The process of writing Ramayanam Starts.- 10

The process of writing Ramayanam Starts.- 10

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Continued from earlier post ..

राक्षसीतर्जनं चैव छायाग्रहस्य दर्शनम्

सिम्हिकायाश्च निधनं लङ्कामलयदर्शनम्।

रात्रौ लङ्काप्रवेशं च एकस्यापि विचिन्तनम्॥२९

rākṣasītarjanaṁ caiva chāyāgrahasya darśanam

simhikāyāśca nidhanaṁ laṅkāmalayadarśanam|

rātrau laṅkāpraveśaṁ ca ekasyāpi vicintanam||29

The progress in Lord Hanuman’s flight towards Lanka over the southern seas was where we stopped yesterday..

The mountain Mainaka offered hospitality to Hanuman, which the Lord accepted in token by touching the summit of the mountain by his hands and soared up and proceeded towards Lanka..

The gods and other denizens of heaven were watching in great adulation the activities of Hanuman..

They first saw the first glorious feat of Anjaneya in jumping from the Mount Mahendra..

Then they witnessed the second great feat too.. Negotiating the huge mountain Mainaka which rose in his path..

The king of Devas, Indra was pleased with the attitude of Mainaka in offering help to Hanuman..

Therefore, he reassured Mainaka that the mountain need not have any fears about any aggressive attack from indra..

The Gods were impressed by the two feats of valour by Lord Hanuman.. His strength and valour were revealed in abundance through these feats.. But still they were interested in testing his resourcefulness.

So the devas approached Surasa, the daughter of Daksha Prajapathi, and the mother of all the Nagas and requested her to stand in the way of Hanuman taking the form of a huge Rakshasi or demoness, and obstruct his way and test him..

Accordingly the mother of Nagas assumed the form of a demoness and manifested in the middle of the sea, in a huge and awe inspiring form.. with huge read eyes and a wide mouth with curved and crooked teeth..

Just as Hanuman approached her in his onward air-born odyssey, the demoness accosted him and told that he was ordained as the food for her at that moment, and that he should enter her mouth..

Hanuman understood the greatness of the Divine daughter of Daksha and requested her politely allow him to proceed towards Lanka in his mission of discovery of Sita..

He assured her that once his mission was completed, he would return to her and offer himself as food for her..

The demoness Surasa was adamant..

She said that it was the command and boon of the Creator that anyone crossing her presence should enter her mouth as food.. and the law was immutable..

Hanuman was rather upset..

He told her that she should open her mouth wide enough to accommodate his entry..

Surasa opened her mouth as wide as ten yojanas.. and then Anjaneya made himself as large as ten yojanas so that her mouth could not accommodate him…

Then the demoness opened her mouth by a larger width of twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, seventy, eighty ninety yojanas, and hanuman enlarged himself to identical girth so that Surasa’s wide mouth could not accommodate him..

Finally Surasa enlarged her mouth to a width of one hundred yojana..

Hanumanji was clever enough not to carry on with the game any more..

He suddenly reduced his own girth to the size of a thumb , and entered the huge cave-like recess of the mouth of Surasa, and before she could understand the trick played by Hanuman, he just floated back out of that wide mouth.

And floating on the sky outside, the revered monkey lord told Surasa..

‘ My pranams to you, Devi Dakshayani, the mother of Nagas, As commanded by you I have entered your mouth, and has emerged out.. May I be given permission to proceed ahead in furtherance of the duty assigned to me in the service of my Lord Rama.. May I go ahead in search of Sita.. The boon given to you by Brahama about people not going away from you without entering your mouth has been obeyed”

Surasa was pleased with the resourcefulness exhibited by Hanuman.

She assumed her divine form.. and told Hanuman..

“ Son, I am pleased with your resourcefulness..

You may now proceed in furtherance of your mission for the benefit of that great Soul Rama and may you succeed in uniting Rama and Sita the daughter of Videha king Janaka..”

Seeing this act of great wisdom and alacrity on the part of hanuman, the Gods were greatly pleased.

Hope to continue with the story the next day.. if permitted by God..

cleverness counts

 

शोभते विदुषां मध्ये नैव निर्गुण मानसः

अन्तरे तमसां दीपः शोभते न अर्कतेजसाम

shobate vidhushaam madhye naiva nirguna maanasaH

antare tamasaam deepaH shobhate na arkatejasaam

When he lands up among the learned people, the dull minded cannot shine

Awick might produce some light in darkness but it is ineffective in open sunlight..

को अतिभारः समर्थानां किं दूरं व्यवसायिनाम् को विदेशः सविद्यानां कः परः प्रियवादिनाम्

ko athibhaarah samarthaanaam kim dooram vyavasaayinaam ko videshaH savidyaanaam kaH paraH priyavaadinaaM...

Nothing can be excessively heavy to lift for the clever man,

No distance is too long to cover for the really industriosu

No land can look alien or foreign and uncomfortable for the one who is well educated

No human being can be an enemy to the one who takes care to utter only sweet words..

this is also a subhashitam in that series..

fatalism

 

Fatalism  happens not from any basic flaw in the sloka or the content.. 

It is the attitude of the one trying to interpret. Whenever something unpleasant happens to us we always tend to take a psychological retreat by trying to attribute the cause for the difficulty, or adverse situation, to the account of someone else.. 

The presumption that our woes stem from the machinations of others is ill conceived.. 

And the basic idea this slokam try to convey is that.

It is not a message canvassing laziness or abandoning of bona fide efforts on our own part to tide over the situation.

 But when things are out of hands for reasons beyond our control, a word of consolation is offered. That is all.

There will be situations where howsoever best we would try to control a situation, it may go completely out of our hands for no conceivable reason.. 

In such situations it is better to avoid the tendency to put blame on others and console ourselves, on the vagaries of fate, if that thought may be of some relief to us..

If you read in this a message that we should flow along pliantly allowing us to be thrown here and there by the erratic swings  of fate, that is an extreme interpretation. 

Of course each is entitled to his own perception.

bhakthi

 

Bhakti is in the realm of exploring the relation    between the living human being  who is living                  with limitations and the Supreme                 Being with infinite mahima..

However, on some situations, Bhakti, defined and distorted perhaps in many ways, enters the realm of politics, and one strong man or group gets legitimacy to rule over the liberty and possessions of others invoking that religion.

This leads to grave dangers.

A definition of any word is good enough and safe only in the hands of a person who respects orders. Charging with spears or drawn swords calling out diving name of any religion is also given the colour of Bhakti.

A person has no choice other than to survive and live on

A person has no choice other than to survive and live on. However, his existence would be quite challenging and painful if he is pushed among idiots. Ultimately every person loves to live the way he wants. Sure, he will have to live on even if the circumstances plot against him. No man with sense would want to lose life.

The worth of life is to be measured from how one lives. If he lives without conflict then his life is better by any standards.

Life is not just speech or claims. It is just what one undergoes, what one experiences

Even the blessed Lord Krishna did not dither on the issue of mode of worship

Even the blessed Lord Krishna did not dither on the issue of mode of worship..

He said in Gita.. yo yathaa maam prapadyante taan tadaiva bhajamyaham.. यो यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तान् तथैव भजामयाहं. I manifest to other in whatever way they approach me.

Therefore, seeing His presence in anything, and even nothingness are both the same..

If you argue that the Divine  Mother herself is agni.. Taam agnivarnaam..तां अग्निवर्णां .it would make more sense, and when she is Agni herself, she can manifest in any shape..

The dissent of an Advaitin to Saguna worship is understandable, but no one is permitted to call any other path as that of ignorance..

You can go from Palakkad straight to Delhi, Via Mumbai, Via Chennai or through  by many other routes..It is  the destination   that counts..

Of course heckling inter-religious,inter-procedure aproaches   is an entirely different  issue..

If we can understand Hindu faith properly, there can be no disputes..

We admit that the same Shankara who was the votary of Advaita philosophy where the specific Gods and rituals have little relevance, has worshipped in many shrine, has set up many shiva temples and Shakti temples in Kerala, and outside too.

He has penned Soundarya Lahari, and Vishnusahasranama Bhashyam and Thrisathi Bashyam,. He has authored some major tantra texts, andhas composed innumerable Stotras on Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Ganesha, Skanda, Dakshinamurthi.. the list is very long..

He saw reason in all the six mathas.. Sauram,Vaishnavam, Saktham, Saivam, Kaumaram and Ganapthyam and integrated and validated all these.. He realized that Hinduism is like a huge garden, a huge orchard with lot of fruits and foliage.

Every believer can pluck flowers and fruits according to his own preferences,tastes. He can remain in his  level of understanding of the Supreme Being and worship deities or entities   of his own choice..

Hearing of His glory, Singing of His glory, Meditating on Him, Service at the feet of His and His devotees, offering him flowers and praises, doing pranams, acting as his slave, or offering friendship to Him and ultimately offering himself to God.. all are ways to reach Him..स्मरणं कीर्तनं विष्णो स्मरणं पादसेवनम् अर्चनं वन्दनं दास्यं सख्यं आत्मनिवेदनम्; so says Bhagavatam...

There are no P hd.holders  or unlettered people in HInduism.. If anyone thinks he is the lone P hd holder.. it is simply sad...We can worship God in whatever way we like, but we will be incurring sin if we think any other mode, or any other deity than our favourite deity is wrong or bad...

This should be the spirit...

choice of groom for marriage

 

नातिदूरे न चासन्ने अत्याढ्ये चातिदुर्बले ।

वृत्तिहीने च मूर्खे च षट्सु कन्या न दीयते ॥

- बृहत् पराशर स्मृति

naatidoorey na chaasanne athyaadye chaatidurbhale

vrittiheene cha moorkhe cha shatsu kanyaa na deeyate|

This is from Brihat Parasharasmrithi… a much respected treatise on Law… almost on par with Manusmriti, and the work of Yajnavalkya…

We should not give a girl of the family in marriage

1. To a groom who is from too far a place

2. To a groom who is from the same locality

3.To a groom who is too high socially , culturally and financially in comparison

4. To a groom whose is too low socially, culturally and financially in comparison

5.To a groom who is not having a job or who it not engaged in a profession as a means of livelihood.

6. To a groom who is cruel and idiotic

The process of writing Ramayanam Starts..9

The process of writing Ramayanam Starts..9

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(continued from the earlier post the link for which is given at the bottom.)

पर्वतारोहणं चापि सागरस्य च लङ्खनम्।

समुद्रवचनाच्चैव मैनाकस्य च दर्शनम्॥ २८

parvatārohaṇaṁ cāpi sāgarasya ca laṅkhanam|

samudravacanāccaiva mainākasya ca darśanam|| 28

The story of Ramayanam upto the point where Anjaneyaswamy climbed to the summit of Mahendra mountain, with his mind set on jumping over the sea to reach the Island of Lanka where Ravana held Devi Sita as captive, has already been covered in the earlier posts..

Standing atop the Mahendra mountain, Lord Hanuman rose to his full and imposing form, held up his arms and concentrating within himself all his Yogic powers, pressed hard on the mountain Mahendra with his feet and propelled himself at great speed into the sky in the southern direction over the sea..

This action of great valour and skill was being watched by all the gods and demigods assembled in the sky..

The Southern Sea, which was ever indebted to the kings of the solar race as it was a king from that lineage, Sagara who created it and it was Bhagiratha another kings of that race who filled it with the waters of Ganga, felt that when Hanuman was soaring over it for the welfare of Rama, a prince of of the solar race, it was its duty to offer hospitality to the emissary and lieutenant of Rama..

Mainaka, the mountain who was the son of Himalaya, was staying submerged in the Southern Seas hiding from the thunderbolt of Indra.. It so happened that mountains had wings at one time, and they flew all over the sky like huge birds, and landed themselves on any piece of earth as and when they liked. Such sudden landing of mountains caused damage to the valleys and towns, and caused heavy loss of lives to men and beasts.. So the Lord of Devas, Indra decided to chop off the wings of all the mountains, and send his weapon thunderbolt or Vajrayudha on this mission.. All the mountains fell down wingless, but Mainaka just flew southwards and took refuge in the sea.. and stayed there hidden from the assault by Indra.. It was the god of wind Vayudeva, who had helped Mainaka to fly such a long distance and land up inside the south sea.. The sea, prodded by its sense of duty towards the Solar Race, asked Mainaka to raise up and station himself high up in the path of flight negotiated by Hanuman, and offer him rest, and hospitality with fruits, water and other comforts.. Mainaka too was eager to pay respects to the son of the Wind god as the wind god had helped him to save his wings earlier..

Accordingly Mainaka rose up and waited in the path through which Hanuman was flying.. The top of the mountain was packed with fruits and other offerings for the valorous emissary of Rama.. The mountain Mainaka appeared in human form and offered welcome and hospitality to Hanuman, and recalled the gratitude that the sea and the mountain owed to the Solar Race, Wind god, Rama and Hanuman..

However, the indomitable Hanuman was focused simple in his mission to reach Lanka as early as possible. He politely refused to descend and receive the hospitality, but just touched the mountain with his arms and feet in the course of his flight and continued to proceed fast in the direction of Lanka..

(This narration covers an important part of Sundarakandam.. where the gods are actually testing the valour of Hanuman.. whether he is the apt lieutenant of Rama.. whether he is bold and resourceful, whether he will be capable of playing the sheet anchor role in Rama’s war with Ravana.)

Just a minor part of Hanumans Journey is covered here..

Hope to continue with the narration the next day… if God permits..

The process of writing Ramayanam Starts 14

The process of writing Ramayanam Starts 14

The previous narrative stopped when Hanuman had delivered a strong punch to the Lankini and brushing aside her resistance, he set out to enter the city of Lanka.. during the night.

Lord Anjaneya entered the city of Lanka coolly and silently.. But he did not choose the main gate as his entry point.. He scaled a wall on the side and jumped in, ensuring that his left foot landed in the soil of the city first.. That exactly is the way one should enter the place of an enemy whom he wants to finish off

Hanuman wandered around the city of Lanka with sufficient care and alacrity. The night life in Lanka at its peak then..

He found that the Rakshasas in Lanka were living a really posh life in well built and well furnished mansions.

The men inside were going ahead with studies of scriptures and were repeatedly chanting the praise of their Lord and master Ravana. The ladies were making merry with songs and dance.

Everything looked calm, comfortable and cozy in the city.. But the sharp eyed Hanuman did not fail to notice the presencce of spies, sentinels and plainclothesmen of the Demon KIng going all along, round by round, at regular intervals. Their agility and sense of purpose were not missed by the Minister of Rama.

Hanuman came across various kinds of demons . Some wore long beards, some were bald or had their heads shaved. They wore various garments, made of clothes, leather, sheaths of metal, hair and so on. They carried all sorts of weapons, right from mere bunches of grass to deadly spears and swords and huge clubs.

There were fat people.. really fat.. They were thin people, pencil thin. There were people who were toweringly tall.. There were tiny dwarfs. There were people with fair complexion and there were people with pitch dark colour too.. There were people with well formed limbs and organs, and there were people with multiple eyes, grotesque teeth, deformed noses and limbs and there were people with limbs growing in the wrong places..

He managed to saunter through the streets and reach the precincts of the hillock atop which the impressively huge and attractive mansion of Ravana was situate..

He found that a very huge army of strong running to thousands demons, all armed with multiple arms and ammunition, and found that the force was on a round the clock vigil.

The approach to the palace was guarded by huge fortresses and also very wide and deep trenches

The whole palace was decorated with gold foils and studded with gems, pearls, and other costly ornamental pieces.

The entire area was filled with the fragrance of incense

As he was approaching the Palace of Ravana, the moon was rising.

The revelry of the early night was subsiding and the aristocrats among the citizens were withdrawing for their nights sleep.

However, the vagrant Rakshasas, whose habit was to loiter around during nights were on the prowl.

Such vagrants had fortified themselves with booze. They were shouting at one another, alternating between friendly talk and choicest abuses at one another..

They were alternately embracing one another with their fat hands and were pulling and pushing at each other the next moment..

Of course, Hanuman could avoid notice of the army men and the Rakshasas and could continue with his search for mother Sita

He could not find the Princess.. and he knew that instinctively..

How could he find such a noble and classy lady among the motley crowd in the streets

He decided to make a stealthy entry into the harem of Ravana..

And he executed the plan too with great efficients..

The narrative would continue,, next day..

( The above narrative is a brief condensation of the description in Valmiki Ramayanam)