AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. Sept. 09 Part 1)

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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. Sept. 09 Part 1)

 

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 tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam,

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri

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SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan’s SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam

 

rAma tells sItA, 'Dwelling in the forest is very difficult'.

 

One whole sargam is dedicated for this purpose.

 

“tato duHkhataraM vanam -

 

Do you think forest will be like ayoddhi? Food will not be available at the

right time. One has to resort to fasting. Even if we get something to eat, four

Rshi-s may come to share the food. Do you think these pillows will be available

in the forest? We have to sleep on hard stone keeping a wooden block as a

pillow. We have to sleep on the floor. We may have to stay at least in a hut

with a roof; rain water will leak. We have to take bath very early in the

morning. Otherwise, the Rshi-s will think we are not pure. We must take a bath

at least for them (AcAryar is laughing at this point). There are lots of

hardships. tato duHkhataraM vanam.

 

There will be lions, tigers, snakes etc. It will be very scary. Leave all

this. rAkshasa-s will come. rAkshasi-s will also make their appearance. There

will be many shuddering, discomforting, grim moments. tato duHkhataraM vanam

– you are saying you want to accompany me.â€

 

sItA says - “ What if rAkshasa-s are there? ye cAnye vana cAriNaH

(ayodhyA.29.4) – there will be a lot of animalsâ€.

 

sItA is implying here that there will be lots of monkeys; the hidden meaning is

– even if rAkshasa-s separate us, the monkeys will help unite us.

 

She says further -

“

patihInA tu yA nArI sA na Sakshyati jIvitum |

kAmam evam vidham rAma! tvayA mama vidarSitam || (ayodhyA.29.7 )

 

pretya bhavepi kalyANaH sangamo me saha tvayA |

SrutiH hi SrUyate puNyA braAhmaNAnAM tapasvinAm || (ayodhyA.29.17, 19)

 

netum arhasi kAkutstha – patihInA tu yA nArI sA na Sakshyati jIvitum – a

wife cannot survive if she is separated from her husband. That is my abhisaMdhi

[condition]. If I am separated from You, I cannot live.

 

pretya bhavepi kalyANaH sangamo me saha tvayA |

 

If I lose my life, I am going to join You only. That is what vedam says.

brAhmaNAnAm SrutiH. Vedam belongs to brAhmaNa-s. It is their wealth.

 

brAhmaNAnAm tapasvinAm puNyA SrutiH SrUyate |

 

that is what vedam says.â€

 

I was once doing upanyAsam on rAmAyaNam in Coimbatore like this. One lady stood

up from the middle of the audience and asked me - “What uncle! Even after I

die, will he (my husband) come there also?†I do not know what problems they

have at home; she was asking - 'I have him here now; is he going to come there

too?'!

 

pretya bhavepi kalyANaH sangamo me saha tvayA |

SrutiH hi SrUyate puNyA braAhmaNAnAM tapasvinAm ||

 

Look at how sItA is saying Slokam here.

 

PerumAL lists the sufferings in forest life again. She responds again thinking

rAma is intent on leaving her here and going to the forest alone. She says she

will narrate a story.

 

“anuSishTA'smi mAtrA ca pitrA ca vividASrayam |

nAsmi samprati vaktavyA vartitavyAm yathA mayA || (ayohdyA.27.9)

 

svAmi! I am not going to listen to anything You say. When I left my parents

after our marriage, my mother instructed me on how to behave. My father has

also advised me. nAsmi samprati vaktavyA – You do not have to say any such

thing now. They themselves have informed me enough. They have taught me how I

should conduct myself.

 

vartitavyAm yathA mayA nAsmi samprati vaktavyA |

 

There is no need for You to teach me anything.

 

sukhaM vane nivatsyAmi yathaiva bhavane pituH ||

SuSrUshamANA te nityaM niyatA brahmacAriNI | (ayodhyA.27.11,12)

 

So, I am going to accompany You when You go to the forest. I will not have any

difficulty. sukhaM vane nivatsyAmi – I will come and live very happily in the

forest. yathaiva bhavane pituH – I will consider my life in the forest as a

life in my father's placeâ€.

 

There is a very secret meaning for this Slokam. I do not have time to say it in

this sabhai. I will tell you in the afternoon. A very secret interpretation.

rAma and sItA have lived per this Slokam all the fourteen years. No one else

will explain this to you. I will say that in a hidden manner. Tr y to

understand that. sukhaM vane nivatsyAmi yathaiva bhavane pituH - “I will

live with You in the forest just as I would have lived in my father's houseâ€.

SuSrUshamANA te nityaM – I will be serving You every day; niyatA brahmacAriNI

– how did cakravartit tirumagan live all these fourteen years in the forest

with sItA? sItA said she will be living as if she was in her father's place.

She will be “pure†with niyamam [constraints]. She will be a brahmacAriNI

with vAnaprasta [hermit] dharmam. No sangamam.

 

sukhaM vane nivatsyAmi– for this Slokam, and for the upcoming “vaidehi

ramase kaccit citrakUTe mayA saha†(ayodhyA.94.18) Slokam, meaning must be

said together; otherwise, it will not make sense.

 

“So, I will be very joyful; I will be like I am living in my father's house.

You do not have to go through any trouble. You have the strength to protect me.

You can do that no matter how many people come. Can't you take care of me?â€

 

PerumAL did not budge. “duHkhameva sadA vanam – forest life is not easy.

Lions and other animals will be making loud sounds. There is a lot of misery in

forest life. You are a great princess. You grew up with a lot of wealth. Why

should I give you that trouble in a forest?â€

 

Immediately sItA says - “ I will tell You a story.

 

atavA'pi mahAprAg~na! brAhmaNAnAM mayA Srutam |

purA pitRgrRhe satyaM vastavyaM kila me vanam || (ayohdyA.29.8)

 

I was born in a yAga bhUmi. I was brought up in my parents' place. After a few

hours, my father asked astrologers how the girl born in such a lagnam would be.

He would ask those who knew palmistry.

 

lakshaNibhyaH dvijAtibhyaH SrutvA'ham vacanaM gRhe |†(ayodhyA.29.9)

 

Normally, when palmistry experts come, people show their hands to them. A lot

of people do. In our ASramam also, when they come, a lot of folks show their

hands to them for reading. Just to find out what luck they have in store for

them. There is only one more fortune after this. When the ASramam folks are

wanting to know what is in store for them, wouldn't a king and queen ask how the

princess would be? Did you ask or not? (with a laughter, ANDavan is asking the

ASrama kainkaryaparar who is near by) (a loud laughter bursts out in the

audience).

 

“

lakshaNibhyaH dvijAtibhyaH SrutvA'ham vacanaM gRhe |

vanavAsa kRtotsAhA nityameva mahAbala ||

 

Astrologers have told us that I will have a great marriage. According to the

horoscope, there will be kids. “But, this girl will get to live in the

forestâ€. In my father's place, astrologers have predicted vanavAsam [life in

the forest] for me.

 

My father has found this from astrologers. My mother has learned this through

back-door methods. Fearing that my father may not approve, she asked the

astrologer to come to the back door -

 

bhikshiNyAH sAdhu vRttAyA mama maturihAgrataH | (ayodhyA.29.13)â€

 

kuratti-s [fortune telling kurava women from hillsides] come from malai nADu

[hilly regions]; she plants crops in malai nADu; when harvest season is over,

there will be a gap of two to three months when there are no crops. During

those times, the kuratti-s and inhabitants of malai nADu-s will leave the place

and visit other places.

 

tirumangai AzhvAr says in ciRiya tirumaDal.9,

 

kArAr kuzhal koNDai kaTTuvicci kaTTERi

sIrAr cuLagil sila nel piDitteRiyA

vErA vidir vidirA meycilirA, kaimO vA

'pErAyiram uDaiyAn' enRAL

 

He has resorted to this kaTTuvicci jOsyam [predictions made by female

diviners/soothsayers]. The predictors come from malai nADu. tirumangai AzhvAr

had a visit from a kaTTu vicci. If asked which place they are coming from, the

kaTTu vicci-s would say that they are coming from azhagar malai or ahobhila

malai or tiruvEnkaTa malai etc. These kuratti-s have devatA-upAsanai. She will

have a bunch of peacock feathers. She will be carrying a baby in a tULi [cloth

cradle] on her back. She will carry a muRam [winnow] with her. She will be

wearing garlands made of kundumaNi [red beads], karugamaNi [black beads] etc.

When these kuratti-s predict the future, they will all be true. A kuratti like

that came to tirumangai AzhvAr.

 

Before tAyAr padmAvati's marriage, perumAL Himself, SrInivasan Himself, came as

a kuratti. When she was pining for Him, SrInivAsan Himself came dressed as a

kuratti and went to padmAvati's mother.

 

In vaLLi kalyANam episode also, there is a kuratti. In order to arrange the

marriage between SubrahmaNya svAmi and vaLLi, a kuratti appears. When asked

which place she was from, she said, “paccai malai, pavazha malai†[green

mountain, red mountain]; she was a Saivaite kuratti; hence, she came from Saiva

mountains.

 

So, there are vaishNavaite kuRatti-s and Saivaite kuRatti-s also. Both exist.

In kuRa clan, there are vaishNava-s and there are kuRatti-s among vaishNava-s

also (a loud laughter in the audience). The same holds good with Saivites and

kuRa clan; among Saiva-s also, there are kuRatti-s.

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To be continued …..