Sri Sundara KaaNDa NavAham:Sixth day ( April 9 ): Sargams 34-40 ( 390 SlOkams).

[Guest guest]

Dear Raama BhakthAs:

 

Today we will cover the slOkams from seven

more sargams of Sundara KaaNDam .

 

(1) KshEma VrutthAntha Kathanam/Announcement

of the KshEma samaachArams about Sri Raama-

LakshmaNALs.

 

(2) VisvAsOthpAdhanam/Generation of Trust in

SeethA PirAtti by AnjanEyar

 

(3) AngUlyakaprAdhAnam/Giving the ring etched

with RaamA's name to Seethai by HanumAn.

 

(4) VisvarUpa darsanam/HanumAn demonstrating

his visvarUpam

 

(5) Vaayasa vrutthAntha kathanam/ Description of

the KaakAsura episode at ChithrakUtam

 

(6) SeethA SamAsvAsanam/Consoling Seethai

 

(7) HanUmathprEkshaNam/ Saying farewell

to HanumAn by Seethai

 

Among today's paarAyaNa sargams are two

(36th and 38th ) , which have been specially

recommended for conferral of certain benefits

for those , who recite these two sargams .

 

For instance , the recitation of the 36th slOkam

is recommended for anyone, who is separated from

relatives . It should be read both in the morning

and evening. Fruits should be offered to the Lord

at the end of the paarAyanam .

 

The recitation of the 38th sargam is traditionally

recommended for removal of BhagavathApachArams .

 

The thirty Fourth sargam

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

 

HanumAn starts his message to Seethai by

introducing himself as a Raama dhUthan:

 

aham Raamasya sandhEsAth dEvi dhUthastavAgatha:

VaidEhi KusalI RaamasthvAm cha kousalam abhraveeth

Sargam 34.2

 

(meaning): Oh Devi! I have arrived here on command

from Sri Raaman to serve as His dhUthan(messenger).

Oh VaidEhI ! Raaman is well. He asked me to inquire

about your well being.

 

SeethA PirAtti was thrilled to hear about the well being of

Her Lord and brother-in-law and that news set Her mind at peace.

She relaxed and developed trust in HanumAn( parasparENa

chaalAbham visvasthau thau prachakrathu:). As HanumAn

approached near Her, SeethA PirAtti had a sudden suspicion

that it was RaavaNan himself , who is standing before Her

as a monkey in the guise of a Raama dhUthan. A shiver went

thru Her body and She decided to cut Her conversation

with HanumAn , who in turn was confused by this turn of events.

He decided that the only way out of that impasse was to

recite the Raama Charithra kathanam through an exquisite

eulogy of the glories of SeethApathi :

 

Aadhithya iva tEjasvi lOkakAntha: SasI yatha

RaajA Sarvasya lOkasya DhEvO VaisravaNO YathA

vikramENOpapannasccha yathA Vishnur mahAyasa:

 

SathyavAdhI madhuravaagdEvO VachaspathiryathA

roopavAn subhaga: SrImAn kandharpa iva moorthymAn

 

sthAnakrOdha: praharthA cha srEshtO lOkE MahAratha:

BaahucchAyAm avashtaBdhO yasya lOkO mahaathmana:

Sargam 34.28-30

 

(meaning): Sri Raamachandran has the lustre of

Aadhithyan (Sun God); He cools all the universe

with His dayA guNam as Chandran; He is the Lord of

the Universe (posssessor of great wealth) like

KubEran; In valour , He is comparable to MahA VishNu.

 

He always speaks the truth. His words are sweet.

In His skills of conversation , He is equal to

the dEva guru, Brahspathi. In soundharyam (beauty)

He equals Manmathan. He is the embodiment of

MahA BhAgyams .

 

He will get angry on appropriate occasions . He is

a destroyer of His foes thereafter. He is the most

skilled warrior.The whole world has sought the refuge

of His powerful hands and rests there comfortably.

Such are the attibutes of my Lord , Sri Raamachandran.

 

HanumAn continued:

 

nithyam smarathi RaamasthvAm sasugrIva: salakshmaNa:

( Sri Raamabhadran comforted by Lakshmanan

and SugrIvan thinks of you every moment ).

 

After hearing these words of HanumAn describing

the KalyANa guNams of Her Lord, SeethA's fears

were banished. She was heartened to know that

the love of Her Lord has not diminished with time and

She became tranquil. She became eager to hear more

about Her Lord and Lakshmanan. She asked HanumAn

to describe to Her in more detail the beautiful limbs

and auspicious attributes of Her Lord to strengthen

Herself.

 

HanumAn was very happy to reflect upon the beauty

and anantha kalyANa guNams of his Lord , the consort of

SeethA Piratti. Through fourteen exquisite slOkams of

the 35th sargam ( SlOkmas 8-21) , HanumAn described

the soundharya(sAmudrikA) lakshaNams and the aathma guNams

of Sri Raamachandran to the utter delight of SeethA's heart.

 

Through the rest of the 69 slOkams of the 35th sargam ,

HanumAn continued with the story of how his king , Sugrivan

and himself met Sri RaamA and LakshmaNA for the first time,

the pact made between SugrIvA and RaamA to free SugrIvan

from the torments of Vaali , the promise made by SugrIvan

to help find SeethA , RaamA's unquenchable sorrow

over the separation from SeethA ,his(HanumAn's) jumping

over the ocean to LankA in search of SeethA as a result

of the tip from SampAthi ( AruNan's son)and HanumAn

concluded with the statement:

 

abhibhAshasva maam Devi dhUthO DaasarathEraham

tamm Maam RaamakruthOdhyOgam tvannimittham ihAgatham

Sargam 35.72.2 and 73.1

 

(Meaning): Oh Devi! (I have told you truthfully

every thing).Please speak to me.I am indeed

the Messenger of RaamA, the son of DasarathA.

Please recognize me as the One engaged in service

to RaamA and as One , who has arrived here on

your behalf and as the minister of SugrIvan and

as Vaayu puthran . I am not to be misunderstood as

MaayAvi RaavaNan in disguise to delude You .

 

Next , HanumAn gave SeethA pirAtti , the ring

with the inscription of " RaamA " that RaamA

had entrusted him with .This 36th chapter dealing

with the giving of Ring to SeethA is aptly named

" AngulIyaka PradhAna Sargam " .This ring sanctified by

sage YaagynavalkyA played a key role in the praNaya

Kalaham between Lord RaamachandrA and Seetha that

was known only to them .

 

SeethA received the sacred ring of Her Lord and

felt as though She had Her Lord in Her embrace.

She conceded that Raaman will never ask anyone

to execute a task without due examination of their

fitness to accomplish the assigned task .Hence,

She stated that she fully trusted HanumAn and

directed a volley of questions at him about

the well being of Raama out of Her most tender feelings

for Her Lord.These slOkams ( Sargam 36.15-29) are known

as the kascchinn slOkams. An example of these slOkams is:

 

kascchin mithrANi labhathE mithraiscchApyabhigamyathE?

Kascchith kalyANa mithrasccha mithraiscchApi puraskrutha: ?

Sargam 36.18

 

(Meaning): Does my Raaman acquire friends? Is He

visited by His friends? Does He have freinds , who

have good will towards Him ? Is He well regarded by

these friends and not abandoned by them ?

 

SeehtA pirAtti, Our Jaanaki MaathA describes Her

unparalleled relationship with Her Lord in another

moving slOkam that pulls at our heart strings:

 

na chAsya MaathA na PithA cha Naanya:

snEhaath visishtOathi mayA samO vaa

tAvatthvaham dhUtha jijIvishEyam

yaavath pravrutthim sruNuyAm priyasya

Sargam 36.30

 

(Meaning ): Oh Raama DhUtha! For My Lord

Raamachandran, there is no one ( father,

mother or anyone else) , who can equal or excell

me in friendship and love.As long as I hear about

my dear One's kshEmam , I will keep myself alive.

 

Aadhi Kavi VaalmIki salutes these revelatroy words

as those with " Mahaartham " or profound in meaning.

 

HanumAn's answers to the many questions of SeethA

Devi about Her husband's status are equally moving.

 

MalayEna cha VindhyEna MeruNA mandharaNE cha

DhardhurENa cha tE Devi SapE moola BhalEna cha

 

Kshipram Dhrakshyasi VaidEhi Raamam PrasravaNe girou

Sathakrathum-ivAseenam naaga-prushatsya moordhani

Sargam 36.38 & 40

 

(Meaning ): I swear by the name of of the sacred

Mandhara , Malaya , DhardhUra, VindhyA and Meru

mountains that You are going to have the darsana

soubhAgyam of Your Lord seated now on top of

the Prasravana parvatham , reminding one of Indran

seated majesticaly in his abode at svarga lOkam.

 

In the 37th sargam , HanumAn comforts SeethA pirAtti

about the nearness of Sri RaamA's arrival in LankA

to rescue Her and unite with Her .HanumAn even offered

to give SeethA a ride on his back to prasravaNa parvatham

to unite Her with his Lord. SeethA pirAtti wondered how

a monkey of small frame standing in front of Her could

dare to trasport Her across the huge immense of the ocean.

HanumAn responded to her doubts and showed his Visva roopam.

He grew to great heights and towered over all things

around him all the way up to the sky. Then he shrank his

visva roopam. SeethA pirAtti then shared with HanumAn

the real reasons for Her rejection of HanumAn's offer to

carry Her back to safety to Her Lord's side.

 

bharthru bhakthim puraskruthya RaamAdhanyasya vaanara

na SprusAmi sarIram thu pumsO vaanarapungava

Sargam 37.60

 

(Meaning): Oh Great Vaanaram ! In view of my

pathivrathA dharmam , I will not ouch any one's body

other than that of my Lord .

 

HanumAn apologized for his ardour to help SeethA

PirAtti and unite her with her lord through

the offer to carry Her on his back across the ocean

and saluted Her observance of PathivrathA dharmam .

 

This sargam concludes with SeethA piraatti's ardent

appeal to HanumAn to hasten RaamA to Her side

and thereby eliminate all Her unbearable sorrows.

 

The 38th sargam deals with an incident known only to

Raaman and Seethai , which happened during their

stay at ChithrakUtam mountains.She shares it with

HanumAn to convince RaamA about the veracity of

His messenger finding Her at LankA and also to tease

Her Lord about His lack of action in rescuing Her

through dispatch of BrahmAsthram that was sent after

the offending KaakAsuran at ChitrakUtam .She pleaded

with HanumAn that Her Lord should arrive at LankA and

rescue Her before the two months time limit set by

RaavaNA to possess Her or to destroy Her.

 

At this juncture , SeethA pirAtti took the chUDamaNi

( special gem studded ornament ) that She used to

wear in her happier days and gave it to HanumAn

to take it back to her Lord as a token of affection

and insignia of Her love for Her Lord. HanumAn received

that MaNirathnam with humility and reverence

and made a pradakshiNam around SeethA pirAtti and

offered his deep salutations.

 

In the 39th sargam , HanumAn comforts SeethA

further and asserts that the end of RaavaNA was

fast approaching and that RaamA and LakshmaNA

will soon be in LankA to destroy the evil RaavaNA

and to rescue His dear Consort .

 

In the fourtieth sargam, SeethA pirAtti blesses

HanumAn for success in concluding his mission

and bids him farewell .HanumAn's state of mind

is described in the last slOkma of today's PaarAyanam:

 

sa Raajaputhr^yA prathivEdhithArtha:

Kapi: kruthArtha: ParihrushtachEthA:

alpAvasEsham prasamIkshya Kaaryam

disam hudhIchIm mansA jagAma.. Sargam 40.24

 

(meaning): HanumAn , who understood well the message of

SeethA to her dear husband considered himself as a

kruthArthan (one who has been blessed to have fulfilled

his assigned task by Lord Raamachandran ) and became

elated over the developments since he landed in LankA .

He focused his attention now on the insignificant small

things to attend prior to returning to the side of RaamA.

His mind wandered towards the northern direction , where

RaamA was waiting anxiously for his return with the news

on his mission to LankA.

 

Sri Raamachandra ParabrahmaNE nama:

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan

Sixth Day of NavAham on Sundara KaaNDam