AcArya rAmAMRtam - (from SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA dt. Dec. 09 Part 1)

[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. Dec. 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

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

SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan’s SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam

 

sumitrA comes up with a superb Slokam. She is an intellectual; a great

pathivratA [chaste woman]. She knows what is going to happen in the future.

She has extraordinary insight and cognition.

AgAdadu anRAl unakku, avvanam ivvayOtti

mA kAdal irAman nam mannavan, vaiyam Indum

pOgA uyirt tAyAr nam pUnkuzhal sitai - enRE

EgAi; ini ivvayin niRRalum Etam enRAL.

(kambarAmAyaNam, nagar nIngu paTalam – 146)

 

rAmaM daSarathaM viddhi mAM viddhi janakAtmajAm |

ayodhyAm aTavIM viddhi gaccha! tAta yathAsukham || (ayodhyA. 40.10)

 

kamban has translated this vAlmIki Slokam into tamizh.

 

sumitrA: lakshmaNA!

lakshmaNa: Yes.

sumitrA: “It is not fair that you linger here even for half a second. Leave

right now! ' ini ivvayin niRRalum Etam' . You should not stand here any more.

'AgAdadu anRAl unakku, avvanam ivvayOtti'; do not despair that you are leaving

the city. You are going to the forest, right? Think of that forest as ayodhyA.

'mA kAdal irAman nam mannavan' – rAman is daSaratha for you. 'mAM viddhi

janakAtmajAm' – think of sItA as your motherâ€.

 

Who is this sumitrA?

 

vaiyam Indum pOgA uyirt tAyar nam pUnkuzhal sItai

 

sumitrA should have breathed her last as soon as she heard the words that her

dear son, rAma, was denied the kingdom and banished to the forest. But, she

survived.

 

sumitrA tells lakshmaNa - “Think of sitA as that mother, sumitrA, who is still

living. EgAi! Leave right now!â€.

 

ini ivvayin niRRalum Etam enRAL – you will be sorry if you stall even a little

more.

 

pinnum pagarvAL – she says again - “lakshmaNa! 'maganE ivan pin cel' –

follow Him and leave immediately. How should you go? 'tambi ennumpaDi anRu,

aDiyArinil Eval seydi' – do not go with the thought that you are rAma's

brother. If you are going with that belief, you will sit with Him to eat

together. If sItA gives some food to rAma, you will say - “I am His brother;

give me tooâ€.

 

Do not go as His brother – 'tambi ennum paDi anRu. aDiyArinil Eval seydi' -

go as His servant to do kaiMkaryam.

 

I will tell you one more thing. 'mannum nagarkkE ivan vandiDin vA' – come

back if rAma comes back to ayodhyA after fourteen years. 'adu anREl munnam muDi

enRanaL, vAr vizhi sOra ninRAL'. If He comes back, you can come with Him.

Forest life is not good for health; if He is about to breathe His last or if He

is going to be indisposed, do not live after that; give up your life before Him.

'munnam muDi enRanaL' (kambarAmAyaNam, nagar nIngu paTalam – 147) .

 

Will any mother say like this? She is a very rational woman.

 

This jIvAtmA is existent only to do kaiMkaryam. jIvAtmA's svarUpam is only to

do kaiMkaryam to bhagavAn. If the jIvan is denied that kaiMkaryam, what is the

point of life? 'mannum nagarkkE ivan vandiDin vA' – if rAma comes back to

this city, you can come. 'adu anREl munnam muDi' – saying, 'You die before

Him', she stood with tears overflowing from her eyes - 'vAr vizhi sOra ninRAL'.

 

[AcAryar gives several interpretations for the following Slokam]

 

rAmaM daSarathaM viddhi mAM viddhi janakAtmajAm |

ayodhyAm aTavIM viddhi gaccha! tAta yathAsukham ||

 

1. Do not feel sad that you are leaving your father. rAmaM daSarathaM viddhi

– think of rAma as your father, daSaratha.

 

mAM viddhi janakAtmajAm – think of sItA as me. ayodhyAm aTavIM viddhi - do

not think you are leaving all the pleasures of city life and going to the

forest. Forest is where you can enjoy; it is a pleasure to go after rAma.

 

2.sumitrA is a highly knowledgeable lady. lakshmaNa starts crying profusely.

sumitrA asks him why he is crying.

lakshmaNa says - “I could have stayed in vaikuNTham as AdiSeshan. I need not

have taken this avatAram and suffered. I had perumAL in my lap in vaikuNTham

(refers to PerumAL lying down on AdiSeshan); here, I see Him going to the

forest. . I had Him in my lap and looked after Him. I should have stayed there.

I should not have come here. I need not have seen rAma walking on His feet like

this. I could have remained in vaikuNTham. I made a big mistake.â€

 

sumitrA – “Do not think bad. rAmaM daSarathaM viddhi – think of rAma as

daSaratha. daSaH - pakshI daSarathaH pakshirakshaH vishNu.

 

rAmaM daSarathaM viddhi - think of rAma as vishNu. mAM viddhi janakAtmajAm;

janakAtmajAM mAM viddhi – think of jAnakI as lakshmI.

 

mA refers to lakshmI. paramapadam is also called 'ayodhyA'. Are you thinking

you can keep doing the same kaiMkaryam if you were in vaikuNTham?

'yAyodhyetyaparAjiteti viditA nAkaM pareNa sthithA' (bhaTtar's

guNaratnakoSam-23).

 

vedam declares - devAnAM bhUH ayodhyA – think of the forest as paramapadam.

Wherever perumAL is, that is where paramapadam is. gaccha tAta yathAsukham.

 

3.lakshmaNa says - “No matter what, it is hard for me to leave my own mother

and father.â€

 

sumitrA consoles him and says, “Are you feeling depressed that you are leaving

daSaratha and your mother? rAmaM ca viddhi, daSarathaM ca viddhi – look at

me, your mother. Compare me with janakAtmajA, sItA. How is sItA? How am I?

Compare and see.

 

Think how rAma is and how daSaratha is. ayodhyAm aTavIM viddhi – ayodhyAM

viddhi; aTavIM ca viddhi. There is no need to act differently for the two

distinctions. ayodhyAM ca viddhi; aTavIM ca viddhi. Look at ayodhyA; look at

the forest. Look at rAma and daSaratha; look at sItA and me. Whom do you think

you can be with? Wherever rAma is, that is the best place to be. gaccha tAta

yathA sukham – rAma is much better than daSaratha; sItA is certainly better

than me. Forest is better than ayodhyA. gaccha tAta yathA sukham.

 

4.lakshmaNa keeps crying – “I can go to the forest; but if rAma is in the

palace, I can do kaiMkaryam to both rAma and father. I can serve father as much

as I can. What can I do? I have to go now.â€

 

sumitrA consoles him again and says - “rAmaM daSarathaM viddhi – think that

daSaratha is dead. ramu – uparame iti dAtoH – (uparam denotes death).

daSarathaM rAmaM viddhi – think daSaratha has died. Do not think of him as

alive; think of him as dead.

lakshmaNa - “You are still here, mother. Shouldn't I serve you?â€

 

sumitrA – “mAM viddhi janakAtmajAm – think of me as father's daughter (as

my father's daughter living in the place of my birth). janaka – is father.

janakAtmajA is father's daughter. mATTuppeN (daughter-in-law) in tamizh refers

to a girl who is in her father-in-law's house; that is, in-law's place. To be a

father's daughter, is in parents' place.

 

Think of daSaratha as dead. Think of me as without a husband and being in

parents' place. ayoddhyAm aTavIM viddhi. Think of ayodhyA as a forest without

any people. gaccha tAta yathA sukham. Go in comfortâ€.

 

5.lakshmaNa still cries – No matter what, whatever is said, father and mother

are great.

sumitrA – Are you thinking daSaratha as your father? rAma is your real

father. daSaratha is your temporary father.

pitA mAtA nivAsaH SaraNaM suhRcca nArAyaNaH | ((subalopanishad 6)

 

tAyAi tandaiyAi makkaLAi maRRumAi muRRumAi

nIyAi nI ninRavARu ivai enna nyAyangaLE

iDar kaDiyum mAtA pituvAga vaittEn enaduLLE

yAdAgil yAdE ini (tiruvAi.7.8.1)

 

Who is the real father for all jIvAtmA-s? It is bhagavAn Himself. Who are the

fathers in this life? daSaratha is the father in this life. Who comes after?

Fathers like him are those who come from pitA-karmA sopAdhikam [conditional].

nArAyaNan is a father not from karmA but nirupAdhikam [that which is without

cause], nishkAraNam [without cause or reason].

 

rAmaM daSarathaM viddhi – think of rAma as nirupAdhika father.

 

mAM viddhi janakAmajAm – sItA is your nirupAdhika mother.

 

mAtAdevi tvamasi bhagavAn vAsudevaH pitAme

jAtasso'ham janani yuvayor ekalakshyam dayayAH |

datto yushmatparijanatayA deSikairapyatastvaM

kiM te bhUyaH priyamiti kila smeravaktrA vibhAsi || (SrIstuti-23)

 

lakshmI is said to be the mother for the whole world; why? Because, she does

whatever a mother does.

 

What does a mother do?

 

She feeds the child. She does the same to her husband too. SankarAcAr says that

she is the mother because she feeds both.

 

A mother cannot bear her child being hungry. And, she cannot bear her husband

being hungry also. Since she feeds both of them, she is called 'mother'.

 

Why? We are all children. We are all not eating. We are eating 'rice' in this

world. But, we are not eating the 'other rice'.

 

aham annAdo, aham annAdo, aham annAdo (taittriya

bhRgu. 10-6) – upanishad talks about bhagavAn being annam (food) consumed by

nitya sUri-s. We do not have access to that food; food that has six guNa-s

[qualities]. There is food that has six guNa-s and there is food that has three

guNa-s. What we eat is the food that has three guNa-s – satvam, rajas and

tamas.

bhagavAn is the food that has j~nAnam, balam, aiSvaryam, vIyam, Sakti and tejas,

the six guNa-s. bhagavAN is also hungry. Why is he hungry? aham annam, aham

annam, aham annam - I am food for perumAL, I am food for perumAL; aham annAdaH

– perumAL is our annam. We are annam for perumAL. Both perumAL and we are

not enjoying each other. Are we enjoying each other? Is perumAL enjoying us?

'No' for both. Because this food has become useless for bhagavAn.

 

mAya van cERRELLal poi nilattE – nammAzhvAr says in tiruviruttam-100.

 

The jIvan has become soaked in the muddy 'prakRti' and has become stale food.

Will anyone eat stale ravai uppumA [cream of wheat pudding]?

 

maNivara iva SoureH nitya hRdyopi jIvaH | (rahasyatrayasAram – chapter 1)

 

jIvAtmA that is supposed to be beautiful, has become stale. That aside, can't

you (jIvAtmA) be taking annam that is bhagavAn? No, that annam has become too

hot [pungent] because of anger.

Sruti smRtI mamaivA~jne yaste ulla'nghya vartate |

a~jnAc-cchedI mama dveshI mad-bhakto'pi na vaishNavaH ||

(vishNudharmottara purANam [probably]; also referred to by SrImad vedAnta

deSikar in SrImad rahasyatrayasAram - SAstrIyaniyamanAdhikAram)

 

[Meaning - “Sruti and sMrti are My commands; He, who overrides them is a

violator of Law and My enemy.  Such a person, though he may profess to be My

devotee, is not a true VaishNava]

 

What are you going to do?

 

kshipAmi ajastram aSubhAn AsurIshveva yonishu || (gItA.16.19)

 

bhagavAn is chiding us in Sruti-s and vedam-s, because we are not doing what He

told us to do. drohI (dveshI) – perumAL is angrily declaring that He will

punish unruly people by pushing them into demoniac lives. PerumAL is like the

puLiyOdarai [tamarind rice] that has been spiced pungent hot. mElkOTTai

puLiyOdarai is very hot ['kAram' in tamizh]. jIvan is like stale food. bhagavAn

is like hot food. Both have to be made to eat. That is what lakshmI is doing.

 

What will she do if puLiyOdarai becomes pungent hot? If it has a lot of

chillies, she will put the puLioyOdarai in a vessel, add ghee, fried cashews,

oil etc and make it up so that all the pungency is gone. Where did the kAram

[pungency] go after adding ghee, oil, cashews etc? You know how folks say - It

is a great surprise. You are very clever; there is no one like you etc. Like

that, what is lakshmI, mother, doing?

 

She mitigates the annam that is perumAL's wrath.

 

kimetat nirdoshaH ka iha jagatIti siddham

upAyaiH vismArya svajanayasi mAtA tadasi naH ||

(guNaratnakoSam-52)

 

She will say - “will anyone be enraged like this? Everyone makes mistakes.

There is no one who does not commit an offense. What grave misdeed has this

jIvan done?†Using tactics like this, lakshmI tries to mollify His anger.

Thus, by appeasing Him, she makes the annam that is perumAL,

suitable/approachable for us.

 

The annam that is jIvAtma has become spoiled; four paDi-s [a measure] of uppumA

have been made. What to do if it is not fresh anymore? One who is very smart

will get good 'kalkaNDu' - crystal rock candy and put it in a vessel coated with

Iyam [lead] and heat it up to form 'pAgu' [syrup]; then, add the uppumA to the

vessel and stir with a brass ladle; then, add fried almonds, cashews,, saffron

etc and when asked what it is, he will say – it is Calcutta halvA! (laughter

in the audience). A clever person will make the stale uppumA alright, by

changing the name.

 

This food did not go to waste; nor did the other one.

 

mitram aupayikaM kartuM rAmaH sthAnaM parIpsatA |

vadaM cAnicchatA ghoraM tyavA'sau purusharbhaH ||

viditaH sa hi dharmaj~naH SaraNAgata vatsalaH |

tena maitrI bhavatu te yadi jIvitum icchasi || (sundara.21.19,20)

 

Just as sItA advises rAvaNa to surrender to rAma, in sundara kANDam, lakshmI,

the mother, goads the jIvAtmA and creates the interest in the knowledge about

paramAtmA, cleans up the stale and spoiled jIvAtmA and makes it surrender to

perumAL.

 

So,

 

rAmaM daSarathaM viddhi mAM viddhi janakAtmajAm |

ayodhyAm aTavIM viddhi gaccha! tAta yathAsukham ||

 

lakshmI, the mother, feeds the child and also feeds her husband. mAM viddhi

janakAtmajAm – sumitrA is talking about purushAkAra kRtyam [tAyAr's act of

recommending the jivAtmA to paramAtmA]. mAM viddhi janakAtmajAm.

She is advising lakshmaNa to think of rAma as nirupAdhika father, sItA as

nirupAdhika mother; ayodhyAm aTavIM viddhi – forest is the prApya deSam. What

is prApya deSam? This should be explained using upanishad principles. sumitrA

knows the truth. ayodhyA is prApya bhUmi. That is the place we all have to

reach or attain. ayodhyAm aTavIM viddhi – what is prApya sthalam? Wherever

perumAL is, that is the prApya sthalam.

 

If you ask, “Will you be in hell, if perumAL is there?â€, the answer will be,

“Yes, by all meansâ€.

 

ciRappil vIDu suvarkkam narakam

iRappil eyduga, eydaRka, yAnum

piARappil pal viRavip perumAnai

maRapponRinRi enRum magizhvanE.

 

nammAzhvAr says in tiruvAimozhi 2.9.5, that if he can stay without forgetting

bhagavAn, he does not mind living even in hell. If the bhagavad smaraNam found

in vaikuNTham is to be found in hell also, what is the problem with living in

hell?

 

“ayodhyAm aTavIM viddhi gaccha! tAta yathAsukham ||â€

===========

To be continued …..