SrI UpakAra Sangraham Part - 43

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srI:

SrI upakAra sangraham – 43

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adikAram – 1

poorva upakAra paramparai

(The Foremost Series of Favours)

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SECTION – 5 (9)

(27 Favours of the Lord leading to the means for

MOKSHAM)

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The Lord did not stop with revealing the VEdas and

the related scriptures like the PAncarAtra samhitas

and not only directly Himself but also through the

Azhvaras and AchAryas. He also took births whenever

there was danger for the dharma, and saved it.

When the righteous persons started adopting the

dhArmic activities and purifying themselves, He

captivated their minds by revealing His beautiful form

and attributes. Once they came closer to Him, in His

incarnations He gave discourses directly on the ways

of leading lives on the righteous path. He also

conducted Himself according to dharma so that the

jIvas can follow His example. It was yet another

favour done by the Lord. This is the theme of the

next sub-section taken up by SwAmi Desikan:

 

(9) “upadEsha - anuShtAnankaLAlE dharma-

pravartthanam paNNumthuvum;”

 

We already noted, in the previous section, the

various qualities of the Lord with which He attracted

the people. The Lord gave discourses on the righteous

conduct and conducted Himself accordingly, in many of

His incarnations. In some, He gave instructions on the

righteous conduct and in some others, He showed it by

practicing himself, that is, through anushtAnam. .

Even though the Lord has taken many incarnations for

establishing righteousness in the world, two of them

are the most prominent, namely, SrI rAmavatAram and

SrI KrishNAvatAram. During these two incarnations,

the Lord taught the essence of dharma whenever the

occasion demanded. As SrI KrishNa, His Bhagavad Gita

and Uddhava Gita are well known and being read with

commentaries even today.

In VAlmIki rAmAyaNa, we see a number occasions when

SrI rAma gives His advice on various aspects of

righteous conduct, including that of a son towards his

father, a wife towards her husband and that of a king

to his citizens.

We shall now look at these instances when SrI rAma

gave His advice and set an example by His own conduct.

The first one is regarding how a son should conduct

himself towards his parents.

In AyodhyAkANda, SrI rAma obeyed His

father, Dasaratha’s decision to banish Him to forest

for 14 years just before He was to be made the

Crown-Prince. When His mother, KausalyA prevented Him

from proceeding to the forest, He was very firm that

He cannot flout the command of His father. SrI rAma

refers to Sage KaNdu, the sixty thousand sons of

Sagara and ParashurAma. Sri rAma tells his mother:

“Their fathers’ behest was carried out by them as well

as by many other godlike men. I too shall do a good

turn to my father, Oh godly mother! I am not

introducing any new sacred practice. That path is

being followed by me, which was intended and traversed

my forbears. That alone, which is worth doing in this

world, is being done by me in this case. It is indeed

well known that anyone not carrying out the bidding of

his father is forsaken by virtue.”

He also tells his brother, LakshmaNa, “Righteousness

is paramount in the world and truthfulness is rooted

in piety. This command of my father too is supreme in

that it is based on righteousness.” In fact, the

command came from KaikEyI to SrI rAma to go into

exile. He refers to this and tells LakshmaNa: “Since I

have been commanded by KaikEyI, according to the

pledge given to her by my father, I, constituted as I

am, dare not flout her command in any case.”

Realizing that SrI rAma was firm in His obedience to

the command of His parents, KausalyA urged him to take

her along with Him. Not agreeing to His mother’s

request, SrI rAma advised her thus:

 

“jeevantya hi striyA bharthA daivam prbhurEva ca /

bhavatyA mama caivAdhya rAjA prbhavathi prbhuh //”

(AyodhyAkAnNda, 24-21)

 

(For a married woman, so long as she is alive, her

husband indeed is her deity as well as her lord. The

king, our master, holds away over you as well as over

me now.)

 

When Bharata went to the lovely hills of Citrakoota

and met SrI rAma there, He placed Bharata on His lap

and gave him instruction on administering a country.

(AyOdhyAkANda, 100.)

He gave this instruction to Bharata, while enquiring

about his rule. What SrI rAma taught was the dharma of

governing a country by a ruler. He made an extensive

survey of the statecraft. He asked these questions

which contained several norms of dharmic ruling:

1) Whether Bharata was worshipping Guru Vasishta,

elders and teachers.

2) Whether he had rightly selected ministers?

3) Whether he was making deliberations secretly

without divulging to others?

4) Whether the administration of justice was entrusted

to impartial persons, whether he was punishing persons

properly;

5) Whether he observing the feelings of the people

about the administration etc.

 

SrI rAma's instructions on the principles of

administration which constituted three virtues,

namely, the ruler should protect dharma; to protect

his own dharma and to protect his own people.

Besides giving instructions, the Lord, as SrI rAma

Himself observed certain conduct setting an example

for others. We may see some of them:

Purity:- It must be both external and internal. It

should be maintained in food, mind, speech and body.

Scriptures have declared that the purity of internal

organs is achieved through the purity of food. The

purified internal organs lead to unfailing memory.

SrI rAma maintained both physical and mental purity.

Sage nArada describes Him as shucI. Before taking up

any instruction from His guru, either Vasishta or

VishvAmitra, Sri rAma used to perform “Acamana” –

sipping water with devotion and maintaining purity of

mind. Women were no exception to perform Achamana.

According to scriptures, when one sheds tears in

grief, he or she should perform Acamana, to purify

oneself. Kausalya broke down and shed tears when SrI

rAma departed for the forest on exile. She later

performed Acamana to purify herself before she blessed

SrI rAma.

The importance of purity is stressed by Sage

Patanjali, who says:

“By purity one achieves the purification of heart,

cheerfulness of mind, the power of concentration,

control of passions and fitness for securing the

vision of reality.”

Dama and Shama:- Controlling of the ten senses is dama

and controlling of mind is Shama. The need for

controlling senses has been emphasized in the shruti

in a well known prayer:

 

Bhadram karNEbhih shruNuyAmdEvA bhadram

pashyEmAkShabhiryajatrAh /

sthirairgaistuShtuvAmsastanubhih vyashEma dEvahitam

yadAyuh //

 

(Oh, God! May we hear auspicious words with our ears.

May we see the auspicious with our eyes; praising the

Gods with steady limbs and bodies, may we live the

full-span of our lives as ordained by the Gods.)

 

The Lord, SrI rAma kept His senses and mind under

control as per the scriptural instruction. Hence, the

divine Sage nArada described SrI rAma as VashI. He was

called ‘arindama’, as He conquered the vices of all

senses, such as, lust, anger, greed, ignorance, pride

and envy.

 

BrahmacAryam (Celibacy):- A person who is on vow of

studying Veda before marriage is called BrahmacAri. It

is not correct to think that this BrahmacArya is not

intended for married persons. In fact, all sages were

married. After marriage, having taken a life-mate, man

should look at other women as mother or sister, and

women should look at other men as her son or brother.

A special rule is mentioned for persons who are

married, that is, gradually withdrawing from sex

activity.

This aspect of dharma has also been highlighted in

rAmAyaNa at different stages.

The Lord’s Consort, Sita has also shown by Her conduct

how a woman should lead her life as a wife. The epic

is also called, “SitA caritam mahat” – the great story

of sItA dEvi. When SrI rAma proceeded to the forest,

she was bent upon following Him. She old Him She

always liked to follow dharma with valour.

A notable aspect of Her story in the forest is Her

discussion with AnasooyA, the wife of Sage Atri in

their hermitage. After listening to the instruction

from AnasooyA on the duties of a devoted wife, Sita

told her:

 

“yadyapyESha bhavet bhartA anAryO vruttivarjitah /

advaidhmatra vartavyam tathApyESha mayA bhavEt //

 

kim punaryO guNShlAghyah sAnukrOshO jitEntriyah /

sthirAnurAgO dharma mAtruvat-pitruvat-priyah //”

(AyOdhyAkANda,118-3,4)

 

(Even if the husband of mine were ignoble and without

any means of livelihood, I ought to have conducted

myself just in the same way without any hesitation or

scruple towards him; this was my duty. How much more

worthy of devotion, then, is he who is deserving of

praise by virtue of his excellences and full of

compassion, who has controlled all his senses, who is

constant in his love, whose mind is set on

righteousness and who is loving as a mother and a

father combined!)

 

Sita was praised by Sage Agasthya for her conduct in

following her husband to the exile. He compared her

with Sage Woman Arundhati, wife of Vasishta. Her

compassion is matchless. She prevented Hanuman from

killing the ogre-women who had tortured her.

 

Satya: This dharma covers not only speaking truth but

also standing by it and truthful conduct. There are

several facets under this dharma including

impartiality, self-control, humility, endurance,

renunciation, fortitude, compassion and non-violence.

The Lord, as SrI rAma is known for his truthful

conduct. Sage nArada described Him as Satya Sandha,

true to his promise. VAlmIki described him in several

places in rAmAyaNa as SatyavAdin (who speaks truth),

Satya Sheela (truthful character), Satya ParAkrma

(truly valourous) and SatyAtmanah (personification of

truth).

We have already seen a number of virtues in the

previous sub-section, which SrI rAma possessed. The

Lord established righteousness by practicing it during

His incarnation as SrI rAma, along with His Consort

SrI.

 

(To continue)

dAsan

Anbil S.SrInivAsan)

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