winning ways - post 5

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Post 5

 

Dear srivaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

 

In the previous post, we saw the bow was broken by raamaa and king janaka says

"seethaa bharthaaram aasaadhya raamam" - thus assures the hand of seethaa to

raamaa.

The next slOkam is "more showing" the winning ways of raama. King janaka says

 

mama sathyaa prathignaa saa veerya sulkEthi kousika |

seethaa praaNair bahumathaa dhEyaa raamaaya mE suthaa || 1-67 -23

 

kousika = oh, kousika;

saa + veerya + sulkaa = she is bravery's bounty;

ithi = thus;

mama = my

prathignaa + sathyaa = commitment came true;

praaNai:+ bahumathaa = with [my] lives, equally agreeable [congenial];

mE + suthaa + seethaa = my daughter seetha;

dhEyaa + raamaaya = presentable for raama.

 

Meaning: Oh, Kousika, my commitment that she is the bounty of bravery has thus

come true, and my daughter Seetha, who is congenial with my lives, is

presentable to raama.

 

So the girl "seethaa" was simply won as raamaa's veerya sulkam - a prize for

raamaa's bravery or courage - veeram. Not only that, he immediately shows to

king janaka how obedient he is to his father king dhasaratha, and brought up in

such an orderly and righteous manner. For king janaka is informed by raamaa,

"unless my father vets this act of winning this girl and accepts her, I will not

take this girl".

 

Dear bhakthaas, that is why in the next 3 slOkams of sargam 67 you will find

king janaka sends the ministers to ayOdhyaa with the permission of sage

visvaamithra. You may ask where is the evidence for that if not said immediately

by raamaa to janaka.

 

This act of raamaa not accepting her "immediately" after the breaking of bow, is

described by seethaa herself. That is stated in ayOdhyaa kaaNdam sargam 118 of

srimadh raamaayaNam, where seethaa describes the swayamvaram of herself - the

winning ways of raama - in mithila.

 

Seethaa describes to anasooya dhEvi when seethaa was asked by anasooya to

describe her swayamvaram to raamaa --

"ayOnijaam hi maam gnaathvaa naaDhyagachchath sa chinthayan | 2-118-37"

meaning: the king thinks me of unborn in a womb, and as unable to select a

suitable groom for me.

 

"mahaayagnaa thadhaa thasya varuNena mahaathmanaa |

dhaththan dhanur varam preethyaa thooNee chaakshayya saayakau || 2- 118- 39

meaning: in that great fire sacrifice, varuNan gave that divine bow [siva

dhanu:] to my father along with two quivers with unending stock of bows.

 

nimisha anthara maathrENa thadh aanamya sa veeryavaan |

jyaan samaarOpya jhatithi poorayaamaasa veeryavaan || 2-118- 46

 

thEna poorayathaa vEgaan madhyE bhagnan dhvidhaa dhanu: |

thasya sabdhO abhavadh bheema: pathithasya asanEr iva || 2-118- 47

 

thathO ahan thathra raamaaya pithraa sathya abhisandhinaa |

udhyathaa dhaathum udhyamya jala bhaajanam uththamam || 2-118- 48

 

dheeyamaanaam na thu thadhaa prathijagraaha raaghava: |

avignaaya pithu: chhandham ayOdhyaa adhipathE: prabhO: || 2-118- 49

 

thatha: svasuram aamanthrya vrudhDham dhasaratham nrupam |

mama pithraa aham dhaththaa raamaaya vidhithaatmanE || 2-118-50

 

Evam dhaththaasmi raamaaya thadhaa thasmin svayamvarE |

anurakthaa cha dharmeNa pathim veeryavathaam varam || 2-118-52

 

These slOkams describe the marriage to raamaa, by seetha herself. The important

point is in slOkam 49, and hence that slOkam alone is taken up for giving

meaning here.

 

dheeyamaanaam na thu thadhaa prathijagraaha raaghava: |

avignaaya pithuschandham ayOdhyaa adhipathE: prabhO: || 2-118- 49

 

thadhaa = during that time

dheeyamaanaam thu = [the girl] being offered

raaghava: = the legatee of raghu race

ayOdhyaa adhipathE: prabhO: = the lord and king of ayOdhyaa

pithuschandham = the mind of father

avignaaya = not knowing

na prathijagraaha = did not accept

 

meaning: then raaghava, did not accept me straightaway without knowing the mind

of his father and the king of ayOdhyaa.

 

See how, in such steps, raama wins the hearts of all by his addiction to rules

and procedures.

 

We send our children to some third party's house under the care of somebody [as

guardian]. When the child does break something in that house, how we will react.

"Oh what a bad way we have brought up the child for he has gone to a new place

and created a scene there". Then we will rush there, ask pardon first, then try

to compensate them by money, by replacement etc, and finally ask pardon again

for the behaviour of the child.

 

Unless the parents visit that place and pacify the host, it is not proper for

the guardian as well the child to leave the place. The guardian would also be in

embarrassment for having brought such a naughty boy.

 

Such a step is carefully carried out by raama, even though the host accepts it,

the breaking of the highly regarded bow as an act of bravery and the bravery

results in offer of a superlative girl as wife to him.

 

Also initially sage said "pasya raama" - see the bow. Then raamaa asked

permission to feel - "samprusaami" - ok - said sage as well king. But what he

did? Broken the bow. So it is not proper to break a thing like this. So

naturally parents [or at least the father of such a child who has committed this

kind of breaking other people's property], have to visit that place and pacify

the host for such an act. That is why raama did not want to accept seethaa

without a proper "authorization" from the father, to accept the girl as a gift

of his bravery.

 

Even in such small acts "raamaa wins" others by his deeds.

 

Ok. Apart from that, perhaps how raamaa won the hearts of people of mithila and

initially seethaa also before the dhanu breaking. Perhaps these are not fully

described by sage vaalmeeki.

Saint thulasidhaas describes how raama won the people of mithila easily by his

beauty. Also how seetha reacts when she sees raama before the breaking of the

bow. It is quite fascinating description of raamaa. So let us go into that

portion of baala kaaNdam in raamcharithmaanas.

 

Doha 241: naari bilOkahin harasi hiyan nija nija ruchi anuroopa |

janu sOhatha singaara dhari moorathi parama anoopa ||

 

Ch below doha 241

bidhusanha prabhu biraatamaya dheesaa bahu mukha kara paga lOchana seesaa |

janaka jaathi avalOkahin kaisain. sajana sage priya laagahin jaisen ||

 

sahitha bidhEha bilOkahin raanee sisu sama preethi na jaathi bakhaanee |

jOginha parama thathvamaya bhaasaa saantha suddha sama sahaja prakaasaa ||

 

haribhagathanha dhEkhE dhou bhraathaa ishtadhEva iva saba sukha dhaathaa |

raamahi chithava bhaayan jEhi seeyaa sO sanEhu sukhu nahin kathaneeyaa ||

 

ura anubhavathi na kahi saka sOoo kavana prakaara kahai kabi kOoo |

Ehi bidhi rahaa jaahi jasa bhaaoo thEhin thasa dhEkhEu kosalaraaoo ||

 

Meaning: with joy in their heart the women saw raamaa according to their

attitude in their mind, each had towards him as if the erotic sentiment itself

has appeared in an utterly incomparable form.

 

Cho: the wise saw the lord in his cosmic form, with many faces, hands, feet,

eyes, and heads. how did he appear to janka's kinsmen? Like one's own beloved

relation. The queen, no less than the king, regarded him with unspeakable love

like a dear child. To the yOgees, he has shown for them as no other than the

highest truth, placid unsullied, equipoised and resplendent, by its very nature.

The devotees of sri hari beheld the two brothers as their loved deity the

fountain of all joy. The emotion of all love and joy was ineffable, with which

seethaa gazed on sri raamaa. She felt the emotion in her breast but could not

utter it. Then how can a poet describe it? In this way everyone according to the

attitude of the mind regarded the lord of ayOdhyaa.

 

[For a full description please refer baalakaandam slokams 199 -264 in particular

pages 38, 39 in PDF format in www.gitapress.org <http://www.gitapress.org>

site.]

 

dear bhakthaas, see raamaa did just won the people of mithila simply by his

beauty. As per thulasidhaas seethaa was also won over by his beauty and she

longed to see him again and again. [again vaalmeeki is not describing these .

 

Poet kamban describesd this "winning of people of mithila" by ramaa with his own

"beauty" as

"thOl kaNdaar thOle kaNdaar thodhu kazhal kamalam anna

thaaL kaNdaar thaaLE kaNdaar thadakkai kaNdaarum ahdhE

vaaL koNda kaNNaar yaarE vadivinai mudiayk kaNdaar

oozh koNda samayaththu aNNaan uruvu kaNdaarai oththaar

 

verse 19 ulaaviyaR padalam, baala kaaNdam.

 

For those interested in kamban, the entire set of raamaayaNam verses [moolam -

original only] are available for viewing and enjoying in

www.chennainetwork.com/a/ebooks/ramayanam.html

<http://www.chennainetwork.com/a/ebooks/ramayanam.html>

 

In next post we will see how raamaa wins his own people in ayOdhyaa. Of course

for those who read my earlier write up "how could such a raama do that" most

matter will be a repeat. But enjoying raama for his good qualities is always a

treat. So let us enjoy it again.

 

Dhaasan

Vasudevan m.g.