Sri Suadrshan 's Fourth widow of Ayodhyaa postings.

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Sudarshan : First of all , thanks very much for your

unique and rich narration related to the great sorrow of Sri Ramaa

in DandakAraNyam over the plight of His dear brother.

 

As always , your narrative skills , rich vocabulary , attention

to details on describing a scene and the skills in teasing

without revealing who this fourth widow was until the last

section of the last posting have been exemplary.

 

Regarding your concerns as to whether you mightb have taken liberty

with the facts related to the situation that you were describing ,

you do not need to worry too much about it. You seem to be in

the august company of Swami Desikan here . Our great achAryA

created a Kaavyam revered as Hamsa sandesam , where he deals with

an imaginary situation about what happened after Hanumaan

had returned from LankhA after finding Sitaa piratti there and

bringing the good news of seeing her in Asokha vanam .

Hamsa Sandesam modeled after the Mega sandesam of

the immortal poet KaLi Daasa is known as a misra kaavyam ,

since it takes incidents described by Sage Vaalmiki

in Srimadh RaamaayaNam and blends them with the poetic

imagination of Swami Desikan .

 

According to Hamsa Sandesam , Sri Raama is said to have received

" the good news " about the whereabouts of his dear consort

from Hanumaan in autumn(Saradh Ruthu ). He is said to have had a restless night

..

Next morning , He saw a beautiful swan on a pond near him

and requested it to go to Lankhaa as his messenger to

Sitaa Piraatti .

 

The Vyaakyaana karthaas of Valmiki RaamAyaNam like Govindaraajaa

and Tilak have established rigorously from Srimadh RaamayaNam

that Hanumaan returned from Lankhaa on Panguni Uttaram

day ( Vasantha Ruthu ) and conveyed the message of Sitaa Piratti

to Sri Raamaa and He started on His journey immediately

for the destruction of RavaNaa and recovery of Sitaa Devi

during day time . He is said to have reached the sea shore same day .

Thus , the version of Swami Desikan selecting Autumn instead of

Panguni month in Vasantha Ruthu as the time of receipt of the message

of Hanumaan is inconsistent with the facts established by the commentators.

Again , the timing of the journey is also inconsistent with the

version of Valmiki. According to Hamsa sandesam ,

Raama spent a restless night and was greatly affected

by the autumn full moon and suffered. Valmiki describes the start of

Raamaa's journey during the day immediately after

getting Hanumaan"s message. The Kalpanaa of Swami Desikan

sets the scene in a different way . The most important

feature of this Kaavyam is that it is a poem " Where God Himself

praises and Goddess Herself is the object of praise " . It has been

pointed out that Sitaa Piratti dwelt at length the anantha KalyANa

guNams of Her Lord in Sundara Khaandam and Valmiki did

not give much space to Rama"s adoration of and love for His

dear consort. It has been suggested that Swami Desikan wanted to mkae

amends and let Raamaa speak at length on " the beauty, righteousness ,

and the excellent qualities of head and heart of Sitaa " in Hamsa

Sandesam . The variations from " the PramaaNams " of

the Ithihaasam become secondary here inview of the loftiness of

the subject .

 

Bharathaa was equally dear to Raamaa . Hence any celebration

of Bharathaa , who worshipped the Paadhukhaas of the Lord

and served as the representative of those holy Divya MaNi

PaadhukhAs during his brother's exile is an auspicious

occasion and is fit for reflection on Sri Rama Navami day .

 

Congratulations and Best Wishes for continued contributions

of such articles on Bhagavadh Charitham .

 

V. Sadagopan