SRI MADHWAVIJAYA - TRITEEYAHA SARGAHA SHLOKAS 28, 29 AND 30

(Eloquence of Madhyageha, discussion about the word “Likucha” have been provided in these three stanzas. Please read, comment and share. SDN)

KaThayatAm praThamE kaThayatyalam swajanakE janasanGhavrutE kaThAm|

SalalOkamanOnayanOtsavashchaturaDheehi sa kadAchidavAchayat|28||

SUMMARY: When his father, who was in the forefront of Puraniks, was delivering a discourse to an assemblage, ever sharp Vasudeva, who was a pleasure to the mind and sight of people, entreated his father to explain further.

Vasudeva had noticed that his father had failed to substantiate a stanza and made him explain it later.

ViviDhashAKhipadArThanivEdanE likuchanAmnitadA(a)nuditArThakE|

Kimiti tAta tadarThamavarNayan kaThayaseeti shanairayamabraveet||29||

SUMMARY: In the context under reference, Madhyageha was supposed to tell the names of various trees. Taking cognisance of the fact that his father had skipped a stanza, Vasudeva whispered in a low voice to his father, “why are you proceeding with explanation without telling the meaning of one stanza.

Scholars are of the view that the context might be related to an incident in the Canto 28,  Sabhaparva of Mahabharata where Dwaraka is explained. The names of trees might be: AmrAha panasavrukshAshcha ankOlAstilatindukAha| LikuchAmrAtakAshchaishcha kSheerikA kanTakee taThA||

Another important fact is that Sri Trivikrama Pandit, who composed Sri Vayustuti, and his son Narayana Pandit, who is the author of this “Madhwavijaya” belonged to a family named asLikucha.   

Avadateeti pitaryapi chOditE pratibuBhutsuShu tatra janEShwapi|

Ayamudeerya tadarThamavAptavAn pariShadO hyasamAnasumAnanAm||30||

SUMMARY: When his father did not explain the stanza that Vasudeva had drawn his attention to, the audience insisted on an explanation. Vasudeva surprised everyone there with his explanation and therefore he got felicitated.  

SRI RAMACHARITRA MANJARI

(In this edition, the efforts that Vishwamitra continued to put in to attain the status of Brahma Rishi have been explained. Please read, comment and share. SDN)

In the meantime, Trishanku, a king and descendent of the dynasty of Ikshwaku, had a desire to physically enter the heavens. He appealed to sage Vasishtha to perform a sacrifice to get his desire realised. Sage Vasishtha told Trishanku that it was impossible to get into the heavens in the mortal form and that there was no sacrifice that could transform his dream into reality. He went to the children of Sage Vasishtha and raised the same issue with them. When they too rejected his plea, Trishanku said that he would get such a sacrifice performed from different Rishis. Enraged by this statement, the children of Vasishtha cursed Trishanku to become insane and transform into a Chandala. Wearing the same form of Chandala, Trishanku went to Vishwamitra and narrated the entire story. Vishwamitra performed the sacrifice and Trishanku reached the heavens. But, Lord Indra pushed Trishanku down. Infuriated by this act of Indra, sage Vishwamitra  stopped Trishanku, who was falling with his head down, midway, with the power of his penance. He began creating all the planets, other heavenly bodies. He created some stars in the sky. Frightened by what was happening around, the deities bestowed upon Trishanku the blessing that he could enjoy the same pleasure as the one available in the heavens. They also conceded that Trishanku be able to enjoy the new heavens with his head down and toe up. Because of this Trishanku incident, Vishwamitra had to lose a large portion of the power penance.

Vishwamitra again indulged in penance at Pushkarateerth. At this juncture, Indra stole away the sacrificial horse that the then Ayodhya King Ambareesha had begun. The priests categorically said that so long as the missing sacrificial was not brought, the sacrifice could not be completed. The priests also suggested a solution for the situation. If a human being could be offered as sacrifice, it could be completed, the priests said. Although the search was made in all directions, the sacrificial horse could not be found. As an alternative, one lakh cows were given to Rucheeka Maharishi in exchange for the second son of Rucheeka Maharishi, called Shunashshepa. While he was being taken for the sacrifice, Shunashshepa saw Vishwamitra at the Pushkara and he sought protection with Vishwamitra. Sage Vishwamitra summoned all children and ordered them to go and sacrifice their lives. The children directly refused to obey the orders of Vishwamitra. Enraged by his sons’ disobedience, Vishwamitra cursed them to become Chandalas. He then preached two Mantras and asked Shunashshepa to recite them. The deities were impressed with the recitation of Mantra by Shunashshepa and agreed to have the sacrifice completed without sacrificing any animal or human. This again reduced the power of penance for Vishwamitra. 

SRI MADHWAVIJAYA - TRUTEEYAHA SARGAHA SHLOKAS 25,26 AND 27

SRI MADHWAVIJAYA – TRUTEEYAHA SARGAHA SHLO

KAS 25, 26 AND 27

(Vasudeva delivers maiden spiritual discourse and displays his dexterity in translating Scriptures. Please read, comment and share. SDN)

ATha kaTham kaThayEti tadA janE gaditavatyuchitArThamudAharat|

Sa samalAlyata vismayiBhirnarairapi surairvijayAnkurapUjakaihi||25||

SUMMARY: Then, with the audience there requesting him “Dear child, can you please substantiate it for us?” Vasudeva explained the correct meaning of the text. The puzzled audience honoured the boy. Deities too worshipped him as it marked the sprouting of a great tree of glory.  

This incident is said to be the beginning of a task undertaken by Sri Madhwacharya of condemning the misconception and misleading versions of Scriptures by the proponents of different cults.

Sa jananeesahitO janakam gruhE pragatavAmstamudantamavEdayat|

Nigada tAta Shivaha kaThakaha sa kim vitaThageeraThavA(a)hamiteerayan||26||

Vasudeva, who returned home along with his mother, narrated the incident to his father and asked him “Oh father, please tell me whether it was I or that Shivabhatta who misinterpreted the holy text?”

Nanu sutAvitaTham kaThitaha twayEtyamumudeerya savismayamasmarat|

Prakrutitaha krutitA Khalu mE shshOrmadaDhinAThadayOdayajEtyasau||27||   

SUMMARY: Bewildered Madhyageha said “my child, you have not said anything wrong” and said within himself “this natural skill of my son is nothing but the grace of my deity Sri Ananteshwara”.  

SRI RAMACHARITRA MANJARI

(In this edition, transformation of Vishwamitra from being Kshatriya into a Brahmin is explained. Please read, comment and share. SDN)

The substantiation about the distinction between the body of Lord Sri Rama and the bodies of Lakshmana, Bharata and and Shatrughna has been indicated in the word “PrajAtaha” in which the syllable “JA” means one who took the incarnation well. The letter “pra” in the original expression further points to “PrAdurBhUtaha”.

Readers may be wondering at the length of this explanation for the first stanza of Ramacharitrya Manjari. Unless all this explanation is given, the hidden meaning of the stanza will remain lost and therefore, late Sri P.P. Lakshminarayana Upadhyaya has provided this great insight into the story to make the work of Sri Raghavendra Swamy a very comprehensive one.

In this first stanza, Sri Raghavendra Rayaru has said: “NeetO VishwAmitrENa mantrAhruedanusanjAta…”, which can be written in direct or prose style as : “Atha VishwAmitrENa anujasahitaha neetaha”, which is further elaborated as: “TadA VishwAmitraha RAmAvatAram shrutwA DasharaThagruham prAptavAn| Atha RAmaha DasharaThEna anujnAtaha salakkshmaNaha VishwAmitrENa neeyamAnaha| This means: Then, having learnt about the incarnation of Vishnu as Sri Rama, sage Vishwamitra reached the palace of Dasharatha. Later, Sri Rama secured the direction from Dasharatha to accompany sage Vishwamitra, along with his younger brother Lakshmana.

This simple statement projects us to explore and know something more about sage Vishwamitra.

In the dynasty of Moon (Chandravamsha) was born a king named Gadhi. Due to the blessings and grace of his son-in-law Rucheeka, a Rishi, a son called Vishwamitra was born to Gadhi. Being a very strong king, Vishwamitra went on a glorious expedition and reached the Ashram of Vasishtha during the course of that expedition. Sage Vasishtha, with the assistance of Kamadhenu, a celestial cow, hosted a very good party to Vishwamitra and his huge army. Having come to know the extraordinary and mystic power of Kamadhenu, Vishwamitra forced sage Vasishtha to part with it. When Vasishtha refused, Vishwamitra stole Kamadhenu, which produced an army with its divine power and crushed the entire army of Vishwamitra. The army produced by Kamadhenu also destroyed the one hundred children of Vishwamitra. Vanquished Vishwamitra did a fierce penance to invoke Lord Rudra and secured Brahmastra and other lethal Astras from the Lord. Vishwamitra fired those Astras at Vasishtha, who transferred the power of his penance into a club and placed it in front of himself. The club destroyed all the Astras fired by Vishwamitra. Realising that the power of a Brahmin is greater, Vishwamitra did a penance for one thousand years in praise of Lord Brahma, seeking to be converted into a Brahmin. Lord Brahma, who appeared in front of Vishwamitra, just said “You have become a Rajarishi”. Realising that he had not yet attained Brahminhood, dissatisfied Vishwamitra again did  penance. (To be continued)   

SRI MADHWAVIJAYA - TRUTEEYAHA SARGAHA SHLOKAS 22, 23 AND 24

(In these stanzas, the spiritual discourse of a scholar named Shivabhatta has been explained. Please read, comment and share. SDN)

ParishadA nitarAm parivAritaha shivapadaha kila dhautapaTOdBhavaha|

Iha kaThAm kaThayan dadrushE tataha pruThudiyA pruThukAkrutinA(a)munA||22||

SUMMARY: Vasudeva, a fully learned boy by birth (Poornabodha) saw a Puranik named Shiva, who belonged to a dynasty called Dhautapata, giving a discourse, even as he was surrounded by a large assemblage of audience.

IdamuvAcha vichAvichakShaNaha shuchivachaha shanakaihi sa janAntarE|

AparaThA kaThitam kaThaka twayA nanu matAnmahatAmiti sasmitam||23||

SUMMARY: Being an exponent of sensible spiritual knowledge, Vasudeva said in a soft voice and a sweet smile from the midst of the audience, “Oh Puranik, whatever you have told isn’t as per the opinion of elderly people.”   

Scholars are of the opinion in this context that the subject of discourse being presented by Shivabhatta then was probably related to some difficult instances from epics like the killing of Vali, incident of Shambuka, desertion of Seeta by Sri Rama or acceptance of five husbands by Draupadi. The presentation of Shivabhatta was perhaps not in accordance with what Sri Vyasa or Shukamuni had already dealt with. The view expressed by Vasudeva also conveys the meaning that mere popular presentation of a discourse is not enough. It should be presented in a way to please Lord Janardhana. There is a message behind this act of Vasudeva that whenever a person utters something during the course of a discourse that is not in line with the established truth, the audience is duty bound to oppose and object.  

AgaNayanna shivam janatA tadA savachanE vasudEvasutAhwayE|

MuKharamichChati kO mrugaDhUrtakam prakrutahumkrutasihmashishau sati||24||

SUMMARY: As soon as Vasudeva said those words, the audience began ignoring the discourse. Who would pay attention to the barks of a fox when the cub of a lion unleashes a roar?

SRI MADHWAVIJAYA - TRUTEEYAHA SARGAHA SHLOKAS 19, 20 AND 21

(Father gets surprised by the grasping power of Vasudeva. Please read, comment and share. SDN)

Lipikulam nanu tAta gate dinE liKhitamEva punarliKhitam kutaha|

It nijapratiBhAguNaBhAvitam haripadasya vachastamanandayat||19||

SUMMARY: The words “Father, why have you written the same alphabets that you wrote yesterday” of Vasudeva earned the admiration of Madhyageha Bhattaru.

It can be understood here that Madhyageha was still unaware that his son Vasudeva was an incarnation of Lord Vayu.

Shishurasau pratiBhAmbuDhirityalam janamanOvachanagrahapeeDanA|

Na BhavatAditi tam vijanasThalE swatanayam samashikShayadEShakaha||20||

SUMMARY: Realising that “this child of mine is an ocean of talent and the devilish impact of the mind and tongue of evil minded people shall not fall on him,”  Madhyageha began teaching his son in a place of tranquillity and loneliness.

Madhyageha was perhaps aware that the words of jealous people could have a negative impact on the child’s growth.

MahavatA swajanEna sameeritaswajananeesahitEna kadAchana|

RuchiravAchanayA(a)rchitavAkChriyA pratiyayE praBhuNA Ghrutavallyapi||21||

SUMMARY: Vasudeva, an affluent person of sweet words with which the speech was getting honoured, went to Ghruvalli, along with his mother and as per the wishes of his near and dear.

It is said that it has been mentioned in Bhavaprakashike that Ghrutavalli was a different name of a village called Neyampalli.   

SRI RAMACHARITRA MANJARI

(In this episode, Sri Rama, along with his three brothers are born from Kausalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi after the deities were born in different sects of monkeys as Vanaras. Please read, comment and Share. SDN)

According to the instruction of Lord Brahma, Devendra took birth on earth as Vali; Moon as his son Angada; Sun as Sugreeva; Fire God as Neela; Varuna as Sushena; Vishwakarma as Nala;  Ashwini goddesses as Mainda and Vividha; five deities of Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana and Samana as Gaja, Gavaksha, Gavaya, Vrushabha and Gandhamadana respectively; Bruhaspatyacharya as Tara; Shachi Devi as Vali’s wife and Tara’s sister Tara Devi; Kubera as Katthana; Nirruti as Durmukha; the three prominent of the forty-nine Maruts were born as Shweta, Sampati and Kesari, Parjanya as Sharabha; Parjanya as Sharabha and two chiefs of the Ashtavasu were born as Panasa and Shatabali.  Similarly, all the deities were born in different sects and served Sri Hari.

Later, Sri Hari’s four forms namely Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha took birth as follows: Vasudeva was born to Kausalya on Chaitra Shukla Navami Tithi with Punarvasu star in the sky and at the auspicious afternoon Lagna called Karkataka; at that time, sun was in Mesha, Guru in Karkataka, Shani in Tula, Kuja in Makara, Shukra in Meena were all in exalted positions. Moon was occupying his own house of Karkataka and Budha was stationed in a friendly house of Vrushabha. At the time of his birth, the minds of righteous became clear and those of the evils turned gloomy. Brahma and other deities showered flowers.

He was named as Rama because He is the husband of Ramadevi; “Ra”  means the one who bestows Moksha and other ideals of a person to everyone; “Ma” is synonymous of large wealth and thirdly He is the one who casts a mystic, mesmeric and magnetic attraction among women and others towards himself.