Post 3
Dear srivaishNava perunthagaiyeer,
We saw yet another beautiful krithi of saint thyaagaraaja 'thelisi raama
chinthanathO' in poorNa chandhrikaa raagam and few points on the krithi. Let us
continue our discussion.
1. Now now let us take up the krithi for analyzing - as usual,
first, the pallavi.
thelisi raama chinthanathO naamamu sEyavE, O manasaa - [
thelisi ]
meaning: Oh mind! Tell the name of raama consciously by
meditating on Him.
Point: on the face of it, this line of the krithi appears an
advise to one's own mind - hey mind, tell raama naama and be an enjoyer in that
'naama' sukham - raama naama sukham - 'sukhi evarO' asked ST in kaanadaa and
answered that question in 'geethaarthamu' in surati, as 'hanumaan is the raama
naama sukhi'.
Then, how is it that, this is an important point in
conversation between seetha and raavaNan? See here the slokam of vaalmeeki --
saadhu dharmam avEkshasva saadhu saadhuvratham chara || 5-21-6
[part slokam]
meaning: seethaa tells raavaNan, "Observe righteousness well.
Follow well the course of conduct of virtuous."
Now, dear bhakthaas, you may rise another point of argument -
ST says 'tell raama naamam, oh mind' - but in above slokam seethaa says,
'observe righteousness, the course of conduct of virtuous' - then how both are
linked?
For that we have to analyse a little deep.
What is the right course of virtuous people?
Answer is - "thinking of the lord always" in the mind and do
things in this world, which are prescribed as duty in the vEdhaas.
Any doubt on that? hi, that is what ST also says here in the
krithi - 'thelisi raama chinthanathO' - Oh mind! Tell the name of raama
consciously by meditating on Him. Once the chinthanai is on raama, will not the
conduct of that person turn righteous and will he not become virtuous? That is
what ST says. Oh great!
2. Now, we move on to anupallavi - It is
thalapulanni nilipi nimishamaina thaaraka roopuni nija
thathvamulanu - [ thelisi ]
meaning: Stop all your other thoughts for a minute and fix it
on that lord savior and the true principle of all, [-- Oh mind! --- on Him - of
pallavi].
Point 1: Another version of meaning can also be given to this
anupallavi line -
"Meditate on the Lord the saviour (thaaraka) by fixing all your
thoughts on him at least for a minute" and then have your routine thoughts as
usual.
Point 2: again this appears to be an advise to his mind or to
all of us. Just let us go back to vaalmeeki - dwell on the conversation between
raavaNan and seethaa, raavaNan says --
Evam cha Ethath akaamaam thu na thvaam sprakshyaami maithilee |
kaamam kaama: sareerE mE yathaa kaamam praarthathaam || 5-20-6
meaning: raavaNan says, "It is like this, O Seetha! Since you
do not like [like me or wish me as your husband] I will not touch you. The
desire in my body [my mind on you], very much, let it behave in whatever way it
likes."
RaavaNan says, 'even though my desire on you grows intensely,
every time I see you, I will not touch you, without your wishing me as your
husband'. For, he remembers his 'death sentence' - the curse on him - in
touching an unwilling woman for enjoyment. Seetha in her points of 'advice'
says
vachO mithyaapraNeethaathmaa pathyam uktham vichakshaNai: ||
5-21-10
raakshasaanaam abhaavaaya thvam vaa na vrathipadhyasE |
meaning: You, who is being led by mind, towards unreal, is not
taking wholesome words being said by righteous ones, and that may lead to the
destruction of ogres."
When raavaNan says, 'let the desire behave in any way as it
likes', seethaa tells him 'since you are being led by your mind and not listen
to or take sincere advises from your well wishers, stop all your thoughts at
least for a minute and put them on that 'thaaraka roopam' and that 'nija
thathvam' - 'raama' or stop all thoughts on me and instead put on 'raama' "- in
ST's words, the anupallavi "thalapu---". Perhaps poets will not tell us
directly certain things and certain other directly in a stunning way. We have
to dig into their works and then take the essence - rasam - the 'aanandham'.
3. Now let us move on to charaNam 1 --
raamaayana chapalaakshula pEru kaamaadhula pOruvaaru veeru
raamaayana brahmamunaku pEru aamaanava jananaardhulu dheeru -
thelisi
meaning: raamaa is the name of a lady with shying eyes - people
indulge in fighting associated with 'kaamam' - strong desire - and subsequent
'vipareetha buddhi' - crooked ideas to get at that 'raamaa'. Raama means
para-brahmam (the supreme lord and the absolute in all respects), by
remembering whom, the desire to get rid of the repeated birth and death of all
souls of human beings is fulfilled. Hence, Oh mind! Tell the name of raama
consciously by meditating on Him.
Point: raamaa here means seethaa - that 'aa'kaaram is 'sthree
lingam', feminine gender - indicating seethaa is meant here - for vaalmeeki
uses this raamaam - this version is not ST's own creation - ST follows or
adopts vaalmeeki - the slokam for reference is
sushyantheem rudhatheem Ekaam dhyaana sOkaparaayaNaam |
dhuhkhasyaantham apasyantheem raamaam raamam anuvrathaam ||
5-19-8
raamaam = Seetha, the pleasant one;
anuvrataam = following the will;
raamam = of Raama. [balance words not taken up here by MGV
since the point here is to stress the usage of raamaa means seethaa - by
vaalmeeki]
meaning: Seetha a pleasant one, was emaciated, was crying,
being alone having surrendered to Her thoughts and sorrow not seeing the end of
grief, following the will of Raama.
Hanumaan also thinks about seethaa as 'raamaa' - that 'aakaara
sthree lingam name ---
'saa raamaa raama mahishee raaghavasya priyaa' - slokam 5-14 -
45
Next word in the krithi of ST is 'chapalaakshi' - having shying
eyes - whenever a kula sthree sees anya purushan, she will naturally have
shyness - that is why that 'thruNam antharatha: kruthvaa' when she replies to
raavaNan - see the elaborate commentary - 26 points of sri periya vaachchaan
piLLai swamy - in 'is she capable' series.
'kaamaadhula pOruvaaru veeru' is the next in the krithi - for
that we have to see the lines of vaalmeeki - raavaNan saying --
kaamaye thvaam visaalaakshi bahumanyasva maam priyE |
sarvaanga guNa sampannE sarvalOka manOharE || 5-20-3
meaning: raavaNan tells or begs to seethaa, "O wide eyed one!
You are endowed with excellencies bodily, and pleasing to all people. I desire
you. O lovable one! Respect me."
For this seethaa replies to raavaNan --
nivarthaya manO maththa: svajanE kriyathaam mana: || 5-21-3
na maam praarthayithum yuktham susidhDhim iva paapakruth |
meaning: Turn your mind back from me. Let your mind be made on
your own wives. Like best emancipation for a sinner, it is not appropriate for
you to pray me."
Seethaa continues -
prasaadhayasva thvam chanam saraNaagatha vathsalam || 5-21-21
maam cha asmai niyathO bhoothvaa niryaathayithum arhasi |
meaning: You seek graciousness of this Raama, who loves those
who seek protection. Becoming piously disposed, you are suited to return me to
this Raama."
Point: One who has the capacity to protect those who
surrendered to him is saraNaagatha vathsalan - raamayani brahmamunaku pEru -
seethaa tells raavaNan seek protection from raama by returning me - that ST
puts in his style - as raama is the brahmam and by remembering him get rid of
repeated birth and death - means - obtain mOksham - liberation - that best and
final desired result of the act of that saraNaagathy - that is what seethaa
also tells raavaNan - to do that remember that raamaa always in the mind.
Oh, great lines by ST - though a little indirect. Let us take
next charaNam in subsequent post.
Dhasan
Vasudevan m.g.
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