SRI MADHWA VIJAYA - CHATURTHAHA SARGAHA SHLOKAS 44 TO 46

(In these stanzas, Sri Poornaprajna fires the first salvo against mysticism by taking up a popular book of Advait philosophy titled Ishta Siddhi. Please read, comment and share. SDN)

GurOho swashiShyam chaturam chikeerShataha prachOdanAchChrOtumihOpachakramE|

AThEShTasidDhishccHala jAtivAriDhirnirAdarENApi mahAtmanA(a)munA||44||

SUMMARY: Again, although he was unwilling, Sri Poornaprajna started listening to the analyses of “IShTasidDhi”, a compilation of unscrupulous thoughts, illogical jargons and a heap of inconsequential arguments; he did it at the behest of his Master/Guru Sri Achyutaprekasha, who wanted to make his disciple a better informed person.

This refers to an instance where Achyutapreksha spoke at length about “Ishtasiddhi” a commentary on one of the tenets of Advait philosophy, which Sri Achyutapreksha wantonly chose to do to make Sri Poornaprajna conversant with that theosophy.

“Ishtasiddhi” was authored by saint Vimuktatma, a disciple of Sri AvyayAtma in about 950 A.D. It is a very popular book consisting of eight cantos. It dwells on the basic principles and propositions of Advait philosophy like Jaganmithya or the entire universe is fake or false.  

TadAdyapadyasThamavadyamanDalam yadA(a)vadat ShODashakadwayAtmakam|

UparyapAstam taditi bruvatyasau gurau tamUchE praNigadyatAmiti||45||

SUMMARY: When Sri Poornaprajna contended that in the very first stanza of that book Ishtasiddhi there were 32 erros, Sri Achyutapreksha tried to evade by telling that the explanation for them is given in the latter part of this book; but, Sri Poornaprajna insisted that the explanation should be explained instantly.

By stating that there were thirty-two mistakes in the first stanza of that most popular work ov saint Vimuktatma, Sri Poornaprajna that the book had an inauspicious, unholy and highly controvertial beginning.

BhavatpravaktratwasamarThatA na mE sakOpamitTham bruavati vrateeshwarE|

Apeeha mAyAsamayE paTau nruNAm baBhUva taddUShaNasamshayAnkuraha||46||

SUMMARY: When Achyutapreksha, who had a comprehensive and commendable command over the mystic theory, angrily told Sri Poornaprajna “I am not capable of teaching you”, an apprehension gripped the minds of people because of the criticism that the book had attracted.

What is stated in this stanza is that Sri Achyutapreksha was an established scholar in Mayavada or mystic theosophy or Advait philosophy and when he was rendered speechless by Sri Poornaprajna, the people smelt or felt that there something really wrong with that school of thought.

This incident demonstrates that even Sri Poornaprajna wanted to infuse confusion in the minds of people about Maya Vada and that is why he intentionally chose Ishtasiddhi for discussion. The tiny bud of suspicion about Maya Vada that sprouted on that occasion later grew into a giant tree to root out the mysticism.

SRI RAGHAVENDRA SWAMY'S SRI RAMACHARITRYA MANJARI

Janaka sends invitation to Dasharatha, who arrives at Videha City, for the marriage of Sri Rama with Seetha Devi. Please read, comment and share. SDN)

Brahma, Rudra, Indra and other gods, who saw Seetha Devi and Sri Rama exchanging garlands as a token of betrothal, were delighted because it was the happy occasion marked the union of their charming mother Seetha Devi with Sri Rama. They poured a rain of flowers, while Gandharvas sang in praise of Lord Rama and Goddess Seetha. Apsaras danced to the tunes of Gandharvas and the other deities played divine instruments of music. Watching all the deities rejoice, Sri Rama and Janaki became ecstatic.   

The words JAnakeem upayan naha praseedEt means AyODhyAyAha swapitrAdeen AhUya vivAhamakarOt, ityAdikaThA sUchitA. This means that Sri Raghavendra Swamy has offered prayers to Sri Rama after indicating the rest of the story that Sri Rama sent words to his father Dasharatha and other relatives to arrive at Mithila and married Sri Seetha Devi and the remaining part of the story.

Explanation:

Vishwamitra directed King Janaka to send invitation to King Dasharatha and arrange for their arrival at Mithila for the marriage of Sri Rama with Seetha Devi. Accordingly, King Janaka sent his messengers to Ayodhya, who reached the destination after travelling continuously for three days and three nights. They arrived at the royal court of Dasharatha on the fourth morning, saluted the king, when he was in the midst of his minsters. With folded hands, they started conveying the message of King Janaka: “Your Majesty,  most powerful and strong kings from across the universe came to pick up the Bow of Lord Shiva but none was able to do so. They returned to their kingdoms in shame. Adorned with lotus-like eyes, Sri Rama picked up that bow effortlessly and broke it. By doing so, he expressed himself as the bravest person on earth. He also fulfilled my vow to marry off my daughter to a person who can lift the divine bow. He has amply proved himself to be the only suitable groom to marry Seetha Devi. My daughter Seetha too is consciously desirous of marrying your son. Please think over this matter and decide on the next course of action. We are fully prepared to do everything as per your wishes. Vishwamitra, who has been behind you for all the progress and prosperity, is waiting along with us to extend a warm welcome to you all. Please come over, along with all your relatives and friends for the marriage of your son with my daughter.”

King Dasharatha could not spell a word after hearing the message. He was ecstatic. He discussed about the future plans with his ministers. Next morning, he sent all the material required for the marriage ceremony with some of his messengers, in advance. Later, he too started off to Mithila, along with royal preceptor Vasishtha, his wives, ministers and the entire army. King Janaka was waiting at the entrance of Videha City, along with his preceptor Sri Shatananda and his entire cavalcade to welcome Dasharatha. He extended a warm welcome to all the guests in accordance with their rank and file and took them into his capital city and then into the royal court.                   

SRI MADHWAVIJAYA - CHATURTHAHA SARGAHA SHLOKAS 41 TO 43

(In these stanzas, the arrival of Ganga into Madhwasarovar and victory of Sri Poornaprajna over several established scholars. Please read, comment and share. SDN)  

    

(Lord Anantasana informs about arrival of Ganga)

ItastruteeyE divasE dyunimnagA twadarThamAsmAkataTAkamAvrajEt|

AtO na yAyA iti am tadA(a)vadat pravishya kanchitkaruNAkarO Harihi||41||

SUMMARY: Then, embodiment of empathy Lord Hari entered the body of a stranger there and said “There is no need for you to depart because on the third day from today, divine river Ganga will arrive here into our pond.”

Scholars hail this stanza as a demonstration of the quick and compassionate way in which Lord Hari responds to the prayers offered to him by ardent devotees.  

(Ganga arrives)

TadAjnayOpAgatajAhnaveejalE janO(a)tra sasnau saha pUrNabudDhinA|

Tataha param dwAdashavatsarAntarE sadA(aa)vrajet sA tadanugrahAnkinee||42||

SUMMARY: Sri Pornaprajna and other people took bath in the Ganga waters since he came there as ordered by the Lord. Subsequently, as a token of the special grace that the Lord had touched Sri Poornapraja then, Goddess Bhageerathi started coming into that pond once in every twelve years, without any failure.

The pond, which was till then popular as Ananta Sarovar, came to be known as Sri Madhwa Sarovar from that day. Some elderly people are there who claim to have seen Ganga arriving and falling into Madhwa Sarovar as per the schedule.

The fact that Ganga flows into Madhwasarovar once in every twelve years has been explained by Chalari Acharya as: BhAgeerathyA atra dwAdashavatsarE Agamanam maDhwE BhagavatkrupAnugrahasUchakamiti BhAvaha|

Since Ganga descended from heaven to earth due to the penance done by Bhageeratha, the name of the river is Bhaageerathi.

It should also be noted that Sri Madhwa Sarovar is as sacred as Ganga River.

GatE dinAnAm dashakE samAsakE varAshramam prApya sapatralambanam|

JigAya jaitrAn bahutarkakarkashAn sa VAsudEvAhwayapanDitAdikAn||43||

SUMMARY: Within a month and ten days after accepting sainthood, Sri Poornaprajna defeated several scholars such as Vasudeva Pandit and others, whose voice had turned hoarse due to continuous debate and discourse they had indulged in in several places and had won them by employing a variety of trincks and pranks. Sri Poornaprajna had obtained from all of them an affidavit of conceding the event.

Vasudeva Pandit, an outstanding and most popular scholar of Vaisheeshika school, had come to Udupi along with a large number of his disciples and followers with the sole intention of winning over Sri Poornaprajna. He had also put forth a condition that the vanquished should sign a victory declaration in the name of the victor and hand it over to the winner.

It is mentioned in Sri Bhavaprakashike:

Tridinam ya upanyAsam vyaDhAdvidwAn nirantaram|

VaishEShikAgryO vijitO VAsudEvAhwayO (a)munA||

It may be discerned that like Paundraka Vasudeva suffered the defeat for instigating Lord Sri Vasudeva, Vasudeva Pandit too was defeated by Sri Poornaprajna, an ardent devotee of Lord Vasudeva.    

SRI RAGHAVENEDRA SWAMY'S SRI RAMACHARITRA MANJARI

(Sri Rama breaks the Grand Bow and Seetha Devi submits a necklace of lotus flowers made of gold to Sri Rama. Please read, comment and share. SDN).

The murmur in the august assemblage there was still making rounds in the air as: “Just as Goddess Lakshmi is made for Lord Narayana and vice versa, Seetha Devi is made for Sri Rama and vice versa. Since a lamp, irrespective of how much bright it is, cannot testify the brightness of Sun, a little, trivial task of picking up a bow, irrespective of its status and origin, cannot testify the prowess of Lord Rama. Moreover, we are prepared to surrender all the positive energy we have acquired and accumulated through righteous deeds to impress upon Sri Narayana to make Rama accept Seetha as his wife. There was no such need to testify the eligibility of Sri Rama to be the husband of Seetha Devi because she was born to be the wife of Sri Rama.  These are not empty words but a conscious confession of unbiased views.”

Sri Rama could hear these murmurs that were so soothing to the ears and smiled serenely. He was not surprised by the hype that had spread around the bow after glancing it once. He callously picked up the bow by his left hand, even as thousands of eyes were keenly watching him without a wink. The King and Vishwamitra muttered “Good Luck, Good Luck”. Lakshmana was watching everything with a curious smile. Sri Rama playfully pulled the string and tied it to both the ends of the bow and pulled it once at the centre. Can sugarcane bear the munching of a haughty Airavata after getting caught in its trunk? Similarly, the bow broke into two pieces after Sri Rama had carelessly and tenderly pulled the string in the middle to test its strength. The sound that came out of the crashing of the bow echoed in all the three worlds as though to propagate the news that Sri Rama got his Seetha. After breaking the great bow with utmost ease, Sri Rama stood silently with a smile and looked at Sage Vishwamitra.

JAnakee upayan - SeethAdattamAlAm kanThE gruheetwA — wearing the garland presented by Seetha around his neck: Sri Rama smiled pleasantly. King Janaka was dumbfounded and flabbergasted. He started muttering unconsciously, “My pledge is kept and my daughter will be the wife of Sri Rama. My entire family will be proud of this and earn a universal compliment.” He ordered that Seetha be brought from her apartments to that spot.   

Like the Vedas streaming out of the face of Lord Brahma, the charmingly, serenely dressed dames streamed out of the harem, carefully surrounding Seetha and making her lay each step forward softly. It appeared as though Seetha was the manifestation of Goddess Lakshmi. The pleasant sound of anklets and those emanating from the soft crashing of jewels and ornaments she wore rented the air and silenced the whole atmosphere in that hall with a mystic and divine stillness. Her ceremonious and sublime footsteps put to shame even the heavenly geese that are known for their style of walking. All the dames around Seetha were replicating Seetha in every step they walked. They appeared with renewed freshness and charm in every gaze. None of eyes could blink for a moment as it would have meant a huge loss and dissatisfaction. Their looks were so divine that they appeared as though they were speaking softly, even though they were all silent; they appeared as though they were smiling, although they were wearing plain faces. It seemed as though Lord Brahma was incessantly praising their celestial charm from all the four faces. Everyone in that gathering was trying to describe those damsels who were making their way in to the hall but their faces suddenly turned pale as they fell short of words to describe those women.

Initially, a sort of shyness prevented the women from raising their head and looking at Sri Rama. Slowly, the devotion and reverence that filled their minds drove away the shyness. They slowly raised their faces and looked at the face of Sri Rama from the edge of their eyes. The face of Sri Rama, an epitome of universal welfare and kindness, bore the emblem of all the attributes that are needed to be the sole overlord of the entire universe. Seetha looked at Sri Rama, who too was gazing at her through his lotus eyes as though he was preparing to shower all the grace, happiness and calmness on her. Seetha took another look at the blissful face of Lord Rama, his youthful, masculine and blue complexion that had the stamp of the bravery, nonchalant dignity and all-pervasive nature. The aroma of sandal paste he had applied on his mien filled the air and touched her body.

The women had brought with them a garland woven with gold lotus. The garland was wet with sandal paste. Seetha Devi submitted that attractive necklace to Sri Rama and wore it around his neck with her soft hands. Sri Rama took a close, gracious and intense look from head to toe at Seetha, which also meant that Sri Rama too had adorned Seetha Devi with a sacred garland.                  

SRI MADHWAVIJAYA - CHATURTHAHA SARGAHA SHLOKAS 37 TO 40

(In these stanzas, the influence that Sri Poornaprajna had created on the psychology of his worldly Guru Sri Achyutapreksha has been described in a pictoral manner. Please read, comment and share. SDN)

Sa rUpyapeeThAlayavAsinE yadA nanAma nAThAya mahAmatirmudA|

TadA(a)munA(a)grAhi narapravEshinA BhujE BhujEnAshu BhujangashAyinA||37||

SUMMARY: When Sri Poornaprajna passionately saluted the presiding deity of Rupyapeethapura, Sri Anantasana, the Lord entered in a person’s body, lifted him by the right arm with his right arm

The Lord, by lifting the right arm of Sri Poornaprajna, is said to have acknowledged the salutation of his ardent devotee with pleasure.

ChirAt sutattwam prabuBhutsunA twayA niShEvaNam mE yadakAri tatPhalam|

Imam dadAmeetyaBhiDhAya sO(a)munA tadA praNeeya pradadE(a)chyutatmanE||38||

SUMMARY: Drawing Sri Poornaprajna close to Achyutapreksha, Lord Sri Ananteshwara said: “In recoginition of serving me for a long time with a desire to know theosophy, I am hereby presenting this boy to you.”

It may be recalled that earlier, Sri Ananteshwara had indicated to Sri Achyutapreksha that a disciple would join him to explain the intricacies of Madhwa philosophy.

Figurative description of Achyutapreksha is: AchyutE AatmA budDhihi prajnA aasyEti AchyutAtmA Achyutaprajnaha||   

Anugraham tam pratigruhya sAgraham mudA(aa)tmanAm krutakrutyatam smaran|

ABhUdasangO(a)pi sa tatsusangavAnasangaBhUShA nanu sADhusangitA||39||

SUMMARY: Accepting that grace of the Lord with humbleness and a sense of submission, he remembered the compliment he had received from the Lord; although he could renounce the worldly pleasures, he could not shun the attachment and intimacy with Sri Poornaprajna; isn’t it the association with good and righteous person a grand compliment for renunciation of worldly pleasures?

A point to be noted in this context is that renunciation of worldly pleasures invariably calls for association with pious, spirituous and virtuous people as it paves the way for salvation. Just as evil company is deplorable, company of spiritually awakened persons is essential.

Word Asanga means dissociation, which conversely means to have the company of spirituous persons as it is AsangaBhUShA or a symbolic emblem of dissociation.

YiyAsati swastaTineem muhurmuhurnamatyanujnArThini BhUritEjasi|

Tamasmarat swAminamEva dUnaDheergururBhaviShyadvirahAjnishankayA||40||

SUMMARY: When Sri Poornaprajna saluted him again and again seeking his permission to fulfil his desire to go to have a bath in Ganga River, Achyutapreksha imagined about the nostalgia he would have to bear with the departure of his disciple in future, became very much distressed and finally surrendered to his Lord to help.

This stanza establishes the fact that within a very short period, Sri Achyutapreksha had developed an inexplicable attachment towards his disciple Sri Poornaprajna and was in no mood to be without his presence for too long. That was the impact of the character and behaviour that Sri Poornaprajna had created on the mind of his Guru.

Sri Chalari Achar substantiates the feelings of Sri Achyutapreksha: “PoornaprajnE gate mama viyOgO BhaviShyati| Iti BhayEna duhKhitAntahkaraNa it BhAvaha|” Sri Achyutapreksha was momentarily saddened by the thought that in the event of the departure of Sri Poornaprajna from his sight, he would be forlorn, nostalgic and orphoned.       

SRI RAGHAVENDRA SWAMY'S SRI RAMACHARITRA MANJARI

(In this episode, king Janaka implores Vishwamitra to make Rama pick the bow and keep up the pledge he (Janaka) had taken. Please read, comment and share. SDN)

King Janaka continues his explanation of Shiva Dhanus: “Whoever lifts this bow, tie the string and check the tension of that string by pulling it will be either equal to Lord Rudra or more powerful than Lord Rudra.  Persons with the strength that is lesser than that of Rudra cannot lift the bow. Therefore, I proclaimed a pledge that anyone willing to marry my daughter should first tie the string to connect the ends of this bow.

A suspicion arose in my mind that the kings incapable of lifting the bow might jointly attack me and take away my daughter forcibly. I did penance to propitiate Lord Brahma. Impressed by my penance, Lord Brahma bestowed a boon that none would be able to abduct her. My pledge instantly spread across the universe like sunlight.

Driven by the desire to have Seetha as wife, all the kings came here, and returned immediately, after seeing the bow. A few kings went close to the bow but departed without touching it. Some retreated after touching it with their hands. A few tried to shake it and some fled away by seeing other kings returning to their kingdoms. Some kings tried their best to lift the bow but failed. Sweat oozed out of their body like a stream and losing their consciousness, they fell on the ground. If this was the fate of Ravana, then it is hard to imagine what would have happened to other kings. Thus, all those who thought they were next to none in terms of strength, returned with empty hands.  

Once again, all of them joined together and came here to forcibly take away my daughter. They kept on fighting for one year, when all my weapons got exhausted. Thanks to the four-pronged forces sent by the deities and the boon bestowed by Brahma, we defeated them. They fled the scene once again.

Oh sage Vishwamitra! May Sri Rama keep up my oath! I will have the bow brought here. Let Rama take the bow by hand, tie the string and let Seetha marry Sri Rama. Later, let Seetha follow Sri Rama like the pleasant lustre follows Moon and brightness follows the Sun.” Vishwamitra, after hearing those words, asked Janaka to have the bow brought to where Rama was seated.

As instructed by the king, five thousand strong soldiers brought the box containing the bow with great difficulty. Vishwamitra requested Rama to pick up the box and tie the string. Pronouncing the paradigm “Om”, Sri Rama stood up and went near the box of bow.

When he walked, the gleam of jewels that adorned his ears spread on his cheeks and enhanced his charm. All the women who had gathered in that enchanting hall looked at Sri Rama, who, with a blue complexion, was like an ocean of beauty and charm. People in that august assemblage spoke among themselves: “Kausalya is indeed luckiest for bearing such a charming son. King Dasharatha too is very lucky. Poets say that Lord Brahma must have collected all the beautiful organs in the universe and created Rama with them. It is a truism because any creation of Brahma cannot be as charming as Rama. It is therefore pertinent to say that this charming gem of purest ray serene must have appeared on earth in human form as Rama to make the people happy. Like Goddess Lakshmi emerged out of the cosmic ocean of milk during Great Churning, Seetha too emerged from the Earth. Therefore, she is not a common woman. She is the most revered on earth and a mystic and divine gem that cannot be created in the normal way.” (Rama breaking the bow in the next episode. SDN)