Rama gunAs from Ayodhya Kandam, Srimad Ramayanam

One of the important differences between Rama and other gods is that there’s an underlying respect for them whilst for Rama, it is the appreciation of His kalyAna gunAs upon which an entire epic is written.1

Srimad Ramayanam - thAyar greeting rAvanA, different meanings of a single slokA

Vedas are considered apauruSEyam, not made by humans, and therefore cannot be interpreted in any manner. The vEdanta sUtra bASyam has been done by Sri Adi Sankara, Swami Ramanuja and Sri Madhwa 1

On the other hand, itihAsAs and purunAs are made by riSis, but the greatness is that they wrote without diluting the meaning of vEdAs (or Upanishads).

There is lot in them that are dependent on bhakti, which is subjected to bhAvam (or experience). AcAryAs have relished these 2

experiences in Srimad Ramayanam, and one such instance is in Sundara Kandam where thAyAr greets rAvanA when she visits her and places a grass between her and him. She also smiles at his arrogance

The slokA is

तृणमन्तरतः कृत्वा प्रत्युवाच शुचिस्मिता
3

There are bursts of bhAvam for one such slokA.

1) Thayar is used to wearing a veil (gOSA niyamanam) and, hence placed a grass between them.

2) When a person comes to see another person in their place, it’s customary to offer them a seat. As she does not have one, she places
4

grass

3) She’s insinuating that the strength and the valour he displayed is equivalent to that of a grass, meaning nothing.

4) The wealth or the grandeur he displayed pales into insignificance as She was Mahalakshmi, who is the abode of all the wealth in the universe.
5

Srimad Ramayanam - jnAnam through guru katAkSam

Sabhari mOkSam is an episode in Aranya Kandam which is considered to be mOkSa kAndam.

In my earlier article, I had written about the importance of guru that gets highlighted through the interaction between Bhagawan and Sabhari. 1

Let us look at what that guru katAkSam will do.

Sabhari was a vagabond, who by chance stumbled onto Rishi Mathanga. He found that she’s a clean soul and worthy of being given tAraka brahmam and offered that to her.

Sabhari enquired as to what the name meant. 2

An ideal guru is someone who gives Narayana, and so with Rishi Mathanga being one, he said that the meaning of that name (tAraka brahmam) will find its way to her abode.

When Rama and Lakshmana visited Sabhari’s abode, the former enquired about the progress of her penance 3

and if it materialised.

Sabhari’s jnAnam was complete with Rishi Mathanga’s katAkSam and this reflected in her response to Rama.

She answered intelligently -

aDyaprAptA tapa siDDiH tava sanDarSanAn maya
aDyamE sapalam janma taptam GuruvaSca supUjitA: 4

அத்ய ப்ராப்தா தப சித்திஹி தவ சந்தர்ஷனான் மயா
அத்ய மே சபலம் ஜன்ம தப்தம் குருவஷச்ச ஸுபூஜித:

My tapas materialised upon seeing you. This happened due to guru katAkSam and my sEvA to him who predicted this event in advance.

She further added boldly 5

Srimad Ramayanam - Qualities of an ideal guru

Our sAstrAs (Vedas and Upanishads) essentially talk about two things - dharmam and brahmam.

Dharmam is how to conduct oneself in everyday life (foundational elements) which helps in cleansing the mind and would help uplifting 1

gradually to reach brahmam.

As Vedas and Upanishads were complex with lot of nuances, Puranas and ItihAsAs came about to engage with people to talk about the above two.

In this category, Srimad Ramayanam is important as it is considered to be a guide to 2

brahma vidya, i.e., to impart knowledge of brahman. In order to understand an esoteric topic like brahmam, one has to have an ideal guru.

Veda defines the characteristics of an ideal guru with the verse ‘SOtriyam brahma niStam’

SOtriyam - knowledge of sAstrAs which means 3

one must be a vaiDIkA

Brahma niStam - knowledge and personal experience of brahmam

Srimad Ramayanam’s first sloka is as below:

तपःस्वाध्यायनिरतं तपस्वी वाग्विदां वरम्
नारदं परिपप्रच्छ वाल्मीकिर्मुनिपुङ्गवम्

The literal meaning of this sloka is that ascetic Valmiki inquired 4

Narada who is engaged deeply in austerity and study of Vedas, best among the eloquent and eminent among sages.

But, the greatness of this sloka is that it provides 6 qualities for an ideal guru. Let us look at them.

तपःस्वाध्यायनिरतं -

1) तपः tapas - jnAnam someone who 5

Srimad Bhagavatham - affection of Yasoda mentioned by Sri Sukar

Yasoda is being described wearing a nice saree with other ornaments and whipping yogurt. Even though she had other servants, she preferred to do it herself as she had so much of affection for Him. 1

kSoumam vAca: prutu kadi tadE biBrati sUtra nadir

க்ஷமும் வாச ப்ருது கடி தடே பிப்ரதி ஸுத்ர நத்தம்

The sound her ornaments were making along with the sound of whipping yogurt was a Shruti gItA to wake Krishna up.

He wakes up lazily from his cradle, saunters over, 2

hugs her neck and places his small chin against hers face with his hand on the churn to prevent her from continuing the work and asks for milk.

She hugs him tightly, starts feeding him whilst continuing her churn.

At that time, the milk on the stove overflowed 3

and she had to leave abruptly (that milk was also for Krishna) to turn it off which annoyed Krishna.

He broke the pot with the yogurt that had just recently been whipped, gobbled it up and left pretending to be angry.

There was a mortar in the back of the house upon 4

which he sat comfortably. His Leela was such that He pretended to cry even though he was eating yogurt.

Subsequently, Yasoda got angry at his petulance, tied Him to the mortar and every time the rope was short. She was so exhausted, and Krishna felt sympathetic and 5

Srimad Ramayanam - Importance of guru as enunciated by Rama

Aranya Kandam in Srimad Ramayanam is considered to be mOkSa kAndam as lot of personalities such as SaraBangar, Jatayu, Sahara get mOkSA.

The episode of Sabhari is quite important, 1

not just because she got mOkSam but highlights the importance of an ideal guru.

An ideal guru can uplift the soul from from a bottomless and chalk out a clear path to be never born again, I.e., mOkSam (paramapadam). 2

Sabhari was a vagabond, who by chance stumbled onto Rishi Mathanga. He offered her redemption by giving tAraka brahma (Rama Nama) and assured that she would be visited by the one behind the meaning of the name (Rama).

Sabhari was quite diligent in being the right disciple 3

for the Rishi in carrying out her responsibilities by expecting the person Rama. True to the word of Rishi, Rama visited and enquired about her.

Valmiki explains this with the following slokas -

कच्चित् ते निर्जिता विघ्नाः कच्चित् ते वर्धते तपः 4

कच्चित् ते नियतः कोप आहारः च तपोधने

कच्चित् ते नियमाः प्राप्ताः कच्चित् ते मनसः सुखम्
कच्चित् ते गुरु शुश्रूषा सफला चारु भाषिणि

1) कच्चित् ते निर्जिता विघ्नाः - Is your tapas happening without any hindrance?

2) कच्चित् ते वर्धते तपः - In order for the tapas to happen 5

Did you know?
Ahilyabai Holkar was one of India's
greatest women rulers of all time.

Ahilyabai was Born on May 31,1725 in the village of Chondi,Jamkhed distt,Maharashtra to a man named Mankoji Shinde,who was the Patil(Chief) of a village and a member of proud Dhangar Community.

Despite the fact that girls' education was a farther dream in those days, Ahilyabai was homeschooled by her father.
Ahilya didn't belong to any royal family but in a twist of fate she is still remembered as one of the most revered Queen in the history.

While they were living their humdrum lives, one day Malhar Rao Holkar, commander of the Peshwa Bajirao & Lord of the Malwa stopped in Chondi on his way to Pune, where he couldn't help but notice a young 8yrs old Ahilyabai in the temple service feeding the poor & hungry.

He was so impressed by the sheer innocence&beauty with simplicity character of Ahilyabai dat he asked her hand in marriage for his son Khanderao Holkar.Just like that she got married to Khanderao in 1733 at a tender age of 8&became a bride of esteemed Maratha community of Holkars

But destiny had something else in store for her as her husband died in the Battle of Kumbher in 1754 leaving her widow at 29.Distressed Ahilyabai was to commit Sati when her father-in-law Malhar Rao refused to let it happen.

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