MADHWAVIJAYA PRATHAMAHA SARGAHA – SHLOKAS 17, 18, 19

(In these stanzas, the exemplary prowess, devotion and dedication of Hanumantha towards Srirama have been described by employing simple figures of speech. Please read, comment and share. – SDN)

Nibhadya sEtum RaGhuvamshakEtuBhrUBhangasamBhrAtapayODhimaDhyE|

MuShTiprahAram dashakAya SeethAsantarjanAgryOttaramEShakO(a)dAt||17||

SUMMARY: He (Hanumantha) built the bridge across the ocean, which had turned clueless with fear when the flagpost of the dynasty of Raghu, Srirama, raised his eyebrows in rage; he hit Ravana with his fist as a token of response for hurting and troubling Seetha Devi.

JAjwalyamAnOjwalarAGhavAgnau chakrE sa SugreevasuyAyajUkE|

AaDhwaryavam yudhDhamaKhE pratiprasThAtrA SumitrAtanayEna sAkam||18||

SUMMARY: Srirama, who was dazzling and radiant, was like the Fire God; Sugreeva was the good performer (of sacrifice) and with Lakshmana as the Rutwik named PratipratasThAstu, Hanumantha befittingly and effectively donned the role of an Adhwaryu in the sacrifice that was performed in the form of battle of Rama with Ravana.

Additional information: By comparing Hanumantha to an Adhwaryu, the poet has extolled the significant role that Hanumantha played in the sacrifice called battle.

Pratiprasthata is the title given to the priest conducting a sacrifice as per Samaveda. Same priest performing sacrifice under Rig Veda is called Hotru and under Yajur Veda he is called Udgata.

  

RAmArchanE yO nayataha prasUnam dwABhyAm karABhyAmaBhavat prayatnaha|

YEkEna dOShNAnayatO gireendram sanjeevAdyAshrayamasya nABhUt||19||

SUMMARY: Hanumantha did not so much difficulty or pain when he brought the giant mountain Gandhamadan that contained Sanjeevini and other medicinal herbs with a lone hand as he used to experience while fetching fragrant flowers in both palms for Rama to offer routine worship or puja.

Mount Gandhamadana was 100 Yojana high and 100 Yojana broad. It was situated at a distance of about 50,000 Yojanas from the battlefield. Hanumantha brought that huge mountain by one hand. What is more praiseworthy in this Shloka is that the poet has categorically stated that any service dedicated to the Lord is as easy as lifting a flower. Moreover, Hanumantha had brought Mount Gandhamadana on two occasions. Once it was to relieve Lakshmana and other monkeys from the stranglehold of Nagapasha and secondly to revive the life of Lakshmana after he was almost on the verge of death during his war with Ravana.

MADHWAVIJAYA PRATHAMAHA SARGAHA – SHLOKAS 14, 15, 16

KarNAntamAneeya guNagraheetrA RAmENa muktO raNakOvidEna|
SPhurannasau vairiBhayanakrO(a)BhUt satpakShapAtee pradarO yaThAgryaha||14||

SUMMARY: Srirama, who grasps others’ qualities instantly and is an inimitable warrior, drew Hanumatha near his ears, whispered a secret message and bade him adieu. Like an arrow shot from the bow after pulling its string till the ear, pro-virtuous Hanumantha shone like a terror of enemies.

Hidden meaning: Srirama asked Hanumantha to lend a close ear, whispered a message to him and this was like an arrow that Srirama was preparing to fire at Ravana by pulling the string of his bow up to his ear after setting the arrow on it to give it the force and velocity to reach and behead Ravana in the war that was imminent. In BalithThA Sukta it is explicit as:

Yadeemupa hwaratE sADhatE matirrrutasya DhEnA anayanta susrutaha||

This conveys the same meaning as the one Sri Narayana Panditacharyaru has explained here.

GOBhihi samAnanditarUpaseetaha swavahninirdagDhapalAshirAshihi|AhO HanUmannavavAridO(a)sau teerNambuDhirviShNupadE nanAma||15||
SUMMARY: Oh, the new cloud called Hanumantha made the rich plant in the form of Seetha Devi feel very happy by creating a rain that was in the form of sweet message of Srirama. With the fire in the tail, he burnt the tree that was in the form of demons, crossed the ocean and bowed in front of the feet of Lord Sri Hari (Srirama).
Additional point: By comparing Hanumantha to a special cloud, Sri Narayana Panditacharyaru has cryptically summarised the entire Sundarakanda in one Shloka. Seetha Devi has been compared to a plant and the demons to a tree.
ApakShapAtee puruShastrilOkyAmaBhOgaBhOktA patagADhirAjam|
VishwamBharam biBhradasau jigAya twarAkrAntiShu chitramEtat||16||

He is neither the Golden Eagle (Garuda) who has wings to fly; he does not prey on snakes either; yet he carried Srirama, who carries the entire universe on his shoulders, on his shoulders; he thus overtook Garuda in flying as well as bravery. What an astonishing sight it is!
Hanumantha is not desirous of luxury like Garuda because he does not feed on snakes and he is a pure Brahmachari, a chaste and characterful person. He was in the form of a monkey. Yet he became the vehicle of Srirama, though Garuda is the original vehicle of Lord Vishnu.
(These stanzas further establish Hanumantha as a devotee of Sri Hari beyond imagination, explanation and description. In status too, he is superior than Garuda. This point has been very well explained in these Shlokas. Please read, comment and share. SDN)

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.

(Please read, comment and share. SDN)

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.