Sunday, August 07, 2011

the only winner was dharma

तमेवं गुणसंपन्नं रामं सत्यपराक्रमं॥१९॥
ज्येष्ठम् ज्येष्ठगुणैर्युक्तं प्रियं दशरथः सुतं।
प्रकृतीनां हितैर्युक्तं प्रकृतिप्रियकाम्यया॥२०॥
यौवराज्येन संयोक्तुमैच्छत् प्रीत्या महीपतिः।
तस्याभिषेकसंभारान् दृष्ट्व भार्याथ कैकयी॥२१॥
पूर्वम् दत्तवरा देवी वरमेनमयाचत।
विवासनम् च रामस्य भरतस्याभिषेचनं॥२२॥
स सत्यवचनाद् राजा धर्मपाशेन संयतः।
विवासयामास सुतं रामं दशरथः प्रियं॥२३॥
स जगाम वनं वीरः प्रतिज्ञामनुपालयन्।
पितृवचननिर्देशात् कैकेय्याः प्रियकारणात्॥२४॥
तं व्रजन्तं प्रियो भ्राता लक्ष्मणोऽनुजगाम ह।
स्नेहाद् विनयसंपन्नः सुमित्रानन्दवर्धनः॥२५॥
भ्रातरं दयितो भ्रातुः सौभ्रात्रमुपदर्शयन्।
रामस्य दयिता भार्या नित्यम् प्राणसमा हिता॥२६॥
जनकस्य कुले जाता देवमायेव निर्मिता॥
सर्वलक्षनसंपन्ना नारीणामुत्तमा वधूः॥२७॥
सीताऽप्यनुगता रामं शशिनम् रोहिणी यथा।
पौरैरनुगतो दूरं पित्रा दशरथेन च॥२८॥
शृङ्गवेरपुरे सूतम् गङ्गाकूले व्यसर्जयत्।
गुहमासाध्य धर्मात्मा निषादाधिपतिं प्रियं॥२९॥
गुहेन सहितो रामो लक्ष्मणेन च सीतया।
ते वनेन वनं गत्वा नदींस्तीर्त्वा बहूदकाः॥३०॥
चित्रकूटमनुप्राप्य भरद्वाजस्य शासनात्।
रम्यामावसथं कृत्वा रममाणाः वने त्रयः॥३१
देवगन्धर्वसंकाशास्तत्र ते न्यवसन् सुखं।
चित्रकूटे गते रामे पुत्रशोकातुरस्तदा॥३२
राजा दशरथः स्वर्गं जगाम विलपन् सुतम्।
गते तु तस्मिन् भरतो वसिष्टप्रमुखैर्द्विजैः॥३३॥
नियुज्यमानो राज्याय नैच्छत् राज्यं महाबलः।
स जगाम वनं वीरो रामपादप्रसादकः॥३४॥
गत्वा तु स महात्मानं रामं सत्यपराक्रमं।
अयाचद् भ्रातरं रामामार्यभावपुरस्कृतः॥३५॥
त्वमेव राजा धर्मज्ञ इति रामं वचोऽब्रवीत्।
रामोऽपि परमोदारः सुमुखः सुमहायशाः॥३६॥
न चैच्छद् पितुरादेशाद् राज्यं रामो महाबलः।
पादुके चास्य राज्याय न्यासं दत्वा पुनः पुनः॥३७
निवर्तयामास ततो भरतं भरताग्रजः।
स काममनवाप्येव रामपादावुपस्पृशन्॥३८॥
नन्दिग्रामेऽकरोद् राज्यं रामागमनकाङ्ग्क्षया।
॥श्रीमद्वाल्मीकीये रामायणे आदिकाव्ये बालकाण्डे॥

tamevaṁ guṇasaṁpannaṁ rāmaṁ satyaparākramaṁ||19||
jyeṣṭham jyeṣṭhaguaṇairyuktaṁ priyaṁ daśarathaḥ sutaṁ|
prakṛtīnāṁ hitairyuktaṁ prakṛtipriyakāmyayā||20||
yauvarājyena saṁyoktumaicchat prītyā mahīpatiḥ|
tasyābhiṣekasaṁbhārān dṛṣṭva bhāryātha kaikayī||21||
pūrvam dattavarā devī varamenamayācata|
vivāsanam ca rāmasya bharatasyābhiṣecanaṁ||22||
sa satyavacanād rājā dharmapāśena saṁyataḥ|
vivāsayāmāsa sutaṁ rāmaṁ daśarathaḥ priyaṁ||23||
sa jagāma vanaṁ vīraḥ pratijñāmanupālayan|
pitṛvacananirdeśāt kaikeyyāḥ priyakāraṇāt||24||
taṁ vrajantaṁ priyo bhrātā lakṣmaṇo'nujagāma ha|
snehād vinayasaṁpannaḥ sumitrānandavardhanaḥ||25||
bhrātaraṁ dayito bhrātuḥ saubhrātramupadarśayan|
rāmasya dayitā bhāryā nityam prāṇasamā hitā||26||
janakasya kule jātā devamāyeva nirmitā||
sarvalakṣanasaṁpannā nārīṇāmuttamā vadhūḥ||27||
sītā'pyanugatā rāmaṁ śaśinam rohiṇī yathā|
paurairanugato dūraṁ pitrā daśarathena ca||28||
śṛṅgaverapure sūtam gaṅgākūle vyasarjayat|
guhamāsādhya dharmātmā niṣādādhipatiṁ priyaṁ||29||
guhena sahito rāmo lakṣmaṇena ca sītayā|
te vanena vanaṁ gatvā nadīṁstīrtvā bahūdakāḥ||30||
citrakūṭamanuprāpya bharadvājasya śāsanāt|
ramyāmāvasathaṁ kṛtvā ramamāṇāḥ vane trayaḥ||31
devagandharvasaṁkāśāstatra te nyavasan sukhaṁ|
citrakūṭe gate rāme putraśokāturastadā||32
rājā daśarathaḥ svargaṁ jagāma vilapan sutam|
gate tu tasmin bharato vasiṣṭapramukhairdvijaiḥ||33||
niyujyamāno rājyāya naicchat rājyaṁ mahābalaḥ|
sa jagāma vanaṁ vīro rāmapādaprasādakaḥ||34||
gatvā tu sa mahātmānaṁ rāmaṁ satyaparākramaṁ|
ayācad bhrātaraṁ rāmāmāryabhāvapuraskṛtaḥ||35||
tvameva rājā dharmajña iti rāmaṁ vaco'bravīt|
rāmo'pi paramodāraḥ sumukhaḥ sumahāyaśāḥ||36||
na caicchad piturādeśād rājyaṁ rāmo mahābalaḥ|
pāduke cāsya rājyāya nyāsaṁ datvā punaḥ punaḥ||37
nivartayāmāsa tato bharataṁ bharatāgrajaḥ|
sa kāmamanavāpyeva rāmapādāvupaspṛśan||38||
nandigrāme'karod rājyaṁ rāmāgamanakāṅgkṣayā|
||śrīmadvālmīkīye rāmāyaṇe ādikāvye bālakāṇḍe||

Sage Narada continues his discourse on the story of Rama.  
" King  Dasartha desired that he should anoint Rama endowed with such great qualities as already described, as the heir-apparent(yuvaraja). Rama was the eldest of Dasaratha's son in age, Bharatha, Lakshmana and Shatrugna following him. Rama was also the tallest in all virtues. He was also the favourite son for the king. And by all means this was the most appropriate decision taken by a  king whose highest priority was the welfare of his subjects as  Rama was uniformly  adored and respected  by all the people of Ayodhya.  Dasartha had three wives, Kausalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra, and Rama was the son of Kausalya, Bharatha's mother was Kaikeyi and Sumitra delivered the twins Laksmana and Shatrugna.  When Kaikeyi saw the preparations for the anointment of Rama as the yuvaraja, her ambition to see that her son Bharatha should become the yuvaraja was kindled.  Here it must be noted that Bharatha was not availble in Ayodhya at that time.  He had gone on a visit to his uncle's kingdom Kekaya, along with Shatrugna. If Bharatha had been present Ramayana would not have proceeded any further. Kaikeyi had once saved the life of her husband Dasaratha by preventing a wheel of a chariot from dislocating itself causing fatal results while he was fighting a war with Shambaraasura and then Dasaratha  had granted her two boons which she had deferred to execute.  But now to win the kingdom for her son she exercised her option by demanding the king that Bharatha should become the yuvaraja and Rama should be exiled.  The king who was bound by dharma and his promise was left with no option other than asking Rama to abdicate and proceed to the forest. Without any protest  and eager to fulfil the promise of his father and doing a nice turn to his stepmother, Rama decided to undertake the life in forest for fourteen years. Rama's dearest brother and the source of all happiness to Sumitra,  Lakshmana could not think of a life other than in the company of Rama and as a role-model for brotherly affection, he also decided to  accompany Rama wherever he went.  Seetha the consort of Rama and for whom Rama was dear to her even more than her own life also had no hesitation in accompanying him to forest..Seetha was the perfect woman, with all the elements of beauty endowed to her in abundance as if she was created by the artists of the Gods themselves, and she was the noblest in her character and she was the ideal wife to the inimitable Rama. The celestial star Rohini, the favourite wife of Moon always seeks the company of the Moon and Seetha was similar to that in her devotion to Rama.  Rama in the company of Seetha and Lakshmana set out for forest and was accompanied by the king Dasaratha and all the subjects of Ayodhya in grief, for a long distance.  They were persuaded to return to Ayodhya, and Sumanthra (the sootha and charioteer) took the three to the banks of Ganga where the town Sringivera (puram) was situated.  Rama met his longtime friend and the chief of Nishadas (a hunter community) Guha and with his help crossed the Ganga and entered the forest.  The threesome walked long distances from forest to forest and crossed many rivers filled with water and reached the hermitage of sage Bharadhwaaja.  As per the directions of the great sage, they  settled down in Chitrakoota in a beautiful hut built by Lakshmana. They were living there happily as if they were devas and gandharvas descended to earth.  Sumanthra returned to Ayodhya declaring the departure of Rama to the forest and unable to bear the sorrow of separation, king Dasaratha shrugged off his moral coils and left for his heavenly abode.  Bharatha was summoned back and the preceptors with the prime minister Vasishta in the lead requested Bharatha to assume the duties of the king.  Bharatha refused assume the Royal duties when his elder brother was alive and languishing in the forest. Immediately he proceeded to the forest, taking with him the ministers and accompanied by a large number of loyal subjects and met Rama and begged him to return to Ayodhya to become the king. But the valorous Rama who valued the promise of his father more than the enjoyment of the Kingdom, decline to return to ayodhya before the prescribed fourteen years   even in the face of  all the earnest entreaties by Bharatha.  Finally it was decided that  Rama's paadukaas( the sandals) would represent him as the king and receiving the sandals with all respect and dejected that he could not accomplish his mission to take back Rama to Ayodhya, Bharatha returned to the kingdom reluctantly and anointing the sandals of Rama as the ruler, Bharatha adopted the life of an ascetic and ruled the kingdom staying in a hamlet called Nandigrama (about 14 Miles  from Ayodhya)  as a mere representative of the sandals of Rama, always eagerly awaiting the return of Rama to take back the reins of the Kingdom.
The story till now is a saga of sacrifice.  Dasaratha sacrificed his son and his life to protect a promise. Rama sacrificed the kingdom to uphold the promise of his father. Lakshmana and Seetha sacrificed all worldly comforts just to keep the company of Rama.  Bharatha, for whom the kingdom was righlfully his now could not even think of Royal positions in the absence of his elder brother. The ambitious Kaikeyi was defeated and she lost her husband and the affection of her son in the bargain.
The only winner was dharma.. The anointment of Rama's sandals has greater significance than the Pattabhishekam of Rama itself in Ramayanam.

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life  is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु।
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu|

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