Thiruvaheendhrapuram RathnAngi Kaimkaryam Special: Part 195/Sundara KahANDam/2004 SrI Raama Navami Series : Fifrth Day .

[Guest guest]

SrI Raama Jayam

 

Dear Raama BhakthAs:

 

Dhussvapna-dhOsha sAnthyarTam ThrijAdA svapna darsanam

paDEth thrayaham prAtharEva sarkarAm vinivEdayEth

 

(Meaning): For the banishment of the dhOsham arising from bad dreams ,

one should recite during three successive mornings , the 27th Sargam

of Sundara KaaNDam describing ThrijaDA's dream and offer

Sarkarai (unrefined Sugar) naivEdhyam to the Lord.

 

Overall Summary of Sargams 27-33 : Todays' coverage/201 slOkams

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Thrijadai , the elder daughter of VibhIshaNan , the brother of RaavaNan

tells fellow Raakshasis now about a disturbing dream that she had in the

early morning time (27th Sargam ). LankA's destruction and RaavaNA's

demise at the hands of Raamaa and LakshmanA are predicted in that dream .

 

Meanwhile , SeethA PirAtti was overcome with Her sorrows and decided

to hang Herself on the branch of SimsupA tree with Her own braid of kEsam

(Sargam 28) . At that time , many auspicous signs presented themselves to

SeethA PirAtti , which resembled those that She experienced during

Her time of marriage with Her Lord at MiTilai ( Sargam 29) . As HanumAn

saw SeethA Devi engaged in the act of commititng suicide , He was perturbed

and decided to intervene and comfort SeethA through the recitation

of the sacred Raama charitham in the human language (30th & 31st Sargams) .

SeethA PirAtti was moved to hear the Charithram of Her Lord being recited by

some one and looked around and found a monkey sitting on the branch of

a tree above Her doing the recitation and thought that She was dreaming .

She prayed to Her Kula Dhaivam RanganAthan that it was not a dream

and the recitation of Her Lord's charithram was from the mouth of

a real Raama DhUthan (Sargam 32) . HanumAn now started His

conversation with SeethA Devi and asked Her as to who She was .

She responded and identified Herself as the dharma pathni of

Lord Raamachandra of AyOddhi and gave additional particulars about

Herself. She said at the end that RaavaNan had given Her two months

time to live and that She will give up her life at the end of the two

months unless Her Lord came to Her rescue (Sargam 33).

 

Sargam 27: ThrijaDA's Svapnam ( ThrijaDA's dream)

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Thrijadai addressed the Raakshasees around her and told

them that she had a fearsome and hair raising dream , where

RaakshAsAs of LankA including their king were killed in

battle and RaamA and SeethA were showered with auspiciousness:

 

SvapnO hyadhya mayA dhrushto dhAruNO rOmaharshaNa:

RaakshasAnAm ABHAAVAAYA bharthruasyA BHAVAAYA cha

---Sundara KaaNDam: 27.5

 

The rAkshasis were eager to know the content of that dream.

Thrijadai described that she saw Raama and LakshmaNA

arriving at LankA on an elephant in that dream . She said RaavaNan

was seen in the same dream with a red garland and falling to the ground

from his Pushpaka vimAnam ; RaavaNan gets up and ascends a donkey

to ride in the southerly direction. Rest of the relatives of RaavaNan

( KumbhakarNan , Indhrajith and others) were also seen in similar

inauspicious states in that dream of ThrijadA . Only VibhIshaNan

was seen clad in white dress, white garland and a white umbrella

over his head to symbolize emperorship. She dreamt also about

the city of LankA being burnt by a monkey.

 

Thrijadai intrepreted this extraordinary dream for the raakshasis and

told them to stop tormenting SeethA Devi , who is going to be united

soon with Her divine consort and who will destroy RaavaNan and

all the citizens of LankA for the unpardonable offense committed by

RaavaNan . ThrijadA pointed out that the most merciful SeethA PirAtti

alone can save them from impending disaster and asked them to seek

Her for protection.

 

Sargam 28 : Udhbandhana VyavasAya: ( Attempt to hang Herself)

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SeethA PirAtti concluded by now that it is better to take Her life

than being killed by RaavaNan.She wailed that She was going to die alone

without Raamaa , LakshMaNaa , Kousalya and her kin folks.She

recognized the injustice that She had done to LakshMaNan earlier

and repented over it. She meditated on Her dear Lord and placed

Her long braid around Her neck to hang from the branch of the SimsupA

tree , where HanumAn was sitting unrecognized . The mere thought of

Her husband brought on many auspicious nimitthams ( sakunams)

at this time.

 

Sargam 29: Subha SakunAni( appearance of Auspicous signs)

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This is a short sargam with 8 slOkams.The Subha Sakunams

came running to SeethA PirAtti to let Her know that mangaLams

are about to happen . Her left eye , hand and thigh twitched.These

are signs foretelling auspiciousness to women (MangaLa sakunams).

SeethA was energized and felt happy and relieved on experiencing

these auspicious sakunams.

 

Sargam 30: SeethA SamAsvAsana nirdhAraNam(comforting SeethA)

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

HanumAn , who was a silent witness to all the events at AsOka vanam

until now decided to reveal himself and comfort SeethA PirAtti.

He concluded that He had to address Her with comforting words

to prevent Her from taking any drastic steps that will harm Her

and Her Lord. He decided to speak to Her in the language used

by the citizens of Kosala dEsam instead of high brow Sanskrit ,

lest he may be misunderstood as RaavaNan in another disguise.

He decided on a strategy of conversation with SeethA PirAtti ,

which would protect His mission to LankA on behalf of RaamA

( Raama Kaaryam) and generate trust in SeethA PirAtti's mind

that He was a true Raama DhUthan.

 

Sargam 31: SrI Raama VrutthAntha KaTanam ( Telling of the story of RaamA)

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

HanumAn started now with the holy charithram of Raamachandran , which

could only be heard by SeethA PirAtti.HanumAn started with King DasaraTan

of AyOdhyA :

 

" RaajA DasaraTO naama raTa-kunjara VaajimAn

piNyaseelO mahAkeerthir-rujurAseenmahA yasaa: "

---Sundra KaaNDam: 31.2

 

(Meaning ): There was a king by name DasaraTan at the city of

AyOddhi on the banks of the river Sarayu with many chariots, horses

and elephants. He had sadAchAram and was famous for his generosity

to all .

 

DasaraTan had a famous first son by the name of Raamachandran ,

who was dear to all the citizens of His father's kingdom . He was

a great archer and is extremely knowledgable about Raaja Neethi

and SaasthrAs. That beautiful Raaman entered the forest with

His dear wife and brother to fulfil a promise made to His father .

In the forest , He destroyed the raakshasAs , who harmed the Sages

and at JansthAnam alone , Raama killed singlehandedly fourteen

thousand enemies . HanumAn now shifted to RaavaNA's deciet in

abducting SeethA PirAtti to LankA with the help of the mysterious deer .

HanumAn now described the friendship pact between Raama and

His king SugreevA to locate SeethA and rescue Her and His own

mission to LankA after crossing the ocean to find Her .HanumAn

concluded by stating that He has now found Her at RaavaNan's

AsOka Vanam and was ecstatic over the discovery on behalf of

Her sorrow-stricken Lord .

 

SeethA Piratti was raptly listening to the recitation of Raama Charithram

with closed eyes and a heart full of devotion until then . Now She opened

Her eyes , looked around and saw the Vaayu Putran , HanumAn on

the branch of the tree above Her looking like rising Sun at dawn :

 

dadarsa PingAdhipathEr-amAthyam

VaathAthmajam SooryamivOdhayasTam

--Sundara KaaNDam: 31.19

 

SurYOdhayam is mentioned here to indicate the onset of

joy and happiness that were to unfold .

 

Sargam 32 : SeethA HanUmath darsanam ( SeethA seeing HanumAn)

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

SeethA PirAtti first thought that She was dreaming , when She saw

the huge monkey sitting on the branch of the SimsupA tree. This monkey

has recited the story of my Lord , whom my mind dwells on always and

my tongue recites without let . I have heard the Raama Kathaa now and

understood its meaning :

 

RaamEthi RaamEthi sadhiva bhuddhyA vichinthya vAchA Bhruvathee tamEva

tasyAnuroopam cha KaTAm tamarTamEvam prapasyAmi tTA sruNOmi

---Sundara KaaNDam: 32. 11

 

She prayed to the DevAs that what She had heard from the monkey was

from a true Raama DhUthan and it was no deception.

 

Sargam 33: HanUmajjAnakee SamvAdhOpakrama: ( Start of the dialog)

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

HanumAn got down from the tree branch with humility.He had already

inferred that the noble and beautiful woman He saw was SeethA PirAtti and

Yet wanted to hear it from Her own mouth. Therefore HanumAn asked Her:

Oh Lady with lotus soft eyes! Oh lady wearing dirtied silken clothes !

Who are You holding on to the branch of this tree?

 

Kaa nu padhma-palAsAkshi klishta-kousEya vaasini ?

dhrumasya saakhAm-aalampya thishtasi ThvamanindhitE

--Sundara KaaNDam: 33.3

 

Oh Auspicous Lady ( KalyANi ) ! Who are You (Kaa nu? ).

Pray tell ! If You are the One , who was forcibly abducted by

RaavaNan from JanasthAnam , pray tell me. If You are that

dharma pathnee of Lord Raamachandran ,then all MangaLams are

rushing towards You . Your days of sorrow are over !

 

SeethA PirAtti was elated by the repeated mention of Her Lord's name

and responded joyously to HanumAn's questions:

 

DuhithA JanakasyAham VaidEhasya MahAthmana:

SeethA cha nAma nAmnAham bhAryA Raamasya dheematha:

---Sundara KaaNDam: 33.16

 

(meaning): I am the dear daughter of the MahAthmA , Janaka RaajA ,

the king of VidEha dEsam . I am the One made wel known with the name of

SeethA (plough tip) .I am the wife of the wise king , Raamachandran.

 

She narrated next Her happy marriage to Lord Raamabhadran

and Her twelve blissful years at AyOdhyA as His bride enjoying

all bhOgams as His princess . She filled in HanumAn about the plight of

DasaraTA regarding his boons to KaikEyi leading up to Her husband's

departure for the forest for pithru vaakya paripAlanam . SetehA Piratti

described Her immediate departure with Her Lord for the forest even

when Her Lord requested Her to stay behind in AyOdhyA with His Mother .

She explained that being without RaamA even for a moment was not an option

and other bhOgams like Svarga Vaasam (residence in the kingdom of IndhrA)

were inferior compared to being with Her dear Lord :

 

Saaham tasyAgrathasthUrNam prasTithA vanachAriNee

na hi mE tEna heenAyaa vaasa: savrgOapi rOchathE

---Sundara KaaNDam: 33.27

 

After describing as to who She was and how She came to be in LankA

due to the evil deed of RaavaNan , SeethA PirAtti mentioned that

RaavaNan had given her two month's life and that She will give up

Her life at the end of the term , if Her Lord does not come to rescue

Her from Her forced incarceration .

 

SrI JaanakI SamEtha SrI Raamachandra ParabrahmaNE Nama:

Raama Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan