a tough reminder

 

हित्वा धर्मं तथार्थं च कामं यस्तु निषेवते ।

स वृक्षाग्रे यथा सुप्तः पतितः प्रतिबुध्यते ॥

- रामायण, किष्किंधाकाण्डे

hitvA dharmam tathA artham cha kAmam yastu niShevate ।

sa vRukSHagre yathA suptaH patitaH pratibuddhyate ॥

- rAmAyaNa, kiShkindhAkaande

A man who is in frenzied pursuit of money and is eager to fulfil all his whimsical and random yearnings but he is proceeding in life abandoning all rules of proper conduct and is deviating from the path of his duties, then what is in store for him is the fate of a person who has succumbed to sleep when he has been sitting atop a tree and losing control, is falling down.

(The slokam is in Kishkindakandam of Valmikirmayanam, Kishkindakandam. This is in the shape of a message from Rama to Sugriva, conveyed through Lakshamana. The background is this.

While wandering in the forest, Sita had been abducted by Ravana, and in his attempt to retrieve Sita, Rama had entered into a treaty with the king of monkeys Sugraiva. Bali, the leader of the monkeys and the elder brother of Sugriva was slain by Rama, and Sugriva was anointed as the leader of the monkeys. The agreement was that the army of monkeys would assist Rama in retrieving Sita. However, once Sugriva attained the comforts of royalty, he forget all about his commitment to Rama and spent the days indulging himself in the comforts of Kishkinda.. revelling in women and wine. Rama who, along with Lakshmana, was staying at the outskirts of Kishkinda and was waiting patiently for the assistance from Sugriva, was upset at the ungrateful attitude of Sugriva, and he despatched Lakshman as his emissary to Kishkinda with a tough reminder. He was reminding Sugriva that arrows similar to the one which had slain Bali were in Ramas possession in abundant quantities, and if there is breach on solemn commitment, there would be very serious consequences. Indulging oneself in revelry without remembering the duties would lead a person to abysmal falls.)

यः नरः which man धर्मं path of righteous conduct, हित्वा having abandoned अर्थं money कामं wayward desires तु alone निषेवते pursue, run after सः he यथा in the same maaner as वृक्षाग्रे on the top of a tree सुप्तः fallen asleep पतितः having fallen प्रतिबुद्ध्यते is woken up

ഹിത്വാ ധര്‍മം തഥാ അര്‍ഥം ച കാമം യസ്തു നിഷേവതേ ।

സ വൃക്ഷാഗ്രേ യഥാ സുപ്തഃ പതിതഃ പ്രതിബുദ്ധ്യതേ ॥

- രാമായണ, കിഷ്കിന്ധാകാണ്ഡം

ധര്‍മ്മവും ചുമതലകളും ബാധ്യതകളും എല്ലാം മറന്നു, പണവും എല്ലാ തരത്തിലുള്ള സുഖങ്ങളും കാമ പൂര്‍ത്തീകരണവും മാത്രം മുന്നില്‍ക്കണ്ട് ജീവിതം നയിക്കുന്ന വ്യക്തി, മരത്തിനു മുകളില്‍ക്കയറി ഇരിക്കുമ്പോള്‍ ഉറങ്ങിപ്പോയതു കാരണം പിടിവിട്ടു താഴെ വീഴുകയും അപകടം വരുത്തിവയ്ക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നത്തിനു തുല്യമായ പരിപാടി ആണ് ചെയ്യുന്നത്.

(ഈ ശ്ലോകം വാല്മീകി രാമായണം കിഷ്കിന്ധാ കാണ്ഡത്തില്‍ നിന്ന് ഉദ്ധരിച്ചതാണ്. ശ്രീരാമന്‍ ലക്ഷ്മണന്‍ മുഖാന്തിരം സുഗ്രീവന് നല്‍കിയ ഒരു സന്ദേശത്തിന്‍റെ ഭാഗമാണ് ഇത്. ഇതിന്‍റെ പിന്നാമ്പുറം വിവരിക്കാം.

വനത്തില്‍ വച്ച് സീത അപഹരിക്കപ്പെട്ടു. സീതയെ തിരഞ്ഞുകൊണ്ടും അവളെ വീണ്ടെടുക്കാന്‍ ശ്രമിച്ചുകൊണ്ടും ഉള്ള യാത്രയില്‍ രാമന്‍ വാനരനായ സുഗ്രീവനെ കണ്ടുമുട്ടുകയും അയാളുമായ സഖ്യം ഉണ്ടാക്കുകയും ചെയ്തു.. ആ സഖ്യത്തിന്‍റെ ഭാഗമായി രാമന്‍ സുഗ്രീവന്‍റെ ജ്യേഷ്ടനും വാനരരാജാവും ആയ ബാലിയെ വധിക്കുകയും ആ സ്ഥാനത്ത് സുഗ്രീവനെ രാജാവായി വാഴിക്കുകയും ചെയ്തു. വാനരന്മാരുടെ സൈന്യ സീതയെ വീണ്ടെടുക്കുവാന്‍ വേണ്ട എല്ലാ സഹായവും ചെയ്യും എന്നതായിരുന്നു ഉടമ്പടി. പക്ഷെ രാജപടവിയിലെ സുഖ സൌകര്യങ്ങള്‍ അനുഭവിച്ചു തുടങ്ങിയപ്പോള്‍ സുഗ്രീവന്‍ സ്വന്തം ചുമതലകള്‍ മറന്നു പോയി. അയാള്‍ സ്വന്തം അരമനയില്‍ മദിരയും മദിരാക്ഷികളുമൊത്ത് നാളുകള്‍ ആഘോഷിച്ചു.

ശ്രീ രാമന്‍ ലക്ഷ്മണനോടൊപ്പം ഏറെ നാളുകള്‍ കിഷ്കിന്ധയുടെ അതിര്‍ത്തിപ്രദേശങ്ങളില്‍ ക്ഷമയോടെ കാത്തിരുന്നു, സുഗ്രീവന്‍റെ സഹായം എത്തും എന്ന് പ്രതീക്ഷിച്ചുകൊണ്ട്. സുഗ്രീവന്‍റെ നന്ദിയും നെറിയും തീരെ ഇല്ലാത്ത ഈ പെരുമാറ്റം രാമനെ ഏറെ ക്ഷുഭിതനാക്കി. രാമന്‍ ലക്ഷ്മണനെ ദൂതനാക്കി സുഗ്രീവന് കിഷ്കിന്ധയിലെക്ക് കര്‍ക്കശമായ ഒരു സന്ദേശം അയയ്ക്കുകയാണ്.

ബാലിയെ വകവരുത്താന്‍ ഉപയോഗിച്ചത് പോലുള്ള കൂരമ്പുകള്‍ ഒട്ടേറെ രാമന്‍റെ ആവനാഴിയില്‍ ഇനിയും ഉണ്ട് എന്നും എന്നും ഏറ്റെടുത്ത ചുമതല സൌകര്യപൂര്‍വ്വം മറക്കുന്നത് അപകടം വിളിച്ചു വരുത്തുന്നതിന് തുല്യമാണ് എന്നും ആയിരുന്നു ആ സന്ദേശത്തിന്‍റെ രത്നച്ചുരുക്കം. കടമകള്‍ മറന്നു അര്‍മാദിച്ചാല്‍ സംഭവിക്കുന്നത അഗാധതയിലെക്കുള്ള പതനം ആയിരക്കും എന്നും രാമന്‍ ഓര്‍മ്മിപ്പിക്കുന്നു. )

The process of writing Ramayanam starts...7

The process of writing Ramayanam starts...7

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continued from the last post

Story continued from the last post..

Sampathi the eagle tells the monkeys that if they are earnest, it was possible to cross the sea and find Sita.

Meanwhile by the Grace of the divine, the vulture regains its wings and strenght too..

The monkeys assemble together and discuss their strategy about rescuing Sita..

They realize that jumping across the sea over a distance of one hundred yojanas, to reach Lanka and to finding Sita and taking action would indeed be a difficult task..

Each monkey talks about the maximum distance he can jump,

but only the great veteran Jambavan and the crown prince Angada are confident about performing the feat themselves successfullly.

Even here Jambavan says that personally he could not do it because of his old age,

and as the operation was fraught with uncertainty,

the leader of the team should never embark on it.

Then the learned Jambavan declares the real solution..

During the whole discussion, Hanuman is sitting in a corner cluelessly..

Jambavan starts to describe the real capacity of Hanuman.

Hanuman , according to Jambavan is a very powerful warrior, who has fogotten all about himself and his his valour..

Hanuman is born to Anjana, a beautiful monkey lady, as the son of the wind god himself.

The child was very virulent and active even at the point of birth, and seeing the orb of the Sun, he mistook it for a ripe fruit and jumped towards it with a desire to eat it.

The anxious Indra sent his thunderbolt to stop the child.

The child was hit on the chin, and fell unconscious.

Seeing the injury of his child, the wind god just withdrew all his activity on the universe..

and all living beings started suffocating and running for their lives..

To mollify the wind god, the child ,

who was called Hanuman because of the disfigurement on his chin where he was hit by the thunderbolt of Indra,

was restored to his original strength..

The elderly God Brahmadeva blessed the young monkey with the power to withstand and remain without being affected by the onslaught of any weapons, including the supreme asthram of Brahm himself.

The child was also blessed with almost deathlessness when he was empowered by Indra to choose the time of death for himself..

The child was accorded training in all sciences, and his prime guru was the Sun himself..

(It would appear that the naughty child once played some pranks with some sages moving around and was cursed that he would forget all his prowess.. and that his confidence and verve would visit him again, when he is told about all that happened in his life earlier..)

So Jambavan's discourses restores Hanuman to his old state of power and glory.

And once his old memories are revived, Hanuman declares that he is capable of performing all that could be achieved by the most powerful beings like his own father wind god or that powerhouse of energy, the bird Garuda the son of Vinata himself..

And Lord Hanuman, assumes his enlarged form and proceeds towards the peak of Mahendra Mountain, and stations himself atop it, facing south ready to soar in the air in the direction of Lanka..

to be continued...

only one word पर्वतारोहणं covers the above incidents.. So no slokas to give for this post.

The process of writing Ramayanam starts...6

The process of writing Ramayanam starts...6

coninued from the last post

The army of the monkey king Sugriva are all assembled ready for action..

The detachments of forces to be deputed in various direction in search of Sita are appointed..

The logistics and geography are discussed in great detail..

The brigade appointed for search in the south is headed by the young crown prince Angada and the team includes the verterans like Hanuman the Anjaneya and Jambavan the boar.

Rama hands over his own ring to Hanuman, expecting it to be shown to Sita as a signal for recognition, if and when the team found the princess Sita.

The team bound for South, searches and searches with no result. Time is running out because Sugreeva had ordered that the search teams should report positive results within a month..

The team of Angada lands up in a maze of a cave of Riksha.. There they meet a divine nymph called Svayamprabha who helps the monkeys to get out of the cave..

But fearing that they had run out of time without prouducing any result regarding discovery of Sita, and being sure that Sugriva would not forgive them but surely punish them with death, the monkeys decide to starve to death instead of going back to Kishkinda.

They spread darbha grass on the beach and lay down awaiting death.. Angada, the crown prince is just recounting the story of Rama.. where the fight between Jatayu and Ravana while the latter was trying to abduct Sita is discussed, and the demise of Jatayu is also recalled..

At that time, an old eagle, by name Sampati, who is the elder brother of Jatayu is listening, from a nearby hill top.. In fact the eagle has alredy overheard the intention of the monkeys to starve and die, and therefore the bird is looking forward for the death of the monkeys one by one so that he could feast on the bodies..

But when he hears about Jatayu and his death, he is overcome by grief ..

(Sampati and Jatayu were brothers, the sons of the great eagle Aruna the elder brother of Garuda..

Once the two brothers had a competition as to who will fly ahead to reach the Sun..

Both started flying towards the solar orb. Jatayu was ahead, but the intense heat of the Sun made him weak and the affectionate brother Sampathi tried to protect his younger brother by shielding him from the solar scorching with his outstretched wings.

The Jatayu fell to the ground but the wings of Sampathi were burned for ever and he became incapable of flying.

He had not heard of his brother Jatayu till Angada and Hanuman refers to the demise of that bird )

Sampati informs the monkeys that he would have loved to take vengeance on Ravana for his brother’s death but he could do very little because he is too old and his wings are burnt..

However he offers them to provide whatever information he could..

He recalls that he had earlier heard the helpless cries of Sita while she was being forcibly led southwards by Ravana, but he could do nothing obviously because of physical infirmities.

Sampathi sees through the great distance across the South seas and reports that Sita was confined in captivity in a bower in the city of Lanka

( This is the turning point in Ramayanam where that Hero Anjaneya takes over.. the story will unravel itself in the coming posts.)

दिशः प्रस्थापनं चैव पृथिव्याश्च निवेदनम्॥२५

अङ्गुलीयकदानं च ऋक्षस्य बिलदर्शनम्।

प्रायोपवेशनं चैव सम्पातेश्चापि दर्शनम्॥२६

can goats thrive under a king who is a fox?

can goats thrive under a king who is a fox?

We know that Rama had to undertake a life in the forest for fourteen years, to honour the words of his father..

Even for the exalted being that Rama was, life in the forest was quite challenging..

During his stay in the forest, Rama was lucky to get in touch with Jataayu, an elderly and noble eagle, who was a close friend of Dasaratha.

For an affectionate person like Jatayu, Rama, his friend's son was just like his own son..

So Jatayu was always available at a short distance from where Rama Lakshmana and Sita lived.

Ravana the demon king of Lanka,

intent of wreaking vengeance for the defeat and destruction of Khara, Dhooshana and Thrishiraa, the henchmen of Ravana in the Deccan area

and also the immolation of Shoorpanakha at the hands of Lakshmana,

played a deception on Rama and Lakshmana

and drew them away from the hut occupied by leaving Sita unptected and unguarded for a short while ,

Taking advantage of their absence, managed to abduct Sita away to Lanka..

While Ravana was trying to carry away Sita forcibly, in his Pushpaka the airborne chariot,

the elderly eagle soared high in the sky and accosted Ravana in a bid to protect Sita.

There was a lot of heated verbal exchange, and the following slokam is intorduced by Valmiki and a comment made by Jatayu to Ravana.

________________________________________

goats and their king fox

स्वामिना प्रतिकूलेन प्रजास्तीक्ष्णेन रावण।

रक्ष्यमाणा न वर्धन्ते मेष गोमायुनi यथi॥

वाल्मीकिरामायणम् आरण्यकण्डम् ४१-----१४

svāminā pratikūlena prajāstīkṣṇena rāvaṇa|

rakṣyamāṇā na vardhante meṣa gomāyuna yatha||

vālmīkirāmāyaṇam āraṇyakaṇḍam 41-----14

സ്വാമിനാ പ്രതികുലെന പ്രജാസ്തീക്ഷ്‌ണെന രാവണ

രക്ഷ്യമാണാ ന വര്ധ്ന്തേ മേഷ ഗോമായുനാ യഥാ

this is an advise from the wizened bird gransire Jatayu to the arrogant Ravana, who is in the process of abducting Devi Sita

But it can easily form the part of the preamble to any civilized constitution

===========================

with a ruler who cares nothing for the welfare of his subject but remains very stern and cruel to them, the population of the country dwindles as if the subjects are goats and sheep and the ruler is a fox.

============================

the contemporary significance of this sloka needs no elaboration.

If our rulers just glance through such great texts,like Ramayana,

even if it from a secular viewpoint,

the earth would definitely become a better abode for all of us..

___________________________________________

Jatayu could not hold on to his resistance against the cruel and mighty Ravana,

and all he could do was to report the sad news to Rama and Lakshmana when they returned

The story goes on that Rama and Lakshmana, after heroic pursuits befitting their status and glory, defeated Ravana and regained Sita.

Padma Prabhodaaya

In the celebrated Aditya Hridayam.. mantra in the Yuddhakandam of Valmikiramayanam, an epithet Padma Prabhodaaya is used to praise the Sun,,

There was a discussion on that epithet elsewhere..

I extract my own reply in that discussion

___________________________________________

"it is not पद्मप्रभोदाय but पद्मप्रबोधाय meaning the one who awakens the lotus from its sleep...

Bhagavan Aditya or the Sun, sending his gentle, tepid morning rays, just makes the lotus bloom..

Of course the word may be having hidden meanings like awakening the seven lotuses in our Sushumna.. Mooladhara, Swadhistaana, Manipura, Anaahata, Vishuddhi, Ajna, and Sahasraara padmaas.."

The process of writing Ramaynam starts ..13

The process of writing Ramaynam starts ..13

(This is the 14th post in a series dealing with the story of Valmiki Ramayanam.. The link for the earlier post is given at the bottom.

The story up to the stage of Hanuman entering the city of Lanka has already been given in the earlier posts.)

Hanuman makes his entry into the city of Lanka.

He was impressed to the core by the grandeur of the city.

He felt very happy having arrived at such a beautiful place, and the sights around was a treat to his eyes.

But the thought about his mission actually worried him a little.

The fortification and security arrangements he encountered were so perfect and posed a stiff challenge to any intruder or trespasser.

He was really perplexed a little as to how he could succeed in piercing the security cordon erected by the demons and manage to meet Sita, who must be in captivity under the highest order of secrecy.

As he was treading his lonely path with measured steps , engrossed in deep contemplation, the moon rose.

And just as he entered and walked into the magnificient city, his apprehensions about the difficulties in overcoming the security bothered him all the more.

He saw sentries and soldiers doing the rounds all along the streets, with outstretched weapons like daggers, swords and maces all ready to strike at moment’s notice.

He thought to himself , “only a handful out of the best among the monkeys, Sugriva the king, Angada, the prince, Hanuman himself, and his colleagues, Jambavan, the boar, Kumuda, Sushena, Mainda, Dvividha, Kushaparva and Kethumala, could , if at all ‘ enter the city and attempt an ambush and lay siege on the city, if a battle arose..

The only encouraging feature was that once the entry was effected, the greatest of the archers, Rama and Lakshmana too could enter not far behind, and finish off the victorious job and redeem Sita and the honour of the Solar race and the monkey clan..

The thought of the valour of his colleagues and the princes Rama and Lakshmana, propped up the self confidence of Hanuman and lifted his mood.

Even in the moonlit night, lanka shone as if it was still day light..

The large multi-storeyed mansioned all aroud , decorated with gold, gems and bright stones, were all lighted up for the early night, and the city was as sweet and gay as any city could be..

it resembled the city of Bhogavathi, the abode of Nagas.

And, as Hanuman was making a stealthy entry in the city, the City of Lanka herself ( Lanka Shree or Lanka Laksmi or Lankini) spotted him and appeared before him.

The presideing deity of Lanka, protected by Ravana, assumed a grotesque form meant to threaten Hanuman and stationed herself in front of the monkey Hanuman, the worthy son of the wind god.

She produced a wild, harsh and loud cry and asked Hanuman,

“You wretched d weller of the forest, who are you? Why have you sneaked into my city? Answer me immediately and anyway before your body and life part company of each other.. Take notice that this city of Lanka is under the ptotection and control of Ravana, the great..’

Hanuma Replied

“ Madam, why are you standing on my way showing that ugly face of yours, and why are you shouting at the top of your voice? Pray tell me..”

The lady replied.

“ I am the guardian deity of the city of Lanka..

You can consider me as the city of Lanka itself in this human form.

I am working under the orders and directions of great Ravana.

My duty is to protect this city.

No one is capable of conquering me.

Mind you, you silly monkey, you cannot enter this city ignoring me.

If you make a further step ahead, I shall kill you, and your dead body would be sleeping for ever seeing deathly dreams. “

Hanuman was not impressed by the form of the Lady, nor her shouts and references about Ravana. He just stood there impassively like a solid rock.

And he responded to her in a matter of fact tone..

‘Madam, I am a small monkey. I stayed into this island and while wandering around, saw this beautiful city. I just wanted to stroll around enjoying the attractive environment and architecture. It is just my curiosity.. I shall just go away after spending some time here.”

By now the demoness Lanka was seething with rage. She retorted in a harsh voice.

“ You wicked monkey, do you expect to enter this city on your sight seeing spree, ignoring my warning ? This place is protected by Ravana and his orders are clear..

You cannot enter without defeating me. And that is an impossibility..’

Hanuman replied..

“ Madam, why are you so worked up? I have not come here to take permanent residence.. I shall just look around and then leave without making any fuss..’‘

The patience of Lankini ( the lady ) has hit a rock bottom by now.

She stretched her right palm fully flat and gave Hanuman a very heavy thrash.

The impact of the flat palm did not give much pain to Hanuman, but the entire episode had angered and irritated him beyond tolerance levels.

He just held together his left fingers and thumb pressed into the palm making a tight fist, and delivered a mighty punch on the face of the demoness..

In fact Hanuman had eschewed greater violence just because he knew his antagonist was a lady..

Lankini caught the punch on her face and her ugly face and body shook violently and writhing in agony she fell on the ground motionless.

Hanuman was filled with remorse and pity..

He was indeed very sad that he caused agony to a lady, even though that lady was a wicked demoness.

However, the lady came to her senses after some time, and rose and stood up before Hanuman, and told him in a sumbissive and and friendly tone.

“ Oh, the Valiant one, may you be pleased on me. May you be pleased to grand protection for me.

Oh Hanuman, you are indeed great.

I am the city of Lanka and I have been conquered by your valour.

I have been under the control of Ravana under captivity.

A boon has been granted to me by Brahmadeva. that a valiant monkey would come to my city and

I would be beaten.. That was the day for my freedom..

And it has been further informed by Brahmadeva that when I get beaten by that monkey, it was the sign that the destruction for Ravana and his clan was imminent.

That day has arrived.

The doom fo r Ravana and his people is just a call away.

Hanuman, you can now enter the city of Lanka and do whatever you deem fit and proper.. I am sure you will do things that are for the benefit of Rama and Sita..”

Saying this the LankaSri took leave of Hanuman and left.. and along with her the fortune of Ravana too must have left him..

The story will continue next day.. God willing..

The process of writing Ramayanam starts….12

The process of writing Ramayanam starts….12

The story of Valmiki Ramayanam till Hanuman landed up in the Shores of the Island of Lanka was discussed yesterday.. The link to the post is given at the bottom of this post

Story continued..

As his flight to Lanka reached its last lap, the Trikoota Ranges, the green forests, the beautiful valleys, the rivers and rivulets fron the ma

inland of the island flowing towards the sea , all became visible for Hanuman.

Hanuman reminded himself that he was on a mission as a one man army.. and the mission was very hazardous and sensitive too.

His activities in Lanka, inclusing discovery of Sita and reconnaissance for strategic defence locations in the Rakshasa city were of vital importance in chalking out further course of action for Rama, Sugriva and the army of monkeys.

He had alredy stretched his own body to a gigantic size to suit the strenous flight of one hundred Yojanas over the southern seas..

However he knew that if he entered the city of Lanka in that shape, he would be immediately spotted and whatever be his size and strength he could be easily captured by the armed forces of Ravana in his own place.

And sure, getting captured by the enemy was the last item in the agenda of the monkey..

Of course, Hanuman was a very brilliant strategist, and his resourcefulness was beyond any limits in any situation..

So he told himself that he could assume some camouflague and manage to make entry into the fortress at the right time and sezing the right opportunity.

Then Hanuman first reduced his own size to normal levels, stationed himself at some vantage position atop the Trikuta Ranges from where he could get a panoramic view of the entire island, and made a very keen visual assessment of the entire locality.

The island and the city in its midst looked splendid indeed. Ravanas capital city was build atop the Trikoota Ranges..

The city was planned and constructed by the architect of the Gods, Vishvakarma.

The city just gave the impression as if it were just another Amaravathi.. the present city of the God of treasures, Kubera ( In fact this lanka was once occupied by Kubera and Ravana, his step brother had driven him away, captured it, and occupied it too with all his forces).

As Hanuman was jumping aroud, the greens with thick foliage, the creepers and shrubs, all laden with flowers, shook at his footfall, and the shower of flowers fell on his entire body..

It looked as if Lanka was welcoming him with shower of sweet scented flowers.

And once his interest in the adventure has been kindled, Hanuman forgot all his fatigue..

He had undertaken a strenous flight over the sea, facing so many vicissitudes.

But no signs of tiredness were visible in him.. and he was even wondering to himself that there was not trace of weakness could be found in himself.

Standing erect but concealed at the top of Trikuta mountain Hanuman made a survey of the city of Lanka with its fortresses, mansions, ramparts, roads and lanes, gardens and bowers..

The attractive flora and fauna of the locality too did not escape his attentive gaze.

Ravana by nature was an aggressive chieftain of the demons..

Therefore he expected attacks from all directions at any time. So his security arrangements were very thorough..

And when he abducted Sita, he knew that he was locking horns with one of the greatest warriors of all time, Rama, and therefore he had beefed up his defence fortifications too.

Hanuman, the brilliant military analyst, could easily understand that the defence of Lanka was almost impregnable..

It would have been a tall order for the princes Rama and Lakshmana and the monkey army even to reach the side of the sea where Lanks is located, after negotiating the vast expanse of sea intervening right from the mainland of India located in the North..

In Hanuman's assessment only Sugriva, Angada, Neela and Hanuman himself were capable of jumping over such a large distance and reaching Lanka.

And considering the military strength of Ravana, and the architecture and strtegic location of the fort, even these four might not succeed in entering the city..

Even if they entered, just four monkeys stood no chance in a combat with a huge army of Rakshasas.

Then he told himself that the first priority for him at athat point would be to manage to meet Sita and have a one to one talk with her..

He should also manage to cover as much area he could in the city in a reconnaissance spree, to assess the location of persons, and resources that could be attacked and conquered if an when the war took place..

The first point to be scored at that time was to gain ingress into the city.

At the same time, Hanuman cautioned himself that he should not act with excessive enthusiasm that would give way to errors..

He was all alone..

And His mission was the last hope for recovery of Sita..

If he faltered, everything would be lost..

There wwere no back up plans..

Even the best among people when they are alone and left fending for themselves in such a lonely state were prone to err..

He must enter Lanka and meet Sita.. But he should not permit himself to be discovered by the guards of Ravana..

If they saw him, they might torture him to the confession that he had come from Rama, and once that was discovered, Ravana would not hesitate to kill him and perhaps Sita too..

If that happened, that would be the end of all plans..

The dusk was fast approaching..

Hanuman waited for the Sun to set .

He knew he could not enter the city in his normal size and go unnotices..

So he assumed the size of a thin, hungry monkey, the size of a cat, ostensibly running around the streets of lanka searching for some food.. or out of monkeyish curiosity.

Accordingly as the night fell, Hanuman, assuming the size of a small emaciated cat made his entry into Lanka.. indeed a big leap of success in his mission Discovery of Sita..

=====

The adventures of Hanuman inside the city of Lanka could be discussed during subsequent posts, god willing..

This is the 12 th in a series of posts on Ramayanam..

The process of writing Ramayanam starts….11

The process of writing Ramayanam starts….11

( This is in continuation of earlier posts in the series on valmiki ramayanam.. the link for the last post is given at the bottom of this … and earlier links could be found in the respective earlier posts..)

The story of Hanuman’s journey to wards Lanka, continues..

After taking leave of Surasa, the Nagamata, Hanumanji rose again to a comfortable height in the sky over the Southern sears and continued with his navigation towards lanka.

A fierce demoness by name Simhika, was occupying the surface of the sea..

Her way of capturing her prey for her food which were the sky borne beings, was very queer.

She could capture the shadow of anything moving over her in the sky, and the moving object too got trapped..

Then she would capture the moving being by growing to a huge form and opening her wide mouth to swallow the prey..

In fact, the king of Monkeys Sugriva had mentioned about the demonic capturer of the shadows in the mid sea, while discussing the possibilities our search operations in the southern direction.

As Hanuman was happily going ahead with his flight in the company of birds, gandharvas, Vidhyadharas, Stars, and clouds of myriad colours, he suddenly felt a drag, a slight feeling of discomfort at being pulled down to the water level..

He remembered Sugriva’s warning about the Chayagrahi (the capturer of shadow ) monster.

And before long the demoness, who had been starved for a long period, made her appearance and told Hanuman that she was happy that such a huge monkey with all flesh and muscles had come to her grips, while she was waiting exactly for such a windfall..

She grew up, opened her mouth and tried to drag Hanuman through her strong breath..

But Hanuman enlarged himself beyond the size of the mouth as and when demoness started opening her mouth wider and wider Hanuman also puffed up this torso..

This was almost similar to what de did with Surasa the Naga mother, ealier in the flight..

Meanwhile, the clever Hanuman was making a through survey of the contents of the mouth of the demoness.. and had seen the crevice leading to her heart..

So when the demoness was holding her mouth wide open, Hanuman just shrunk himself a little, made a fast move, entered the dirty mouth of the demoness, piereced the fleshy layers inside the throat with his sharp fingers, caught hold of her heart, pulled it and managed to pluck it and jump out..

Once her heart was plucked away the demoness died a painful death and fell plump into the bottom of the ocean..

So Hanuman had passed four tests by the Gods now..

First, his take off from Mahendra Moutain, Second his encounter with mount Mainaka, third his rendezvous with the mother of Nagas Surasa and final and fourth, his victory over the demoness Simhika..

The gods all gathered around him and praised four of his great qualities brought to use in the course of this odyssey.. They told Him,

“ You have come out with flying colours in all the four tests given for you.. your victory over this demoness is all the more praiseworthy..

You best among monkeys, you have the four qualities, boldness, discretion, intelligence and efficiency.. all in great abundance, and you have put such sterling qualities to effective use in your recent encounters..

Our expectation and faith that you will emerge successful in your mission undertaken for the welfare of Rama is greatly reinforced.. May you go ahead and may your mission meet with resounding success”

By this time, the journey had reached almost its last lap.. Looking down, Hanuman could see a beach, thick vegetation and edges of rocks and fortressed on the farther side of the ocean.. He knew that he was about to land himself on the shores of Ravanas land.. the Island of Lanka.

As he progressed, the saw a huge mountain on the shores of Lanka.. the mountain was called Malaya mountain of the south.

Further progress of Hanumanjis mission could be discussed in the next post.. which I expect to publish the next day…God willing..

The process of writing Ramayanam Starts 15

The process of writing Ramayanam Starts 15

The astute minister of Sugriva, the valiant lieutenant of Sri Rama, Hanuman, jumped over the Southern seas from India to Lanka where the Rakshasa monarch Ravana ruled..

Hanuamas adventurous mission was to search and discover the whereabouts of Mata Sita, whom the Demon Chieftain had abducted.

Surpassing many hurdles, Hanumanji is now stationed near the colony of residential palaces in the city of Lanka where Ravana Himself along with his close kinsmen, generals, ministers and courtiers resided.

The imposing central palace was occupied by Ravana and the other palaces were occupied by his close aides.

The residential colony was under the vigilant and uninterrupted watchful protection of fierce, and really giant sized Rakshasas.

The walls of the buildings were covered with silver sheaths. The main halls and alleys were decorated with gold.. Each house had many rooms, ante rooms, huge halls of various sizes, all well built and well decorated with precious metals, gems, and furnished and upholstered with skins of tiger, lion, deer and other fancy animals.

The armed foot soldiers were backed up by soldiers atop pedigree horses brought in from all parts of the world, and huge elephants too were arrayed in large numbers. It was a round the clock vigil with periodical change of personnel an animals. In addition to this armed guards were patrolling around at regular intervals riding swift chariots..

The signs of supreme affluence and opulence was evident all around. The air was filled with sweet sounds of music emanating from the palaces.. The atmosphere was filled with loud announcements

heralding the victory of the demon king..

Hanuman set out on his mission of reconnaissance with all alacrity.. jumping from one house to another house methodically. He was all alone, away, away from all his kinsmen, but he was bold, no trace of fear affected Him and he went about his job with keen sense of purpose.

Hanumanji started his search from the residence of the demon Prahasta.. He jumped on ahead to the residence of Mahaparshva, Kumbhakarna, Vibheeshana, Mahodara, Viroopaksha, Vidhyujjihva, vidyunmaalee, Vajradamshtra, Shuka, Sarana, Indrajit, Jambumaalee, Sumali, Rashmikethu, Soorya Shatru, Vajrakaya, Dhoomraaksha, Sampaati, Vidyutroopa, Bheema, Ghana, Vighana, Shukanaasa, Vakra, Shata, Vikata, Brhamakarna, Damshtra, Romasha, Yudonmatta, Mattha, Dvajagreeva, Atikaaya, Aksha, Indrajihva, Hastimukha, Akambana, Karala, Pishaacha, Shonitaksha, Pishaacha, Devantaka, Narantaka, Kumbha, Nikumbha, Ugravaktra, Ghora and Ghoraarava

( Hanuman must have been one of the earlier prototypes of census enumerators.. but this enumeration was in secret, in the darkness of the night in a foreign land.. The names can be used even now to name babies especially for the ultramodern parents.)

Hanuman was really amazed to witness the affluent lifestyle of all these kinsmen and lieutenants of Ravana.

Finally the valiant Hanuman reached the huge mansion of Ravana Himself

He found that Rakshasis with deformed and ugly eyes were guarding the place all around and changing guards at regula intervals. They carried all sorts of weapons like spears, darts, bows and arrows, thorny mazes, and so on..

Various army formations were stationed around the Royal Palace. The army consisted of demons carrying all sorts of lethal weapons.

There were hundreds of well bred horses with soldiers atop. There were elephants caparisoned and armoured and ready for combat at very short notice.

And nearer the palace, there were gardens, bowers, and niches of pleasure all attached to the main building.. The halls were well lit and were stocked with rich food and beverages and the plates and utensils were all made of gold and studded with precious gems. And the urns, plates and cups were ever full with food and drinks..

( This is a condensation of the graphic description of Ravanas place, as found in theSundarakandam of Valmiki Ramaynam.. )

The story can continue.. with grace of God.. next day.

The process of writing Ramayanam Starts.- 10

The process of writing Ramayanam Starts.- 10

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Continued from earlier post ..

राक्षसीतर्जनं चैव छायाग्रहस्य दर्शनम्

सिम्हिकायाश्च निधनं लङ्कामलयदर्शनम्।

रात्रौ लङ्काप्रवेशं च एकस्यापि विचिन्तनम्॥२९

rākṣasītarjanaṁ caiva chāyāgrahasya darśanam

simhikāyāśca nidhanaṁ laṅkāmalayadarśanam|

rātrau laṅkāpraveśaṁ ca ekasyāpi vicintanam||29

The progress in Lord Hanuman’s flight towards Lanka over the southern seas was where we stopped yesterday..

The mountain Mainaka offered hospitality to Hanuman, which the Lord accepted in token by touching the summit of the mountain by his hands and soared up and proceeded towards Lanka..

The gods and other denizens of heaven were watching in great adulation the activities of Hanuman..

They first saw the first glorious feat of Anjaneya in jumping from the Mount Mahendra..

Then they witnessed the second great feat too.. Negotiating the huge mountain Mainaka which rose in his path..

The king of Devas, Indra was pleased with the attitude of Mainaka in offering help to Hanuman..

Therefore, he reassured Mainaka that the mountain need not have any fears about any aggressive attack from indra..

The Gods were impressed by the two feats of valour by Lord Hanuman.. His strength and valour were revealed in abundance through these feats.. But still they were interested in testing his resourcefulness.

So the devas approached Surasa, the daughter of Daksha Prajapathi, and the mother of all the Nagas and requested her to stand in the way of Hanuman taking the form of a huge Rakshasi or demoness, and obstruct his way and test him..

Accordingly the mother of Nagas assumed the form of a demoness and manifested in the middle of the sea, in a huge and awe inspiring form.. with huge read eyes and a wide mouth with curved and crooked teeth..

Just as Hanuman approached her in his onward air-born odyssey, the demoness accosted him and told that he was ordained as the food for her at that moment, and that he should enter her mouth..

Hanuman understood the greatness of the Divine daughter of Daksha and requested her politely allow him to proceed towards Lanka in his mission of discovery of Sita..

He assured her that once his mission was completed, he would return to her and offer himself as food for her..

The demoness Surasa was adamant..

She said that it was the command and boon of the Creator that anyone crossing her presence should enter her mouth as food.. and the law was immutable..

Hanuman was rather upset..

He told her that she should open her mouth wide enough to accommodate his entry..

Surasa opened her mouth as wide as ten yojanas.. and then Anjaneya made himself as large as ten yojanas so that her mouth could not accommodate him…

Then the demoness opened her mouth by a larger width of twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, seventy, eighty ninety yojanas, and hanuman enlarged himself to identical girth so that Surasa’s wide mouth could not accommodate him..

Finally Surasa enlarged her mouth to a width of one hundred yojana..

Hanumanji was clever enough not to carry on with the game any more..

He suddenly reduced his own girth to the size of a thumb , and entered the huge cave-like recess of the mouth of Surasa, and before she could understand the trick played by Hanuman, he just floated back out of that wide mouth.

And floating on the sky outside, the revered monkey lord told Surasa..

‘ My pranams to you, Devi Dakshayani, the mother of Nagas, As commanded by you I have entered your mouth, and has emerged out.. May I be given permission to proceed ahead in furtherance of the duty assigned to me in the service of my Lord Rama.. May I go ahead in search of Sita.. The boon given to you by Brahama about people not going away from you without entering your mouth has been obeyed”

Surasa was pleased with the resourcefulness exhibited by Hanuman.

She assumed her divine form.. and told Hanuman..

“ Son, I am pleased with your resourcefulness..

You may now proceed in furtherance of your mission for the benefit of that great Soul Rama and may you succeed in uniting Rama and Sita the daughter of Videha king Janaka..”

Seeing this act of great wisdom and alacrity on the part of hanuman, the Gods were greatly pleased.

Hope to continue with the story the next day.. if permitted by God..

The process of writing Ramayanam Starts..9

The process of writing Ramayanam Starts..9

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(continued from the earlier post the link for which is given at the bottom.)

पर्वतारोहणं चापि सागरस्य च लङ्खनम्।

समुद्रवचनाच्चैव मैनाकस्य च दर्शनम्॥ २८

parvatārohaṇaṁ cāpi sāgarasya ca laṅkhanam|

samudravacanāccaiva mainākasya ca darśanam|| 28

The story of Ramayanam upto the point where Anjaneyaswamy climbed to the summit of Mahendra mountain, with his mind set on jumping over the sea to reach the Island of Lanka where Ravana held Devi Sita as captive, has already been covered in the earlier posts..

Standing atop the Mahendra mountain, Lord Hanuman rose to his full and imposing form, held up his arms and concentrating within himself all his Yogic powers, pressed hard on the mountain Mahendra with his feet and propelled himself at great speed into the sky in the southern direction over the sea..

This action of great valour and skill was being watched by all the gods and demigods assembled in the sky..

The Southern Sea, which was ever indebted to the kings of the solar race as it was a king from that lineage, Sagara who created it and it was Bhagiratha another kings of that race who filled it with the waters of Ganga, felt that when Hanuman was soaring over it for the welfare of Rama, a prince of of the solar race, it was its duty to offer hospitality to the emissary and lieutenant of Rama..

Mainaka, the mountain who was the son of Himalaya, was staying submerged in the Southern Seas hiding from the thunderbolt of Indra.. It so happened that mountains had wings at one time, and they flew all over the sky like huge birds, and landed themselves on any piece of earth as and when they liked. Such sudden landing of mountains caused damage to the valleys and towns, and caused heavy loss of lives to men and beasts.. So the Lord of Devas, Indra decided to chop off the wings of all the mountains, and send his weapon thunderbolt or Vajrayudha on this mission.. All the mountains fell down wingless, but Mainaka just flew southwards and took refuge in the sea.. and stayed there hidden from the assault by Indra.. It was the god of wind Vayudeva, who had helped Mainaka to fly such a long distance and land up inside the south sea.. The sea, prodded by its sense of duty towards the Solar Race, asked Mainaka to raise up and station himself high up in the path of flight negotiated by Hanuman, and offer him rest, and hospitality with fruits, water and other comforts.. Mainaka too was eager to pay respects to the son of the Wind god as the wind god had helped him to save his wings earlier..

Accordingly Mainaka rose up and waited in the path through which Hanuman was flying.. The top of the mountain was packed with fruits and other offerings for the valorous emissary of Rama.. The mountain Mainaka appeared in human form and offered welcome and hospitality to Hanuman, and recalled the gratitude that the sea and the mountain owed to the Solar Race, Wind god, Rama and Hanuman..

However, the indomitable Hanuman was focused simple in his mission to reach Lanka as early as possible. He politely refused to descend and receive the hospitality, but just touched the mountain with his arms and feet in the course of his flight and continued to proceed fast in the direction of Lanka..

(This narration covers an important part of Sundarakandam.. where the gods are actually testing the valour of Hanuman.. whether he is the apt lieutenant of Rama.. whether he is bold and resourceful, whether he will be capable of playing the sheet anchor role in Rama’s war with Ravana.)

Just a minor part of Hanumans Journey is covered here..

Hope to continue with the narration the next day… if God permits..

The process of writing Ramayanam Starts 14

The process of writing Ramayanam Starts 14

The previous narrative stopped when Hanuman had delivered a strong punch to the Lankini and brushing aside her resistance, he set out to enter the city of Lanka.. during the night.

Lord Anjaneya entered the city of Lanka coolly and silently.. But he did not choose the main gate as his entry point.. He scaled a wall on the side and jumped in, ensuring that his left foot landed in the soil of the city first.. That exactly is the way one should enter the place of an enemy whom he wants to finish off

Hanuman wandered around the city of Lanka with sufficient care and alacrity. The night life in Lanka at its peak then..

He found that the Rakshasas in Lanka were living a really posh life in well built and well furnished mansions.

The men inside were going ahead with studies of scriptures and were repeatedly chanting the praise of their Lord and master Ravana. The ladies were making merry with songs and dance.

Everything looked calm, comfortable and cozy in the city.. But the sharp eyed Hanuman did not fail to notice the presencce of spies, sentinels and plainclothesmen of the Demon KIng going all along, round by round, at regular intervals. Their agility and sense of purpose were not missed by the Minister of Rama.

Hanuman came across various kinds of demons . Some wore long beards, some were bald or had their heads shaved. They wore various garments, made of clothes, leather, sheaths of metal, hair and so on. They carried all sorts of weapons, right from mere bunches of grass to deadly spears and swords and huge clubs.

There were fat people.. really fat.. They were thin people, pencil thin. There were people who were toweringly tall.. There were tiny dwarfs. There were people with fair complexion and there were people with pitch dark colour too.. There were people with well formed limbs and organs, and there were people with multiple eyes, grotesque teeth, deformed noses and limbs and there were people with limbs growing in the wrong places..

He managed to saunter through the streets and reach the precincts of the hillock atop which the impressively huge and attractive mansion of Ravana was situate..

He found that a very huge army of strong running to thousands demons, all armed with multiple arms and ammunition, and found that the force was on a round the clock vigil.

The approach to the palace was guarded by huge fortresses and also very wide and deep trenches

The whole palace was decorated with gold foils and studded with gems, pearls, and other costly ornamental pieces.

The entire area was filled with the fragrance of incense

As he was approaching the Palace of Ravana, the moon was rising.

The revelry of the early night was subsiding and the aristocrats among the citizens were withdrawing for their nights sleep.

However, the vagrant Rakshasas, whose habit was to loiter around during nights were on the prowl.

Such vagrants had fortified themselves with booze. They were shouting at one another, alternating between friendly talk and choicest abuses at one another..

They were alternately embracing one another with their fat hands and were pulling and pushing at each other the next moment..

Of course, Hanuman could avoid notice of the army men and the Rakshasas and could continue with his search for mother Sita

He could not find the Princess.. and he knew that instinctively..

How could he find such a noble and classy lady among the motley crowd in the streets

He decided to make a stealthy entry into the harem of Ravana..

And he executed the plan too with great efficients..

The narrative would continue,, next day..

( The above narrative is a brief condensation of the description in Valmiki Ramayanam)

punātu bhuvanaṁ puṇyā rāmāyaṇamahānadī

वाल्मीकिगिरिसंभूता रामसागरगामिनी।

पुनातु भुवनं पुण्या रामायणमहानदीII

vātmīkigirisaṁbhūtā rāmasāgaragāminī|

punātu bhuvanaṁ puṇyā rāmāyaṇamahānadī||

the Sacred River that is Ramayanam,

which originates in the mountain names Vaalmiki

and flows into the ocean which is none other than Rama Himself, may purify the entire world.. the entire earth with all its beauty..

Tomorrow starts the Month of Karkidakam, the month of Ramayanam..

The entire spirit of Ramayanam is eulogized in the above simple slokam..

The story of Rama is sacred for all.. even beyond religious boundaries..

For the South Asian Continent, Ramayana is a proud chronicle of a glorious past..

For everyone who is looking up for an ideal human being whose life he wants to emulate, Rama is always the first choice..

For efficiency, determination, strength and steadfastness, Hanuman is the ultimate benchmark

And for all that is pure, sweet and delicate and merciful mother Sita is the standard

And Ramayana is the Story, of these three and many others ..

For the lovers of Sanskrit, Ramayanam is the first ever Kaavyam, the beacon-light of enlightenment

It is time to pay our respects to the great poet, his sublime creation and to Rama, Sita and Lord Anjaneya too

for Sanskrit lovers

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वाल्मीकिगिरि संभूता having her origin in the mountain named Valmiki

राम सागर गामिनी flowing towards the ocean named Ramaa

पुण्या the most sacred

रामायण महानदी great river that is Ramayanam

भुवनं पुनातु may purify the entire world..

Wherever Rama is living, even if it is just forest, that place becomes a well established welfare state.

न हि तद्भविता राष्ट्रं यत्र रामो न भूपतिः।

तद्वनं भविता राष्ट्रं यत्र रामो निवस्यति॥

श्रीमद् वाल्मीकिरामायणे॥

na hi tadbhavitā rāṣṭraṁ yatra rāmo na bhūpatiḥ|

tadvanaṁ bhavitā rāṣṭraṁ yatra rāmo nivasyati||

śrīmad vālmīkirāmāyaṇe||

Sage Vasishta, the preceptor of the Solar dynasty crisply sums up the greatness of Rama

Without Rama as king, a piece of land, a region or landcaspe occupied by people would not become a well established,well administered Nation State.

Wherever Rama is living, even if it is just forest, that place becomes a well established welfare state.

Here, the word Rama cannot be considered merely to denote a human being or even a divinity. In fact the Indian mind just discovered the quintessence of welfare state and just administration in the name and symbol of Rama. The fundamental measure for just administration is just what Rama did.

So Rama is the symbol for Indians.. the ultimate symbol that represents all that is great and sublime.

May that Divine being lead us in the path of righteousness and goodwill for ever

यत्र where रामः Rama भूपतिः the master and controller of the land न भवति is not तद् that entity, that place राष्ट्रं a well established state, kingdom land न भविता would never be यत्र where रामो Rama निवस्यति stays, is present तद that वनं forest अपि too राष्ट्रं भविता becomes a welfare state, a well ruled nation.

ന ഹി തദ്ഭവിതാ രാഷ്ട്രം യത്ര രാമോ ന ഭൂപതിഃ।

തദ്വനം ഭവിതാ രാഷ്ട്രം യത്ര രാമോ നിവസ്യതി॥

ശ്രീമദ് വാല്മീകിരാമായണേ॥

ശ്രീരാമനെക്കുറിച്ച് സൂര്യവംശത്തിന്‍റെ കുലഗുരുവായ വസിഷ്ഠമഹര്‍ഷിയുടെ വിലയിരുത്തല്‍ അന്ന് ഇത്

ഒരു രാജ്യം, ഒരു ഭൂപ്രദേശം അത് എത്ര വിലയെരിയതായാലും സമൃദ്ധം ആയാലും അത് ഭരിക്കുവാന്‍, അവിടത്തെ ജനതയെ നയിക്കുവാന്‍ രാമന്‍ ഇല്ല എങ്കില്‍ അത് ഒരു രാഷ്ട്രം, നീതിയോടെ ഭരിക്കപ്പെടുന്ന ഭൂവിഭാഗം ആവുകയില്ല, ഒരിക്കലും

രാമന്‍ എവിടെ താമസിക്കുന്നുവോ, അത് കൊടും കാടായാല്‍പ്പോലും രാമന്‍റെ പ്രഭാവം കൊണ്ട് സമൃദ്ധമായ രാഷ്ട്രമായി മാറുന്നു.

ഇവിടെ രാമന്‍ എന്ന വാക്ക് ഒരു വ്യക്തിയെയോ ദേവതയെയോ മാത്രം കുറിക്കുന്ന തായി കുറച്ചു കാണരുത്. മഹത്തായി ഭാരതീയന്‍ കണ്ടതും ആശിച്ചതും എല്ലാം ഒരു വ്യക്തിയുടെ രൂപത്തില്‍ ഉടലെടുത്ത സങ്കേതം ആണ് ശ്രീ രാമന്‍. ഭാരതത്തിന്റെ നന്മയുടെ ആകത്തുക

നമുക്ക് രാമനെക്കുറിച്ച് ചിന്തിക്കുമ്പോള്‍ നന്മയും നീതിയും മാത്രമെ മനസ്സില്‍ വരികയുള്ളൂ.

ആ വെളിച്ചം നമ്മെ നയിക്കട്ടെ.

state without a leader

यथा ह्यनुदकाः नद्यो यथा वाप्यतृणं वनम्।

अगोपाला याथा गावः थथा राष्ट्रमनायकम्॥

इन्दिश्चे स्प्रुचे २३३८ वाल्मीकिरामायणे

yathā hyanudakāḥ nadyo yathā vāpyatṛṇaṁ vanam|

agopālā yāthā gāvaḥ thathā rāṣṭramanāyakam||

indiśce spruce 2338 vālmīkirāmāyaṇe

A state without an effective leader is simply like a river without water, a jungle where not even grass grows and a herd of cattle without a cowherd.. Total disorder and insecurity.

Comparison between Valmiki and Ezhuthassan is not possible..

When I was discussing some incident in Ramayanam, relying on the story narrated by Valmiki, I received a rejoinder that Ezhuthassan in Adhyatma Ramayanam has taken a different storyline.

My response is:-

Comparison between Valmiki and Ezhuthassan is not possible..

The Ramayanam created by Valmiki is at least three thousand years old, and has universal acceptance.. as far as authenticity is concerned.

Either as a semi-historic document or as a spiritual text, Valmiki's Ramayana is the last word for the followers of Rama, Indian and Hindu culture and lore ..

There can be no reason to dispute this.

Adhyatma Ramayanam even in Sanskrit came much later and is included in Brahmanda Puranam and even that inclusion is traced to 13th to 15th century of Christian Era.

Ezhuthassan just translated and interpolated or extrapolated a text going by the name Adhyatma Ramayanam in Sanskrit.

This text, even in its original form, has not received the same level of acceptance as the work credited to Valmiki. Ezhuthassan is just a local poet, confined at best to the territories of Kerala.. and he lived just five or six centuries ago.

Therefore what purpose will be served by comparing what Valmiki said and what Ezhuththassan said ?

Time considers no one as a relative. It listens to no reasoning and arguments

मासर्तुसंज्ञापरिवर्तनेन सूर्याग्निना रात्रिदिवेन्धनेन।

स्वकर्मनिष्ठाफल साक्षिकेण भूतानि कालः पचति प्रसह्य॥

महाभारते शान्तिपर्वे ३०७-७०

न कालस्यास्ति बन्धुत्वं न हेतुर्न पराक्रमः।

न मित्रज्ञाति संबन्धः कारणं नात्मनो वशः॥

वाल्मीकिरामायणे किष्किन्धाकाण्डे २५-७

māsartusaṁjñāparivartanena sūryāgninā rātridivendhanena|

svakarmaniṣṭhāphala sākṣikeṇa bhūtāni kālaḥ pacati prasahya||

mahābhārate śāntiparve 307-70

na kālasyāsti bandhutvaṁ na heturna parākramaḥ|

na mitrajñāti saṁbandhaḥ kāraṇaṁ nātmano vaśaḥ||

vālmīkirāmāyaṇe kiṣkindhākāṇḍe 25-7

The time without much ostentation but steadily applying its authority, just cooks, and burns out all living beings using the Sun as Fire, just going through the changes in months, seasons, days and nights and using them as the fuels and retaining as firm witnesses the result of actions and penance of the beings under its control.

Time considers no one as a relative. It listens to no reasoning and arguments. It does not care about the strength and valour of anyone. It has no special consideration for any friends, relatives or associate. The logic and reasoning for its actions are beyond the control of the beings governed by it.

മാസര്‍തുസംജ്ഞാപരിവര്‍തനേന സൂര്യാഗ്നിനാ രാത്രിദിവേന്ധനേന।

സ്വകര്‍മനിഷ്ഠാഫല സാക്ഷികേണ ഭൂതാനി കാലഃ പചതി പ്രസഹ്യ॥

മഹാഭാരതേ ശാന്തിപര്‍വേ ൩൦൭-൭൦

ന കാലസ്യാസ്തി ബന്ധുത്വം ന ഹേതുര്‍ന പരാക്രമഃ।

ന മിത്രജ്ഞാതി സംബന്ധഃ കാരണം നാത്മനോ വശഃ॥

വാല്മീകിരാമായണേ കിഷ്കിന്ധാകാണ്ഡേ ൨൫-൭

ആഡംബരമോ വലിയ ആര്‍ഭാ ടമോ ഒന്നും പുറത്തു കാണിക്കാതെ, അതേ സമയം നിശ്ചയദാര്‍ഢ്യത്തോടും തികഞ്ഞ കാര്യക്ഷമതയോടും കൂടി കാലം എല്ലാ ജീവികളെയും പാകം ചെയ്യുന്നു, പാകപ്പെടുത്തി എടുക്കുന്നു.

ഈ പ്രക്രിയ മാസങ്ങളും ഋതുക്കളും രാത്രികളും പകലുകളും മാറിക്കൊണ്ടിരിക്കുമ്പോഴും തുടര്‍ന്നു കൊണ്ടേയിരിക്കും.

സൂര്യന്‍ ഈ പചനപ്രക്രിയ്ക്കുള്ള അഗ്നിയാണ്. മാറിവരുന്ന മാസങ്ങളും ഋതുക്കളും രാവുകളും പകലുകളും ഈ പ്രവര്‍ത്തനത്തിനു ഇന്ധനങ്ങള്‍ ആവുന്നു.. ഓരോ ജീവിയുടെയും കര്‍മ്മങ്ങളും തപസും നിഷ്ടയും എല്ലാം കാലത്തിന്‍റെ ഇടതടവില്ലാത്ത ഈ മുന്നേറ്റത്തിന് സാക്ഷ്യം വഹിക്കുന്നു.

കാലം ആരെയും ബന്ധുവായി കണക്കാക്കുന്നില്ല. ഒരു വാദത്തിനും വിവരണത്തിനും കാലം ചെവി കൊടുക്കുകയില്ല. ഒരു ജീവിയുടെയും ബലവും ശക്തിയും കാലത്തിനു ഒരു പ്രശ്നമല്ല. ആരെങ്കിലും ചങ്ങാതി ആണെന്നോ, ബന്ധു ആണെന്നോ ചാര്‍ച്ചക്കാരന്‍ ആണെന്നോ ഉള്ള പരിഗണന കാലത്തിന്‍റെ ഭാഗത്തുനിന്ന് ഒരിക്കലും പ്രതീക്ഷികാനില്ല. കാലത്തിന്‍റെ ചെയ്തികളുടെ നിയന്ത്രണവും യുക്തിയും കാലത്തിന്‍റെ വരുതിയില്‍ മുന്നോട്ടു പോകുന്ന ജീവികളുടെ നിയന്ത്രണത്തില്‍ ഒരിക്കലും ഉണ്ടാവുകയില്ല.

Ravana

 

Ravana was defeated only because two great forces, that of Rama and Hanuman joined. The first meeting of Ravana and Hanuman is revealing.. Ravana wonders whether, Lord Shambu or Bhagavan Nandi has appeared before him in disguise. Hanuman is wonderstruck by the splendour of Ravana.. He confesses in His mind that if Ravana had not committed the wrong deed of abducting Sita, he would have been unconquerable- according to Hanuman's thinking only adharma was going to be the killer of Ravana.. One has to read the Eulogy Rama pays to Ravana after the latter's death to know how much he respected the strength of Ravana..

Every soldier should have a Ravana in Him. - One of the bravest soldiers ever lived- greatest leader-dignified even in his death.. Rama orders a soldier's honour to Ravana at his funeral..

The battle between devas and asuras and rakshasas have a different dimension.. I have read Uttarakandam to Ramayanam too. Of course, there is discussion in literary and academic circle whether that part of Ramayanam is integrally connected to the other six Kandams. However, what I wanted to say was that devas were always out to decimate their own half-brothers and cousins that were asuras etc. Ravana for example is the half-brother of Kubera. If Ravana and his uterine brothers had not moved with sense of purpose and defeated devas, they would have annihilated them. At least Ravana and other demons left devas alive. So in a battle, we cannot escape witnessing cruelty... be it in ancient wars or even in the latest wars.. Was Hiroshima any better? I am not justifying wars but we can easily understand the actions of the warring faction in annihilating even with cruelty the rival players..

And regarding Sita in captivity, no thinking person can deny the fact that the Lady was in captivity and absolute control of Ravana for all that period of captivity, and he could have thought of anything and acted on it.. So other questions on that issue are not very relevant.

characters in Ramayanam

 

Ravana is one of the most intriguing characters of Hindu lore. Very difficult to understand his motives. In fact how can one explain his keeping Sita pure under his captivity for almost one year, when he fully knew he could have done anything he wanted if pleasure was his motive?

Actually if we study Ramayana in depth, we would find that the contenders for the number one position in the epic are running very close to one another. The fore runners being Rama, Hanuman and Ravana--running neck to neck, with Bharatha, Kumbhakarna, Lakshmana etc following at very short distances behind.

the knot tied is for ever

 

प्रेत्यभावे हि कल्याण स्सङ्गमो मे सह त्वया।श्रुतिर्हि श्रूयते पुण्या ब्राह्मणानां यशस्विनाम्।।2.29.17।।

इहलोके च पितृभिर्या स्त्री यस्य महामते।अद्भिर्दत्ता स्वधर्मेण प्रेत्यभावेऽपि तस्य सा।।2.29.18।। valmikiramanyanam ayodhyaakaandam.

pretyabhāve hi kalyāṇa ssaṅgamo me saha tvayā।śrutirhi śrūyate puṇyā brāhmaṇānāṃ yaśasvinām।।2.29.17।।

ihaloke ca pitṛbhiryā strī yasya mahāmate।adbhirdattā svadharmeṇa pretyabhāve'pi tasya sā।।2.29.18।।

This quote from Valmikiramayanam, Ayodhyaa Kandam sarga 29, is not just an emotional outpour. It is a solid statement confirming the value of marriage as an institution, as conceived in our culture, according to our greatest Epic.

Kaikeyi destroys or short-circuits the plan for coronation of Rama as the heir apparent of Ayodhya. The boon of Dasaratha binds Rama and he has to adjourn to a life in forest for fourteen year. Rama tells Sita that he would obey the orders of his father and move to forest. Nevertheless, Sita could continue to live in the Palace of Ayodhya. There was no bar for that.

However, the very idea of separation from Rama is even beyond the remotest thoughts of Sita. She insists that she should accompany Rama wherever he goes. The strongest argument she has underlined in the statement given in these two couplets.

“My Lord of immense strength, character and righteousness, the one and only course of glory, welfare and righteousness for me is to be in your inseparable company for ever, in this world. In addition, even if I am dead and become an invisible presence only. I must continue to have that company. Please remember that the most celebrated lawmakers of exemplary repute have all concluded on the authority of Vedas or Shruti that when the parents or people of the clan equivalent to parents, give or entrust her to a man, through pouring water signifying such handing over, the union is irrevocable. The elders conduct the ritual in the traditions prescribed by the rules and practices, and that woman belongs to him and should keep him company in this life and the life afterwards too.

Of course, we Indians value marriage as extremely sacred and as an inseparable bondage between a man and a woman. All civil laws and legislations would keep in view the binding nature of this bond.

But a statement of this fact, when it comes from Sita, especially in a situation ridden by crisis, would provide a great instruction or message for all concerned.

k v a

प्रेत्यभावेऽपि even if I attains the state of preta, even if I am physically dead , त्वया सह सङ्गमः inseparable company with you, मे is for me , कल्याणः the only desirable and auspicious choice in life , यशस्विनाम् by the learned and celebrated ब्राह्मणानाम् scholars पुण्या well defined, auspicious, dharmic श्रुतिः prescription from the Vedas, श्रूयते is understood महामते oh my generous and mighty lord, या स्त्री that woman, when a woman इह लोके in this world, पितृभिः by parents, by the clan, by persons of the status of parents यस्य to whom, स्वधर्मेण in accordance with one's own tradition, according to the dharmic ruls अद्भि: with waters, offered with pouring of water दत्ता is given, is handed over प्रेत्यभावेऽपि even after death, even if the woman dies सा she, तस्य belongs to him. Keeps him constant company.