Sri Hanumanta effortlessly landed in Lanka, in spite of multiple obstacles on the way such as the request of Mainaka Parvata, the challenge of Surasa, the threat of Simhika and then eventually the brief resistance by Lankini. Hanuman then enacts a wonderful drama "searching" for Sita. Being the best amongst all jeevas, Hanuman always knew... Continue Reading →
O Hanumanta! Salutations to you!
वन्देऽहं तं हनूमानिति महितमहापौरुषो बाहुशाली |ख्यातस्तेSग्रोSवतारः सहित इह बहुब्रह्मचर्यादि धर्मैः ||सस्नेहानां सहस्वानहरहरहितं निर्दहन् देहभाजाम् |अंहो मोहापहो यः स्पृहयति महतीं भक्तिमद्यापि रामे || 17 || In the first 16 shlokas of Sri Hari Vayu Stuti, Sri Trivikrama Panditacharya primarily describes the glory of the moola roopa of Vayudeva or Mukhyaprana. From shloka 17 onwards he begins... Continue Reading →
Bharata and the Arrival of Rama
For thousands of years she had endured the pain. Covered in dust, not to be seen by anyone. Deserted by her husband, abandoned by the Gods. Indra had reason to worry. Gautama was accumulating punya way beyond his league. He had to be stopped. His excess punya had to be burnt away. So he approached... Continue Reading →
Ramayana: Destroying the Moolabala of Ravana
Valmiki Ramayana is no doubt the most popular version of the Ramayana and is considered as one of the Itihasas in our land. Many sampradayas, though, refer to the existence of a 'Moola Ramayana' or the original Ramayana that predates Valmiki Ramayana. Sri Madhwacharya, in his Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya, has explained that he has used... Continue Reading →
RJB: The Dharmavigraha Returns
In the 1540s, Sri Vadiraja Tirtha went on a tirtha yatra to Ayodhya. While there he composed a shloka describing that sacred land of the Hindus. He said: “ayOdhyA nAma nagarI bhAti sAdhvI vadhUriva | vanaM gatasyApi tasya pAdukE yA$karOt patiM” "The town of Ayodhya appears resplendent like a chaste wife (woman). That city which... Continue Reading →
Agnipariksha is on; Rama shall soon reunite with Sita!
The erudite Sri @upanishadist has written a wonderful post on the ongoing Rama Janma Bhoomi issue, asking if Sri Rama shall return to his home at last. It is a very moving, emotional piece. Although a far lesser mortal, I too felt compelled to write a few words on this issue. Not because it is... Continue Reading →
Scriptural & Sculptural Evidences related to Rama in the Dvaita Tradition
In an earlier post, I had briefly mentioned about collating a list of scriptural and sculptural evidences in the Dvaita tradition of Sri Madhvacharya, in order to complement the exhaustive list of evidences compiled by Ms Meenakshi Jain, in her book “Rama and Ayodhya”. The present post is an attempt at the same. In the... Continue Reading →
Did Sri Vadiraja Tirtha hint about destruction of Rama Mandir at Ayodhya?
Introduction In her seminal work, “Rama & Ayodhya”, Ms Meenakshi Jain has given great details about the scriptural, sculptural and epigraphic evidences for Lord Rama. This was done to counter some absurd objections as part of the Rama Janmabhumi dispute where it was alleged that worship of Lord Rama as Vishnu’s avatara was an extremely... Continue Reading →
Pranasutra 