Three Charana Slokams (Varaha Rama Krishna)

ராதே கிருஷ்ணா 16-07-2015

ll Hari Om ll

Om Namo NaraayaNaaya

The three slokas discussed briefly here are considered to be the veryessence of the teachings of Bhagavan in three of His innumerableincarnations (avatarams) and are at the very core of the doctrine of surrender(prapatti, sharanagati) as practiced by SriVaishNavites of South India.

सर्वधर्मान् परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज

अहम्  त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोशयिष्यामि मा शुच


सकृर्देव प्रपन्नाय थवास्मॆति च याचते

अभयं सर्वभूतेब्यो ढढाभ्येतत् व्रतं मम


स्थिते मनसि सुस्वस्थे शरीरे सति यो नर

धातुसाम्ये स्थिते स्मर्ता विश्वरूपं च मामजं

ततस्तं म्रियमाणम् थु काष्ठ पाषण सन्निभम्

अहं स्मरामि मद्बक्तं नयामि परमां गतिम्

Sarva dharmaan parityajya maam ekam sharaNam vraja lAham tvaam sarva paapebhyo mokshayishyaami maa shucahaa ll

॥

Sakrud eva prapannaaya tavaasmeeti ca yaacate lAbhayam sarva bhootebhyo dadaamyetad vratam ma-ma ll

ll

Sthite manasi susvasthe shareere sati yo narahaa lDhaatu-saamye sthite smartaa Vishwaroopam ca Maamajam llTatas-tam mriyamaaNam tu kaashtta paashaaNa sannibham lAham smaraami madbhaktam nayaami paramaam gatim ll

 

Shree Krishna said:

Sarva dharmaan parityajya maam ekam sharaNam vraja lAham tvaam sarva paapebhyo mokshayishyaami maa shucahaa ll

॥

Give up all (the other) dharmas and seek Me alone and My refuge. I will absolve you of all sins and liberate you. Do not despair.

 

Shree Rama said:

Sakrud eva prapannaaya tavaasmeeti ca yaacate lAbhayam sarva bhootebhyo dadaamyetad vratam ma-ma ll

To all those beings that fully seek My shelter and plead for Mymercy, and say I am yours, I shall certainly offer My protection toall of them. This is My vow.

Bharata receives Ramapadukas after failing to convince Rama to return to Ayodhya from His exile.

Sri Bhuvaraha Perumal

Shree Varahaswamy said:

Sthite manasi susvasthe shareere sati yo narahaa lDhaatu-saamye sthite smartaa Vishwaroopam ca Maamajam llTatas-tam mriyamaaNam tu kaashtta paashaaNa sannibham lAham smaraami madbhaktam nayaami paramaam gatim ll

Lord Varaha addresses Mother Earth or Bhoodevi (who expressesconcern for the well being of all Her children): If anyone thinks of Me, when the mind is sound (sthite manasi),with the body in good health (suswasthe shareere), and with allmental and physical faculties working perfectly and intact (dhaatusaamye sthite) - thinks that I am indeed the very cause of thisuniverse (or the form of this universe, vishwaroopam), that I amwithout birth (ajam) - then I assure (You, Devi) that I willremember this devotee of Mine when he/she is on his/her deathbed, lying (helplessly) like a stone or a log of wood, and  personally take him/her to the Supreme Abode.

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The meaning of charama

The word charama, originally derived from the Sanskrit, is also used in otherIndian languages such as Hindi. It means ultimate, extreme, the limit, etc. andcan also be interpreted as suggesting a climax or the most important andsignificant. Some examples of the usage from Hindi are given below, eachsuggesting some kind of a limit, or ultimate factor:http://shabdkosh.raftaar.in/Hindi-Dictionary/meaning/charama 

The same applies now to the use of the adjective charama to describe theslokas just noted which are believed to reflect the most important message tobe derived from each of these incarnations of Bhagavan.To Ramanujacarya, for example, the Shree Krishna charama sloka was, forall practical purposes, the very last sloka of The Bhagavad Gita. In the slokasthat follow Krishna is telling us more about the benefits to be derived from astudy of the Gita (what is known of Phalashurthi). Likewise, the Shree Ramacharama sloka embodies the message of protecting all beings that havesurrendered to the Lord, although it appears in the Yuddha Kandam ofValmiki Ramayanam, long before the slaying of Ravana. The Varahacharama slokas, from the Varaha puranam, also embody a very stirring

message, in response to the plea by the Lord‟s consort.

The following is a brief discussion of these slokas, extracted from the variousemail exchanges in our Gita groups in the Metro Detroit area.

Sakurdeva prapannaaya tavaasmiti yaacate lAbhayam Sarva bhootebhyo dadaamyetat vratam ma-ma ll

Vibhishana surrenders to Lord Rama

 When Vibhishana decides to abandon RavaNa and comes to seek LordRama's refuge, everyone is suspicious, except Hanuman, who knewVibhishana well. Hanuman had met

the latter in Ravana‟s court after the

flightacross the ocean to Lanka. It was VibhishaNa who interceded when Ravanaordered Hanuman to be killed, following the destruction of the Ashoka vana,where Sita was held captive. Hanuman was captured and brought to the

court before RavaNa. Then

followed the decision to set fire to Hanuman‟s tail

,as a punishment imposed by RavaNa, which led to the burning of the wholecity of Lanka. Hanuman freed himself and set the whole city ablaze in a fittinglesson to the Rakshasaas.

Everyone in Rama‟s camp was thinking that

Vibhishana might be a spy acting on Ravana's behalf.Can he be trusted?Lord Rama then speaks to Sugreeva, His ally in the war, and other elders.They discuss the course of action to be taken and He seeks their inputs.Rama listens to all of them patiently and then makes His pronouncement. Hementions how King Shibhi gave refuge to the pigeon that was being chasedby a vulture. The pigeon was his prey. It was running scared and sought theshelter of King Shibi. The vulture demanded justice and its food. The pigeon'smate begged for compassion from Shibi and protection for the pigeon. Thevulture said it was none of the king's business interfering in its right to hunt forits food. When the king said he must protect anyone in his kingdom who hassought his refuge, the vulture retorted that it was his subject too anddeserved justice as well and demanded its food and nothing less. The kingagreed to offer his own flesh, in equal measure, to the vulture and startedcutting the flesh from his mighty arms!With the pigeon on one side of a balance, he started placing his flesh on theother side of the balance. Still it was of no avail. The balance was tipped onthe side of the pigeon. King Shibi had to keep on cutting more and more ofhis own body. Finally, he offered his whole body and climbed on to thebalance. You can look up the rest of the story.King Shibi was being put to a test of Raja dharma (king's duties). Lord Ramarecalls this story and tells Sugreeva that He too must follow the example ofthis illustrious king of an earlier yuga - the Satya yuga.Rama cites some more examples and then concludes with the above verse.He says it is His vow (vratam ma-ma). He will offer (dadami) protection to allbeings (sarva bhootebhyo). All beings are equal. A crow, a pigeon, a human,

even a Rakshasa. Especially when they have totally, completely, (sakrudeva,in the best possible way) surrendered (prapannaaya) to Him. Especially whenthey beg Him and plead with Him (yaacate) and say we belong to You (tavaasmi = tavaasmi).Surrender is complete when the Jeevatma realizes that it belongs toParamatma. There is no existence for the Jeevatma without the Paramatma -tava asmi. I am nothing. I am nobody. I am yours. I belong to you. That isprapannaaya. That is yaacate. That is prapatti. That is also the meaning ofmaam ekam sharanam vraja - surrender (sharanam vraja) to Me (maam),surrender to Me alone (maam ekam)

                              

Rama meets Sugreeva

Tava means yours and asmi means am, or I am. Tava+asmi becomesTavaasmi with sandhi. Thus, tava asmi = I am yours.Tava asmi not Brahma asmi (I am the Supreme Brahman), which is thefamous aphorism of Adi Sankara, and one of the Mahavakyas of Advaitaphilosophy. Here the sage Valmiki, through the words of Lord Rama, teachesus to think in terms of Tava asmi. This is what all Jeevatmas realize whenthey truly surrender.Ko Aham? Who am I?This question was asked by Brahma himself at the beginning of kalpa (a dayin the life of Brahma). He found himself seated atop the lotus that emanatedfrom Bhagavan's navel and was surrounded all over by the waters of pralaya.He had forgotten how to create. Then he started wondering.

Bharata receiving Rama padukas

Who am I? Ko Aham?Aham Tava asmi, or Tavaasmi.Not Brahma asmi, or Brahmaasmi.

Prapanna means one who has surrendered, or one who has performed theact of prapatti. Arjuna says, "Shishyas teham shaadhi maam tvaamprapannam" at the end of his lamentation (Bhagavad Gita chapter 2, verse 7).Uddhava says, "Narayanam Narasakham sharanam prapadye" when hewants to receive supreme knowledge from Krishna when He was ready toreturn to His abode at the end of His stay on this earth.The verb prapadye describes the active act of surrendering. Everyday, whenwe recite the Venkatesa Suprabhatam, we say, "Shree Venkatesa charanausharanam prapadye". If you can feel in your heart that you have surrenderedwhen you recite these verses, He will hear you. Tavaasmi, sharanamprapadye. He will surely offer His protection (abhayam).When the Jeevaatma realizes "Tavaasmi" surrender is complete. There is noseparate existence for Jeevaatma apart from Paramaatma. This is the coreteaching of the doctrine of Prapatti practiced by SriVaishnavites of SouthIndia.

The Three Charama Slokas

Rama, Krishna and Varaha Avatarams

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ll Hari Om ll

Om Namo NaraayaNaaya