{"id":25756,"date":"2020-03-29T09:51:47","date_gmt":"2020-03-29T05:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/?p=25756"},"modified":"2020-03-29T09:51:47","modified_gmt":"2020-03-29T05:51:47","slug":"ramas-supremacy-in-taras-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/ramas-supremacy-in-taras-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Rama\u2019s Supremacy in Tara\u2019s Words"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tree of Knowledge<\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

By Niranjana KarthigaiRajan<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"In Ramayana Kishkinda Kandam, Sri Rama slayed Vali for his misdeeds of abducting Sugriva\u2019s wife, for exiling Sugriva from the Kingdom, and for not accepting Sugriva\u2019s surrender. While Tara lamented on her husband Vali\u2019s demise, other women consoled her. When grief-stricken Tara turned around to look at the man who killed her husband, she saw eight feet tall broad-shouldered Sri Rama holding His bow.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her intention was to scold Rama, but on seeing His valour, she ended up praising Rama\u2019s supremacy. The reason being, anger is due due to Rajo Guna, and when this Rajo Guna was burnt on seeing the Lord, she started to praise Rama.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tara, spoke thus, \u201cTvam aprameyacha durasharacha jithendriyacha uttama dharmikacha akshaya keerthiyaksha vishakshanansha shithikshanavaan shagajomakshaha<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This sloka has been given an in-depth commentary by Sri Periyavachan Pillai (born in 1167) in his work \u2018Sri Ramayana Thanislokam\u2019, which is as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

One Who Can\u2019t Be Known<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Tvam<\/em> means \u2018you\u2019 and aprameyacha <\/em>means \u2018one who can\u2019t be known\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Namazhwar (azhwar saint 3059 BC) in his hymns \u2018Thiruvaimozhi\u2019 says, \u2018katkili! unnai kaanumaru arulaai\u2019 which means, \u201cO Lord, you can\u2019t be seen, may you make yourself to be seen\u201d. This means we can\u2019t know Him through our efforts, but we can get to know Him only by His grace.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here, Tara, addressing Rama as \u2018you\u2019 denotes His simplicity. Tara wonders about Rama\u2019s simplicity in befriending Guhan (boatman) and Sugriva (monkey), giving moksham to Jatayu (king of eagles) and accepting fruits offered by Shabari (elderly woman sage).<\/span><\/p>\n

And aprameyaha <\/em>denotes His greatness. Not just Tara, even the Vedas have said that the Supreme can\u2019t be known.<\/span><\/p>\n

One Who Can\u2019t Be Attained<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Durasharacha<\/em> means \u2018one who can\u2019t be attained\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that Bhakti is the only means to attain Him. Doesn\u2019t this contradict Tara\u2019s words that the Lord can\u2019t be attained? Again, we can\u2019t attain Him through our efforts, only by His grace. He is the way and He is the One to attain.<\/span><\/p>\n

One Who Has Conquered the Senses\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Jithendriyacha<\/em> means \u2018one who has conquered the senses\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tara was an epitome of grace and beauty, and any man would admire her, but Rama didn\u2019t even lift His eyes to see her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Secondly, after winning the battle with Vali, He handed over the Kishkindha Kingdom to Vali\u2019s son Angathan to rule, without any attachment to the Kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Rama had no desire neither for Kingdom or other women – hence Jithendriyacha.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Supreme Among Righteous<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Uttama dharmikacha<\/em> means \u2018supreme among righteous\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

One who does good only for himself is dharmikan<\/em>; one who does good for others is madhayama dharmikan<\/em>, and one who does good for others at his own cost is uttama dharmikan.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Rama fought against Vali not for Himself but for Sugriva. Though Vali should have gone to hell for his misdeeds, he has gained heaven since he has been slayed by the Lord Himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus Rama has done good for not only to Sugriva but also to Vali, and so Rama is uttama dharmikan<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Undiminishing Glory <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Akshaya Keerthiyaksha<\/em> means \u2018undiminishing glory\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Andal (the only female Azhwar saint during 8th<\/sup> century) in her hymns Nachiyar Thirumozhi sings ‘mannu perumpugazh’, which is the Tamil translation of the word akshaya keerthiyaksha.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Tara mentions that no one can diminish Rama\u2019s glory. In spite of various debates taking place nowadays on whether Rama was right in slaying Vali, in banishing Sita to the forest? All these debates haven\u2019t diminished Rama\u2019s glory.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Vali Himself and Tara, his bereaved wife have praised Rama, there is no point in questioning Rama\u2019s actions.<\/span><\/p>\n

One Who is Perceptive<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Vishakshanansha<\/em> means \u2018 One who is perceptive\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Vali and Sugriva battled, Rama couldn\u2019t distinguish between the brothers as they looked alike. Rama ordered Hanuman to garland Sugriva’s neck with gaja-pakshika flowers. When they battled again, Rama shot an arrow that pierced Vali\u2019s chest and knocked him down. And so Rama is Vishakshanansha.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Though Ramayana happened during Treta yuga, still in this Kali yuga we are speaking about Rama\u2019s glory. One could think that Rama has been far-sighted to have made azhwars (Tamil poet-saints of South India) and acharyars sing His glory in their works.<\/span><\/p>\n

One Who is Patient as that of the Earth<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Shithikshanavaan<\/em> means \u2018one who has patience as that of the Earth\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tara hails Rama as an embodiment of endurance of all people on earth. And He is Aashrutha Pakshapaadi<\/em> since He doesn\u2019t look at the faults of anyone who seek Him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, Tara wonders that only this quality of Rama had made Him to even listen to her though she had approached Rama with an intention to scold Him.<\/span><\/p>\n

One Whose Eyes are Red<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Shagajomakshaha<\/em> means \u2018one whose eyes are red\u2019. Rama\u2019s eyes are red due to anger and vatsalyam <\/em>(parental love). Were his eyes red owing to separation from Sita or owing to anger on Vali, or is it due to vatsalyam on Sugriva?<\/span><\/p>\n

Can the Lord demonstrate both anger and vatsalyam at the same time? Yes, Narasimha showed both anger and vatsalyam in His eyes while slaying demon Hiranyakashipu (Anger on Hiranyakashipu and vatsalyam on Prahladan).<\/span><\/p>\n

Suffixing \u2018Cha\u2019 <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The words aprameyacha, <\/strong>durasharacha<\/strong>, jithendriyacha, <\/strong>uttama dharmikacha<\/strong>, akshaya keerthiyaksha,<\/strong> <\/em>and vishakshanansha<\/strong> <\/em>are suffixed with \u2018cha\u2019 (equivalent to \u2018in addition to\u2019 for this sloka) in order to add up each of Rama\u2019s qualities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whereas words shithikshanavaan<\/em> and shagajomakshaha<\/em> do not have \u2018cha\u2019. In case of shithikshanavaan, <\/em>Rama\u2019s quality of being patient is so huge that it doesn\u2019t provide space for former qualities.<\/span><\/p>\n

And shagajomakshaha<\/em> stands out from other qualities since it talks about roopa gunam <\/em>(quality found in body form i.e. eyes, here) whereas other qualities are atma gunam<\/em> (quality of the soul).<\/span><\/p>\n

On this Rama Navami, let us reiterate Rama\u2019s divine qualities and chant Rama Nama<\/em> to cross the ocean of samsara<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jai Sri Ram!<\/span><\/p>\n

Niranjana KarthigaiRajan
\n<\/strong>niranjanavk@gmail.com<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

* Published in print edition on <\/em>27 March 2020<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tree of Knowledge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":25757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3113],"tags":[23043,23042,23041,23045,3119,16436,23044,7372],"class_list":["post-25756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spirituality","tag-namazhwar","tag-rama-navami","tag-ramas-supremacy","tag-ramayana-kishkinda-kandam","tag-spirituality","tag-sri-rama","tag-thiruvaimozhi","tag-tree-of-knowledge"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/TREE...-TARA.jpg?fit=1200%2C851&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8QzSF-6Hq","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}