MADHWAVIJAYA - PRATHAMAHA SARGAHA - SHLOKAS 11, 12, 13

KarmANi kurvan paramAdBhutAni saBhAsu daiveeShu saBhAhitAni|

Sugreevamitram sa jagatpavitram RamApatim RAmatanum dadarsha||11||

SUMMARY: Displaying divine and miraculous deeds that were being hailed even in divine sessions, the intimate friend of Sugreeva, saw the beloved of Ramadevi, who had manifested as Srirama.

Significance of the word Sugreevamitram: Sri Valmeeki Ramayana amply presents several aspects of true friendship. Hnuman stood by Sugreeva whenever he was in trouble, distressed, despair, dejected and disappointed. Even when saint-clad Rama and Lakshmana appeared on the mountain where Sugreeva and his four associates, including Hanumantha, were residing, Sugreeva suspected Rama and Lakshmana to be messengers or killers sent by Vali in disguise. It was Hanumantha who went to Rama and Lakshmana, introduced himself first, enquired about the two saintly persons, got convinced that there was no danger from the duo to Sugreeva and then took them to Sugreeva. One point to be noticed here is that Lord Vayu or Hanumantha was well aware of who the saintly duo was. All his inquiry, process of ascertaining their whereabouts etc., were to show to the world how one should tackle a stranger.

In Geetabhashya, Sri Madhwacharyaru has cryptically described the deeds of Hanumantha:

KlEshasThAnam nirUpya nirUpya yO rakShAm vidaDhAti tanmitram|

This also tells how a friend should be to be called a ‘friend indeed’.

By calling Srirama as RamApatim, the poet has vehemently indicated that Srirama was never away from his wife Rama Devi. It was a pretext as Srirama was expected to kill Ravana. The killing of Ravana should be shown to the world as a punishment for abducting Seetha Devi.

PAdAravindapraNatO hareendrastadA mahABhaktiBharABhinunnaha|

AgrAhi padmOdarasundarABhyAm dOrBhyAm purANEna sa pUruShENa||12||

Driven by a spate of devotion did Hanumantha fall at the feet of Srirama, who lifted him with both hands that were reminiscent of lotus-bed.

AdAryasAlAvalidAraNEna vyApAditEndrapraBhavEna tEna|

PrAdyOtanipreetikrutA nikAmam maDhudviShA sandidishE sa veeraha||13||

He cut a garland of sal trees that none could ever cut, smashed son of Indra, Vali and anointed Sugreeva with happiness and joy; yet, he sent only this person (Hanumantha) to search for Seetha.

PradyOtana means son of Sun. Lord Hari came to be called as Madhusoodana after killing a demon called Madhu. This story finds mention in various Puranas.

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BACKGROUND OF TRISHANKU

(A peep into the background of Trishanku is essential to understand the Story of Vishwamitra better. Please read, comment and share. SDN)

Trishanku was the father of Harishchandra, who sacrificed his empire and even sold his wife and son to meet the demand of Vishwamitra and kept his own word, according to a legend. Harishchandra is, according to scriptures, the synonym of truthfulness. Trishanku was also known as Satyavrata and his wife was called Satyavrate. His father was called Nibhandana belonging to Surya dynasty. Nibhandana had two more names Tribandhana and Tridhanva. Once Satyavrata kidnapped a married woman and hearing his son’s sinful act, Nibhandana cursed Satyavrata that he should be among a community called Shwapakas (perhaps meaning cannibals). However, Satyavrata, probably because of the curse of his 

father, was roaming aimlessly in the royal capital. This further hurt the feelings of the king. He also thought of getting another son because one son had become corrupt and disobedient and the throne would remain without any heir to succeed. Vasishtha was a witness to all these happenings in the family and to an extent, he was supportive to the king in all his decisions a d moves. King Tribandhana decided to do penance to get a son and hence, handed over the kingdom to his council of Ministers and retired to forests to do penance. The kingdom was without a king and there was a severe drought for nine long years. The subjects became insane, dishonest and despicable. The time turned so wretched that people were struggling from hand to mouth. Taking advantage of this situation, Satyavrata also wanted to have his revenge on Vasishtha for he thought the sage and royal preceptor was the reason behind all his distress. He surrendered to the feet of Vishwamitra who had by then started hating Vasishtha and they had become foes. Satyavrata took upon himself to look after the family of Vishwamitra. A little later, Satyavrata killed the cow which Vasishtha was rearing and consumed its flesh without following any scriptures or tradition. Vasishtha, who came to know about it, cursed Satyavrata to become a Trishanku which means a person who had committed three sons namely, doing a thing that was against the wishes of his father, killing the cow that belonged to the royal preceptor, and thirdly consuming its flesh without performing the final rites to the cow as prescribed in the scriptures. What happened to the penance of Tribandhana, whether he got any more children or not are not known for sure. It is not clear how Trishanku transformed into such a right-thinking and sensible person from his original habits and practices are not clear. These details however are given in Mahabharata, Bhagavata and Brahma Purana.

MADHWAVIJAYA PRATHAMAHA SARGAHA - SHLOKA 9 AND 10

MADHWAVIJAYA PRATHAMAHA SARGAHA – SHLOKAS 9 AND 10

(Please read, tread, comment and share this highly meritorious work of Sri Narayana Panditacharyaru. SDN)

Sree VallaBhAjnAm sa surEndra yAnjnAm samBhAvya samBhAvyatamAm trilOkyAm|

PrANEshwaraha prANigaNapraNEtA guruhu satAm kEsariNO gruhE(a)BhUt||9||

SUMMARY: Obeying the order of the Lord, the origin of universe, beloved of Rama Devi, conceding the appeals of all prominent deities, the Guru of all pious and virtuous, Lord Vayu descended on Earth through the wife of Kesari, a Monkey King.

Beginning with this Shloka, the incarnation of Lord Maruthi or Hanuman has been described up to Shloka 27.

The poet here clearly mentions that Hanumatha was born as an incarnation of Lord Vayu as per the instruction of Lord Sri Hari. In addition, deities like Rudra and Indra too appealed to Lord Vayu to take birth on Earth for the destruction of demons. This sort of order of Lord Sri Hari and requests by deities were there behind the incarnations of Lord Vayu as Bheema and Acharya Madhwa too.

The word “GruhE” the penultimate word in this shloka also means Pastni or wife. Amarakosha amplifies this fact as: GruhiNee Gruham…..Ityamaraha. Therefore, Lord Hanuman was born to the wife (GruhE) of King Kesari.

A question may arise here as to why Kesari was chosen to be the father of Lord Maruthi? This has been explained in Bhavaprakashike. Earlier, a wild tusker was disturbing Bharadwaja and other Munis for doing penance. As per their request, King Kesari killed that tusker. As a token of their grace and expression of gratitude, the Rishis blessed King Kesari to be the father of Lord Maruthi.

Dr. Vyasanakere Prabhanjanacharya, in his compilation of Madhwavijaya, narrates another important aspect of the incarnation of Lord Maruthi. He says that in Bhavishyottara Purana and also Venkatesha Mahatmya, it is mentioned that Anjanadevi, wife of King Kesari, did an arduous penance for twelve years in Vrushabhadri seeking children. Her penance was also an important reason for Lord Hanuman to be born to King Kesari and Queen Anajanadevi.  

YE yE guNA nAma jagatprasidhDhAha yam tEShu tEShu sma nidarshayanti|

SAkShAnmahABhAgavataprabarham sreemantamEnam HanumantmAhuhu||10||

He (Lord Maruthi) is shown by everyone as the embodiment of all good and significant qualities that can ever be counted in the universe. People address him as Hanumantha as he is the most affluent, intimate, dedicated devotee of Lord Hari. He is indeed in the forefront of all devotees of the Lord.

About the peerless, unmatched, unambiguous, steadfast and stoic devotion, knowledge and other qualities of Sri Hanumatha to Lord Hari, Sri Madhwacharyaru states in his Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya as follows:

 JnAnE virAgE HariBhaktiBhAvE DhrutisThitiprANabalEShu yOgE|

BudhDhau cha nAnyO HanumtsamAna pumAn kadAchit kwacha kashchanaiva”||

Misconception about the name Hanuman; There is a general belief that the Hanu or the front portion of the mouth of Maruthi was damaged due to the attack of Indra with his Vajrayudha. Hanuman means a protruded front portion of the mouth. But in reality, the meaning is just the opposite of the general perception. Despite being hit by Vajrayudha, the Hanu of Maruthi was not hurt or dented or damaged. It remained as it was before. Hence the name Hanoomaan.

MADHWAVIJAYA PRATHAMAHA SASRGAHA - SHLOKAS 6 TO 8

TAm mantravarNairanuvarNaneeyAm sharvEndrapUrvairap vaktu kAmE|

SakShipnuvAkyE mayi mandabudhDhau santO guNADhyAya karuNAm kriyAsuhu||6|

May the pious, virtuous be empathetic and kind towards me as I am making a fool of myself by attempting to cryptically describe the mysterious powers of Great Lord Vayu, which even the most pious persons and deities, including Lord Rudra and Indra, have been yearning to describe through Vedic hymns.

MantravarNaihi means Mantra Varnas or hymns of Vedas. The various qualities, traits and deeds of Lord Vayu have been described in BalithThA SUkta.

By calling himself ‘Mayi mandabudhDhau” Sri Narayana Panditacharyaru has stated that the Leelas of Lord Vayu are worth describing in infinite terms. But by trying to compress those Leelas in “SankShipnuvAkyE”, the poetic persona feels that he is making an attempt at describing something that is beyond description.  

UchchAvachA yEna samastachEShTAha kim tatra chitram charitam nivEdyam|

KintUttamashlOka shiKhA maNeenAm manO vishudhDhyai charitAnuvAdaha||7||Since every minute thing in the universe happens due to the grace of Lord Mukhyaprana, which particular act of that Lord can I emphasise to be astonishing, mysterious or miraculous. Yet, is it not highly meritorious to narrate a part of the story of the great and virtuous in whatever little way we can?  

MAlAkrutastachcharitAKhya ratnaihi asUkShma druShTEhe sa kutUhalasya|

PUrvApareekAramaThAparam vA kShAmyantu mE hanta muhurmahAntaha||8||

My eyesight is certainly opaque and blurred as I am trying to make a garland out of the various gems and diamonds of the stories of such an astounding deity, Lord Vayu. Besides, due to over-enthusiasm or haste, I might not have recorded the stories in proper sequence. Something that could be narrated later might have been stated much earlier and vice versa. I beseech the virtuous and knowledgeable to pardon me every now and then due to such fallacies.     

(Due to space constraint and also factors like paucity of time for readers to fully understand and assimilate the beauty of this great work word by word, summary of only two-three Shlokas is given. Hope it will meet with your kind approval as ever. Further, appropriate images are not available for these Shlokas. Hence, different images of Sri Madhwacharyaru are given. Sorry if any image is repeated. Please read, re-read, comment and share. SDN)

VISHWAMITRA - TRISHANKU EPISODE

(This is Chapter 57 in Balakanda, Sri Madvalmeeki Ramayana related to Trishanku and creation of Trishanku Swarga. Please read, comment and share it. SDN)

Tataha santaptahrudayaha smarannigrahamAtmanaha|

Vinih(i)shwasya krutavairO mahAtmanA||1||

Sa dakShiNAm disham gatvA mahiShyA saha RAGhava|

TatApa paramam GhOram VishwAmitrO mahattapaha|

PhalamUlAshanO dAntashchakAra paramam tapaha||2||

AThAsya jajnirE putrAha satyaDharmaparAyaNAha|

HavihShyaNDO maDhuShyaNDO druDhanEtrO mahAraThaha||3||

PUrNE varShasahasrE tu BrahmA lOkapitAmahaha|

AbraveenmaDhuram vAkyam VishwAmitram tapODhanam||4||

JitA rAjarShilOkAstE tapasA kushikAtmaja|

AnEna tapasA twAm hi rAjarShiriti vidmahE||5||

The heart of Vishwamitra was severely pained by the defeat he suffered at the hands of Vasishtha. He became very sad¹. He was heaving long sighs of dejection frequently. Vishwamitra started treating Vasishtha as his enemy for the defeat he suffered. He again decided to do penance in a Tapovan (Tapa means penance and van means forest. Tapovn means a serene place in a forest most suitable to do penance) and went towards the south, along with his queen² and began the penance. Consuming only roots, herbs and fruits, exercising a restriction on sensory organs, he launched a very severe penance. During that period, four sons called as Havishyanda, Madhushyanda, Drudhanetra and Maharatha, were born to Vishwamitra couple. Impressed with the arduous and determined penance of Vishwamitra for one thousand years, Lokapitamaha Lord Brahma transcended from his abode, along with other deities, to Vishwamitra and told penance-rich Vishwamitra these sweet and kind words: 

“Vishwamitra, I have liked the fierce penance you have done. You have already secured whatever Lokas a Rajarshi can secure with your arduous penance. We feel that with your horrible penance, you have become a Rajarshi.”

Conveying this information, Lord of Universe Brahma went out of the hermitage of Vishwamitra, along with all the deities. While Brahma went to his Brahma Loka, other deities returned to the heavens.

MADHWAVIJAYA – SHLOKAS 3, 4 AND 5

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Api TrilOkyA bahirullasantee

TamO harantee muhurAntaram cha|

DlishyAd druShTAm nO viShAdam jayantee

MaDhwasya keertirdinanATha deeptim||3||

SUMMARY: May the fame of Acharya Sri Madhwa, which shines inside as well as outside the three worlds, drives away the darkness of lack of knowledge from within the heart and is brighter than the sunlight, bestow upon me the light of realisation and knowledge.

Comment: By stating that the fame and reputation of Sri Madhwacharya is brighter than Sunlight, Sri Narayana Panditacharya has paid rich tributes to the former.

TamOnudAAnandamavApa lOkaha

TatwapradeepAkruti gO gaNEna|

YadAsya sheetAmshuBhuvA gurUmstAn

TrivikramAryAn praNamAmi varyAn||4||

I salute my most revered Guru Sri Trivikrama Panditacharyaru from whose moon-like face spontaneously overflew the sparkling speech called “Tattwapradeepa” that made all the people ecstatic and exuberant.

Additional information: Sri Narayana Pnditacharyaru has used the “GurUn” in this stanza. Sri Narayana Panditacharyaru was the third son of Trivikrama Panditacharyaru. The Shastras clearly mention that Father is the first Guru for everyone. Guru is a synonym of father too. However, the Shastras also mention categorically that the position of a Guru is more than that of the father. A father provides the being his or her physique, which becomes instrumental to acquire knowledge. A body or a being without knowledge is invalid.

Mukunda Bhadtyai guruBhaktijAyai

SatAm prasattayai cha nirantarAyai|

Gareeyaseem vishwagurOrvishdDhAm v

VakShyAmi VAyOravatAra leelAm||5||

SUMMARY: I will describe here the life history and the pleasant deeds of the holiest and astounding incarnation of Lord Vayu, which is symptomatic of my devotion to the Supreme Guru that creates devotion to the Lord and earns me the grace of pious, righteous and virtuous people.

VAyOravatAraleelAm: The word “LeelA” in this compound expression epitomizes several factors. It is a culmination of happiness, ease of action that ensures bliss to those who recite or hear Madhwavijaya. By stating VAyoho, Sri Narayana Panditacharyaru has emphasised the fact that Sri Madhwacharyaru is an incarnation of Lord Vayu and this fact is beyond questioning. Devotion to a Guru is earned by reading, knowing, understanding and assimilating the various activities of the Guru. With the devotion to the Guru sprouts the devotion to the Lord, which is the principal purpose of reading or hearing Shastras.  

VISHWAMITRA AGAIN ATTACKS VASISHTHA

(This is Chapter 56 of Balakanda in Sri Valmeeki Ramayana. After securing special Astras from Lord Shiva, Vishwamitra tries to hurl them at Vasishtha. Please read, comment and Share. SDN)

YEvamuktO VasiShThEna VishwAmitrO mahAbalaha|

AgnEyamastramutkShipya tiShTha tiShThEti chAbraveet||1||

BrahmadaNDam samutkShipya kAladaNDamivAparam|

VasiShThO BhagavAnkrODhAdidam vachanamabraveet||2||

KShatrabanDhO sThitO(a)smyESha yadbalam tadvidarshaya|

NAshayAmyadya tE darpam shastrasya tava gAdhija||3||

Kwa cha tE kShatriyabalam kwa cha Brahmabalam mahat|

Pashya Brahmabalam divyam mama kShatriyapAmsana||4||

TasyAstram gADhiputrasya GhOramAjnEyamudyatam|

BrahmadaNDEna tachChAntamajnErvEga ivAmBhasA||5||

When Vasishtha told “MooDha twam na BhaviShyasi”, meaning “You fool, you will not live long,” to Vishwamitra, who had become very powerful after securing the Astras, set the Agneyastra on his bow and replied to Vasishtha, “Stop, stop, this will punish you appropriately.”

Vasishtha, who was already very much angry, became most indignant, lifted the Brahmadanda, which was reminiscent of Kaladanda or the Fatal Cudgel of Yama, and said: “You, an abuse to Kshatriyas, do not be under the illusion that I will run away by seeing you. I am standing here. Display whatever power you think you have. I will instantly destroy the pride you have assumed due to the Shastras. What strength can you possess in front of Brahmabala (the power of a Brahmarshi)? Can there be a comparison between Brahmabala and the power of a Kshatriya? See it for yourself the real power of the Brahmabala.”