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Raghuveera Gadhyam: Yuddha KhAndham--part 13

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • December 15, 1996 


Dear Members of the group :

As I hurried to finish the postings on Yuddha Khandham to
bring us to enjoy the Pattabhishekam of Sri Ramachandra 
before the advent  of Dhanur Maasam tomorrow ,
a mistake in the  numbering of the gadhya pieces have crept in .
Please correct them .

I have also skipped commenting on GS 65 ,
which is a revelatory gadhyam realting to the wise  Mandodhari's lament
over her Lord's demise at the hand of Sri Raghuveeran . I will comment on that 
gadhyam portion in this posting . In part 12 , there are two Gadhya slokams 
which have the same number (62) . Please correct  them as 62 and 63 .

Thanks , V.Sadadgopan
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GS 65 : akhila jagadhadhika bhuja bala dasa lapana dasaka 
lavana janitha kadhana paravasa rajanichara yuvathi vilapana 
vachana samavishaya nigama sikhara nikara mukhara mukha
muni vara paripaNitha ! Jaya ! jaya ! 

In this beautiful passage resonanat with sound effects and TaaLam 
synchronized with the heaving  heart beats of lamenting MandOdhari, the
principal 
queen of RavaNa , Swami Desikan's poetic skills 
reaches once again  a high water mark . 

In the section , " Bhuja Bala , vara Bala , dasa lapana , lapana dasaka ,
lavana janitha " , the playful as well as the skillful use of the same words
( Bala , Lapana , dasa lapana , lavana dasaka ) to denote a different context-
based meanings, is an illustration of the skills of our  immortal poet .

Swami Desikan starts this gadhyam section by describing RavaNA's 
mighty shoulders known for their power to destroy his enemies:
" akhila jagadhadhika bhuja bala ." Swami says that RavaNA (until he met RamA
in battle ) had the bhuja parAkramam that was superior to all the denizens
of this earth and heaven  . Bhuja balam is related to his "Vara Balam " referred
to 
in the next section . RavaNA had earned many boons from BrahmA and 
Maheswaran through the performance of severe penances . His bhuja 
balam came from this vara Balam . 

Swami alludes next to the ten heads of
RavaNA as dasa Lapana and rhymes it with " lapana dasaka lavana " ,
which means" as a  result of cutting off of the ten heads ."  First we  see
those 
diadem decked heads of DasagreevA  on his neck and next we  see 
them rolling on the floor of the battle field at the feet of Sri RamachandrA .

 When MandOdhari saw this sad sight , she was overcome by grief 
and lost herself in an avalanche of sorrow . She lamented loudly 
in her inconsolable grief . This state of hers is described by Swami Desikan 
as " Dasa lapana lapana dasaka lavana JANITHA KADHANA 
PARAVASA  RAJANICHARA YUVATHI VILAPANA VACHANA " 

The sufferings of MandOdhari arose from the (death)  severance of the ten heads 
of her husband ( Lapana dasaka lavana janitham ) . She was beyond herself 
(paravasam ) due to that grief . She was RavaNA's young wife (Rajanichara 
Yuvathi ) . Her words of Lamentation ( Vilapana vachanaas ) rang out in the 
battle field and melted the hearts of the onlookers . Those words however
contained Vedanthic truths and  were tributes to the PARATHVAM of Sri Rama
in addition to serving as lamentations over her widowhood . Swami calls 
those lamentations mingled with vedanthic wisdom as "NIGAMA SIKHARA
NIKARA SAMA VISHAYAM " . Their sAmyam ( equivalence ) to the Vedanthic
truths describing the nature of Brahman (supreme being ) is the purport of
our Acharya's words. The great sages always praise ParamAthma
using words and thoughts with Vedic origin .  .

Swami Desikan concludes this salutation by stating
that the victorious Rama was eulogised by great sages with stotrAs ,
which had Vedic connotations similar to the ones used by the wise
and chaste MandOdhari , while she lamented over her personal misfortune. 
" NIGAMA SIKHARA NIKARA MUKARA  MUKA MUNIVARA PARIPANITHA "
are Swami's words. Nigma sikhara Nikara stands for the assembly of Vedanthic 
truths. Mukara Nikara Muka munivara reminds us of the great sages 
euologising their Lord Rama with praises steeped in the Vedic 
tradition . Paripanitha stands for the saluting by the Muni gaNaas . 

The lamentation of Mandodhari is housed in the 111th canto of 
of the Yuddha khAndam of  Srimadh RaamAyaNam . 

Sri VaishNava Daasan ,

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan