sri rama sthuthi- post 8

From the Bhakti List Archives

• July 25, 2001


Dear Sri VaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

"raama ennum oru thanip peyar iyambu aavalippu udaimaiyaal sri vaishNavan
ennum peyar peRROrgaLE"- 

In the last post, we saw the glory of that raama naamam being again and
again stated, glorified by character after character by kamban in different
enjoyable yet simple tamil words. Now let us take on hand the next verse and
see raamaa's naama prabhaavam again.
  
Yaavarum evaiyumaai irudhuvum payanumaaip
Poovum nalveLiyum oththu oruvarum podhumaiyaai
Yaavan nee yaavathenRu aRivinaar aruLinaar
Thaavarum padham enakku arumaiyO thanimaiyOi.

Meaning for certain words:
Irudhu- rthu in samskrit- 2 months period- eg. vasantha ruthu etc
Thaavarum- thaa + arum- 
Thaa- thaazhvillaadha,- not a lowly type, azhivillaadha -one without
destruction
Arum- arumaiyaana- with good qualities, 
Arum- arumaiyaana- rare 
VeRi- vaasanai - naaRRam - maNam - smell
Oruvu- onRu- one- single
Podhumai- commonality or commonness in all substances

Meaning: Oh lord raamaa, you are in all living and non living creations
[chEthana achEthana vasthukkaL] at all times and in all seasons and give
their benefits. You are inseparable like flower and its smell. I realised
who you are, what is your nature, what are your powers etc. So, I have no
doubt about me getting moksha by your grace.

Points: 
1.	rthu is iruthu here. As said in recent discussions on "aranga"-
ranga is aranga in chaste tamil, similarly rthu is iruthu here.

2.	The antharyaamithvam and parathvam is very beautifully brought out
here like earlier raama sthuthi by viraadhan - poovum nal veRiyum oththu. 

3.	Please see the assertion of vaali. Is it difficult for me to attain
mOksha. No definitely NOT, for, oh raamaa, you have graced me, the first and
foremost lord.

4.	Please see similarity with raama sthuthi by viraadhan- "you are
alone and single and you have to save dharmam" in "oruvu arum podhumai".

5.	This verse is again an echo of swami nam aazhvaar- see 2-2-6-
	Yaavarum yaavaiyum ellaap poruLum
	KavarvinRi thannuL adanga ninRa
	Pavar koL gnaana veLLach chudar moorthy
	Avar em aazhi am paLLIyaarE.

6.	Again kamban's verse can be taken as echo of thiru mangai aazhvaar
paasuram- refer 4-1-2 periya thirumozhi
Yavarum yaavaiyumaai ezhil vEdhap poruLgaLumaai
Moovarum mudhalaaya moorthy amarnthu uraiyumidam- thiruththEvannarthogai.

Point regarding vaali vadham: Though now- a- days patti manRam speakers talk
much about the vaali vadham as correct, not correct etc, the presiding
naduvar also gives judgment as "yes it is wrong etc" one subtle point comes
up here which is given below. 

"At this stage why this explanation?" You may ask. The answer is- though
vaali also argues initially, "I am not your enemy, neither I am your friend,
only my brother is my enemy and to help your friend who is my enemy, you
have hit me", and all that. But once the realisation has come to vaali, he
himself praises raamaa, which, we are enjoying now, and hence he admits that
what raama did is correct and by that act of hitting with arrow raamaa has
done a great favour of granting mOksham to vaali. So in my humble opinion
the judgment or even to argue what raama did is wrong IS A BIG WRONG THING
on our part.

The subtle point referred above runs like this- Soorya puthran sugreevan is
supported by raama, the supreme bhagavaan in his raama avathaaram. Indhra
puthran vaali is punished by same raamaa in this avathaaram. Even though an
agreement was reached earlier in dhEva lokam that all dhEvaas will go to
bhoolOkam and support raama who will take manushya avathaaram with a main
purpose to establish dharmam and secondary to kill raavaNaa, vaali failed in
his commitment as indhra puthran to support raama. So he was punished.

As a simple reversal of the things in next avathaaram as krishna, the same
supreme bhagavaan krishna supports that indhra puthran arjuna for having
punished him in earlier avathaaram. But soorya puthran karNan is punished by
bhagavaan who was favoured in earlier avathaaram. 

I am not sure whether there is any direct evidence is there to link karNa
and sugreeva, similarly vaali and arjuna in the puraanaas except that their
fathers are sooryan and indhra respectively. Learned members can give their
views.

You may also advance an argument that the bhagavaan krishna did not hit
karNa like raama hit vaali. But those who know the mahaa bhaaratham story
knows that without krishnaa, arjuna would not have accomplished killing
karNaa. 

Both these are carried out in the presence of same vaayu puthran hanuman [in
both raama and krishna avthaarams] and hanumaan's anujan (brother) beeman in
krishna avathaaram. 

Bhagavaan also obeys and undergoes punishment etc as per the rules of
saasthraas, like ordinary human folks in his avathaaram as manushyan, by
reaping the fruits of good and bad actions in the eyes of manushyas. This is
the subtle point. Based on this the above conclusion to say IT is a big
wrong thing on our part to say vaali vadham is wrong.

Before I conclude this post the next and last verse
UNdenum dharumamE uruvamaai udaiya nin
KaNdu koNDen inik kaaNaven kadavenO
PaNdodu inRu aLavumE perum pazhavinai
DhaNdamE adiyanERku urupadham tharuvadhE

Dhaasan 

Vasudevan M.G.


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