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8th day of Sri Raama Navami Navaaham

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • April 20, 1997 


Dear Raama  Bhakthaas : 

I will cover the 7th and 8th charaNa vaakyams in this posting .

SEVENTH CHARANAM 
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puraaNa purusha nruvaraathmajaasritha 
paraadheena karaviraadha raavaNa 
viraavaNa anagha paraasara manOhara
vikrutha THYAGARAAJA SANNUTHA  (jagadhaanandakaaraka)

This charaNam was the second level at which the Saint
was  going to stop . Hence he added another svanaama
mudhraa . Then he thought about it and added three more
charaNams to reach the level of 108 naamaas for his 
ashtOtthara pancharathnam . 

The Naamaas enshrined in this SEVENTH  charaNam 
are  SEVEN in number :

1. Om PuraaNa purushaaya nama : 
2. Om nruvaraathmajaaya nama: 
3. Om aasrtitha paraadheenaaya nama:
4. Om Kara viraadha RaavaNa viraavaNaaya nama :
5. Om anagaaya nama: 
6. Om Paraasara manOharaaya nama: 
7. Om vikrutha Thyagaraajaaya sannuthaaya nama : 

Sri Raamaa is without beginning and end as revealed
by VishNu sahasra naamam : " Anaadhi nithanam VishNum 
sarvaloka mahesvaram " . He is anaadhi or akaalOpadhikan .
Sage Valmeeki has pointed out that those , who think about 
the puraaNa purushotthaman, Sri Raaman , will receive all 
the blessings in this life and the hereafter:

yE tvaam dhruvam bhakthaa: puraaNa purushOtthamam I
praapnuvanthi sadhaa kaamaan iha lokE parathra cha II

Om PuraaNa purushaaya nama: is also one of the naamaas
of Sri Rama  AshtOttharam .

The second naamam of this charaNam is " Om 
nruvaraathmajaaya nama: " . Nruvaran refers to Dasaratha 
chakravarthi . His  aathmajan (progeny ) is Raaman ( Chakravarthy
kummaran ) or Daasarathy . The name Daasarathy is very 
close to the heart of the saint . He has celebrated the Nruvaraathmajan
(Dasarathy ) in number of his krithis : 

1 .DaasarathE dayaa charathE (Kokilapriyaa raagam )

2. Dasaratha nandana dhaanava marthana 
dayayaa maam paahi (Asaaveri raagam )

3. Daasarathee nee ruNamu theerpa taramaa (Thodi Raagam )

The third namaskaaram of this charaNam is " Om aasritha 
paraadheenaaya nama: " . Raama has been caught up in
the net of vaathsalyam (Bhakthi ) of his devotees and is 
under their influence (paraadheenan ). Raamaa is readily
accessible to His devotees through Dhyaanam as indicated by 
the following passage of the verse :

bhaktha priyam , bhaktha samaadhi gamyam ,
chintaaharam , chinthitha kaamadhEnum --" 

For those meditating on Him with amala hrudhayam 
through His Taaraka manthram , He readily becomes 
accessible and is " commanded"  by them 
(vide : Thirumozhisai Aazhwaar )  :

nithyam Sri Raama manthram 
nirupamaadhikam neethisugyana manthram I
sathyam Sri Raama manthram 
sadhamala hrudhayE sarvadhaarOgya manthram II

VaseekaraNam of Sri Raama is made possible for these
pure hearted ones reciting Rama naamam . Saint ThyagaraajA
performed 96 drores of Rama japam and attained
the privelege of seeing Raamaa in person at his house
on the Thirumanjana veedhi of Thiruvaiaaru .

The fourth salutation of this charaNam is : " Om Kara
viradha RaavaNa viraavaNaaya nama: " . This salutation 
is for the Veeraraaghavan and follows along the line of 
Bhagavatham and Nammaazhwaar . Bhagavatham salutes 
Raama as " Kaladhava dahana: kosalEndraavathaannaha " .
Bhagavatham asks for the protection of the wild fire(Raamaa) 
that burned the trees of the rakshasa kulam (Karan, Viraadhan
and RaavaNan ) to cinders . NammaazhwAr salutes Sri Raama in 
this context as : " Irudeekesan Yemmaan ilangai arakkar kulam
murudu theertha piraan , yemmaan amarar pemmaan " . 

The fifth salutation of this charaNam is : " Om anagaaya nama: " . 
The saint of Thiruvaiaaru has already saluted Sri Raama as
" Anagaa paripoorNan "  in the first charaNam . He comes back to 
that  name" Aangaa "once again , when he gets overwhelmed 
by the thought of the blemishless and paripoorNa 
mangaLa svarupam of the Lord . The parama paavanan ,
who declared , " Abhayam sarva bhoothEbhyO 
dadaam yethadh vratham mama " is saluted here as anagan .

The sixth namaskaaram is for the Lord celebrated by Paraasara
Muni , the author of VishNu puraaNam known for spreading 
the Raamaa NaraayaNa naama siddhaantham . Paraasara Muni
has revealed to us the greatness of Raama naama japam in
his puraaNam :

Yasmin nyastha mathi : na Yaathi narakam 
svargOpi yacchintanE vigna : 
Yathra nivEsithaathmamanasO brahmOpi lokOalpakaa:
mukthim chetasi ya: sthithOamalavidhyaam pumsaam
dhadhathyavya : kim chithram yadhadhyam 
pryaathi vilapam tathraachyuthE keerthithE 
-- VishNu puraaNam

(meaning ) : Those , who spend their life time on Raama
naama mantra japam and svarupa dhyaanam will never 
land in narakam . For those , who have developed the ruchi
(taste) for his naamam , the world of devaas (svargam ) will
not have any attraction. The world of Brahmaa will be like a 
inconsequential real estate. The sanaathana , saasvatha prabhu, 
Sri Raama resides in the hearts of such Bhakthaas and grants them 
moksham . When one knows the above -mentioned fruits of 
Raama nama japam and understand the anagaa nature of 
Sri Raaman and recognize Him as sarva paapa naasi , there
is no surprise for them about His power and 
Bahktha paraadheena guNam .

The seventh and the last salutation of this seventh charaNam is
a complicated one : " Om Vikrutha Thyagaraaja sannuthaya nama: ".
This naamam can be split into two : " Om vikruthaaya nama: and
Om Thyagaraaja Sannuthaaya nama: " . The naama Vikruthaaya nama: 
is connected with the Lakshmi sahasranaamam , " Om vikruthyai
nama: ". Here the word "Vikruthi " means limitless  or aadhi antha- 
rahitha paramaathma svarupam . In this context , one can intrepret 
the saint"s salutation to the limitless form and guNaas of the Lord.
The second namaskaaram , " Om Thyagaraaja sannuthaaya nama : "
would mean the Lord , who is eulogized very well by Thyagaraajaa .

If we use the naamaa in an undivided sense , then , it would refer 
to the pitiable and helpless state of Thyagaraaja , who was  longing for 
the Lord"s grace and darsana bhaagyam . This can  also be considered as 
a naicchaanusandhaanam (self-depreceatory statement ) of the saint 
lamenting over his inability to have dhruva smrithi ( unceasing
rememberance ) of the Lord . The following Garuda PuraaNa 
slokam describes the misfortunes that befall such a vikruthaa 
not having dhruva smruthi : 

Yann muhoortham kshaNam vaapi 
VaasudEvO na chinthyatE I
saa haani : tann mahacchithram 
sa braanthi saa cha vikriyaa II

(meaning ) : Great losses happen to those , who forget
VaasudEvaa even for a moment . Inappropriate thoughts and 
associated paapams accrue to those dhayaana heenis
(those with lapses in dhyaanam ) . They become vikruthaas . 

Saint Thyagaraajaa , who was always immersed in Raama
naama Japam and naama sankeerthanam and aarAdhanam 
has criticized himself severely for his lack of dhruva smrithi and
considered himself a vikruthaa . For instance , Saint confesses 
in his varaaLi krithi , " nO rEmi Sri Raama ninnAda " about his 
deficiencies. Again in his kaapi raaga krithi , " Meevalla GuNa 
dhoshamEmi , Sri Raamaa " and in his punnaga VaraaLi krithi,
" Paahi KalyANa sundara " , he states that he is full of vikruthis 
and begs for the Lord's grace for dhruva smruthi . As a nija bhakthaa
in  a mood of aarthi prapatthi , the saint  cried out " OM vikrutha Thyagaraaja
sannuthaaya nama: " .

8TH CHARANA VAAKYAMS 
*****************************

THERE ARE SIX NAAMAAS HERE :

1. Om sajjana maanasa abdhi sudhakaraaya nama:
2. Om Kusuma Vimaanaaya nama: 
3. Om Surasaa ripu karaabhja laalitha charaNaa
     VaghuNaaya nama: 
4. Om asura gaNa matha haraNaaya nama:
5. Om sanaathanaaya nama:
6. Om Aja nuthaaya nama:

In the first namaskaaram , Saint Thyagaraajaa indicated that 
Raamachandra murthy is like the chandran for the ocean (mind )
of great bahkthaas with dhruva smrithi such as the child Dhruvan ,
the old lady Sabari , the asuraa child Prahlaadhan , Bheeshmar,
Vithurar , Vyaasar , Sukar and  Parasarar . They have niradasiaya 
sraddhaa , bhakthi and mahaa viswaasam in the Lord and therefore 
are of the kind of sajjanaas , whom the saint wants to emulate. 

In the second namaskaaram , " Om Kusuma vimaanaaya nama: " ,
Here the reference is to the journey of Raamaa back from Lankhaa 
on Pushpaka vimaanam to Ayodhyaa with His dear consort Sitaa , 
the Lord of Lankhaa , VibhishaNaa , LakshmaNaa and the monkey 
king  Sugreevaa , Hanumaan and others brought back to life from 
the battle field . BhOdEndrAL prays for this  Pushpaka vimaana 
sanchaari to play in his mind always :

svetha pushpakamaaruhya Sithaayaa saha Raaghava: I
SugreevAdhi bhavath bhakthai : manOmadhyE ramasva mE II

The third namaskaaram of the 8th charaNam is connected with
an  incident that happened over the Ocean , when Hanumaan was 
jumping over it to reach Lankhaa and search for Sitaa there. 
During samudhraa lankanam described in the Sundara Khaandam ,
the mother of sarpams , Surasaa devi took a gigantic form and 
obstructed the flight of Hanumaan .She commanded Hanumaan
to be her food . Hanumaan shrank his size from the gigantic one to
that of the size of a thumb and entered her outstrtched mouth and  
left it very quickly . Valmeeki salutes Hanumaan's daring performance 
as similar to the exit of chandran from the mouth of Raahu . Surasaa 
devi was pleased with Hanumaan's cleverness and assumed the figure 
of a beautiful youg woman and blessed Hanumaan to be victorious
in his endeavour. 

Saint Thyagaraajaa addresses Hanumaan in this 
namaskaaram as " Surasaa ripu " or the enemy of Surasaa.
Hanumaan"s kaimkaryam in pressing RamachandrA's tired feet
with his soft hands is described in the rest of the namaskaaram as
" {(Sarasaa ripu ) karaabhja laalitha charaNaavaguNaaya nama: } " .

The fourth namaskaaram of this charaNam is : " Om asura gaNa madha
haraNaaya nama: " . The madham or the arrogance of the hordes of
the servants of RaavaNaa was destroyed by Raamaa in the battle field.
Saint ThyagarAjA saluted the valour of Raghuveeran here .

The fifth namaskaaram Is " Om sanaathanAya nama: " . This naama
is closely asociated with the 898th VishNu sahasra naamam ( Om 
sanaathana tamaaya nama: ) . The name sanaathana refers to the 
ancient, timeless aspect of the Lord. " Even in the past He was new .
Despite the fact that His existence is eternal , He is always more 
enjoyable and fresh , as though He is new and never seen before ." 
He is the PuraaNa purushan, Sanathanan as saluted by BodEndraaL :

vedhyam visvamayam svaleena bhuvana svaraajya soukhya pradham I
purNam purNataram puraaNa purusham RAAMAM bhajE taarakam II

The sixth and the final namaskaaram is , " Om Aja nuthaaya nama: " .
Here the reference is to the salutations of Chathurmukha Brahmaa
after recovery of the VedAs with the help of the Lord , who took 
Matsyaavatharam and Hamsaavatharam and Hayagreevaavathaaram
for helping His son . Ajaa is the name for Brahmaa. 

Om Sri Raamabhadra ParabrahmaNE nama: 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan