Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri
Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
Rama the Fourth
It has been fashionable
among Kings and Emperors of yore to name themselves after their illustrious
predecessors, perhaps to perpetuate their memory or for other reasons. We thus
find several KulOtthungAs in the ChOzha lineage, several Sundara PAndyAs in the
dynasty of the PAndyas who ruled with Madurai as their capital, two or more
Chenguttavans in the ChEra kulam and at least two Chandra GuptAs. The practice
doesn’t seem unique to India, as we find English sovereigns too preferring to
bear the names of their ancestors, finding the same to be tried and tested than
some strange name, which might bring misfortune. The name of Henry appears to
have been extremely popular among English Kings, closely followed by Edward,
with Henry VIII being perhaps the last of the Henries, having mired himself in
controversies. Though America is supposed to be a democracy, we find the strange
phenomenon of some of its illustrious sons calling themselves Rockfeller III and
so on, in an attempt to imitate kings of yore. With the widely prevalent South
Indian practice of naming the male offspring after their grandfathers, I could
probably call myself Satakopan the 23rd or some such
thing. Going back to times past,
let me ask you a question, in a general sense—Who was Rama the
first? This might sound strange,
for there do not appear to have been two or more Kings of the name in the
Ikshvaku dynasty. And if this question were to be asked in the buzzer round of a
quiz programme, participants’ fingers would race to the buzzer and pat would
come the answer, identifying Sri Rama, son of Dasarata, as Rama the First. And
the quiz master would promptly declare it to be wrong
answer. From time immemorial, the
name Rama has always signified to us the Magnificent Monarch of Ayodhya, the
distinguished son of Dasarata, the apple of Kousalya’s eye, the heartthrob of
Sri Janaki and the revered ruler who was a model for all to follow, in all
aspects of human life. The name appears as though fashioned specifically for the
Prince of Ayodhya, so much so, that Visvamitra, dissatisfied with the name
bestowed on the Prince by arch rival Vasishtta, thinks long and hard for an
alternative sobriquet, but fails miserably to come up with a credible
alternative and ends up calling Him by the very same name. However, Vasishtta himself
doesn’t appear to have been very original in naming the Prince of Ayodhya as
“Rama”, for there was already a famous entity with the sobriquet, who was known
in all the three worlds. In fact, His very name evoked awe and terror in
everyone, especially in ruling clans. Long before Dasaratha begot Sri Rama, this
other Rama was quite well known. Born to Jamadagni and RENukA, this child was
also named Rama by His parents. This is clear from the Ramayana sloka, where the
Rishis call him by the name “Rama”—“RishayO Rama Rama iti madhuram vAkyam
abruvan”And because He wielded the axe with telling effect, He was known as
“Parasu Rama”. There must be something in
the name “Rama” which prompts instant and implicit obedience to parents. Just as
Dasaratha Rama was famed for His “pitru vAkya paripAlanam” and treating His
father’s words as holier than the scripture, BhArgava Rama (Parasurama was so
called because of his descent from Sage Bhrigu) too carried out His father’s
wishes instantly and without question, even though they involved the beheading
of His mother and brothers. Enraged by his wife’s delay in bringing water for
his Vaidika kriyAs, Jamadagni asked his five sons to behead their beloved
mother. Baulking at this cruel command, four of the sons would not carry out the
heinous act. His rage fuelled by this refusal, Jamadagni ordered Parasurama to
kill not only His mother but also the disobedient brothers. Without batting an
eyelid and without a moment’s hesitation, Parasurama carried out His father’s
orders. And when a pleased Jamadagni sought to bestow boons on his obedient son,
Parasurama sought as the one and only boon the restoration of His mother and
brothers to life. Parasurama knew His father’s psychology very well and acted
instantly and with alacrity in carrying out the distasteful orders, knowing full
well that the executions could be reversed. And the name “Rama” also
appears to signify exemplary bravery and exceptional prowess. While Dasaratha
Rama single-handedly destroyed fourteen thousand rAkshasAs at JanasthAnam,
Parasurama too appears to have disposed of seventeen battalions of
KartaveeryArjunA’s army and later the thousand-armed King himself, when the
latter tried to abduct the KAmadhEnu in Jamadagni’s possession. And when the
dead King’s son killed Jamadagni and his wife in a fit of rage, Parasurama took
a vow to destroy the ruling class for twenty-one generations and wreaked sweet
revenge by filling a tank at KurukshEtra with the blood of all the beheaded
kings and performing “Pitru tarpaNam” with the same. Struck by the contrast
between Rama the First and Rama the Second, Swami Desikan conveys his wonderment
through the sobriquets he bestows on them—while Parasurama is described as
“ROsha Rama:” or anger personified, Dasaratha Rama is termed “KaruNA
KAkuttstha:” or the embodiment of Mercy. While Sri Rama had to bring on anger
with difficulty (“kOpam AhArayat teevram”), Parasurama is said to be consumed by
the blazing fire of anger (“KrOdhAgnim Jamadagni peedana bhavam”). While Sri
Rama is the support and sustenance of hundreds of princely dynasties (“RAja
vamsAn shata guNAn stthApayishyati Raghava:”), Parasurama’s sworn mission is the
annihilation of all rulers, for twenty-one generations. A legitimate doubt plagues
us as to how the Lord assumed such a dreaded and awesome avatAra, whose sole
purpose appears to have been to rid the worlds of a degenerated ruling class.
How could Emperuman, who is normally a cool and inviting ocean of Mercy (“KaruNA
varuNAlayam”), indulge in such mass destruction, even granting that it was to
remove the painful, princely thorns in the flesh of
BhoomAdEvi? The answer is easy to find.
In Sri Ramavatara, the constant presence of Piratti ensured that divine justice
was liberally tempered with Mercy, as in the case of KAkAsurA and the RAkshasIs
of AshOka vanikA. In
Parasuramavatara, without the benefit of intercession by the Divine Consort, the
KshatriyAs were exposed to the full force of the Lord’s anger at wrongdoing by
those who were expected to set an example to their subjects. It is thus the
mitigating presence and mercy-filled words of Sri Mahalakshmi that make all the
difference between our receiving punishment commensurate with our innumerable
transgressions and getting off lightly with just a word of caution.
Passing on to Rama the
Third, we find Him to be the constant companion of Sri Krishna, whose
life-mission is to afford protection to Sri Krishna. Balarama destroyed the
dreaded PralambAsura, who had arrived at Gokulam to eliminate Krishna. Compared
to Krishna’s traits of thieving, faithlessness to girl friends, incurable
fibbing, etc., Balarama appears to have been a paragon of virtue. Krishna had a
healthy respect for His elder brother and appeared to obey the latter
implicitly, always—this is evident from Sri Andal’s lines “BaladEvarkku Or keezh
kandru”. And if Sri Krishna’s entire life, words, deeds and looks were
incredibly sweet (“MathurAdhipatE: akhilam madhuram”), it is because of the
inseparable company of Sri Balarama, says Swami Desikan, likening Sri
Krishnavatara to milk and the Balaramavatara to Sugar, which makes milk more of
a pleasure to consume. If Sri Rama
wielded the bow and arrow with telling effect and if Parasurama was a terror
with his axe, Rama the third carried a Plough, with which He destroyed many an
enemy of Krishna. Balarama was so powerful that once He dragged the entire city
of HastinApuram with His plough and dumped it into the
Yamuna. One wonders whether it is to
these three Ramas that the Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram refers, when it quotes
Rudra as saying “SrI Rama Rama Rama iti ramE
rAmE ManOramE SahasranAma tat tulyam Rama nAma
varAnanE” Going beyond the Divine Trio
of Ramas, we are told that there is a Rama the Fourth, who has all the positive
traits of the first three, but none of their apparent blemishes. This fourth
Rama is virtue personified and greater than his three namesakes. If you find
this difficult to believe or digest and consider it to be a product of my
imagination, here is confirmation from an impeccable
source— “anujjita kshamA yOgam
apuNya jana bAdhakam asprishta mada rAgam tam Ramam turyam
upAsmahE” Says Swami Desikan in Sri
YatirAja Saptati— “I pay obeisance to Rama the
Fourth, who is much greater than the three Ramas put together. Sri Parasurama
lacked tolerance and mercilessly eliminated the ruling class for twenty-one
generations. Our fourth Rama, however, is patience and tolerance personified.
Sri Dasaratha Rama vowed to rid the world of bestial rAkshasAs and carried out
His vow effectively, resulting in a massacre of the race. The Fourth Rama,
however, would not harm even an ant, leave alone cause distress to people, good
or bad. Sri Balarama was known for His partiality to “madhu”, with eyes reddish
and demeanour affected by imbibing such beverages. Rama the Fourth, however, is
purity personified, unaffected by baser instincts”. And who is this fourth Rama,
who is so great as to overshadow even His divine predecessors? It is none other
than Sri MaNakkAl nambi, otherwise known as Sri Rama Misra. This Acharya was
such a paragon of virtues and so untouched by any inauspicious traits, that
Swami Desikan considers him to be superior to the Divine Trio, in tune with the
dictum, “AchAryAt iha dEvatAm samadhikAm anyAm na manyAmahE” (we do not
recognize or worship any deity as being superior to our magnificent Acharya).
The words “Ramam turyam upAsmahE” (we worship Rama the fourth) indicate, by
implication, that adulation should be only for Sri Rama Misra and not the other
three, distinguished though they are. A legitimate doubt that may
arise in readers’ minds is whether the Deities mentioned ahead should be
portrayed in such poor light, merely for the sake of highlighting the greatness
of the Acharya. Swami Desikan adopts here what is known as the “nahi nindA
nyAyam”, which means that absolutely no disrespect or insult is meant towards
the Divine Trio, the emphasis here being on stressing the glory of Sri Rama
Misra, who was indeed an Acharya beyond compare. But for his diverting Sri
Alavandar from mundane pursuits and exposing him to Bhagavat anubhavam, our
Sampradaya would have been much poorer. The immense contribution of Sri
Alavandar would have been totally unavailable to us, but for the stellar role
played by Sri Rama Misra and this is the reason for Swami Desikan’s glowing
tribute to the Acharya, putting him on a pedestal higher than that occupied by
even the Lord. Srimate Sri LakshmINrisimha
divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya
nama: dasan,
sadagopan
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