the bow's story - post 7

[Guest guest]

Post 7

 

Dear sri vaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

 

We saw in post 6 of this bow's story, the bow was broken by sri raama. While

sage vaalmeekee says raama lifted that bow so easily - aarOpayath sa

dharmaathmaa sa leelam iva thath dhanu: 1-67-16 see kamban - he says 60000

people carried it. Of course vaalmeekee stated 5000 people dragged the 8 wheeled

cart carrying the bow in 1-67-4. Whereas kamban says 60000 people carried the

bow in dhaNdu - big size round wooden logs - similar what we use in temples to

carry the vaahanams during uthsavams.

 

uRuvali yaanaiyai oththa mEniyar

seRi mayirk kal enath thiraNda thOLinar

aRubadhinaayirar aLavu il aaRRalar

thaLi maduththu idaiyidai dhandil thaankinar

 

- 3 kaarmugap padalam baala kaaNdam kamba raamaayaNam.

 

Once the bow was brought to the place where raama janaka and visvaamithra were

there, see the description of kamban which vaalmeekee described as 'vathsa raama

dhanu: pasya' -

 

ninaindha muni pagarndha elaam neRi unni aRivanum than

punaindha sadai mudi thuLakki pOr ERRin mugam paarththaan

vanaindhanaiya thirumEni vaLLalum am maathavaththOn

ninaindha elaam ninaindhu andha nedunchilaiyai nOkkinaan - 25 - ibid

 

That sage visvaamithra saw raama - realizing the import of that look on him by

the sage, raama also saw the big bow.

 

Here two points on the description of raama by kamban are worth a little more

elaboration.

a. "punaindha sadai mudi thuLakki pOr ERRin mugam paarththaan" - raama is

described as 'pOr Eru' - the 'warring bull' used - even at that less than 16 age

raama had the unique physique to be described as 'pOr Eru' - just recollect king

dhasaratha said 'my son raama is not yet 16' before sending raama along with

sage visvaamithra.

b. "vanaindhanaiya thirumEni vaLLalum andha nedunchilaiyai nOkkinaan" - this

vanaindhanaiya - means picturesque - vanaidhal is to draw - vanaindhanaiya

thirumEni - raama's body was like a picture drawn by a skilled artist - this

same description is vavailable in other places also - like vaali when he starts

addressing raama says 'Oviyaththil ezhudha oNNaa uruvaththOi', in another place

as 'Oviya uruva' when vaali calls himself as 'naayEn'.

 

After having a good look at the bow - he neared the bow to lift. At that stage

see the reaction of others - a beautiful description by kamban - not found in

vaalmeeki.

 

pozhindha nei aagudhi vaai vazhi pongi

ezhundha kozhunkanal enna ezhundhaan

azhindhahdu vil ena viNNavar aarththaar

mozhindhanar aasigaL muppagai venRaar - 26 -ibid

 

Like the fire how it rises, when the ghee spilling from the oblatory spoon

reaches it, raama rose. Immediately the dhEvaas made exulting noise, having

assembled in the sky. The sages, who have won the enemies within and outside and

everywhere, blessed raamaa, for his success.

 

Ok. The dhEvaas in the sky exulted. But what is the reaction of people in the

hall? See kamban

 

vaLLal maNaththai magizhndhanan enRaal

koL ena munbu koduppadhai allaal

veLLam aNaiththavan villai eduththu ip

piLLai mun ittadhu pEdhaimai enbaar - 30 ibid.

 

oh, no, it is silly to have placed the bow, in front of this young boy - the

bow of one who embraced the floods - ganges - pointing to sivan who received

ganges in his matted hairlocks.

 

This slokam "leelayaa sa dhanur madhyE jagraaha vachanaath munE:" || 1-67-15 is

given by kamban as

 

aadaga maal varai annadhu thannai

thEda arumaamaNi seethai enum pon

soodaga vaal vaLai soottida neettum

Edu avizh maalai idhu enna eduththaan - 33 ibid

 

Raama lifted the bow [from the box] as though it is a garland for seethaa - to

be placed as a maNa maalai - he lifted the bow so lightly and easily - Edu avizh

maalai - removed the leaf covering the garland.

 

These three lines of the slokam of vaalmeekee is given as two verses [the above

one and below] by kamban - viz. 33, 34.

aarOpayath sa dharmaathmaa sa leelam iva thath dhanu: || 1-67-16

aarOpayithvaa mourveem cha poorayaamaasa veeryavaan |

thath babhanja dhanur madhyE narasrEshtO mahaayasaa: || 1-67-17

 

thaduththu imaiyaamal irundhavar thaaLil

maduththadhum naaN nudhi vaiththadhum nOkkaar

kaduppinil yaarum aRindhilar kaiyaal

eduththadhu kaNdanar iRRadhu kEttaar - 34 ibid

 

The people assembled there [including sage visvaamithra, king janaka, king's

guru sadhaanandha, other people in the hall et al] did not wink their eyes in

surprise [for raama having lifted the bow]. In spite of not winking the eyes,

they did not see how quick raama lifted the bow with his hands, how he stringed

the naaN in the bow etc, but heard the noise of the bow breaking.

 

Janaka was first surprised when he heard, then, that his daughter seethaa pushed

the bow with her left hand so easily. Now he finds raama lifting it so easily -

like 'Edu avizh maalai ena eduththaan'. These two show the match between raama

and seethaa. [Just recall the matchless matches of sadagopan iyengar swamy

earlier].

 

Also please note the bow is broken in the middle, not at either end, but at

handgrip [vaalmeekee]. This shows the power of his handgrip and of his palm.

 

Again this line "eduththadhu kaNdanar iRRadhu kEttaar" is a very popular line

often referred and heard in lectures of raamaayaNam. Ok dear bhakthaas- upto

this we read the bow's story.

 

But is there any standard or technical specification for the bow? That is given

as a comment in valmikiramayan.net site as below. [i mentioned in my earlier

post as valimikiramayan.net, which is a mistake, and pardon me for that typo]

 

Specs: a. A bow has a definite height and it is a measure of length, from the

ages even up to the age of Kautilya. The bow's height is the height of the

archer plus one measure of his head's height, as the upper end has to tower the

archer's head. [Monier Williams Sanskrit English dictionary also corroborates

this point]

 

b. Kautilya gave many accounts for weights and measures, in his 'Artha Shaastra'

[Ref:: Penguin re-publication]. Four aratni-s cubits are one dhanu, a

bow-length. One aratni is 18 inches. Thus a bow-length is 6 feet or just above,

taking the standard height of an archer as six-foot and or a little above.

 

c. If that being so, this siva's bow's height must be placed more than the human

measure of 6 feet, for dhEvaas are supposed to be more gigantic than ordinary

human beings. Then it must be something like 8 to 10 feet or more. As per

description of raama available elsewhere in raamaayaNam, 'raama is not a

crane-legged boy, as his physique is sad to be of 'medium' size. Then how come a

boy of, say of 4, 41/2 feet, could catch the upper end of 8-10 feet bow and to

bend it...' is the objection raised generally.

 

d. An archer has to stand the bow on ground, clutch its lower end under his big

toe, and with one hand, he has to bend it. While with the other hand, he catches

the bowstring to string the top end or other end. He is not supposed to handle

it horizontally like a holdall or a briefcase.

 

e. To overcome this objection, it is said that the poet vaalmeekee has used the

adjective 'mahaathmaa' to raama, 'an unfathomable one with an equally

unfathomable soul'. The minute he touched the bow, it became a spongy stick and

it listened to him and bent as he wished.

 

f. Other way round also, raama is an ambidextrous archer and visvaamithra had

furthered his skill in archery by giving to raamaa's possession, some divine

missiles. Hence, his dexterity is now multiplied and he can handle any divine or

human bow 'effortlessly'.

 

MGV: Thus, though vaalmeekee and kamban vary in presenting the handling of bow

by people who brought it to the hall, how raama handled the bow, the bow's story

of siva regarding its creation, how it came to janaka's ancestors, are not

varied between them.

 

Now that this siva's bow is broken, that part A of the bow's story.

We have to take up the part B - the vishNu bow's story.

That we will see in next post.

 

Dhasan

 

Vasudevan m.g.