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                                  SrIH
SrImate raângarAmAnuja MahA deSikAya namaH
SrImate SrInivAsa rAmAnuja MahA deSikAya namaH
SrImate VedAnta rAmAnuja MahA deSikAya namaH
SrImate ra~.NganAtha mahA deSikAya namaH.
SrI raânganAtha divya maNi pAdukAbhyAm namaH

AcArya rAmAmRtam  - (from SrI raânganAtha pAdukA  dt. August 08  Part 1)

               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
                      (continued from the 1972 Chennai upanyAsam)

                        AyodhyA kANDam

gacchhatA mAtula kulaM bharatena tadA'naghaH  |
Satrughno nityaSatrughno nItaH prItipuraskRtaH  ||  (ayodhyA. 1.1.)

vAlmIki's Sloka-s are superb and adorable!

Everyone was living happily in the city of ayodhyA.  rAmar was rendering all  
services that a son should be offering to His father. vAlmIki describes this 
very nicely: 

kRta dArAH kRtAstrASca sadhanAH sasuhRjjanAH |
SuSrUshamANAH pitaram vartayanti nararshabhAH ||  (bAla.77.19-20)

kRta dArAH - rAma, lakshmaNa, bharata and Satrughna were all living happily 
with their wives.   kRtAstrAH ca - they were all valorous.  sadhanAH - they 
were all financially well off.  What if, soon after the marriage, the son comes 
to his father and asks for money to buy soap?  There is nothing more pathetic 
than that!  sadhanAH - they all had a lot of their own money.

sasuhRjjanAH - all the four had a lot of friends, including some very close 
ones.  They were all very happy.   SuSrUshamANAH pitaram vartayanti 
nararshabhAH    - look at vAlmIki!  Normally, sons do service to fathers!  
Isn't that true in this world?  Not that they will not, but they barely have 
enough time to take care of their own needs!! (audience bursts into laughter).

They did a lot of kaimkaryam to their father.  rAmastu sItayA sArdham vijahAra 
bahUn RtUn |     vAlmIki says - "bahUn RtUn" He did not say - "bahUn mAsAn" 
(many months) or "bahUn divasAn" (many days) or bahUn varshAn" (many years).  

 rAmastu sItayA sArdham vijahAra bahUn RtUn | (bAla..77.33)

These questions must be posed to rAmAyaNa upanyAsaka-s who are also family 
people.  I am a sanyAsi.

manasvI tatgatastasyA nityam hRdi samarpitaH |  (bAla.77.33)

They lived happily together as appropriate for each season.  .  
rAma had a special love for sItA, why?

priyA tu sItA rAmasya dArAH pitRkRtA  iti |   (bAla.77.34)

Because it was a wedding that was approved and conducted by His father!  Since 
His father approved that marriage, He had a special love for sItA

guNaiH rUpaguNaiH cApi prItiH bhUyobhyavardhata |  (bAla.77.34)

sItAâs character was exemplary.  She was endowed with good characteristics 
like servitude to father-in-law, servitude to husband, shyness, feminine 
innocence, feminine fear etc.  Because of these guNams also, rAma had extreme 
fondness for sItA.

guNaiH rUpaguNaiH  - it is not enough if one has good character; one has to 
have beauty of form also. 

What if one has only good character and the person is not beautiful?  If that 
person serves food, one has to eat with closed eyes!  What is the use if the 
girl is not beautiful?

guNaiH rUpaguNaiH cApi  - Her character was exemplary.  rAmaâs love for her 
grew and grew.

tayA sa rAjarshi suto.abhirAmayA  sameyivAn uttama rAjakanyayA |
atIva rAmaH SuSubheâtikAmayA  vibhuH SriyA vishNurivAmareSvaraH || 
                                                                                
                       (bAla.77.38)

rAmar stayed with sItA in the palace just like mAhAvishNu stays with lakshmi.  
VAlmIki says they were together like that for a long time.  That is how he 
concludes  bAla kANDam.  The whole essence of bAla kANDam is that rAma became 
sItArAma.  The most important philosophical truth for us is perumAL together 
with pirATTi.  Only divyadampati-s are our God.  

In bAlakANDam, rAmaâs birth and sItAâs marriage are the significant events.

rAma avatAram or incarnation signifies that paramAtmA makes His appearance 
amongst us for the benefit of His devotees.  svAmi deSikan has blessed us with 
a wonderful svApadeSam (inner meaning) for sItAâs wedding.  That day, when we 
asked this svAmi (AcAryan is pointing to SrI citrakUTam vijayarAghavAcAriyAr) 
to speak, he pointed that out; do you remember it or not?

What do people ask when someone says he went to the upanyAsam on âsItAâs 
marriageâ?  They ask, âHow much sambhAvanai (money) did you getâ!  Do 
they ask â âwhat did svAmi sayâ?

A great, supreme sAstric message is revealed in sItAâs wedding.  What is the 
inner meaning behind sItAâs marriage?  What is the essence?  What is so 
special?

dattAH prajA janakavat tava deSikendraiH 
  patyA.abhinandya bhavatA pariNIyamAnAH |
mAdhye satAm mahita bhoga viSeshasidhyai
  mA~NgalyasUtramiva bibhrati kinkaratvam ||
                                    (SaraNAgati dIpikA â 30)

says svAmi deSikan.  The inner meaning is that, just as King Janaka offered 
sItA, who actually belonged to perumAL, in marriage to perumAL, AcAryan offers 
the jIvAtmA, who is âsvataH Sesha bhUtamâ â by its very nature,  the 
property of BhagavAn and His eternal servant -  to perumAL through the offering 
of the jIva to Him, through the act of  Atma samarpaNam or bharanyAsam.  
Marriage is for the body; and there is a marriage for the AtmA or soul.   
Getting married is for the body.  AtmA is also like a woman.  Just as women are 
dependent, the jIvAtmA is also dependent on paramAtmA â that is the doctrine. 
 JIvAtmA  is subservient to paramAtmA.  This jIvAtmA is being surrendered to 
paramAtmA.

PerumAL alone is the âhusbandâ.  Everyone else is a woman.  strI prAyam 
itarat sarvam â everybody else is a woman.  I have told you about mIrAâs 
story before; do you remember that?

mIrA was doing bhajanai in dvArakai.  mIrA was a great devotee of BhagavAn..  
She was singing the praise of KRshNaâs kalyANa guNa-s beautifully, and was 
doing bhajan along with several other women. In one of the streets, there was a 
sign that said that a svAmi was giving a lecture on SrI bhAgavatam.  Students 
of that svAmi were listening to his talk.  mIrA looked at that and thought â 
he is doing kAlakshepam; should I also go and listen? She sent one of her 
followers to find out if she can come and join.  The follower went and asked 
the svAmi/AcAryan if she can come and sit there and listen.

The svAmi said â âThis lecture is not for women.  It is only for men.â  
mIrAâs follower came back and told mIrA.  

mIrA said, âOh! Did he say like that!  We have been of the opinion that 
bhagavAn, who is puroshottaman, SrIman nArAyaNan, is the only man.  Everyone 
else is a woman.  Now it looks like there are other men besides perumALâ.

âOur doctrine is that everyone other than PerumAL is a stree â woman.  But 
now it seems there are other purusha-s too.  May be that svAmi is giving 
discourse to these other âpurusha-sâ.  

Somebody listened to her words and relayed that to the svAmi.  svAmi asked, 
âWhat did mIrA say?â  They replied:  âThis is what mIrA saidâ.

The svAmi thought about mIrAâs words.  He said, âThat is correctâ.  He 
stopped giving his lecture, and ran to where mIrA was. mIrA was continuing with 
her bhajan. 

âMother!  I did not have this knowledge!  You are so knowledgeable!â

strI prAyam itarat sarvam

pA~ncAlI gAtra SobhAhRta hRdaya vadhUvarga pumbhAvanItyA 
patyau padmA sahAye praNayini bhajataH preyasI pAratantRyam  |
â.
                              (dramiDopanishad tAtparya ratnAvaLI â slokam 3)

He prostrated before mIrA saying, âWe only keep chanting Slokams; We did not 
get the knowledge that He is the only man, and the rest are all womenâ.  mIrA 
said:  âsvAmi should not  prostrate to meâ, and she prostrated before that 
svAmi.  That svAmi joined mIrA in her bhajans and went with her. 

Thus, all jIvAtmAs are like women.  King Janaka was a great follower of 
karmAnushThAnam.  Great knower.  He had received instructions through the 
teachings of yAg~navalkyar.

An AcAryan of the standing of King Janaka, who is all-knowing and a great 
follower of AcAram, is offering this jIvAtmA to perumAL;  this is what sItA 
kalyANam is all about.

Does sItA belong to King Janaka or to rAma?

sItA, who already belonged to perumAL, has taken an incarnation and is staying 
with Janaka.  Janaka, who was considering sItA as his own daughter, said, 
âpratIcchaâ â ârAma, you takeâ, instead of saying, âI give youâ.  
Just like that, Atma vivAham or marriage is the act of AcAryan, who submits the 
jIvAtmA, that thinks it belongs to itself and that really belongs to perumAL 
and is His SeshabhUtan, to emperumAn â that is the inner meaning of sItAâs 
wedding.

If this topic of AtmAâs marriage â the surrendering of AtmA â is titled 
as âAtma samarpaNamâ â the surrendering of the soul to PerumAL, none of 
you will come to listen to the upanyAsam.  That is why it is said in a hidden 
manner; the story was named âsItA kalyANamâ so that people will listen to 
it.  That is why vAlmIki said this story.

dattAH prajA janakavat tava deSikendraiH 
  patyA.abhinandya bhavatA pariNIyamAnAH |
                                           (SaraNAgati dIpikA 30)

How was sItA, who was given as kanyAdAnam to PerumAL by King Janaka?

priyA tu sItA rAmasya dArAH pitRkRtA  iti   
guNaiH rUpaguNaiH cApi prItiH bhUyobhyavardhata |  
                                                            (bAla.77.34)

rAma took sItA with great love;  He was very fond of sItA because she was given 
by Janaka, because of her exemplary character and beauty and because daSaratha 
had approved of the marriage.  Just like that, perumAL has great love for the 
jIvAtmA and considers him as an object to be protected.  svAmi had said even on 
the first day that this is the inner meaning that is revealed in sItA kalyANam. 
  (Editorâs note â I think SrImad ANDavan is referring to SrIkAryam svAmi 
â citrakUTam VijayarAgavAcAriAr.  When Governor K.K.Sha inaugurated this 
upanyAsam, SrIkAryam svAmi also addressed the gathering).

All I am doing now is reminding you all about that; that is all.

The essence of bAla kaNDam is that our God is rAman inseparably associated with 
sItA.

In ayodhyA kANDam, vaLmIki is going to say that this sItArAman, who is 
sarveSvaran, has unlimited kalyANa guNams that no one else can match up to.  
Thus he starts ayodhyA kANDam story.

=========== 
To be continued â..




      

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