SrI rAmAyaNa thani SlOkam – 16 – ayOdhyA kANdam 31.2 – sa bhrAthu:

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

Previously, in SlOkam, ayOdhyA kANdam – 30.3 – kim thvAmanyatha, sIthAp pirAtti expressed her disapproval of SrI rAma’s decision to go to the forest alone. She told SrI rAma that it is inappropriate for him to leave her alone and go to the forest since her dharma was to be with him and support him. She also expressed that such an action (going alone to the forest) will not be acceptable to her father. Further, sIthAp pirAtti also conveyed that her father may think of him as a woman in a man’s body because of this act. In this manner, sIthAp pirAtti expressed her desire to accompany SrI rAma to the forest.

In this article, we shall see the vyAkhyAnam for SlOkam 31.2 in ayOdhyA kANdam. This SlOkam describes iLaiya perumAL’s SaraNAgathi to perumAL requesting perumAL to take him along to the forest. In this vyAkhyAnam, periyavAchchAn piLLai also explains the meaning of (pUrva vAkyam of) dhvaya mahAmanthram that is present in this SlOkam.

avathArikai (Introduction)

When SrI rAma decides to go to the forest, he asks lakshmaNa to stay in ayOdhyA to protect the residents of ayOdhyA and to support SrI bharathAzhwAn. But lakshmaNa could not bear to hear those words since his desire was to accompany SrI rAma and serve both sIthAp pirAtti and SrI rAma in the forest. Therefore, with this desire to serve them, iLaiya perumAL in the presence of sIthAp pirAtti surrenders at perumAL’s divine feet.

sa bhrAthuScharaNau gAdam nipIdya raghunandhana: I
sIthAmuvAchAthiyaSA rAghavancha mahAvratham II

Word-by-Word meaning

raghunandhana: – one who brings joy to everyone in raghu dynasty
athiyaSA: – one who has utmost fame/honour
sa: – that lakshmaNa
bhrAthu: – brother’s
charaNau – divine feet
gAdam – very firmly
nipIdya – holding
sIthAm – (and) sIthAp pirAtti’s
mahAvratham – having a great vow
rAghavancha – (and also seeing) SrI rAma
uvAcha – spoke

Simple Meaning

lakshmaNa requests SrI rAma to take him along to the forest. But before speaking to SrI rAma, lakshmaNa holds the divine feet of his brother and looks at both sIthAp pirAtti and SrI rAma. And then he begins to talk.

dhvaya mahAmanthram (pUrva vAkyam) – ‘SrIman nArAyaNa charaNau SaraNam prapadhyE’ (Having SrI mahAlakshmi as purushakAram, I surrender unto the divine feet of nArAyaNa who is with always her).

SrIman nArAyaNa – nArAyaNa who is with SrI mahalakshmi; charaNau – divine feet; SaraNam prapadhyE – I surrender

In this SlOkam, the act of lakshmaNa looking at both sIthAp pirAtti and SrI rAma conveys the meaning ‘nArAyaNa who is with SrI mahalakshmi’ (SrIman nArAyaNa); lakshmaNa holding the divine feet (charaNau) conveys the meaning ‘I surrender’ (SaraNam prapadhyE).

Notes from periyavAchchAn piLLai’s vyAkhyAnam

sa: – that lakshmaNa (iLaiya perumAL)

iLaiya perumAL who is eternally serving perumAL in paramapadham and in vyUham, follows perumAL from paramapadham in order to continue his service to perumAL during SrI rAma avathAram. He comes to take birth in ayOdhyA along with SrI rAma.

Right from the time of his birth, iLaiya perumAL could not bear any separation from perumAL because of his immense devotion for perumAL.

SrI rAmAyaNam bAla kANdam 18-27 “bAlyAthprabhruthi susnigdha:” (from a very young age iLaiya perumAL had immense devotion towards perumAL).

SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 53-31 “na cha sIthA thvayA hInA na chAhamapi rAghava, muhUrththamapi jIvAvO jalAn mathsyAvivOdhruthau” (lakshmaNa says: oh, rAghava! Neither sIthAp pirAtti nor I will survive your separation. Even if we were to survive (in the hope that you will rescue), we will not be able to survive for more than a few moments (if the separation continues), just like how a fish will not survive for more than a few moments when it is taken out of water).

bhrAthu: – brother

‘bhrAthu: – brother’ is one who takes responsibility to protect and takes care of his younger brother. Here, perumAL accepting iLaiya perumAL’s kainkaryam and perumAL protecting iLaiya perumAL can be inferred from ‘bhrAthu:’.

bhrAthu: – brother’s

Even though ‘bhrAthu:’ here refers to SrI rAma, periyavAchchAn piLLai shows a special meaning for this word; he explains that it (bhrAthu:) is to be understood as ‘nArAyaNa’. This is because the meaning of pUrva vAkyam in dhvayam is embedded in this SlOkam.

In pUrva vAkyam, ‘SrIman nArAyaNa charaNau’ means ‘nArAyaNa’s (who is with pirAtti) two divine feet’. The same can be seen in this SlOkam, where it is mentioned as ‘brother’s two divine feet’ – is to be understood as ‘nArAyaNa’ in the place of ‘brother’s’ (bhrAthu:).

subAla upanishath “mAthA pithA bhrAthA nivAsaSSaraNam suhrudh gathir nArAyaNa:” [mother is nArAyaNa, father is nArAyaNa, brother is nArAyaNa, our place of residence/existence is nArAyaNa, upAyam (our means) is nArAyaNa, our well-wisher is nArAyaNa, upEyam (our goal) is nArAyaNa].

Also, in the SlOkam, instead of “lakshmaNa holding his brother’s two divine feet”, it can be said as “lakshmaNa holding SrI rAma’s two divine feet”. The word “bhrAthu:” (brother’s) has been used, because as seen above in subAla upanishath, ‘brother’ also means ‘nArAyaNa’. However, one may raise a doubt about the word ‘bhrAthu:’ (brother’s) because the pUrva vAkyam is ‘SrIman nArAyaNa charaNau’ (and not nArAyaNa’s). Although the pUrva vAkyam is ‘SrIman nArAyaNa charaNau’, for the sake of comprehension, it is ‘SrIman nArAyaNa’s charaNau’.

periyavAchchAn piLLai shows another special meaning for the word ‘charaNau’.

In many vyAkhyAnams, ‘charaNau’ is interpreted as ‘two divine feet’ – meaning SrIman nArAyaNa’s two divine feet alone and nothing else is upAyam (means).

periyavAchchAn piLLai points out that ‘charaNau’ can be interpreted as both upAyam and upEyam (since ‘chara’ the root word conveys both these meanings).

charaNau

lakshmaNa chose to hold the divine feet instead of holding SrI rAma’s hands. Why did lakshmaNa hold the divine feet, instead of holding his hands? It is said that it is possible for someone to let go if one is holding their hands, but it is difficult to let go if one is holding their feet. Hence, lakshmaNa chose to hold the divine feet (charaNau) .

periyavAchchAn piLLai provides another special explanation here for ‘charaNau’. ‘charaNau’ (the two divine feet) – is the place for both service and refuge (i.e., the ‘two divine feet’ is where one seeks to serve and is also the place where one can seek refuge).

gAdam – pressing hard/firmly

nipIdya – hold

Why did lakshmaNa hold SrI rAma’s feet in this manner (very firmly) ?

iLaiya perumAL’s devotion to perumAL is such that separation from perumAL was completely unbearable for him. Hence, he held SrI rAma’s feet firmly as a display of this extreme devotion and to show that it was impossible for him to bear the separation.

gAdam

puththUr swAmy’s explanation – gAdam – pressing hard/firmly; nipIdya – hold

lakshmaNa’s act of holding SrI rAma’s feet very firmly indicates his whole-hearted desire/intention in SaraNAgathi (to follow SrI rAma and to serve him in the forest).

SrIman nArAyaNa charaNau SaraNam prapadhyE

SrIman nArAyaNa charaNau (the two divine feet of nArAyaNa who is with SrI mahAlakshmi) is the upAyam (means). Although perumAL’s divine feet always exist as upAyam, for a ‘prapanna’ (one doing SaraNAgathi), the ‘two divine feet’ become a upAyam (means) when surrendering at the divine feet. And this act of holding on to the divine feet is called ‘prapadhyE’. In this SlOkam, the words ‘gAdam nipIdya’ (holding very firmly), conveys the same meaning as ‘prapadhyE’. This (the act of holding the two divine feet) is a display of jIvAthmA’s intention to surrender to the lord.

raghunandhana: – one who brings joy to the people in raghu dynasty

The kings of raghu dynasty not only have a desire to serve their elders but they also celebrate/glorify the ones engaged in such service. iLaiya perumAL who is always engaged in service to perumAL is therefore, lauded and enjoyed by all in the raghu dynasty.

sIthAmuvAcha – spoke by looking at sIthAp pirAtti also

Holding SrI rAma’s divine feet, he (lakshmaNa) spoke as though he was speaking into the ears while at the same time looking at sIthAp pirAtti also.

“SruNOthi SrAvayathIthi SrI:”

‘SrI’ means one who is a listener and one who persuades perumAL to listen. This is one of the six meanings for the syllable ‘SrI’.

pirAtti, graciously, not only listens to the jIvAthmAs but also persuades perumAL to listen to the pleas/requests of jIvAthmAs. She remains in the forefront and listens to all those who come to surrender to perumAL and persuades perumAL to pay attention to those pleas/requests. It is she who graciously listens first and then conveys the same to perumAL.

Hence, iLaiya perumAL spoke by looking at pirAtti, so she can convey his request to perumAL.

athiyaSA: – one who has utmost fame/honour

SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 31-25 “aham sarvam karishyAmi” (I will do all kinds of services).

Why is lakshmaNa referred here as “one with utmost fame”? lakshmaNa was also a prince like SrI rAma and deserved all the respect as a prince. Inspite of being a prince and being worthy of all honours, lakshmaNa did not think any less of servitorship. He chose to do all kinds of services to SrI rAma (at all times, both while awake and asleep). The entire world was amazed at this and he was celebrated by all for his services.

rAghavancha mahAvratham

lakshmaNa also looked at SrI rAma (one who has a firm and steadfast vow to protect everyone who surrenders to him) and spoke.

rAghavancha – also spoke to SrI rAma, descendant of raghu dynasty

Normally, the act of SaraNAgathi becomes complete and fruitful only in the presence of a purushakAram [recommendation]. But the descendants of raghu dynasty did not wait for or expect any recommendation to protect the people who have surrendered.

SrI rAma comes from such an eminent lineage.

mahAvratham

SrI rAma is celebrated for his lineage from the illustrious raghu dynasty. But, beyond that, SrI rAma is glorified for his vow to protect all those who have surrendered to him.

SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 18-33 “abhayam sarvabhUthEbhyO dhadhAmyEthadh vratham mama” (To the one who has surrendered to me, I will provide protection from all. This is my vow). All the worlds celebrate and worship SrI rAma for his vow to provide protection from all.

“abhayam sarvabhUthEbhyO” (Protection from all). ‘Protection from all’ includes providing protection to lakshmaNa from his fear of losing his opportunity to serve SrI rAma.

Hence, lakshmaNa says to SrI rAma, “My fear is that you will leave me and go to the forest. You only have to protect me from this fear by taking me along”.

athiyaSA: raghunandhana: sa: bhrAthuScharaNau gAdam nipIdya sIthAmuvAcha

(One with utmost fame, one who brings joy to all in the raghu dynasty, that lakshmaNa, perumAL’s divine feet , held firmly, spoke by looking at sIthAp pirAtti also).

That lakshmaNa, one with utmost fame, one who brings joy to all in the raghu dynasty, held firmly, perumAL’s divine feet, and spoke by looking at sIthAp pirAtti also.

This concludes the vyAkhyAnam for ayOdhyA kANdam – 31.2 – sa bhrAthu:.

AzhwAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE SaraNam

periyavAchchAn piLLai thiruvadigaLE SaraNam

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

Source – SrI rAmAyaNa thani SlOkam -16 – ayOdhyA kANdam – 31.2 – sa bhrAthu: Audio Video

adiyEn chithrA rAmAnuja dhAsi

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

Artwork – namperumAL rAmAnuja dhAsan

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