SrIH
SrImate raângarAmAnuja MahA deSikAya namaH
SrImate SrInivAsa rAmAnuja MahA deSikAya namaH
SrImate VedAnta rAmAnuja MahA deSikAya namaH
SrI raânganAtha divya maNi pAdukAbhyAm namaH
AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI raânganAtha pAdukA dt. June 08 Part 2)
English Translation of
SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam in tamizh by SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan
As published in SrI raânganAtha pAdukA by
SrI u.ve. nATTEri KiDAmbi rAjagopAlAcAriyAr (Editor of SrI raânganAtha
pAdukA)
(Please set your encoding to Unicode UTF-8)
SrImad ANDavan tiruvaDi,
kalyANi kRshNamAcAri
=====================================
SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavanâs SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam
25. vivAhaSca vivAdaSca samayoreva Sobhate â âmama sutAâ means:
daSaratha kumArasya tava, janakasya mama sutA iyaM sadRSI ityarthaH â This,
my daughter sItA, is equal in all respects to You â daSarathaâs son.
vivAhaSca vivAdaSca samayoreva Sobhate - Arguments and marriages shine only
between equals. One boy was doing adhyayanam with me. Some girlâs parents
offered 2 lakhs dowry, and someone proposed this boy. They should look for
someone who is very rich. If one party is bankrupt, the other one should be
too. If one is a rich person, the other should be rich also.
Some forty years back, there was a rich father; he could not get a good match
for his daughter. He said he will give her in marriage to a boy in vaidIkam.
He gave first class fare to 20 people, and asked them to come. The boy and the
party were very excited, and boarded the train. One person in the party did
not know where to hang the tiruppul kuDalai (the basket containing the cloths
etc., meant to ke kept pure, for wearing after the next bath etc.), and hung it
on the fan in the first class coach. The item got caught in the fan, the fan
made big noises, and stopped. A few manutes later, the lights went off, and a
few minutes later, the train itself stopped (laughter in the audience)!
vivAhaSca vivAdaSca samayoreva Sobhate.
26. iyaM sItA - daSasu dikshvat apratihataH rathaM gacchati iti daSarathaH -
daSarathan is capable of driving his chariot in all ten directions at the same
time and vanquishing his enemies. I also fought and won over several people
who came to fight asking for sItA's hand in marriage. She is the daughter of a
great warrior. Even Your father has referred to me as the valiant warrior of
mithilA - âmithilAdhipatiM SUraM janakaM satya vikramamâ iti vasishThaH.
When daSaratha was doing aSvamedha yAgam, he said, "VasishThar asked me to
invite Janaka mahArAjA, who is the king of mithilA and a great warriorâ. I
am not just a vaidIkan doing Acamanam and AcAram. I can fight wars and win.
VasishThar has said of me - 'mithilAdhipatiM SUram'.
27. mama sutA na bhIruH - she is the daughter of a warrior. So, she will not
feel afraid of You. When a girl who is afraid is given in marriage to a
military guy, she will become scared even to look at his boots. Military
people keep a huge holder for carrying water â it will probably look like it
is made of skin, and will be very heavy. This girl would feel frightened when
she looks at that. sItA is not like that; she is the daughter of a valiant
soldier â she is a vIra patni. If You go to fight and kill thousands, ten
thousands or sixty thousand people, she will embrace you happily.
tam dRshTvA SatruhantAraM maharshINAM sukhAvaham |
babhUva hRshTA vaidehI bhartAraM parishasvaje ||
(AraNya.30.39)
iyaM sIta mama sutA
28. sUrya vamSa prasUtaSca tava candra vamSa prasUtaSca mama sutA ityarthaH â
I am offering this sItA, my daughter, from candra vamSam, to You, from sUrya
vamSam.
sUrya vamSa samudbhUtaM candra vamSa samudbhavAm |
vasishThAnumadAcArAm ââ || mama sutA.
29. vasishTha Sishyasya tava ucitA, yAj~navalkyasya Sishyasya mama sutA
ityarthaH â Just as You have the great vasishThar as Your AcAryan, we have
the great yaj~navalkyar as our AcAryan. I, with that greatness, am offering
this daughter of mine â iyaM sItA mama sutA, to You.
People say - "I am a Sishyan of ahobhila maTham; Who are you?" " I am a sishya
of ANDavan ASramam", right? (AcAryar is laughing slightly). Sometimes
audience will start sleeping. That is why I am saying this (laughter in the
audience). "You are vasishTha's student. Do you know who I am? I am the
disciple of yAj~navalkya mahaRshi."
yAj~navalkya is not any ordinary person. King Janaka had arranged for a
thousand cows all decorated with golden coverings for their horns, golden
anklets for their legs, silver vessels for collecting milk from them, calves,
golden ornaments for them, straw supply for an year etc. He announced that any
scholar who answers all the questions posed by anyone in the gathering will get
all these cows. [In bRhadAraNya upanishad, a gathering of mahaRshi-s ask
interesting questions.] yAj~navalkya answered every single question and drove
away all the thousand cows and kept them in his cowshed.
vasishTha Sishyasya daSarathasya sutaH tvam yAj~navalkyasya Sishyasya mama sutA
ityarthaH .
Accept her hand in marriage soon! Why?
30. cintArNavagataH pAram nA''sasAda aplavo yathA |
I have suffered sleepless nights like sailors losing ships in mid ocean,
because of my worry to get this girl married for so long.
pati samyoga sulabhaM vayo dRshThvA ca me pitA | (ayodhyA.118.34)
cintArNavagataH pAraM nA''sasAda aplavo yathA || (ayodhyA. 118,36)
When sItA tells anasUyai in atri mahaRshi's ASramam about her marriage, she
says, "Do you know how much my father suffered when I attained marriageable
age? He fell into the ocean of worry". âkanyA pitRtvaM duHkhAyaâ (this is
the quote in uttara kANDam from kaikeyi's father sumAli and also from
maNDodari's father mayan). To be a girlâs father is to be worried always.
No matter what he gives, no one is satisfied. Mother-in-law of the daughter
will say, "There is no good silver vessel in the house. It becomes crushed no
matter how it is kept. Make a strong one with a good footing for aupAsanam"
When the father obliges and makes one such vessel and asks if it is okay, she
will say, "It looks good, but the mouth of the vessel looks the mouth of the
girl's mother". No matter what you give, she will complain. (laughter in the
audience).
kanyA pitRtvaM duHkhAya - A father could not find a suitable boy for his girl.
He went to TiruchirApaLLi. He looked for a boy in all the three colleges -
Saint Josephâs college, National College, Bishops College, and a few others.
He looked in all classes for boys about to complete their B.A. He could not
find anyone. It was the thirty-first day of Ani month. He had already spent
five hundred rupees in train fare. He thought he would at least go and pray to
PerumAL in temple, went to the store and bought bananas for a cheap price; he
had already spent five hundred rupees in train fare. He went to see
RaânganAthar. kastUrI kalitordhva puNDra tilakam - ranganAtha is lying down
with exquisite beauty. How is He sleeping?
ma'njUshAyAm marakatamiva bhrAjamAnaM tadantaH |
ceto dhAvatyupahita bhujaM Sesha bhoge SayAnam
dIrghApA'ngaM jaladhitanayA jIvitaM daivam Adyam ||
(Hamsa sandeSam 1.46)
He is lying down on AdiSeshan like a green gemstone placed in a silver box.
ityaânkam Seshe ra'ngAdhipatvam - "Oh rA'ngAnAtha! You are sleeping! I am
not able to sleep the whole night! How are you able to sleep?!"
dhana mAna harA kanyA kiM na jAtA kule tava | - "Did you not beget a daughter,
or what? You are sleeping without any worries."
dhana mAna harA kanyA kiM na jAtA kule tava | - kanyA jAtA iti dhana harA mAna
harA ca â âWill you sleep lying down like this peacefully if You had a
daughter?!â
cintArNava gataH pAram nA''sasAda aplavo yathA iti cintArNava magnasya mama
sutA iyam ityarthaH saha dharma carI tava || - Take this daughter of mine, I
having been deeply immersed in worry all these days.
31. "Take her with You" â sahadharmacarI tava. If you ask âWill she cook
etc.,? - na tu bhogArthA, api tu dharmAcaraNatAM - dharma prajArthaM vRNImahe
iti bhavatA sa~Nkalpita rItyA dharmeshvapi sahakAriNI bhavati ityarthaH â
saha dharma carI tava.
dharma prajArthaM vRNImahe - said VasishThar. âShe will be accompanying You
in practiding dharmam. When You are doing aupAsanam, she will stand by You and
keep touching You with darbha [sacred grass] such that it will be touching the
back and tickling.â When the husband is doing aupAsanam, the wife must hold
the darbha so that one end is touching the husband's body. If the officiating
priest does not like the kartA [the person doing the karma], he will give male
darbham; tt will create a tickling sensation in the back (AcAryar is indulging
in humor here - Female darbham is soft; male darbham is coarse)
32. iyaM sItA mama sutA saha dharma carI tava - She will be helpful in all Your
vratams. If You have to fast for two days and do yAgam (sacrifice), she will
also fast. She wonât mind it. She will fast for the vratam.
bhavataH yo dharmaH sa eva dharmaH asyA api iti saha dharmacarI tava | She
will follow whatever dharmam - code of conduct - You follow. Your dharmam
will be her dharmam. What is Your dharmam? SaraNAgata rakshaNa dharmam is
Your dharmam. Her dharmam will also be the dharmam of SaraNAgata rakshaNam.
ââââââ..
kAkaM taM ca vibhIshaNaM SaraNam ityukti kshamau rakshataH |
sA naH sAndra mahAgasassukhayatu kshAntiH tavAkasmikI ||
(guNaratna. 50)
mAtarmythili rAkshasIstvayi tadaivArdrAparAdhAstvayA
rakshantyA pavanAtmajAt laghutarA rAmasya goshThIkRtA ||
â.. (guNaratna. 50)
If You do SaraNAgata rakshaNam of kAkAsuran, vibhIshaNan etc, she will do the
same for the rAkshasi-s [female demons]. She also has the dharmam that You
have.
33. ASrita dosha adarSItvam â
ASrita dosha adarSanaM bhavatu avij~nAtA sahasrAmSuh iti dosho yadyapi tasya
syAt ityAdinA â Just as You will not look at Your devotees' deficiencies, she
also will not look at their deficiencies.
She will also follow suit. She will say -
pApAnAM vA SubhAnAM vA vadhArhANAM plava~Ngama |
kAryaM karuNam AryeNa na kaScinnAparAdhyati || (yuddha. 117.49)
Your dharmam is para duHkha asahishNutA dharmam. She will say, "kAryam
karuNam AryeNa" (yuddha.116.49). She will say it is the duty of elders that
they must show compassion.
iyaM sItA mama sutA sahadharma carI tava |
34. vAnarANAM narANAM ca katham AsIt samAgamaH (sundara.35.2) - If You mingle
with the monkeys because of Your sauSIlyam â the extreme ease with which You
move with those who are much lower in level than You - , she will also do the
same. vAnarIbhiH saha vartamAnA - She will mingle with the female monkeys with
the same sauSIlyam. sItA made all the female monkeys in kishkindA board the
plane in which she and rAma were traveling. All the female monkeys came
dressed up in saris etc. Wouldn't female monkeys have sari-s?! They came in
the plane. She took them all and presented them to kausalyai. kausalyA devi
combed the hairs of all the female monkeys and braided their hairs. Monkeys
won't show their heads that easily! She tried to tell them stories, and with
great difficulty, did their hairs. vAlmIki describes this. When we come to the
paTTAbhisheka sargam, we will talk about this.
35. vyasaneshu manushyANAM bhRSaM bhavati duHkitaH |
You say, "I cannot bear it if one who has resorted to Me is suffering". This
is how you are referred to.
She will say, "marshayAmIha durbalA" (yuddha.116.45) â She canât stand to
see the ASraya-s suffer.
36. Arjava guNam â rAma will never tell a lie to anyone under any
circumstance. When SUrpaNakhA asks Him who He is, He responds in elaborate
detail:
âWe are the sons of daSaratha; we have come to the forestâ, etc.
When ravaNan asks SitA, what does she say? She also describes that she is the
daughter of King Janaka, consort of rAma, etc., all the true facts in
elaborate detail.
37. All the dharma-s that You observe, she will also observe. All her
dharma-s will be compatible and consistent with Yours
If You give Your ring as an identifying symbol, she will give her cUDAmaNi [an
ornament she wears on her hair] as her identifying symbol . Her actions will
be consistent and compatible with Yours.
38. She will understand Your mind just from Your gesture.
rAma told sItA - "I do not like to see you". When did He say this? Right
after rAvaNa was killed! "Go anywhere you want! There are four directions!
Or eight directions! Go somewhere!"
He had been crying for her all these days; He cried for ten months. Doesn't
she know? She knows that He is saying that in a superficial manner.
A husband got angry at his wife and said, "Get lost! Go somewhere". She went
inside the house and lied down. He goes and looks for her in the backyard and
everywhere around.
When rAma said: "Go somewhere", is it to be taken literally? dIpo
netrA'turasyeva pratikUlA'si me mataH (yuddha. 115.18)
He says to her: âJust as someone with a sore eye is not able to look at a
bright light, I am not able to look at you.â By appropriate analogy, He
indicates to her that it is not her fault. She understood what He was saying -
It is the fault of the eye, not the fault of the flame. sItA understood that
she is not at fault. Just as He said those words without meaning to say them,
she also went through the act of entering into agni [fire]. She can read His
mind from His gestures. sItA is that kind of girl.
39. ata ca pratIccha cainAm â âTake her.â Shouldn't Janaka say, "I
give"? Why is he saying, "Take her"?
"I cannot âgiveâ her. "How can I âgiveâ You what belongs to You to
start with? If she is mine, I can give You. She is Your belonging â She is
apRthak-siddhai â inseparably united with You in all Your incarnations. She
does not leave You in any of Your avatArams. So You take her - pratIccha -
âcaâkAreNa yatheshTaM bhu~Nkshva ca ityarthaH."
Then he said: âProceed with the rest of the marriage activities."
40. viSvAmitra vacanAt dhanur gRahaNam iva mama vacanAt enAm api gRhANa - You
held the bow because of ViSvAmitra's words. Now listen to my words and hold
her! ca enAm - - 'ca' has the sense of 'evaâkAram here.
41. enAmeva nastvanyA - I am giving her in marriage; Do not have a second
marriage! Do not say that Your father had two or three wives and so You will
have other wives, too! Be an ekadAra vratan [with just one wife].
nArAyaNo mama patiH na tu anyaH purushottamAt |
ASraye niyamaM ghoraM nArAyaNa parIpsayA || (uttara. 17.18)
She was vedavatI in her previous birth, and has done intense penance to have
You as her Consort; she has come now as sItA.
42. pratIccha cainAM bhadraM te pANiM gRhNIshva pANinA |
She is beautiful, and will be a good match to Your blue cloud-hued
tirumeni(divine body). "hiraNyavarNAm hariNIm suvarNa rajatasrajAm" â Your
tirumEni will have a pleasing hue, only if she is with You.", said Janaka.
What is PerumAL's color? Based on the upanishad-s, the learned people who are
well-versed in veda-s have determined that PerumALâs tirumEniâs complexion
resembles that of the peacockâs neck.
nIla toyadamadhyasthA vidyullekheva bhAsvarA |
nIvAraSukavat tanvI pItAbhAsyAtyanUpamA ||
upanishad bhAshyam says ' mayUra kaNThacchavI tulya varNaH'. The neck of a
peacock will have blue color intermixed with yellow color. How did PerumAL get
that kind of a color?
dUrvA daLa pratimayA tava deha kAntyA
gorocanA rucirayA ca rucendirAyAH |
AsIt anu'njhita SikhAvala kaNTha Sobham
mA'ngalyadaM praNamatAM madhuvairi gAtram ||
(godAstuti-22)
BhUmi pirATTi is on one side. Her hue is that of harialli grass â arugampul
â dark-green colored. LaskhmI is on the other side; she has the color of
gorocanai â yellow colored. The two colors are shining brilliantly on either
side of PerumAL. So, PerumAL is reflecting the peacock neck color. "If these
two are asked to leave that spot, then one will come to know Your true
complexion! It is only because the two are always on your sides, Your color is
the mayUra kaNTHachavi."
43. Immediately, Janaka added: bhadraM te - Slokam is not complete yet, before
that, Janaka says - 'bhadraM te'.
bhadraM te dRshTi dosha parihAraH-â She belongs to You; donât think I am
giving her to You. When I look at both of you, It looks like my own jealous
eyes will fall on You. I, who am a rAja Rshi give You my blessings- bhadram
te.
44. Take her. Before You marry her, Your name has been rAman. Only after You
marry her, Your name is going to be rAmabhadran. bhadram te. Let all
auspiciousness come to You. If she does not exist, You will be like
ParaSurAman.
sItA parigrahe rAmabhadra iti nAma siddhiH anyathA parasurAmavat
purushottamattva siddhiH bhadram te - Another interpretation is she provides
You purushottamatvam.
45. Alternately, bhadram can mean - pANiM bhadram, bhadraM pANiM gRhNIshva -
Hold her auspicious hand. pANiM gRhNIshva - do pANigrahaNam.
As I pointed out yesterday itself, pANigrahaNam is a very significant act.
In the avAntara prakaraNam â one of the associated chapters dealing with
marriage, this is one of the most superior prakaraNa-s. Out of all the
marriage activities, pANigrahaNam is the most auspicious activity.
How should pANigrahaNam be done? In a marriage, the girl's hand must be held;
how to hold her hand?
yadi kAmayeta strIH eva janayet iti a~NguLIreva gRhNIyAt |
Have you read this sUtram? What is this sUtram? In a house, only boys were
born for two or three generations. Boy's mother said, "It would be nice if at
least this new bride has a daughter. We keep getting only boys in our family".
If one wishes to get a daughter â a'nguLIreva gRhNIyAt - the boy should hold
only four fingers of the girl's hand. yadi kAmayeta pumsa eva janayet iti
a'ngushTham eva. If it is felt - "In our house, only girls are born. It
would be nice if a son is born", then he should hold only the thumb. pANiM
gRhNIshva pANinA - âDo pANigrahaNam as per SAstram.â
The officiating priests nowadays donât say either of these specifically in
their instruction â neither that the boy should hold the four fingers only,
nor that he should hold the thumb only. . The purohita-s (officiating priests)
are ones who are extremely merciful - interested in the general welfare of the
family. purohitaH â purataH hitam paSyati iti purohitaH â They are
ones who think of the welfare of the family even before the family thinks about
it.
When a boy is born, even before us, they will be thinking of when the
aksharAbhyAsam [initiation for learning] should be performed. After that is
over, they will ask when he will have upanayanam [sacred thread ceremony].
They think about our family's good before us. purataH hitam paSyatIti
purohitaH. If upanayanam is over, they will think he should get married soon.
Next they will worry about when the sImantam (ceremony prior ot birth of the
child) will come.
The priest should say how to do pANigrahaNam during the marriage. Janaka told
rAma to do pANigrahaNam - pANiM gRhNIshva pANinA.
Janaka did kanyAdAnam [gave away the girl]. He gave away none but LakshmI
herself. What a great blessing he had! pANigrahaNam, saptapatI , aSmArohaNam
etc., were all conducted.
Next, he invites LakshmaNa and asks him to accept UrmiLA.
(In the Sri ranganAtha pAduka edition of next month - sarvadhAri ADi month -
bAla kANDam will be completed. The second volume of "AcArya rAmAmRtam"
containing up to the end of bAla kANDam will be released by our Acarya sArva
bhauman SrImad SrImushNam ANDavan during his 20th cAturmAsya sa'nkalpa
vaibhavam in tirupullANi.)
===========
(End of translation of AcArya rAmAmRtam as it appeared in the June 2008
issue of SrI raânganAtha pAdukA)
To be continued â..
------------------------------------
Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan
http://www.sadagopan.org Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:Oppiliappan-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
mailto:Oppiliappan-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Oppiliappan-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
oppiliappan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |