SrI:
SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha //
SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha //
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya/
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya//
KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava: /
SrI RanganAthO jayathu Sri Ranga Sri cha VardhathAm//
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SRI RANGA SRI VOL.09 / ISSUE # 14 dated 29th December 2007
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IN THIS ISSUE:
1. YUDDHA KHAANDAM PART - 4 (SRIMAD RAMAYANAM DISCOURSES IN THE
HINDU TEMPLE OF ATLANTA by SRI ANBIL RAMASWAMY SWAMI)
2. TAATPARYA RATNAVALI - SUBMISSION 44- SLOKAM 18 -PART 1
(SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARAIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO)
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ISSUES RELEASED
With this issue, about 277 Regular issues of SRS have been released
so far, apart from numerous "Special Issues" as indicated below:
27 Issues of Vol. 1
15 Issues of Vol. 2
42 Issues of Vol. 3
35 Issues of Vol. 4
28 Issues of Vol. 5
30 Issues of Vol. 6
50 Issues of Vol. 7 and
36 Issues of Vol. 8
14 Issues of Vol. 9(including this)
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1. "YUDDHA KHAANDAM" PART - 4 OF SRIMAD RAMAYANAM
(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)
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16. WELCOME! VIBHEESHANA!
On arrival, Rama warmly welcomed VibheeshaNa and told him that with
him they had become 7 brothers. Kamban:
guhanoDum aivar aanEm munbu, pin kunru soozhwaan
maganoDum aruvar aanEm, emmuzhai anbin vanda
agan amar kaadal Aiya! ninnoDum ezhuvar aanEm
pugal arun kaanam tandu pudalvaraal polindaan thanthai
(AdaikkalapaTalam 445)
17. VIBHEESHANA CROWNED
Exchanging pleasantries with VibheeshaNa, Rama practically
apologized to him for the delay in accepting him, due to
deliberations necessitated by statecraft as laid down in the Dharma
Saastras during times of warfare. VibheeshaNa described the
components of the Raakshasa brigade in clear terms. As directed by
Rama, LakshmaNa arranged to bring the waters from the sea and
performed the ceremonial bath (AbhishEkam) for VibheeshaNa as part
of his crowning as the ruler of Lanka.
(Koorathaazhwaan in his "Athimaanusha Sthavam" asks how Rama could
do this being on this side of the ocean and even before assessing
the relative strengths of both sides and long before the start of
the Great War. He himself answers, that it was because Rama
was "Paramaatma" who was also "Sathya Sankalpan")
18. SAARDHOOLAN'S STRATEGY
As advised by Saardoola, a spy named Sukha was sent by Ravana to
wean Sugreeva to his side. Sugreeva told him that he was his enemy
because he was inimical to Rama and because he was a friend of his
enemy, namely, Ravana. But, the moment the Vaanaras saw him, they
literally would have torn him to pieces. Rama intervened to prevent
the Vaanaras from killing him. (20)
19. DARBHA SAYANAM
As they were deliberating on how to ford the vast sea, VibheeshaNa
came up with the idea that Rama should surrender to the Ocean king
to show a way to solve the problem. Accordingly, Rama spread the
sacred grass on the seashore and lay down on it praying to the Ocean
king (21).
Even after 3 days, the Ocean king put up a "no show". This incensed
Rama. He asked LakshmaNa to bring his bow and sharp arrows and vowed
to dry up the Ocean so that the army could walk over. He added that
he could cross the Ocean without any help from anyone and that the
Ocean king had probably under- estimated his prowess.
Chaapam aanaya soumitrE saraams cha asee vishOpamaam
samudram sOShayaish-yaami padbhyaam yaantu pLavangamaa: // (20-22)
Rama prepared to shoot an arrow consecrating it with Brahmaastra.
The Ocean King saw this and got terrified, rushed to Rama with
folded palms begging to be pardoned. He offered to do whatever
Rama's bidding was, including
- making the Ocean shallow enough,
- stopping the waves and flow of waters,
- helping in arranging to float the materials used for
building a bridge without being drowned and
- preventing the water borne creatures from troubling Rama's
battalions while crossing etc.
Rama told him that his arrow drawn to shoot cannot go waste and
asked him where he should direct it. The Ocean king replied that in
the northwestern corner of the land there was a place called "Dhruma-
kulyam" where a few cruel creatures were troubling him and that Rama
could direct his arrows against them. Rama sent his arrow against
that target as requested and destroyed them.
(Koorathaazhwan catches Rama red handed and poses him the question
that when he could direct an arrow from the Southernmost tip to the
Westernmost corner of the land, how he could not shoot it Lanka that
was so near and himself answers that the former proved Rama to be
Paramaatma while the latter was in sync with his claim to be just a
human!)
20. SETHU BANDANAM
The Ocean king suggested that there was in the army of Rama, an
expert engineer called "NaLan" who could be asked to build a bridge.
NaLan built a strong bridge that was 100 yOjanas in length and 10
yOjanas in width in mid-sea to the entire satisfaction of the
Vaanara army. It looked like the regular parting of hair on the head
of a beautiful damsel (23).
dasoham
Anbil Ramaswamy
(To be continued)
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3.TAATPARYA RATNAVALI - SUBMISSION 44 - SLOKAM 18 -PART 1
(SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARAIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO)
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SrImate ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.
tAtpary aratnAvaLi - Submission 44, Slokam 18 Part 1,
tiruvAimozhi 1.7, pASuram 1.7.1, 1.7.2.
Slokam 18 of tAtparya ratnAvaLi ? tiruvAimozhi 1.7 ? piRavit tuyar.
sat-citta Akarsha hetoh (1.7.1) agha Samana nidheh (1.7.2)
nitya
bhogya amRtasya (1.7.3)
tyAge hetu ujjhitasya (1.7.4) pravahad upakRteh (1.7.5)
dus-
tyajasva anubhUteh (1.7.6) |
tyAga AkAn'gkshA niroddhuh (1.7.7) Srita hRdaya pRthak-kAra
nitya akshamasya (1.7.8)
svAtma SlishTasya (1.7.9) gAyac-chrama hara yaSasah (1.7.10)
sevanam svAdu avocat (1.7) ||
The theme emphasized by svAmi deSikan in this tiruvAimozhi
is `sevanam svAdu' ? Worship of bhagavAn is sweet, it is supreme
delight (bhajanam parama bhogyam), as indicated in the last phrase
of the above Slokam. The ten guNa-s selected from the ten pASuram-
s of this tiruvAimozhi will all support this point.
Those who perform worship of bhagavAn without any desire except
attaining Him, will find the worship absolutely delightful. Those
who perform the worship for other benefits will not derive that full
delight. The idea reflected in this tiruvAimozhi is conveyed in
chapter 9 of the gItA in the chapter on `rAja vidyA'.
rAja vidyA rAja guhyam pavitram idam uttamam |
pratyakshAvagamam dharmyam su-sukham kartum avyayam || (9.2)
"This knowledge about worship is the best among all knowledge. This
is greatest of secrets. It will lead to the actual realization of
bhagavAn. It is the path of righteous conduct. It leads to the
greatest of happiness. It leads to the Eternal Benefit".
pASuram 1.7.1:
piRavit tuyar aRa j~nAnattuL ninRu
tuRavic cuDar viLakkam talaip peyvAr
aRavinai Azhip paDai andaNanai
maRaviyai inRi manattu vaippArE.
Even those who want to be just relieved of the sorrow resulting from
this birth, and who resort to j~nAna yogam and realize the kaivalya
sukham of realizing that the soul is different from the body and
thereby get relieved of the false identity between the body and the
soul and are saitsified with this Atma sukham only, end up keeping
Him in their thoughts for deriving that benefit of kaivalyam.
The idea here is that His worship is delightful, no matter whether
the person worships Him for the ultimate benefit of attaining Him
(of performing eternal kai'nkaryam to Him in SrI vaikunTham), or for
just getting relief from the suffering resulting from the false
association of the body with the soul and thereby enjoying the full
realization of the eternal and unlimited nature of the soul
(kaivalya Anandam). Thes latter devotees think of bhagavAn as a
person who is like a Cleaner, who can eliminate their sorrow from
birth, but do not think of Him as parama bhogyan ? the Most
Enjoyable. The kaivalyArthI-s get immersed in j~nAna yogam, and do
not go beyond that to bhakti yogam ? of enjoying Him as the Ultimate
benefit to be attained. But bhagavAn's dharmam is that He will
attract the minds of all who seek Him for any benefit.
svAmi deSikan captures the essence of this pASuram through the
words `sat-citta Akarsha hetoh' ? He who does not distinguish
between paramaikAntin-s and a-paramaikAntin-s, and attracts the
minds of both ? `piRavit tuyar aRa j~nAnattuL ninRu turavic cuDar
viLakkam talaip peyvAr maRaviyai inRi manattu vaippArE'. The
term `sat' in svAmi deSikan's words should be taken to refer to
jIvAtmA-s.
pASuram 1.7.2:
vaippAm marundAm aDiyarai val vinait
tuppAm pulan aindum tu'njak koDAn avan
eppAl evarkkum nalattAl uyarndu uyarndu
appAl avan e'ngaL Ayar kozhundE.
nalattAl eppAl evarkkum uyarduyarndu appAl avan ? BhagavAn, in the
joy that He bestows on His devotees, is far, far above anything that
is known (as described in Ananda valli ? ucchritocchritan), and is
also beyond our reach (vA'ng manasA agocaran ? yato vAco nivartante
aprApya mansA saha?).
e'ngaL Ayar kozhundu ? However, for the sake of the ananya prayojana-
s among us (those who seek nothing except Him as the only desired
goal), He has taken birth as the Chief among the cowherds. avan ?
That sarveSvaran, val vinait tuppAm pulan aindu tu'njak koDAn ? will
not let the five senses that are skilled in inducing one into bad
karma-s destroy His devotee (tuppu ? skill, sAmarthyam; tu'nja ?
naSikka, to destroy); marundAm ? (Thus) He is the Medicine for the
disease of samsAra (He is the upAyam ? means to attain Him);
vaippAm ? He is also the Treasure (He is also the final goal to be
attained).
When bhagavAn is held in one's mind like a treasure (vaippu), H will
act as the medicine (marundu) that prevents the indriya-s from going
in their own unctorlled way and sinking the person in deep karma.
svAmi deSikan describes the aspect sung in this pASuram in support
of bhagavAn's `sevanam' being `svAdu' - "worship being sweet ? a
source of delight" through the words "agha Samana nidheh" ? BhagavAn
is the Wealth that removes all the blemishes in us (agha ? blemish;
Samana ? removal, destruction; nidhi ? wealth) ? avan val vinait
tuppAm pulan aindu tu'njak koDAn marundAm vaippAm. The detailed
meaning for the pASuram given in the previous paragraph clearly
provides the basis for svAmi deSikan's choice of the guNa sung in
the pASuram - "agha Samana nidhi". Because bhagavAn destroys all
the effects of karma-s caused by the effect of indriya-s of His
devotees, worship of bhagavAn is svAdu or the most delicious
dAsan kRshNamAcAryan
(To be continued)
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