line of control 8

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Post 8

 

Dear srivaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

 

On the topic of "Line of control", I request you to recall in the

previous posts we saw there is NO evidence for lakshmaNan drawing a

line. Neither vaalmeeki, nor kamban not thulasidhaasa describes such

a line of control. Now let us see adhyaadhma raamaayaNam, araNya

kaandam chapter 7 where the `maareecha maayaa mruga' appears and

seethaa asks raama to catch it and give to her. [The Sanskrit version

of this adhyaathma raamaayaNam is taken from website

www.sanskritbhaarat.com all documents PDFlist]

 

In the very beginning of this chapter raama tells seethaa

secretly, `hey jaanakee, [seethaa] raavaNan is to come in a beggar

guise and take you, so you vanish in fire leaving your shadow here

which he will take. After my killing of raavaNan, you can come back

to me, which will take a year". Since that word `EkaanthE' is there,

it stresses the meaning, that perhaps this conversation between the

two, raama and seethaa, may not be known to even lakshmaNan. [This is

what thulasidhasa also puts in his language, which we saw in previous

post. You can also see thulasi dhaasa leaves out the seethaa accusing

lakshmaNa of bad intentions as stated herein].

 

Now the slOkams -

atha raamO~pi thath sarvam gnaathvaa raavaNashtitham |

uvaacha seethaam EkaanthE sruNu jaanaki mE vacha: || slokam 1

 

meaning: Since raama the lord knowseverything, in seclusion raamaa

tells seethaa `listen my words, seethaa'.

 

raavaNO bhikshu roopENa aagamishyathi thE ~nthikam |

thvam thu Chaayaam thvadhaakaaraam sthaapayithvaa utajE visa | |

slokam 2

meaning: raavaNan will come in guise of a beggar to snatch you. So

you establish a shadow of you in its full glory, and get disappeared

 

agnaavadhrusyaroopENa varsham thishta mama aagnayaa |

raavaNasya vaDhaanthE maam poorvavath praapyasE subhE || slokam 3

meaning: in that secret version you stay for a year as per my

directions, after killing raavaNan you can reach me with glory back.

 

sruthvaa raamOdhitham vaakyam saapi thathra thathaa akarOth |

maayaa seethaam bahi: sthaapya svayam anthardhaDhE~nalE || slokam 4

meaning: hearing raamaa's talks she also did as directed – by placing

a shadow in the aasramam she entered the fire and disappeared.

 

[since content of the slokams is given as above, I am not giving full

word by word meaning for now that the topic is well known, no need

for word by word meaning. Also the Sanskrit is simple].

 

Now comes the maayaa mrugam – golden deer – seethaa's shadow, which

is THE seethaa, now in the proximity of raamaa in the aasramam, asks

raamaa

 

pasya raama mrugam chithram kaanakam rathna bhooshitham |

vichithra bindhubhir yuktham charantham akuthObhayam ||

badhvaa dhEhi mama kreedaamrugO bhavthu sundhara: ||| slokam 6

 

meaning: see raama, this animal which looks golden studded with gems,

also looks wonderful with spots and wanders freely, please bind it

and bring that beauty for my playing.

 

Point: `see raama' – these two words – change the very course of

raamaayaNam – sage visvaamithra tells `vathsa raama dhanum pasya' hey

raamaa see the bow – that `pasya' led to a major status change to

raama –by way of the marriage of seethaa. Here seethaa's `pasya

raama' – hey raama see this deer - again changes the course in a

major way, of losing her to raavaNan.

 

thathEthi Dhanuraadhaaya gachChan lakshmaNamabraveeth |

raksha thvam athiyathnEna seethaam mathpraaNa vallabhaam || slokam 7

 

meaning: taking the bow raama said to lakshmaNa, `hey lakshmaNa, I am

going to catch that animal, you protect my loving seethaa at all

costs with your mite'.

 

Then lakshmaNa tells `hey my brother, this is maareecha, that

raakshasa'. And then raama replies `even if it maareechaa then also I

will kill him, but you protect seethaa with all your efforts'. Again

see the stressing in those words – `athiyathnEna seethaam raksha' in

slokam 7 given above and `thvam prayathnEna santhishta seethaa

samrakshaNOdhyutha' in slokam 11 [which I am not giving in full]

 

Now, maareecha, on being struck with raamaa's arrow, shouts

haa hathO~smi maahabaahO thraahi lakshmaNa maam dhrutham' - slokam 18

 

raama now thinks, `what seethaa will do since this maareecha shouted

in my voice?' – slokam below

 

raama: thath chinthayaamaasa mriyamaaNO~sura aDhama: |

haa lakshmaNEthi madh vaakyam anukurvan mamaara kim ||

sruthvaa madhvaakya sadhrusam vaakyam seethaa api kim bhavEth ||

slokam 26

 

Now seethaa tells lakshmaNa – `hey lakshmaNa, go to the help of raama

your brother, have you not heard that voice of raama in distress

being struck by that asura'.

 

gachCha lakshmaNa vEgEna bhraathaa thE~surapeeditha: | slokam 28

haa lakshmaNEthi vachanam braathusthE na sruNOshi kim ||

 

Then lakshmaNa replies, `do not worry seethaa, raama will kill all

three worlds in one second and how can he tell a weak voice save me –

one who is being worshipped by dhEvaas, as such you need not worry'.

Slokam below -

 

raamasthrailOkyamapi ya: krudhDhO naasayathi kshaNaath | slokam 30

sa katham dheenavachanam bhaashithE~mara poojitha: ||

 

As in vaalmeeki raamaayaNam here also, she says in angry words, `you

want your brother to be killed, may be at your own wish, or at

barathaa's wish, you want me for the kaamam, I will not touch any

body else than raama, I will kill myself instead being another's

wife' etc. [re slokams 32, 33,34]

 

On hearing this lakshmaNa felt sad, and said `seethaa, this invites

trouble for you, let me give you to the vana dhEvee [for protection]'

and left. Slokam below -

 

thathasruthvaa lakshmaNa: karNO piDhaayaatheeva dhukhitha:|

maamEvam bhaashasE chaNDi Dhik thvaam naasamupaishyasi ||

ithyukthvaa vanadhEveebhya: samarpyam janakaathmajaam ||| slokam 36

yayou dhukhaathi samvignO raamamEva sanai: sanai: || part of slkam 37

 

Coming back to our topic, lakshmaNa left handing over seethaa to vana

dhEvee, without putting any line of control etc here also. In the

next and subsequent slokams in adhyaathma raamaayaNam, raavaNan

enters, talks and then abducts seethaa. But there is no talking about

this `line of control'.

 

Since we have seen four versions of raamaayaNam, we are, for sure,

unable to get any trace of evidence for this `lakshman rekhaa'

or `line of control'. Knowledgeable bhakthaas can give any other

version which provides evidence on this topic, than these four, for I

am curious to learn how this came into the picture and practice of

talking about.

 

On the esoterical side, it is very well clear that once devotion goes

in materialistic way even for a while, then the level of devotion

comes down, like seethaa being left in that bhOga bhoomi – lanka –

being pushed into the materialistic life, where money, wine, and

ladies all beautiful collected from all parts of world were

available, in plenty to enjoy, and being eniced quite often for

enjoyment, the very purpose of devotion to lord is slowly diluted.

 

Seethaa, since, was always thinking raamaa, the supreme lord, having

once separated from him; could resist the temptation even though

being surrounded by the lavish wealth. Any other, less capable in

devotion, would succumb to temptation on such a high degree wealth

around. So the line of control, for a devotee, in its true sense has

to be drawn mentally, limiting himself, not to be drawn into

materialistic enjoyment, even for a while just to taste it and then

return to path of devotion.

 

That is why it is said the bhakthi has to be like `thaila dhaarai' –

flow of oil, a continuous one without break, and very difficult but

the path of saraNaagathy is comparatively easy etc.

 

Again, a big thanks to Sri Anjaneyalu of Itarsi, who gave this spark

to write on `line of control'. Thanks to you all dear bhakthaas for

your patience in reading this in instalments, that too often delayed.

 

Dhaasan

 

Vasudevan m.g.