SrI rAmAyaNa thani SlOkam – 19 – ayOdhyA kANdam 41.20 – yE thu rAmasya, 42.34 – rAmam mE – Part 1

_{SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:}

We are currently enjoying the vyAkhyAnam for SrI rAmAyaNa thani SlOkam mercifully given by periyavAchchAn piLLai. In this series, we are now enjoying the vyAkhyAnams for SlOkams in ayOdhyA kANdam. This grantham has been published by puththUr swAmy. puththUr (sudharSana) swAmy, has not only published this grantham but has also provided simple explanations for these, in thamizh.

In the previous article, sumithrAp pirAtti’s message to lakshmaNa was explained in detail. The 41st sarga in ayOdhyA kANdam describes perumAL’s departure from ayOdhyA. In this article, we are going to see the vyAkhyAnam for SlOkam 41.20 in ayOdhyA kANdam.

avathArikai (Introduction)

This SlOkam describes the state of SrI rAma’s friends when they heard about SrI rAma’s departure for the forest.

yE thu rAmasya suhrudhassarvE thE mUdachEthasa: I
SOkabhArENa chAkrAnthASSayanam na jahusthadhA II

Word-by-Word meaning

rAmasya – SrI rAma’s
suhrudha: – friends
yE thu – those (people)
sarvE thE – all of them
SOkabhArENa – by the weight of their sorrow
AkrAnthA – crushed by the sorrow
mUdachEthaSa: cha – were in a confused state of mind
thadhA – at that time
na jahu: – did not leave
Sayanam – (their) beds

Simple Meaning

People who are in love with perumAL, his friends, became depressed due to separation from perumAL. They felt anguished, crushed, without even the ability to get up from their beds.

Notes from periyavAchchAn piLLai’s vyAkhyAnam

yE thu – those (people) whose plight is indescribable

Those people who were dear to SrI rAma, his friends, their state could not be described. When SrI rAma departed for the forest, king dhaSaratha gave his approval and kausalyAp pirAtti wished him well. But the state of SrI rAma’s friends is indescribable. It is indescribable in all of the eighteen languages, such that a nineteenth language is needed. (Their experience and sorrow were so profound and complex that they could not be adequately expressed, or they expressed their despair in a way that was unheard before).

(Note from kAlakshEpam: We are able to understand from this that there were 18 languages in bhAratha dhESam even during periyavAchchAn piLLai’s time period).

rAmasya suhrudha – people who wish well for SrI rAma, his friends

Those people were very close to SrI rAma. Those people took SrI rAma to be their confidant and shared everything with SrI rAma. Similarly, SrI rAma shared things with them which were not shared by him even with his mother and father.

Since those people (rAmasya suhrudha) always thought about SrI rAma’s welfare, they were completely crushed.

puththUr swAmy’s explanation: rAmasya suhrudha – their condition was comparable to a bunch of bananas which were cut and laid flat – refers to a helpless state.

sarvE thE – all of them, all the friends

It is said that those in SrI vaikuNtam attain the state of sAmyApaththi. That is, being equivalent to bhagavAn in eight qualities (apahathapApma (not bound by pApam and puNyam), vijara: (free from old age), vimruthyu: (free from death), viSOka: (free from sorrow or grief), vijigathsa: (free from hunger), apipAsa: (free from thirst), sathyakAma: (having infallible intentions), sathyasankalpa: (possessing unfailing valour). Without a difference, everyone in SrI vaikuNtam is in the same state.

Similarly, there was no difference among the friends of SrI rAma. They were all in the same state – incapacitated.

mUdachEthasa: were in a confused state of mind

As well-wishers, why are they lying about helplessly without taking steps to retract perumAL from his state? mUdachEthasa:.

Since they are in a confused state of mind, they are not able to use their intelligence. Therefore, they are not able to do anything.

SOkabhArENa chAkrAnthA: – crushed by sorrow

(Why were they incapable of doing anything?) They were burdened by grief, as though weighed down by a mountain. Hence, they were unable to do anything.

Sayanam na jahusthadhA – they did not leave their beds

If they could get out of their beds, then perhaps they would have done something to stop perumAL from going to the forest. Also, they did not voluntarily lie down on their beds (as one might at night and then wake up in the morning). They could not get out of their beds since they were devastated by sorrow. Hence, they could not stop perumAL from going to the forest.

SrI rAmAyaNa thani SlOkam – 19 – ayOdhyA kANdam 42.34 – rAmam mE – Part 1

kulaSEkarap perumAL, in his pAsurams in perumAL thirumozhi describes king dhaSaratha’s state upon SrI rAma’s departure for the forest. This SlOkam also describes the condition of king dhaSaratha.

avathArikai (Introduction)

In pAsuram ‘mudiyAnE’ thiruvAimozhi – 3.8.1 “nediyAnE! enRu kidakkum en nenjamE” (Oh the great one! Meditating upon your qualities, my heart will stay still with you), AzhwAr’s sense organs which were engaged in emperumAn, behaved as if they were in chEthana samAdhi (state of an entity having knowledge – sentient).

(Note from kAlakshEpam: AzhwAr’s eyes which were engaged in the beauty of emperumAn’s thirumEni, captivated in beauty, the eye on its own wanted to take part in that enjoyment. i.e., the eye wanted to see; even though the eye provides vision, the organ is not sentient – although it cannot see, it wanted to. mAmunigal explains the essence of thiruvAimozhi 3.8 in thiruvAimozhi nURRandhAdhi 28 .

“onRonRin seyal virumba” (each sense desiring the act of other senses). As AzhwAr‘s unending love increased, all his senses reached sarvESvara leaving the bhAgavathas; each sense desired the act of other senses and AzhwAr desired to have all the desires of his senses).

As such, king dhaSaratha’s sense organs too behaved like AzhwAr’s sense organs. They followed SrI rAma. This shows that king dhaSaratha’s sense organs were not involved in anything except SrI rAma, they attained the state of ananyArha SEshathvam (quality of not being a servant to anyone other than SrIman nArAyaNan).

(Note from kAlakshEpam: Although by chronology, AzhwAr’s appearance happened later, in the vyAkhyAnam king dhaSaratha’s sense is compared to that of AzhwAr’s who is from a later time period. AzhwAr’s involvement with bhagavAn is considered to be more superior to that of king dhaSaratha’s. This is because unlike AzhwAr, king dhaSaratha’s involvement mainly stems from his bodily relationship with bhagavAn).

rAmam mE’nugathA dhrushtiradhyApi na nivarthathE I
na thvA paSyAmi kausalyE sAdhu mA pANinA spruSa II

Word-by-Word meaning

mE – my
dhrushti – eye (sight)
rAmam – SrI rAma
anugathA – followed
adhya api – even now
na nivarthathE – did not return
kausalyE – oh, kausalyA dhEvi!
thvA – you
na paSyAmi – unable to see
mA – me
pANinA – (with your) hand
sAdhu – properly (nicely)
spruSa – touch

Simple Meaning

King dhaSaratha says, “Oh, kausalyA dhEvi! My eyes have gone behind SrI rAma, they have not returned. I am not able to see you. Touch me with your hands nicely, so that I will know that you are here, next to me”.

Notes from periyavAchchAn piLLai’s vyAkhyAnam

rAmam mE’nugathA dhrushtiradhyApi na nivarthathE – my eyes, which followed SrI rAma, have not returned to me yet.

King dhaSaratha asks, “Is it possible to recover something that is thrown in the ocean?”

SrI rAmAyaNam bAla kANdam 1-17 “samudhra iva gAmbhIryE” (like an ocean in profundity, his heart in unfathomable like an ocean)
SrI rAmAyaNam kishkindhA kANdam 15-21 “guNAnAmAkarO mahAn” (just as the mountain is the repository of many minerals, SrI rAma is a great repository of (auspicious) qualities, he is the sea for auspicious qualities).

As such, king dhaSaratha says his eyes have fallen into the ocean (SrI rAma) and hence, cannot be recovered.

rAmam mE’nugathA dhrushti

SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 61-1 “rAmO ramayathAm vara:” (SrI rAma is outstanding among those who bring joy). Without a difference, SrI rAma mesmerises both the sentient AthmAs and the insentient organs.

So, king dhaSaratha says that there is nothing wrong with SrI rAma taking away my eyes.

rAmam mE’nugathA dhrushti

Usually, it is the eyes which grasp the beautiful forms. (They capture the form, the person who has the form, and the characteristics of the person, which are different from the form).

Here, instead of the sense organ grasping the form, SrI rAma has captured the eyes.

anugathA – followed

Each sense organ has its own function (The eyes are meant for seeing, the legs are meant for walking, etc.). Since king dhaSaratha’s eyes followed SrI rAma, they also performed the functions of a leg. What a wonder!

(Note from kAlakshEpam: As said earlier, just like how each sense of AzhwAr desired the act of other senses, for king dhaSaratha too, his eyes took upon the function of the legs and followed SrI rAma).

rAmam mE’nugathA dhrushti

parama samhithA “yEna yEna dhAthA gachchathi” (wherever emperumAn goes, mukthAthmAs follow him to those places).
thaiththirIya upanishadh 10-5 “kAmarUpyanusancharan” (taking all the forms as desired by emperumAn and following paramAthmA).

“What a great surprise!” To follow paramAthmA is the act of a sentient AthmA, but here, it is being done by the insentient eye.

rAmam mE’nugathA

A mukthAthmA follows paramAthmA, like a mother cow that follows its calf, and a calf that follows its mother, and like a shadow that goes behind its object, and attains immense joy. This is said about SrI vaikuNdanAthan in paramapadham.

But king dhaSaratha’s eyes, by following SrI rAma, have attained that joy in this world itself (as described in thiruvAimozhi – 8.5.11). What a wonder!

thiruvAimozhi 8.5.11 “ingE kANa ippiRappE magizhvar” (in this world itself, seen by all, in this birth itself, will acquire the joy caused by experiencing bhagavAn).

dhrushtI rAmam anugathA

yajur vEdham 4-6-8 “chakshurdhEvAnAmutha marthyAnam” (bhagavAn acts as eyes (as a protector) for bothn the humans and the dhEvas – one who blesses knowledge to the residents of higher realms and earthly realms).

thiruvAimozhi 1.8.3 “kaN AvAn enRum maNNOr viNNORkku” (he is the controller, for the residents of the material realm and spiritual realm).

As SrI rAma, who is the protector (like the eyes) for all the universes, began to walk, the eyes which belonged to king dhaSaratha, followed him.

dhrushtI:

dhrushti – eye. “dhruSil prEkshaNE” The root word dhrushti refers to the ability to analyse and evaluate/understand. King dhaSaratha says, “Since the eye is able to scrutinise and understand the distinction between right and wrong, it followed SrI rAma. Hence the eyes acted appropriately and followed SrI rAma).

dhrushti:

The eye is the one that perceives and notifies us about what is good and bad for us. So naturally, it is able to do the same thing for itself.

So, king dhaSaratha says, “Hence, my eye, knowing that it is good, followed SrI rAma”.

mE dhrushti: – my eyes (my servitor)

King dhaSaratha says, “Even though it is mine and it is my servitor, my eyes have followed SrI rAma. As my servitor, they are supposed to do what is good for me. Instead, my eyes have left me and gone behind SrI rAma”.

(Note from kAlakshEpam:

Who is a servitor? What is SEshathvam (servitude)?

rAmAnuja explains this in his SrI sUkthi as “paragatha athiSaya AdhAna ichchayA upAdhEyathvam Eva yasya svarUpam sa SEsha:, para: SEshi”

The one who has a svarUpam, a svarUpam that desires to act only for the enrichment of another, is SEshan. The one for whom he carries out his act is SEshi. bhagavAn is SEshi).

mE dhrushti: – my eyes – one with a long-standing relationship with me!

King dhaSaratha says, “It is beautiful that I have had this connection with my eyes for a long time”.

mE dhrushtI rAmam anugathA

King dhaSaratha says, “My eyes have abandoned me even though they have known me for a long time. But they followed SrI Rama, in spite of knowing him for only a short period. I am not able to understand the aptitude of these eyes”.

mE dhrushti: – eyes which are my servitor

King dhaSaratha says, “My eyes can act by their free willI if they are independent. Being my servitor, they are not independent. In spite of this, they have left me and followed SrI rAma”.

mE dhrushti: – eyes which do not belong to kaikEyi dhEvi or mantharA

King dhaSaratha says, “Oh! I wish I had the eyes of kaikEyi dhEvi or mantharA; those eyes would not have abandoned me and followed SrI rAma”.

SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 12-104 “nandhAmi paSyannapi dharSanEna” (When I look at SrI rAma with my heart (inner eyes) I feel happy, but if I look at him with my eyes I turn into a young man indeed).

So, king dhaSaratha says “I have accustomed my eyes to always look at SrI rAma. Therefore, they have followed SrI rAma. Therefore, I am responsible for their act (eyes are not to be blamed)”.

mE dhrushti:

King dhaSaratha says, “Perhaps it’s because I have a temptation for everything in sight that my eyes are behaving this way”.

mE dhrushti:

Even though king dhaSaratha’s eyes have deserted him, he does not forsake them. He continues to maintain his relationship with his eyes. He does not want to discard his eyes after they have abandoned him because they have (eyes) desired SrI rAma. This is similar to parakAla nAyaki’s behaviour in periya thirumozhi 3-7-1. parakAla nAyaki leaves her mother and goes to thiruvAli dhivyadhEsam. Even though her daughter has abandoned her, parakAla nAyaki’s mother continues to call her as ‘my daughter’.

periya thirumozhi 3-7-1 “vaLLi marungul endhan madamAn” (my daughter, who is very young, who has a slender waist).
“peRRa thAyarai vittaganRu” (she left, leaving her mother alone).

mE dhrushtI rAmam anugathA

King dhaSaratha says, “They are my eyes, instead of following my heart, they follow SrI rAma”.

What is the need to suffer so much for this?

If the eyes go behind SrI rAma, let them go, maybe they will return after sometime.

King dhaSaratha says, “They have not yet returned”.

AzhwAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE SaraNam

periyavAchchAn piLLai thiruvadigaLE SaraNam

vyAkhyAnam for this SlOkam will be continued in the next article.

Source – SrI rAmAyaNa thani SlOkam – 19 – ayOdhyA kANdam41.20 – yE thu rAmasya, 43.34 – rAmam mE – Part 1 – Audio Video

adiyEn chithrA rAmAnuja dhAsi

Proofreading/Curating done by – kOsalEndhra rAmAnuja dhAsan, krishNan rAmAnuja dhAsan

Artwork – namperumAL rAmAnuja dhAsan

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