जगत्सन्दर्भसौन्दर्यसंवित्संस्पन्दसाक्षिणम्।
प्रणमामि सितस्मेरप्रणवं गणनायकम् ॥
Author:Raghavendra G S
The author wrote this open letter as part of a recent assignment. The letter summarises and adds to his earlier essays on related topics. The assignment was to “Imagine that the Prime Minister has sought your advice for institutionalising Ayurveda in India and abroad. He wants you to tell him the current challenges and solutions to overcome them.” – Editors
Dear Prime Minister,
Back at Hastināpura, Gāndhārī too was pregnant; even as she was carrying, she heard that Kuntī had given birth to Yudhiṣṭhira. She hadn’t given birth even after two years of pregnancy; the pain was unbearable too. So one day, extremely upset, she squeezed her abdomen and pushed out the foetus. The foetus came out as a ball of flesh. “Is this what Īśvara blessed has me with in the past; is this what Vyāsa promised!” Thinking thus with disgust, she was about to throw the ball of flesh away.
The epics, Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, largely complement each other in terms of what they offer to connoisseurs. Using the terminology of the rasas (flavours of emotions), the predominant rasa in the Iliad, which also acts as the sthāyi-bhāva, is valour (vīra). To sustain the undercurrent of valour for over 15,000 lines is a great challenge, which has been met successfully only by poets like Vālmīki, Vyāsa and Homer.
Slaying of the rākṣasa Kabandha is one of the fascinating episodes in Ādikavi Vālmīki's Rāmāyaṇam. This oft-quoted episode appears at the end of the Araṇya-kāṇḍa (cantos 69-73). After Rāvaṇa abducts Sītā, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa move southward in search of her. During their journey, they come across the impassable Krauñca forest, where Kabandha seizes them. Gigantic and grotesque, the rākṣasa had no head, neck, and legs. It was just ruṇḍa without muṇḍa[1].
Marxist-Communist historians claim that because Pushyamitra Shunga was a brāhmaṇa, all events that occurred during his period were merely the revolt of brāhmaṇas. These incidents symbolize the enmity that brāhmaṇas had against Ashoka and his heritage. Contrary to their claims, varṇa doesn’t occupy a significant place in this.
This is the second part of the two-part article published on the occasion of the 2018 Tyāgarāja Ārādhana Utsavam, which falls on today's date. — Editors
Prekshaa is glad to bring out a special two-part article on the occasion of Tyāgarāja Ārādhana 2018, which falls on January 6th this year. This also happens to be Tyāgarāja's 250th birth anniversary year. — Editors
Śrī Tyāgarājāya Namaḥ
vyāso naigama-carcayā mrudugirā valmīka-janmā muniḥ
vairāgye śuka eva bhaktiviṣaye prahlāda eva svayaṃ |
brahmā nārada eva cāpratimayoḥ saṅgīta-sāhityayoḥ
yo rāmamṛtapāna-nirjita-śivastaṃ tyāgarājam bhaje ||
ಪ್ರವೇಶಿಕೆ
“ಪಾತುಂ ಶ್ರೋತ್ರರಸಾಯನಂ ರಚಯಿತುಂ ವಾಚಃ ಸತಾಂ ಸಮ್ಮತಾ
ವ್ಯುತ್ಪತ್ತಿಂ ಪರಮಾಮವಾಪ್ತುಮವಧಿಂ ಲಬ್ಧುಂ ರಸಸ್ರೋತಸಃ |
ಭೋಕ್ತುಂ ಸ್ವಾದುಫಲಂ ಚ ಜೀವಿತತರೋರ್ಯದ್ಯಸ್ತಿ ತೇ ಕೌತುಕಂ
ತದ್ಭ್ರಾತಃ ಶೃಣು ರಾಜಶೇಖರಕವೇಃ ಸೂಕ್ತೀಃ ಸುಧಾಸ್ಯಂದಿನೀಃ ||” (ಬಾಲರಾಮಾಯಣ, ೧.೧೫)
“ಕಿವಿಗೆ ಅಮೃತವಾಗಬಲ್ಲ ರಸಪಾಕದ ಆಸೆಯುಂಟೆ? ಸಜ್ಜನರು ತಲೆದೂಗಬಲ್ಲಂಥ ಕಾವ್ಯರಚನೆಯ ಸ್ವಾರಸ್ಯ ತಿಳಿಯಬೇಕೆ? ಉತ್ಕೃಷ್ಟಪಾಂಡಿತ್ಯವನ್ನು ಗಳಿಸಬೇಕೆ? ರಸಸಾಗರದ ಸೀಮೆಯನ್ನು ಕಾಣಬೇಕಾಗಿದೆಯೆ? ಜೀವನತರುವಿನ ಮಧುರಫಲವನ್ನು ಆಸ್ವಾದಿಸಲಾಸೆಯಿದೆಯೆ? ಇದಾವ ಕುತೂಹಲವದ್ದರೂ ಸರಿ, ಸಖನೇ! ಸುಧೆಯನ್ನು ಸೂಸುವ ರಾಜಶೇಖರಕವಿಯ ಸೂಕ್ತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಕೇಳು!”