Venkatanathanum Thiruvenkadamudayanum - part 7

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2015/10/venkatanathanum-thiruvenkadamudayanum_17.html

Ramavataram Continued

Ramayana is known as saranagathi shastram. Through the epic, we learn that, saranagathi is available to everyone irrespective of caste, creed or gender. We learn from the Ramayana about the saranagathi performed by a crow (kakasura) thus, proving that saranagathi is even available for animals and birds. Perumal has shown us the proper method for performing saranagathi in Ramayana. Lord Rama killed two demons during His trip with sage Vishwamitra. While He killed Taraka & Subahu, with His third arrow, He only pushed Maricha into the ocean but, He did not kill Maricha. Taraka represents Avidhya or ignorance. Subahu & Maricha are the sons of Taraka. They represent the karmas we have committed because of the presence of Avidhya. He killed Subahu to show us that, when we perform prapatti (surrender) to Him, He will kill all our Sanchita Karmas. He chased Maricha away from Vishwamitra’s yagna sala with an arrow; likewise, He will chase our Prarabhdha Karmas and prevent the accumulation of new Karmas by chasing them away from us. Karmas can be divided into two classes; Sanchita Karma & Prarabhdha Karma. Sanchita Karma is like a bank account. It contains all the papams (sin) and punyams (good deeds) we have accumulated in our previous births.

Prarabhdha Karma is like the money we withdraw from a bank account. At each birth, Paramatma assigns us a portion of karmas from the Sanchita Karma account so that we can spend it. We enjoy both the good and bad fruits yielded by the prarabhdha karma. We extinguish a portion of our total accumulated karmas in the form of Prarabhdha karmas at every birth. According to this, eventually the sanchita and prarabhdha karma accounts should come to zero and we should be liberated from Samsara but, this is not the case because, as we are undergoing the effects of Prarabhdha karma, our actions also cause us to accumulate new karmas. Paramatma saves us from this never ending cycle when we surrender to Him. He burns our accumulated karma while He drives away any new karmas. This is indicated when He killed Subahu but, made Maricha to run away from the yagna sala. The importance of an Acharya is also shown here as it is sage Vishwamitra who requested Lord Rama to destroy Taraka, Subahu & Maricha. The blessings of a good Acharya are required to perform prapatti to Sriman Narayana so that the Lord can destroy our ignorance as well as karmas.

During Ramavataram, Lord Rama promised to help King Sugriva, but Sugriva wished to know if the Lord would be able to stand-up against his brother Vali the King of Vanaras. In order to make Sugreevan have firm faith “Maha Vishwasam” in Lord Rama, Perumal accepted the examination set by Sugreevan. Sugreevan remembered that, his brother Vali had once killed a demon called Dundhubhi. Vali then made it a practice to playfully kick the carcass of Dundhubhi. Vali would send the corpse of Dundhubhi flying like a football. One day, he accidentally kicked the cadaver into the hermitage of sage Matangar. The sage cursed Vali that, he would die if he ever set his foot into the areas belonging to the hermitage. The sage extended the curse to all of Vali’s followers. The sage’s curse turned into a boon for Sugriva as he was able to hide near the hermitage without any fear of being persecuted by Vali. The skeletal remains of Dundhubhi still remained in the area. Sugriva asked the Lord to toss the skeleton of Dundhubhi as a test of the Lord’s power. Lord Rama knew that it was against the shastras to touch a dead person’s bones but, He also had to make Sugriva believe in Him. As He wondered on the course of action to take, Lakshmana pointed out to lord Rama that, the lord could kick Dundhubhi’s skeleton with His left toe. The Lord’s left toe is the source of the divine river Ganges since the river originated when Lord Brahma worshipped the Lord’s toe during Trivikrama Avataram by washing the Lord’s left toe. Per Garuda Puranam, a person attains good abode if his/her bones are tossed into River Ganges. With this in mind, Lakshmana requested the Lord to touch Dundhubhi’s skeleton with His left toe. Lord Rama kicked the skeleton into outer space with the touch of His left toe but more importantly, by this act, He gave mukthi to Dundhubhi.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2015/11/venkatanathanum-thiruvenkadamudayanum.html

Venkatanathanum Thiruvenkadamudayanum - part 6

Ramavataram 

 

Continued From:  http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2015/10/venkatanathanum-thiruvenkadamudayanum_13.html

Lord Srinivasa in Ramar Alamkaram

The name “Kannan” also belongs to Lord Rama. In Kamba Ramayanam, Lord Rama is referred to as “Kannan”. The name “Kannan” means, “One who is attractive”. Lord Rama is addressed as Kannan because; the people of Mithila were mesmerized by His attractive form. They gazed at Him with unblinking eyes and drank in His beauty. They were unable to divert their eyes away from Him. As Lord Rama walked through the streets of Mithila, His attractive form was reflected in the eyes of each and every person present there. Because His form was reflected in the eyes of the people, He is called as “Kannan”; the one who is present in the eyes of everyone as per the thiruvaimozhi pasuram “Kamala Kannan en Kannil Ullan”.

நீத்தம் அதனில் முளைத்து எழுந்த
   நெடு வெண் திங்கள் எனும் தச்சன்.
மீ. தன் கரங்கள் அவை பரப்பி.
   மிகுவெண் நிலவு ஆம் வெண்சுதையால்
‘காத்த கண்ணன் மணி உந்திக்
   கமல நாளத்திடைப் பண்டு
பூத்த அண்டம் பழையது’ என்று
   புதுக்குவானும் போன்றுளதால்.

Tirumala is very closely associated with Ramavataram. This is where Swami Ramanujar studied Ramayanam from his uncle Peria Tirumalai Nambi. He learnt the many esoteric meaning of Ramayana slokams from his uncle and studied the epic eighteen times in great detail. Sri Peria Tirumalai Nambi performed nithya kaimkaryam for Lord Srinivasa. Since Swami Ramanujar refused to ascend the hills because it was a form of the Lord, Sri Peria Tirumalai Nambhi climbed down the hill every day to teach Ramayana to his nephew Ramanujar. One day while he was teaching Ramayana, he was surprised to smell tulasi leaves. As he looked up, he was wonder struck to see the Lord standing near them listening attentively to the Ramayana kalakshepam. Sri Tirumalai Nambhi, urged Swami Ramanujar to see the lord but, Lord Srinivasa vanished from the place after leaving behind the imprint of His divine feet. To this day, devotees pay their obeisance to the imprint left behind by Lord Srinivasa on their way to the temple. 

On another day, Sri Peria Tirumalai Nambhi finished teaching “Vibhishana Saranagathi” to Swami Ramanujar when, to their utter amazement, some visitors from the Pandya country arrived with the archai of Lord Rama along with Ilaya Perumal, Anchaneya Swami, Sugreeva Maharaja and Angadan. Swami Ramanujar had the archai of Lord Rama along with Ilaya Perumal, Lord Hanuman, Sugreevan and Angadan consecrated inside the temple of Lord Srinivasa. At a later date, they also consecrated an archai for Sita Piratti. The above line “kaNNan adiyiNai emakku kaattum veRpu”,thus makes us think about Lord Rama who came to Tirumala so that everyone can attain His divine feet. By coming to Tirumala on the day when swami Ramanujar learnt Vibhishana Saranagathi from his uncle, Perumal draws our attention to the Rama Charama slokam. 

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2015/10/venkatanathanum-thiruvenkadamudayanum_24.html

Venkatanathanum Thiruvenkadamudayanum - part 5

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2015/10/venkatanathanum-thiruvenkadamudayanum.html

Krishnavataram

 

Swami Vedanta Desikan portrays Lord Srinivasa as Lord Krishna in the above line. The Sanskrit name Krishna is mentioned as “kannan” in Tamil.  We are reminded of the connection between Krishnavataram and Tirumala hills by this line. It is mentioned in Varaha Puranam that, when a congregation of rishis (Bharadwajar, Angiras, Kashyapar, Jabali, Gautamar et al) heard about the glories of the Tiruvenkatam hills, they proceeded on a pilgrimage to Tirumala. They repeatedly uttered the name “Govinda” on their way to Tirumala. The name “Govinda” is the name associated with Lord Krishna. The Venkatachalam Mahatmyam also mentions that, Lord Krishna incarnated as Lord Srinivasa for the sake of His mother Yashoda. After leaving Gokulam, Lord Krishna wed 16008 princes but, He failed to invite His mother Yashoda to attend the weddings. When Yashoda expressed her disappointment, Lord Krishna promised to incarnate as Lord Srinivasa so that Yashoda could find Him a suitable bride. Likewise, Yashoda took birth as Vakulamala and was instrumental in arranging the wedding of Goddess Padmavathy with Lord Srinivasa.  Therefore, the words “kaNNan adiyiNai emakku kaattum veRpu”, portrays Lord Srinivasa as Lord Krishna because, He is “Kurai Onrum Illa Govindan!”

Through this line, we are also reminded about the Krishna Charama Slokam. When Arjuna felt distressed after learning about the difficult upāyams of Bakthi Yogam to reach the Lord, Sri Parthasarathy Emperuman took pity on Arjunan and rendered the Charama Slokam. The Lord taught him the easy to practice prapatti which would yield quick result for attaining Moksham.

Sarva dharmAn parithyajya Maam yEkam SaraNam vraja

aham thvA sarva paapEbhyo mokshayishyAmi maa sucha :

Lord Srinivasa stands on top of the divine Tiruvenkatam Hills and symbolically conveys to us the message from the above slokam.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2015/10/venkatanathanum-thiruvenkadamudayanum_17.html