Lesson 48

Beginning Prayers:

• शुक्लाम्बरधरं विष्णुम् - shuklaambaradharaM viShNum
• सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यम् - saraswati namastubhyam 
• गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः - gururbrahmaa gururviShNuH 

Topic Summary:

• 'aadi shloka of the aadi kaaya' - the first verse of the first poetry (raamaayaNa's first verse)

Home Work:

• Write the meaning of the verse - 

            दक्षिणे लक्ष्मणो यस्य वामे च जनकात्मजा ।

            पुरतो मारुतिर्यस्य तं नमामि रघुनन्दनम् ॥

            dakShiNe lakShmaNo yasya vaame cha janakaatmajaa |

            purato maarutiryasya taM namaami raghunandanam ||

Topic Details:

Let us see how taking different meanings of different words, changes the entire meaning of a verse!!

Sage vaalmIki was delighted to see a pair of krauncha birds. A hunter came and killed the male bird. On seeing this, vaalmIki got angry and cursed the hunter saying:-

मा निषाद प्रतिष्ठां त्वमगमः शाश्वतीः समाः ।
यत् क्रौञ्चमिथुनादेकम् अवधीः काममोहितम् ॥

Word translations:-
nishaada - O hunter
tvam – (may) you
pratiShThaam - good reputation
maa agamah - not get
shaashvateeH samaaH  - for several years
yat - because
krauncha mithunaat - out of the kranucha pair
ekam - one
avadheeH - you killed
kaama mohitam - filled with passionate feelings

Thus the verse translates as: -
O hunter, may you not get any good reputation (or may you get ill-reputation) for several years because, out of the pair of krauncha birds, you killed one, when it was full of passionate feelings.

vaalmiki uttered this as a curse. But it became a beautiful verse with perfect metric composition. This verse could be sung beautifully on a stringed musical instrument.   vaalmiki himself was amazed at the beauty of the composition. He called it श्लोक  (shloka) because it was uttered out of शोक (shoka - grief). But at the same time he was feeling bad that he cursed somebody.

Lord brahma arrived there and told Valmiki to compose the life-story of raama, treating that shloka as the basis. But how could a curse be considered as the basis for a sacred composition like raamaayaNa?
Let’s see…
maa - mother (specifically lakShmI)
nishaada - place of residence
pratiShThaam - good reputation
tvam - you
aagamah - get
shaashvateeH samaaH - for several years
yat – (due to) that
krauncha - crooked
mithunaat - out of the pair
ekam - one
avadheeH - you killed
kaama mohitam - filled with lust

As above, mother lakShmI is referred as maa and nishaada means place of residence. Mother lakShmI resides in the heart of Lord viShNu. Thus maa-nishaada means lakShmIpati, viShNu.  The word maa can also be used for mother sItaa. So, maa-nishaada can mean Lord raama too.

Thus the translation of the shloka becomes: -
O viShNu/raama, may you get reputation for several years because, out of the couple (raavaNa and maNDodarI), you killed the crooked (raavaNa) one, who was filled with lust.

Hence, one meaning of the shloka is a curse and another is glorification to Lord raama!  Isn't this so unbelievably beautiful!!

Ending prayer:

•  ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम् - aum pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam

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