1 Dear friends and devotees, Bhakti is eternal. Introduction vruttam raamasya vaalmiike kruthih, tou kinnarasvarou, kimtat yena manohartum-alam syaataam na srunvataam. The above is from Raghuvamsa of the Indian Shakespeare, Sri Kalidasa. It reads as: - The history is of Rama! Writer is Maharshi Vaalmiki! Singers are Kusha and Lava, whose voice is so melodious (kinnera kanta)!then what is there that will not relish the minds of hearers? This is how the famous poet Kalidasa had praised Maharshi Valmiki the writer of Ramayana. Ramayana is divided into 6 kandas with an additional one named Uttarakanda. They are 1. Balakanda, 2. Ayodhyakanda, 3. Aranyakanda, 4. Kishkinda kanda, 5. Sundarakanda, 6.Yuddhakanda. The names of all kandas, except No.5, is defined by that chapter s main subject, based on the situation and theme of the episodes and make one to understand the topic behind it. The name of No.5 is peculiar and has no relevance to the subject. This is Sundarkanda, which is something extra ordinary and do have possible inner meanings in naming the chapter as SUNDARA (beautiful) KANDA (Chapter). Mahrshi Valmiki has delivered this in such a way that those habituate for the parayana of Sundarakanda original in Sanskrit, the slokas of which are composed with aesthetic terms, will tide over all the hurdles in the life and attain peace in the earth-planet and moksha, the liberation from the cycle of birth and death in the end. In Sundarakanda, the main character is Anjaneya, whose growing despair in the early chapters, after his colossal leap over the mighty ocean in his gargantuan form has reached its nadir and turning point with the discovery of beleaguered Seetha in the Ashoka grove but spread fast the momentum of the narrative is suddenly
2 reversed. The reader or the hearer of this Kanda, too, cannot but be moved by the general exuberance of the episode. Anjaneya is the destroyer of enemies. The enemy to Jnana (wisdom) is Ajnana (ignorance). Anjaneya who is also called as Hanuman is the one who makes us to conquer Ajnana and therefore he is in the place of Guru. Rama s role does not appear directly in this kanda; his name, his noble character is described throughout the episode. Seetha is nothing but Lakshmi Devi. Goddess Lakshmi is considered to be most beautiful and worshiped by the entire Universe. This Goddess, in disguise of Seetha was sitting under an Asoka tree with a worn-out dress, sad face and getting prepared even for self-destruction having disgusted on the life, due to continuous harassment of Ravana. At that time, Hanuman appeared in front of her and without touching her, cleaned the water emanating from her eyes on account of her sorrow, by narrating Rama s story and handing over Rama s ring and made her to regain her eternal charming face. Hence, the act of regaining the Sundara darahasa bimbam (beautiful smiling face) by goddess is called Sundarakanda. This is considered as Upasana kanda (worship chapter). Inside the story, there are more dhyana slokas, by reading of which, one is getting out of all kinds of troubles. It invigorates the reader. When Goddess Parvathi asked, Lord Siva told her the value of reading sundarakanda for 68 times. From ages it is believed that reading of Sundara kanda gives immense benefits. That is the reason; we are all doing Sundarakanda Parayana. It is said to be the ultimate, to overcome all hurdles in the life and attain moksha (liberation). This contains 68 sargas (parts) consisting 2885 slokas (verses) and the tradition says that the dhyana slokas should be read prefix and suffix to every part. As such reading the same with full tradition is time consuming in the present days, where the life has become mechanical. Keeping in view of the above, I requested my beloved Guru Paramacharya some years back, to suggest something to the present
3 generation. He smiled and gave an alternative. If one reads a brief of the same with dhyana slokas, it will give the same result. Then I heard and kept quiet. Some how after two decades, there raised an intuition in my mind about the orders of my Guru in the night and the very next day I happened to see a small version of Sundarakanda in English and decided to write. Then a question arises. What type of brief? Is it of the entire chapter which also runs into pages? Then also I prayed Guru and immediately got a whisper that the one you read and the brief should be of the main topic of Seetha s coziness with the conversation of Anjaneya and seeing Rama s ring. I also got an extrasensory perception that I will be receiving some details also in this regard. To my surprise, within a short spell and without any demand from my side, I received Bhagavata grandham in Telugu written by Sri Bammera Pothana and Ramayana prvachana in Telugu (by the Great devotional scholar Sri Changanti Koteeswara Rao Garu of Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh) from my beloved friend Sri K.V.Raghava Rao Garu of Hyderabad. Then I concluded that my friend acted on behalf of H. Holiness Paramacharya. By reading Ramayana, Maharshi Valmiki makes us to walk through out the episode with all the characters. Where as the Pravachana (Discourse) of Sri Chaganti Koteewara Rao Garu takes us not only with the personas of the episode but also into the fundamentals of Vedic Philosophy, Puranas, basic principles of Hindu Mythology with illustrations and the idiosyncratic rudiments of Divinity. Even though I am not a Vedic scholar, praying Guru, I made some attempts and collected the details and I am sending the abridged English version of the topic under the heading: SANKSHIPTA PARAYANA (Sundarakanda) While giving the précised one for meditation (Sankshiptha Parayana), I felt it is obligatory on my part to give some details of the Kavya (Great epic) in general and the Kanda (chapter) in specific. As such, I am giving a short summary, with some illustrations of both in different facets, which of course is known to almost all parts of the world and India in specific, as introduction, under the following heading: Ramayana.
4 1. The reminiscences of the creator of Ramayana. 2. The synopsis of Ramayana. 3. The compendious of Ramayana. 4. The historical evidence of Ramayana. 5. Ramayana Ramanama is Tharakanama. Sundarakanda. 6. Synopsis of Sundarakanda. 7. The symbolism of Sundarakanda. 8. The resplendence of Sundarakanda. 9. The beauty of Sundarakanda. 10. The accomplishment of Tatwa in Sundarakanda. 11. The ambition of Maharshi valmiki in delivering this metaphorically. 12. The power of Sundarakanda. 13. Prarthana Slokas. 14. Dhyana Slokas. 15. Sankshipta parayana. I am also reproducing the Dhyana slokas (Self contemplated verses) in original with meanings, in the beginning of the précised version together with some prarthana (prayer) slokas. The accuracy of pronunciation is a must for these slokas. In case if there is any difficulty to read my transcription in English, it is requested to get a correct Sanskrit version. While considering the prefix and suffixing the prayer slokas, the Dhyana slokas are to be read at first every time (meanings can be omitted), followed by the version Sankshiptaparayana of Sundarakanda As such this can be carried out by those, who are not in a position to spare time to study the original full version of Maharshi Valmiki, keeping in view that we should not renounce our tradition of studying Sundarakanda in Sanskrit as far as it is feasible. All the details are collected from Telugu, Sanskrit, Tamil and English versions and also more from the discourse (Pravachana) in Telugu by the great devotional scholar Sri Changanti Koteeswara
5 Rao garu of Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. As such there might be some slips in transcribing and translating and redacting the same into English format. Since I am from Andhra Pradesh, there are more Telugu words, which I could not correctly put into proper English. I beg you all not to take into mind. Since the subject is lengthy, I am sending the same one part after the other commencing with part 1 as detailed above. This is what I have been dreaming for a long time. If my attempt is proved to give good results, I will be blessed. To be continued from Part - 1. With love and regards, Sastry.