AcArya rAmAmRtam - Jan 06 - 3

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SrI:

SrImate ra’ngarAmAnuja mahAdeSikAya nama:

SrImate SrInivAsa rAmAnuja mahAdeSikAya nama:

SrImate vedAnta rAmAnuja mahAdeSikAya nama:

SrI ra’nganAtha divya maNi pAdukAbhyAm nama:

SrI ra’ngarAmAnuja mahAdeSika divya pAdukAbhyAm nama:

 

AcArya rAmAmRtam - Jan 06 - 3

Translation of

SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam in tamizh by SrImad

tirukkuDandai ANDavan

 

As published in SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA by

SrI U.Ve. nATTEri kiDAmbi rAjagopAlAcAriyAr (Editor

of SrI ra’nganAtha pAdukA)

 

 

SrImad ANDavan tiruvaDi,

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri

 

 

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SrI:

AcArya rAmAmRtam

SrImad rAmAyaNa upanyAsam by SrImad tirukkuDandai

ANDavan

 

Like that (just as yama was the appropriate person to

ask about what happens to people after their death),

nAradam paripapraccha vAlmIki: munipu’ngavam – only

those who are wandering all over the town, only people

like these, should be asked questions (about who is

the best among al the people living in this earth).

What will people who sit in the house all the time

know? If a person who is staying in the house (all

the time) is asked (this question), he will say: “My

wife is the one who has all these 16 characteristics”

(audience laughs). Only one who wanders around will

know the answer. That is why he asked - nAradam

paripappraccha: konvasmin sAmpradam loke guNavAn ka:

ca vIryavAn |

dharmaj~naSca kRtaj~naSca satyavAkyo dhRDavrata: ||

 

This is the first Slokam that vAlmIki asks of his

AcAryan: “konvasmin sAmpradam loke”. vAlmIki told

his AcArya that he is very desirous of knowing the

person who has these 16 characteristics.

 

vyAsar has made 545 brahma sUtrams. The first sUtram

is “athAto brahma jij~nAsA”. Brahma jij~nAsA means

one should have a desire to know Brahmam. One should

have the desire to inquire about paramAtmA and to know

Him. That is why he (vAlmIki) says here “konvasmin

sAmpradam loke”. The same depth of meaning that is

conveyed for the brahma sUtram applies here also. The

vyAkyAnam that applied to brahma sUtram applies here

too. The desire is to know paramAtmA. There is a

funny thing to note in the Slokam itself. What comes

first?

 

He said: konvasmin sAmpradam loke guNavAn; who is

virtuous? Then he asked: kaSca vIryavAn?

dharmajn~aSca kRtajn~naSca - first he asked for

guNavAn, but then he followed with 15 more guNa-s!

What is the first reference to ‘guNa”, followed by 15

more guNa-s? Or are these 15 really dosha-s? Is it

wrong to be a dharmjn~nan? Is it a fault to be a

kRtajn~an? Is dRDhavratam wrong? He already asked

for a ‘guNavAn’ first. Are the other characteristics

not virtuous? He asked for guNavAn separately! What

is the meaning of this? That is why the vyAkyAnam

follows.

 

rAmAyaNam is “samudramiva rathnADhyam”. That is what

we should understand. That is the specialty of

rAmAyaNam. He first specifies ‘guNam’! What guNam is

that? guNyate iti guNa: guNavAn. We have to separate

the syllables and give the meaning. It is not to be

understood as a generic term here, but as a term that

refers to some specific guNa. ‘guNavAn’ is not an

iDukuRip-peyar here – not an arbitrary and generic use

of the term. Specifically, the term ‘guNa’ here it

refers to that specific guNam that is universally

considered as the best guNam; the others are guNa-s

also.

What is that guNam? guNyata iti guNa: Elders have

determined that this guNam is souSIlyam. What does

souSIlyam mean? It is a word in samskRt language, and

so we have to explain the meaning. “souSIlyam” refers

to the virtue of a person of top rank that enables him

to move without distinction with all persons

irrespective of their level – high or low. This

person is well known all around, and he is of a very

high level in all respects. There is another one who

is very lowly. The person at the very high level must

be able to associate himself freely and without

inhibition with the lowly person. That guNam is called

souSIlyam. If it turns out that a person with 16

guNa-s is unapproachable for most people, then it is

of no use. That person must be one who can associate

himself comfortably with very lowly people. What is an

example of that?

 

nishAdAnAm netA kapi kulapati: kA’pi SabarI

kucela: kubjA sA vrajayuvatayo mAlyakRditi |

amIshAm nimnatvam vRshagiripate: unnatimapi

prabhUtai: srotobhi: prasabham anukampe samayasi ||

(dayA Satakam 65 )

 

A beautiful statement – a person at a very high level

must be able to move intimately with a low level

person - that is that guNam. Let us look at

rAmAvatAram, and see whom He associates Himself with.

 

Ezhai Edalan kIzh magan ennAdu ira’ngi maRRavaRkku

innaruL Surandu

mAzhai mAn maDa nOkki un tOzhi umbi embi enRu

ozhindilai – ugandu

tOzhan nI enakku i’ngozhi enRa SoRkaL vandu aDiyEn

manattirundiDa

Azhi vaNNa nin aDiyiNai aDaindEn aNi pozhil tiru

ara’ngattammAnE! (periya tirumozhi 5-8-1)

 

tiruma’ngaiAzhvAr does SaraNAgati at SrIran’gam.

PerumAL asks him why he is doing SaraNAgati. AzhvAr

replies that it is because He, who is at the highest

level, is mingling freely without any conceit with

very lowly persons – It is for that quality that

AzhvAr is doing SaraNAgati – he wants bhagavAn to move

with him the same way.

 

Ezhai Edalan kIzh magan ennAdu ira’ngi

maRRavaRkku innaruL Surandu

Surandu… aruL Surandu….. innaruL Surandu….

mAzhai mAn maDa nOkki un tOzhi

umbi embi enRu ozhindilai - ugandu

tOzhan nI enakku i’ngu ozhi enRa SoRkaL vandu

 

rAman tells guhan. What kind of caste does guhan

belong to? He is of mixed (sankara) caste. His body

is covered with blood from killing animals and birds.

He is that lowly a person. He had no AcAram (purity).

rAman is purity personified; He is vasishThar’s

student; He would keep taking bath many times. One

day, vasishThar told Him: “You have to keep yourself

AcAram till 10 o’clock tonight”. rAma took bath at

9:30. vasishThar asked Him: “Why should You take a

bath if You are asked to keep Yourself AcAram?” He

responds: “When I started coming out, the tip of

sItai’s sari touched Me; so I took a bath”. vyAkyAnam

is “sItaiyin mundAnai paTTAlum muzhugi niRpariRE” (He

will take a bath if even if the tip of sItai’s sari

touches Him” - just the tip. They also walk in such

a way that it should touch (the whole audience

laughs). In rAman’s case, it was only sItai’s sari’s

tip; nobody else touched Him. He is bhagavAn who is

the personification of purity, and the Sishyan of

vasishThar, His whole ancestry is established in

AcAram. That is the level of AcAram of cakravarti

tirumagan. Who is he (guhan)?

 

“Ezhai Edalan kIzhmagan ennAdu iran’gi” …. guhastu

Atmasama: sakhA

 

Atmasama: sakha – kamban writes “uyirt-tOzhan” - a

friend who is dear to Him as life itself”; a friend

who is considered as important as one’s own soul. Just

as a cow spontaneously secretes its milk as soon as it

sees its calf, rAman’s compassion welled up as soon as

He saw guhan. That is the only way to explain the word

“surandu”; it cannot be explained any other way …..

innaruL Surandu….

 

mAzhai mAn maDa nOkki un tOzhi – “sItai is your

friend” said rAman. She is the daughter of janakar,

who is described as among the most eminent in AcAram

in gItai (“karmaNaiva hi samsiddhim AsthitA

janakAdaya:). rAman is pointing this sItai to guhan,

and says: “ guhA! mAzhai mAn maDa nOkki un tOzhi”.

He is dragging Her too. As if it is not enough that

He is mixing with everyone without distinction

(ANDavan puts this humorously as “ He is eating in

every club”), He is dragging Her also to the same

clubs. (audience laughs). He says that She is also

guhan’s friend. He further declares to guhan: “My

brother is your brother; you are my loving friend

(ugandu tOzhan nI enakku in’gu)”. tiruma’ngai AzhvAr

tells bhagavAn: “You lovingly told guhan that he is

Your friend, and there is nobody else that is dear to

You as much”! AzhvAr comes to SrIra’ngam at the age

of 80, and falls at the feet of Lord ra’nganAthan so

that He can say that word to him also. “soRkaL va’ndu

aDiyEn manattu iru’ndiDa” – there are 24000 Slokams in

rAmAyaNam; out of these only the words spoken to guhan

appeal to the mind of AzhvAr and stay in AzhvAr’s

mind; all the rest fell in one ear and escaped through

the other ear.

 

“Azhi vaNNa! nin aDiyiNai aDaindEn

aNi pozhil tiru ara’ngattammAnE! “

 

‘Ezhai Edalan’ – the attribute of moving with people

at very low levels is called ‘souSIlyam’. Look at

sugrIvan. Is friendship between sugrIvan and rAman

appropriate? Is this right? A’njanEyar came and said:

“rAma! mahArAjar sugrIva would like to have your

friendship”; SrI rAma said: “Sure!”. A’njanEyar left

his brahmaNa form and took them (rAma and lakshmaNan)

both to sugrIvan, who was in a cave. He told sugrIvan

“He is the one who has come to form friendship with

you. He would like to be your friend. Go and hold

out your hand! He will extend His hand. Make friends

with rAman”.

 

sugrIvan said he does not want it. Why? Can one have

Him as a friend? How great is He! How can I make

friends with Him? Look at His guNam; look at my

guNam. No.“ A’njanEyar told sugrIvan: “I myself

will tell Him”. sugrIvan says “No!”. rAman says: “I

really want to have you as My friend”.

 

“rocate yati te sakhyam bAhuresha prasArita: “ said

sugrIvan.

 

rAman said: “Whether you like it or not, I like it”.

 

A boy went to look for a bride. Everybody else said

they did not like the girl. The boy is very handsome.

But, he said okay to the girl. She asked: “Do you like

me?” ‘rocate yati te sakhyam bAhuresha prasArita:’

He asked the girl: “Do you like me?” [[This is what

is happening between rAman and sugrIvan here!]]

 

sugrIvan said: “How to make friends with Him? He is

Isvaran.” rAman said: I like to be your friend”.

 

sItai asks: “vAnarANAm narANAm ca katham AsIt

samAgama:” - A’njaneya! Are you spinning a story? You

say you came from rAman. You gave a memorabilia. How

can there be friendship between man and monkey? Monkey

keeps hopping among the tree branches; man walks on

the ground. One person asked in tEnAmpETTai how to go

to MylApore. He was told: Go that way. You will see

a street. If you continue straight up, you will be in

MylApore (“mElODa pOnA mylApore vanduDum”). He started

climbing on the “ODu” or rooftop because he was told

“mElODa pOnA” (audience laughs). Like that, monkey is

a creature that goes on rooftops and tree branches.

sItai asks how the friendship came about between man

and monkey.

 

vAnarANAm narANAm ca katham AsIt samAgama:

 

my AcAryAL used to joke. There is a sakhyam

(connection) between ‘vAnaram’ and ‘naram’. How? If

one says ‘vA’ (come here), there is friendship (add

the tamizh letter ‘vA’ to the tamizh word ‘naram’ and

it becomes ‘vAnaram’). If there is no ‘vA’, there is

no friendship.

 

What kind of friendship? rAma sugrIvayor aiykyam

devyevam samajAyata – not an ordinary friendship. rAma

sugrIvayor aiykyam - aiykyam evam – that kind of

friendship. evam aiykyam samajAyata! It was that kind

of friendship where events not known to iLaiya perumAL

(lakshmaNar) were revealed to the messenger monkey.

 

“The secrets that you and your husband had were

revealed to me; that kind of friendship was born.”

rAman has that much souSIlyam; kapi kulapati: (a

reference to sugrIvan).

 

Next, kApi SabarI; lets us look at SabarI…

 

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End of January 2006

To be continued………