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Raghuveera Gadhyam : Uttara KhAndham--part 4

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • January 5, 1997 


Dear Rama BhakthAs :

In this posting we will cover salutations from 85 to 90 .

GS 85 : punarupasthApitha vimAna vara visrANana 
preeNitha vaisravaNa visrAvitha yasa: prapancha !
Jaya ! Jaya !

(meaning ) : Hail to Thee O Lord , whose glorious kalyANa 
guNAs were eulogized by the joyous and grateful KubErA ,
when he received back the pushpaka vimAnam from You !
Hail to Thee !

(Background ) :RavaNan had forcibly removed pushpaka 
Vimanam , the aerial chariot , from KubErA's house and brought it 
over to LankhA . When RavaNa was killed by RamA in
battle and VibhishaNA was coronated by RamA , VibhishaNA 
preented to RamA the Pushpaka vimAnam for travel to AyodhyA .
When Rama arrived at Ayodhya , he immediately returned the 
VimAnam to KubErA , its  rightful owner . The pleased KubErA 
sent it back to Rama so that it could be of servic eto RamA a little longer.
RamA used it for a short time and then returned it to KubErA
with thanks. KubErA was moved by the magnanimity of RamA 
and eulogized RamA's auspicious GuNAs all ove rthe world .
Swami Desikan refers to this incident of Uttara Khaandham
in this salutation .

GS 86 : PanchatApAnna munikumara sanjeevanAmrutha !
Jaya ! Jaya !

(meaning ) : Hail to Thee  O Lord, who brought back to life the dead  son 
of the rishi of your kingdom ! Hail to Thee !

(background ) : When RamA was ruling over AyodhyA , there was an untimely
death in the family of  a Rishi. The young son of the Rishi suddenly died.
The sage went to the court of Rama and blamed him for his son's death
and accused RamA of lapse in maintaining the dharmam and connected
that lapse to his young son's untimely death . RamA was disturbed and 
suspected that something not permitted by SaastrAs was happening .
He ascended the Pushpaka VimAnam and toured over his kingdom. 
He found a man doing severe penance of a kind that was not permitted by
saasthrAs in his effort to reach heaven (Svargam ) with his body .
This man was hanging upside down from a tree and doing his unsanctioned
penance and upsetting righteousness . Rama realized that this unrighteous deed 
led to the untimely death of the son of the sage. RamA cut off  the head of the 
man , who broke the rules sanctioned by SaasthrAs . Immediately , the dead son 
of the sage came back to life as though he woke out of a deep sleep .
Thus RamA was like a nectar in bringing the dead son of the sage back to life
through his act of punishment of the one , who strayed from the allowed DharmA 
in his kingdom . 

GS  87 : TrEthA yuga pravarthitha kaartha yuga vrutthAntha !
Jaya ! Jaya ! 

(Meaning ) : Hail to Thee O Lord who made the superior dharmA
of Krutha Yugam become active in the TrethA yugam in which you lived !
Hail to Thee !

(background ) : There are four Yugams in the cycle of time. DwApara ,
Krutha , trethA and Kali are the four Yugams. In each of the Yugams , 
righteousness(Dharma) decreases by a quarter. Alternatively , if 
DharmA is compared to a cow with four legs, in the first yuga , it is
standing firm on its four legs. In the next yuga , it stands on three legs
due to the dimunition of DharmA . In the third Yuga , DharmA stands on 
two legs and is wobbly . In the final yugA of Kali , the cow of Dharma stands
on one leg and is in its worst state of health . When Rama reigned in TrethA 
yugA , his conductance of the affairs of the state was so exemplary that the 
health of DharmA resembled that of the Krutha Yugam (Previous Yugam ) . 
Adharmam never lifted its ugly head during the Rama Raajyam and it 
appeared as though the Krutha yuga dharmam was prevailing in Tretha yugam .

GS  88 : avikala bhausuvarNa hayamakha sahasra nirvahaNa 
nirvarthitha nija varNAsrama dharma! Jaya ! Jaya !

(Meaning ) : Hail to Thee O Lord who upheld the sanctioned VarNAsrama
dharmas of KshatriyAs through the successful completion of many 
Asvamedha sacrifices , where huge amounts of gold was given as 
dakshiNA to the participants . 

(Background ) : The VarNAsrama DharmA of the KshatriyAs require
them to conduct Asvamedha Yagam. During this Yagam , huge amounts 
of gold is given away as presents to officiating priests. RamA performed 
many such blemishless Asvamedha Yagas . Even if RamA was Sriman
NarAyaNA himself , He performed the duties befitting his incarnation as 
a KshatriyA on this earth . His sarveswarathvam did not require Him to
perform any YagAs or YajnAs and yet he behaved in an exemplary fashion
to observe the appropriate dharmas sanctioned by SaastrAs . Thus He
showed the world the requirement to follow one's sanctioned DharmAs
and came to be known as the embodiment of DharmA .

GS 89 : Sarva Karma SamArAdhya ! Jaya ! jaya !

(Meaning ) : Hail to Thee O Lord  who is the ultimate receiver of ALL 
 the worships of DevAs and Humans ! Hail To Thee !

(Background ) : In this earth and  heaven , whatever Yaga or Yajna
or AarAdhanam is performed , the fruit of those efforts ultimately 
reach Sriman NarAyaNA alone. Whichever God is worshipped , the fruits
of that worship reach Sriman NaaraYaNA in the end , since HE is the 
antharyAmi of ALL Gods  . There is an episode in Bharatham , where 
ArjunA offers aarAdhanam to Parama Sivan and places flowers on the 
head of a Siva Lingam . Next morning , ArjunA to his amazement saw the 
same flowers decorating the lotus feet of KrishNa . AntharyAmi BrahmA 
tattvam of Lord KrishNaA was understood by ArjunA that  day .

GS  90 : SanAthana Dharma ! Jaya ! Jaya !

(Meaning ) : Hail to Thee O Lord , who is the emboduiment of 
lasting Dharma ! Hail to Thee !

(Comments ) : RamA as the PurNAvathAram of Sriman NArAyaNA 
celebrated by the following passage of VishNu Sahasra Naamam :

YagnO yagna patir yajvA yagnAngO yagnavAhana:
yagna bhrt yagna krth yagnO yagna bhuk yagna sAdhana:
YagnAnta krth yagna guhyam annam annAdha eva cha 

RamA is celebrated as the embodiment of ancient and timeless
SanAtana Dharma in this salutation in the spirit of the above 
sahasra nAmams . Accordingly , He is the sacrifice for those , who do 
not have the wherewithal to acquire the DharmA to worship him 
through mantra JapA. 

He is the Yagna Pathi in that he gives the fruits of the YagnA performed
to please Him. He himself performs the YajnA as stated in Maha BharathA 
at dawn and dusk every day for the purification of those , who are unable to 
observe the daily rites . He completes YagnA done by the others , when they are 
defective and hence is known as Yagna Brth .He created the first sacrifice 
for the wel being of the universe and hence is saluted by the Naamam of 
Yagna Krth . He enjys the offering of the sacrifices and thus becomes 
the Yagna bhuk . Thus , he is the Yagna Guhyam or the secret of the sacrifice.
He through all these atributes becomes the embodiment of Sanaathana
dharmA and is saluted elsewhere by Swami Desikan as DharmO vigrahavAn.

Sri Ramachandra ParabrahmaNE nama:

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan