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sathyam sivam sundaram  
g k kaushik
 

Sathyam Sivam Sundaram

The Sathyam Sivam Sundaram is one of the popular phrases used by all of us to know the Lord's quality. And there was an article in Hindi on the subject, which I was reading while traveling from New Delhi to Madras. The article was on philosophy and not about any particular Lord. But it triggered my thoughts. The Ultimate is Sundaram.

Saint Valmiki known as AdiKavi wrote the first kavya and named it "Sita charitham" meaning 'History of Sita'. This kavya is now known as "Ramayana". There is a canto by name "Sundara Kandam". This chapter of the Ramayana is unique in many ways. The entire Ramayana is told in this chapter, by Sri Anjaneya as to what had happened upto then in the life of Rama and Sita, and then by (pra_buddha meaning 'gyani') Trijata as to what is in store for Rama and Sita then on. Lord Anjaneya is also known as "Ramayana Maha Male Rathnam", meaning Lord Anjaneya is the central jewel of the Ramayana. Sundarakandam is also the central jewel of the Ramayana in two ways. Firstly because this it the central canto of the epic and contains the entire Ramayana. Secondly it talks about the mighty Anjaneya and His deeds and acumenship with which He steers the flow of the events. Leaving this aside while reading the canto one will be able to realise the strong influence this central character is able to infuse on the reader. So powerful is the influence of the character of the Lord that the AdiKavi named this chapter as "Hanumath prabhawam". When Lava and Kusha in the court of Lord Rama recited the 'Sita charitham', Anjaneya was wonder struck on the title of the chapter named as "Hanumath Prabhawam".

Later when with Sri Valmiki, He objected to this chapter being named so. So powerful is the influence of the character of the Lord that Adi Kavi was not prepared to name this chapter by any other name. Finally Anjaneya said that while the other cantos were named after places or events why this chapter should be named after a character. Then it is said that Valmiki agreed to change the name as "Sundarakandam". This was agreed upon. It is said that Valmiki scored over Anjaneya by renaming thus, because Sundaram is also the name of Anjaneya. Valmiki had mostly used two names "vanarothama" and "kapishshresta" in this entire canto. The beauty of the character of the Lord Anjaneya reflects truth (sathyam), pure (sivam) and thereby the beauty in the full form (Sundaram).

|| Sundaram eava vanara: Sudaram eava kapi: Sundaram eava sarva: ||