Isvara Samvatsaram , Margazhi Month Vaikunta EkAdasi Dinam Anrivvulaham alanthAi adi pORRi ThiruppAvai Dinam January 8 , 1998 Dear BhakthAs : As I went through the tributes paid by ANDAL in Her ThiruppAvai to Sri RamachandrA on this "Anrivvulaham aLanthAi " day , my thoughts go back to the VarALi pancha-rathnam of Saint ThyagarAjA ( Kana Kana ruchirA Kanaka Vasana ninnu ) , where he drank deep the sarvAnga Soundharyam of his Ishta dhaivam , Sri Ramachandran . KaruNA Rasam , Veera Rasam and Bhakthi ************************************************** Our Sadhguru chose Jaala VarALI ( Rishi Chakra mELam ) for this pancha rathnam . This is the 39th mELa karthA . It is filled with KaruNA rasam . As an aside , the Rasams ( emotional experience of beauty ) is divided into eight groups : SringAra , Haasya , KARUNAA , Raudra , Vira , Bhaayanaka ,Bhibhatsa and Adbhuta. Later , two more RasAs-- Shanta and Bhakti -- were added . ANDAL , AzhwArs and Saint ThyagarajA enjoyed one or other of the RasAs , when they experienced BhagavAn ( Bhagavad anubhavam ) . There are interrealtionships between these rasAs in Bhgavad anubhavam . For instance , Vira rasam has overlap with KaruNA rasam . Vira Rasam has some overlap with Raudhram ( sinam ) . We will restrict ourselves to a discussion on how the Vira rasam celebrated by ANDAL in her ThiruppAvai has built-in links to KarunA rasam of Sri Ramachandran . Vira Rasam and KarunA rasam ********************************** Dr. Suchitra Sen has pointed out that Sage BharathA , the author of Naatya Saasthram has divided Vira Rasam into four subdivisions : (1) Daana Vira ( Giving away ; certainly it takes courage and fortitude to give things away --ahankAram , mamakAram leading to Saathvika ThyAgam ) (2) Dharma Vira ( courage to follow the path of Dharma against all obstructions ; Sri Rama was celebrated by Swami Desikan as DharmO vigrahavAn or the embodiment of Dharmam ) (3) Yuddha Vira ( Valour in battle celerated in the Yuddha khAndam of Srimadh RaamAyaNam by Sage Valmiki ) (4) DayA vira ( Expression of Mercy and compassion even to offenders , once they perform SaraNAgathi ) . Dr.Sen says: " Valour , generosity,courage , strength and righteousness are all qualities that are expected in heroes worthy of worship . These qualities are the very essence of Vira Rasam . We can now see how ANDAL 's worship of the Vira Rasam of Sri Ramachandran and Saint ThyagarajA's worship of His KaaruNyam and soundharyam overlap . ANDAL's Salutaion to Sri VeerarAghavan ********************************************* ANDAL has saluted Ramachandran thrice in Her ThiruppAvai and recalled the veeryam and bhaktha dAkshiNyam of Her Lord and experienced Adhbuta rasam as well : (1) SinatthinAl tennilankhaik kOmAnaiccheRRa , manatthukkiniyAnai ,----12 th ThiruppAvai ( Sinam here includes Raudhra Rasam , which is distinct from vira rasam ; cheRRa refers to Vira Rasam ) (2) pollA arakkanaik kiLLIkkiLanthAnaik keerthimaip paadi ---- 13 th ThiruppAvai ( KiLLIkiLanthAnai refers to the Yuddha Viram ) (3) senRangu tennilankhai seRRAi thiral pORRi ----- 24 th ThiruppAvai ( Today's ThiruppAvai ) ( Yuddha Viram , Dharma Viram and Dhana Viram is celebrated by ANDAL here . Sri Rama won the battle , estabished dharmam and gave away the kingdom that He won to VibhishaNA , HIs saraNAgathan and crowned him as the Lord of LankhA ) The prowess( Viram ) of VeerarAghavan is celebrated here in all its four aspects . ANDAL saluted Vijaya Raghavan and His valor in the spirit of Her fellow AzhwArs : KallAthavar Ilankai kattazhittha KaakutthanallAl oru dhaivam yAnilEn--Thirumazhisai silainAl Ilankai seRRA DevanEdEvanAvAn ---- Thondardipodi nuDankidayai munnilankai vaitthAn muraNazhiya munnoru nALL tann vilankai vaitthAn thOL --- Poygai Tangayai mUkkum Tamayanai talayum taDitthavem Daasarathi --- PeriyAzhwAr malai athanAl aNaikkatti mathiLalinkhai azhitthavanE --- Kulasekarar KaRpAriramapirAnai allAl MARRUM kaRparO -- --- NammAzhwAr Ilankai mannan mudiyoru patthum thOLirupathum pOyudira tann nedumthiNN silai vaLaittha Dayarathan sEy yenran saraN -- Thirumangai All of the passages from Divya Prabhandham quoted here are salutations/celebrations of the Vira Rasam of VeerarAghavan in all its four aspects . Why Sri Ramachandran's Veeram was special to ANDAL? *************************************************************** Sri Ramachandran is known for His Eka pathni , Eka BhANam and Eka Vachanam vratham . He was no dvibhAshi . Once He gave a promise and accepted one as SaraNAgathan, there was no need for Him to restate His intentions to execute His promise. He did not need more than one arrow to destroy His target . He looked at other women as sisters and Mothers and observed Ekapathni vratham . For ANDAL , this Eka pathni vratham is very sweet to reflect compared to all the harassment that she received , while dealing with KrishNA as a gOpi . He was married to sixteen thousand pathnis at Dwarakai as He obseved grahasthAsramam . Thus , Ramachandran becomes " manatthukkiniyAn " ( sweet to the mind to reflect upon ) for Her in this context . Saint ThyagarajA's anubhavam of "Manatthukkiniyan " ********************************************************** For Saint ThygaarAjA , the chinthanA of Mohana Raman was like tasting nectar . Sri Raamabhadran was indeed his " manatthukkiniyan " . He explains his bhagavad anubhavam of the beauty of Raamachandran in his sowrAshtra krithi ( nEramA ? Raama Raama! ) this way : " Is it an unpardonable offense on my part , Oh the prop of my life ( jeevAdhAra )! , if I had been forgetful in my mind for a short moment on seeing your unsurpassable beauty ? The fact was that in my ardent worship , I was at a loss to know whether I should hug Your blessed feet to my bosom or press them to my eyes , and overpowered by this supreme Bliss , I lost control over myself for the time " . He said in His AtANA krithi ( RaarA RaguveerA ) , " Oh RaghuveerA ! Every day I visualize You in my mind and get transported with Anandham ( anudhinamananu ninu manasunu kanugOni AnandhamAyE DhayALO ) In his SankarAbharaNa krithi , NaapAli Sri RaamA , he confessed : " Oh My saviour RaamA ! ---- Your exquisite beauty , which can be matched only by myriads of ManmathAs , has firmly implanted itself in my mind --" In his ThOdi krithi , Ninnu vinA sukhamu gAna , he experineces the beautiful form , powers , His bow , arrows and mellifluous speech and sweet conversation ( rUpamu prathApamu sara chApamu , sallapamuala KARUNAA RASA PARIPURNA VARADHA mridhu vaarthalu gala raagarasika ) . He concludes this anubhavam with the wonderment : " Oh what a delight to my mind ! My body is thrilled ! " The origin of VaraaLi pancha-rathnam ******************************************* Oneday during his daily ArAdhanam , Saint ThyagarAjA completed Thirumanjanam for the Lord and dried the Lord's limbs from Thirumanjanam water . He dressed the Lord in PeethAmbharam . He applied Vermillion and KasthUri Tilakms . He adorned the Lord with flower garlands that he had constructed . As he saw the Lord shining with Sarvanga Soundharyam , the flood gates of his emotion broke lose and out poured the krithi , Kana Kana ruchirA , Kanaka vasana ninnu " in VarALi raagam to celebrate the Lord's unmatchable beauty . kasthUri TilakaOjvalam smithamukham chinmudhrayAlankrutham I SeethA LakshmaNa Vaayu puthra sahitham SimhAsanasthm BhajE II susnighdham neelakEsam sputamathuramukham SundarabhrUlalAtam I dheerghAksham chArunAsAputamamala- maNi srENikAdhanthapankthim II bhimbhOshtam katinataramahOraskamAjAnubAhum mushtigraahyaavalagnam pruthughanamudhOru- jangAngrimeeLE II Saint ThyagarAjA offered his salutations in VarALi to this Lord, his Lord with KasthUri tilakam , smiling face , long eyes , beautiful arms, charming eye brows and possessing all sAmudhrikA lakshaNams . We will enjoy the beauty of the VaraaLi raaga pancha rathnam in the subsequent postings . Sri Ramachandra ParabrahmaNE Nama : Sri Vaikunta NaathAya nama: ThiruviNNagar VaradAchAri Sadagopan On one day , Saint
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