musings 305

In the Sundarakandam of Srimad Valmikiramayanam, there is a funny description of the monkeys under the leadership of Hanuman and Angad, destroying the garden Madhuvana,, the private drinking spot of their King Sugriva, and getting inebriated by drinking excessive honey..

I just posted the description of the scene and a question was raised suggesting that Hanuman was the Incarnation of Lord Rudra and and so on..

My view is that we have to forget serious things like excessive spirituality and should be able to enjoy the funny part of life.

My comments to that remark.. ( I am just posting for my records)

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You have to remember that Ramayanam of Valmiki is the first full fledged Kavyam in Sanskrit literature..

In a poetic work some leeway is to be given for fun and frolic too..

If I give the definition of a Mahakavyam it may not attract much interest..

To enjoy even the stories of Gods, we have to have a human mind with the understanding of both the ideal and the absurd..

Here, the poet is permitting himself to describe a very happy situation.. where the most arduous mission has been accomplished with complete success.. and the participants are just enjoying..

(the occasion is the monkeys running amok in the Madhuvana of Sugriva to celebrate the success of Hanumas success in locating Sita in Lanka)

We can for a moment think of Hanuman and His friends as just showing their basic qualities as monkeys.. and can just forget the divinity..

Otherwise we cannot enjoy the sublime literary merit of the great Aadikavyam, Ramayanam..

Every piece of literature in India and especially in Sanskrit has two facets.. the spiritual and the mundane..

If we think that the mundane part of a story cannot be enjoyed, we are just losing too much.

Many other parts in Ramayanam can be cited for humour and sarcasm.. Even Hanuman has not been spared elsewhere too..

And even during great Yajnas, the participants used to enjoy dance, song and drama during the evenings.. as could be gathered from description of such functions in the various puranas..

Even Bhagavatham revels in the sportive plays of the boy Krishna and His friends..

Eating, drinking and making merry where a celebration is called for was not considered as taboo in our society at any time.

But as in every social transactions, people should know the limit..

When Shankara said Nahi Nahi Rakshati du krinj karane, he was joking... and every one knows that he was one of the driest philosophers, as they come..