Most people have the habit of starting a letter with some writing at the top. Particularly school students have this habit of writing in their answer sheets hoping to get some extra luck from the deity that is supposed to be indicated by this writing. In most cases it is Tamil letter vu. I think this is the mutated form of pranava or AUM in sanskrit. Some write the name of their beloved deity followed by a term in Tamil, thuNai, seeking protection from that deity. But the most common word is SriRamaJayam, which is written by people from all parts of India. Another speciality of this name is that many people take a vow to write SriRamaJayam for some lakh times and do so religiously and sincerely hoping to get blessings of Lord Rama. The question I wish to address here is what actually SriRama Jayam means or stands for. With my very little knowledge of Sanskrit, I somehow dare to venture into the meaning of this and I invite corrections / additions from readers, so that we can understand better why this practice of writing SriRamaJAyam has been encouraged. My first thought is that SriRamaJayam stands for Sri Ramo jayathe, which is like declaring that Rama is victorious. It is like satyam (eva) jayathe –Truth (only) triumphs. But I am not convinced of this. Who are we declare that Rama is always victorious? He is victorious always. It is unlikely that such a declaration can be a kind of japa, written or uttered for countless times. Next, if we say Sri rama jayathe bhava, it is to say you become Ramas victory. This reminds me of Krishna, not Rama who wanted Arjuna to be His instrument (Gita - nimittha maathram bhava), or any jIva as His instrument, in this world of puppetry. But Ramas victory is His. He is victorious always and we the jivas (souls) are not His victory, but His protected subjects. But in my opinion Rama jayam is not used as verb. (In the above derivations, we used jayam in verb form) It is a noun such as Krishna- vijayam (6th case) That is, Jayam of Rama. If jayathe is to be brought in, it would be `Rama: jayathi, not Ramajayam. As a noun, Rama jayam conveys `Ramasya jayam (Tamil equivalent is vettri vudaiya Raman) Here again I think the stress is not on Jayam or victory or vettri, but on Rama. I can quote some verses from Ramanujas Vedartha sangraha, to substantiate this. In verses 214 and 215, he gives the derivation and meaning and implication of terms satyakama and satyasankalpa. These words are nouns. Even though the characterisation expressed in these names are about kama (desires) and sankalpa (will), the stress is on the Supreme Brahman. Similarly even though the characterization expressed in Sri Ramajayam is about triumph of Rama, the stress must be on Rama. Because the object of worship here is Rama, not jayam. By meditating on the victorious Rama, the worshipper seeks victory in his own endeavours. In Tamil too, it is appropriate to think of this as `vettri udaiya Raman than `Ramanukku vettri or `Ramanudaiya vettri. In the former, the stress is on Raman and in the latter, the stress is on jayam. The first one is acceptable in that the meditation is on Rama and not on his vettri. I think there is another appropriate derivation for Rama jayam. RamENa jayathE is RAma jayam. This means victory by Rama.(3rd case) In Tamil this is Raamanaal vettri. By writing Sri Rama jayam at the beginning of any write-up and writing it many times with specific goals of accomplishing something, one seeks victory or success by Ramas grace. By another interpretation, it is Rama who brings out such accomplishments and success. Therefore, my conclusion is Sri Rama Jayam means or stands for victory by Rama or Ramanaal vettri
Posted on: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 14:38:23 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015