SrI Raama Jayam RaamAya RaamabhadrAya RaamachandrAya vEdhasE RaghunATAya NaaTAya SeethAyA: PathayE nama: Dear Raama BhakthAs: Sundara KaaNDam has 2874 slOkams housed in 68 Sargams. With the 121 slOkmas of PattAbhishEka Sargam , the nine days" PaarAyaNam of Sundara KaaNDam comes to 2995 slOkams of the set of the total 24,000 slOkmas of SrImath RaamAyaNam of Sage ValmIki ( 12.48% of the total). For us to plan our PaarAyaNam time schedules , here is the breakdown by the number of slOkams for the nine days: First Day: Sargams 1-5 : 375 SlOkams Second Day: Sargams 6-15: 440 SlOkams Third Day: Sargams 16-20 : 154 SlOkmas Fourth Day : Sargams 21-26 : 216 SlOkmas Fifth Day : Sargams 27-33 ; 201 SlOkams Sixth Day : Sargams 34-40 : 390 SlOkams Seventh Day: Sargams 385 SlOkmas Eighth Day : Sargams : 53-60 : 460 SlOkams Ninth Day: Sargams 61-68 :374 ( 253 SlOkams + 121 PattAbhishEka SlOkams) Please pace yourself for Days 1, 2 , 6 , 7 , 8 and 9 , when the slOkams to be recited are more than Three Hundred and Fifty . Observations from Today's PaarAyaNam ( Sargams 1-5) ******************************************************************** Reflections on Sargam 1: ******************************* At the end of KishkindhA kaaNDam , the King of Bears , JaambhavAn reminded AnjanEyar about His prowess and that cheered the mind of HanUmAn to engage in the mighty jump over the ocean to search for SithA Devi in LankApuri. The first slOkam of Sunndara KaaNDam starts therefore with the word : "TathO " . That means , thereafter . HanUmAn was now all set to start on His jump over the broad & deep ocean , which many could not even dream about attempting. Sage ValmIki describes this effort of HanUmAn as " Dhushkaram and Nishprathidhvandvam " ( Unattainable by others and matchless). The Preparations of HanUmAn ************************************** HanUmAn arrived on top of MahEndhra Parvatham , offered His salutations to the DevAs , His Father ( Vaayu BhagavAn) for success in the Raama Kaayam . He grew now in to a gigantic proportion , planted His feet and hands firmly on the mountain to push against it to gain velocity and momentum. Many slOkams of this sargam describe this gigantic effort of HanUmAn in preparing for the leap over the ocean and its impact on the residents of the mountain (Trees , animals , GandharvAs , VidhyAdharAs , Maharishis ) . HanumAn's tail was lifted up like a victory post for the mission that He was undertaking. The winds generated from HanUmAn's supersonic speed agitated the waters of the ocean and made the denizens of the ocean terror-stricken. Hospitality offered by MainAka Mountain ************************************************ As HanUmAn rode the sky , the King of Oceans asked the golden peaked MainAka Parvatham to come out of the Ocean and offer hospitality to HanUmAn on his behalf to show his respect for Lord Raamachandra and His messenger . HanUmAn could not spare even a moment to tarry and to accept the offered hospitality ; He thanked MainAka mountain and Samudra Raajan , recieved their benedictions and continued with His leap over the wide ocean. Naaga MaathA Surasa Devi's testing ********************************************* The next incident during this heroic leap was the interference by Naaga MaathA , Surasai , who was goaded by the DeavAs , GandharvAs , SiddhAs and Sages. Latter group wanted to know more about the power of HanUmAn . Surasai took on a gigantic form and demanded that HanUman was ordained as her food and therefore He should enter her cavernous mouth . HanUmAn explained to her that He was on the mission to find SitA PirAtti for His Lord and promised Surasai that He will fulfill her wish on the return journey . She would not listen . Hence , HanUmAn shrank His body to the size of a thumb , entered Surasai's mouth and came out of that open mouth instantly. On exit , HanUmAn pointed out that He had fulfilled her wish and therefore He felt free to continue His Journey without interruption. Surasai was very pleased with HanUmAn and blessed Him to be victorious in His mission to help SrI Raaamachandran: " ArTasiddhyai HarisrEshta gaccha Soumya YaTA Sukham SamAnAya VaidEheem RaaghavENa MahAthmanA " -- Sundara KaaNDam : 1.170 (Meaning): Oh the Lofty One among the VaanarAs ! Please proceed with comfort to continue Your journey and become victorious in the mission for Lord Raamachandra. Please succeed in Your efforts and unite VaidEhi with Her dear Lord ! Upadhravam by Simhikai ******************************* The last incident during the leap over the ocean was by a Raakshasi by the name of Simhikai , who had the power to catch one by grabbing one's shadow and pull the person towards her so that she can eat them as her food. She saw the mighty long shadow of HanUmAn on the waters of the Ocean and grabbed it to slow HanUmAn and began to pull Him towards her . HanUmAn slowed down , jumped in to her mouth and tore her heart and destroyed her . The denizens of the sky , who witnessed HanUmAn's valour , sagacity praised Him this way through a famous slOkam dealing with Raaja Nethi : Yasya thvEthAni ChathvAri VaanarEndhra YaTA tava Dhruthi-dhrushtimathir-dhAkshyam Svakarmasu na seedhathi --Sundara KaaNDam: 1.198 (Meaning): Oh the preeminent One among VaanarAs ! Whenever the four attributes of resoluteness(dhruthti) , farsight ( dheerga dhrushti) , intellect and analytical skills ( Mathi) and dextrity in execution ( DhAkshyam) are present together in one , then he will never fail in his endeavours . Arrival at LankA ********************* As He approached LankA' sshores , HanUmAn shrank His gigantic body and lowered His speed to escape detection by the RaakshasAs of LankApuri. He landed on the peak of Lambha parvatham . He had His first glimpse of the rich city of LankA , which resembled the capitol of Indhran , the city of AmarAvathi. 2. SECOND SARGAM: LANKAA PRAVESAM ****************************************************** There are 58 slOkams in this Sargam .Here HanUmAn visualizes LankA as a city in the sky (Puram aakasagam ) .This city was constructed by the architect of the DevAs , ViswakarmA for KubhEran before and appropriated by RaavaNan later .It had mighty defenses and was well protected by the RaakshasAs. HanUmAn decided that He had to take a subtle form to cheat the RaakshasAs to accomplish the mission of freedom of movement inside the city to search for SithA PirAtti.He decided to enter the city after sun set and shrank His size to that of a cat to escape detection by the well armed guards of RaavaNa . THIRD SARGAM : VICTORY OVER LANKAA DEVI ************************************************************ This sargam has 50 slOkams. HanUmAn arrived at the ramparts of the city.The presiding deity of the city , LankA Devi detected this stranger in her city .As adhishtAna dEvathai with responsibility for the defense of the city , she challenged the small sized HanUmAn and warned Him that He can not enter LankA . HanUmAn responded that He had come to experience the beauty of the city of LankA and its immeasaurable wealth . Once again LankA Devi said that HanUmAn can not enter unless He defeated her first.She hit HanUmAn to stop Him. The surprised and angry HanUmAn used His left fist to knock her off her feet and did not use too much power since she was a woman. The humiliated LankA Devi got up , hailed HanUmAn and revealed that the time had come for the death of RaavaNa and the destruction of his city due to his evil deed of stealing SithA PirAtti . LankA Devi gave HanumAn now the total freedom of access to the city of LankA to accomplish His goals of finding Jaanaki . FOURTH SARGAM: ROAMING IN THE CITY( LANKAAPURI PARIBRAHAMANAM) ************************************************************************************************* This sargam has 30 slOkams. After LankA dEvi's permission , HanUmAn entered the city gate. He put His left foot first as is done , when one enters the house of one's enemy .It was equivalent to putting one's foot on the head of the enemy .HanUmAn moved from house to house undetected looking for SitA PirAtti. He arrived ultimately at the inner chambers of RaavaNan . FIFTH SARGAM: CONTINUING SEARCH ************************************************** After all these extensive searches , HanUmAn did not have any success in finding SithA Devi (SeethAm apasyan manujEswarasya Raamasya pathneem vadhathAm varasya) . HanUmAn became depressed because of His lack of success inspite of the enormous effort he had put in . He felt like a dullard and was overcome with sorrow ( BhabhUva dukkhAbhihathascchirasya plavangamO mandha ivAchirasya). The slOkams of this sargam are beautiful from a poetic point of view . With the blessings of Brahma Devan and His consort , Saraswathi , the Goddess of Learning , Sage ValmIki's poetry reached new heights . The rhyming became superb throughout this sargam and the slOkams are most pleasing to recite . Here is an example , where the rhyming is focused on the word " rEkhAm" : avyaktha-rEkhAmiva chandra-rEkhAm pAmsu-pradhigdhAmiva hEma rEkhAm kshatha-prarooDamiva BhANa-rEkhAm vAyu-prapannAmiva mEgha-rEkhAm ---Sundara KaaNDam: 5 . 26 Here noble SithA PirAtti's helpless and Her pitiful status as a prisoner of RaavaNan is imagined with intense emotions by HanUmAn. He says : She would be like the rays of Moon , which are not seen clearly (avyaktha chandra rEkhA ) ; She would be like a dust-covered golden rod , whose full beauty idoes not become explicit ; She would be like an arrow that has entered inside a wound that is already there; She would be like a cloud that is being scattered by a fierce wind (Vaayu-prabhinna mEga rEkhA ). Heights of despondency of HanUmAn over His difficulties in finding SithA PirAtti in LankA are described here. SrImath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam , Raama DhAsan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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