ATHIMAANUSHA STHAVAM OF SRI KOORATHAAZHWAN
Part 6 (Slokas 21 and 22)
(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)
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SLOKAM 21: ?OPERATION GEDDA?

Yadvaa mrigam mrigayuvad mrigayaapadEsaat
channO jaghanta, na tu chatru vada abhi mukhyaat //
tad yuktam Eva tava raaghava vamsajasya
tiryakshu naiva hi vipakshatayOpachaara: //

?Oh! Sri Rama! You hunted and killed Vaali, a beast by birth and a cruel
beast by behavior. You did not consider him as your enemy but only as an
animal fit to be hunted and killed. This is enough justification for your
hiding yourself from his sight. Such is the tradition of the Kings of Raghu
Vamsa. For who will deem a mere animal that grows horizontally physically
and lacking in commonsense as one?s enemy? Definitely not for the scion of
the family of Raghu?

NOTES:
? Bhavabhuti, the great poet and a bhakta of Sri Rama remarked in his
?Uttara Raama Charitram? a scene showing some urchins making fun of Sri Rama
by mouthing some unsavory remarks against him thus:
?Yadvaa pourusham indra soonu hananE tatraapi abhijnO jana:?
? No wonder, that to this day critics gleefully criticize Sri Rama being
inappropriate in this incident.
? This is in spite of the fact that Vaali himself and his wife Taara (who
were the affected parties) had long ago exonerated Sri Rama from any
ignominy in hiding and killing Vaali.
? Azhwaan seems to feel bad about this and explains the truth of the
matter.
? When a prince goes into the forest to save the cows from the tigers, he
hides himself and shoots at the tigers, not because they are his enemies.
The question as to whether they were afraid to face the tigers.
? Similarly, when the Kings of Raghu lineage decimated those hostile to
the
Saadhus under their protection there is no question whether they did so by
facing them or by hiding. It is all part of ?Rajatantram? depending upon the
needs of the situations concerned.
? After all, Vaali had lost his sense of decency, a worthless creature
given
to lust and anger. How could a great hero like Sri Rama deem him as an equal
in fight? - asks Koorathaazhwaan.
? Do we not ?catch a thief? by subterfuge?
? Do we not catch elephants by employing the mechanism of ?geddah??
? Does anyone consider these as lack of valor?
? These are the usual tactics used to corner culprits and cannot be put
down
as immoral or illegal.
? Apart from his promise to protect the celestials, it is part of what is
known as ?Kashatriya Dharma? to resort to any means, by hook or crook to
bring offenders to justice. This is what Sri Rama also did in Vaali?s case.
? Swami Desika says in Abhaya Pradaana Saaram:
?SaraNaagata rakshaNa DharmamE perumaaLukku anupaalaneeyam?
? Several poets of an earlier period have held the view that Sri Rama
assaulted Vaali when he was fighting with another and this was not
justified.
? Bhavabhuti in his ?Mahaaveera Charitram? says that Sri Rama gave fight
to
Vaali face to face. There is no mention that Sri Rama attacked Vaali when
the latter was engaged in a fight with Sugreeva.
? Actually, Muraari in his ?Anargha Raaghavam? depicts how RavaNa who
became
friendly with Vaali requested his help in fighting Sri Rama and Vaali
obliged RavaNa by challenging Sri Rama to fight remarking that it was no big
deal for Sri Rama to have thrown away the dry bone of Dundhubi.
? Though several such views have been expressed by different poets, Swami
Desika gives his final verdict thus:
? When Sugreeva Maharaja surrendered to you accepting his fault and
begging
to be pardoned, you tormented him unnecessarily. Therefore, you are fit to
be punished. And, Sugreeva has surrendered unto me for protection against
you?
?sookshma: parama durjEya: sataam Dhrama: plavangama?
? Sri Rama, the ?SaraNaagata vatsalan, considered that ?Saranaagata
RakshaNam? to be his sacred duty and it was a heinous crime not to save one
who had surrendered for protection.
? This view is upheld in ?Manu Smriti?, ?VishNu Smriti?, ?Raghu-Raakshasa
Samvaadam?, ?Brihaspati Geeta?, ?ItihaasOttamam? etc all quoted by Swami
Desika in his ?StOtra Bhaashyam?, ?Subhashitaaneevi? and ?Sankalpa
SooryOdayam? etc and also in VidyaraNya?s ?Purushaarta Sudhaanidhi?
? Srimad Andavan of Poundarikapuram Swami Asramam has given another
revealing fact about this episode.
? This is a quote from my book ?Myths, Miracles and Mysticism? in the
?Explaining the Unexplained? series (Under publication)
? ?Long before the PutrakaamEshTi yaaga conducted by Dasaratha, he
performed
an AswamEdha Yagjna. At that time the celestials who came to accept the
?havis? offerings promised to descend to earth in the form of monkeys and
bears, when the Lord descended (Avataara) as Sri Rama. One of the foremost
among them was Vaali. He was to have been inducted as Sri Rama?s
Commander-in-Chief in the fight against RavaNa. When even a cadet
double-crossed his master and turned a traitor, he was to be punished with
instant death. More so, in the case of a would-be-chieftain. Vaali
treacherously joined hands with RavaNa, Sri Rama?s arch enemy. Sri Rama
meted out the punishment, which he eminently deserved.
? Chronologically, Sri Rama had first met Sugreeva, Vaali?s brother and
as a
part of their alliance package, Sri Rama had pledged to kill Vaali and
install Sugreeva as the King of Kishkinda. And, if he had appeared before
Vaali, it was possible that Vaali might have surrendered, in which case Sri
Rama would not be able to keep up his word to Sugreeva.
? The response to a later ?SaraNaagati? can be effective only when it is
not
repugnant to the earlier ?saraNaagati?. This would be impossible in this
case and there would have ensued a ?Dharma SankaTam? ? a clash of Dharmas?
for Sri Rama.
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SLOKAM 22:

?ROCK & ROLL?

A ROLLING STONE GATHERS NO MOSS BUT A FLOATING STONE DOES!

Maanushyaka aacharitam aacharitum pravrutta:
dEvaatigam charitamanga! Kim angyakaarshee:? /
yath SaagarE batha babanditha naatha! sEtum
Sailai: plavangama samingita sampraNUnnai: //

?Oh! Lord! You set out to perform the actions of a human but how come you
actually performed what is impossible even for the celestials? With the huge
stone mountains brought by the monkeys, how did you build a bridge across a
vast ocean, if you were not superhuman??

NOTES:
? Azhwaan avers that this ?building of the bridge? across the Seas itself
proves that Sri Rama was indeed the Paramaatma- a super human
(athimaanushan).
? There is an adage that even a stone can float for the virtuous.
Veda Vaakhyam asserts this : ?apsu graavaaNa: plavantE?
? When Prahlaada was thrown into the waters of the ocean bound by hard
rock,
he floated resting on the rock - says VishNU PuraaNam.
? Sa cha thum saila sanghaatam daityair nyasta mathOpari/
Utkshipya tasmaat salilaat nischakraama mahaamati: //
- Says Paraasara Brahmarishi.
? If this could happen to a Bhaagavata, it is no big deal for Saakshaat
Bhagavaan at whose command the stones could float.
dEvaatigam:
? Azhwaan probably had in his mind the advice of Maalyavaan to RavaNa who
reminded the latter of this incident to confirm that Sri Rama was indeed not
a mere human being.
Na hi maanusha maatrO asou RaaghavO DhriTa vikrama: /
yEna bhaddhas samudrasya sa sEtu: parama adbuta: //
? When ManDodari lamented on the death of RavaNa, she refers to this
incident and echoes the above sentiment :
Yadaiva vaanara veerai: baddha sEtu mahaarNavE/
Tadaiva hridayEna aham sankhE Raamam a-maanusham //
?When I learned through our secret agents that Rama had built this bridge
across the ocean, then itself I suspected in my heart of hearts that this
Rama was no ordinary mortal? says ManDOdari.
? She also cited another incident that kindled her suspicion:
? ?The very fact that Rama was able to decimate single-handed the 14,000
Rakshasas in the fight against Kara and DooshaNa, I became suspicious that
this Rama could not be an ordinary man?.
Yadaiva hi janasthaanE raakshasair bahubhir vruta: /
Kharas tava hatO bhraataa tad deiva asou na maanusha: //
? The very sight of ?SEtu? is capable of extinguishing all sins say the
Dharma Saastras: ? sEtum drishTvaa samudrasya?
? It is worth noting that while taking bath in Sea is generally not
recommended except on special occasions like AaDi Amaavaasya and Thai
Amaavaasya, you can take bath in the Sea at SEtu on any day, This is known
as ?SeEtusnaanam?.
? Srimad Andavan of Poundarikapuram Swami Asramam insists on anyone
returning from overseas to first go have ?sEtu snaanam? before administering
any mantrams. This happened to me when I requested him to initiate me into
?Sudarsana mantram? some years ago.
? PravarasEna wrote a kaavyam called ?SEtu bandham? in which he discarded
all other incidents in Srimad RamayaNa and concentrated on this episode
only.
? In the Tamil work, ?MaNimEkalai? the character named ?Gaaya ChaNDigai?
refers to this incident saying ?My hunger is so great that I will not be
satiated even if you feed me with food balls of the size of the huge
mountains that the monkey battalion of Rama brought and cast away in the sea
for building a bridge?
? This shows how people belonging to other Sampradayas were also
fascinated
by this ?building the bridge? episode.