[T'venkatam] Srimadh Valmiki Ramayana transcription: sharing the story of a personal odyssey

[Guest guest]



SrI:

 

Dear Sriman Sudarshan :

Thanks very much for sharing the moving account of

transcribing the Sri Sookthi of Srimad RaamAyaNam by

Your revered Mother and your conclusion of it as the duty

of a son . This is an inspiring message .

 

I have a suggestion . you can look into its feasibility

( Technical , Time investment etc).

 

If the individual copies of the pages of the ledger can be

converted into a digital record and compiled to get a multiple

volume book for ready reference by Aastikaas for PaarAyaNam

or reading , it would take Your Mother's Kaimakryam one more step

forward .

 

We conckuded the scanning of the individual issues of

Sri Nrisimha Priyaa from 1945-2005 and releasede it on

a content queryable basis as a Kaimakryam for SrI Matam.

We concluded a similar effort on digitizing the English

Sri Nrisimha Priya issues and released it as a seperate DVD .

 

Sri Venakteswara Digital libraries have preserved and made available

such books for access by global scholars . These books scanned by them have

different page dimensions .

 

When such a DVD based on Your Mother's devout effort

becomes available , We can house it in Sri Hayagrivan

ebook series for access by all Raama BhakthAs .

Today , it is very difficult to buy fulls et of Srimad RaamAyaNam

with a comfortable font . The creation of such an ebook to treasure

this ithihAsam would be a great kaimkaryam .

 

NamO SrI RaghavAya anisam ,

V.Sadagopan

 

 

 

-

sudarshan madabushi

tiruvenkatam

Cc: ; oppiliappan

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 12:46 PM

[T'venkatam] Srimadh Valmiki Ramayana transcription: sharing the story of a personal odyssey

 

 

The final verses of the “yuddha-kAnda†in Srimadh Valmiki’s Ramayana recount the “phala-sruthi†of the great scriptural work i.e. they narrate the various benefits and blessings believed to accrue to anyone who devotedly reads, recites or even merely listens to the narration of the sacred epic. The very last line of the penultimate canto of Srimadh Valmiki “RamayAna†however extols the special virtue in the devotee who has engaged in transcribing the sacred epic and successfully completes it. The particular verse reads as follows:“bhakthyA rAmasya yE chEmAm samhitAmrusheeNA kruthAm IlEkhayanteeha cha narAstEshAm vAsassthree-vishtapE II†(“yuddha-kAndamâ€)(meaning): “As for those who copy with devotion this sacred collection of verses on Rama composed by the “rshi†(Valmiki), they shall live in Heaven forever.â€***************************My mother (late) Sangita Kalanidhi Smt Mani Krishnaswami was a devotee of Sri Rama, the devotion partly kindled by a reasonably good grounding in the Sanskrit language which she believed found its richest expression in the great scriptural epic of India, “Srimadh Valmiki Ramayanam†which recounts the odyssey of Lord Rama as an avatar on earth.In several parts of India, there is an old pastoral custom practiced by thousands of “rama-bhaktasâ€. It involves cultivating a daily habit of writing “sri rAma jayamâ€, or the sacred name of Sri Rama (“rAma-nAmaâ€), in a little personal note-book kept for the holy purpose. The daily habit, almost a constant ritual in some homes, is known to develop in time into a meditative experience for the writer and constant meditation is believed to eventually flower into a deeply fulfilling and auspicious state of physical and mental well-being. The habit of transcribing the “sri rama jayam†several hundreds or thousands of times over a lifetime is believed to fetch the devotee the unceasing blessings of Lord Rama both in this world and beyond.My mother in her lifetime went a step further in the meditative practice of writing “sri rama jayamâ€. She chose to transcribe the ageless Srimad Valmiki Ramayana – all 6 “kandAs†that begin with Sri Rama’s childhood and lead up to the glorious climax of Sri Rama “pattAbhishEkkamâ€. She began writing the Valmiki Ramayana in 1978. She began the daily ritual of transcribing a few pages of the Sanskrit text into a large ledger-book kept within the sanctified precincts of her personal altar at home. In the midst of her hectic domestic and professional commitments she managed somehow to devote a few minutes every day --- often just before the late hours of the night when she turned in to bed --- to this patient and faithful meditative exercise. This ritual she adhered to for several years.In the year 2002 Mani Krishnaswami passed away. One of the things amongst her personal effects left behind we found were 8 nos: large and heavy bound ledger-volumes into which she had been transcribing the Ramayana. Turning over the ledgers we found pages and pages of her handwriting reproducing the ancient Sanskrit passages of Sage Valmiki. It was evident my mother had really taken this meditative habit very seriously. The writing was neat, elegant, meticulous and error-free. There was not a single instance of over-writing or any omission of a line here or a passage there from the Sanskrit original. Every word was recorded with care and reverence. It was obvious she felt great veneration for the sacred text and she seems to have carried within her great faith too in the purpose and efficacy of what she was doing.. It was a mammoth task she had chosen to undertake: 24,000 “shlOkas†--- a task several times more formidable than writing “sriramajayam†a hundred times a day. But there was no doubt she had been very happy to engage in the task as sheer labor of love felt for her favorite deity, Lord Sri Rama.Flipping through the pages of the 8 heavy ledgers of my mother’s Ramayana transcription, we found it interesting to track its chronology. We were amazed the chronology stretched for all of 30 long years! Here is a brief diary:Ledger Volume No: 1 : Commenced “baala-kAndam†on 29 June 1978. Ended on 19 January 1982 with the 47th “sarga†of the “ayodhya-kAndaâ€. Ledger Volume No: 2: Continued 27 January 1982 ‘ayodhya-kandam’ from “sarga†48 and completed “sarga†103 on 16 June 1983.Ledger Volume No: 3: Beginning 19 June 1983 “sarga†104 and completed ‘ayodhya-kandam’ at “sarga†119 on 10 October 1983. Began the “ayodhya-kAndam†on 16 October and completed 44 “sargas†on 4 August 1984 Ledger Volume No: 4: Continuing from “sarga†45 completed the “aranyakAndam†and began the “kishkinda-kAndam†the 22nd ‘sarga†of which was completed on 6 March 1986.Ledger Volume No: 5: Continuing from 7 Sept 1986, pursued and completed the “kishkinda-kAndam†and went on with the “sundara-kanda†and on 31 December 1987 completed the 7th “sargaâ€.Ledger Volume No: 6: Began the 8th “sarga†of the “sundara-kAndam†on 1 January 1988 and progressed very slowly for 6 years and not until 19 September 1994 did she complete 56th ‘sarga’ of the “sundara-kAndamâ€Ledger Volume No: 7: Persevering still with the “sundara-kAnda†she began on 7 October 1994 and completed the “kAnda†on 27 September 1995.Ledger Volume No: 8: On 24 October 1995 she began writing the “yuddha-kAnda†but we don’t know the precise date she stopped at “sarga†40.In the 8th ledger-volume, we found however the transcription abruptly terminated, hanging in mid-air, as it were, at the 40th “sarga†of the “yuddha-kandamâ€. While we are not able to date precisely when my mother stopped the transcription, we surmise she must have ceased at a time when her health began to deteriorate around the year 1995. Diabetes took a heavy and crushing toll of her over the next few years until, finally in 2002, she passed away. It is probable that in those years, between the onset of illness and her final demise, she found it physically difficult to perform the daily ritual of transcribing the few wonted pages from the sacred Ramayana. My wife, Smt Divya, who lived with my mother all through the final years, nursing her and being a constant companion through difficult times, recollects that on many occasions my mother did express sadness and regret that her debilitating condition and failing eyesight had effectively abortedher bid to complete her spiritual project: to finish transcribing by recording the climactic and auspicious event of “rama-pattAbhishEkamâ€. In December 2008, after 15 years of a career abroad, I returned to Chennai for good. Back home with my wife, children and my octogenarian father, I pondered over what the family should do with the unfinished 8-ledger transcription-volumes of my mother’s Ramayana. The “yUddha-kanda†had now lain suspended at “sarga†number 40 for now well over 7 years since my mother’s death. What should be done with the ledgers now? Left to gather dust in the family attic? Given away to some temple or “mattam†to be archived in permanent and musty oblivion? These options didn’t seem somehow right. As a family we felt that that something must be done with the transcripts that would befit the memory of my mother and her painstaking labor of love. It was then the family hit upon the idea that I must take up the unfinished transcription of the climactic “kAnda†of the Valmiki Ramayana and conclude it where my mother had desired to conclude it i.e. inthe grand coronation of Sri Rama. I took up the task in December 2008 and on 22nd June 2009 completed the last 131st “sarga†of the “yuddha-kAndam†culminating in the “rama-pattabhishekam†---- 31 long years almost to the day since Mani Krishnaswami, my mother, first began writing the “baala-kanda†on 29 June 1978!The story of the Ramayana is a story of the glorious odyssey of Prince Rama, the “avatAra-purusha†of both divine valor and compassion.. My little story narrated here about my mother, and about her faithful project of transcribing the Sanskrit epic, a project that became an intimate part of her daily worship and meditation though the years leading to her departure from the mortal world…. this story too is a minor but no less poignant personal odyssey celebrating the life, times and memory of a good human being who lived in the simple but perfect grace that Lord Sri Rama cast upon her soul. We must believe in the words of the final “phala-sruti†of the very last “rama-pattAbhishEka sarga’; surely she must be now happily and forever residing in Heaven. ********************************Best Regards,Sudarshan MKICC World Twenty20 England & #39;09 exclusively on ! CRICKET http://cricket.