PeriyavaOnRama

 

Translation from Tamil to English: Veeraswamy Krishnaraj

In the path of Paramācchāriāḷ

For Krishna Jayanthi (Birthday celebration of Krishna) many kinds of snacks (Muṛukku, Sītai, Athirasam (See the pictures) are served. SrīRāmar is Avatara of Mahavishnu. A devotee asked Periyava why these snacks, drinks and seasoned buttermilk were served only for Krishna Jayanthi.

Rāmar is the son of a king and can have Laddu and Mysorepak (sweets) on demand.  When he was depressed because of separation from Sita, eating snacks was farthest in his mind. With the monkey troops in thousands, preparation of these snacks would be too demanding.

He is Swami. You may ask won’t the snacks appear magically just on thought. Rāmar came down to earth as the son of Daśaratha.  Ramar was in a dire situation with the abduction of Sita. Though you may have a huge house and a car and if you impersonate a beggar, you must go begging.  If you are fabulously rich but refuse to carry a begging bowl in your impersonation of a beggar, all the assembled people would laugh.

Krishnan is a cowherd. He had many friends. Yasoda can make refreshments for them. His birth was rare and phenomenal. He had no siblings before and after him. He had his job cut out for him: Killing the ogress and demons like Sakatasuran, Tirunāvarththan… He should not shirk his duty thinking he is the Yādhava god. Krishnan was in a unique position as a child that entailed asking for snacks, steal butter and had a compulsion to bring himself and others to a familiar social milieu.

Rāmar’s dealings is not like that. Daśaratha maintained feeding stations announced by the flapping food-flags.  To prevent sunstroke, ginger-jaggery drinks were served. That is the secret of the refreshment. Dilute butter milk prevents gastric and intestinal discomfort. It does not add to empty calories or contribute to obesity. It provides relief from thirst. Dilute buttermilk was the refreshment for Rāmar wandering in the forest.

Rāmar did only one mischief or faux pas. He made mud balls and sun-dried them, so he could launch them with his slingshot.

Mandarai (Manthara) the maid-servant of Kaikeyi had a fat hunchback. Child Rama had fun launching the mud ball missiles with great accuracy with slingshot on the Mandari’s hunchback. This is the forerunner and seed of Ravana’s killing. If not for the slingshots, the enmity of Mandarai would not have sprouted and grown. Would the abused Mandarai have offered her wrong advice to stepmother Kaikeyi? Would Rāmar, who undertook destruction of the evil doer, have caused trouble to Mandarai?

(Mandari might have held a grudge against Rama because Rama as a child launched slingshots at her hunchback. Mandari asked Kaikeyi to demand King Dasaratha to fulfil two boons he promised before. Kaikeyi demanded that her son Bharatha be installed as the king and Rama [the rightful heir] be banished to forest for 14 years.)

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda of Ramayana  (pronounced as Shuda, cuda, and wuda) Shoulda = should have

The next mistake Rāmar made was to stay in hiding and shot an arrow on Vāli.  Ravana abducted Sita. It should be impressed on the world that going a long distance without help must never be done.  Dasaratha died of broken heart (because of Rama's exile). Would not Bharata come with the military if a message was sent to Ayodhya? Rama could have gone to Vāli and told him, “You took and restricted Ravana in your armpit, visited the four oceans for worship of Siva.” Rama could have told Vāli that Ravana abducted Sita. Ravana seeing Vāli would have released Sita (simply because Vāli earlier tied up Ravana’s 20 hands with his tail, held his head in his armpit for challenging him during his worship of Siva and tied him up as a hanging crib toy to amuse Aṅgada his (Vāli’s) infant son.

 Ramāvathāra took place to kill Ravana and his ilk and reduce the evil weighing down the earth.

That is why Rama went to Sugriva. He feared half his strength would go Vāli, if he engaged him directly. That was the reason Rama hid behind the tree and shot his arrow at Vāli. Besides, Vāli forcibly took the wife of his twin brother Sugriva.  Vāli never allowed Sugriva to talk and explain himself but chased him away. Though mistakes have been made, opponent should be given a voice. It is Dharma to punish the transgressor. In this way, Vāli had multiple holes (fallacies, flaws, defects) in his arguments and deeds. How could water stay in a pot with holes?