ATHIMAANUSHA STHAVAM OF SRI KOORATHAAZHWAN
Part 5 (Slokas 18 to 20)
(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)
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In the following 16 SlOkas (18 to 23), Azhwaan narrates several episodes in Sri
Rama Avataara and proves how in each the Paratvam of the Lord gets revealed
much against his claim that after all he was only a human being, being the son
of Dasaratha. ?Aatmaanam maanusham manyE Raamam dasaratha aaatmajam?. This
makes a very interesting reading of a type of literature known as ?Nindaa
Sthuti?

Slokam 18:

?Duped by a mere deer??

Pruchchaami kinchana yadaa kila RaaghavatvE
Maayaa mrugasya vasagO manujatva mougdyaat /
Seetaa viyOPga vivasaO na cha tadgatigjna:
Praadaas tadaa paragatim hi katham?khagaaya //

?Oh! Lord! I am asking you one question. When you appeared as Sri Rama you
called yourself a mere human being and as a man ran after the mysterious deer
at the behest of your dear wife. When you got separated from her, you became so
shaken and shattered that you did not know where she had gone.

This being so, how did you know how to send JaTaayu, the bird to
Paramapadam? Don?t you see the contradiction in your actions in the two cases??

NOTES:
? ?Since none else could give a fitting reply, I am asking you directly.
? When you were exiled, Sri Sita, captivated by the charming deer pleaded
with you to secure it for her, saying:

?ahO! Roopam! ahO! Lakshmee: svarasampas cha SObhanaa!
mrigO adbutO vichitraangO hridayam harateeva mE?
? ILayaperumaaL persuaded you convincingly against the deception played
by the deer.

?MrigO hi Evam vidhO ratna vichitrO naasti Raaghava!?
Jagatyaam jagatee naatha! Maayaishaa hi na samsaya: //

? You never heeded his advice and like ordinary people who are swayed by
emotion, you ran after the illusory deer.
? When RavaNa abducted Sri Sita, you acted as if you did not know where
and how she had gone.
? But, you knew the way to mOksham to send PeriyaUDaiyaar (Sri JaTaayu)
there!
? Don?t you think there is a contradiction and inconsistency in these
events?
? I demand an explanation, please?

yadaa kila RaaghavatvE:
Azhwaan implies that the way Sri Rama acted as if he did not know the way Sri
Sita went was just acting. It may be noted that he uses the same words:

"RaaghavatvE abhavat Seetaa? used by Sri Paraasarar.

Maayaa mrugasya vasaga:
The word ?maaya? does not mean ?false? as Advaitins hold. It means
?wonderful? That is why, LakshmaNa says; ?gandarvapura sannibham?. It is not
possible to hit with an arrow something false or kill something that did not
exist. The form of the deer was real, meaning that Maareecha had taken that
?wonderful? form.

manujatva mougdyaat:
?You went about asking every sentient being and insentient thing like cow,
bird, hill, river, cloud etc whether anyone of them had seen Sri Sita. And,
that you would destroy the whole world, if you cannot find Sri Sita:

?sa gandharva manushya panama jagat samastam parivartayaami aham?

Did you not have even the commonsense of ordinary folk when you swore to
destroy the world, being after all a mere human being for whom this is beyond
his capacity?

Praadaas tadaa paragatim:
?When you arranged for the last rites (anthimakriya) of JaTaayu, what did you
say?

Yaa gati: yagjnaseelaanaam aahitaagnEs cha yaa gati: /
aparaOvartinaam yaa cha yaa cha bhoomi pradaayinaam//
mayaa tvam samanujnaatO gachcha lOkaan anuttamaan //

?I permit you to go to the highest worlds to which those who habitually perform
yagjnas, those who perform ?agnihOtra? with ?aahitaagni?, those by total
dedication to Emperumaan leave this Prakriti maNDalam never to return and those
who gift away ?bhoomi? are ordained to reach ? to that world (Paramapadam), I
hereby dispatch you.?

NOTES:
? What is the Yagjna that Sri Rama speaks of in this context?
? It is none other than ?SaraNaagati? or ?Prapatti? as seen from the
following:

Havirgrheetvaasmaroopam vasuraNyEti mantrata: /
Juhuyaat PraNavEnaagnou achyutaakhyE SanaatanE //

? It is the same Paramapadam that Lord KrishNa referred to in Bhagavad
Gita thus:

Na cha punar aavartatE, yad gatvaa na nivartantE
taddhaama paramam mama /
aabhrahmaa bhuvanaat lOKaa: punaraavartinaa Arjuna!
Maam upEtya tu KountEya! Punarjanma na vidhyatE //

? It is only the one who is the cause of the world (jagat kaaraNa) and
who alone can grant ?moksham? is called Paramaatma, say the Vedas and Vedantas.

? KulasEkara Perumaal also mentions this saying
?Jataayuvai VaikuntathErri?
? If you can grant ?mOksham? to JaTaayu, you must be that Paramaatma and
definitely NOT a human being. This also proves that your claim ?aatmaanam
maanusham manyE? does NOT hold water?
? Swami Desika when he praised Kachchi Varadan says that even though the
clouds hover over the sky and create darkness, we know that the Sun can never
be completely hidden, great souls detect the Paratvam in the Lord even if tries
to hide it under the cloak of his Souseelyam.

Souseela bhaavita dhiyaa bhavataa kathanchit
sanchaadutaanapi guNaan varada! /
Tvadeeyaan! Pratyakshayantya vikalam tava sannikrishTa:
patyustvitvashaamiva payOda vrutaan mayookhaan //
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SLOKAM 19:

?A Bird?s flight to Heaven?

akshuNNa yOgapatham agrya hatham JaTaayum
tiryancham Eva batha mOKsha pathE niyOktum /
saknOshi vEtsi cha yadaa, sa: tadaa katham tvam
dEveem avaaptum analam vyathita: vichinvan //

?Oh! Lord! When you were able to know the way to mOksham and the power to use
that way to send him there a mere bird, JaTaayu, totally bereft of any practice
in any yOga, the one who was killed by one belonging to the Brahmin caste
(RavaNa), how come you were unable to know which way Sri Sita went and
consequently you were beside with grief on separation from her and anxiety in
not being able to find her out. This indeed is strange!?

NOTES:
? There are few subtle points involved in the episode relating to
?JaTaayu mOksham?. Azhwan brings them out to show how the episode betrayed his
Paratvam despite his claim to be an ordinary human being.
? Being a bird, JaTaayu was not aware that mOksham was the highest
position to be attained and was not aware of any means to attain the same,
namely Karma yOga, Jnaana yOga, Bhgakti yOga and Prapatti.
? Swami Desika has explained this:
avadhheryai chaturvidham pumarthE bhavadatha viniyukta jeevitah: san/
labhatE bhavata: phalaani jantur nikhilaanyatra nidarsanam JaTaayu: //
? Further, JaTaayu was an ?agrahathar? meaning one who was killed by a
person belonging to the foremost caste. It is said that one who is killed by a
Brahmin does not attain mOksha in that birth or the Heavens. ?na agra hatasya
mOKOsti?
? RavaNa was the son of Visravas, who himself was the son of Pulastya,
the Maanasa putra of Saakshaat Brahma. Thus, he was a Brahmin par excellence.
? JaTaayu was a mere bird. It did not know any ?mOKshOpaayam?. Nor did he
obtain ?SamaasrayaNam? from any Sri VaishNava as required in Chaandilya etc.

?pasu: manushya: pakshee vaa yE cha VaishNava samsraya: /
tEnaiva tE prayaasyanti tad vishNu: paramam padam//?

? Sounaka Bhagavaan has assured that if one had done some ?Upaasana? in
an earlier birth but could not complete it in that birth, the ?vaasana? carried
over to the next birth could enable the subject to continue that ?upaasana? to
its completion and attain the resultant ?phalan?

? There is no evidence to support the view that he could have done some
?Upaasana? in his previous birth and due to the ?Poorva Janma Vaasana?, he
continued it in his life as a bird.
? This being so, how did you declare -
?mayaa tvam samanujnaatO gachcha lOKaan anuttamaan?
? ?This only proves that you are the ?Paramaatma?. When you decide to use
your Super-human power, you have the knowledge (Jnaanam) and power (Sakti) to
grant ?mOksham? and there is none who could prevent you from exercising that
power or the way you exercise it.?
? ?At the same time, it is really mystifying to see your incapacity to
know the whereabouts of Sri Sita and consequently seemed to lose your senses in
grief and LakshmaNa had to console you!?
? ?You owe me an explanation to this dichotomy in your behavior!
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SlOkam 20:

?The monkey business?

Saalaan hi sapta sagireen sarasaa talaan yaan
Eka ishu manda javata: nirapatraya: tvam /
tEshu Eka vivyathana khinna kapi praNunnam
saakhaamrigam mrigayasE sma katham sahaayam?

?Oh! Lord! You broke the seven Saala trees that grew up like a huge mountain
and threw the pieces down to the nether worlds, all with the minimal force of a
single arrow. It is worth noting that the strong monkey, Vaali could not even
shake a single branch of a single tree out of the seven. And, you went in
search of friendship with Sugreeva who was physically driven from pillar to
post by the same Vaali. How do you reconcile this contradiction??

NOTES:
? Normally, when someone seeks the help of another, that other person
should be capable of rendering the help needed.
? But, when you sought Sugreeva?s help, he pleaded his utter helplessness
having been hounded out by his brother Vaali.
? How come you chose such a weakling for helping you?
? Further, he tried to test your skills by asking you to split not one
but seven giant trees and shook the green leaves of the trees down to earth
especially when Vaali could not move very slightly just a single tree.
? After breaking the trees that were like huge mountains, your golden
arrow came back and rested in its place in your bag of arrows.

Sa visrushTO balavataa baaNa: swarNa pariskrita:/
Bhitvaa saalaan giriprastham sapta bhoomim vivEsa ha //
pravishTas cha muhoortEna dharaam bhitvaa mahaajava: /
nishpatya cha punas toorNam sva toorNeem punar aavisat//

? Not only this. He actually doubted your prowess and challenged you
whether you could shake the bones of Dundhubi. And, you not only lifted but
also threw them far away especially when Vaali could not move a single bone.

?Sugreeava: sankitas cha aaseet nityam veeryENa RaaghavE?

? No doubt, this is because after the traumatic experiences with Vaali,
Sugreeva was naturally got the fear that none could be a match to Vaali?s valor
and so it cannot be construed as his committing any apachaaram to Sri Rama.

Eka ishu manda javata:
? Azhwan suggests that Sri Rama darted his arrow with minimal speed. If
he had done it with force, it might have destroyed the entire world.
? In Visaaka Datta?s Raamananda NaaTakam, there is a SlOkam by ?Sukha
SaaraNas? telling RavaNa how he did not know the fact that the air that
whistled through the holes made in the seven giant Saala trees (Visaala saala)
sang the praise of Sri Rama with ?Sapta swarangaL? (the seven musical notes):

RaamOyam jagateeha vikrama guNai: khyaata: prasiddhim paraam
asmad bhaaghya viparyayaat yadi param dEvO na jaanaati thum/
Vandeevaisha yasaamsi gaayati marud yasya Eka bhaaNaahati
srENee bhoota visaala saala vivarOd bhootai: svarai: saptabhi: //

Eka vivyathana khinna kapi praNunnam
? It was with very great difficulty that Vaali tried several times to
shake the trees one by one:

Thum uvaacha sugreeva: sapta Saalaan imaan puraa/
Evam eka eka aso vaali vivyaatha atha sa chaasakrit //

Saakhaamrigam:
This usage suggests that
? Monkey is an animal that jumps from tree to tree and that
? When even sparrows have the capacity to build their nests, monkeys
having arms and commonsense they are not able to build their homes and depend
on tree branches to live.
? The poet wonders how the Lord chose such an animal to help him.
? Azhwan suggests that it was because of his Soulabhyam and Souseelyam
that Sri Rama made a worthless animal feel important to be regarded as his
leader. For did not Vaalmiki say:

LOKanaatha: puraa bhootvaa sugreevam naatham ichchati /
Yasya prasaadE sakalaa: praseedEyu: imaa prajaa: /
Sa RamO vaanarEndrasya Prasaadam abhi kaankshati //