[Advaita-l] saMkShepa rAmAyaNa 9 - uttarakANDam

[jaldhar at braincells.com]

॥ उत्तरकाण्डम् ॥

न पुत्रमरणं केचिद्दृक्ष्यन्ति पुरुषाः क्वचित् ।
नार्यशचाविधवा नित्यं भविष्यन्ति पतिव्रताः ॥९१॥
न चाग्निजं भयं किन्चिन्नाप्सु मज्जन्ति जन्तवः ।
न वातजं भयं किन्चिन्नापि ज्वरकृतं तथा ॥९२॥
न चापि क्शुद्भयं तत्र न तस्करभयं तथा ।

“Not a single man would see their sons die before them nor would women be 
widowed. They would always remain devoted to their husbands.  There,[1] 
there was no fear of fire, water, wind, disease, hunger and also 
theft.”(91-93a)

[1] This and the previous shloka describe the state in rAmas kingdom under 
his rule.

नगराणि च राष्ट्राणि धनधान्ययुतानि च ॥९३॥
नित्यं प्रमुदिताः सर्वे यथा कृतयुगे तथा ।

“All the cities and countries[1] were rich with wealth and grains. All the 
people lived happily as though they lived in kR^itayuga[2].”(93b-94a)

[1] meaning villages in this context.
[2] The golden age, the first and best of the four ages of the yugachakra. 
The rAmAyaNa takes place in the second or tretayuga where dharma was still 
prevalent but beginning to decline.  Eventually we reach the current or 
kaliyuga where adharma is dominant and dharma  in the minority.  Even an 
avatAra like shrI rAma can only temporarily slow this progress not stop it 
because almighty Time conquers all.  Thus in the gItA(11:32) kR^iShNa 
bhagavAn says kAlo’smi lokakShaya kR^it “I am Time the destroyer of 
worlds.”  The good news is that at the end of the kaliyuga when things 
seem to be at their lowest ebb, dharma is restored and the cycle of yugas 
begins again.

अश्वमेधशतैरिष्ट्वा तथा बहुसुवर्णकैः ॥९४॥
गवां कोट्ययुतं दत्त्वा विद्वभ्यो विधिपूर्वकम् ।
असंख्येयं धनं दत्त्वा ब्राह्मणेभ्यो महायशाः ॥९५॥

“He[1] became reknowned for satisfying the devas with hundreds of 
ashvamedhas[2] and bahusuvarNikas[3] and giving crores of cows and 
countless wealth to the brAhmaNas according to the shAstras.”(94b-95)

[1] i.e. rAma.
[2] a yaGYa which can only be performed by a samrATa or emperor which 
culminates in the sacrifice of a horse.
[3] a yaGYa in which large amounts of gold is sacrificed.

राजवंशाञ्शतगुणान्स्थापयिष्यति राघवः ।
चातुर्वर्ण्यं च लोकेऽस्मिन्स्वे स्वे धर्मे नियोक्ष्यति ॥९६॥

“rAghava will establish a hundred royal dynasties and establish the four 
varNas to do their respective duties, in this world.”(96)

दशवर्षसहस्राणि दशवर्षशतानि च ।
रामो राज्यमुपासित्वा ब्रह्मलोकं प्रयास्यति ॥९७॥

“rAma, after ruling the kingdom for eleven thousand years, will attain 
brahmaloka.[1]”(97)

[1] rAma as an avatAra of viShNu bhagavAn is already brahman.  But the 
purpose of his avatAra was to demonstrate dharma to mankind so even in 
(apparent) death he showed the results of following dharma.


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