[Advaita-l] A Sloka of profound vedAntic significance

[S.N. Sastri]

In vAlmIki  rAmAyaNa it is said that when hanumAn returned from Lanka after
seeing sItA and giving rAma's message to her, rAma embraced h anumAn. SrI
nIlakaNTha dIkshita, a great devotee-poet of South India, who was the
grandson of the great polymath appayya dIkshita, gives a Vedantic meaning to
this embrace in the following Sloka:

nityam sushuptishu parishvajase na rAma

bhUtAni kim nikhilabhUtaguhASayastvam |

AsAdya tat prakaTam artham avApa kIrtim

AcandratAravimalAm anilAtmajanmA || (raghuvIrastavaH)

rAma-             O rAma,

nikhilabhUtaguhASayaH tvam- You who dwell in the cavity of the heart of all
living beings (being brahman himself)

nityam sushuptishu- always during deep sleep,

bhutAni- all beings,

parishvajase na kim- do you not embrace?

tat artham- that wealth (blessing),

prakaTam- openly—when he was awake,

AsAdya- getting,

anilAtmajanma- the son of god vAyu, hanuman,

AcandratAravimalAm- pure and lasting as long as the moon and the stars
(eternal),

kIrtim- glory,

AvApa- attained.

The upanishad says that every living being is united with brahman during
deep sleep, but they do not know it and so they wake up as the same old
limited beings. But if one becomes united with brahman (i.e., realizes his
identity with brahman) during the waking state when he is aware of it, that
is liberation. By being embraced by rAma who is none other than brahman,
hanumAn attained the highest goal. The act of rAma embracing hanumAn is
given this significance by the poet.

S.N.Sastri