SRI RANGA SRI E- JOURNAL- VOL.09 / ISSUE # 19 dated 13th February 2008

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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//

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SRI RANGA SRI VOL.09 / ISSUE # 19 dated 13th February 2008

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IN THIS ISSUE:

 

1. SARVAJIT – MAASI MAASA PANCHAANGAM DETAILS

2. YUDDHA KHAANDAM PART - 9 (SRIMAD RAMAYANAM DISCOURSES IN THE

HINDU TEMPLE OF ATLANTA by SRI ANBIL RAMASWAMY SWAMI)

3. TAATPARYA RATNAVALI - SUBMISSION 49- SLOKAM 19 -PART 2

(SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARAIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO)

 

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ISSUES RELEASED

With this issue, about 282 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

36 Issues of Vol. 8

19 Issues of Vol. 9(including this)

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1. Sarvajit varsha maasi maasa Panchangam:

 

February 13, 2008 – Wednesday – Maasi month begins

February 16, 2008 – Saturday – Mrugasirsha -Thirukkacchi Nambhi

Thirunakshathram

February 17, 2008 – Sunday – Ekadasi vratham

February 18, 2008 – Monday – Punarvasu - Kulasekara PerumAn

Thirunakshathram

February 29, 2008 - Friday – ashtakA

March 1, 2008 - Saturday – anvashtakA

March 3, 2008 - Monday - EkAdasi vratham

March 5, 2008 - Wednesday – SravaNam

March 7, 2008 - Friday - amAvAsyai

 

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2. " YUDDHA KHAANDAM " PART - 9 OF SRIMAD RAMAYANAM

(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)

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41. KUMBAKARNA WAKES UP

Due to incorrect pronunciation of his request to grant deathlessness

(Nithyatvam) became sleepiness (Nidratvam), he was granted the

latter by Brahma. He would wake up one day only, gobble up mountains

of food and again go to sleep for 6 months at a stretch and could

not be disturbed in between. Ravana had an emergency to seek his

help. He ordered the servants to wake up KumbakarNa who had just

then gone for his usual spell of sleep. They were drawn into his

nose with force when he breathed in and thrown out violently when he

breathed out. They tried all tricks to make him wake up like raising

deafening noise, striking him with heavy maces, pestles, clubs and

spikes, making thousands of elephants and camels run on his huge

hideous body, plucking hairs from his ears and nose, pouring water

into his ears and even biting his body with their sharp teeth.

Nothing worked. In his deep sleep, he never felt any of these

troubling him. He however felt as if some insects were crawling all

over his body! At one stage, he let out a wide yawn and became

conscious. He got up and got angry that he was disturbed while

asleep and asked what made them wake him up. With great trepidation,

they politely informed him of the situation (60and 61). Ravana

requested him to solve the problem.

 

42. KUMBAKARNA'S ADVICE

KumbakarNa told Ravana that

- He should have consulted his well wishers before embarking

on " Operation Abduction "

- He was putting the cart before the horse.

- He had not considered the pros and cons of his action

- He should have defeated or killed Rama before his

misadventure.

- He had given up Dharma and pursued only Kaama and that is

why he got into this " Catch 22 " situation.

- He should have acted as per VibheesahaNa's advice. (62 and

63)

 

Ravana would not heed him. He told KumbakarNa that past was past and

they had to decide on what they had to do in the circumstances (of

course, other than restoring Sita to Rama) and that if he could help

fight Rama, he may do so.

KumbakarNa ultimately fell in line and agreed and was delighted to

know that his brother had absolute trust in him. He emerged with a

shining trident and headed to the warfront in spite of many bad

omens (65 and 66).

 

43. KUMBAKARNA FIGHTS

He wrought havoc on the monkey conquistadors and literally put

thousands of monkeys into his mouth and gulped them alive. Angada

threw a huge rock at him but he stopped it with his fist. He aimed

his trident at Hanumaan who broke it to pieces. KumbakarNa pounced

on Sugreeva who swooned and took him to Lanka. Getting out of swoon,

Sugreeva tore the ears of KumbakarNa with his sharp nails, and his

nose with his teeth. Unable to bear pain, KumbakarNa dropped him and

in one leap Sugreeva came back to the side of Rama. With Vaayu

Astra, Rama cut off KumbakarNa's hands and filled his wide mouth

with a volley of arrows. Using the Aindra Astram, Rama sliced his

head from his neck and felled the great monolith of a Raakshasa

(67). The news of his death reached the ears of Ravana. He became

desolate and for a moment regretted that he had ignored

VibheesahaNa's advice.(68 and 69)

 

44. DECIMATION OF OTHER RAAKSHASAS

Ravana still had a few Raakshasas by his side. He dispatched them

one by one to fight but they were quickly dispatched to the Kingdom

of death (Yama lOkam) by Rama and LakshmaNa. This included

Athikaayan (69 and 71), Naraantakan and Devaantakan (70 and 71).

Ravana was shocked to see that all his trusted lieutenants had met

with their end. For a moment, he thought whether it was Sriman

Narayana himself who had come in the form of Rama.(72)

 

45. HANUMAAN BRINGS SANJEEVI MOUNTAIN

Indra-jit appeared before Ravana and assured him that he would

finish Rama and his army in no time using his Astras got through

boons (73). After finding all his other weapons failing, Indra-jit

finally aimed Brahma Astra and bound both Rama and LakshmaNa.

Jaambhavaan summoned Hanumaan and asked him to fly to Himalayas

where he would find another peak of a mountain. On that mountain

could be spotted miraculous herbs called Mrita-sanjeevani (herb that

can bring dead ones back to life), Visalya-karaNi (herb that would

remove all arrows and other weapons piercing the bodies and thus act

as pain-killers),

SaavarNa -karaNi (herb that would heal wounds and restore the

natural color of the skin) and Santaana-karaNi (herb that would

rejoin torn parts of the body). Hanumaan leaped over. Not able to

identify the herbs, he literally plucked the whole mountain and

carried it to the battlefront. Even as he approached, the fragrance

of herbs wafted over the fallen monkeys and brought them back to

life and restored them to their original vitality and strength. (74)

 

..

 

dasoham

Anbil Ramaswamy

(To be continued)

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3.TAATPARYA RATNAVALI - SUBMISSION 48 - SLOKAM 19 -PART 2

(SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARAIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO)

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tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 48, Slokam 19 Part 2,

tiruvAimozhi 1.8 - pASurams 1.8.1, 1.8.2.

 

pASuram 1.8.7:

 

koNDAn Ezh viDai uNDAn Ezh vaiyam

taN tAmam Seidu en eN tAn AnAnE.

 

Ezh viDai koNDAn, Ezh vaiyam uNDAn, taN tAmam Seidu, en eN tAn AnAn

He who slew the seven bulls for the sake of nappinnai, and swallowed

the seven worlds to protect them from the great deluge, did what I

longed for, and made my mind His abode, treating it as parama padam

itself.

 

svAmi deSikan describes the gist of this pASuram through the words

sat-citta ananya vRttau en eNNam tAn AnAn - He who makes it His job

to be exactly as the devotee desires. SrI venkaTeSAcArya explains

this as ASrita manoratha sadRSa vyApArattai uDaiyanumAi. BhagavAn

made AzhvArs mind His dwelling place (taN tAmam Seidu) exactly as

AzhvAr desired (en eN tAn AnAn). He considered AzhvArs mind the

same as SrI vaikunTham, and made it His resort. Another way to look

at this is that while AzhvAr wanted to be in SrI vaikunTham with

perumAL, He reciprocated by wanting to come to tirunagari and be

with AzhvAr sat citta anaya vRttau. AzhvAr wanted to mingle with

emperumAn intimately, and He took over that desire and mingled with

AzhvAr, and performed feats such as killing the seven bulls for the

sake of nappinnai, swallowing the seven worlds, etc., just to

captivate AzhvAr by these acts of His. AzhvAr wanted to reach

parama padam, immerse himself in virajA river, and enjoy Him by

singimg sAma gAnam to Him; bhagavAn reciprocated and wanted to come

to tirunagari, immerse Himself in tAmraparAaNi river, and enjoy

listening to kaNNiNuN SiRuttAmbu and enjoy nammAzhvAr en eNNam tAn

AnAn sat-citta ananya vRttau.

 

pASuram 1.8.8:

 

AnAn An Ayan mInODu Enamum

tAn AnAn; ennil tAnAya SangE.

 

An Ayan AnAn mInODu Enamum tAn AnAn; ennil tAn Aya SangE The same

One who took incarnation as a cowherd, also took incarnations as

matsya (Fish), varAha (Boar) etc. This way, the incarnations He has

taken are countless (Sankham a very large number).

 

svAmi deSikan describes the gist of this pASuram with the words

vibhava sama tanauAnAn An Ayan mInODu Enamum He whose incarnations

are as unlimited as His greatness. SrI PBA explains this as:

tannuDaiya vibhavangaLukku ellai illAdAp pOlE tan vigrahangaLukkum

ellai illAdavan Just as there is no limit to His greatness, there

is no limit to His incarnations also. AzhvAr is enjoying His

greatness, exclaiming that He took so many beautiful incarnations

just to make it possible for AzhvAr to enjoy His greatness (another

interpretation for ennil tAnAya SangEit is because of His great

attachment to me that He took all these different incarnations.

Ennil = enniDattil, towards me; tAn Aya = for Him, naturally; Sangu

= attachment).

 

pASuram 1.8.9:

 

Sangu cakkaram am kaiyil koNDAn

engum tAnAya nangaL nAthanE.

 

engum tAnAya nangaL nAthan am kaiyil Sangu cakkaram koNDAn Our Lord

takes incarnations among all kinds of species, and His prowess is

always part of Him, as evidenced by the Sankha and cakra in His

hands in all these incarnations.

 

svAmi deSikan describes the bhagavad guNam sung in this pASuram with

the words svAyudhArUDha hasteh. He who has the Sankha and cakra in

His hands always ready for the protection of the devotees. SrI UV

brings out the Arjava guNam sung here by pointing out that bhagavAn

has the conch and the cakra in His hands, just because protection is

what the devotees expect from Him. He acts consistent with the

devotees wishes. Ideally, He does not need any weapons for

anything, since He can achieve all that He wants by His mere

sankalpam or wish. SrI UV also points out alternate pATham-s for

svAmi deSikan's description here sva AyudhArUdha haste or su-

AyudhArUDha haste. His own weapons in His divine hands, or beautiful

weapons in His divine hands.

 

pASuram 1.8.10:

 

nAthan j~nAlam koL pAdan en ammAn

Odam pOl kiLar veda nIranE.

 

My Lord is the Lord of all nitya sUri-s, as also One whose divine

feet are worshiped by all in this world as well. His infinite

auspicious qualities are sung by all the veda-s that extensively

praise His greatness.

 

The phrase j~nalam koL pAdan in the above pASuram is interpreted as

a reference to bhagavAn’s trivikrama incarnation One whose divine

feet were extended throughout all the three worlds. svAmi deSikan

captures this as the guNam emphasized in this pASuram nIcocca grAhya

pAde " He whose divine feet extended to the reach of all without

distinction of high and low level beings. Many vyAkhyAna-s stress

the important message from this pASuram as One who is sung in all

the veda-s; however, SrI UV points out that svAmi deSikan selected

˜j~nAlam koL pAdan as the primary guNam since it conveys His Arjava

guNam more directly.

 

In the concluding pASuram of this rtiruvAimozhi 1.8.11, nammAzhvAr

describes emperumAn as nIr purai vaNNan One who has the complexion

resembling water. SrI PBA comments that the comparison of

bhagavAn's complexion to water does not stop there, but extends to

His guNam of molding Himself to the wishes of His devotees just as

water lends itself to any shape that the container has a reference

to bhagavAn's Arjava guNam that is the subject of this

tiruvAimozhi. SrI PBA gives a comparison of bhagavAn's guNa-s

resembling water through a list of 21 points in his tiruvAimozhi

vyAkhyAnam.

 

The ten pASuram-s of this tiruvAimozhi thus sing the Arjava guNam of

bhagavAn, supported by the following thoughts in each of the

pASurams of this tiruvAimozhi:

 

- bhagavAn lends Himself for worship and kainkaryam by nitya

sUri-s such as garuDan as they wish, without any constraint (1.8.1)

- He takes incarnations on His own with all His aiSvaryam

intact and undimished, and moves with the likes of us in His leelA

vibhUti with the same Arjavam as He does in His nitya vibhUti

(without distinction, at our level, in thought, word, and deed)

(1.8.2).

- He has taken the arcA incarnation in triruvenkaTam just to

be accessible to both the samsAri-s like us and to the nitya sUri-s

at the same time (1.8.3)

- He bore the govardhana mountain tirelessly in order to

protect the cows and the cowherds who sought His protection. (1.8.4)

- He mingles with great sicerity with the bodies of those

who surrender to Him (1.8.5)

- He engages the devotee's soul in His kainkaryam by

captivating the devotee through His beautiful incarnations such as

His vAmana incarnation (1.8.6)

- He acts such that He makes His wishes coincide with His

devotee's wishes. (1.8.7).

- He takes countless incarnations among all different

species such as His varAha incarnation, just to be accessible to

all, and to attract everyone to His feet (1.8.8)

- He carries the divine conch and discus in His beautiful

hands in all these incarnations, for protecting His devotees just as

they would want (think Arjavam at the tiruvAimozhi level), and also

to attract them to Him (1.8.9)

- He made His divine feet accessible to all without distinction

of high and low levels of beings in His trivikrama incarnation

(1.8.10).

 

Regards

dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

(To be continued)

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