|| Om tat sat ||

Sundarakanda
Tattvadipika

Introduction

Before we start on this Tattvadipika we would like to add a few words of introduction.

The kasarabada.org pages started with the "Samkshipta Sundarakanda"

Then we added all the Slokas of Sundarakanda for "Parayana"which is a form of daily prayer for many.

Then we added the meaning as well as the summary of the slokas. With all its beauty the straight forward meaning of the Slokas in Sundarakanda tell only the outer shell of the story

At that point it still left a feeling of incompleteness.

In the back of my mind I could hear the the Bhashyam Appalaacharyulu garu's explanation of the inner-meaning.

When we were publishing the Sankshipta Sundarakanda, I went and met Appalacharyulu garu who was my Sanskrit teacher in the college to seek his blessings. With the familiarity I had with him , I requested him to say a few words about Sundarakanda as introduction or write a few words of introduction for our book. That familiarity grew out of being his student more than forty years ago. Virtually sitting at his feet while he was sitting in an easy chair at his home on weekends and learning "Chandraloka" the master piece on figures of speech he was truly my teacher -"Guru". I still remember the explanation of the dust raised by the Dushyanta's chariot in the opening scene of the immortal Abhignyana Sakuntalam of Kalidasa. The explanation of the inner-meaning of the opening scene remains forever in my mind. That explanation of inner-meaning of course helped us score more marks is the truth. A Sanskrit student getting the highest marks in languages among all students of all languages of the college was a matter of pride for him. So much so that he took me to the lecturer's room and introduced me to the other language teachers. From that time I could keep up the relationship of Guru-Sishya with my teacher.

When I went to his house to seek blessings etc, he just finished his morning Puja and was sitting on a diwan. I was sitting near him on a chair . When I asked him he immediately said I will tell you the inner meaning of Sundarakanda. Thereafter for about an hour he spoke about Sundarakanda . I took that oration down in my note book as he went on. Those words got translated into English by Pandit Vijayraghavrao Rao garu and was published as "Anatarartham" in our book "Samkshipta Sundarakanda" .

While doing the translation of Slokas it was not possible to bring out that inner-meaning. When the thought of bringing the inner-meaning of Sundarakanda following the Appalacharyulu garu's "Tattvadipika" came, I mentioned the same to his son and took his concurrence.

This however is not a translation of Shri Bhashyam Appalacharyulu garu's Telugu classic "Tattvadipika". It is only a summary to the extent we understood the original Tattvadipika of Appalacharyulu garu. Indeed there may be many an interpretation which is not entirely in line with the original intent. In such cases it is just our understanding or lack of understanding the original text. Being a matter of interpretation we believe the interpretation at any point fits that narrative even if it does not match the interpretation of the original Tattvadipika.

When we started on this journey, we came across a "Tika Traya", which refers to three commentaries giving summary of the Slokas in Sanskrit. The three commentaries refered to are , Rama's "Ramayana Tilaka", Siva Sahai's "Ramayana Siromani' , and Ramayana Bhushana" of Govindaraju . We obtained theses commentaries in our internet search. The speciality of theses commentaries is that in every Sloka key words have been elaborated and some times the elaborations spilled over to include the inner-meaning referred to by Appalacharyulu garu. So the commentaries from the same has been included in our elaboration too. Govindaraja's "Ramayana Bhushana", is a commentary entirely in Sanskrit text. It is referenced by most authors writing on Sundarakanda. The Goldberg series of Books on Ramayana also lists the same as a reference.

The Tattvadipika inner-meaning has been brought out in Telugu first.

This English version is a subsequent effort.
As always due to our limitations the spirit and text of Telugu version of Tattvadipika could not entirely be carried over to the English version. However we will keep trying.

This was brought out as a part of our continued search for learning.
Putting this together has been our delight .
If it finds your favor for reading, that too is our delight.

If you know Telugu, we would say please do read Appalacharyulu garu's original Tattvadipika in Telugu. Then you can read ours too and muse on the variations.

||om tat sat ||