Wednesday, August 10, 2011

what a mission!

ततः प्रीतमनास्तेन विश्वस्तः स महाकपिः।  किष्किन्धां रामसहितो जगाम च गुहां तदा॥६७॥
ततोऽगर्जद्धरिवरः सुग्रीवो हेमपिङ्गलः।  तेन नादेन महता निर्जगाम हरीश्वरः॥६८॥
अनुमान्य तदा तारां सुग्रीवेण समागतः। निजघान च तत्रैनं शरेणैकेन राघवः॥६९॥
ततः सुग्रीववचनाद्धत्वा वालिनमाहवे।  सुग्रीवमेव तद्राज्ये राघवः प्रत्यपादयत्॥७०
स च सर्वान् समानीय वानरान् वानरर्षभः।  दिशः प्रस्थापयामास दिदृक्षुर्जनकात्मजां॥७१
ततो गृध्रस्य वचनात् सम्पातेर्हनुमान् बली॥ शतयोजनविस्तीर्णं पुप्ळुवे लवणार्णवं॥७२॥
तत्र लङ्काम् समासाध्य पुरीं रावणपालितां।  ददर्श सीतां ध्यायन्तीमशोकवनिकां गतां।७३
निवेदयित्वाभिज्ञानं  प्रवृत्तिं विनिवेद्य च।  समाश्वास्य च वैदेहीं मर्दयामास तोरणं॥७४॥
पञ्च सेनाग्रगान् हत्वा सप्त मन्त्रिसुतानपि।  शूरमक्षं  च निष्पिष्य ग्रहणं समुपागमत्॥७५॥
अस्त्रेनोन्मुक्तमात्मानं ज्ञात्व पैतामहात् वरात्। मर्षयन् राक्षसान् वीरो यन्त्रिणस्तान् यदृच्छया॥७६॥
ततो दग्ध्वा पुरीम् लङ्कामृते सीतां च मैथिलीं। रामाय प्रियमाख्यातुं पुनरायान्महाकपिः॥७७॥
सोऽभिगम्य महात्मानं कृत्वा रामं प्रदक्षिणं। न्यवेदयदमेयात्मा दृष्टा सीतेति तत्त्वतः॥७८॥
॥श्रीमद्वाल्मीकीये रामायणे आदिकाव्ये बालकाण्डे अध्यायः --१-॥
ततः स प्रयतो वृद्धो वसिष्ठो ब्राह्मणैः सह I  रामं रत्नमये पीठे सहसीतं न्यवेशयत्॥
वसिस्ठो वामदेवश्च जाबालिरथ काश्यपः। कात्यायनः सुयज्ञश्च गौतमो विजयस्तथा।
अब्यषिञ्जन्नरव्याघ्रं प्रसन्नेन सुगन्धिना।  सलिलेन सहस्राक्षं वसवो वासवं यथI॥

tataH priitamanaastena vishwastaH sa mahaakapiH.  kiSkindhaaM raamasahito jagaama cha guhaaM tadaa..67..
tato.agarjaddharivaraH sugriivo hemapi~NgalaH.  tena naadena mahataa nirjagaama hariishwaraH..68..
anumaanya tadaa taaraaM sugriiveNa samaagataH. nijaghaana cha tatrainaM shareNaikena raaghavaH..69..
tataH sugriivavachanaaddhatwaa vaalinamaahave.  sugriivameva tadraajye raaghavaH pratyapaadayat..70
sa cha sarvaan samaaniiya vaanaraan vaanararSabhaH.  dishaH prasthaapayaamaasa didR^ikSurjanakaatmajaaM ..71
tato gR^idhrasya vachanaat sampaaterhanumaan balii.. shatayojanavistiirNaM pupLuve lavaNaarNavaM..72..
tatra la~Nkaam samaasaadhya puriiM raavaNapaalitaaM.  dadarsha siitaaM dhyaayantiimashokavanikaaM gataaM.73
nivedayitwaabhij~naanaM  pravR^ittiM vinivedya cha.  samaashwaasya cha vaidehiiM mardayaamaasa toraNaM..74..
pa~ncha senaagragaan hatwaa sapta mantrisutaanapi.  shuuramakSaM  cha niSpiSya grahaNaM samupaagamat..75..
astrenonmuktamaatmaanaM j~naatwa paitaamahaat varaat. marSayan raakSasaan viiro yantriNastaan yadR^ichchhayaa..76..
tato dagdhwaa puriim la~NkaamR^ite siitaaM cha maithiliiM. raamaaya priyamaakhyaatuM punaraayaanmahaakapiH..77..
so.abhigamya mahaatmaanaM kR^itwaa raamaM pradakSiNaM. nyavedayadameyaatmaa dR^iSTaa siiteti tattwataH..78..
..shriimadvaalmiikiiye raamaayaNe aadikaavye baalakaaNDe adhyaayaH --1-..
The story of Rama as narrated by sage Naarada to Vaalmiki continues.  Sugriiva, being skeptical of the strength of Rama was convinced of his prowess from the way he handled the skeleton of Dundubhi and the seven palmyrah trees.  Now confident of defeating Vaali, Sugreeva proceded to Kishkinda, the kingdom of monkeys built like a cave in the midst of mountains, in the company of Rama and Lakshmana.  He let out a war cry standing at the gates of Kishkinda.  Vaali came out to see the disturbance.  His wife Thara also accompanied him.  Thara, having heard of the prowess of Rama and now seeing him in person had a hunch that He was lord Narayana himself. She requested Vaali not to fight with Sugreeva as he was under the protection of the great Rama.  Vaali ignored her and engaged himself in a mortal combat with Sugriiva.  Rama slayed Vaali with a single arrow. After convincing the great Vaali that he had committed grave sins in torturing his brother and forcibly taking away his wife and that he has been punished with death for that, Rama honoured the death of Vaali and  then installed Sugreeva as the king of Kishkinda.  Sugriiva, in good time, mustered all his lieutenants and sent them out in all directions to search for Seetha.  The strongest team was sent in the southern direction  and it was led by the crown prince Angada and consisted of the greats like Hanuman, Jaambavaan etc. The team reached the southern tip of India but could not find Seetha anywhere. Sugreeva's order was that Seetha should be found out within a month if any team returned empty handed the punishment awaiting them was death.   So the monkey team of the south decided to  lie down in the beaches of Bay of Bengal and starve to death. They decided that they would discuss the story of Rama while lying down there.  A huge falcon named Sampaathi, the elder brother of Jataayu was perched in a tree nearby.  First he cast his eyes on the monkeys who were lying awaiting death, in eager anticipation that he would have sumptuous food in the near future.  But then he listened to the story of Rama, and the narration of abduction of Seetha by Ravana, and the heroic martyrdom of Jataayu.. He was struck with grief on hearing the tidings of the death of his darling younger brother, and his burnt and ematiated wings came to life on hearing the story of Rama.  He consoled the monkeys and soared high into the air..With his keen eyes he could see the city of Lanka and also could have a glimpse of Seetha held in captivity in Lanka by Ravana.  Hearing this the monkeys were overjoyed.  But then came the question as to how to reach Lanka. Every monkey including the prince Angada were at a loss as to what to do further.  Then the wise Jaambavaan, the boar, remembered the story of Aanjaneya.  The Lord was born from the power of Lord Shiva himself carried through the god of wind to the womb of Anjana.. The great Lord when He was born was very virulent and jumped at the sun to eat it up thinking that it was a fruit.  Indra hit the child with his vajraayudha and felled him.  Angered at the misfotune of his son the god of winds just stopped working.  In a bid to please him all the gods worked in unison and revived the child and blessed him with immortality and great powers.  Even Brahmadeva had blessed that the missile  brahmaastra, the most potent weapon in those days, would not bind him or cause him death.  The chin of the child had been slightly deformed because of the impact of Vajraayudha and therefore the child was named Hanuman.  He was a naughty child and once he disturbed some sages doing penance in the southern mountains and the angry  hermits had cursed him that he would forget all about his valour.. The release from the curse would come when he was reminded of his powers by his colleagues at the proper time.  The great dynamite was remaining quiet in the company fo Sugriva till now only because of the unfortunate curse.  Now that Hanuman was reminded of his past by the great Jambavaan He regained all His prowess and volunteered to jump over the salty oceans and go to the island Lanka  100 yojanas away and meet Seetha.   Accordingly he did jump over to Lanka in a single leap and the greatest story of intelligence and endeavour by a single living being ever is unravelled in the Sunadarakaandam of Raamaayanam.  In Lanka, he met Seetha sitting as if in penance in a garden named Ashokavanam  and  recounted to her the story of Rama after she had been abducted and assured her that Rama with his army of monkeys will come to Lanka, annihilate Ravana and release her in full honour. As an identification Hanuman handed over a ring Rama had given with a direction to be handed over to Seetha  as an insignia if and when Seetha was found.  Seetha in turn handed over to Hanuman the Choodamani, a head ornament of hers to be presented to Rama on Hanuman's return.  Seeing the affluence of the enemy kingdom and with the idea of wreaking as much destruction to Lanka  as possible  Hanuman started destroying the gates of the garden and the favourite trees and plants. The army of Ravana was deployed to counter the ferocious monkey.  Hanuman first destroyed the army with five full generals in command and killed them entirely including the five generals. Then another army was deplooyed with the seven illustrious sons of Ravana's ministers in command.  It did not take much time for Anjaneya to finish off  all the seven  along with the army. Then Ravana's son Akshakumara came to fight with the divine monkey and was not only killed by Hanumaan but also practically mashed to pulp. Then came Indrajit the eldest son of Ravana.  By this time Hanuman knew that it was time for him to meet Ravana and deliver a warning message to him. So when Indrajit sent the Brahmaastra on Lord Anjaneya, even though he knew that by the blessing of Brahma himself the weapon would not bind him, he submitted to the Asthra out of respect for the Pitaamaha.  Aanjaneya was taken to the court of Ravana, and there he announced to Ravana that he had purchased death for himself and annihilation to his clan by abducting Maatha Seetha.  The enraged Ravana wanted to put Hanuman to death but was adviced by his counsels that a messenger should never be killed.  So it was decided to deform the monkey by putting fire to his tail.  When his tail was lit by agni, Lord Anjaneya did not feel any pain because of His own divine nature and also because of the prayers of Seetha.  He used the fire for the best purpose.  He placed his burning tail on all the buildings and storehouses and army camps in Lanka and the whole Lanka except Ashokavana was like a towering inferno.  After seeing the best of Lanka being gobbled up by fire, Hanuman doused the fire in the Bay of Bengal and jumped back to India, His mission successful.  The monkeys led by Anjaneya jumped back to Kishkinda and Hanuman, after paying respects to Rama and after doing clockwise circumambulation (pradakshinam) to him  announced him that He had seen Seetha in Lanka.

This is the most glorious part of Ramaayanam where it is proved beyond doubt that there is no one ever born to emulate the great Anjaneya.

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