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RaamaBhakthi List Archive: Message 00014 Sep 2004

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Dear sri vaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

Generally we have heard stories that bhakthaas do crave and long for havinga 
dharsanam of the lords. If this dharsanam of that the supreme lord naaraayaNan 
or even next level like brahma or sivan, is made available for a fraction of a 
second only, then also it is okay with such staunch devotees. For having this 
dharsanam for that small period for the lord to appear in front of the devotee, 
the devotee has to perform a long and hard, some times harsh, thapas, like 
*       standing in the midst of fire, 
*       standing on one leg, 
*       eat only air and leaves, 
*       some times in standing in water, under water etc. 

Meanwhile other demigods -the dhEvaas - like indhran tempt this devotee quite 
often doing such a thapas to lose his thapas. Or at indhran's command some 
ladies appear and spoil the devotee's thapas by pulling him into kaamam,making 
him angry etc, by which his accumulated power out of the thapas is lost. 
Examples are dhruvan [for the good], visvaamithra [on the losing sideand then 
making up] etc. 

But, have you ever heard when the lord comes on his own in front of devotee. 

May be that is a surprise - is it not? For such occasions may be far and few in 
the corridors of our mythology, history, and collections of bhaktha vijayam 
episodes. Perhaps we have to stretch out our imagination to a great extent what 
could be that special status of that devotee, who made the lord appear in front 
of him on his own. No dear bhakthaas - you need not. See slOkam below where it 
is mentioned brahma came on his own.

aajagaama thatha: brahmO lOkakarthaa svayam prabhu: |
chathur mukhO mahaa thEjaa dhrashtum tham muni pungavam || 

srimadh raamaayaNam baala kaaNdam - 1 - 2 - 23

thatha: = then; 
lOka + karthaa = worlds maker of [creator of 14 worlds] 
prabhu: = almighty; 
chathur + mukha: = four-faced one 
mahaa + thEja: = great resplendent one 
brahma = Brahma 
dhrashtum = to see; 
tham + muni + pungavam = him that sage the eminent 
svayam = on his own; 
aajagaama= arrived.

Meaning: Then, the great resplendent four-faced creator of fourteen 
worlds,almighty Brahma, arrived there on his own, to see that eminent saint. 

Since this slOkam is from raamaayaNam, and that too in the second sargam, we 
can say it is in front of sage vaalmeeki, for in the next slOkam, it is said 
'sage vaalmeeki is surprised to see the creator in front of him'. 

vaalmeeki: athha tham dhrushtvaa sahasaa uththhaaya vaagyatha: |
praanjali: prayathO bhoothvaa thasthou parama vismitha: || 1-2-24

athha = then 
prayatha: = pious one vaalmeeki 
tham + dhrushtva = Him [Brahma] on seeing; 
parama + vismitha: = highly surprised 
sahasaa + uththhaaya = quickly on getting up 
pra + anjali + bhoothvaa = humbly adjoining palms 
vaagyatha: = spellbound 
thathsthou = stood aside.

Meaning: Then that pious saint vaalmeeki is highly surprised on seeing brahma, 
and on quickly getting up from his seat with his palms joined humbly, he stood 
aside, as he is spellbound. 

Point: After receiving such highly respected people, it is customary those days 
[and even now] to offer to the guest argyam, paadhyam and aachamaneeyam - viz- 
water to wash the hands first, then the feet, and, then water for sipping to 
quench the initial thirst. Vaalmeeki also did the same to brahma, the creator. 
Then vaalmeeki offered him a high seat and brahma sat. Afterhis seating brahma 
asked vaalmeeki also to sit by the side of him. 
after these initial formalities are over in their meeting, no 
conversationstarted between the two since sage vaalmeeki was brooding over the 
killingof the male bird during the krouncha mithunam and the 'slOkam' he 
uttered as a result of seeing that incident. 

brahmaNaa samanujnaatha: sO~api upaavisath aasanE |
upavishtE thadhaa thasmin saakshaath lOka pithaamahE | 1-2-27
thath gathEna Eva manasaa vaalmeeki: dhyaanam aasthitha: ||

sa: + api = he [vaalmeeki] even 
brahmaNaa + sam + anujnaatha: = by Brahma duly permitted 
aasanE + upaavisath = on seat entered [sat] 
thadhaa = then 
thasmin + loka + pithaamahE = that worlds Grandparent of 
saakshaath = manifestly 
upavishtE [sathi] = seated [before him though] vaalmeeki 
thath + gathEna + Eva = those happenings only 
manasaa + dhyaanam + aasthitha: = mentally brooding recurred.

Meaning: Even though vaalmeeki sat on his seat when duly permitted by Brahma, 
and though the Grandparent of the worlds is manifestly sitting before him, 
vaalmeeki had the same broodings on those happenings occurred on that day have 
recurring in his mind. [1-2-27-28a]

Dear bhakthaas, perhaps by now you get bored as to what this writer wants to 
say? Why and for what purpose these slOkams are taken from raamaayaNam and 
quoted here? What really he wants to say?

I wish to add here, as the answer to the above queries -"what brahma said to 
vaalmeeki" is said by thyagaraaja in the following krithi. I want to talkabout 
that great krithi and hence this prelude. So let us see first what brahma said 
and then what thyaagaraaja says in his krithi:  

math chhandhaath Eva thE brahman pravruththE ayam sarasvathee | 1-2-31
raamasya charitham kruthsnam kuru thvam rishisaththama |

hE + brahman = oh, brahman 
thE + ayam + sarasvathee = your that speech 
math + chhandhaath + Eva = at my wish alone 
pravruthtthE = sprang forth 
hE + rishi + saththama = oh sage the eminent 
raamasya + charitham + kruthsnam = raamaa's legend in entirety 
thvam + kuru = you render

meaning: Oh, Braahman, that speech of yours sprang forth at my wish alone, 
hence oh, eminent sage, you shall render the legend of raama, in its entirety. 

dharmaathmanO bhagavathO lOkE raamasya dheematha: || 1-2-32
vruththam kathaya Dheerasya yathaa thE naaradhaath srutham |

dharma + aatmana: = virtue souled one 
lOkE + bhagavatha: = in the world, god 
dheematha: = an intellectual 
dheerasya = intrepid one
raamasya + vruththam = raama's legend 
thE + yathaa + srutham + naaradhaath = by you as heard from naaradha 
kathaya = narrate.

Meaning: You shall narrate the legend of raama, the virtuous, intellectual and 
an intrepid one, and a godly person in this world as you heard it from sage 
naaradha. 

Now the krithi of sri thyaagaraaja in the raagam vaagadheeswari starting 
asparamaathmudu

Pallavi: 
paramaathmudu veluga muchchata baaga thelusukO rE [paramaathmudu]

meaning: please know clearly that he is the paramaathmaa shining in [all those 
people mentioned in anupallavi, charanam below]

anupallavi: 
hariyata harudata suralata narulata akhilaaNda kOtulata andharilO 
[paramaathmudu]

meaning: for all the hari, siva, dhEvaas, humans and all living beings in this 
entire galaxy, he is the paramaathmaa shining in.

charaNam:
gagana anila thEjO jaala bhoomayamagu 
mrga khaga naga tharu kOtulalO 
suguNamulO viguNamulO sathathamu 
saadhu thyaagarajaa aadhi aashrithulalO [paramaathmudu]

meaning: [continued] in sky, air, in fire , in light, in water and in earth, 
[substance in all 5 boothaas] in animals, birds, mountains (naga), trees and 
plants, in good and bad characters always in thyaagaraajaa and et al who seek 
him He is the paramaathmaa who is shining.

The points as to how you can concluded this krithi is brahma's words to 
vaalmeeki can be seen in next post.

Dhasan

Vasudevan m.g.





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