Srimad Ramayanam - nuances of certain episodes

In my earlier articles, I have mentioned how Srimad Ramayanam is a guide to brahma vidya. This means that there must be nuances in certain episodes.

Whilst there are many are strewn all over the epic, I would like to cover two 1

Rama passing through Ayodhya streets - Ayodhya Kandam

King Dasaradha confers with his ministers and people to come to a conclusion that Rama can be crowned a prince. He then requests his minister Sumantra to fetch Rama to inform about the decision. 1

Rama is described as someone with broad shoulders, long hands adorned in pitAmBaram (including anGavastram) that is contrasting to hue coloured complexion and a tilak on His forehead.

The following sloka talks about that instance when He passed through Ayodhya street and how 2

people fell in love with Him.

Gandarva rAja pratimam lOke vikyAta pauruSam
dhIrGaBahUm mahAsattvam matta mAdhanGa gAminam
chandra kAntAnanaM rAmam aThIva priyadarSanam
rUpam aUdArya gunaiH pumsAm DriSti cita aparAhinAm

People from different background, from different 3

genders observed Rama. As each individual has unique characteristic, he/she associated them with Rama.

Gandarva rAja pratimam - Chitrarathan was a Gandarva king and considered to be handsome. The ladies on the streets of Ayodhya observed that the Gandarva was no match to 4

Rama’s beauty.

lOke vikyAta pauruSam - young men of Ayodhya knew that Rama did a dhanur banga (Siva Dhanusu/bow) and marvelled at the strong shoulders of Bhagawan.

dhIrGaBahUm mahAsattvam matta mAdhanGa gAminam -

mahAsattvam - majestic in appearance 5

Why is it important to listen Krishna Bala leelA

Mind has an incessant tendency to keep wandering and thoughts are the waves that never stops.

The proclivity of the mind is like a parasite that it latches on to something. The attraction could be caused by 1

different emotions such as taste, fear, anger, arts etc. entertainment such as watching telly or movie or theatre is exactly for that.

So, all practices prescribed in the religious texts is essentially to curb or control it.

SarvE manO niGraha lakSanAntaH 2

bikSu gItam, Srimad Bhagavatham

Therefore, it is essential to identify an object which is worthy enough to ensure the thought waves are able to get attracted to.

There’s no other object in the universe that meets any of the parameters such as
- Beauty
- Worthiness
- Value 3

Pleasing
Heartwarming and so on

than Krishna. There’s no limit to the content experienced by mind towards Krishna. The only form of Bhagawan that evokes such a desire is Bala Krishna and not any other rupA (for example Narasimha).

Narayana Bhattatri explains the form of 4

Guruvayurappan through the sloka.

யத் த்ரைலோக்ய மஹீயஸோபி மஹிதம்
ஸம்மோஹனம் மோஹனாத்
காந்தம் காந்தி நிதானதோபி மதுரம்
மாதுர்ய துர்யாதபி சௌந்தர்யதோபி சுந்தரதரம்
த்வத் ருபம் ஆஷ்சர்யதோபி ஆஷ்சர்யம் புவனே ந கஸ்யகுதுகம் புஷ்னாதி
விஷ்ணோபி ந பிபோ - நாரயணீயம் 5

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.
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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

Rama’s avatar can be mentioned through

artitO mAnuSE lOkE jajnE viSnu sanAtanaH

Indicating that Bhagawan Vishnu incarnated as a human.

It is important to note that love for that form is not guaranteed even if He is an avatar. An example would 2

be Parasurama, people were intimidated by Him.

So, what made people love Rama? His kalyana gunas which appeal to common people that makes them want Him. Valmiki calls out cross section of people, young and old, men and women, different classes that could connect with Rama. 3

Let us look at some of them.

adOSa Darsi - one who does not find fault with others. Even more beautiful is that He would quietly acknowledge if someone were to point a defect at Him.

svadOSa paradOSa vitu - Does this mean, is he oblivious to the faults of others? 4

Of course not, it’s just His great gunA that would keep it in heart and not display it for others would find out.

Katancit upakArEna kritEna EkEna tuSyati
Na smarati apahArAnNam Satamapi Atma vartayA

He’s always grateful to those that does help Him, 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

EVOLUTION OF CROWNS

The ancient Indian kings called a head crown as a Mukut and it would mostly constitute of a golden ornamental headgear like an oval cap with gems.

Sometimes it would also include a halo circle to show the divinity of the king

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As it was considered that kings were appointment by the gods themselves. Example the kings of mewar considered themselves to be the ‘Diwan of eklingji')

But in most cases very few Mukut with halo effect have been found.

2/7

Samudragupta in the gupta era coin. You can see the helmet like headwear on him.

Till gupta era the solid golden head wear was used in most days of the monarch.

But since the onset of 8th century it reduced in usage and was now used only as a ceremonial headwear.

3/7

Whereas earlier the Maharaja had to wear the mukut whenever his court was in session.

Still mukut was being used prominently for ceremonial activities till recent times.

Maharaj Dahir of Sindh👇

4/7

But as times past the style of headwear also changed.

The kings mostly wore turbans ordained with pearls and gems while rarely anyone wore a true Mukut after 16th century.

Portrait of Sri Krishna Dev Raya👇

5/7

The Chanting of following names of Bhagwan Vishnu, immensely helps us in overcoming the obstacles in our daily life.
These names are from Sri Vishnu Sahasranama!
|. "Om Vashatkaaraaya Namaha" : For Success in Business.
||. "Om Aksharaaya Namaha" : For Success in Studies.

|||. "Om Bhuthabhavanaya Namaha" : For Good Health.
|V. "Om Paramaathmane Namaha" : For Self Confidence.

Src: VAK magazine from Chilkur Balaji Temple, Hyderabad - Sri @csranga
#SanatanaDharma #SanatanaSanskriti #Sattology

One needs to chant the following slokas 28 times to get rid of certain problems in life.
Om Hrushikesaya Namah - For Overcoming Bad habits
Om Vashatkaaraya Namah - For Success in Business, Interviews, visa interviews, building relationships

Om Srimate Namah - For Handsome appearance & wealth
Om Aksharaya Namah - For Education & better financial strength
Om Paramatmane Namah - For self employed people, for promotions and success in games.
Om Putatmane Namah - To remove mental stress & for mental peace

Om Sarmane Namah - For Job Satisfaction
Om Bhutadaye Namah -To amend soured friendship or any personal relationship
Om Dhatre Namah - For issueless couple
Om vidhatre Namah - Pregnant Ladies to Chant for healthy babies.
Chant the following 108 times :

MAHARAANI TARARANI: THE QUEEN OF MARATHAS

Rani Tarabai was the brave daughter-in-law of Chhatrapati Shivaji and one of the greatest medieval Monarchs India ever had.
She was born in 1675 to one of the bravest commander-in-chiefs of Shivaji's Army named Hambir Rao Mohite.

Tarabai was just 8yrs old when she was married to Shivaji's younger son, Rajaram. Mughals and Marathas were constantly at war with each other. Shivaji was crowned the ruler of the Independent Maratha Swarajya in 1674 which was established by him.

However,the great leader died in 1680&the Maratha Samrajya went into a complete&total chaos.Marathas saw some very tough times ahead. In 1689,when Raigad Fort fell to the Mughal Army of over 15000,Shivaji's first wife Saibai and his elder son Sambhaji were captured&put to death.

Sambhaji's wife and son Shahu were taken prisoners to the Mughal court. During the same battle, Shivaji's second son Rajaram(Tarabai's husband) , who was the heir to the throne now, managed to escape using a disguise. He made his way to the Gingee Fort in Tamil Nadu.

Mughal General Zulfikar Khan, however, followed them to Gingee laying siege to the Gingee Fort. From 1690-1698,This was the longest siege by a Mughal Army of any Fort which stands testimony to the military and diplomatic credentials of Rani Tarabai.

@LancPAExaminer @buzz\_chronicles @buzz\\\_chronicles @buzz_chronicles save as category @pdfmakerapp grab @pdfmakerapp grab this @readwiseio save @readwiseio save thread @threader compile summarize @Threadreaderapp unroll please @ttttreads unroll @unrollthread.com @SaveToBookmarks

@buzz_chronicles @AchuthArora @OllieEmberson @rattibha No more missed tweet 😉!

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