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Sixth Day of celebration of Isvara samvathsara Sri Raama Navami

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • April 19, 1997 


Dear devotees of Sri Ramachandra Parabrahmam :

I will start with the charaNams of the Naatai pancharathnam 
in this posting :

The saahithya vaakyams  of the first charaNam are :

amara taaraka nichaya kumudhahitha paripoorNaanaga 
suraasura poojadhadhi payOdhi vaasaharaNa sundaratara vadhana 
sudhaamayavachO brundha Govindha saanandha maavaraajaraaptha
subha karaanEka ( Jagadhaanandhakaaraka ) 

The divine bard"s  skills in Sanskrit diction and the musical talent 
to unite words under the right breaks and taaLa pramaaNam are 
abundantly clear inn this and othe rsubsequent charaNa vaakyams .

The first namaskaaram of the first charaNam is : Om amara taaraka
nichaya kumudha hitaaya nama : " . Amara means the dEvaas .
Taaraka means the stars of the night sky . Here the saint compares 
the cluster of stars to the vast assembly of dEvaas ( mupatthu mukkoti
dEvaas ) . Nichaya means numerous or countless . When we unite 
amara taaraka  with nichaya , we begin to visulaize the limitless 
dEva gaNaas . The saint visualizes further the Lord as the moon 
inn the middle of the countless stars on the nocturnal sky . There ,
the Lord Ramachandraa shines with his cool lustre and serves as 
the kumudha hitan ( friend of the night lilly ). The dEvaas are 
compared to the kumudha pushpams and Sri Raamachandran 
is equated to the kumudha hithan (moon ) that makes them 
joyous and makes them bloom . Like the kumudha pushpams 
show their joy at the sight of the moon , the deva gaNaas reveal
their happiness over  the darsanam of Ramachandra according to
saint Thyagaraajaa . 

The second salutation is " Om ParipoorNaaya nama: "  Here the saint
refers to the Isaavaasya upanishadic thought :

poorNamdha: poorNam idham 
poorNaath poorNamudachayathE I
poorNasya poorNamaadhaya 
poorNamEvaavasishyathE II

The above upanishadic portion asserts , when this whole 
is taken out of that whole , the whole remains . Upanishad refers 
the ucchishta paripoorNa brahmam . The saint saluted that 
ucchishta Brahmam as Sri Raamaa here .

The third salutation of the  first charaNam is " Om anagaaya nama: "
Sri Raama has no blemish . He is the Sarva apaguNa varjithan .
He has no dhosham of any sort . He burns all the dhoshams 
completely like a wilfd fire destroys the trees of the forest . 

The fourth and fifth naamaas are included in the saahithya 
vaakyam , suraasura poojathadhipapayOdhi vaasa 
haraNaaya Nama :  These naamaas reveal that Raamabhadran
is like the kalpakaa tree to the devaas of rightous conduct  and is
like death to the evil asuraas . The devaas seek refuge in the Lord 
this way and receive His copious blessings :

Sri Raamachandra Raghupungava raajavarya 
raajEdra raaja suranaayaka RaagavEsa I
raajaadhiraaja Raghunandana Raamabhadra
daasOsmyaham cha bhavathassaaraNaagathOsmi II

Devaas recognize Raamaa as their Lord , seek His protection
and receive His bounteous blessings . 

The asuraas on the other hand think of Sri Raamaa as 
a mere mortal and elect to fight Him and are destroyed 
like fire flies in a roaring fire . They immortalize His name 
as , " RaamO Raakshasa naasanOmitha bala : " 

The sixth and seventh salutations are about the beautiful
face of Sri Raama , which beats the beauty of the full moon 
and His nectar-like spech . These salutations are :
" Om Sundaratara vadanaaya nama: and Om Sudhaamaya 
vachaaya nama : " . Saint Thyagaraajaa salutes the Raaman 
described as " Raagendhu poorNaanan " by BhodendraaL 
with the first naamam . The beauty of this muzhu madhi mulha 
Raaman has been described by sage Vaalmeeki as :

chandrakaanthaananam Raamam atheeva priya darsanam I
roopoudhaarya guNai: pumsaam drushti chitthaapahaariNam II

The beauty of Raama is an aparyaapthaamrutham or Aaaraavamudham .
One is never satiated by the experience of tasting that beauty .
The apara avathaaram of Valmeekhi , Saint Thyagaraajaa , 
saluted therefore Raama here as " Om sundaratara Vadanaaya nama: " .

Our sadhguru shifted from the visual enjoyment to the aural
enjoyment next . In this context , he saluted Sri Raamaa's 
delectable speech as " Om sudhaamaya vachaaya nama: " . 
Our sadhguru had the blessing of speaking with Ramachandra 
in his lifetime . He has eulogised the madhura vaak of Sri Raamaa
in many of his krithis following the description of Valmeeki :

" smithapurvaabhibhaashi poorvabhaashi priyamvadha :
smithapoorvam cha bhaashathE , mrudhupoorvam cha bhaashathE ,
priyavaadhi cha bhoothaanaam " 

Valmeekhi says that Raamaa welcomed his guests with a sweet 
smile and inquired about their welfare endearingly with a sweet 
speech . Our sadhguru has stated in his Devaghaandhaari 
krithi starting with the line , " maravakaraa nava manmatha
roopuni needO mellani maado kannula thedO marivalu vaadO manasa --
aaa janmamu hrudhraa jeevamuthO pujinthura Thyagarajanutuni manasaa "

Here he has celebrated the incomparable laavaNyam of Raama ,
 the jyothi in His eyes , His  soft words and tells us that he has lost
his mind in them and that he will worship Raamaa until the end
of his days and eulogize Him . These thoughts were expressed in 
the first charaNam through the naamams , " Om sundaratara vadanaaya
nama: and Om sudhaamaya vachanaaya nama: " .

In the remaining portion of the first charaNam , our sadhguru
visulaized the beauty of Raama as Raajagopaalan , when he
herded cows and calves in Brindhaavanam and his darsanam 
to the devaas and the humans in that exquisitely charming form .
The charaNa vaakhyams are as follows : 

brundha Govindha saanandhamaavaraajaraaptha 
subhakaraanEka ( Jagadhaananda kaarakaa ) 

The words brundha Govindha has number of meanings. 
Brundha means a huge assembly . Here Our sadhguru
visualizes Raajagopaalan , who attended to the needs of cows 
in brundhaavanam and won the hearts of gopis with His 
enchanting vENugaanam and gave darsanam as 
RaadhaaramaNan . That RaamakrishNa svarupam is saluted here . 

In the first portion of the charaNam , Thyagabrahmam refereed to
the relationship between the limitless Devaas ( Taarakaas ) 
and the Lord ( a sthe moon among the taarakaas ) . Here , 
he connects to the idea of the Lord tending to the care of 
the huge herd of cows of nandagopaa . The compassionate
relationship between the jeevaaa and the Lord is hinted here .
The paasam that binds the Lord to us is referred to . Our 
sadhguru has celebrated that unbreakable bond between 
the sesha and seshi just as AndAL poined out as " Uravu 
ozhikka ozhiyaathu " in Her immortal thiruppavai . 

THE SECOND CHARANA VAAKHYAMS 
******************************************

the salutations housed in this charaNam elaborate on 
the relationship between the Jeevaathmaa and the paramaathmaa .
The sahithya vaakyams are :

" nigama neerajaamrutha poshaka nimisha vairi 
vaaritha sameeraNa kaka turanga sadhkavi hrudhayaalayakaa ,
gaNitha vaanaraadhipa  natha angriyuga "

The first salutation is :"  Om nigama neeraja amrutha poshakaaya 
nama : " . Nigama is vedam ; neeraja  is the lotus flower ;
Sri Ramaa is the amrutha poshakan for the vedic lotus .
He nourishes the vedaas through his Veda NaaraayaNa 
svaroopam . 

The second salutation is : Om nimisha vairi vaaridhi 
sameeraNaaya nama : " . Here our sadhguru compares 
Raama to a cyclone ( sameraNa ) that drives away the cloud of 
the enemies of the devaas ( nimisha vairi vaaridha : ) . Saint 
offers his profound  salutations to the this great Raghuveeran 
who waslike a chandamaarutham in the battle field . 

The third  salutation is : " om kaka turangaaya nama : " .
Here the Lord is saluted as the aapadh paandhavan ,
who rushes on the shoulder of His vaahanam , Garudan 
to rescue his devotees in distress such as Gajendran. 
Kaka menas the vaahanam of the Lord , Pakshiraajan .
In his gaangeya bhushaNi raaga krithi , our sadhguru 
praises the anaatha rakshakathvam of Sri Raaama this way :
" yev-varE Raamayaa! nee sari , ravvaku dhavalekha 
sujanulanu raajika rakshimchu vaa ". Thyagabrahmam
states that  there is no one equal to Raamaa in His 
alacrity to save the devotees in distress innthe spirit of the 
third slautaiton of the second charaNam . 

The fourth salutation is : Om sathkavi hrudhaalayakaaya nama: ".
Thyagaraaja swamigaL states here that Raama  has the heart
caves of the righteous ones as His temple . This view is based on 
the following veda manthram : " The sages seek Him , when he is
concealed in the midst of cosmic vapors , and follow Him by His
foot prints as men follow an animal that is missing or lost . By their
constant prayers and meditations , the wise glorious sages ,
yearning in their heart , discover Him lurking in the remotest 
(heart ) cavity . " 

The fifth salutation of the second charaNam is : Om ganitha 
vanaraadhipa nathangri yugaaya nama: " . Ganitha means 
both mathematics and most respected . Here , sadhguru
uses the latter meaning to denote the lord of monkeys , 
the most revered Hanumaan holding and saluting the holy
pair of feet  Natha angri yuga ) of Sri Rramachandraa . 

FOURTH CHARANAM
*************************

This charaNam has the following seven salutations :

Om indraneelamaNi sannibhaapaganaaya nama :
Om chandra surya nayanaaya nama:
Om aprmEyaaya nama: 
Om Vaagheendra janakaaya nama :
Om sakalEsaaya nama:
Om subhra naagEndra syanaaya nama:
Om samana vairi sannuthaaya nama:

Earlier , we enjoyed the pattaabishEkam scene , where 
Raama was shining as the most rare blue 
gem(indra neela maNi ) in the middle 
of His parivaaram ( MadhyE neela komaLa ruchim 
Raamam bhajE syaamaLam ) . That deep bluish effulgence is 
saluted through the first naamam , Gana Indraneela maNI
sannibhaapa : " . 

The secod naamam refers to Sri Raamaa having as His two eyes
the Sun and the Moon ( Raamam syaamaabhi Raamaam 
raaka sasi nayanam , koti soorya prakaasam ) . 

The third naamam salutes Raama as Padmanaabhan 
with His son , chathur mukha brahmaa residing on that lotus
arising out of his navel . Our Lord created Brahmaa and orderd 
him to engage in srushti kaaryam. Sadhguru salutes Raama 
therefore as Vaagheendhra janakaaya nama: " 

The fourth namaskaram is : " Om apramEyaaya nama: ". 
Bhagavaan is saluted in VishNu sahasranaamam (249th naamaa)
as apramEyaathman . The reference here is to his pervasive 
presence both inside and outside the the innumerable things,
which are limitless and are too vast to be grasped one by one . 

The fifth salutation is : Om sakalEsaaya nama: " . VishNu
shasra naamam explains the sakalEsa aspect of the Lord 
this way : " Jagadh prabhum devadevam anantham 
purushOtthamam " through the words of Bhismaachaarya .
Raama is the sarvesvaran and is the Lord of the chethanams and 
achethanams . Hence , He is sakalesan. The blessings of other
Gods do not last (anthavatthu palam yeshaam ) ; the boons 
granted by the sakalEsan last forever . He alone can grant Moksham .

The sixth salutation of the third charaNam is : Om subra 
naagEndra sayanaaya nama: " . The reference here is to 
Ksheerabdhi naathan , who is engaged in Yoganidraa on 
the white serpent with tousand hoods known as Aadhi seshaa .

Theseventh and final salutation of this charaNam is :" Om samana
vairi sannuthaaya nama: " Samana is the name for Yamaa or mrithyu .
When Yamaa came to take away the sixteen year old MarkandEya , 
since his alloted life span was over , the frightened MarkandEyaa
ceased the feet of Lord Sivaa at Thirukkadayoor . Yamaa's noose fell 
on Lord Sivaa .The enraged Lord Sivaa destroyed Yamaa with a 
hoomkaaram and got the name of Mruthunjayaa . He is therefore 
known as the foe (vairi ) of Yamaa(samanaa) . Saint Thyagaraaja 
states here that Raama is Samana vairi sannuthan (i.e) Lord Sivaa,
the geat Raama bhaktha and the enemy of Yamaa is engaged in
eulogizing Sri Raamaa . 

Sri Thyagaraaja Sannutha Sri Raamachandra ParabrahmaNE nama:

Oppilliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan