Iswara Samvathsara Sri Rama Navami Navaaham sampoorNam

From the Bhakti List Archives

• April 21, 1997


Dear Rama bhakthaas : 

With this posting , I will complete with the blessings
of Sithaa LakshmaNa Hanumadh samedha Ramachandraa
the"navaaham"  that I started on April 16 . Due to my trip today,
I am compressing the Navaaham into a panchaaham . 
May " Vara sangeethamu Mokshadhamani yenchi 
Paramaathmudaina Sri Raamuni bhajinchina " Sadhguru
Swami' s blessings be with this special group 
throughout this year and thereafter !

NINTH CHARANA VAAKHYAMS/NAMASKAARAMS
*******************************************************

There are 9 namaskaarams in this charaNam :

1. Omkaara panjaragheeraya nama :
2. OM Purahara SarOjabhava Kesavaadhi roopaaya nama: 
3. Om Vasavaripu janakaanthakaaya nama: 
4. Om Kaladhara klaadharaapthaaya nama:
5. Om gruNaakaraaya nama:
6. Om saraNAgatha jana paalanaaya nama:
7. Om sumanOramaNAya nama:
8.Om nirvikaaraaya nama:
9. Om nigama saarataraaya nama: 

In the first salutation , our Sadhguru visualizes Sri Raamaa 
as a beautiful parrot resting in a the cage of PraNavam . Here , 
he suggests that Sri Raaman is the parabrahmam known by
praNava naadham . GeethAchAryan reveals this truth 
in a famous slOkam on the importance of PraNavam
and leaving the body contemplating on PraNavam and the 
parrot inside that cage for reaching paramapadham  :

OmithyEkAksharam brahmma vyaaharan maamanusmaran I
ya: prayaathi tyajan deham sa yaathi paramaam gathim II

Saint reveals to us that Raaman is  the PraNava bheeja sArAthMakan.

The second salutation is : Om pura hara sarOja bhava Kesavaadhi 
roopaaya nama : " . Here our sadhguru points out that Raaman 
is the trimurthy with the forms of Lord Sivaa , who destroyed the tripuraas,
lotus-born Brahmaa and the kesi hanthaaran(VishNu) known as KesavA . 

The third salutation is : " OM vaasava ripu janakaanthakaaya nama: " .
Vaasava ripu is Indrajith , the son of RaavaNaa . Vaasavaripu janakan 
is the father of Indrajith, king of Lankhaa, RaavaNan . His destroyer 
(anthakan ) is the great Ramachandra . He cut off the ten heads of 
RavaNaa for loka samkrakshanam 
( dasa  vadana sira: pankthi vicchEdakaari ) .

The fourth salutation is : Om Kalaadhara kaladharaapthaaya nama: " .
Thyagaraaja swami salutes Raama  as the friend of the sarva 
kalaadharan , Lord Sivaa , who wears the crescent moon on his 
red locks . Raama is the dear friend of Lord Sivaa , who recites 
the Taaraka naamam of Sri Raamaa at VaranAsi . In his  two krithis , 
Intha soukhyamani (kaapi raagam ) and " SaaramEgaani 
(panthuvaraaLi raagam ) " , our sadhguru refers to 
the friendship between Lord Sivaa and Sri Ramachandran . 

The fifth naamam of Raamaa saluted in the ninth charaNam 
is : " Om gruNaakaraaya nama: " . The word GruNaa means
dayaa . Raaghavan is the Apaara karuNaa moorthy . He even
forgave the crow that committed apacharam to His dear consort. 

The sixth naamam is : " Om SaraNaagatha jana paalanaaya nama: " .
After the last namaskaaram , the saraNAgatha rakshathvam 
of Sri Raamaa is very much on the mind of our Sadhguru. 
Hence , he salutes Raamaa here as the unfailing protector of
those, wo performed saraNAgathi at His lotus feet . 

In the seventh namaskaaram of this charaNam , Swami 
remembers the DaakshiNya paratantrathvam of Raamaa.
The salutation is : " Om SumanOramaNaaya nama: " . 
Swami salutes Raamaa as the Lord , who gladdens 
the minds of asritha sujanams . 

In the next namaskaaram ( Om Nirvikaaraaya nama: ) ,
Swami recognizes and salutes Raamaa as the integrated 
essence of beauty in all the three worlds ( TrilOkya SammOhanan).
He has no vikhaarams , since he has all the 32 saamudrikha 
lakshaNams . The nirvikhaara aspect extends beyond the physical
beauty to His guNaas as well . The whole VaraaLi pancharathnam 
is a celebration of the divine beauty of Sri Raamaa .

The ninth and hte last salutaiton of this charaNam is : " Om 
nigama saarataraaya nama: " . This naama is also from 
Sri Raama ashtOttharam. In his Nilaambhari krithi,
" Veda saara sapalani jasusu Sri Raamaa " , Swami has 
explained Sri Raamachandran as the Veda saaram  .
He recognizes Raamaa as the inner meaning of Vedaas 
and concludes this charaNam with a prayer : " Vedaantha
vedyaa ! tvam vinaa naanyathra jaanE " . 

THE TEN NAAMAAS OF THE TENTH CHARANAM 
*******************************************************

When the sandhis are broken , the ten naamaas break into
the following categories :

1. Om aganitha guNaaya nama: 
2. Om kanaka sElaaya nama:
3. Om saala vithaLanAya nama:
4. Om AruNaapa samana charaNaaya nama: 
5. Om apaara mahimaadhbhuthaaya nama:
6. Om sukavijana hrudh sathanaaya nama:
7. Om sura munigaNa vihithaaya nama:
8. Om  kalasa neeranidhijaa ramaNaaya nama:
9. Om paapa gaja nrusimha varaaya nama:
10. Om Thyagaraaja nuthaaya nama :

In the ninth charaNam , Swami saluted Sri Raamaa 
with nine naamaas . Here in the tenth charaNam ,
he chose ten naamaas to offer them as naadha kusumams 
at the feet of the Lord . 

Swami has praised the limitless (aganitha) kalyaaNa 
guNaas of the Lord in many of his krithis. He saluted the Lord
in the manner of Vaalmeeki : " aksharam Brahma satyam " 
in his first salutation of the tenth charaNam . One such krithi praising 
agaNitha kalyaaNa guNaas of the Lord is a krithi set in 
Useni raagam : " Bhaja Raamam sathatham maanasa " . 
Here Swami  decribes some of the limitless guNaas of 
Raamaa as " Amitha subhaakaram , paapa timira vibhaakaram ,
sathamaka nutha geetham , sakalaasritha paarijaatham , 
parama Kapaali vinutha suguNam , dheeram , bharitha guNa kalaapam ,
bava jalanidhi potham " and concludes by identifying Raamaa 
as his Jeevaadharam . 

The second salutation is : " Om kanaka sElaaya nama: " .
The golden peethaambharam adorning Raamaa's waist 
is the object of adoration here.

The third naama deals with the unmatched paraakramam
of Raamaa. He used one arrow to pierce seven teak 
trees (saala vrukshams) to demonstrate His prowess to 
the doubting Sugreevaa . The power of Raama bhaaNam 
has been praised by Swami in two of His songs .
In the Hari Kaambhoji song , he saluted Raamaa as  
" Oka Maata , Oka BhaaNa , Oka pathnee vrathudu " .
Here Swami asserted that Raamaa did not need more than one arrow 
to bring down His target .The second krithi is set in raagam Saaveri:
" Raama BhaNa thraaNa " . The unfailing power of the Raama
BhaaNam is saluted here . In this tenth charaNam , Swami
praises the power of the arrow that pierced the saal trees and
then returned to the arrow cage of Raamaa at the end of its 
mission . 

In the fourth naamaa , Swami saluted the soundharyam 
of Raamaa: " Om AruNaapa samaana charaNaaya nama: " .
The color of the   lotus feet of the Lord is compared to 
the unique red color (iLam sihappu ) of AruNaa at dawn . 

In the fifth namaskaraNam , " Om apaara mahimaa adhbuthaaya
nama: " , Sadhguru concentrates on the unmatched vaibhavam 
of the Lord , which he has sung about in many of his other krithis.
I will refer to three keerthanaas of this category :

1. Nithya roopa yevari paandithyamEmi naduchuraa ? ( Kaapi raagam)
2. Bhaagaayanayaa nee mayalenthO , Brahmakaiana 
     koniyaada tarama ( Chandra Jyothi raagam )
3. Yela teliyavErO poorva karma mE laaguna jesirO
     Raamayya ( Darbhaar raagam ) 

In the first krithi , Swami asks Raamaa the question like
Sri NaraayaNa Bhattadhiri did at Guruvaayoor : O Raamaa! 
is it not that your power that energizes Suryan to circumambulate 
Meru mountain every day ? Is it not that your power that lets
AdiseshA carry this earth on his thousand hoods ? Is it not 
that your power that lets MahAdevan perform upadesam of 
your Taraka naamam to the jeevans at VaraNaasi during their 
last moments to reach your lotus feet at Sri Vaikuntham ? 
Indeed all of these are possible because of your apaara mahima
says the Sadhguru.

In the Chandra Jyothi krithi  he refers further to the maayaa of the Lord .
He focuses on the GeethOpadesam of the Lord on the three yogaas 
to set ArjunA and us on the right track .

In the Darbhaar krithi , Swami salutes the paraakrama mahimaa
of the Lord that was displayed at Sitaa svaymvaram and the destruction 
of RaavaNaas' powerful moola bhalam at Lankhaa single handedly . 

The sixth namaskaaram of the tenth charaNam is : " Om sukavi jana 
hrudh sathanaaya nama: " . Here Swami salutes Raaman as  
the resident  of the heart lotuses (uLLa thaamarai ) of 
auspicious poets like Vyaasa , Paraasaraa and Vaalmeeki . 

The seventh namaskaaram is : " Om sura muni gaNa vihithaaya nama: " .
Here , Swami introduces Raamaa as the anugraha moorthy of 
the devaas and rishis . BodhEndraaL has also saluted Raama 
as the swan that plays in the heart ponds of Munis:

" Dhyana roota muneendhra maanasa sarOhamsaaya nama: " 

The eighth namaskaaram is : " Om kalasa Neeranidhijaa 
ramaNaaya nama: " . Here , Raama is recognized as the 
one , who gladdens the heart of Maha Lakshmi ( Sitaa devi ),
who arose from the milky ocean , when the Lord churned it
for amrutham . 

The ninth namaskaraNam is " Om paapa gaja Nrusimha varaaya
nama: " . Swami points out that Raama is like the powerful lion 
that destroys the  the elephants (  the sins of human beings ) . 

The tenth and final namaskaaram of the tenth and ultimate 
charaNam is : " Om Thyagaraajanuthaaya nama: " . Sadhguru
swami is one of the greatest Raama bhakthaas . From dawn to 
late evening , he sang about the vaibhavam of " the Veda sirO
maathruja sapthasvara naadhachala deepan " . Raamaa was 
like the jaajvalya deepam  on the top of the Vedic mountain made of 
the seven svaraas . There was not a single day in his life that he
failed to peform  his aaraadhanam of the Lord . He has declared many times 
that there is no joy equal in this world to the joy of singing about Him .
In his Bilahari krithi , " Intha kannayaanandhamemi , O Raama  Raama " ,
he has described the exalted state and indescribable joy of one ,
who engages in the nava bhakthi to celebrate the Lord . Like 
Kulasekharaa in Mukunda malaa , Sadhguru declared that 
the world and its pleasures are worthless like a speck of dust
to the Raama bhakthAs who are engaged in Raama naama japam
and Jaanaki kaantha smaraNam . 

I will conclude this Navaaham of the Isvara samvathsaram 
with two verses from another great Raama bhakthaa , BodhEndrAL , 
who preceded our sadhguru and reached Raama Saamraajyam 
while doing Raama naama japam at a village few miles away from 
Thiruvaiaaru :

Neelabhradeha ! NikilEsa ! Jagannivaasa! 
RajeevanEthra ! RamaNeeya guNaabhiraama !
Sridhaama ! Daithyakula mardhana ! Raamachandra !
tvathpaadhamoolam kalayaami chitthE I

Dasarahta varaputhram Jaanaki sathkaLathram
Dasamukha hara daksham Padma pathraayathaaksham 
Kara dhrutha sara chaapam charu mukthaa kalaapam 
Raghukula nruvarENyam Raamam eedE SaraNyam II

Vadhadhu Vadhadhu vaaNee Raama RaamEthi nithyam
Japathu Japathu chittam Raama Paadhaaravindham I
Namathu namathu deham santhatham Raamachandram
Na bhavathu mama paapam janma janmaantharEshu II

Sri Raama Jayam ! Sri RaamArpaNam .
Subhamasthu ! Saanthirasthu!
Lokhaa: samasthaa: sukhinO bavanthu !

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan