Most beautiful

Sundara Kaandam is considered by many as among the most beautiful sections of the Ramayana. Indeed the title itself serves as an adjective (sundara = beautiful), while another meaning could be that it is the set of chapters about Hanuman (Sundara being one of his names).

One of the most celebrated sections of the Sundara Kaandam is the meeting between Hanuman and Sita. A significance of this is that to establish his bona fides to a doubting Sita (who thinks Hanuman is just another raakshasa trying to trick her into marrying Ravana), Hanuman cites multiple events from the past, which Ravana or his henchmen cannot possibly be aware of. In essence, Hanuman summarizes the epic up until that moment. (In Valmiki’s Ramayana, this roughly corresponds to sargas – chapters — 31 through 36 of the Sundara Kaanda.)

Periyaazhwaar captures this scene in an incredibly moving set of ten verses in the Divya Prabandham in the decad titled “நெறிந்த கருங்குழல்” (section 3.10; verses 318 – 327). The decad is constructed as follows. In the first seven verses, each ending with the words “ஓர் அடையாளம்” (roughly, “a proof of my identity”), Hanuman provides instances from the past to prove that he is really a friend of Rama, and that he has come to Lanka to rescue Sita. The examples cited are Rama disrupting Parasurama’s penance when the latter had wanted to prevent Rama from marrying Sita, a private moment when Sita garlanded Rama on a clear moonlit night, the couple departing from Ayodhya along with Lakshmana, Rama’s friendship with Gughan, the visit of Bharata, the pardoning of Jayanta, and the Maareecha episode.

After citing these instances, Hanuman produces Rama’s ring and gives it to Sita (verse 8), and Sita gets it from him (verse 9) and confirms that the ring does indeed belong to Rama (மோதிரம்கண்டு ஒக்குமால் அடையாளம் அனுமான்) and is overjoyed (உச்சிமேல் வைத்துக் கொண்டு உகந்தனள்).

The decad is a personal favorite, and I find each of the verses delectable. I have presented here a selection of four verses. I have decided to keep explanations to a minimum so as not to insult your intelligence, and also to let you appreciate the verses on your own without needing to overcome the impediment of my half-baked explanations.

அல்லியம் பூமலர்க் கோதாய்! அடிபணிந்தேன் விண்ணப்பம்
சொல்லுகேன் கேட்டருளாய் துணைமலர்க் கண்மடமானே!
எல்லியம் போதினிதிருத்தல் இருந்ததோரிட வகையில்
மல்லிகை மாமாலை கொண்டுஅங்கு ஆர்த்ததும் ஓரடையாளம்.

(Verse 2 of the decad. Notice how Hanuman presses Sita, spending the first two lines of the four — precious airtime, if I may add — entreating her to listen to him. எல்லியம்போது = night time)

சித்திரகூடத்து இருப்பச் சிறுகாக்கை முலைதீண்ட
அத்திரமே கொண்டெறிய அனைத்துலகும் திரிந்தோடி
வித்தகனே! இராமாவோ! நின்னபயம் என்றுஅழைப்ப
அத்திரமே அதன்கண்ணை அறுத்ததும் ஓரடையாளம்.

(Verse 6. This is slightly difficult to understand if you do not know the incident being described, which runs thus. When Rama and Sita were in Chitrakoota, Jayanta, the son of Indra, took the form of a crow and intruded into Sita’s privacy. An enraged Rama decided to fell Jayanta using a brahmaastra. Terrified, Jayanta fled to wherever he could, but try as he might, he could not dodge the fabled arrow. Jayanta finally sought refuge in Rama himself – வித்தகனே! இராமாவோ! நின் அபயம் — and was thus spared from certain death.)

மைத்தகு மாமலர்க் குழலாய்! வைதேவீ! விண்ணப்பம்
ஒத்தபுகழ் வானரக்கோன் உடனிருந்து நினைத்தேட
அத்தகுசீர் அயோத்தியர்கோன் அடையாளமிவை மொழிந்தான்
இத்தகையால் அடையாளம் ஈதுஅவன்கை மோதிரமே.

(Verse 8. Here, Hanuman produces Rama’s ring.)

திக்குநிறை புகழாளன் தீவேள்விச் சென்றநாள்
மிக்கபெருஞ் சபைநடுவே வில்லிறுத்தான் மோதிரம்கண்டு
ஒக்குமால் அடையாளம் அனுமான்! என்றுஉச்சிமேல்
வைத்துக் கொண்டு உகந்தனளால் மலர்க்குழலாள் சீதையுமே. (9)

Speechless!

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Tags: Divya Prabandham, Hanuman, Periyaazhwaar, Rama, Ramayana, Sita, Sundara Kaandam