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SrI:
SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha //
SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha //
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya/
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya//
KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava: /
SrI RanganAthO jayathu Sri Ranga Sri cha VardhathAm//
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SRI RANGA SRI VOL.08 / ISSUE # 18 dated 15th March 2007
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Dear Bhaagavatas:
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. PANGUNI MAASA PANCHAANGAM DETAILS ? 
2. "BALA KHAANDAM" PART -3 OF SRIMAD RAMAYANAM DISCOURSES IN THE
HINDU TEMPLE OF ATLANTA.
(SRI ANBIL RAMASWAMY SWAMI)
3.TATPARYA RATNAVALI - SUBMISSION 15 - SLOKAM 11 -PART 3.
(SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARAIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO)
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ISSUES RELEASED
With this issue, about 243 Regular issues of SRS have been released
so far, apart from numerous "Special Issues" as indicated below:
27 Issues of Vol. 1
15 Issues of Vol. 2
42 Issues of Vol. 3
35 Issues of Vol. 4
28 Issues of Vol. 5
30 Issues of Vol. 6
50 Issues of Vol. 7 and
18 Issues of Vol. 8 (including this)
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1. Panguni Maasa Panchangam:

15 March 2007- Thursday ? Panguni month begins ? Sarva Ekadasi, 
SravaNam
16 March 2007 ? Friday- SravaNa dwAdasi (upavasam also) [next day ?
Sat morning paaraNai]
18 March 2007- Sunday - Sarva Amaavaasyai
19 March 2007- Monday ? Solar Eclipse
20 March 2007- Tuesday ? Yugaadi
24 March 2007- Saturday- Srimad ParavaakkOttai Andavan 
Thirunakshathram (Panguni Rohini)
27 March 2007- Tuesday ? Sri Ramanavami 
28 March 2007- Wednesday- Thirukkudanthai Andavan Thirunakshathram- 
centenary year  
29 March 2007- Thursday- Sarva Ekadasi
1- April 2007- Sunday - Panguni Utthiram- [sEtthi sEvai at Srirangam)
4- April 2007- Wednesday- anusham- Sri ViNNaaRRankarai Andavan 
Thirunakshathram
12- April 2007- Thursday ? SravaNa vratham
13- April 2007- Friday- Ekadasi  


2. "BALA KHAANDAM" PART -3 OF SRIMAD RAMAYANAM DISCOURSES IN THE
HINDU TEMPLE OF ATLANTA.
(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)
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10. PUTRAKAAMESHTI
When Dasaratha expressed his anguish on not getting children, 
Rishyasringha advised him to perform a special Yaagam specifically 
prescribed in AtharvaNa vEda for the purpose. Immediately after the 
AswamEda Yaaga, Dasaratha commenced this Yaaga in which was also, 
Rishyasringa took part as officiating priest. At the conclusion of 
this Yaaga, there arose from the "aahavaagni" a divine being shining 
brilliantly. He was holding in his hands a golden bowl with a silver 
lid containing porridge. 

Srimad Andavan comments that the gold and silver represented RajO 
and TamO guNas, with the Paayasam inside representing Bhagavaan of 
Suddha Sattva guNa, having to carry out both "dEva kaaryam" 
and "pitru kaaryam" - true to the saying "dEvaanaam hiraNyam 
pitruNaam rajatam" uttered while offering to Brahmins during 
Sraaddha ceremonies. He also observes that the Divya purusha was 
none other than Bhagavaan himself holding the vessel close to his 
chest lest Ravana should try to snatch it, like the Asuras who tried 
to snatch the pot of nectar (amruta kalasam) during the churning of 
the milky ocean! 

KaaLidaasa also alludes to this saying that the Lord who holds the 
entire universe was in the form of Paayasam and that he held the 
vessel with both his hands!
hEma paatra gatam dOrbhyaam aadadaanaH payas charum/
anupravEsaat aadhyasya pumsas tEnaapi durvaham// (Raghu Vamsam)

Kamban, however, describes the contents not as porridge but 
as "piNDam"- a ball of cooked rice. (KR- Bala-266)
aayiDai kamalin ninru am pon taTTinil, tooya nal kadai 
nigar "piNDam" onru soozh
thee erip pangi yum sivanda kaNNum aay, yEi ena bhootam onru 
ezhundadu yEndiyE 

11. DISTRIBUTION OF PAAYASAM
The Butham addressed Dasaratha to receive it and distribute the 
contents to his wives which he did. Even here, we find that the 
manner of distribution among the three queens is differently 
portrayed by Valmiki, Tilakar, KaaLidaasa and Kamban. Valmiki says 
that Dasaratha gave ½ of it to Kousalya, 1/4th to Sumitra, 1/4th to 
KaikEyi and gave the balance of 1//8th   again to Sumitra. 
Tilakar in his commentary holds that Dasaratha first gave ½ to 
Kousalya and asked her give ½ of her share to Sumitra. Similarly, he 
gave the other half to KaikEyi and asked her to give ½ of her share 
to Sumitra.  
KaaLidaasa concurs in this by saying that the first ½ was given to 
Kousalya being the senior most Queen and the second half to KaikEyi 
being his most beloved queen and bade both of them to give of their 
respective shares to Sumitra.

architaa tasya kousalyaa priyaa kEkaya vamsajaa/ 
atah sambhaavitaam taabhyaam sumitraam eichad eeswara: //
Naaradeeyam and SirOMaNi also give different versions on the manner 
of distribution but they are all agreed on the birth of Rama to 
Kousalya, Bharata to KaikEyi and LakshmaNa and Satrugna to Sumitra 
in that order. 

12. AVATAARAM AND SAMSKARAS
Rama was born in the 12th month (not the usual 10 months for 
ordinary humans) in the month of Chitrai, Navami Thithi, Punarvasu 
Nakshatra in Kataka Raasi when the five planets of Surya, Angaaraka, 
Guru, Sukra and Sani were in their "Uchcha' grihas (Houses). 

Nrisimha Avataara was in Swaati and Rama's was in Punarvasu. You 
will find that on whatever days these Nakshatrams fall, there will 
be no "MaraNa yOgam"

Bharata was born in Pushya Nakshatra and LakhmaNa and Satrugna in 
AaslEsha Nakshatra. The joy of the citizens knew no bounds. Every 
family felt as if the births were in their own households. Sage 
VasishTa, the Royal Guru conducted the 13th day "Naming" ceremony 
for the children. The other rites like Anna-praasanam, ChouLam Upa-
nayanam etc were also done in due course as per the Saastras. 

 NARAYANA PANDITACHAR gives 6 reasons for naming him "Rama".
1.      This baby was so cute like an ocean of sheer beauty
2.      Normally, babies cry on birth. If they do not, the mother 
will cry! 
But, this baby was smiling because he was born as promised to dEvas.
3.      The word "rama" also means "black". This baby was of the 
color of the sky
4.      "ramaa" means "PiraaTTi" who is never separated from 
PerumaaL. 
Sita herself vouches for this fact.
"ananyaa raaghavENa aham bhaaskarasya  prabhaa yathaa"
5.      The letter "Ra" is from the root `raa-daanE" (one who 
secured as daanam) and "ma" refers to Lakshmi. Rama was to secure 
Sita in "kanyaa-daanam"
6.      "raamaa" also means a beautiful girl. Rama was to be the 
treasure house of beauty. "pumsaam drishTi chitta apahaariNam" The 
Rishis of DanDaka-araNya would wish to have been born as females on 
seeing this "Parama purusha"
Did not Kamban also say "aaDavar peNmaiyai avaavum thOLinaai"

13. THE BOUND BROTHERS
Rama and LakshmaNa were always together as did Bharata and Satrugna
"aiyanum iLavalum ? nei kuzhal urum izhai ena nilai terivaar" (KR-
Bala-307)
Rama and LakshmaNa were always together like the warp and woof of a 
fabric.
"bharatanum iLavalum oru noDi pagiradu? tani pozhudinum ozhigilar" 
ibid-308)

Once, Rama as a baby did not get sleep and was incessantly crying. 
The attendants  tried all their tricks but the baby would not stop 
crying. Finally, VasishTa who came asked where baby LakshmaNa was. 
The attendants pointed to another room where LakshmaNa was laid in a 
cradle and was also crying. VasishTa suggested that both the babies 
should be put together in the same cradle, instantly, both stopped 
crying and started smiling!
Similarly, Bharata and Satrugna were never separated even for a 
moment
The boys were trained in all arts and in military exercises and 
became experts in every discipline.  More than anything else, they 
were meticulous about doing their nitya and naimittika karmas like 
Sandhyaa Vandanam. They knew that "One who does not perform Sandyaa 
is unfit to do any other religious Karma. For the one who does not 
perform Sandhya, any other karma done becomes fruitless.

"Sandhyaa vandana heenOyam anarha: sarva karmasu / 
yad anyath kurutE karma na tasya phalabhaag bhavEth //  

(To Continue)
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3. TATPARYA RATNAVALI - SUBMISSION 15 - SLOKAM 11 -PART 3.
(Sri N. Krishnamacharaiar Swami of Chicago)
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SrI:
SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deASikAya namaH. 

tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 15 ? Slokam 11 ? Part 3. 

pASuram 1.1.7: pASuram starting with "tiDa viSumbu eri vaLi" ? 
vaiSva rUpyAt ? One who has the whole Universe as His body. viSvam 
refers to `world', and rUpam means `body'. In this pASuram, AzhvAr 
points out that the relationship between bhagavAn and everything 
else is that of SarIri-SarIra bhAvam ? the Soul-body relationship, 
with Him being the Controller. It is not one of aikyatvam or 
identity between the Lord and the rest, as the ku-dRshTi-s would 
like us to believe. 

Some people try to interpret AzhvAr's words in the previous three 
pASuram-s as declaring identity between Him and the jIva-s. For 
instance, pASuram 1.1.4 states: "nAm avan ivan uvan? Ay ninRa 
avarE" ? All the things in this Universe are none but Him". Even 
though antaryAmitvam is what is indicated here, some ill-informed 
people argue that the world and bhagavAn are identical. AzhvAr 
clarifies in the current pASuram that all things have a body-soul 
relationship to Him, with bhagavAn being the soul of everything, and 
everything being part of His body ? avai avai toRum uDal miSai uyir 
enak karandu e'ngum paranduLan ? He is hidden as the soul in the 
bodies of everything, and exists everywhere inside and out. Just as 
the jIva-s have their own bodies, bhagavAn has everything as His 
body, and He is the Soul of everything. 

The soul controls the body, and the body is purely at the command 
and service of the soul. Thus, the guNa of His being viSva-rUpan and 
everything else being His body, goes to support His paratvam over 
everything. 

tirukkurugaip pirAn piLLAn in his ARAyirappaDi vyAkhyAnam gives 
close to 60 supports from the Sruti, smRti-s, purANa-s, itihAsa-s 
etc., that echo the thought conveyed in this pASuram. 

? pASuram 1.1.8: pASuram starting with "Surar aRivaru nilai viN 
mudal muzhuvadum" ? tryaksha brahmAtma bhAvAt. tryaksha ? one wth 
three eyes, a reference to rudra; brahmA ? refers to the four-faced 
brahmA. Atma bhAvAt ? because He is the AtmA or antaryAmi for rudra 
and brahmA. 

Since there are those who incorrectly argue that brahmA is the 
Supreme Deity because he has the function of creation, or those who 
incorrectly argue that rudra is the Supreme Deity because he 
controls samhAra, nammAzhvAr clarifies in this pASuram that brahmA 
and rudra get their power purely because of bhagavAn, and the true 
Creator, Destroyer and Protector is only BhagavAn. This is the guNa 
that svAmi deSikan captures as the gist of this pASuram - "tri-aksha 
brahmA Atma bhAvAt". 

A more detailed explanation for this pASuram is given in the write-
up under the series `tri-mUrti in tiruvAimozhi' that has been posted 
separately. 

Recall the guNa of parattvam at the daSakam level, the guNa of 
sevyatvam at the Satakam level, and the gUna of bhagavAn being the 
only One worthy of worship and attainment at the grantham level. The 
guNa of His being the antaryAmi and controller of everything 
including the likes of brahmA and rudra, that is identified by svAmi 
deSikan as the key guNa sung in this pASuram, explains and supports 
all the above guNa-s at the different levels. 

? pASuram 1.1.9 ? pASuram starting with "uLan enil uLan": sat-asat-
avagateh ? He Who stands irrefutably established by pramANa-s 
whether He is considered `sat' or `asat'; He Who is covered by the 
terms sat as well as a-sat. BhagavAn has as His possession all the 
cetana-s and acetana-s at all times ? both at the times when they 
have bodies to enjoy the effects of their karma (in their sthUla 
form), and at the time of pralaya when they have only their sUkshma 
form, and He protects them in His stomach. `sat' and `a-sat' refer 
to these two forms of His respectively. 

The following Sruti declarations, when correctly interpreted, 
clearly establish that He always exists, and is the Owner and 
Protector of all that ever existed and exist, either in their 
sUkshma form at the time of pralaya (referred to as a-sat), or as 
objects with names and forms (sat). 

o "asad vA idam agra AsIt | tato vai sat ajAyata | tad AtmAnam 
svayam akuruta | tasmAt tat sukRtam ucyata iti |" (taitt. Ananda. 
7.1) ? All this was in the beginning unmanifested Brahman (without 
articulation of names and forms). From that the manifested came into 
existence. That Brahman created Itself by Itself. So Brahman is 
called the one of good deed". 

o asad eva idam agra AsIt | idam vA agre naiva ki'ncana AsIt | tat 
sadAsIt | tat samabhavat | " ? (chAnd. 3.19.1) - Prior to creation, 
all this universe was without differentiation of names and forms, 
the avyAkRta. That was the `sat' tending towards the division of 
names and forms. That assumed a gross form. That became manifested".
 
SrI ve'nkaTeSAcArya's vyAkhyAnam is: "evam bhUtanAna 
ISvaranai `illai' enRu SUnya vAdikaLAlE Solli muDikka oNNAda paDi 
avasthA bhedattAlE sat asat vAcyanAi aRiyap paDuvadAlum". Even 
though the SunyavAdi-s (a branch of Buddhists called mAdhyamika-s) 
claim that ISvaran does not exist, they are clearly proven wrong by 
pramANa-s. The words sat and asat both refer to bhagavAn's existence 
according to pramANa-s. When we say bhavAn exists (sat), we mean 
that He has as His belonging everything that exists in sthUla form ? 
with names and forms, after creation. They all form His body. Whe He 
is referred to as asat, it means that He has as His possession all 
the things that are in sUkshma form, at the time of pralaya, when 
they do not have any names or forms; but He still exists, and has 
all these in their sUkshma form as His belonging, and protects them 
in His stomach. He exists with all the things that don't exist in 
their sthUla form, with their own bodies etc. This is what is meant 
by His a-sat form. 

? pASuram 1.1.10 ? pASuram starting with "paranda taN paravaiyuL" ? 
sarva tattveshu pUrteh ? He who is present integrally in all the 
tattva-s without exception, with His full power. He Who is present 
in everything without exception, including all the cetana-s and 
acetana-s in all the worlds, at all times, with His full Sakti 
(Powers). The One who destroyed this world, is in every minute part 
of the waters after the Great Deluge - pralaya, in the minutest part 
comprising every drop of the ocean. And He is in them hidden without 
being recognizable. Ther is no place where He does not exist, good 
or bad. There is no body in which He is not present, tiny or huge. 
In fact, the presence of a body is not a requirement for Him to be 
present in it ( e.g., the jIva etc.). 

There is no world in which He is not present in everything, whether 
it is this world or the upper worlds or the lower worlds. He is 
present in every cetana and acetana in all of these worlds in the 
past, present or future, without exception. In fact, existence is 
defined by His being present in them and giving them the ability to 
exist. The term pUrNam sigifies that He is integrally present in 
even the minutest thing with all His Sakti, without the minutest 
diminution of any kind, without the slightest discomfort or 
inconvenience. 

There are three tattva-s (Reals) that describe everything that 
exists in all the worlds, including SrI vaikunTham. These three are 
ISvara, cetana (sentient, those endowed with the ability to think 
etc.), and acetana-s (non-sentient or those that do not possess 
independent thinking capability). The cetana-s are categorized into 
three ? the baddha jIva-s or bound souls (including the deva-s, 
human beings, the animals, and the trees and plants), the mukta jIva-
s or liberated souls, and the nitya jIva-s or the eternally 
liberated souls. The acetana-s are of three categories: matter or 
prakRti subject to the three guNa-s of sattva, rajas and tamas, time 
or kAla, and Suddha sattva which is of pure sattva nature. BhagavAn 
is present as their Contorller in all these cetana-s and acetana-s 
in their entirety, without exception. The use of the word pUrNa 
(filled, complete) is signicant. The requirement of a body for the 
purpose of pervasion, the relative size (for instance, the atomic-
sized jIva vs. Brahman - implying `big') etc., are not concerns in 
His being present as an integral part of the existence of 
everything. He exists with His full Sakti in everything ? pUrNatvam. 
The last line of Slokam 11 of svAmi deSikan: param paSyan yogI ? 
nammAzhvAr who has thus seen emperumAn as sarvasmAt paran ? Supreme 
above all; tat-pada kamala natau Atma cittau anvaSAt ? is ordering 
his mind to prostrate at emperumAn's feet. 

This concludes the ten guNa-s of the first tiruvAimozhi 1.1, and 
these ten guNa-s go to support and illustrate His parattvam or 
Supremacy, that is the guNa sung in this first tiruvAimozhi

(To Continue)
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