SrIH
SrImate raângarAmAnuja MahA deSikAya namaH
SrImate SrInivAsa rAmAnuja MahA deSikAya namaH
SrImate VedAnta rAmAnuja MahA deSikAya namaH
SrI raânganAtha divya maNi pAdukAbhyAm namaH
AcArya rAmAmRtam - (from SrI raânganAtha pAdukA dt. September08 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
If bharata went to his uncle's house, how did it matter to Satrughna? Why did
he accompany him? nitaH prIti puraskRtaH â he went because of his affection.
It is bhAgavata prIti; he went to perform bhAgavata kainkaryam. bharata is a
great rAma bhakta and a great bhAgavata. It is Satrughna's way of serving a
bhakta and bhAgavata. It is the way of SrI vaishNava-s; madurakavi AzhvAr
followed the same path.
tunbaRRa madurakavi tOnRak kATTum
tolvazhiyE nalvazhigaL tuNivArgaTkE
(adhikAra sangraham -2 and also rahasyatrayasAram - guruparamparA sAram)
In rahasyatrayasAram, svAmi deSikan says â madurakavi AzhvAr's way is what
SrI vaishNava sampradAyam should be. He is named madura kavi. Was he named
like that because he sang about his AcArya? No one was named madura kavi for
singing the praise of PerumAL. It is enough if one just desires to be with
AcArya. The name of nammAzhvAr generates the sweetness of nectar in the mouth.
The same does not happen when PerumAL's name is uttered. What can we do? It
is enough if we say 'nammAzhvAr'. We experience so much bliss. How much bliss
is this? There is happiness involved with the five senses â applying
sandalwood to the body, wearing flowers, eating halvA (sweet), seeing pleasing
sights, listening to music, keeping a baby in the lap etc. These are supposed
to be great enjoyments. On a greater scale is the bliss experienced in the
deva lokam. The delight in brahma lokam is even greater than the latter one.
Even greater contentment comes from
being in 'kaivalyam' where the jIvAtmA has left the body and is in an atom
state and is ever-existent and does kainkaryam to bhagavAn. Higher than this
state of enjoyment comes from being in paramapadam where vaikuNThanAthan is
âvIRRirundu Ezhulagum tanikkOl Sellaâ (tiruvAi. 4.5.1) - ruling over
fourteen universes and nitya vibhUti, and is seated on His bed, AdiSeshan,
along with His consorts and is being served by nitya sUri-s; experiencing this
bhagavAn vaikuNThanAthan is the highest of all enjoyments.
Even higher than that felicity is the one where we can enjoy when He Himself
comes down to kshIrAbdi as four mUrti-s - vAsudeva, sankarSana, pradhyumna and
aniruddha. On a higher scale of bliss is the one where we can enjoy Him as a
hRdaya kamala mUrti â One residing in our hearts as antaryAmi. Greater
ecstasy arises from seeing Him as His ten avatarA-s. Of all the ten, the
highest delight comes from worshipping Him as nRsimhAvatam, rAmAvatAram and
kRSNAvatAram. kRSNa, who took birth in a jail and made Himself easily
available to the naÃve AyppADi folks is the most delightful of these three.
Even in kRSNAvatAram, the most enjoyable is experiencing Him as bAla kRSNa.
His tiru AyppADi pastimes are even more pleasant. Words cannot describe that
bliss. Of all the pastimes to enjoy, His being tied to a mortar by yaSodha is
the most pleasing. That is when He showed all His saulabhyam (easily
accessible) - âettiRam uralinODu iNaindirundu Engiya eLivEâ (tiruvAi.
1.3.1) - a naÃve woman tied the all powerful paramAtma because of His
saulabhyam - âyadi Saknoshi gaccha tvam ati cancala ceshTita! (VishNu
PurANam - 5.6.15) â it is most enjoyable to think about His being tied to
the mortar on His chest by a woman.
Madurakavi says that experiencing his AcArya is of a higher form of enjoyment
than enjoying that kRSNAvatAram.
kaNNi nuN ciruttAmbinAl kaTTuNNap
paNNiya perumAyan ennappanil
naNNitten kurugUr nambi ennakkAl
aNNikkum amudURum ennAvukkE!
ânaNNittenkurugUr nambi ennakkAl aNNikkum amudUrum en nAvukkEâ is a much
better experience than enjoying emperumAn kaNNan, who got tied by a rope.
AzhvAr says that when he utters the name of ten kurugUr nambi â His AcArya
nammAzhvAr who was born in ten kurugUr kshetram, sweet nectar is generated in
his palate.
Since bhAgavata kainkaryam is superior to kainkaryam to bhagavAn, not even
looking at rAma in the palace, Satrughna got involved with serving bharata;
VAlmIki praises him as anaghaH â one without any blemish. He is one who does
bhAgavata kainkaryam.
gacchatA mAtula kulaM bharatena tadA'naghaH |
Satrughno nityaSatrughno nItaH prItipuraskRtaH || (ayodhyA. 1.1)
Another question is asked of madurakavi AzhvAr â What is this? You are saying
you do not need PerumAL! Even though you denounce PerumAL, what will you do if
PerumAL comes to you? Will you worship if PerumAL comes to your doorstep or
not?
AzhvAr says - âI will worship; I will not forego thatâ.
tiri tandAgilum deva pirAnuDai
kariya kOlat tiru uruk kANban nAn
periyavaN kurugUr nagar nambhikku AL
uriyanAi aDiyEn peRRa nanmaiyE! (kaNNi nuN - 3)
deva pirAnuDai kariya kOlat tiru uruk kANban nAn â I will worship the divine,
extraordinary, blue-cloud-hued form of bhagavAn.
AzhvAr, will you worship PerumAL also?
AzhvAr says, â I am not worshiping PerumAL directly. I am looking at
emperumAn because my AcArya likes Him - kariya kOlat tiru urukkANban nAn.
nammAzhvAr is enough for me. But, since my AzhvAr is worshiping Him, I will
also fold my hands before Him, that is all.
I told you a story the other day; do you remember that or not?
There was a father; he had a son. He got him married. Daughter-in-law came to
the house. They had a child. Father and son started a fight. There was some
misunderstanding! Nothing else. Because the matters became worse, he set up a
separate living place for his son in the next street. Father was living in one
house. Son was living in one house with his wife.
The baby became one year old. The daughter-in-law said, âThe baby has to
live a blessed life. Go call your father and mother! I will also come. We
need to get their blessings for our babyâ. Both of them went and told the
parents, â We have to do Ayush homam for the baby; both of you must attendâ.
Parents agreed. They also like baby; they do not have anything to hate the
baby.
Father and mother went to attend the Ayush homam. The officiating priest came
and did the Ayush homam in a special way. He did navagraha homam (AcAryan is
indulging in humor here); they did annap prAsanam â fed the baby food for the
first time. He chanted special blessings for the baby. The priest was given
dakshiNai â compensation. taM tvA sincAmi yajushA prajAm AyurdhanaM ca!
rocano rocamAnaH SobhanaH SobhanaH kalyAnaH .. the priest completed
everything. It is customary to prostrate before elders after everything is
done. Both the daughter-in-law and son prostrated before the parents; they
made the child also do the same. They sprinkled akshadai (rice for blessing)
for the baby, daughter-in-law and son.
When the son was prostrating, tears appeared in father's eyes. It did not
happen when daughter-in-law was prostrating and when the baby was prostrating.
The father had come only because of his love for the baby; the son was living
separately. He asked his son, âWhy are you prostrating? You left us saying
you do not need us and why are you prostrating now?â
Son said, âFather! I will not prostrate also. I am doing it because she did
it!â (laughter in the audience).
tiri tandAgilum deva pirAnuDai
kariya kOlat tiru urukkANban nAn
periyavaN kurugUr nagar nambhikku AL
uriyanAi aDiyEn peRRa nanmaiyE!
AzhvAr is sufficient for me. I will worship him only. My AzhvAr is worshiping
PerumAL. Because he worships Him, I am also folding my hands in worship to
Him. It is really not my intent.
It is like the story where the son says that he prostrated because the
daughter-in-law prostrated. He is having a practice that he should be doing
whatever she is doing! (audience laughs) That is all.
=============
(To be continued)
------------------------------------
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