[Advaita-l] saMkShepa rAmAyaNa 8 - yuddhakANDam

[jaldhar at braincells.com]

॥ युद्धकाण्डम् ॥

ततः सुग्रीवसहितो गत्वा तीरं महोदधेः ।
समुद्रं क्षोभयामास शरैरादित्य सन्निभैः ॥७९॥

“Then, he[1] reached the shore of the ocean together with sugrIva and 
agitated the ocean with arrows like the Sun.[2]”(79)

[1] rAma
[2] i.e. burning hot

दर्शयामास चात्मानं समुद्रः सरितांपतिः ।
समुद्रवचनाच्चैव नलं सेतुमकारयत् ॥८०॥

“Ocean, lord of rivers appeared in his own form[1], and advised to get a 
bridge built with the help of nala.[2]”(80)
[1] out of fear of the wrath of rAma and his fiery arrows.
[2] nala and his brother nila were the architects of the vAnaras.

तेन गत्वा पुरीं लङ्कां हत्वा रावणमाहवे ।
रामः सीतामनुप्राप्य पराम् व्रीडामुपागमत् ॥८१॥

“from it[1] they reached lankA and killed rAvaNa.  rAma regained sItA but 
felt great embarrassment.[2]”(81)

[1] the bridge
[2] Because she had been taken away by another man.

तामुवाच ततो रामः परुषं जनसंसदि ।
अमृष्यमाणा सा सीता विवेश ज्वलनं सती ॥८२॥
ततोऽग्निवचनात्सीतां ज्ञात्वा विगतकल्मषाम् ।

“For that reason rAma spoke harsh words about her in the public assembly. 
The pure sItA was unable to endure this and entered the flames.  Hearing 
the testimony of agni himself about the purity of sItA, rAma was 
pleased.[1]”(82-83a)

[1] This is the single most controversial incident in the rAmAyaNa.  After 
how all how just is it to blame sItA for being kidnapped?  There are many 
explanations but I would like to suggest one more.  sItA is the daughter 
of bhUdevI (earth.) janaka discovered her as a baby when plowing a field 
for a yaGYa.  (sItA literally means “furrow”.)  sItA is mentioned in the 
R^igveda and gR^ihyasUtras mention a sItAyaGYa (See e.g. 
pAraskaragR^ihyasUtra 2:13) as a counterpart to the shrauta agrahAyANeShTi 
which is connected with agriculture.  Every year even today, farmers burn 
the chaff so that the ashes will fertilize the soil for the next growing 
season.  So perhaps this story represents the mythical motif of the earth 
being cleansed by fire.

कर्मणा तेन महता त्रैलोक्यं सचराचरम् ॥८३॥
सदेवर्षिगणं तुष्टं राघवस्य महात्मनः ।
बभौ रामः संप्रहृष्टः पूजितः सर्वदेवतैः ॥८४॥

“Because of the great deeds of the high-souled rAghava, the animate and 
inanimate beings, hosts of devas and R^iShis of the three worlds were 
happy.  They rejoiced with rAma and all the devas worshipped him.”[83b-84]

अभ्यषिच्य च लङ्कायाम् राक्षसेन्द्रं विभीषणम् ।
कृतकृत्यस्तदा रामो विज्वरः प्रमुमोद ह ॥८५॥

“After crowning vibhIShaNa[1] king of the rAkShasas in lankA, RAma having 
accomplished his goals was happy and relieved.”(85)
[1] vibhiShaNa was the brother of rAvaNa and was as good as the latter was 
evil.  He alone of the rAkShasas refused to fight against rAma.

देवताभ्यो वरं प्राप्य समुत्थाप्य च वानरान् ।
अयोध्यां प्रस्थितो रामः पुष्पकेण सुहृद्वृतः ॥८६॥

“Having obtained a boon from the devatAs he brought back to life all the 
monkeys[1] and set out for Ayodhya accompanied by friends in the puShpaka 
vimAna.[2]”(86)

[1] who had fallen in battle
[2] this is a chariot which had the ability to magically fly through the 
air.  One of the weirdest obsessions of modern Hinduism is the notion that 
it refers to an aeroplane.   Needless to say there is no reason to think 
this.

भारद्वाजाश्रमं गत्वा रामः सत्यपराक्रमः ।
भरतस्यान्तिके रामो हनूमन्तं व्यसर्जयत् ॥८७॥

“rAma the valorous reached the Ashrama of bhAradvAja[1].  rAma dispatched 
hanumAna to meet bharata.” (87)

[1] at chitrakuTa.  See shloka 31.

पुनराख्यायिकां जल्पन्सुग्रीवसहितस्तदा ।
पुष्पकं तत्समारूह्य नन्दिग्रामं ययौ तदा ॥८८॥

“Accompanied by Sugriva and recalling their earlier adventures with each 
other,  he again boarded that puShpaka and vimAna and went to 
nandigrAma.”(88)

नंदिग्रामे जटां हित्वा भ्रातृभिः सहितोऽनघः ।
रामः सीतामनुप्राप्य राज्यं पुनरवाप्तवान् ॥८९॥

“at NandigrAma the faultless rAma was reunited with his brothers who shed 
their matted locks[1], and having regained sItA, he once again resumed the 
throne.”(89)

[1] bharata and shatrughana had been living like ascetics waiting for 
rAma, lakShmaNa and sItA to return.  See shlokas 38b-39a

प्रहृष्टमुदितो लोकस्तुष्टः पुष्टः सुधार्मिकः ।
निरामयो ह्यरोगश्च दुर्भिक्षभयवर्जितः ॥९०॥

“The whole world rejoiced with happiness and contentment.  They grew 
stronger in dharma and there was no fear of suffering, disease, or 
famine.”(90)

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>