Tag: Resilience

Aditya Hridayam Verses 1-3

Verse 1

ततो युद्धपरिश्रान्तं समरे चिन्तया स्थितम् ।

रावणं चाग्रतो दृष्ट्वा युद्धाय समुपस्थितम् ॥१॥

tatO yuddha parishrAntam samarE cintayAsthitam

rAvaNam cAgratO dR^iShTvA yuddhAya samupasthitam

Meaning of Sanskrit words

tata: – Then (at that very time)

yuddham – battle

parishrAnti: – exhaustion/fatigue

samara: – battle(-field)

cintayA – in the middle of a thought

sthitam – staying/standing

rAvaNam – ravana (used as an object of the sentence)

ca – and

agrata: – in front of

dR^iShTvA – on seeing (Dhrusti – seeing)

yuddhAya – for the battle

Sam-upa-sthitam – standing prepared (‘Sam’ – popular prefix to indicate correctness/propreity – in this case, ravana is standing, correctly prepared to fight)

Meaning of the Verse

When Lord Rama (implicit subject of the sentence) is standing absorbed in thought, on the battlefield, as He is exhausted by the fight till now; seeing Ravana facing Him (in front of Him) duly prepared for the fight…

Verse 2

दैवतैश्च समागम्य द्रष्टुमभ्यागतो रणम् ।
उपागम्याब्रवीद्राममगस्त्यो भगवानृषिः ॥२॥

daivatai: ca samAgamya draShTum abhyAgatOraNam

upAgamya: abravIt rAmam agastyO bhagavAn R^ishi:

Meaning of Sanskrit Words

daivatai: – with Devas

ca – and

sama-Agamya – arriving (at the same time) [Sam is prefixed for

‘simultaneously’] Aagaami is come, Aagamya is coming

draShTum – to see/witness [dR^iShTi: = sight]

abhyAgata: – he who had come

raNam – battle

upAgamya: – approaching [Agamya – coming, upa – near => to come near]

abravIt – spoke (past tense)

rAmam – Sri Rama

agastyO

bhagavAn – “blessed” is one of the meanings

R^ishi: – sage

Meaning of the Verse

The ‘Blessed’ Sage, Agastya, who had come to see the battle with the Devataas, on approaching Sri Rama, spoke…

Verse 1 & 2 – Tamil Version

சரிநிகர் சமமென நின்ற இலங்கையன் எதிரே

புரிபோர் விளை சோர்வுடன் சிந்தனைநடு நின்ற

கோசலைமைந்தனை நோக்கி தேவரினம் சூழ

போர் காண களம் வந்த குருமுனி சென்றுரைத்தான்

Verse 3

राम राम महाबाहो शृणु गुह्यं सनातनम् ।
येन सर्वानरीन्वत्स समरे विजयिष्यसि ॥३॥

rAma rAma mahA bAhO shrunu guhyam sanAtanam

yEna sarvAn arIn vatsa samarE vijayiShyasi

Meaning of Sanskrit Words

rAma – Agastya is talking to Raama directly, and addresses him “Hey Raama,

the Great-Shouldered Rama”

mahA – Great, mighty

bAhO – Shoulder

shrunu – listen [the word Shruthi has the same root]

guhyam – secret [Hindi word “Gupt” comes from this]

sanAtanam – forever, unending, eternal [as in Sanaathana Dharma]

[In fact, in AH, you will find several words for the same – akshaya,

nitya, shAshvatasya]

yEna – With which [ya: + Ena = yEna; ya: = whom/which, Ena = by/with]

sarvAn – all [used as an object here]

arIn – enemies [Krishna is “murAri” since he was the enemy of the demon

murA; kEsava since he killed the demon Kesi]

vatsa – child [Agastya addresses Rama as a child here]

samarE – on the battlefield

vijayiShyasi – You will win [vijayasi = You win; vijayAmi = I win;

vijayiShyAmi = I will win]

Meaning of the Verse

This stanza is a direct address from Agastya to Rama :

Hey Rama, the Great-Shouldered Rama, Listen to the eternal secret,

With which, Over all the enemies, Hey Child, You will win on the

battle-field!

Verse 3 – Tamil Version

தோள்வலி மிகுராமா கேளாயோ அழியாநிலையுடை மறைசெய்தி

அதன்வழி நடப்பின் அடைவர் அனைத்துப்பகைமீது உறுதிவெற்றி

இப்போர்களத்தில் உன் வெற்றி உறுதி பால ராமனே கவலைதவிர்

Aditya Hridayam

Preamble

The Dictionary Definition of resilience is “ the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after defamation caused especially by compressive stress “ or “ the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change “. American Psychological Association defines it as a “ process of adapting well in the face of adversity “.

Resilience is always built through learning, not acquired as a gift. Harvard Business School professor Bill George in his book “ Discover your true North “ highlights the method of “revisiting your crucibles”, viz our earlier trials and tribulations to draw from our inner strengths and lessons learnt. This however is a post facto process. We survived the storm and then we realised that we survived. We use the learning in the next storm not knowing whether it helps or not.

In the thick of the adverse situations most of the times, we need someone to confirm to us that we have what it takes to be resilient. We long for help. Ancient Indian history brings out several such adverse situations where the Principal Character derives his/her inner strength through the advice from a either friend or a philosopher or guide. Arjuna in the Indian epic Mahabharata finds Lord himself as Krishna to help him with “Bhagwad Gita” to launch the successful war against the Kauravas.

On many occasions, Nature’s manifestations themselves will provide the necessary impetus to us to recharge ourselves and have a go at the challenges that we face. If such manifestations are explained by an eminent Philosopher/Saint/Guru at the adverse situation, then it is an accelerator for rejuvenation.

This is exactly the theme of my next series of blogs on “Aditya Hridayam” by the diminutive ancient Hindu Sage Agasthya where we will see how Lord Rama finds his inner strength to defeat the Lankan King Ravana on hearing the manifestations of Aditya (The Sun) in the other epic of Sage Valmiki’s “Ramayana”.

Again a word of caution – As a novice, I am neither an expert in languages nor have adequate knowledge of religion/spirituality. I am just a mind seeker.

Note: Based on the feedback received on my earlier blogs, I have added meaning of Sanskrit words & the meaning of the Verse in English. Needless to say that I haven’t put any effort in these two additions as they are reproduced with courtesy from the information available in books and the Worldwide web!

True to the Indian name “Bhanu” for Sun & Sunday, I will try and update this blog every Sunday