‘Ãshãda Ekãdasi’
Premika Bhavanam, Chennai, India.
01.07.2001 - Sunday - 7.00 p.m.

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Sri Swamigal has been rendering ‘Upanyãsam’ (discourses), in Tamizh. This is being brought to you here.

There may appear to be variations in the ‘tense’ of the language. This is due to the fact that great effort has been taken to maintain the original style of the ‘Upanyãsam’. Therefore, we request you to keep this in mind while reading the translated ‘words’ of Sri Swamigal.

Sri Swamiji,

" Thiagaraja Swami explains how the Mantra ‘RAMA’ came to be. If the letter ‘rã’ is removed from ‘Nãrãyana’ it reads as Nãyana, which means ‘no refuge’! If the letter ‘ma’ from ‘Namasivãya’ is removed it reads as ‘Nasivãya’ that means ‘no auspiciousness’ (inauspicious). Thus, taking the letter ‘Rã’ from Nãrãyana and ‘Ma’ from Namasivãya, Rama Nãma has been coined. This is said in the Manu Smriti, too. Thus it contains both Nãrãyana and Namasivãya and all other devatas. All devatas are contained in Sri Rama. How? Well! When one chants a mantra one should obtain ‘sãkshatkãra’ of the devata of that particular mantra. Even when we chant the Gayatri we say, ‘Gayatri ãvãhayãmi …’ and install the particular devata within us. Until the end when we reinstall that devata in their original place (‘yatã stãnam’) the devata remains within us. At such time we should not prostrate to others, as it would amount to the devata prostrating to others. It is verily a grave sin.

Now, Sage Viswamitra had performed japa of innumerable mantras crores and crores of times and attained ‘sãkshãtkãra’ of all those devatas. When one desires to give something to someone he gives the best in his possession. If one possesses wealth he offers that. If he is a man of physical strength he tries to use it for others. Now Viswamitra possessed innumerable mantras and so the Sage desired to offer the Mantras to his beloved disciple Rama. As soon as the Sage offered upadesa of one mantra Rama uttered it just once and the ‘sãkshãtkãra’ of that devata was attained by Him immediately! Thus all the devatas were taken into His ‘sariira’ (body)! So the Nama Rama contains all the potent mantras.

Parvati thought, “There are so many jivas who cannot chant the whole of the 1000 Names of the Lord. Should they also not be taken care of?” and out of compassion for such jivas asked her consort Lord Siva, “It may be difficult for all to chant the whole of Sahasranama. Kindly show an easy way other than this for such jivas.” At once Lord Siva said, “It is enough if one chants, ‘Sri Rama Rama Rama!’ It is equivalent to have chanted the whole of Sahasranama. Such is the glory of this Name of the Lord!

Appannagãru then appointed Gopannagãru as Tahsildar of Bhadrachalam. Appannagãru advised the young Gopannagãru, “This is a very high status post. It deals with lot of money. You should be very careful while occupying this seat. Working for the King is like handling a cobra. The cobra might drop a gem or if provoked bite you. Similarly, if the King is pleased he will shower you with invaluable gifts but if you rub him on the wrong side your head will be chopped off.” The post of Tahsildar was a very prestigious and highly respected post. The people of Bhadrachalam made arrangements for receiving their new Tahsildar and eagerly awaited his arrival. As it is usual to entertain the higher up by bestowing him with what pleases him, the people of Bhadrachalam learning that he was a Rama Bhakta decided to receive him in the Temple of Sri Rama in Bhadrachalam.

There is an incident(story) exemplifying the glory of Bhadrachalam. There once lived a Brahmin by name Kãlakãlan. His Guru cursed him because he misbehaved with the Guru Patni (the wife of the Guru). He was inflicted with leprosy and was thrown out by his own Brahmin brethren. He wandered about in misery. He repented greatly for what he had done and prayed to God to save him from this hell. None offered him food. Learning that even the worst sinner was offered food by way of ‘anna dana’ in Bhadrachalm on the day of Sri Rama Navami festival, he somehow managed to reach the Kshetra. He had a glimpse of the Temple tower and fell down dead. The agents of Yama (God of death) approached him to take him away but were stopped by Hanuman, the great Bhakta of Lord Rama. He had been sent by Rama here. Lord Rama here had proclaimed, “One who has entered my domain can never be touched by the agents of Yama” and took this jiva unto His Lotus Feet. This Kshetra is of such great glory!

Ramadas was deeply pained to see the dilapidated condition of the temple. His eyes filled with tears when he found the old, oily, tattered dress on Rama, Lakshmana, Sita and Hanuman. He said to Rama, “Now do I understand why you have brought me here! My first work will be to set things right here in this temple!” At this time he had no idea of using his post for the benefit of the temple. His house in his native town, which was the only property left out and his wife's jewels were sold out to provide for the improvement of the Bhadrachalam temple. But since his desire to provide for Rama and His family was so deep and vast that the amount earned from his property could not meet the target set! It was then that he decided to use the tax collected from the people on behalf of the King for this purpose. He said to himself, “Everything in this world is Lord Rama’s and He is here suffering without proper clothing or food. In such a situation how can we enjoy his wealth?” Thus, instead of sending the funds to the King, Ramadas diverted it to temple renovation work and for adorning his Beloved Rama and His family with jewels! Ramadas arranged for a grand Utsav and to his misfortune an incident provoked one of the invitees to drop an anonymous letter to the King requesting him to check if the funds from Bhadrachalam were being duly received. The King ordered an enquiry into the matter and when he learnt that so far no funds had been received, ordered the arrest of Ramadas. Ramadas was brought to the court and when the King demanded an explanation, he showed the account that he had so meticulously maintained for every coin collected and spent on his Lord Rama and family! The King did not have the heart to imprison Ramadas as his father had been a very loyal servant. However, he ordered Ramadas to be thrown into the prison as a warning to others who might try to misuse the Kingdom’s treasury.

Prison life in those days, unlike the ones that we see now, was very tough. The prisoners were often whipped and forced to do hard labour. Thrown into the prison Ramadas did not eat the cooked food offered but somehow procured a little rice that he soaked in water and consumed it after offering it as naivedya to his Rama. The depth of his worship of Personal God (Form) is seen in that with his fingernails he has carved on the rocky wall of the prison the form of Lord Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman. He worshipped these. The prison is still to be seen in Golconda (near Hyderabad) and one gets to see this carving of Ramadas even today! Ramadas has written about 16000 Kritis on Lord Rama though what we know and sing is much less. All the 16000 Kritis of Ramadas have been painted on wooden boards and hung on the marble walls in a ‘dhyãna mandap’ built by the Government in memory of the great Rama Bhakta. At the entrance of this mandap is a big statute of Ramadas in the attire of a Diwan while outside on top of the entrance wall is a small statue as the humble servant of the Lord!

Ramadas was second only to Jayadev in writing Kirtans on Bhagavan followed later on by Purandaradas and Thiagaraja Swami. Prior to them the Ãzhwãrs, Nãyanamãrs and other devotees only wrote ‘stotras’ and not Kirtans on the Lord. We may sing these writings of the Ãzhwaars, for example ‘Pachhai mã malai pol meni’ may be sung to a tune but it is only a stotra. Kirtan is sung with Pallavi, anu pallavi and charanam and this was introduced by Jayadev followed by Bhadrachala Ramadas. It is Bhadrachala Ramadas who set the tradition of Nama Sankeertanam wherein we begin with ‘Jaya Janaki Ramana’ (Ramadas’s writing). Later on Marudaanallur Sathguru Swamigal spread this all over the country.

In the prison Ramadas pleads with Rama to have a look at him. But there is no response from Rama. Hence, he turns his appeal to Sitamma (Sita). He requests her, “Oh! mother! Would you not recommend my case to Sri Rama? Do you know why I plead thus? These people are whipping me and this body is unable to withstand it.” Sita speaks to Rama, “Don’t you hear Ramadas’s pleadings? Can’t you do something about it?” Lord Rama refuses, “Did I ask him to renovate this temple for me? Or adorn us with all these jewels? I am also a Chakravarthi (Emperor). I know the difficulties of a King if funds of the Kingdom are diverted for other purposes. I stand by dharma. I cannot help him”. But Sita pleads with him, “Could you not just appear in the dream of the King and order him to release Ramadas? Out of fear the King will surely release Ramadas!” Rama bluntly refuses, “I will not behave without any ethics. I am a Satya Santha (Person of Truth). Until I am able to return the funds of the King that were used by Ramadas I cannot ask the King to release him.” Not one to give up, Sita advises him to get the needed money from Mahalakshmi! (who was none other than Herself). He agrees to and Mahalakshmi rains down gold coins.

Wearing the garb of the servants (‘thalaiyãri’) of Ramadas, Rama and Lakshmana go to the palace of the King. Seeing their ‘tejas’ none dare to stop them. They knock at the room door of the King. Lord Rama, in the disguise of a ‘thalaiyãri’ of Ramadas, ordered, “Open the door!” When the King opened the door he could not but wonder and admire at these two who seemed so lustrous! The two introduced themselves as the ‘thalaiyãris’ of Ramadas and informed him that they had brought the money that was his (the King’s) due. Rama gave the gold coins brought in a cloth bundle. The coins bore the symbol of Ayodhya Kingdom! Rama demanded an acknowledgement from the King for this, as also an order for the release of Ramadas. The Muslim King immediately picked up his upper cloth on which he wrote the receipt for the gold coins, with the tip of the feather dipped in ‘ãsha’, and the order for the release of Ramadas. Rama and Lakshmana went to the prison and threw this receipt into the cell through the ventilator. Ramadas was surprised to receive it and wondered about the sudden change of mind of the King. Meanwhile the King who had totally lost in the darshan of the Brahma swaroopa, yearned for the darshan and rushed to Golconda. He had Ramadas released and asked him, “Who are those two ‘thalaiyãris of yours? Where are they? I want to meet them again!”

Ramadas at once understood the divine play of his Beloved Rama and led the King to the Badrachalam temple. Here he showed his Lord to the King. The King was beside himself with this darshan and realized the deep devotion of Ramadas. Ramadas said to Rama, “Hey! Rama! Is it because it was the King’s money used in the renovation of your temple, cloth and jewels adorning you, that you blessed him with Your darshan?” The King appealed to Ramadas to take up the responsibility of the temple and donated the whole Bhadrachalam to him!

Ramadas sings, “Sing the Name of Rama. One need not go to Bhagirathy (Ganga) but just chant Rama Nãma……..” He says one need not perform big dharma but perform small charities. Do ‘anna dãna’. Just say Rama. We ourselves can feel the potency of chanting just Rama Nama. How good it feels to do pãrayana of Srimad Bhagavatam all by ourselvers at home than doing the same in a Bhagavata sapthãham. It does not mean that one should not do Bhagavata sapthãham. But there is a difference in being alone. It does give greater joy. When we try to do things in a big way, too much time is involved in worldly affairs and lot of mental agony suffered if one cannot face criticism. Let us say a man builds an old age home as he deeply feels for the old people left uncared for by their children. He goes to any length to bring comfort to them. But what happens? When he is not around these old people complain to the visitors that though this fellow collects much funds in their names, he does not provide them with any comfort! What would the state of mind of this person be if he were to hear it? After having gone to such length to provide comfort for them what does he earn? A bad name! So, performing little dharma is better. Similarly, read Bhagavatam all alone at home. It brings in much joy.

Karmendriyãs are five, Jnãnedriyãs are five and with the ‘manas’ they add up to eleven. One must do dhyana from 3 to 5 a.m. and chant the stotras recommended by the Guru and the Japa of the Mantra given by the Guru from 6 to 8 a.m. Before chanting this mantra meditate on the Guru who has given you the upadesa of the mantra. One must do sadhana with ‘mano’ (mind), ‘vãk’ (speech), ‘kãyam’ (body) in it. ‘Anbu’ (Affection) is ‘ãzhnda kãdal’ (deep/intense Love). Where there is love the mind automatically sets in it and enjoys it. One should feel deep love for Bhagavãn.

But for Ramadas, the world would not have known Bhadrachalam. Had not the Lord willed the imprisonment of Ramadas his (Ramadas’s) deep devotion would not have been brought to light. The devotee spreads the glory of the Lord and the Lord spreads the glory of the devotee! But for this, we would not be speaking of Bhadrachalam nor undertake this trip to Bhadrachalam. "

“GOPIKAA JEEVANASMARANAM!”
GOVINDA! GOVINDA!”

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NOTE: Any discrepancy/lapse in the translated version of the Upanyasam is the sole responsibility of the person/s who translated the work from Tamizh into English.

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