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kamba rAmAyanam

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Padmanabhan • October 23, 2002 


DEAR BHAKTHI GROUP MEMBERS

I do not entirely agree with Sri Mani Varadarajan s view that Kamba rAmAyanam is not quoted as there is no in depth knowledge. It is not quoted as it is not completely coherent to our philosophy. As Sri Pillai LokAcharyar  quoted in Sree Vachana Bhooshanam that in "idhihAsa srEshtamAna rAmAyanam sirai irundhavaL yERRam sollugiradhu",though Ramayana deals with so many aspects, the essence is the sirai irundhavaL yERRAm.
Then are the other several thousand slokams to be ignored? Sri Periya Vachan Pillai has selected select few slokams as "thani slokam" and rendered commentary on that. These slokams are supposed to be the gems among ramayana slokams.

Though Ramayana is quoted in commentary in several places, these are generally referred to corroborate certain points. 
Further, ramayana is not strictly a vaishnavite subject. It has got the quality of having severala non vaishnavite subjects -unlike thriuvoizhmozhi/bhagawadh vishayam-which render this to be relegated to the rear. In spite of this, ramayana has been quoted by acharyas frequently as these slokams are indeed great and eyeopener for comprehending the salient features therein.

Acharya hridhayam - 63 "rAmAyaNam nArAyaNa kadhai enRu thodangi , ganga kAngEya  sambavAdhi asath kErthanam paNNina echil vAi suddhi paNNAmal, thirumAl avan kavi enRa vAi Olaip padiyE, mARRangal Aindhu kondu vuriya sol vAitha idhu, vEdhAdhigaliL pourusha mAnava Geetha vaishnavangaL pOlE arulicheyalil sAram"

Here, thiruvoizhmozhi s greatness is being explained in contrast to rAmAyanA and bhAratham. 
The negative points of rAmAyanam is briefed here. rAmAyanam started as telling the story of sreeman nArAyanA. but went on to explain the birth story of ganga, murugan and so on. Similarly,  in bhAratham veeduman s birth and other s birth are being explained in detail and as the name goes bharatham is pOsal pattOlai- a detailed script on micro activities of war- whcih in depth details the intricicies and nuances of wars and battles whcih are in fact tangential to sreevaishanvism. Hence, in strict viewpoint these parts of both the epics are not relevant for us. 
Therefore, we need not worry why nobody is quoting these.
Incidentally, I have heard personally velukkudi varadhachari swami referring to several kamba rAmAyana pAsurams in the lectures and also read books of Kanchi swami where these have been quoted.
The point is we need not give much weightage to these apart from of course literary point of view.
vAnamAmalai padmanabhan



































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