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