Srimate
SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama? The Immaculate
Incarnation The word ?Avataara? means ?to come down?. Though
any number of words are available to denote the Lord?s numerous and periodical
visits to the mundane worlds of ours, it is the word Avatara which brings out
Emperuman?s sterling quality, that of unbounded Accessibility or Soulabhyam. The Parama Purusha, reigning
supreme at Srivaikunttam in the blissful company of its permanent inhabitants,
has absolutely no need to forsake His eternal abode and come down to this
sorrow-filled land of ours. If He does, it is indicative of His matchless mercy
for us mortals. The Supreme Being, whom even the most accomplished of saints and
the most exalted of deities cannot set eyes upon, descends voluntarily to the
world below, making Himself visible to the jaded and jaundiced eyes of mere
mortals. Not content with this come-down, the Lord also moves as one among us,
sharing our happiness and sorrow, partaking in our pleasure and pain, rejoicing
with us during celebrations and shedding more tears than us when we are in
distress? ?Vyasaneshu
manushyaanaam bhrisam bhavati du:khita: ?utsaveshu?piteva paritushyati:? It is these
traits of Emperuman, those of Soulabhyam and Souseelyam, which set Him apart from
other deities and make Him the universal object of admiration and adoration.
Apart from the
three avowed objectives of the Lord in assuming avataras, as proclaimed in the
Gita (viz., protection of the righteous, destruction of the wicked and
re-establishment of Dharma), are there other incidental goals which Emperuman
has not specified? After all, there is no need for Him to descend from His
eternal abode, for achieving the aforesaid objectives?being the omnipotent being
that He is, it is enough for Him to just will them to be so. For instance, He
could have sat in comfort at Srivaikunttam and merely willed that Gajendra be
saved from the crocodile and the job would have been done. Sri Ramanuja tells us
that while this is indeed so, what the Lord?s devotees need is not mere
protection from threats, but yearn to see Him in person, to offer paeans of
praise to His face and to shower His holy feet with the choicest of flowers?all
these can not be achieved without the physical presence of the Lord, which is
the principal reason behind His avataras. Thus, beyond anything else, it is a
desire to please the devotee that makes Him come down to our mundane worlds,
which makes the ocean of difference between mere ?Traanam? (protection) and ?Paritraanam?(comprehensive and complete
protection), as indicated in the Gita sloka, ?Partitraanaaya saadhoonaam..?.
However, Sri
Koorattazhwan puts an entirely different light on the matter. He says that the
Lord descending to the earth for protecting His devotees and pleasing them, to
enable them to have their blissful eye-fill of Him and to adore Him in person,
is only one aspect of Avataras, and a minor one at that.
The prime
purpose, according to Azhwan, is for satisfying the need, not of devotees, but
of the Lord Himself. To the puzzled reader, who wonders what possible axe of His
own the Lord can have to grind in assuming an avatara, Azhwan reveals the Lord?s
insatiable need for and delirious delight in seeing, mingling and interacting
with His beloved children down below. More than the devotee yearns for His
company, it is Emperuman who pines away for us, longing to be one amongst us,
hoping against hope that at least His personal visit would impress us so much
that we would forsake the path of perdition that we insist on treading and step
instead on to the path to Paradise. This is the prime motivation behind the
Lord?s periodical descents to the earth, according to Azhwan, which takes the
Lord?s endearing and enchanting virtue of Soulabhyam to a new
pinnacle. Let us leave
Emperuman and His avataras for the present. Would it
surprise you to know that there is another exalted entity, which too assumes
avataras? Though the Lord?s periodical come-downs attract wide attention and
acclaim, the avatara of this other entity is hardly known and appreciated. Shall
we see a little about this little-known
avatara? The Vedas, as
we know, are no less than the Lord Himself in glory. They are without a
beginning and an end??Aadyanta
rahitam?. They are as unblemished and eternal as Emperuman. They are as vast
and unfathomable as the Lord Himself is??Anataa vai Vedaa:?. In their pristine
purity and lack of mundane origins, they are akin to the Parabrahmam. We may
even hold this stupendous storehouse of wisdom one step above the Lord, since we
come to know of Him and His glory, only through the Shruti. Even when Emperuman
attempts to lift us out of this mundane morass, He does so only with the aid of
the indispensable Vedas??Magnaan
uddharate lokaan, kaarunyaat Shaastra paaninaa?. Though all of the Shruti is
one continuous eulogy to the Supreme Being, nonetheless it is independent and
does not owe its origin to the Lord?all He does is to bestow the four-headed
Brahma with the wonderful wisdom of the Vedas, at the beginning of each
Yugam??Yo Brahmaanam vidadhaati poorvam, Yo vai Vedaanscha prahinoti
tasmai?. Thus the Lord merely propagates the Shruti and is not its
author. Seeing the Lord
descending periodically to earth on various missions, the magnificent Shruti,
the venerated Vedas, too decided to take an Avatara. And this avatara was so
glorious and magnificent that till date we keep speaking of it, despite the
event having occurred millennia ago. To relieve you
of further suspense, when the Lord took an avatara in the Ikshvaaku dynasty as Sri Rama, Vedas too
decided to descend to the mortal worlds. Since the Shruti is nothing but a paean
of praise to the Parama Purusha, once the Supreme Being decided upon an avatara,
Vedas too resolved to be born, to record, chronicle and adulate the Parabrahmam
and its activities during His sojourn on this earth. This is what the paraayana slokas of Srimad Ramayanam
tell us? ?Veda vedye
Pare Pumsi jaate Dasarathaatmaje Veda: Praachetasaat aaseet saakshaat
Ramayana aatmana?. Eternally used
to singing Emperuman?s praises, Vedas refused to be left behind when the Lord
descended to earth as Sri Rama, and were born through Sri Valmiki as the
glorious Ramayanam, so that they could continue their pleasurable occupation of
praising His glory. When you think
of it, there appear to be several similarities between Emperuman?s avatara and
the Shruti?s. 1
It was after
careful consideration that the Lord chose His father during Ramavatara. To give
Himself the best of backgrounds, the Parama Purusha opted for the Ikshvaaku Vamsam, famed for its sense of
justice, fair play, philanthropy, valour, etc. After considering and discarding
several possibilities, the Lord chose Dasaratha as His father??Pitaram rochayaamaasa vriddham Dasaratham
nripam?. The Shruti too,
while deciding upon an avatara, chose the best possible of persons to emerge
through?a Maharshi of renown, with latent sensitivities and limitless devotion,
which would be conducive to the composition of a great Epic. Had he not been
endowed with great erudition and compassion, Sri Valmiki would hardly have been
able to author the scintillating story of Sri Rama.
2.
The very purpose of
the Lord?s avatara is to rid Himself of His Supremacy (Paratvam) and to display His endearing
trait of Soulabhyam (Accessibility).
Similarly, Vedas too, in their immaculate original form, are not easily
comprehensible to ordinary mortals, only accomplished Yogis being able to divine
their deep purport. Further, an extensive knowledge of such Shastras like Meemaamsa, Nyaayam, Seeksha, Niruktam,
etc. is required, if one is to have first-hand knowledge of what the Shruti
really says. However, when the Shruti took the form of Srimad Ramayanam, it became
easily comprehensible to all, set in the simplest of metres (the Anushtup Chhandas) and couched in the easiest of
phrases. In its original, immeasurably extensive form, it was impossible for
mortals to learn the entire Shruti. Srimad Ramayanam being limited to 24000
slokas, was more within the grasping powers of
humanity. 3.
The primary purpose
of Emperuman?s avataras is to protect the saintly and to establish
Dharma on a firm footing. Destruction of the wicked is incidental to these
principal objectives. Vedas too, by
laying down the guide posts for human conduct, result in Dharma Samsthaapanam and Saadhu Paritraanam. However, the Vedic
avataram is more compassionate than the Lord?s, in the sense that no Dushkrit vinasanam (annihilation of the
unholy) ensued due to the Vedas being born as the Ramayana. 4
When the Lord assumes an avatara, not
even a minute bit of the glory, magnificence and splendour, that characterise
His eternal form at Srivaikunttam, is diminished. ?Aadi am sodi uruvai angu vaitthu ingu piranda Veda mudalvan? says Sri
Nammazhwar, telling us that even during His avataras, Emperuman retains all the
majesty and grandeur of His primordial form. During its
avataram too, the Shruti retained all its pristine purity and immaculateness
while being born as Srimad Ramayanam. None of its magnificent purport was lost
due to the new form and format it assumed. As Sri Valmiki himself says,
Ramayanam incorporates all that is of essence in the Shruti??Punyam Vedaischa
samhitam?. We have seen
the aspects of similarity between the Lord?s avataras and that of the
Shruti. However, are
there any pointers to the Vedas having been born as Srimad Ramayana, or is it
just the fertile imagination of a facile
poet? There are
indeed many such indications, a plethora of similarities, which confirm that
Srimad Ramayanam is indeed an avataram of the venerated
Shruti. 1.
The Yajus:Samhita, consisting of the
principal and major portion of the Yajur Vedam, consists of seven Kandams. We
find that Srimad Ramayanam too consists of seven Kandams?Baala Kandam, Ayodhya
Kandam, Aranya Kandam, Kishkindha Kandam, Sundara Kandam, Yuddha Kandam and the
Uttara Kandam. 2.
All that the Vedas have to say can be clubbed
under five major heads- (Arttha Panchakam)--Nature of the Parama
Purusha, nature of the individual soul, the strategy for the latter to attain
the former, the impediments that stand in the way of the Jeevatma?s liberation
and the fruits of emancipation. A
thorough perusal of the Epic would tell us that Srimad Ramayanam too is all
about these five crucial topics. In fact, the Epic starts with an exhaustive
description of the nature and attributes of the Parabrahmam, as recounted by Sri
Narada to Sri Valmiki. And the other four components are to be found narrated at
appropriate places in the Epic. Thus, Srimad Ramayanam is indeed Shruti, its
contents being described by Swami Desikan as ?Shokam tavirkkum surudi
porul?. 3.
After
delineating several strategies for liberation, Vedas (the Upanishads in
particular), glorify Nyaasa Vidya or
Saranagati as the best of paths for emancipation??Tasmaat Nyaasam eshaam tapasaam atiriktam
aahu:?. This
concept of Saranagati forms the entire foundation of Srimad Ramayanam?so much so
that the Epic is fondly called the Saranagati Vedam. It was as if the Vedas
took an avatara specifically to highlight the importance of Saranagati as a sine qua non of Liberation. Several
episodes of Saranagati are featured in the Epic?those of Devas to Sri
Mahavishnu, (seeking protection against the atrocities of Ravana), that of Sri
Lakshmana praying Sri Rama that he too be taken to the forest, that of Sri
Bharata to Sri Rama imploring Him to return and assume the reigns of Ayodhya,
that of Dandakaavana Rishis to Sri Rama seeking protection against Khara,
Dooshana and other raakshasas, the surrender of the hapless crow who offended
Piraatti, Sugriva?s Saranagati to Sri Lakshmana, the renowned Saranagati of Sri
Vibhishana at the lotus feet of Chakravarthi Tirumagan, that of Sri Rama Himself
addressed to Samudra Raja and that of the rakshasis of Asoka vanam to Sri
Sita. Thus, from beginning to end, Srimad Ramayanam could be termed a
continuous saga of Saranagatis, setting out the modalities therefor and
confirming its efficacy as an instrument for achieving not only liberation but
also other lofty ideals. In the words of Swami Desikan, ?Ippadi aaru kaandatthilum Saranagati
dharmame anjuru aaniyaai kokka pattadu? 4.
Vedas, as we know,
have functional divisions like the Samhita, (incorporating the mantras and
guidelines for ritualistic worship of the Ultimate), Braahmanam and Aaranyakam, with the Upanishad forming
the fitting finale or the quintessence of esoteric and philosophic instruction.
Srimad Ramayanam too conforms to this
pattern and format--while the rest of Ramayanam consists of the Samhita and Brahmana portions, the sections dealing
with Saranagati represent the Upanishad part, says Swami Desikan??Idil abhaya pradaana prakaranam sarva
rahasya saarangalayum veliyitta Upanishad
bhaagam?. 5.
Vedas are
intrinsically musical. Music, as we know it now, and the seven Svaras that form
the foundation of all music, emanated from the three basic Svaras of Udaattam, Anudaattam and Svaritam, that
characterise Vedic recital. The Sama Veda in particular is comprised of divine
music which is a rare pleasure and privilege to
hear. Srimad Ramayanam too was sung, not merely recited, by the young sons of
Sri Rama, we are told. Set to appropriate Ragas and beats (?Tantree laya samanvitam?), the story of
Sri Rama makes an everlasting impression on listeners, even till date, when
sung. 6. Vedas are full of
terse exhortations like ?Satyam vada?
(Be always
truthful) ?Dharmam chara?
(Always tread the path of virtue), ?Maatru devo bhava?, ?Pitru devo bhava?
?Acharya Devo Bhava? ?Athithi Devo
bhava? (Venerate your parents, preceptors and guests as veritable Gods) and
so on, laying down guidelines for good
conduct. Srimad
Ramayanam toes the line of the Shruti faithfully, with its emphasis on honesty
even in the face of the worst of adversities, never straying from the straight
and narrow path of Dharma irrespective of provocation, filial and marital
fidelity and so on. In its avataram as Srimad Ramayanam, the Shruti appears to
have abandoned its cryptic and aphoristic pattern of instruction, preferring to
sugar-coat its directives in ways much more palatable to mankind.
7.
Not a single word
of the Shruti is false or untrue, with the entire body of Vedas representing the
highest of truth. Sri
Valmiki?s magnum opus too contains
not a grain of untruth, as per the certification of the venerated four-headed
Brahmaa? ?na te vaak anrutaa kaavye kaachit atra
bhavishyati? Thus, whichever way we look at it, Srimad Ramayanam qualifies eminently
to be called an avatara of the venerated Vedas. In fact, Swami Desikan goes to
the extent of saying that even if the four Vedas are placed on one side of the
balance, it would not tilt in their favour, if Srimad Ramayanam is placed on the
other side. This is rich tribute indeed, from the most exalted of sources.
Let
me conclude this piece with another quote from Swami Desikan?s Abhaya Pradaana Saaram, confirming that
Srimad Ramayanam is indeed an avatara of the Shruti??Sri Valmiki Bhagavanaale drishtamaai
iruppadoru Saranagati Vedam?. The Acharya says that the Epic has all the
admirable traits of Vedas and was ?seen? (not created) by Sri Valmiki. Just as
other Veda mantras too existed prior to their discovery by various Rishis (who
are known as ?Mantra Drashtas?), Srimad Ramayanam too was
brought into this world by Sri Valmiki, not as his own creation, but merely as a
recital of an existing work, which is without a beginning and an end.
Srimate Sri LakshmiNrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri
Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama dasan, sadagopan
Azhvar EmberumAnAr JeeyAr ThiruvadigalE Saranam http://www.vedics.net
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