Parātpar Swarup of Bhagavān Śrī Rāma : The most superior form of Śrī Bhagavan
Parātpar Swarupa of Bhagavān Śrī Rāma - Saguna and Nirguna are two aspects of the supreme bliss called Shri Rama! 'Rama' literally means 'Ananda' (the Bliss). Saguna-Brahm is the object of our worship, and all love and devotion. That, Saguna-Brahman has manifested his various forms to amuse himself. And, The Paratpar-Swarupa (the most superior form) and Aadi-Rupa (primeval-eternal-form) of Shri Hari is the Two-armed human-form who wields the bow and arrows in his hands is present inside the supreme splendor (also called Brahm-Jyoti of Surya-Mandal). This indicates the two-armed Shri Rama whose personal weapons are bow and arrows is the most superior, the Para-Swarupa of Bhagavan.
ब्रह्म-गायत्री के परम-देव : श्री राम
Śrī Rāma, the deity of the Gayatri Mantra
Gayatri-Mantra is the supreme Mantra which is chanted daily by all twice born Dvijas, intiated with sacred thread. So who is the deity of the Gayatri Mantra? Many people would say It is dedicated to the Sun god, many would say it is dedicated to impersonal Brahman. However, truth is the deity of Gayatri-Mantra is none, but Shri Rama alone.
ॐ भूर्भुव स्वः ।
तत्स॑वि॒तुर्वरे॑ण्यं॒ । भर्गो॑ दे॒वस्य॑ धीमहि । धियो॒ यो नः॑ प्रचो॒दया॑त् ॥
भावार्थ:
(ॐ) ॐकार स्वरूप, (भूः) सत् (भुवः) चित् (स्वः) आनन्दस्वरूप,
“(स॒वि॒तुः दे॒वस्य॑) समस्त सृष्टि के प्रसविता [उत्पादक] और प्रेरक, दिव्यगुणों से युक्त सूर्यान्तर्यामी परमेश्वर [ सूर्य-मण्डल में स्थित धनुर्बाणादि से युक्त परब्रह्मश्रीराम] के (तत्) उस (वरे॑ण्यम्) वरण करने योग्य सर्वोत्कृष्ट [अतिशयानन्द रूप] (भर्गो॑/ भर्गः) शुद्ध-स्वरूप [अथवा दुःखों के मूल
अविद्या के नाशक ] दिव्य-तेज का (धीमहि) हम ध्यान करते हैं, (यो/यः) वह सविता देव [श्रीराम] जो हमारे ध्येय हैं (न॑:) हमारी (धियो॒) बुद्धियों को (प्रचो॒दया॑त्) उत्तम गुण-कर्म-स्वभाव में प्रेरित करें [करते हैं] ।”
oṃ bhūrbhuva svaḥ ।
tat saviturvarēṇyaṃ । bhargō dēvasya dhīmahi । dhiyō yō naḥ pracōdayāt ॥
Meaning : Oṃ (the Brahman Shri Rama who is denoted by the word Oṃ) who is Sat (bhūr) Chid (bhuva) and Ananda (svaḥ) Svarupa.
“We (dhīmahi) meditate on (tat) that (varēṇyaṃ) supremely excellent and the most desirable (bhargō) divine form or spleandor (savitur dēvasya) of
the Supreme god Savita-deva [Sat-chid-anand Svarupa Parbrahman Shri Rama inside the Sun], who is the beggter and the inspirer of entire animate and
inanimate worlds, may (yo/yaḥ) he [the Savita-dev Shri Rama] (pracōdayāt) inspire (naḥ) our (dhiyō) intellects [on the auspicous path].”
One should first receive Gayatri Mantra from one's Gurudeva, then only one should chant it. Gayatri shouldn't be chanted on one's own. There are dhyana and Pranayama associated with the Brahm-Gayatri.
Here 'Savitur-devasya', 'Varenyam', and 'Bhargah' are indicative of Shri Rama-Rupa alone. In Sanatkumar-Samhita, Shri Rama is very clearly told - "भर्गं वरेण्यं विश्वेशं रघुनाथं जगदगुरुम् - bhargaṃ varēṇyaṃ viśvēśaṃ raghunāthaṃ jagadagurum" and inside Surya-Mandala, there is Shri Rama alone "सूर्यमंडल मध्यस्थं रामं सीतासमन्वितम् / sūryamaṃḍala madhyasthaṃ rāmaṃ sītāsamanvitam"- Inside the Surya-Mandal or the effulgent Brahm-jyoti, there is Shri Rama along with Sita Ji.
Brahm-Gayatri and Mantra-Raj
Though, Gayatri is the great Mantra which is dedicated to Shri Rama, yet Shri Rama-Mantra-Raj is the most superior. Chanting Mantra-Raj once is equal to chanting Brahm-Gayatri 1 lac times. This was the reason Aadi-Shankaracharya also gave Shri-Ram-Mantra-raj [which is chanted by even Lord Shiva] to Shri Kumarilbhatt, even though Kumarilbhatt had already initiation into Brahm-Gayatri Mantra. Therefore, even if someone has Brahm-Gayatri initiation, He must chant Shri Ram-Mantra-raj after initiation from a Vaishnava.
गृहीत्वावैष्णवात्सम्यङ्मंत्रराजं षडक्षरम् ।
अन्यमन्त्रं जिघृक्षेच्चेद्रौरवंनरकं व्रजेत ॥
[पुष्कर संहिता]
भावार्थ: - वैष्णव से संस्कारपुर्वक श्रीराम-मंत्र-राज को लेकर जो अन्य विष्णु-नारायणादि के मन्त्र लेता है, वह घोर रौरव नरक को जाता है अर्थात जो श्री राम मन्त्र को लेके किसी अन्य मन्त्र को लेने की इच्छा करता है वह कल्प-भर के लिए रौरव नर्क में पड़ जाता है।
gṛhītvāvaiṣṇavātsamyaṅmaṃtrarājaṃ ṣaḍakṣaram ।
anyamantraṃ jighṛkṣēccēdrauravaṃnarakaṃ vrajēta ॥
[puṣkara saṃhitā]
Translation: After taking initiation of "Shri Rama-Mantra-Raj" from a Vaishnava, if somebody seeks some other mantra of any other deity such as Vishnu or Narayana, etc, He falls in very fierce hell called Raurav-Naraka. [Pushkar-Samhita]
Reason is even Vishnu, Narayana etc chant the Mantra-Raj of Bhagavan Shri Rama, all Mantras have been originated from Shri Mantra-Raj only. So, one should have strong faith in Shri Mantra-raj and shouldn't take other Mantras after initiation into Shri-Mantra-Raj. Mantra-Raj is the most superior Mantra, the cause of all the causes. It is the Mantra which is chanted even by Vishnu, Shiva and also by Bhagavati Sita Ji herself. What does it indicate? It indicated devotion in lotus feet of Bhagavan Shri Rama is the highest, Shri Rama is the most superior, and no Mantra is greater than Shri Rama-Mantra.
गाणपत्येषु शैवेषु शाक्तसौरेष्वभीष्टदः । वैष्णवेष्वपि सर्वेषु राममन्त्रः फलाधिकः ॥ ६ ॥
गाणपत्यादि मन्त्रेषु कोटिकोटिगुणाधिकः । मन्त्रस्तेष्वप्यनायास फलदोऽयं षडक्षरः ॥ ७ ॥
Translation: Among all the mantras of Lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva, Goddess Durga, Lord Surya and Lord VishhNu, the mantras dedicated to Shri Rama bestow greater fruits. And This Mantra-Raja of Bhagavan Shri Rama easily bestows Billions and Billions times the fruits of all the mantras dedicated to Lord Ganesha, Shiva, Durga, Surya and Vishnu. Such is the supreme glory of Mantra-Raj! [[Sri Rama-uttartapini 5.6-7]
Paratpar-Swarupa of Bhagavan
Some Vaishnavas think Para-Swarupa (the most superior) form of Lord resides in Vaikuntha and He is the four-armed Shriman Narayana. Now we can see here How is the Para-Swarupa of Lord.
आनन्दो द्विधः प्रोक्तो मूर्तश्चामूर्त एव च ।
अमूर्तस्याश्रयोमूर्तः परमात्मा नराकृतिः ।
स्थूलं चाष्टभुजं प्रोक्तं सूक्ष्मं प्रोक्तं चतुर्भुजम्।
द्विभुजं परात्परं प्रोक्तं तस्मादेतत्त्रयं यजेत्॥
[आनंद-संहिता]
Translation: The Ananda (Bliss which is the essential nature of Bhagavan) is of two kinds - one is Saguna-Brahm and another is Nirguna-Brahm. Of these two, Saguna-Brahm has a form like a Human and He is the basis of the Nirguna-Brahm. There are three kinds of Human-forms of Bhagavan, Sthula (gross), Sukshma (subtle) and Paratpar (the most superior). Sthula-Brahman is the god with eight arms (i.e. 8 armed Bhuma-Vishnu) and is visible, but the form of Vishnu who has 4-arms is subtle i.e. He is Sukshma-Brahman, However the God who is of two-armed (i.e. Lord Ram in his eternal form), is the most superior (परं च द्विभुजं रूपं). Therefore, All these three forms of Lord are worshipable for all. [Ananda-Samhita]
Now many things are being cleared from aforementioned verses,
1) Saguna and Nirguna: Both Saguna and Nirguna aspects of Lord are called Bliss (Ananda), because Ananda is the essential nature of Bhagavan.
2) Basis of Nirguna : From Nirguna-Brahm, Saguna is superior. Saguna is the object of our all love and devotion. Even if Yog-Vashishtha repeats 1000 times about Nirguna, we need to focus on the reservoir of the supreme Bliss, Shri Rama. who is the basis of even Nirguna-Brahm. In fact, from the bliss of Nirguna, the bliss of Saguna is 100 times greater.
And the most important point:
3) Para-Swarupa: The most superior, Paratpar Swarupa of Lord is two-armed. From the two-armed form, all others four-armed form and 8-armed form appear.
विरजायाः परे पारे लोको वैकुण्ठसंज्ञितः। तन्मध्ये राजते सच्चिदानन्दरूपिणी॥ तत्र लोके चतुर्बाहू रामनारायणः प्रभुः।
Translation: The divine region beyond the Viraja river in spiritual world is called Vaikuntha. In the right center of that Vaikuntha, there is divine City named Ayodhya which is very form of Sat-Chit-Ananda. In that divine Ayodhya, there resides the supreme four-armed Lord Rama-Narayana.
Thus, Shriman Narayana of Vaikuntha is called as the four-armed Rama-Narayana Prabhu in scriptures. Here, Shri Narayana is identified as Shri Rama having four-arms, and the central region of Vaikuntha is called as the Ayodhya in scriptures.
However, this four-armed Rama (Narayana) of Vaikuntha is not the Ishta of a Ramavat-Vaishnava, we can worship 4-armed Rama (Narayana), yet a Ram-bhakt-Vaishnava loves and craves for the two-armed Shri Rama of Saket-Loka (Nitya-Ayodhya) or Bhuma-Ayodhya as the prince charming of Ayodhya, who is the Para-Swarupa (the most superior form) of Bhagavan!
सर्वशक्तिकलानाथं द्विभुजं रघुनन्दनम् ।।
द्विभुजाद्राघवान्नित्यात्सर्वमेतत्प्रवर्तते ।
[अनंत-संहिता]
Translation: The two-armed Shri Rama in Saketa is the Lord of all powers and Kala-s. From that two-armed eternal Shri Rama alone, all the forms of Lord and entire cosmos came forth!
Therefore, The Para-swarupa of Lord is two-armed Shri Rama alone who wields bow and arrow, and sports with Sita and her friends. The four-armed Shri Rama of Vaikuntha is the manifestation of the two-armed Shri Rama of Saket-Loka. Saketa where Shri Rama in his personal two-armed form resides is also known as the Madhurya-Loka (the abode of all sweetness), while Vaikuntha where four-armed Rama-Narayana Bhagavan resides is called Aishvarya-Loka of Bhagavan. People who are devoted to Shri Rama in Madhurya (Prema-Bhakti), only they are eligible to participate in eternal-leela of Saketa (Madhurya-Loka).
।।SitaRam।।