SRI RANGA SRI - e- Journal - VOL.08 / ISSUE # 33 dated 20th July '07

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha //

SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha //

SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya/

SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya//

KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava: /

SrI RanganAthO jayathu Sri Ranga Sri cha VardhathAm//

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

SRI RANGA SRI VOL.08 / ISSUE # 33 dated 20th July '07

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

IN THIS ISSUE:

 

1. PANCHAANGAM DETAILS FOR AADI– (SRI MADHAVAKKANNAN)

2. AARANYA KHAANDAM PART -5 OF SRIMAD RAMAYANAM DISCOURSES IN THE

HINDU TEMPLE OF ATLANTA

(SRI ANBIL RAMASWAMY SWAMI)

3. .TAATPARYA RATNAVALI - SUBMISSION 27 - SLOKAM 14 -PART 4

(SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARAIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO)

 

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

ISSUES RELEASED

With this issue, about 260 Regular issues of SRS have been released

so far, apart from numerous " Special Issues " as indicated below:

27 Issues of Vol. 1

15 Issues of Vol. 2

42 Issues of Vol. 3

35 Issues of Vol. 4

28 Issues of Vol. 5

30 Issues of Vol. 6

50 Issues of Vol. 7 and

33 Issues of Vol. 8 (including this)

---

You may view the archives at http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia

maintained By Sri Srinivasan Sriram

 

We strongly urge you to kindly peruse the " Regular Issues " archived

in the Files Section and view the Contents at srsindex.html

(Not the individual postings allowed for encouraging " Reader

participation " ).

 

We are sure that you will be convinced of the quality of the

contents.

 

IF you are satisfied with the quality and contents of

" Sri Ranga Sri " -

Tell your friends to join by sending an email to

Srirangasri-

 

IF NOT:

Tell us, as to how we may improve.

Ever at your service

Moderator

" Sri Ranga Sri "

 

 

1. Sarvajit varsha Aadi Maasa Panchangam:

 

July 17 2007- Tuesday – Aadi month begins

July 25 2007- Wednesday – Ekadasi

July 28 2007- Saturday - Pooradam – Srimad Poundarikapuram Swami

Srinivasa Mahadesikan Thirunakshathram

July 29, 2007- Sunday – Utthiradam- Swami Alavandhar

Thirunakshathram (Pournami)

July 30 3007 – Monday – SravaNam

Aug 8 2007 - Wednesday – Ekadasi

Aug 12 2007 – Sunday – Amavasya

Aug 15 2007 – Wednesday – Thiru Adi pooram – Sri Andal

Thirunakshathram

 

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

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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

 

2. " AARANYA KHAANDAM " PART - 5 OF SRIMAD RAMAYANAM

(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)

---

 

50. AYOMUKHI

After doing the " PrEta kainkaryams " for JaTaayu, they proceeded to a

place called Krouncha-araNyam. LakshmaNa was going a few yards

before Rama. Suddenly, he chanced upon a Raakshasi with wide mouth

and ugly appearance. She fell in love with LakshmaNa and dragged him

to her side asking him to marry her. LakshmaNa wriggled out of her

grip, cut her nose and ears. She ran away.

 

51. KABANDHAN

A little further off, they came across a figure that had no head but

with a wide mouth in its big belly and long hands extending to

several miles. The figure was that of a Gandharva turned a demon

called " Kabandan " due to a curse of Sage Sthoola Siras. He used to

grab whatever and whoever came within the ambit of his long hands,

devour them to satisfy his hunger. Rama and LakshmaNa somehow got

caught, entangled in his grip. He was about to put them in his

mouth. Not knowing how to escape his grip, Rama and LakshmaNa cut

off his hands. Kabandhan took his original from of Gandharva and

narrated how the Sage who cursed him also advised him that when Rama

and LakshmaNa cut his arms, he would be relieved of the curse.

Kabandhan requested them to dig a huge pit, burn and bury his body.

They did accordingly and Kabandhan attained Svargam. But, before

that, he advised Rama and LakshmaNa to proceed to a mountain

called " Rishya-mookha " where the monkey king Sugreeva was living and

asked Rama to seek his friendship saying that Sugreeva would help

him in searching for and locating Sita.

 

52. SABARI MOKSHAM

On their way to Rishya-mookham, they met with Sabari, an old woman

at the hermitage of Sage Matanga. She was a great Bhaktai who was

doing kainkaryam to Maharishis. The

Maharishis while leaving for higher worlds asked her to remain till

Rama came her way when she would attain mOksham and join them in

Heaven. Accordingly, she gathered ripe fruits, preserved them for

offering to Rama. When Rama did arrive, she was happy to offer the

fruits and Rama offered her mOksham.

 

{Swami Desika, however, says that Rama was a witness to her

attaining Parama-padam implying that it was her Achaarya Bhakti that

earned for her mOksham and Rama was just a witness to this spectacle}

 

 

{Some people mistakenly say that Sabari offered spittle tainted

fruits to Rama. This is not mentioned so either in Valmiki or in

Kamba Ramayanams. Being a Bhaktai, she knew that she cannot do the

sacrilegious act of offering spittle tainted edibles. She used to

pick out one fruit from one tree and if found sweet enough, she

would leave all other fruits in that tree intact for offering to Rama

 

(Thus ends AaraNya kaaNdam. Let us continue with Kishkinda kaaNdam )

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

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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

3.TAATPARYA RATNAVALI - SUBMISSION 27 - SLOKAM 14 -PART 4

(SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARAIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO)

---

---------

SrImate ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.

tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 28 - Slokam 14 Part 4,

tiruvAimozhi 1.4 contd.

 

• pASuram 1.4.7:

 

enbu izhai kOppadu pOla pani vADai IrginRa

en pizhaiyE ninaindu aruLi aruLAda tirumAlArkku

en pizhaittAL tiruvaDiyin tagavinukku enRu oru vAi Sol

enbu izhaikkum iLam kiLiyE! yAn vaLartta nI alaiyE.

 

enbu pani vADai izhai kOppadu pOl IrginRadu; en pizhaiyE ninaindu

aruLi aruLAda tiru mAlArkku tiruvaDiyin tagavinukku en pizhaittAL

enRu oru vAi Sol; enbu izhaikkum en kiLiyE! yAn vaLartta nI alaiyE –

The cold breeze is piercing the fleshless bones of my body like a

thread that is stringing the bones together. Please bring word from

my Lord as to why, in spite of blessing me with flawless and

complete knowledge of Him, He is still keeping in His mind all my

previous sins, and refusing to bless me with union with Him. Ask

Him what sin I have committed that overrides even His unbounded

mercy. (By not helping me) You are grinding the fleshless bones of

my body further. Aren't you one who has been brought up by me?

 

svAmi deSikan captures the key guNam of bhagavAn sung in this

pASuram as " anugata mahishI sannidheh " – He who is endowed with an

ever-forgiving nature because of His inseparable association with

pirATTi – tirumAlArkku. The bhAvam here is that the parrot (read

AcAryan) will present the jIva's case for surrender in front of

periya pirATTi (tiru), who functions in the role of purushakAratvam

(recommending to emperumAn to forgive all the sins of the jIva and

accept the surrender). Our AcArya-s remind us of pirATTi's words –

na kaScin nAparAdhyati (yuddha kANDam 116-49). Recall also the

similarity here between rAman suffering from the cool breeze from

the pampA river while separated from pirATTi, and AzhvAr expressing

his suffering from the cool breeze and feeling the pain in the bones

of the body as if they are being pierced and a thread inserted

through them (enbu izhai kOppadu pOla pani vADai IrginRa).

BhagavAn's guNam of kshamA – aparAdha sahastvam when one surrenders

to Him unconditionally, is being emphasized by recalling the

integral role of purushakAratvam of pirATTi. In other words, His

kshamA or aparAdha sahatvam is because of the inseparable Duality

that is bhagavAn with pirATTi, and it is this inseparable Duality

that we should worship

 

• pASuram 1.4.8:

nI alaiyE SiRu pUvAi! neDu mAlArkku en tUdAi

nOi enadu nuval enna nuvalAdE irundu ozhindAi

SAyaloDu maNi mAmai taLarndEn nAn ini unadu

vAi alagil in aDiSil vaippArai nADAyE.

 

SiRu pUvAi! nI alaiyE neDu mAlArkku en tUdAi enadu nOi nuval enna,

nuvalAdE irundu ozhindAi. nAn maNi mAmai SayaloDu taLarndEn. ini

unadu vAi alagil in adiSil vaippArai nADAyE – Oh little SarikA bird!

Even after I asked you to go to my Supreme Lord who is endowed with

extreme attachment to His devotees and convey to Him my disease of

extreme love to Him, you have not gone and communicated my message,

but have just stayed behind. As a result, I who fed you and brought

you up continue to lose all my feminine beauty. Now it is time for

you to look for someone other than me who will open your mouth and

feed you the sweet rice inside your mouth with fondness.

 

svAmi deSikan describes the key guNa of bhagavAn sung in this

pASuram as " sa'nga dairghyAt " – He who has extreme attachment to all

the beings. (The word `dairghyam' can be understood based on the

word dIrgham – long, extended; `sa'ngam' means attachment, love,

affection). nammAzhvAr refers to bhagavAn as `neDu mAlAr' in this

pASuram – " neDumAlArkku en tUdAi… " , and these words literally map

to svAmi deSikan's words – sa'nga dairghyam (neDu – long, extended,

and mAl – love, affection, attachment). SrI ve'nkaTeSAcArya gives

the meaning `ASritar iDattil migavum vyAmohattai uDaittAgaiyAlum' –

He who has extreme attachment and love towards those who have

surrendered to Him. SrI PBA gives the meaning – bhaktargaL

pakkalil paittiyam piDittavar – When it comes to His devotees,

bhagavAn is madly in love with them beyond all reason. It is this

extreme attachment to His devotees that leads Him to forgive their

sins – aparAdha sahatvam or kshamA.

 

It may be noted that the word `neDu mAlAr' has other interpretations

as well; for instance,

 

- mAl also means the Suprmeme Being – mAl = perumai uDaiyavan,

mEnmai uDaiyavan; neDu = vegu dUrattil irukkum – One who is far

away; and neDu mAl could mean `The Supreme Being who is far away

from reach (for the non-devotee – yArum Or nilaimaiyanan ena

aRivariya emperumAn – 1.3.4); one meaning given for the word `neDu

mAlArkku' is `dur-labhatayA dUrabhUtanAna sarveSvaranukku – kiDaikka

ariyavanAi irukkiRa emperumAnArkku - The Supreme Lord who is beyond

easy access;

or

 

- neDu – nINDa aiSvaryam uDaiyavanum, mAl = vyAmohattaiyum

uDaiyavan – One who has supreme wealth and who has extreme

attachment to the devotees.

 

However, svAmi deSikan has chosen the meaning `sa'nga dairghyAt' –

One who is extremely attached to His devotees, to capture the guNam

of kshamA that is the most desirable guNam from the perspective of

the devotee who has committed enormous sins, and who surrenders to

Him and seeks His protection.

 

Note that the guNam brought out in the previous pASuram was `tiru

mAlAr', and the guNam brought out in the current pASuram is `neDu

mAlAr'.

 

dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

(To be continued)

 

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

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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