reviewof the harikatha by TNS on 27-3-2007 on valmiki ramaya

[sarojram18]

Harikatha of Valmikiramayanam by TNS on 27-3-2007 at Hamsadhvani

The day being Ramanavami Sri Rama might have willed to hear only about His birth on the janmadhina, and wished to hear the rest of His story after an interval of time, to allow Him to grow! How else to explain the Hariikatha being postponed after the first day!. That TNS was having virus infection after the first day and could not continue and hence the date has to be postponed to allot five days together, which is only possible by end of April, owing to
the Hamsadhvani concerts already scheduled , is by the will of the Lord who wanted to hear it in the month of Chaithra , which is His real month of birth.


In the inaugural address Sri.L. Swaminathan was all praise for TNS drawing attention not only to his talents but also his attire so as to neceessitate a pallandu by his rasikas and wellwishers! Any way he spoke well and pointed out the importance of bhakthi in music which alone will secure moksha and not mere music. But the sloka quoted as the example that sangitha alone is not enough to bring the Lord and to secure moksha was actually a case of siddha sAdhanam, that is, trying to prove what is actually proved. The words 'madhbhakthA yatra gayanthi thathra thishTAmi nAradha,' only stresses the importance of bhakthi in music and not mere music alone.Even then, as TNS himself pointed out later in his harikatha by referring to the story of Ajamila that by merely uttering the name of his son called Narayana, Ajamila was purified of his sins, because the very nama even uttered unconsciously is capable of bringing salvation, should it be a wonder that by mere singing of the name of the Lord which is part and parcel of carnatic music one could attain salvation, if the Lord so chooses? Or is it possible to sing the names of Rama or Krishna through the krthis of the saint-composers without any trace of bhakthi what soever?

Now let us come to the actual harikatha by TNS.

After the usual invocation sloka on Haygreeva, which itself was imposing and a delight for the rasikas, and the rest of the traditional pieces sung during Harikatha TNS launched on the Valmiki Ramayana by the sloka
' koojantham rAma rAmethi madhuram madhurAksharam Aruhya kavithA SAkhAm vandhE vAlmiki kokilam,'
in which the rasikas could visualise the Arohana, climbing, of the cuckoo Valmiki on the branch of poetry, kavithA SAkha, by his picturesque way of singing the word 'Aruhya.' Next came the sloka 'vAlmeekermunisimhasya kavithAbvanachAriNah,SrNvan rAmakaTHA nAdham kO na yAthi parAm gathim,' Hearing the story of Rama,the roar of the sage-lion Valmiki, roaming around in the forest of poetry, who will not reach the ultimate?

TNS then delighted the rasikas in singing the sloka

'yaH karNAnjalisamputairaharahah samyak pibathyAdharAth;vAlmikErvadhanAravindhagalitham rAmAyaNAkhyam madhu;janmavyADHijarAvipatthi maraNErathyantha sopadhravam samsAram sa vihAya gacchathi pumAn vishNOH padham SAsvatham,'
in madhuvanthi, saying that the madhuram madhurAksharam madhu should be presented in madhuvanthi. The whole sloka means that one who drinks the honey of Ramayana, which has fallen from the mouth of Valmiki, again and again with love,through his earfolds, reaches the ultimate abode of Lord Vishnu.

TNS said that his harikatha is not going to be kaTHApramAna, that is mainly narrative because everyone knows the story and Harikatha should have devotion, music, eloquence and expression. with passages committed to memory.He said that the Ramayana is a great ocean frequented by mighty fish, mahamathsya, and boat men, like Valmiki, Kamban and others and he has come forward to do harikatha on Valmikiramayana prompted by sheer devotion as the only qualification and that he was reassuring himself by saying so.This rasika could not help feeling that TNS is himself a mahamathsya who swims around in the mighty ocean of music!

The Valmikiramayana , which is deemed as the AdhikAvya is the only original text, said TNS and all the other Ramayanas that came later were only commentaries explaining the subtle meanings in a gross manner.The reason for this is that Valmikiramayana was divinely influenced, being the will of the Lord Himself, for which purpose He sent Brahma and later Narada. The Ramayana was veda itself as the sloka goes, '
vEdha vEdhyE pare pumsi jAthe dhasarathAthmajE ; vedhA prAchEthasAdhAseeth sAkshthramayNAthmanA.' When the Lord known only through the vedas became the son of Dasaratha, the vedas were born from Valmiki as Ramayana.TNS sang this sloka in karaharapriya giving it the flavour of the vedic chant, the scales of the raga resembling Samaveda.

The Lord took several avatharas for the sake of dushtanigraha and sishtaparipalana, said TNS, and the incarnations before Rama seemed to imply the evolution theory, starting from the fish to man-lion, and then to diminutive man as Vamana. Ramavathara was that of full human being to show that how man can be transformed into God. Rama was the manifestation of the gunas of Brahman ,the supreme being, who cannot be understood or experienced. In all the avathras, especially in Ramavathara and Krishnavathara, where it is explicit,sishtaparipalana was the main purpose while dushtanigraha is subsidiary. That is why the Ramayana is called saranagathisasthra.Rama could have killed Ravana from Ayodhya itself but he took the trouble of walking to Danadakaranya in order to give refuge to the rshis there and to various saintly and good souls like Guha,Jatayu, Sabari and Vibheeshana.

TNS referred to Krishnavathara and said that the Lord wanted to show what he was going to preach later as Krishna, by following his own teachings as Rama. He stood as an example of an ideal son, brother, king , friend etc. Even the ordeal of fire he made Sita to undergo and later his banishment of Sita is to show how a chakravarti should set an example to his subjects. Both Rama and Sita enacted their parts, by crying and laughing when necessary like ordinary mortals to show that a human being can rise to the state of divinity, and TNS said that Rama was the illustration of the ThirukkuraL 'vaiyatthu vAzvAngu vAzbavan vAnuraiyum deivatthu vaikkappadum,' meaning that one who lives in this world following dharma will be considered as being equal to God.

Then TNS started to elaborate on the circumstances under which Ramayana was composed.It was Narada, who came first to transform the hunter into a sage. So Narada was his first guru who showed him Brahman, as a guru should do. TNS said there was no distinction between guru and sadguru in those days as all were sadgurus only , that is the one who showed the Brahman he experienced to the disciple. He also extolled the role played by Narada in enlightening good souls whenever necessary and said that the character of Narada has been abused much in plays and films, while he was seen in the puranas, to be present whenever anyone needed advice and enlightenment,..

This narration was followed by a divine exposition of the AtANA krthi of Thyagaraja, 'Naradaganalola' by TNS. His Atana is always adadANA and this was no exception! Narada came again after Valmiki became a sage and the latter asked him a question the answer to which was the fountainhead of the Ramayanakavya later. Both the guru and the sishya were acclaimed in the sloka 'thapasvAdhyAya niratham thapasvee vAgvidhAm varam nAradam paripapraccha vAlmikir munipungavam.' The guru was thapasvdhyAya niratha, ever immersed in penance and study of vedas and the best among speakers, vAgvidhAm vara and also the best of sages, being devarshi.The disciple was also a thapasvee, who had done penance while under the anthill, and best of sishya because he asked earnestly, paripapraccha.

TNS said while it is rare to find a guru who practises what he preaches,, anushTAnam krthavAn, it is even rarer to find a sishya who is fired with earnestness for acquiring kowledge and asks the right questions. Nowadays ,he quipped that the sishyas are more interested in discussing politics and cricket with the guru rather than learning what they have come for.

The question of Valmiki was, "kOnvasmin sAmpratham lOkE guNavAn kascha veeryavAn,dharmajnascha krthajnascha sathyavAk yO dhrDavrathah." TNS explained the sloka word by word which made the listeners aghast with his knowledge and wisdom

(I say knowledge and wisdom because one may have knowledge acquired through study but only with wisdom he will be able to give proper interpretations and not merely reproduce what he has learnt. TNS is adept in that art as he comes out with his own explanations quaint and thought- provoking which shows his originality and ingenuity.)

TNS explained the sloka thus:
Valmiki wanted to know who is the guNavAn , virtuous, veeryavAn, valourous, dharmajna, well versed in dharma, krthajna, remembers whatever service done to him,sathyavAk, true in words and dhrDavratha , unswerving in his vows.One may be a guNavAn but if he is not strong enough no one will care for his gunas, said TNS, and hence he should also be veeryavAn. Similarly he should know what is dharama and uphold it,that is, to be a dharmajna and dhrDavratha.He should also know and appreciate what others do to him, krthajna and true to his word, sathyavAk It is rare to find all these qualities in any one individual and hence Valmiki wished to know whether there is one such person living at that time, sAmpratham.
Narada answered that there is such a noble soul living right then and started to tell him about Rama. 'ikshvaaku vamSa prabhavO rAmO nAma janaiH SrutAH
niyathAtmA mahAveeryO dhyutimAn DHritimAn vashee;prajApathi samO shreemAn dhAthA ripunishoodhanaH rakshithA jeevalokasya dharmasya pari rakshithA rakshitA svasya dharmasya sva janasya cha rakshitA.'

TNS sang the whole passage about valmiki's question and the answer by Narada in short phrases all in the raga atANA to the great joy of the rasikas.He explained that Rama , from the clan of Ikshvaku, was not only valiant but had self-control and equal to the creator himself in glory,and terrible to his foes, while protecting his own people and dharma .He was not merely possessed all these qualities but was ADyaH, richly endowed with these, and sadhA Eka priya dharsanaH, always pleasing to look at. TNS emphasised on the words sadha and Eka, always and only of pleasant personality, as Kamban says that his face was like a fullblown lotus both when he was asked to take the crown and when he was ordered to go to the forest.Narada thus related the whole Ramayana briefly"like the 4 kaLai pallavi we sometimes sing in 20 minutes in concerts due to paucity of time," quipped TNS.

Then TNS switched on to the episode of the killing of the krouncha bird by the hunter which was instrumental to the birth of the Ramayanakavya.He said the sloka that arose from Valmiki, seemingly a curse to the hunter but later assumed the character of mangalASAsana for the Lord, was born out of Soka, grief. Valmiki already distressed on account of the separation of Sita, who resided in his asrama, from Rama, was grief-stricken to see the bird struck by the arrow when it was in the company of its mate.The sloka that arose from his lips was 'mA nishAdha prathishTAm thvam aganmaH SAsvatheeH samAH; yathkrounchamiTHunAdhEkam avadDHeeh kAmamohitham.' TNS sang the sloka in subhpanthuvarali, which is suited for karunarasa, he said, and not for mourning as it is commonly believed.

Later Valmiki was surprised to see that the sloka had samAkshara, equal number of syllables and Brahma who appeared before him told him that he has already sent sarasvathi before him, said TNS,. that she took her place on the tongue of the sage and made him give out the sloka which, construed differently, became a benedictory verse in praise of the Lord, for killing Ravana.

TNS also referred to the principle called dhoorAnvaya, which is a defect in a passage unless it is auspicious in meaning. Here, the negative particle 'mA ' when connected with 'prathishtAm agamaH' gives the meaning that "you will not get rest forever ,SAsvatheessamAh, "as a curse to the hunter because he killed one of the two krouncha birds , krounchamiTHunAdhEkam avaDHeeH, which was in love, kamamOhitham.In this sense it suffers from the defect of dhoorAnvaya, connection with a word far away from it.

But when the same verse is construed to mean a benediction to the Lord, the syllable , 'mA,' instead of being a negative particle, means 'mA'=Lakshmi. In this sense the verse means mAnishAdha, consort of Lakshmi, that is Narayana, thvam, You, prathishTAm agamah, have become well known, SASvatheessamAH, for all the years to come, yath thavam avaDHeeH , because You killed, krouncha miTHunAth, from the pair of rakshasas, meaning Ravana and Mandodhari, Ekam , one, kAmamOhitham, who was possessed with lust.

TNS said that even in trethayuga the Lord gets His mangalASAsana by the word mAnishAdha, meaning 'abode of Lakshmi' and only in Ramavathara Sreedevi has accompanied Narayana for the first time. She actually went before Him and hid herself under the earth. Here TNS referred to the mangalASAsana of Azvar by the words 'agalakillEn enriraiyum alarmel mangai urai mArbA' to Lord Srinivasa, who has Sri in His chest permanently and hence there was no separate sannidhi for Lakshmi. She is described as 'thadhvakshadTHalanithya vAsarasikA and thadhksAnthi samvarDHInee,' living in His heart always and makes Him mor patient and merciful.Not only that, said TNS, but The Divine mother is further described as vAthsalyAdhiguNOjjvaLA and 'jaganmatha, 'VathsalyAdhi guNojjvalAm bhagavatheem vandhe jaganmAtharam.' (The Lord has willed that I should write these lines on the day of Panguni utthara, which is ascribed to the Divine mother which proves that everything that happens is only by His will.)

TNS said at this instance, referring back to the sloka 'mAnishadha,' said that even being scolded by elders of reverence and gurus and mahathmas is itself a blessing. He deviated a little here and said that the sloka 'suklAmbaradharam,' which is sometimes humourously explained as follows to extoll the merits of coffee as a beverage.It is suklambaradharam and sasivarnam, having white milk and chathurbhujam means there are two hands giving and two taking and drinking it gives rise to a prasannavadhanam, smiling face and it is sarvavighniOpaSAnthayE, for removing all obstacles as the one who drinks a good cup of coffee will be so pleased and will grant anything!

Valmiki mentions that the whole Ramayana consists of 24000 slokas representing the syllables of Gayathrimanthra but actually there are two hundred and odd slokas more, said TNS , which shows tht the great souls will rather underestimate their achievements.

Then TNS referred to the actual text of Valmikiramayana, which begins with a description of the land of Kosala,He said that normally the narrative should start with the account of the presentation of the epic by instructing it to lava and Kusa and their singing it in the court of Rama, but he had to rush through in order to describe the birth of Rama, when the punarvasu nakshathra rises, as the day was Ramanavami. He will come back to that part of the story the next day, he said, but the Lord has willed it otherwise as though telling him "You proceed in the normal manner and I will wait till m next month for it!"

Valmiki has mentioned the land of Kosala in only one sloka which was elaborated by Kamban so as to devote an entire chapter for it. The land of Kosala was so rich and there was abundance of food and money.TNS sang the sloka beautifully in the raga kosalam, and quoted the Thiruppavai pasuram 'AzimaZaikkaNNa,' where it is said 'thAZAdhE sArngam udhAittha sar mazAi pOL vAza ulaginil peidhidAi,' and said that as in the benediction 'kAlE varshathu parjanyah,' there was timely rains and the land flourished as a result.

Valmiki describes the city of AyOdhya in detail and says that all the people were rich and had everything and all were asthikas and bhakthas.There was only one thing lacking and that was due to the fact that Dasartha was without progeny. TNS sang the sloka expressing the grief of Dasaratha in Neelambari.He said while Dasaratha was pining for a son the Lord was looking for a suitable father to effect His incarnation. 'Evam dathvA varam devO devAnAm viSNuH AtmavAn mAnushE chinthayAmAsa janmabhoomim atha AthmanaH.- tataH padhma palAshAkshAH krthvA AtmAnam chaturviDHam
pitharam rochayaamAsa tadhA dasharatham nrpam |-- This sloka was sung by TNS in sankarabharanam.

Valmiki says that the Lord became fourfold and was born to Dasaratha but Kamban says that the Lord along with Sesha, shankha and sudarsana became Rama-Lakshmana- Bharatha- Sathrughna. Then TNS sang the Ramavathara sloka in Bilahari and mentioned about the placement of the grahas in the horoscope of Rama,( it was a placement as the Lord Himself willed it so and not due to karmaphala as in the case ordinary mortals.) thus showing that he is knowledgeable even in astrology!

Briefly but beutifully describing the episode of Rsysrnga TNS effected the birth of Rama at the exact moment of the rise of punarvasu on the horizon. He referred to Kamban also and quoted the verse ' oru pagal ulagu ellAmudharatthuL podhindhu arumaraikku uNarvu arumavanai,anjanakkarumugil kozundhu ezil kAttum jothiyai, thiru urappayandhanaL thiram koL kOsalai.' It means that Kousalya gave birth to the one who had all the world inside Him and who was the import of the vedas, who was looking like the dark cloud that took the form of a small flame of light. Here kamban uses the epithet thiram koL to describe Kousalya. TNS explained why she was called that, meaning, very skilled. What was the extraordinary skill in giving bierth to son that made her special among all mothers? TNS said that the infant was the one who slept on the banyan leaf having the whole universe inside Him and could be controlled only through devotion and He came inside the womb of Kousalya like a dark flame ( blue fire). Hence Kousalya has accomplished something which no one could.

Then TNS mentioned the namakarana of the children by Vasishta who knew the real identity of them.That is why he is referred to in the sloka as paramapreethah.The eldest was named Rama,'jyeshTHam rAmam mahAthmAnam bharatham kaikayii sutham
saumithrim lakSmaNam iti shatrughnam aparam taTHaa |
vasiSThaH parama preetho nAmAni kuruthe tadha.'

TNS sang this sloka in reethigoula which was superb and also the verse from Kamban , extolling the glory of Ramanama, 'nanmaiyum selvamum nALum nalgume----immaiye irAma enru irandu ezutthinAl,' and he went on an eloquence on the greatness of Ramanama for few minutes non-stop which was a marvel to behold and served as the kudos of the day and the
rasikas left thoroughly stunned.

I ahve posted this as a separate topic since it is long.

[vgvindan]

sarojram,
A marathon effort. It is as if we attended the harikatha.
Thanks a lot.

[rajeshnat]

sarojaram,
Can you tell in the next 4 days of harikatha, what would be the theme on each of the days. I would like to choose one of the days? A very nice review .

[sarojram18]

It is going to be five days and not four from30th April to 4th May. It will be the whole valmikiramayna. It is difficult to specify the topics as it depends on his imagination and eloquence, as to which incidents he will elaborate on and which he will rush through briefly.All days will be good and any one day will also be so.Choose according to your convenience.
I f you contact me I will be able to tell you how far he has advanced in the story everyday Ram knows my phone no.as I do not want to give it on the internet for all to see. Or you can write to my email address [email protected]. In fact I would like to meet other rasikas of TNS in person if you could come and introduce yourself during his programmes for which I will be definitely present.You can see my photo on Sulekha .com blog sarojram18

[cmlover]

dhanyOtvaM sarojram!
SB said 'pibare ramarasam'; I would add 'pibare shEShagOpalaracita ramarasam..' It is so nice of you to almost dishing it out for us with the ragas and the shloka details. Thank you!
Just a nice grammatical point which TNS covered:
mA niShAda pratiShThAM tvAM agama...
is not a curse purposely as it came out of the sage's mouth. Grammatically one requires 'mA ..gama..' for the forbidding particle 'mA' but in this case vAlmiki purposely uses 'mA agama' a double negative which does make it a positive...

Pl post the events elaborately as each day progresses. It feels like being there...

[sarojram18]

Thank you. But the sloka Ma nishadha has only the word agamaH which means You will not get rest for years to come and the 'a' there is the part of the verb and not negative particle.

[cmlover]

Just noticed
mA ni SA dA, Ga ma SA (svati) sa mA
(Oh hunter! don't go permanently for years..)
is a nice svarAkShara ...

and Kambar would have said (in svarAkShara) again:
mA pA da gA nI sA
(you great sinner! die!)