AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. October 08 Part 3)

[Guest guest]

SrIH

SrImate ra’ngarAmAnuja MahA deSikAya namaH

SrImate SrInivAsa rAmAnuja MahA deSikAya namaH

SrImate VedAnta rAmAnuja MahA deSikAya namaH

SrI ra’nganAtha divya maNi pAdukAbhyAm namaH

 

AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. October 08 Part 3)

 

English Translation of

SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam in tamizh by SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan

 

As published in SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA by

SrI u.ve. nATTEri KiDAmbi rAjagopAlAcAriyAr (Editor of SrI ra’nganAtha

pAdukA)

 

(Please set your encoding to Unicode UTF-8)

SrImad ANDavan tiruvaDi,

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri

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

SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan’s SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam

 

vIryavAn na ca vIryeNa mahatA sveta vismitaH (ayodhyA.1.13)

 

vIryavAn - He was superbly valorous. He won great fights. But, He never boasted

about His own heroic spirit. He never proclaimed, 'I did this; I did that' etc.

 

Look at what happened in the last battle! The folks in the other side always

talked a lot. The advice given to them was, " Words cannot win a battle. Fight!

Why do you talk? You cannot win a battle by just talking " . Only elections can

be won by talking!

 

kara and rAvaNa bragged too much. But, vIryavAn na ca vIryeNa mahatA sveta

vismitaH - even when He had great gallantry, rAma never felt haughty,

bewildering about His own bravery - na vismitaH. Some develop arrogance and

become snobbish even when they have a little strength.

 

There were five or six girls in one house. If I do not say a story, the meaning

will not be clear (audience laughs). All the sons-in-law had come. There was

going to be a marriage function. iDli [steamed rice cake] was being served.

They were all invited to go and eat iDli in the morning. One of the sons-in-law

got ready to eat; he said he would go to the backyard [open] toilet area and

wash his feet first. When he went there, there was an 'ONAn' [blood-sucker, a

common, agamid lizard]; he was terrified about the lizard. How could he relieve

himself? What if the lizard came near him? He was scared stiff. He was holding

it in for fifteen minutes. Then, he waited for half an hour. Then he decided

he could not stand like that forever. The other sons-in-law would have eaten

iDli and left. There was a stone close by. He took that and dropped it on the

lizard. It fell on the lizard's life spot and it died immediately. The

son-in-law finished his

work and washed his hands and feet.

 

He was extended another invitation to come and eat iDli. He refused and went

and sat down in the village munsif's house at the end of the street. The father

asked, " Why is he not coming? There is a marriage to be conducted. Call that

son-in-law " . Son-in-law said, " No, I will not come; this father-in-law is

useless. I do not want to come. I took a creature's life with just one blow.

I have taken a life. Shouldn't I be shown courtesy? The others have eaten and

left. I have taken a life with one blow. Don't I have honor? "

 

Report came back to the house - that son-in-law says that he had killed a life

with just one blow and he was not honored; so, he is not coming.

 

" Well, what can we do? "

 

" You can appease him with a gift of 10 x 6 sized dhoti [garment]; only then he

will come. Otherwise, he will not " .

 

The father took a plate filled with lots of fruits and the dhoti (the dhoti

which he was going to present to him later for his daughter's wedding) and went

to see this son-in-law with pompous ostentation [to the accompaniment of drum

and nAdasvaram - musical pipe]; he recited pancAti [sections of Yajur veda each

containing about fifty words] and said, " I am sorry; I committed apacAram

[behaved with disrespect]. Please come and eat iDli " .

 

He came and ate iDli. Another son-in-law became annoyed that the previous one

got a 10x 6 dhoti and he left the house. He went and sat in another house at

the end of the street.

 

When he was asked why, he said, " I have killed seven lives with one blow. The

one who killed just one life got the dhoti before the marriage function.

Doesn't the one who killed seven lives get a dhoti earlier too? "

 

The father thought, " What kind of tyranny is this? Why did I get these kinds of

sons-in-law? Let me do the sambhAvana [gift for honoring] to this son-in-law

also " . He presented his dhoti also and requested him to come and eat iDli. So,

two sons-in-law ate iDli.

In the afternoon, they all got together and ate betel leaves with areca-nut

parings. The first son-in-law was asked what he meant by killing one life with

one blow; he said, ‘I was waiting for one hour for the lizard to leave. I

threw a stone at it; it fell on its life spot; I killed it with one blowâ€.

 

When the second son-in-law was enquired as to what he meant, he said, “I went

to gayA to do SrAddham [annual death ceremony]. They gave us food. There were

a lot of house-flies on the leaf [on which food was placed]; I captured them all

with a hand; I got seven of them; with one blow, I killed seven of them. That is

why I am asking for sambhAvana†(audience laughs).

 

vIryavAn na ca vIryeNa mahatA sveta vismitaH |

 

vAlmIki is going to say later –

 

ardhAdhika muhUrtena janastAnam nirAkRtam

 

rAma never felt disdainfully proud, even if within one and half muhUrttams [one

muhUrttam is one and a half hours], He could vanquish fourteen thousand

rAkshasa-s with His dauntless heroism.

 

nASreyasi rato yaSca na viruddha kathAruciH (ayodhya.1.17)

 

He never got Himself pulled into insignificant activities. He never gossiped.

 

uttarottarayuktInAm vaktA vAcaspatiH yathA (ayodhya.1.17)

 

If someone asked Him a question, He answered eloquently like bRhaspati

[devaguru] bhagavAn.

 

He could answer any question.

 

aroghaH taruNO vAgmI vapushmAn deSakAlavit (ayodhya.1.18)

 

vAlmIki’s sayings are so delightful (AcAryar laughs slightly).

 

aroghaH – He had no disease.

 

When one goes for a job, medical examinations are done. One can get rejected

because of shortness in height or being too thin or having a big spectacle etc.

A job is given only after medical exam is done. How should a king be? aroghaH

– He was hale and hearty; taruNaH – He was very strong. He had youth.

vAgmI – He was very articulate.

 

When He talked, He waxed eloquent. vapushmAn – He had a spendid form.

deSakAla vit – He acted according to the place and time.

 

sarvavidhyA vratasnAtaH yathAvat sAngavedavit | (ayodhyA.1.20)

 

He had mastered all the good arts [archery etc] very well.

 

He had done adhyayanam [study] of veda-s along with angam-s [components] with

meanings. yathAvat sAnga vedavit – yatAvat [as prescribed] - there will be

no erroneous interpretations. Some people misinterpret words totally, right?

 

There is a Slokam in dharma Sastram. It says, “One should not take an oil

bath in the morningâ€. It can be done only after 6 nAzhigai [a unit of 24

minutes]. prAtaH apyajyate tasya nishkRtiH nAsti bhutale – after 6 nAzhigai

in the morning means 8:24 AM. SAstram says one should not have an oil bath

before 8:24 AM. If one has an oil bath in the early morning, he will no

redemption. The oil bath must be done only after 6 nAzhigai. That is the way

orthodox men do.

 

A person had an oil bath before the 6 nAzhigai; when asked why he did that, he

said, “Slokam says thatâ€. What does the Slokam say?

 

prAtaH apyajyate tasya nishkRtiH nAsti bhutale |

 

If oil bath is taken in the early morning, there is no prAyaScittam [atonement].

That is, there is no sin, so there is no expiation. Only when there is sin,

prAyaScittam is needed. Since there is no sin, there is no prAyaScittam. That

is what the Slokam says. So, I am having oil bathâ€.

 

rAma will not misinterpret like this.

 

yatAvat sAngaveda vit (ayodhyA.1.20)

 

rAma will interpret only the right meaning, never misinterpret like some people.

 

ishvastre ca pituH SreshThaH babhUva bharatAgrajaH | (ayodhyA.1.20)

 

rAma was even better than His father in dhanurvedam, in the art of releasing

arrows and weapons.

 

dRDha bhaktiH sthira praj~naH nAsadgrAhI na durvacAH (ayodhyA.1.24)

 

dRDha bhaktiH – He had staunch devotion. sthira praj~naH – He had steadfast

mind. His mind was not an ever-wavering one. asthirabuddhInAm prasAdo’pi

bhayankaraH – it is like the maharAjA of tanjAvUr. Do you know that? He

wanted to personally hire a person for the tAsildAr [revenue officer] job.

Normally, only those who can ride horses were qualified for the tAsildAr job.

There is a big story; I am not going to say that. I will tell you a small story.

 

A person came to be considered for the tAsildAr job. The king asked him if he

could get on a horse and he said ‘yes’. He got the job.

 

The king was watching from the top terrace; the king asked him if he will

actually ride a horse. The man said ‘yes’.

 

He got on the horse with his back facing the horse’s face. He should have been

sitting, facing the horse’s face. He was sitting, facing the horse's hind

portion.

 

King: “Call that man. He said he could ride the horse well. Why is he

sitting facing the back portion?â€

 

The reason why that man did that was – By the time he rode for half a furlong

[a furlong = 220 yards or 1/8th of a mile], there may be a cancellation order;

then he can jump right out and leave (audience laughs). sthirap praj~naH –

Some officials are like that. They will keep changing the orders every hour,

like transfer of an order, dismissing an order etc; they will not have steadfast

mind. sthirap praj~naH – rAma never had a fluctuating mind.

 

nAsadgrAhI na durvacAH – He was never obstinate. He never uttered malicious

words. nistandrIH – He was not indolent or sluggish. apramattaH ca – He

carried out any action with great vigilance.

 

svadosha paradoshavit (ayodhyA.1.24) - It is said in amaram - vidhvAn vipaScit

doshaj~naH. A vidhvAn [learned scholar] knows dosham [blemish]; whose faults?

svadosha paradoshavit – rAma knows His own mistakes and others’ errors too,

We all know only the other people’s dosham. rAma knew about His own

weaknesses too.

 

svadosha paradoshavit –

 

vaihArikANAm SilpAnAm vij~nAtArttha vibhAgavit | (ayodhyA.1.28)

 

He knew the SAstra or rules for all games [animal riding/taming]. vaihArikANAm

SilpAnAm vij~nAtA arttha vibhAgavit – He knew finance. He knew how to

increase income, how to spend, how much to tax etc. He knew all those. arttha

vibhAgavit – He knew how much wealth to allocate to which department, which

needed more, which needed a particular amount – He knew everything about all

those.

===========

(End of translation of AcArya rAmAmRtam as it appeared in the October 2008 issue

of SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA)

-----------------

To be continued …..