Dhasaratha rAmA caraNam ennaik kAppAy VibhIshaNan at SrI Rangam

 

Kavi further explains through his keerthanai set in SaurAshTra Ragam, the thoughts that ran through Sri RAman's mind when VibhIshaNan seeking His refuge fell at His feet:

Pallavi:

caraNam caranam enRAnE — kAvAthE viTTAl
thiraNam allavO naan thAnE

Anu Pallavi:

ariya vibhIshaNan angE arakkan aanAlum ingE
iru cevi kETka vaay viTTu rAghavA enRu kUppiTTu
(caraNam caraNam enRAnE)

Here was VibhIshaNa crying out loud for Sri RAghavan to protect him and so to abandon him was impossible. So Sri RAman concludes and proclaims that it is His duty to protect VibhIshaNan. This decision of Sri RAmA is brought out beautifully by AruNAchala Kavi in the following verse:

uDanE abhayam enRavarukku-
uyir AanAlum koduppathuvE
kaDan Aam ena ellArkku manam
karaippAn rAman uraippAnE

In his Paras RAga kriti, AruNAchala Kavi details the happenings of how Sri RAman promised to punish RAvaNan for his transgressions, and claim the Lanka rAjyam for VibhIShaNan and how to this end Sri Raman performed the coronation of VibhIShaNan as the emperor of Lanka at Sethukkarai.

Pallavi:

inthA vibhIshaNA lankApuri rAcciyam

Anu pallavi:

indrAthi devarkaL uLLa naaL varaikkum (inthA)

Caranam (1):

vedham uLLanavum vEdha geetham uLLanavum — pAri
cAtham uLLanavum — panca bhUtham uLLanavum
inthA — inthA inthA — inthA (vibhIshaNA)

CaraNam (2)

kaar uLLanavum — kaDal neer uLLanavum eerEzh
paar uLLanavum en thann pEr uLLanavum
thanthEn — thanthEn thanthEn — thanthEn (inthA)

Satguru Sri ThyAgarAja SwamigaL who as an ardent devotee of Sri RAmachandra mUrthy was also quite fascinated by the scene of VibhIshaNa SaraNAgati as were Swami Desikan and AruNAchala Kavi. Similar to the terrible hardships suffered by VibhishaNan under his evil brother RAvaNan, Satguru swamy also was terribly ill-treated by his elder brother JalpEsan. So reflecting on the favors done by the Parama DayAlu Sri RAghavan to VibhIshaNan, Sri Satguru SwamigaL composed and sang many moving keerthanais praying to Sri RAman to protect him too from the harassments of his elder brother. Let us now enjoy a few of these kritis.

In the vakuLAbharana rAga kriti "ye rAmuni nammitino nE nE pUlabUja jEsithino", Satguru says in the CharaNa vAkyams that "when unable to bear the bitter venom of RAvaNan's words any longer, VibhIshaNan cried out "thanjam, thanjam" — "please protect me, please protect me", in abject misery to Sri RAghavan and sought refuge at the Lotus Feet of the SaraNagatha vatsalan. BhagavAn immediately granted him rakshaNam and killed the evil RAvaNan. Is He not the same Sri RAmachandran who removes all obstacles and protects aDiyEn also?"

In the pallavi Vakyams of this kriti, Sri ThyAga Brahmam says that his faith on Sri Raman has made him perform pujAs to Him with divya pushpams and isn't He the same Sri RAman Who protects him?

Pallavi:

yE rAmuni nammitinO nE nE
pUlabUja jEsitino?

charaNam (3):

rOshamu naDu durbhAshalanu vini
vibhIshaNuDAvELa ghoshinci SaraNau
dosha rAvaNu mada SoshakuDaina nir
dOsha tyAgarAja poshakuDu gAdO?

In another kriti in ThODi rAgam which goes like "munnu rAvaNa bAdha..." Satguru asks Sri RAman: "When vibhIshaNan sought SaraNAgati, even though he was brother of RAvaNA, you granted him the same saying that 'even if RAvaNan himself comes seeking My refuge, he too shall be forgiven his tresspasses and granted My protection'. This showed your Supreme status. To this day you continue to treat friends and foes alike. Then isn't it unfair that You, the repository of oudhArya, souseelya guNAs have forgotten the promise made to VibhIshaNa at Sethukkkarai and have abandoned me?"

Pallavi:

munnu rAvaNa bAdha nOrvaka vibhIshaNuDu
mora beTTagA rAmacandra

AnuPallavi:

mannintu nanucu kula birudulanu bogaDina
mATa maracitivO SrI RAmacandra

In the dharbAr rAga kriti — "rAma lObha mEla nannu", Sri ThyAga Brahmam again pleads with Sri RAman to remember him by reminding Sri RAman of His dayA to kAkAsuran and vibhIshaNan and how He helped them both and gave them His blessings. Sri ThyAgarAja SwAmigaL wonders why BhagavAn was being such a 'lObhi" (miser) when it comes to blessing him?

Pallavi:

rAma lObha mEla nannu rakshincu paTla nee kinta SrI

Anu Pallavi:

SaraNanu konna kAkAsuruni rAvaNuni
sOdaruni bhrOvalEdA?

Similarly in another Kriti set in SaurAshTra RAgam — "ennaDO rakshinci te nee", Sri ThyAgarAjar again reminds the SaraNagati episode of VibhIshaNan and asks Sri RAman: "While you hastened to help VibhIShaNan who cried "SaraNam SaraNam" and asked the shrewd LakshmaNA to crown VibhIShaNa as the King of Lanka, why have you been indifferent to me?" A portion of the kriti is given below where Sri ThyAgarAja Swami expresses his sense of forlorn-ness:

garvincina yA rAvaNa bAdhala nOrvalekanu vibhIshaNuDu ninnu
sarvalOka SaraNya vandana mana nirvikAruDai neevu
sarvadA rakshinceta nanucunu sArvabhauma lankAdhi patyamunu
sarvaj~nuni lakshmaNu nimmanagA sarva sannuta tyAgarAjanuni

(ennaDO rakshi)

In the ReethigauLai kriti, Sri ThyAgarAja Swamy says in simple and moving words: "Oh RAmA! You must be thoroughly exhausted after destroying RAvaNa and fulfilling the promise made to VibhIshaNa in Sethukkarai by crowning him as the king of the golden city of Lanka! So to ward off the fatigue and tiredness (AayAsam) you must please take rest, but the ocean beach and the DarbhA bed will trouble your ThirumEni, so please choose my soft heart as Your bed of choice". The Kriti is given below:

Pallavi:

baDalika dIra bavvaLincavE

CaraNam:

RavaNuni madamunaNaci nic-
SankuDau vibhIshANuniki bangaru
lankanosaki surala brocina

 

DARBHA SAYANAM

After VibhIshaNa SaraNAgati, a council was held amongst Sri RAma, LakshmaNa, Sugreevan, VibhIshaNan, HanumAn and others to discuss the means to cross the ocean and reach Lanka. VibhIshaNan suggested that Sri RAman should pray to the King of Oceans (Samudra RAjan) to allow the building of bridge across the ocean to Lanka. Deferring to VibhIshaNan's advice, Sri RAma, spread out a mat made of darbha grass on the shore of Adhi Sethu (Sethukkarai) and in accordance to the ritual of "prayObhAvESam", He lay down on that grass-mat amidst the vAnara sainyam and prayed to VaruNan. Swami Desikan brings out this evocative scene in his Raghuveera Gadyam thus: "prati Sayana bhUmikA bhUshita payOdhi puLina!". He further says "veeraSayana SAyita vAnara prtanaugha" praising Sri Rama as the One possessing the spot on the shore which was beautified by the prayopaveSa pose assumed by Him on the dharbha bed and as the One, who assumed the Veera-Sayanam amidst the vAnara sainyam on Sethukkarai.. Reading the Raghuveera Gadyam passages, we cannot help but wonder whether Swami Desikan was inspired to write the poem after the darSanam of Sri darbha Sayana RAman residing under the Swastika VimAnam at ThiruppullANi. In ThiruppullANi temple, in the sannidhi for darbha Sayana RAman, we can see Him on the Dharabha bed with a broadsword on His waist, alongwith Veera HanumAn and VibhIshaNan. He displays the anger He felt when the King of Ocean dis- respectfully ignored His prayers as if He was an ordinary person. Kamba RamayaNam describes the beauty of His Veera Sayana ThirukOlam on the dharbha bed thus:

tharuNa mangaiyai meetpathOr neRi tharukkennum
poruL nayandhu nannool neRi adukkiya pullin
karuNai amkaDal thuyinRanan karungaDal nokki
varuNa manthram vidhimuRai eNNinan vaNangi

Sage ValmIki also mentions the scene at Sethukkarai, where Sri RAman spread the dharbha grass and lay down with folded hands facing eastwards in prayer to the Samudra rAjan.

tata: sAgara velAyAm dharbhAnAstIrya rAghava:
anjalIm prAngmukha: krtvA prati SiSye mahodate

— Srimad RAmAyaNam 6-21-1

When even after three days of intense prayers, VaruNan refused to appear, treating BhagavAn with utter disrespect, an enraged Sri RAman cast His angry glances side-ways at the Ocean. Due to the power of those glances, all living beings in the Oceans trembled in fear and a terrified SamudrarAjan controlled the movement of the waves of the ocean so that their noise was silenced and the Ocean looked like a still lake. Realizing the error of his ways VaruNan too alongwith his wife VAruNi Devi hastened to pacify Sri RAman with Argyam, pushpam, ratnam etc and offering them said prayerfully, " Oh RAmA! Please forgive my great blunder and grant me my Life". The following Srimad BhAgavatam slokam describes this episode beautifully:

yadrosha vibhrama vivrutta kaTAksha pAda
sambhrAnta nakra makaro bhayagIrNa ghosha: |
sindhu: SirasyarhaNam parigrhya rUpi
pAdAravindamupagamya babhAsha etat ||

—Srimad BhAgavatam 9-10-13

Samudra Rajan hastens to beg forgiveness from SrI RAma!

 

A variation of this scene is found in other versions of SrI RAmAyaNam, where it is written that in His anger Sri RAman got up from His darbha Sayanam and took aim at the oceans of this world wishing to leave them dry with the use of 'agneyAstram', which had much greater potency than Agni jwalAs. Swami Desikan follows this sampradAyam when he says "praLaya Sikhi parusha viSikha Sikha SoshitA kUpAra vAripUra" meaning Sri RAman is the One who possesses the "agneyAstram" which had the power equal to the terrible Agni of the End Times (PraLaya kAlam — kAlAgni).

Sri AruNAchala kavi also has sung in ecstatic verses and songs the scene at Sethukkarai. The following song describes the act of Sri RAman aiming His arrow at VaruNan:

"… kadalai thANDa
varuNamanthram chabiththu viri tharuppai mElE
peRuthinam Or Ezhum pOi rAmachandran
pinnum varuNanaik kANAn thambik kothi
eRi kaDal mER chinanthu kOdaNDam nANi
ERRinAn caramAri thURRinAnE"

The Kavi explains in the following way, the scene where VaruNan with his wife, ran to seek SaraNAgati at Sri RAman's sacred feet.

nirupA charaNam pizhai poRuppAi neeyE charaNam enathAvi
tharuvay charaNam ena munnE thAzhnthaan aDikkeezh veezhnthaanE

In the following asAvEri raga kriti, the Kavi highlights the prayer by VaruNan who pleads with Sri RAman to spare his life and not use the 'agneyAstram'. VaruNan says that it is customary for Elders to forgive the mistakes of youngsters and so should Sri RAman pardon the egotistical arrogance of VAruNan, who ignored BhagavAn's prayers in the thought that He was just a mere mortal.

Pallavi:

caraNam caraNam raghurAmA — nee ennaith thaRkAththaruL ParanthAmA

Anu Pallavi:

virikaDal vEnthan un thiruvaDi sErnthenan
mEl enna upacAram — aayiram namaskAram (caraNam caraNam)

Caranam (2)

Ethum balamilaatha nee oru maanidan
enRunnai ninaithaal naan veezhvEn narakaththuDan
theethu nallathenRaRiyAtha naan asaDan
siRiyor seitha pizhayaip periyOr poRukkakkaDan (charaNam charaNam)

CaraNam (3)

thikku vERillai un than pAthaththil pukunthEn
sEthubandhanam seyya enmuthukiDam thanthEn
akkinik kaNaiviDa vENDAm naan mika nonthEn
alaikaDal thuyinROnE naanunnai nambi vanthEn (charaNam charaNam)

BhagavAn who was enraged at the disrespect shown by the Sumudra RAjan aimed the agneyAstram to dry up the oceans of the world, but once the king sought SaraNAgati at His feet, He gave him abhayam and became calm and tranquil like an ocean after storm.

Satguru Sri ThyAgarAja swAmigaL in his SahAnA rAga kriti "RaghupathE rAma rAkshasa bhIma" praises the soft and beautiful feet of Sri Raman that walked the shores of the Sethukkarai. In the CharaNa vAkyam of this kriti Satguru svami praises Sri RAman as the crown jewel of the Soorya Vamsam, Who annhilated the arrogance of Samudra RAjan with a single arrow. The Charana vAkyam is as follows: "taruNAruNa nibhacaraNa taraNivamSa vibhUshaNa, varuNAlaya madadamana". In his MadhyAmavathi kriti "evariccirirA SaraSApamulu nIkina kulAbdhi candra", Satguru SawamigaL says "prakaTakeerti galikina kodaNDapANi" eulogising SrI RAman and His KodaNDam that removed the arrogance of the Samudra RAjan, as: "Oh RAma! You are are called famously as KodaNDapaNi! The power of one arrow aimed by you at Samudra RAjan resulted in the destruction of the entire assembly of rAkshasaas. Each arrow that left Your KodaNDam multiplied into tens, hundreds and thousands and chased the “chatrus" hither and thither and destroyed them." Similarly in another kriti on SAvEri rAgam "rAma bANa trANa sourya mEmani pogaDudurA O manasA" Sri ThyAgarAjar sings about the power of Sri RAma bANam that made VaruNAn fall at Bhagavan's feet and seek protection. Satguru SwAmigaL goes on to express his inability to sing the praises of the potency of the RAma bANam that hastens with a resounding thunderous twang (DankAra dhvani) to bless the devotees and destroy the enemies (anugraha, nigraha sakthi).

 

***

 

Sethu Bandhanam

 

VAnarAs building the bridge

 

After VaruNan's SaraNAgati, Samudra RAjan said "sethubandhanam seyya en muthukiDam thanthEn" thereby agreeing to have the bridge built on the water. Immediately Sri RAman summoned NaLan, a vAnara who was the son of Viswakarma the divine architect and commissioned him to build the bridge. The NaLa Sethu that was constructed by the VAnarAs under the guidance of NaLa has been eulogised thus by Swami Desikan in his Sri RaghuvIra Gadyam verses:

"prabala ripu kalaha kutuka catula kapikula karatala tUlita hrta giri nikara sAdhita setupatha seemA seemantita samudra!"

Swami Desikan says that the vAnarAs excited at the prospect of a glorious war with the famous rAkshasAs, constructed the bridge by lifting huge boulders and casting them on the waters of the Ocean, with such ease as if they were made of sponge. The Bridge thus constructed, gave the appearance of the clear parting of hair (vagidu — vkiD) to the waters of the ocean.

 

The Bridge gave the appearance of vagidu to the waters of the ocean!

 

The same scene is described in Srimad RAmAyanam as: "kISarASAntaropAhrtagirinikarai: setumAdhApya"

Sage VAlmIki has written that the entire bridge measuring 100 yojanas (an ancient vedic unit of meaurement) in length and 10 yojanas in width was built in five days by VAnarAs using huge hills. The RAmAyaNa slokas pertaining to this are as follows:

"sa vAnara vara: SrImAn viSvakarmAtmajo bali||
babandha sAgare setum yathA cAsya pitA tathA|
sa naLena krta: setu: sAgare makarAlaye||"

In the Yuddha KANDam of Srimad RAmayaNam the above scene is described and followed by the details of how devAs, rishIs, chAraNAs and siddhars rushed to Sethukkarai to perform pUja and abhishekams with divya theerthams to Sri Raghuveeran who had achieved the impossible by building a solid bridge over moving waters. They praised Him as "Sethu RAman" in recognition of His monumental feat. The related slokams are given below from Srimad RAmAyaNam:

tadadbhutam rAghava karma dushkaram samIkshya devA: saha siddha cAraNai: |
upetya rAmam sahasA mahrshibhi: samapyashincan sUSubi: jalai: prthak ||

Sri ThyAga brahmam brings out the theertha mahimai of the Sethu at DanushkoDi that was built by Sri RAma in the following way in his thODi rAga kriti:

Pallavi

kOTinadulu dhanuskOTilO nuNDaga ETiki tirigEvE O manasA (kOTi)

Anu Pallavi

sUTiga SyAmasundara mUrtini mATi mATiki jUcE mahArAjulaku (kOTi)

CaraNam

ganga nUpurambunanu janincenu rangani kAvEri gani rajillenu
bongucu SrI raghunAthuni prEmatO bogadE tyAgarAju manavi vinavE (kOTi)

Meaning:

SwamigaL says "The Sethu theertham at DanushkOTi contains within itself all the accumulated phalans (benefits) of all the sacred rivers (puNya nadhis) and bhagavAn enacted some of His leelas on this shore. Oh my wandering mind, stop running around and please meditate on the holy feet of the SyAmaLAnga Sundaran. This is a Truth known to all who have enjoyed the bhAgyam of thinking of DanushkOTi Sri Sethu RAman and who have meditated on His extra- ordinary beauty!"

In his harikAmboji rAga kriti, "enduku nirdaya evarunnArurA" Satguru SwamigaL talks about the karuNA svarUpam of Sri RAman by reminding of the incident about the little squirrel that carried small quantities of sand and stone on its back to help in building the bridge. In appreciation of its kaimkaryam Sri RAman graced it with His kara sparsha sambandham. Sri ThyAgarAjar brings out this evocative scene in the line "uduta bhakti gani uppa tillaga lEdA". He pleads thus: "Sri RAmA! Why are you not protecting me and showing such lack of compassion? Who except You is there for me? You showed so much affection towards the little squirrel that carried small quantities of sand for Your Bridge and blessed it, but why are You not caring for me?"

Losing himself in the divine beauty of the Veera RAghavan who constructed the Sethu, Sri ThyAga Brahmam says with parama prEma bhAvam in his Bhairavi rAga kriti: "setu lAra SrngAramu cEsi cUtnu SrIRAma, setubandhana surapati sarasIruha bhavAdulu pokaDa nA" meaning "Sri RAma prabho! One Who is responsible for the construction of the Sethu! I am fortunate to do the alankAra kaimkaryams to You".

Hanuman, Sugreevan, Neelan and other vanarottamas uprooted huge hills full of trees and plants and cast them over the waters of the ocean and built the Bridge. Then Sri RAma and LakshmaNa alongwith the vAnarAs reached Lanka city which had been earlier burnt down by Hanuman.

 

SrI Rama, LakshmaNa, HanumAn and others cross the Ocean over the Bridge!

 

Srimad BhAgavatam describes the entire episode from Sethubandhanam to LankA pravesham in a single slokam (9-10-16):

badvodadhau raghupatir vividhAdri kUTai:
setum kapIndra karakampita bhUruhAngai: |
sugrIva nIla hanUmat pramukhai: anIkair
lankAm vibhIshaNadrSA viSad agra dagdhAm||

Once Sri RAma reached Lanka, He proceeded to perform His avathAra kAryam of dushTa nigraham and annhilated the coterie of rAkshasaas and killed RAvaNA in the battlefield. Then He rescued Sri Sita and returned to Sri Ayodya in the Pushpaka vimAnam. The sthala purANAm of ThiruppullANi states that while flying over the Adhi Sethu, Sri RAma showed Sri Sita the Bridge that He had built at Sethukkarai. Also conceding to the requests of many devotees, He landed briefly at ThiruppullANi and had the coronation ceremony done there for the enjoyment of His devotees. The SthalapurANAm further states that it was while giving the divya sevai of Sri Jaya RAman in PaTTAbhisheka kOlam here at ThiruppullANi, that BhagavAn recounted to Sri Sita PirATTi, all about the trials and triumphs that Sri LakshmaNa and Himself faced during the period when ThAyAr was separated from Him by the evil RAvaNan.