| Sri Shathrughna Padi |
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| Image Credit: https://in.pinterest.com/pin/11188699061560301/ |
Srimad Ramayanam is celebrated as the Ithihasa Rathna. Acharyas of Swami Ramanuja Sampradayam have provided spellbinding explanations from seemingly simple facts in this great Ithihasa. One such explanation is the reasoning behind the names of the 4 Sons of Dasharatha Chakravarthy.
The Kula Guru of the Ishavaku race, Sri Vashishta Maharishi, is invited with respect & is requested to name the 4 babies. He names them as raama, lakshmaNa, bharatha & shathrughna.
raama: means 'one who delights everyone' - Needless to say, Sri Rama exhibited highly delightful traits like dutifulness towards parents and elders, righteousness, pleasant speech, dignity, courage & valour, compassion, truthfulness, staggeringly handsome personality, etc.
lakshmaNa: means 'one who has been blessed with the grace of lakshmi' - Now, this child was "blessed with wealth". What wealth? The unique wealth of serving Sri Rama. Wasn't it Sri Lakshmana who:
- accompanied Sri Rama to the forests
- built huts
- plucked flowers
- dug pits
- remained awake on all nights for 14 full years to guard the Divya Dhampathi
- spoke words of encouragement & comfort
- gave wise counsel whenever the need arose
- stood by Sri Rama in times of adversities
- fought with enemies
etc, etc, etc? Thus, He's Kainkarya Srimaan.
bharatha: means 'one who bears the weight' - This child had to "bear the weight". What weight? The weight of ruling the kingdom on behalf of His beloved elder brother Sri Rama. For a mediocre person, this will mean good news. However, Sri Bharatha was so devoted to Sri Rama that the very thought of ruling the kingdom [that belonged to Sri Rama] felt like a huge weight thrust upon Him against His will. Yet He bore both the weight [and the excruciating mental torture thereof, mark you] for Sri Rama.
shathrughna: means 'one who destroys enemies' - What enemies? Didn't the other brothers destroy them? Or aren't they capable of doing so? Well, this child did destroy an enemy that the other brothers cannot & could not destroy. How?
a. Sri Rama showed the path of saamaanya dharma i.e. normal, ordinary dharma that every ideal man has to follow in different dharmic roles - as a son, shishya, king, husband, brother, master, etc..
b. Sri Lakshmana showed the path of vishEsha dharma [special dharma] i.e. place Sri Rama [Bhagawan] on a pedestal higher than His own parents, chose to accompany Him to the forests & begged Sri Rama to take him along - this is called shEshathvam [being a servant of Bhagawan].
c. Sri Bharatha showed the path of vishEshathara dharma [more special dharmam] i.e. give highest priority to Sri Rama's [Bhagawan's] wish instead of His own wish - this is called pArathantharyam [being the servant of Bhagawan & act according to *His
d. Sri Shathrughna showed the path of vishEshathama dharma [most special dharma] i.e. place the welfare of the Bhaktha of Sri Rama [Sri Bharatha] on a pedestal higher than that of Sri Rama [Bhagawan] Himself.
When everyone, captivated by the amazingly handsome Sri Rama, gave all their attention only to Him, one noble soul alone remained unfazed by those handsome features & showed no interest in anyone other than Sri Bharatha! He did not even ask Sri Rama to come back to Ayodhya. Nor did He request Sri Rama to allow Him to stay in the forest. He simply followed Sri Bharatha & only Sri Bharatha.
This is called bhaagavatha pArathantharyam [being the loyal servant of the Daasaas of Bhagawan]. To reach this exalted state, one must be able to overcome a powerful distraction & that is nothing but the irresistibly handsome features of Sri Rama!
So, this is the unique enemy that Sri Shatrughna destroyed. i.e. He mastered His senses so well that even Bhagawan's magnetic beauty could not disturb Him from serving a Sri Rama Dasa! Also, He served Sri Rama only for Sri Bharatha's joy!
Hence, in Swami Ramanuja Sampradayam, being more devoted to the Acharya than being devoted to Sriman Narayana is celebrated as Sri Shathrughna Padi i.e. the path of Sri Shathrughna. This divine stance is the role model for all Acharya Bhakthas who emerged in the Sampradayam.
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