the real fortune indeed, as he keeps the Lord seethaapathi (can be read as Sriya:pathi also) on the serpent bed (can be read as LakshmaNa himself!) decorated with several unique gems (including those on his snake hoods – paambu padam).

CharaNam:

baaguga vintha raagamula naalaapamu

sEyaga mEnu

pulakarinchaga

thyaagaraaja

nuthudanu sree raamuni

thathvaarthamu

pogadi joochu sou - mithri

meaning: The fortune of the son of sumithra is the real fortune, who sings and visualizes (pogadi joochu) the real philosophy of Sri raama, praised by thyaagaraaja, well aloud in many unique raagams with his body horripillating.

The point here is – is it praising lakshmaNa's kainkarya sree or is it again the praise of raama by ST – for lakshmaNa also sings the philosophy of raama – that is what we are also interested – praising raama. This krithi may be a reflection of that sthOthra rathnam slOkam no 40 of aaLavandhaar which in turn is a reflection of 53

rd verse of 1st thiruvandhaathi -

nivaasa sayyaasana paadhukaam sukha

upadhaana varshaathapa vaaraNa aadhibhi: |

sareera bhEdhaisthava sEshathaam gathai:

yathOchitham sEsha ithi eerithE janai: ||

meaning: Adhi seshan - is most appropriately and suitably addressed and designated by every devotee as sEsha due to his performing various kinds of service to the Lord taking different forms of ThirumEni - to do kaimkaryams namely, be His residence, couch, seat, Sandals, raiment, Pillow, and shelter from sun and rain as umbrella etc.

AnanthAzhwAn is the One who takes the form of temples where the Lord is gracefully presenting Himself. He is the seat for the Lord; He is the paadhuka. He is the silk cloth; He Himself is the Pillow; He is the Umbrella - Thus he takes different forms of the body to serve Him. Thus he serves taking different form to perform ceaseless service at His feet and thus is addressed as sEshan. sEshan means servant.

Thus ignominious and jnAnis - everyone address him as sEshan. He is the personification of kaimkaryam. AdhisEshan is also addressed as AravaNai, Ananthan, Aravarasu, 1000 headed one, ILaiyaazhwAn et al. The 1000 named Lord is supported by 1000 headed AdhisEshan and he (AdhisEshan) is also known for his 1000s and 1000s of fame, for all kaimkaryams that he performs for the Lord from time immemorial uninterruptedly. He is the role model for every Sri vaishnava devotee.

This verse is the inspiration from Poigai AzhwAr's mudhal Thiruvandhaathi: 53rd pAsuram –

senRaal kudaiyaam irundhaal singAdhanamaam

ninRaal maravadiyaam neeL kadaluL

enRum puNaiyaam maNi viLakkaam poompattaam

pulgum aNaiyaam thirumaaRku aravu

Of such a lakshmaNa – on such a lakshmaNa - We all jointly had the bhaagyam of knowing some points from sreemadh raamaayaNam.

With this I conclude this series on lakshmaNa. Thanks for all your encouraging words I received in between while writing the series.

Dhasan

Vasudevan m.g.-- Vasudevan MG

April 19, 2007

Dear Swamin. Bakthas had a wonderful Posts on Laxmana, The various duties as a human being connecting to each activities to Laxmana is well explained in each Post. It is the Bakyam of Bakthas to have a such wonderful collection. May Swamins Post continue with Bharatha next. Adiyen, Nochalur Seshadri Sampath.MG Vasudevan <vasudevanmg wrote: Post 46 Dear Sri vaishnava perunthagaiyeer, In the previous 45 posts, we saw 'lakshmaNa' donning 12 roles. The study on the 12 th role of the servant is taken up in last post. Just to recollect the servant lakshmaNa said, 'I will do everything'. This is the real servant's attitude. So what all he did is worth a listing – 1. The errand boy lakshmaNa – raama thu anEna vaakyEna supreetha: prathi uvaacha tham | vraja aapruchchhasva soumithrE sarvam Eva suhruth janam ||

2-31-26 meaning: Raama, very much delighted on hearing these words, said to him: "Oh, LakshmaNa! Go, take leave of all your friends." Point: This order came once raama accepted the formal application [slokams 2-31-24, 25] for recruitment of lakshmaNa as a servant of him. Since in the application itself lakshmaNa reminded raama about his purposes, the 'candidature offer' for recruitment was

immediately accepted, and further immediate order to carry out a specific duty is also assigned. See meaning of slokams below - slokams 2-31-27 to 29: Oh, LakshmaNa! At a grand sacrifice performed by Janaka, [seethaa's father] the great-souled VaruNa (god of water) personally gave § heavenly bows, which are dreadful to look at, § divine impenetrable pieces of

armour, § quivers containing an inexhanstible stock of arms, § two swords decked with gold and with spotless lustre like that of a sun All these were kept at the residence of our preceptor Vasishta. After paying due reverence, take all those arms and return soon." So, as directed, Lakshmana, the tiger among princes, brought them and showed to Raama all those arms, which were divine, being worshipped and decorated by garlands. [slokam 2-31-31]. Point : to note here is that varuNan is the repository of all divine arms generally. In the bow story article also, we saw that Vishnu gave the bow to varuNan, once the fight between Siva and Vishnu was over. May be during wedding of seethaa,

janaka gave these arms as a proper gift to maappiLLai – son in law - raama – for his bravery in breaking the siva dhanu: and raama has deposited all these arms to guru vasishta for safe custody. 'Brahmins were the custodians for arms' that message is clear from this. Visvaamithra also had lot of asthrams and sasthrams which he gave to raama. Continuation: tham uvaacha aathmavaan raama: preethyaa lakshmaNam aagatham | kaalE thvam aagatha: soumya kaankshithE mama lakshmaNa || 2-31-32 meaning: Raama, who had fully controlled his mind, affectionately spoke as follows to LakshmaNa who arrived: "Oh, LakshmaNa, the excellent man! You came in time as desired by me." Point: In management science it is said a worker [or servant or subordinate] should be appreciated at the

appropriate time. And that appreciation itself is a big motivator for the servant to do great things. That is what raama did here. See two things described by vaalmeeki – raama is a person of fully controlled mind, – he spoke affectionately. Even while appreciating any servant – it should be explicit, it should be truth, and there should be affection or

love in it – not a plain 'lip service appreciation'. Another point is also said by raama - the 'timely action' by the servant – it is not that the servant does the job at a time as he pleases – at a time when the boss wants it to be done – is more important. That is what vaalmeeki puts it across. Dear Sirs – see what extent of humanistic and management points are placed in these simple Sanskrit slOkams by vaalmeeki. Great. Continuation: aham pradhaathum ichchhaami yadh idham maamakam dhhanam | braahmaNEbhya: thapasvibhya: thvayaa saha paranthapa || 2-31-33 meaning: raama

continues, "LakshmaNa, the chastiser of foes! Along with you, I want to give all this wealth pertaining to me to braahmaNas practising austerities." Raama further continued, "I also desire to give to those excellent brahmanas residing here as strong devotees to their preceptors and to all my dependents. You bring soon the venerable Suyagna, the son of Vasishta, the best. After adoring all other brahmanas who are cultured, I will go to the forest." [2-31-34, 35 and 36 below] Thereupon, LakshmaNa obeying his brother's order, which is kind and auspicious, went immediately

to the house of suyajna. Point: in slokams 33 to 35, the role of servant has suddenly stopped for a while, that loving brother lakshmaNa is brought into picture. So raama says, 'hey brother, you join me in doing yaathraa dhaanam - distributing the wealth before we take off'. Again the servant lakshmaNa is being ordered to do errand - in bringing suyajna the son of vaishta. Thus it alternates and goes on. So it is time to see that

list as a servant what all lakshmaNa did – 1. the errand boy as seen above. 2. the boat builder – to cross river – already seen 3. the envoy to meet sage agasthya, hanuman, sugreeva - as seen in detail 4. the scavenger – in viraadhan and kabhandhan episodes – as seen in detail 5. the cook to prepare bali – for vaasthu samanam, and also meat in chithrakootam 6. the house builder or engineer 7. the security guard to [or protector of] seethaa [Of course the warrior and minister is excluded from the gambit of servant, since a servant cannot be an adviser to the king and do dharma upadhEsam.] Doing such a great kainkaryam to raama and seethaa, lakshmaNa should have had a big bhaagyam – for who will get that 'kainkarya sree' unless he has that bhaagyam - that

is what sri thyaagaraja observes – as mithri bhaagyam - soumithri bhaagyam - in his krithi in raga karaharapriyaa – [respected sri sadagopan swamy wanted me to touch on this krithi in the series] pallavi: mithri bhaagyamE bhaagyamu soumithri bhaagyamE bhaagyamu - mithri meaning: The fortune of the son of sumithra [lakshmaNa] is the real fortune indeed. anupallavi: chithra rathnamaya sEsha thalpamandhu seethaapathini yunichi yoochu sou - mithri meaning: The fortune of the son of sumithra is the real fortune indeed, as he keeps the Lord seethaapathi (can be read as Sriya:pathi also) on the serpent bed (can be read as LakshmaNa himself!) decorated with several unique gems (including those on his snake hoods – paambu padam). CharaNam: baaguga vintha raagamula naalaapamu

sEyaga mEnu pulakarinchaga thyaagaraaja nuthudanu sree raamuni thathvaarthamu pogadi joochu sou - mithri meaning: The fortune of the son of sumithra is the real fortune, who sings and visualizes (pogadi joochu) the real philosophy of Sri raama, praised by thyaagaraaja, well aloud in many unique raagams with his body horripillating. The point here is – is it praising lakshmaNa's kainkarya sree or is it again the praise of raama by ST – for lakshmaNa also sings the philosophy of raama – that is what we are also interested – praising raama. This krithi may be a reflection of that sthOthra rathnam slOkam no 40 of aaLavandhaar which in turn is a reflection of 53 rd verse

of 1st thiruvandhaathi - nivaasa sayyaasana paadhukaam sukha upadhaana varshaathapa vaaraNa aadhibhi: | sareera bhEdhaisthava sEshathaam gathai: yathOchitham sEsha ithi eerithE janai: || meaning: Adhi seshan - is most appropriately and suitably addressed and designated by every devotee as sEsha due to his performing various kinds of service to the Lord taking different forms of ThirumEni - to do kaimkaryams namely, be His residence, couch, seat, Sandals, raiment, Pillow, and shelter from sun and rain as umbrella etc. AnanthAzhwAn is the One who takes the form of temples where the Lord is gracefully presenting Himself. He is the seat for the Lord; He is the paadhuka. He is the silk cloth; He Himself is the Pillow; He is the Umbrella - Thus he takes different forms of the body to serve Him. Thus

he serves taking different form to perform ceaseless service at His feet and thus is addressed as sEshan. sEshan means servant. Thus ignominious and jnAnis - everyone address him as sEshan. He is the personification of kaimkaryam. AdhisEshan is also addressed as AravaNai, Ananthan, Aravarasu, 1000 headed one, ILaiyaazhwAn et al. The 1000 named Lord is supported by 1000 headed AdhisEshan and he (AdhisEshan) is also known for his 1000s and 1000s of fame, for all kaimkaryams that he performs for the Lord from time immemorial uninterruptedly. He is the role model for every Sri vaishnava devotee. This verse is the inspiration from Poigai AzhwAr's mudhal Thiruvandhaathi: 53rd pAsuram – senRaal kudaiyaam irundhaal singAdhanamaam ninRaal maravadiyaam neeL kadaluL enRum puNaiyaam maNi viLakkaam poompattaam pulgum aNaiyaam thirumaaRku aravu Of such a lakshmaNa – on such a lakshmaNa - We all jointly had the bhaagyam of knowing some points from sreemadh raamaayaNam. With this I conclude this series on lakshmaNa. Thanks for all your encouraging words I received in between while writing the series. Dhasan Vasudevan m.g.-- Vasudevan MG

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