KishkindhA khAndam
DhyAnam:
prAthar bhajAmi RaghunAtha KarAravindham
rakshogaNAya bhayadham varadhanm nijebhya: |
yadh rAjasamsadhi vibhidhya mahesachaapam
SitA karagrahaNa mangaLamApa sadhya : ||
Sri Ramachandra and his brother LakshmaNA left Sabari’s asramam and continued their journey in the direction suggested by KabhandhA along the banks of PampA lake.The monkey king SugrivA was living on the summit of a nearby peak named Rishyamukha parvatham with his ministers. He was hiding from his brother VAli. SugrivA caught sight of the two princes in the dresses of hermits and got suspicious. He got alarmed over the thought that they might have been agents of his brother Vali sent to catch him. His minister HanumAn reasoned with SugrivA and assured latter that the princes could not be the agents of VAli. SugrivA then asked HanumAn to meet the two travellers to find out the purpose of their visit.
HanumAn took the disguise of a mendicant and approached the brothers. He bowed before them and inquired about them and the purpose of their journey to that forest area. HanumAn appraised them of SugrivA’s plight and advised them that his master sought the good will of the two princes. Sri Rama was very pleased with the diplomatic skills and the speech of HanumAn proficient in Vedic diction and spotless Grammar (VyAkaraNam). This is where the first salutation of KishkindhA Khaandham of Swami Desikan’s Raghu Veera gets its inspiration.
GS 42 : prabhanjana tanaya bhAvuka bhAshitha ranjitha hrudhya!Jaya! Jaya!
O Lord whose heart was filled with joy over the auspicious and adroit conversation of HanumAn, the son of Vaayu (prabhanjana)! Hail to Thee! Hail to Thee!
The conversation of HanumAn was rich in Vedic vocabulary and correct in grammar. Sri Rama was very much taken up by the scholarship and conversational skills of HanumAn that soothed and charmed his heart. He praised HanumAn’s skills as a diplomat and scholar this way :
“O LakshmaNA! It is only those who have studied Rg Veda with an understanding of the meaning of its Rks as well as Yajur and Sama Veda can speak like this. HnaumAn has surely studied further the entire range of Sanskrit grammar in many ways as indicated by his faultless speech. His facial expressions and body movements during his conversation are exemplary in that there is nothing dissonant or out of place. He utters a remarkably meaningful, fluent and delightful speech that is pleasing to the mind. He is indeed a worthy emissary of his king”.
Rama’s words of praise are :
noonam vyAkaraNam kruthsnam anena bahudhA sruthamI
urastham kantakam vAkyam varthatE madhyama svaram I
ucchArayathi kalyANeem vaacham hrudhaya harshiNIm I
Swami Desikan has these passages of praise by Rama in mind,when he saluted Raghuveeran through his first namaskaraNamin the KishkindA khAnda section.
Hanuman is revered as Nava Vyakarana Pandithan. He had learned the different versions of grammar from the sun god as a boy. His musical skills as a VeeNa player arose from his adhyayanam of Sama Vedam.
Saint Thyagaraja in his vasanthavArALi krithi on HanumAn named “pAhi Rama dhutha jagath prANa kumAra Maam”, refers to Hanumaan’s Veda Saastra naipuNyam this way in one of the charaNams :
veda sAstra nipuNa varya! vimala chittha sathatham karuNA rasa paripurNa! kanchanAdhri sama deha! parama bhagavatha VarENya! varadha! ThyagarAja Nutha!
(O HanumAn! You are well versed in Vedas and SaastrAs! You are the best of beings! Your mind is always pure. Your heart is full of compassion. Your body resembles the golden mount meru.You are the foremost of Rama BhakthAs. You are a giver of boons. Please bless me).
Sri Mutthuswami Dikshithar’s kruthi inviting HanumAn to appear in his DhyAnam is full of reference to the vaibhavam of HanumAn.This kruthi isset in ragam NAttA and starts majestically:”PavanAthmaja aagaccha, paripurNa svaccha”. In anupallavi, Dikshithar salutes HanumAn as “Nava VyAkaraNa nipuNa,nava vidhAntha: karaNa”. In one of the charaNams, Dikshitharpays tribute to HanumAn’s skills in Kaavyam and NAtakam and Vedas this way :”kAvya nAtaka Tosha, Upanishad padaghosha, PavanAthmaja aagaccha”.
Purandara Dasa has praised HanumAn’s multifaceted talentsand heroic deeds in krithis set in ragAs nAgasvarALi, Riti GowlA, sArangA, KalyANi and mohanam. For Purandara Dasa, HanumAn was a very important deity, since he is considered as the MukhyaprANan in MAdhva sampradhAyam. Dasar salutes HanumAn in his riti gowlA krithi this way :
“mukhya prANa yenna moola guruvE
rakkasAmdhaka Sri Raamana nija daasa”
“mAyAvAdhigaLE ghetthithu koosu
madhva madavanu uttarisuthu koosu
summene Udipili nimthithu koosu
purandara vitalana puNyatha koosu
(Koosina kaNtirA, mukhya prANaana kanNtirA)”
— SarangA krithi.
Sri Hanumadh Sametha Ranmachandra para BrahmaNE nama:
Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan
After the break…
