Search:
Bhakti List Archives

sri rama navami - rama sthuthi -2

From the Bhakti List Archives

M.G.Vasudevan • March 29, 2001 


Dear Sri vaishnava perunthagaiyeer,

In the first post, we saw the first verse of viraadhan's sthuthi. Since Sri
aadhi kavi vaalmeeki has not dealt so much about viraadhan doing sthuthi of
sri raamaa, perhaps this may be yet another place kamban has deviated from
his mentor. Kamban wants to praise raama, which he has carried out easily
through viraadhan's mouth. 

Of course, valmeeki has expressed that viraadhan knows fully well Sri raama,
the kowsalya su-praja has to grant his salvation and that he, that raama, is
the person standing before him. Viraadhan was already told by the very same
kubEran, who gave that curse that the solution for kubEran's curse was
through raama's feet, when asked how long viraadhan had to suffer with
curse. This assertion is clear from the words of viraadhan, who says, "I
know you, oh raama!" He also suggests, "you can not kill me with your bow
and arrow because I have a boon. So please kill me by other means". Then
raama suggested to lakshmana to make a big pit, so that viraadhan could be
buried and in that he would also be killed.

Viraadha sthuthi- verse 1
VEdhangaL aRaiginRa ulagu engum virindhana un 
PaadhangaL ivai ennin padivangaL eppadiyO?
Odham koL kadal anRi onRinOdu onRu ovvaa
BoodhangaL thoRum uRainthaal avai unnaip poRukkumO?

Word by word meaning for few words:
VEdhangaL- rg yajur saamam atharvaNam - four vEdhaas
ARaiginRa- describing, talking, praising or singing
PadivangaL- vadivam - roopam- figure
Odham - kuLirchchi- cool nature
Ovvaa - oththuk koLLaatha- does not go together
BoodhangaL - 5 basic elements viz. fire, water, air, earth and space 

Meaning:- All the vEdhaas praise these sacred feet of you, oh raama, which
covered all the worlds. When the feet themselves cover the whole worlds like
this, how am I to describe what other parts of your body will do. It is
beyond description. You stay in the cold sea and it is able to bear you. If
you start staying in the basic 5 elements, which have lot of dissimilarities
in their nature, will they be able to sustain you. [Oh! Obviously they can
not].

Points: 1. Here poet kamban says all 4 vEdhaas describe your holy feet
[vEdhangaL aRaiginRa paadhangaL ivai]. All the 4 vEdhaas rg yajur saamam and
atharvaNam describe your holy feet only is the assertion. 

2. "These are the feet", See words "un paadhangaL ivai", which are receiving
the recitation of glory from the vedhaas. These are also ones, which are
going to give me the salvation. Yes. After raama puts his foot in the neck
of viraadhan really and pushes into the pit dug by lakshmana, so that he
gets his salvation from the curse and gets back his gandharva form and
stands in the sky to do this praise of raama. 

3. It can also be said that these feet are the place where these vedhaas are
recited. The vEdhaas are making sounds in the feet so that the glory of the
feet is realised by others. [like the anklets making sound in the feet]. 

4. Just as additional input on this vedhaas describing the lord and his
glory, we can consider Swamy dhEsikan in his yaadhava abhyudhayam 
YadhEkaika guNapranthE sraanthaa nigamavandhina:!
Yathaavath varNanE thasya kimuthanyE mithampachaa:!!
-- Slokam 2 chapter 1
meaning: The vedhaas which bow to the lord by singing [or praising] for his
gunaas, are able to just touch the borders [pranthE] of few of these gunaas.
This means the gunaas are so much and so large that the vEdhaas which
describe the gunaas are describing only a fraction of these and not fully.
In such a situation, how a less capable one [mithampachaa - fools- less
capacitated in mind] can describe his gunaas fully. Here vedhas are
describing the gunaas and fail to go beyond some limits as per swami
desikan. There vedhas describe the feet alone and not able to go beyond as
per kamban.

5. ulagu engum virindhana  un paadhangaL- the thrivikrama avathaaram is
brought into focus. The feet covered all the worlds. What are the other ones
[subjects or objects] which are to be covered by his other body parts. 

6. For "onRinOdu onRu ovvaa boodhangaL thoRum uRainthaal avai unnaip
poRukkumO" just recollect swamy nammazhvaar in his thiruvaai mozhi 1-1-7 - 
Thida visumpu eri veLi neer nilam ivai misai 
padar poruL muzhuvathumaai avai avai thorum 
udan misai uyir ena karanthu engum paranthu uLan 
sudar migu suruthiyuL ivai uNda suranE 
meaning: That lord who is described in the vedhas is fully covering and
included and spread as the basis in all the 5 elements of earth fire water
air and space, similar to how the life is there in the whole body of the
human being.

7. boo nilaaya ainthumaai punal kaN ninRa naankumaai 
thee nilaaya moonRumaai chiRantha kaal iraNdumaai
mee nilaayadhu onRumaagi vERu vERu thanmaiyaai 
nee nilaaya vaNNa ninnai yaar ninaikka vallarE - thirumazhisaip piraan in
thiruch chanda viruththam 1
meaning: In the earth he is all the 5, in water he is all 4, in fire he is
all 3 in the air he is all 2, in the space he is the one. With each one of
these basic elements so different from the other, how can one think of you
in full and such variations of you, oh my blue coloured lord.

8. neer vaanam maN eri kaalaai ninRa nedumaal - thirumangai aazhvar in
periya thirumozhi 3-6-3- no meaning is really required for this since it is
direct and simple.

9. vaaninRu izhinthu varambu igantha maa bhoodhaththin vaippu engum oonum
uyirum uNarvum pOl uLLum puRanum uLan enba- kamban  verse 1733 
Same kamban describes in another place - Oh raama- you, coming from the
heaven, as that enormously huge basic element, coming without limits, you
are there both inside and outside in all, as well you have come here with a
soul, body, feelings etc.

10. For the cold sea- otham koL kadal- also mean [1] the thirup paaRkadal
and [2] the praLaya kaala veLLam- the flood during the mahapraLaya time
where Lord slept in the banyan leaf as a small child. - aalaththilaiyaan
aravin aNai mElaan neelak kadaluL nedunkalam kaN vaLarnthaan- periyaazhvaar-
2-6-7

11. yachchaapi sarva bhoothaanaam beejam thadhahamarjuna!
Na thadhasthi vinaa yathsyaanthmayaa bhootham charaacharam!!
Bhagavath geetha 10 - 39 
Oh arjuna! That which is the base and seed for all the basic elements I am
that. Without me, nothing is there to be called an animate or inanimate
entity.

Like this there are many a quotes available. Before concluding this post let
us have the next words of viraadha sthuthi- 
Kaduththa karaam kadhuva nimir kai eduththu mei kalangi
Uduththa dhisai anaiththinum senru oli koLLa uRu thuyaraal
Aduththa perum thani moolaththu arum paramE paramE enRu
Eduththu oru vaaraNam azhaippa neeyO anRu En enRaai?

Meaning and points will be given in next post.

Dhaasan Vasudevan M.G.


--------------------------------------------------------------
           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
To Post a message, send it to:   bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com
Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/
 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/