Sri Budha Kousika Rishi has written the Sri Ram Raksha Stotra in the Anushtup Chanda, or the Anushtup metre. The great sage-poet, Valmiki, had also composed the Ramayana in the same metre, the Anushtup Chanda. This much is known, for it is said so, at the beginning of the stotra – Sri Sitaramachandro Devata | Anushtup Chanda | Seeta Shakti | Srimad Hanumana Keelakam | - The deity of this stotra is Sri Ram, the metre is Anushtup, the power of the stotra is from Sita, and Sri Hanuman is the lynchpin (nail) that keeps the verses and the entire stotra together and gives it the magnificence of devotion that only he can.
We will not discuss or argue the timeline or the possible time-period of the Ramayana. What is most certainly known, without argument, is that the great sage-poet, Valmiki, wrote the Ramayana in the Anushtup Chanda, or metre. He is credited with the discovery of the verse-metre that was named ‘Anushtup’. He wrote the Ramayana in verse-form through nearly 24,000 verses, divided amongst seven books that are recognized as Kaandas. To illustrate the use of a specific metre, through an entire stotra, is the Gayatri Chanda, or metre, for the Gayatri Mantra, composed by Brahmarishi Vishwamitra. Later, Veda Vyasa included the mantra in the Vedas.
There are other authors and poets who have written the Ramayana in variant versions, including those that are written in other countries of South and South-East Asia . Some of these variant metres have the entire Ramayana beginning and concluding within those nations, without any trace or hint that the story could have taken place in India
The great variants in India
The story of Valmiki discovering the Anushtup Chanda metre of poetry is in itself extremely fascinating, especially because of the romanticisation of the love of the Krauncha birds and their subsequent sorrow. The death of one of the birds caused the sage, Valmiki, to exclaim in verse, that he later realized was in a proper metre, and was accepted and recognized as the Anushtup.
The verses in Anushtup metre were grouped into chapters that were termed as Sarga, that were later compiled within a Kaanda. Interestingly, the word Kaanda, is usually meant to depict the internode point of sugarcane, and in ancient Sanskrit, was used to depict an interlude within a story. Valmiki’s Ramayana, now recognized as the Srimad Valmiki Ramayan, is organized into six Kaandas or Books. There is a seventh Kaanda, and its inclusion is a different story and a different argument elsewhere.
The Anushtup metre is comprised of 32 syllables in one verse. Each sloka, or a para within the poem, is usually comprised of four lines, and sometimes more. Uniquely, the sage-poet, Valmiki, seemed to have confirmed to most of the rules of Sanskrit Grammer, that must have been defined much later. The Ram Raksha Stotra is also similarly constructed, in precise Anushtup metre, with 32 syllables in four lines of the verse.
Sri Budha Kousika Rishi, as did Valmiki, did not stray from the rules that would later be written to depict the system governing the structural and functional relationships of the verse, following its earlier verse, and subsequently leading to the compilation of the entire Sri Ram Raksha Stotra. There is extremely complex interplay of word components, mostly of course, with the word ‘Ram’, which is to be expected. There is also complex organization of the morphology and syntax of the series of words within each metre.
It would be obvious to those who have memorized the Sri Ram Raksha Stotra, and those who are able to recite the entire Stotra in loud chanting, with rhythm, that the phonology of the verse following verse, is very simple, once you have been able to internalize the entire series. This simplicity of the phonology of the Stotra, in juxtaposition to the complex nature of its morphology, is what makes the Sri Ram Raksha Stotra so very amazing, and makes one respect the genius of these great sage-poets, such as Valmiki and Budha Kousika Rishi.
Panini’s Ashtadhyayi, the most definitive treatise on Sanskrit Grammar, was also composed or written, possibly after Valmiki would have written the Ramayana. Did Sanskrit Grammar get defined because of the Ramayana of Valmiki? It would be interesting to determine, and more interesting to be proved wrong. A lesser-known fact to those who are not familiar with Sanskrit Grammar is that Panini’s definitive Ashtadhyayi was also written in the sloka format, and was completed in a precise 1000 slokas. Compare this to the Ramayana, in 24,000 verses.
Sanskrit grammar explains and defines the Sandhi, the rules and context and variations of combinations of two words, such as Surya (= Sun) + Udhayam (= Sunrise
In contrast, there are other variants, where avyayas or indeclinables are used. This is particularly noticed when words that refuse to merge with each other, are brought together. Thus, there could be combinations of using vibhakti and avyaya within the same line of a verse. This is where it gets complex, when one has to compose in the Anushtup chanda. How do you use the same word, for e.g., Ram, because the verse is in devotion to Sri Ram, and evoke diverse aspects of bhakti (= sublime devotion), and yet use only 32 syllables and not deviate from the metre?
This is the genius of Budha Kousika Rishi in the Sri Ram Raksha Stotra. For centuries, devotees of Ram, be they Hindus, or from any other religion, have been reciting the Stotra. Those who have memorized the Stotra, and those who chant it out loud, and those who teach the words to younger generations, have fallen in love again and again with the words and the images that they invoke. This magic has been made possible by the awesome interplay of rules of grammar within the Anushtup Chanda.
The final verse, when written, is recognized by the foremost of Sanksrit grammarians, as achievement of rupasiddhi (= attainment of form). Authoritative Sanskrit grammar texts recognize the achievement of Sri Budha Kousika Rishi, in writing the Sri Ram Raksha Stotra, as the depiction of his mastery of Sanskrit grammar. They accept that the complex structure of the 32 syllables in Anushtup metre, helps the devotee to memorise the complicated vibhakti forms, and the common bhakta does not need to learn Sanskrit grammar to internalize the stotra.
This is especially true in the most amazing verse of the Sri Ram Raksha Stotra, and can be the most illustrative example of the completeness of the 32-syllable structure of each verse through the magic of Sri Budha Kousika Rishi in Anushtup Chanda. This verse has been made an example to depict the magic and excellence of the Stotra in texts that explain Sanskrit grammar.
Ramo rajamanih sada vijayate,
Ramam ramesam bhaje, |
Ramenabhihata nisacaracam,
Ramaya tasmai namah ||
I would also propose the following verse-line to present the magic of Sri Budha Kousika Rishi. The padama (first), dwitiya (second), tritiya (third) and chatushpaada (fourth) lines depict awesome word play that could not be more beautiful, more evocative and more sublime.
Rama rame rameti,
rame rame manorame |
Sahasra naama tatulyam,
rama naama varanane ||
Can there be any other verse that can be better? Sri Budha Kousika Rishi, ascribes these two lines to Shiva, in explaining to Parvati, that he, himself (= varanane), recites the words, ‘Rama, Rama, Rama’ within his mind, and the recitation delights him (= manorame), and that, he takes pleasure in visiting the places where Rama has been (= rameti). For, as Shiva explains, the recitation of the word ‘Rama’ is equal to the recitation of the word ‘Vishnu’, for a thousand times (= sahasra).
All our modern-day software programmers may put their minds together, and discover and invent the best algorithms, and develop a method of writing in the 32-syllable Anushtup metre of verse. This may be possible in the world of the future. However, nobody will be able to write more sublimely, to establish the best of devotion, as has been written by Sri Budha Kousika Rishi, in Anushtup chanda, when he writes these two verse-lines, and yet, be extremely evocative. They are presented in variant contexts in the Stotra.
Rameti ramabadreti,
ramachandreti va smarana |
Naro na lipyate paapai,
bhuktim muktim cha vindate ||
The one who will constantly recite the words – Ram, Ramchandra or Ramabhadra will never be trapped in sinly acts. That person will always enjoy happiness and will acquire enlightenment (= moksha, mukti).
At Rama’s paadukas
- Dr. Bharat Bhushan
Email - bharatbhushan@yahoo.com
28 October 2010
