In this dEvamanOhari kriti, sathguru exclaims for whose sake the lord descended as SrIrAma! In Sathguru’s compositions SrIrAma rarely comes across as Someone who existed long back! He talks eloquently about the way He spoke (lovingly), He conducted Himself (uprightly), He fought (valorously), He blessed (benevolently). These show us how dearly and timelessly he experienced the divine presence in his life. The rAma he refers to is not just a mythological hero with past existence but constant eternal presence in his life. How else does one explain wondering about a hero of the past as to how one could divine His advent!! The opening line (pallavi) itself is a great reminder of the way sathguru related to SrIrAma intimately and requests Him to reveal the real reason of His advent.
In the anu pallavi, he sings about the mahAraju, the great emperor who beseeched Him to descend on to the earth and salutes that great emperor (for having invited Him to come). The saint, whose hagiographic life story loses no opportunity to talk about his reluctance of royalty, for once hails a king! There in lies the secret of receiving sathguru’s salutations – it is reserved for those who love the lord.
The caraNams variously describe the naming of the lord by sage vasisTha and His charm that exceeds that of the Trinity.
pallavi
evarikai avatAram(e)ttitivO ippuDaina telupa(v)ayya rAmayya (evarikai)
ఎవరికై అవతారమెత్తితివో ఇప్పుడైనా తెలుపవయ్యా రామయ్య రామ (ఎవరికై )
meaning: for whose sake did you descend on the earth, oh rAma, kindly reveal it at least now.
anu pallavi
avaniki ramm(a)ni pilicina maharAj(e)varO vAniki mrokkeda rAma (evarikai) అవనికి రమ్మని పిలచిన మహారాజెవ్వరో వానికి మ్రొక్కెద (ఎవరికై)
meaning: I salute the emperor who invited you to deign to the earth
caraNam
vEda varNanIyamau nAmamutO vidhi rudrulaku mElmiyagu rUpamutO mOda sAdhanamagu paTTu caritamutO muni rAja vESiyau tyAgarAja nuta (evarikai)
వేద వర్ణనీయమగు నామముతో విధి రుద్రాదులకు మేల్మియౌ రూపముతో మోదసాధనమగు పట్టు చరిత్రముతో మునిరాజు వేశియౌ త్యాగరాజ నుత (ఎవరికై )
meaning:
with a name (rAma) that is describes in the vEdAs; with a form that exceeds both brahma and Siva in charm; with a character that is sure to confer delight (on those who dwell on it); oh king in the form of an ascetic who is extolled by thyAgarAja, for whose sake have you descended, reveal at least now.
Context in SrIrAmAyaNam
Obvious reference to this kriti would be the 18th canto of the bAla kAnDam of the vAlmIki rAmAyaNam since it has to do with His descent as well as naming. Surprisingly for an epic written in the name of SrIrAma, vAlmIki breezes through the birth and naming of the children of daSaratha. In fact the 18th canto actually covers more than a decade of happenings, as it begins with the conclusion of the aSwamEdha yajna, followed by the birth of rAma, laksmaNa, bharata and Satrughna. It briefly talks about how rAma loved the company of lakshmaNa and bharata enjoyed the company of Satrughna. It breezes through the early childhood of the boys and soon enters the stage when daSaratha is contemplating the wedding of the children! It is then that sage viSwAmitra enters.
In fact, in one more kriti in mukhAri, ElAvatAra mettukonTivo Emi kArANamO rAmuDai (Listen here) also sathguru exclaims and enquires the reason for His descent as rAma!
Coming back to the present kriti, given the above description, for some reason (that might appear strange), vAlmIki didn’t deal in great detail about the naming and childhood exploits of rAma and His brothers. Therefore, pointing out verses and episodes in the vAlmIki rAmAyaNa to this kriti would be force fitting to an extent. However, it does provide a great continuity to the story of SrIrAma as sung by the sathguru.
The meaning of the pallavi is fairly evident and self-explanatory. In the anupallavi, the usage of maharAjulu has several connotations. On one hand it can mean emperor and here I would personally think sathguru refers to daSaratha since it is his pining for heirs which brought together stalwart sages like vasisTha and rishyaSrnga to perform the sacrifice which blessed him with progeny. the lord looks for the right place for His descent and in this case, the solar royal line of daSaratha was a great fit for His descent. Therefore arguably it can be said daSaratha fits the bill of maharAja that sathguru refers to. In Telugu, great men are also referred to as mahArAjulu. An extrapolated meaning of this could be the several sages and gods who have been praying incessantly for the descent of the lord as we have seen in earlier kritIs such as mOhanarAma.
I specifically disagree with the meaning given here in comments section (#3) about who the mahArAja might be! vAlmIki didn’t mention anywhere that rAvaNa being aware that his redemption was in the hands of SrIrAma. This is possibly a result of treating the character of rAvaNa more charitably.
The name rAma is the simplest and most powerful combination of two syllables which has several meanings. Sage vAlmIki himself is said to have been redeemed by this mantra and was reformed into a sage from being a waylayer (ratnAkara was his earlier name) by incessantly chanting this divine name unmindful that he was engulfed by ant hills (known as valmika, and hence the name vAlmiki). Srimad vAlmIki rAmayaNam itself is said to encompass crores and scores of potent syllables (that are known as mantras). Although vAlmIki himself doesn’t explicitly mention that this epic is indeed a derived work from the vEdAs, he does offer glimpses in many places about the vEdic connection of the epic. Sri Sathya Sai Baba also paraphrased the samskrt verse in one of His discourses attesting to the vEdic connection of rAmAyaNam.
वेद वेद्ये परे पुंसि जाते दशरथात्मजे ।
वेदःप्रचेतसादासीद् साक्षाद् रामायणात्मना ॥
Just as the vEda purusha (virAT purusha) was born as daSaratha’s earthly son,
the vEdAs are rendered by prAchEtasa (vAlmIki) in the form of The rAmAyaNa.
It thus holds to logic that the name rAma itself that the vEdic scholar vasisTha chose to confer on the eldest scion of daSaratha is widely described in he vEdic literature to connote the omniscient Godhead which delights. It is also That in which seekers delight.
ramayathe iti rAmah is how the word rAma is defined, meaning That which delights!
Sathguru thyAgarAja swAmi himself delighted in the japam of 96 Crore (96,00,00,000) rAma nAmam at the rate 1,25,000 per day, and was so captivated by this act that his compositions soaked in the sweetness of rAma and became eternal. Hence he seems to have said in the caraNam that the lord came with a name described in the vEdAs.
In the second line of the caraNam, sathguru says the enrapturing charm of the form of rAma exceeds that of Siva and brahma. At the exalted spiritual state of the context of the kriti, it is to be understood that rAma always meant lot more than a righteous warrior with good conduct to sathguru. rAma represented the very godhead for him. The formless godhead is always superior to the god in Form and in fact all gods, including the trinity represent facets of the formless godhead. Such comparisons of rAma’s charm to the other two in the trinity can be seen in other kritIs of sathguru as well, most prominently in the durbAr kriti – endunDi veDalitivO. rAma is extolled as पुंसां मोहनरुपाय (pumsAm mOhanarupAya) – i.e. His enrapturing charm infatuates even men! Hence this line in the caraNam is a reference to the vEdic and paurANik literature.
vAlmIki states that through the epic rAmAyaNam, he intends to bring forth the character of mother sIta and the slaying of the demon rAvaNa.
In the 4th canto of bAla kAnDam, he says
काव्यं रामायणं कृत्स्नं सीतायाश्चरितं महत्। पौलस्त्यवधमित्येव चकार चरितव्रत:।।1.4.7।। The practitioner of austerities and right conduct (vAlmIki), composed the entire epic of the rAmAyaNam and in that he celebrated the great character of mother sIta and also recounted the vanquishing of poulastya (rAvaNa).
The one of high character like sIta surrendering to rAma obviously puts SrIrAma on a equal if not higher pedestal of character that is eminently worthy of emulation. He says it again in the 18th canto while describing about the four brothers.
तेषामपि महातेजा रामस्सत्यपराक्रम: इष्टस्सर्वस्य लोकस्य शशाङ्क इव निर्मल:। ।।1.18.25।।
Even among the four, rAma was radiant, truthful and mighty. He was loved by all and was of a stainless (character) like the moon.
Sathguru says in the third line that the character and conduct of SrIrAma causes delight (mOda sadhanam) for the seeker. Eons have passed since the advent of lord in the form of SrIrAma on this world, yet his name is on the tongue of people of this world. It’s the simplicity and sweetness of the name and steadfastness to the values of truth and righteousness that rAma embodied which endear Him to the populace over the ages and all over the country if not the world. Love for rAma is indeed the innate love for truth and righteousness in every human being. Hence it is eternal.
In the fourth line, sathguru hails SrIrAma as the king in the form of sage (munirAju vESiyau). The foureen year exile of the lord was spent in celibacy and in complete austerity, so much so that He didn’t even step into any city for any reason. He subsisted on the forest products and visited the hermits in the danDakAraNya and saved them from the sacrilegious acts of the demons. In these fourteen years, rAma was in the form of an ascetic. But even after He became the king, His steadfastness to the principles and values were of such epic proportions that for Him, people came first. He was the ideal ruler and showed everyone what probity in public life meant. So while He was a king, He was never really attached to the regal grandeur. Sri Sathya Sai Baba says it nicely when He says “Be in the world but not of it”. This quality was epitomized by rAma which was why He felt no disappointment in going to the forest on a day when He was supposed to be crowned! The other aspect of sages is the depth of wisdom and commitment to scriptures and austerities. The araNya kAnDam recollects an event when on a winter early morning, the water the river gOdAvari was so chill that even thick skinned animals hesitated to enter into it. rAma got in and took bath before sunrise because it was time for the prAtahsandhya! I am of the opinion that there are countless instances through out valmIki rAmAyaNa which bring forth the detachment, wisdom, commitment to scriptures and work for the welfare of the world in SrIrAma which befit the title munirAju to Him.
Such a lord is being praised by sathguru thyAgarAja swAmi who is enquiring the real reason for the advent of rAma, who incidentally accomplished a lot more than simply vanquishing rAvaNa in His earthly career and is of great importance to both spiritual seekers and populace alike.
While this kriti is not an exact take on the bAlakAnDam of SrIrAmayaNam, it is an important one to enjoy the continuity. The next kriti is SrIrAma jayarAma SrngAra rAmayani cintimparAdE O manasa… in yadukulakAmbhOji.
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 