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Re: aditya hridayam

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sadagopan iyengar • February 8, 2001 


--- viswam kota  wrote:
> respected bhagawatar, i read with interest the
> objections you presented. pleading my ignorance and
> seeking forgiveness to present another
> perspective,please permit me to do so.
> 
> Lord Sri Rama, the SuperBeing, upheld the human
> qualities including its frailties as He abided by
> the
> rules that dictate life as a human being. It is His
> Humility when He accepted and showered His
> Friendship
> to the boatman Gayu while leaving Ayodhya or making
> friendship with vanara king Sugriva or even
> accepting
> Education from such Acharyas as Sri Vashist or Sri
> Viswamitra. if it were to be the Role of a Supreme
> Lord He required nor the vaanara help to cross the
> ocean or on the battle field when Sri Lakshmana
> became
> unconscious.if we accept this, what is wrong in
> accepting possible aditahridayam being a part if not
> for our parochial reasons in the name of literary
> style or other schisms?  
> 
> in Ramayana, against the plausible backdrop of life
> as
> an ordinary mortal, the SuperBeing exhibited to an
> extra-ordinary extent the emotional qualities be it
> bravery, intelligence, humility, friendship,
> devotion,
> dedication, kindness, perseverance and such, as well
> as grief(at the time of loss of parent and spouse,
> Sri
> Lakshmana's unconsciousness on battle field),
> ignorance(God could not recognise who was Sugriva
> and
> who was Vaali and asked for a re-fight!),
> dependence(on Sri Hanuman and other Vaanaraas), and
> fear of being misinterpreted or wrongly imputed(in
> asking for Agnipariksha after the war and banishing
> Mata Sita to forest later in Ayodhya). looking at
> these mortal acts and interpreting in a mortal way
> Sri
> Rama comes as a Purush but the real emotional
> qualities where He discerned clearly the Tasks and
> put
> Duty to the fore while playing perfectly His Role as
> a
> human being (this role as against the other Role)it
> becomes clear that the essence of Ramayana is not in
> the external depictions by the characters but in its
> true Message where a Purush is actually a
> Purushottama. 
> 
> i humbly reiterate that this is my perception of the
> Epic and am not qualified to commment  and therefore
> beg to be forgiven.
> Humbly yours+vlnkota
> 
> 
> 
>   
> --- sadagopan iyengar 
> wrote: > respected bhagawatas, srimad ramayana
> parayanam has
> > been a paitamaham danam in adiyen's household.we
> > have
> > always been taught that aditya hridayam is not a
> > part
> > of srimad ramayana, but a later addition, as its
> > very
> > tone tenor and content are quite at variance with
> > the
> > rest of srimad ramayana.Further, to even imply
> that
> > Sri Rama,of all people, needed to pray to one of
> His
> > own creations,for inspiration,strngth and courage
> ,
> > is
> > indeed ridiculous. "Bheeshodethi soorya:" and
> > Sooryachandramasow dhata yatha poorvam akalpayath"
> > are
> > a couple of the upanishad vakyas that strike
> adiyen
> > offhand, which deny credibility to aditya
> hridayam.
> > One could cite any no. of slokas as internal
> > evidence,
> > to contradict this.The srimad ramayana grantam
> > adiyen
> > had till a few years ago indicated the aditya
> > hridaya
> > sargam as"Prakshiptam". dasan,sadagopan.
> > 
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> >                                                
Aditya Hridayam

             Dear shri Viswam, Your response indicates
the deep love you have for shri Rama and Srimad
Ramayanam. I do agree with you that during
Ramavataram,Sri Rama did display his susceptibility to
 basic human emotions of grief and anger. As HE
himself says in his response to the DevAs”
praise,”AatmAnam Manusham manyE RamAm
DasaratAtmajam”{I consider myself to be a mere mortal,
Rama the son of dasaratA}.As an avatArA of Sriman
NarAyana, Sri RamA was incapable of any of the human
frailties.However, the grief that He displayed at the
loss of Sri Mythili was only an “abhinaya” or an act
put on by Him, to demonstrate how deeply the loss of
oneÂ’s better half would affect a man.  Hence the mere
display of  human emotions by Sri RamA does not render
Him so prone to ineffectiveness  on the battlefield 
as to pray to SuryA for inspiration,strength and
prowess.
                        	
                                      There could not
be any doubt  at all in our minds about the
capabilities of Sri RamA as  a warrior par excellence,
not in need of anyoneÂ’s special blessings for
destroying  His foes.  In the words of Sri Valmiki
himself, in the very first sargA,Sri RamA is described
as “Arindama:”,”MahAveerya:”,etc.,and is said to be
resemble the unshakeable HimAlayAs in boldness and
bravery {“dhairyEna HimavAn iva”}.       Further,
KakAsura, having committed an unpardonable apachArA to
PirAtti,and being pursued by RamAstrA, knocks at the
doors of all the devatAs-BrahmA,RudrA, and his own
father IndrA_ only to be turned away by them with the
homily that no one, neither the four-headed Brahma,
nor Shiva the destroyer of  TripurAs, nor even Indra,
the Lord of the gods, could save a person whom Sri
RamA has decided to destroy
(Brahma:swayambhoo;chaturAnanO vA,Rudra:trinEtra:
tripurAntakO vA-Indra :surEndra:suranAyakO vA , tratum
na sakyA yudhi raghavadhyam).
                      
                                     It would be
evident from this that Sri RamA had no need to pray to
SuryA ,one of His own creations (Soorya chandramasow
dhatA yatA poorvam akalpayath} for  inspiration or
restoration of strength. Please do remember, we are
talking about the “AsahAya Soora”, who could destroy
single-handedly fourteen thousand RakshasAs of the ilk
of KharA ,DooshanA, etc. From all this, it should be
clear that Aditya Hridayam (while being an excellent
stotram in its own right for believers of Shanmatha
theory) does not fit into the overall theme and
content of Srimad RamAyanA, and must have been a later
addition.

                                  Looking at it from
another angle, Sri KoorattAzhwAn, the erudite disciple
of Sri RamAnujA, in his beautiful stotra
“AtimAnushastavam”, lists out the very human  actions
of Sri RamA, not at all befitting an avatara of Sriman
NarAyanA, and inquires of Him, “When you portrayed
yourself as a human being  with all so called
failings, how was it possible for you to perform
superhuman acts like the bridging of the ocean,the
piercing of seven trees and worlds with a single
arrow, the granting of Moksha to Sabari and Jataayu,
etc?”.  Sri AzhwAn devotes 16 slokas to the RamAvatArA
, and furnishes an exhaustive list of the mortal 
frailties displayed by Sri RamA on various occasions
{His abject distress at the kidnapping of Sri Janaki ,
His seeking the help of mere monkeys  in the search 
for Her, His failure to face Vali in battle, His
entreaties to Samudra Raja for enabling the vanara
sainya to cross the ocean, His apparent helplessness
when Sri Lakshmana was felled by the mAyAvi
Indrajit,etc.}.The point to note here is that Sri
KoorattAzhwAn does not include in this long list any
prayer to the Sun God by a RamA in distress on the
battlefield. This makes it clear that Aditya Hridayam
was not a part of srimad RamAyanA, atleast during Sri
AzhwAnÂ’s times (roughly a thousand years ago).It is
noteworthy that the very same author of
“AtimAnushastavam” while dealing with Sri
KrishnAvatArA, makes fun of Sri Krishna for having
sought a boon  for a child from Shiva, the very Shiva
who was vanquished in the battle of VarAnasi and when
he came to the aid of BanAsurA.

                                   A perusal of Sri
GovindarAjAÂ’s commentary should throw conclusive light
on the subject; adiyen should be grateful if someone 
could comment on this.
                                                      
                        Dasan,sadagopan.




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