Srimadh Valmiki Ramayana transcription: sharing the story of a personal odyssey

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The final verses of the “yuddha-kAnda†in Srimadh Valmiki’s Ramayana

recount the “phala-sruthi†of the great scriptural work i.e. they narrate

the various benefits and blessings believed to accrue to anyone who devotedly

reads, recites or even merely listens to the narration of the sacred epic. The

very last line of the penultimate canto of Srimadh Valmiki “RamayAnaâ€

however extols the special virtue in the devotee who has engaged in transcribing

the sacred epic and successfully completes it. The particular verse reads as

follows:

 

“bhakthyA rAmasya yE chEmAm samhitAmrusheeNA kruthAm I

lEkhayanteeha cha narAstEshAm vAsassthree-vishtapE IIâ€

(“yuddha-kAndamâ€)

 

(meaning):

“As for those who copy with devotion this sacred collection of verses on Rama

composed by the “rshi†(Valmiki), they shall live in Heaven forever.â€

 

***************************

My mother (late) Sangita Kalanidhi Smt Mani Krishnaswami was a devotee of Sri

Rama, the devotion partly kindled by a reasonably good grounding in the Sanskrit

language which she believed found its richest expression in the great scriptural

epic of India, “Srimadh Valmiki Ramayanam†which recounts the odyssey of

Lord Rama as an avatar on earth.

 

In several parts of India, there is an old pastoral custom practiced by

thousands of “rama-bhaktasâ€. It involves cultivating a daily habit of

writing “sri rAma jayamâ€, or the sacred name of Sri Rama (“rAma-nAmaâ€),

in a little personal note-book kept for the holy purpose. The daily habit,

almost a constant ritual in some homes, is known to develop in time into a

meditative experience for the writer and constant meditation is believed to

eventually flower into a deeply fulfilling and auspicious state of physical and

mental well-being. The habit of transcribing the “sri rama jayam†several

hundreds or thousands of times over a lifetime is believed to fetch the devotee

the unceasing blessings of Lord Rama both in this world and beyond.

 

My mother in her lifetime went a step further in the meditative practice of

writing “sri rama jayamâ€. She chose to transcribe the ageless Srimad Valmiki

Ramayana – all 6 “kandAs†that begin with Sri Rama’s childhood and lead

up to the glorious climax of Sri Rama “pattAbhishEkkamâ€. She began writing

the Valmiki Ramayana in 1978. She began the daily ritual of transcribing a few

pages of the Sanskrit text into a large ledger-book kept within the sanctified

precincts of her personal altar at home. In the midst of her hectic domestic and

professional commitments she managed somehow to devote a few minutes every day

--- often just before the late hours of the night when she turned in to bed ---

to this patient and faithful meditative exercise. This ritual she adhered to for

several years.

 

In the year 2002 Mani Krishnaswami passed away. One of the things amongst her

personal effects left behind we found were 8 nos: large and heavy bound

ledger-volumes into which she had been transcribing the Ramayana. Turning over

the ledgers we found pages and pages of her handwriting reproducing the ancient

Sanskrit passages of Sage Valmiki. It was evident my mother had really taken

this meditative habit very seriously. The writing was neat, elegant, meticulous

and error-free. There was not a single instance of over-writing or any omission

of a line here or a passage there from the Sanskrit original. Every word was

recorded with care and reverence. It was obvious she felt great veneration for

the sacred text and she seems to have carried within her great faith too in the

purpose and efficacy of what she was doing.. It was a mammoth task she had

chosen to undertake: 24,000 “shlOkas†--- a task several times more

formidable than writing “sri

ramajayam†a hundred times a day. But there was no doubt she had been very

happy to engage in the task as sheer labor of love felt for her favorite deity,

Lord Sri Rama.

 

Flipping through the pages of the 8 heavy ledgers of my mother’s Ramayana

transcription, we found it interesting to track its chronology. We were amazed

the chronology stretched for all of 30 long years! Here is a brief diary:

 

Ledger Volume No: 1 : Commenced “baala-kAndam†on 29 June 1978. Ended on 19

January 1982 with the 47th “sarga†of the “ayodhya-kAndaâ€.

Ledger Volume No: 2: Continued 27 January 1982 ‘ayodhya-kandam’ from

“sarga†48 and completed “sarga†103 on 16 June 1983.

Ledger Volume No: 3: Beginning 19 June 1983 “sarga†104 and completed

‘ayodhya-kandam’ at “sarga†119 on 10 October 1983. Began the

“ayodhya-kAndam†on 16 October and completed 44 “sargas†on 4 August

1984

Ledger Volume No: 4: Continuing from “sarga†45 completed the

“aranyakAndam†and began the “kishkinda-kAndam†the 22nd ‘sarga†of

which was completed on 6 March 1986.

Ledger Volume No: 5: Continuing from 7 Sept 1986, pursued and completed the

“kishkinda-kAndam†and went on with the “sundara-kanda†and on 31

December 1987 completed the 7th “sargaâ€.

Ledger Volume No: 6: Began the 8th “sarga†of the “sundara-kAndam†on 1

January 1988 and progressed very slowly for 6 years and not until 19 September

1994 did she complete 56th ‘sarga’ of the “sundara-kAndamâ€

Ledger Volume No: 7: Persevering still with the “sundara-kAnda†she began on

7 October 1994 and completed the “kAnda†on 27 September 1995.

Ledger Volume No: 8: On 24 October 1995 she began writing the “yuddha-kAndaâ€

but we don’t know the precise date she stopped at “sarga†40.

 

In the 8th ledger-volume, we found however the transcription abruptly

terminated, hanging in mid-air, as it were, at the 40th “sarga†of the

“yuddha-kandamâ€. While we are not able to date precisely when my mother

stopped the transcription, we surmise she must have ceased at a time when her

health began to deteriorate around the year 1995. Diabetes took a heavy and

crushing toll of her over the next few years until, finally in 2002, she passed

away. It is probable that in those years, between the onset of illness and her

final demise, she found it physically difficult to perform the daily ritual of

transcribing the few wonted pages from the sacred Ramayana. My wife, Smt Divya,

who lived with my mother all through the final years, nursing her and being a

constant companion through difficult times, recollects that on many occasions my

mother did express sadness and regret that her debilitating condition and

failing eyesight had effectively aborted

her bid to complete her spiritual project: to finish transcribing by recording

the climactic and auspicious event of “rama-pattAbhishEkamâ€.

 

In December 2008, after 15 years of a career abroad, I returned to Chennai for

good. Back home with my wife, children and my octogenarian father, I pondered

over what the family should do with the unfinished 8-ledger

transcription-volumes of my mother’s Ramayana. The “yUddha-kanda†had now

lain suspended at “sarga†number 40 for now well over 7 years since my

mother’s death. What should be done with the ledgers now? Left to gather dust

in the family attic? Given away to some temple or “mattam†to be archived in

permanent and musty oblivion? These options didn’t seem somehow right. As a

family we felt that that something must be done with the transcripts that would

befit the memory of my mother and her painstaking labor of love. It was then the

family hit upon the idea that I must take up the unfinished transcription of the

climactic “kAnda†of the Valmiki Ramayana and conclude it where my mother

had desired to conclude it i.e. in

the grand coronation of Sri Rama.

 

I took up the task in December 2008 and on 22nd June 2009 completed the last

131st “sarga†of the “yuddha-kAndam†culminating in the

“rama-pattabhishekam†---- 31 long years almost to the day since Mani

Krishnaswami, my mother, first began writing the “baala-kanda†on 29 June

1978!

 

The story of the Ramayana is a story of the glorious odyssey of Prince Rama, the

“avatAra-purusha†of both divine valor and compassion.. My little story

narrated here about my mother, and about her faithful project of transcribing

the Sanskrit epic, a project that became an intimate part of her daily worship

and meditation though the years leading to her departure from the mortal

world…. this story too is a minor but no less poignant personal odyssey

celebrating the life, times and memory of a good human being who lived in the

simple but perfect grace that Lord Sri Rama cast upon her soul. We must believe

in the words of the final “phala-sruti†of the very last

“rama-pattAbhishEka sarga’; surely she must be now happily and forever

residing in Heaven.

 

********************************

 

Best Regards,

Sudarshan MK

 

 

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