RAMARPANAM-41

File 41.

Dated : May 25th, 2012.

Jai Sri Ram.

 Swagatam to Sage VisvAmitra :

 Lord Rama is granter of  boon to all, and so a Varadha.  Sage VAlmiki regards King Dasaratha a Varadha as He the granter of Rama Himself.  Namalwar also says so in His verse : "vallarakar pukkazhinda Dayarathan petra maragatha maNiththadam".

 Idol worship is recorded from the days of ThrEthA Yuga as there were instances of Sri Rama offering prayers to Lord Ranganatha on the eve of His crowning as Prince. 

 Similarly, Sri Andal in Her Thiruppavai, verse 6, confirms that the Hamlet where Nanda Gopal lived was there a Temple dedicated to VishNu, the God associated with Garuda - "pullarayan koil".

 Our interest is that Rama was meticulous in oblations while KrishNa in Leela sugam, the one to follow and the other to relish.

 Now coming back to RamayaNa,  as King Dasaratha was pondering over the marriage of His four children,  Sage VisvAmitra entered the Palace, with plans of His own and that in the end will help the King's way too.

 Dasaratha was overjoyed at the arrival of the Sage and VAlmiki describes as it were 

 The lost wealth was regained;

Rain returned to a draught stricken country;

Amruta was found by the Devas.

All the three simile do not go with Dasaratha in as much as

He had no occasion of losing His wealth;

His rule was such that there had been no draught in His Kingdom;

He was not a DevA, to taste Amruta either.

 Then what could compare to His joy was

 A barren women giving birth to a child after a long wait, which absolutely was true in His case.

 As the Sage came to His door steps, King Dasaratha rose from His seat and offered argiya, pAda, Achamanam to welcome Him with reverence and  promised the Sage to fulfill whatever desires that warranted His journey looking for Him.

 But, what VisvAmitra is up to is not known until another episode begins. So let us wait.

 Athithi dEvO bhava : This concept applies to any visitor, more so in respect of elderly and reverential.