Srimad Ramayana Tathva Deepika Balakanda # 158

January 5, 2008

Sri Raghunandana Parabrahmane namaha!

Srimathe Ramanujayanamaha!

Both Rama and Lakshmana woke up from their sleep, finished their bath, offered oblations to sun god and chanted the Gayathri hymn. Concluding their daily routine of early morning Sandhyavandanam, Brahma Yajnam and samidaadhaanam, they went to Viswamithra and paid their obeisance to him. They got ready for their on ward journey. On their way they saw river Ganges joining river Sarayu.

There many powerful seers have been doing penance since thousands of years. They were going to such a hermitage. Seeing that ashram, Rama and Lakshmana questioned Viswamithra with childish innocence thus, "Whose is this holy hermitage? Who stay here? We are anxious to know." The sage smiled because he knew that Rama is none other than Sri MahaVishnu who was walking behind him like a human being and

questioning him as an innocent boy.

"Rama ! I tell you whose ashram is this. In olden days, Manmadha used to have a body and was called 'Kaamudu'. Here Parama Siva was doing penance. This foolish Kamudu wanted to disturb his meditation. Then suddenly Siva in his raze opened his third eye. This Kama dropped to the ground with all his organs destroyed. Later Siva married and left with the marud gana:s. Here itself Kamudu was made bodiless by Siva. Since then Manmadha became 'Ananga'. Since his body dropped on the earth at this place, it came to be called as 'Angade:sa'. This is his hermitage. All his disciples, the righteous seers who served him when he did penance here, stayed in this hermitage. They did not get any sins by staying here. We shall stay here tonight. This place is in between the rivers Ganga and Sarayu. Tomorrow morning we shall proceed crossing this river. Today let us worship the seers in this a:sram." The seers there could intuit the arrival of Rama with Viswamithra with their divine knowledge. They were elated. They happily welcomed Viswamithra and worshipped him with arghya, paadya and aathithyam. Next they gave hospitable reception to Rama and Lakshmana. They happily stayed there that night. Righteous Viswamithra spent the night engaging the kids with delightful stories.

(23rd Sarga concluded.)

Jai Srimannarayana!

Ramanujamma rd.

WISH YOU ALL A VERY PROSPEROUS HAPPY NEW YEAR. LET US ALL PRAY TO HH JEEYAR SWAMY TO MAKE US MORE POWERFUL TOOLS IN HIS HANDS TO SERVE THE UNIVERSE BETTER BETTER ...!

Jai Ramanuja! Jai Venkatesa! Jai Jeeyar Swamy!