Sri Ramayana #3

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Om Asmath Gurubhyo Namaha

 

Valmiki maharshsi went to Thamasa River for His anushtanams and He was mentally

reviewing the Kalyanagunas of Srirama. He felt peaceful and could feel the

beauty of nature surrounding Him. He saw two birds sitting on a tree playing

with each other and enjoying themselves, which made the Maharishi happy. At that

time a hunter came along and shot the male bird down, and the female bird cried

out in sorrow. Though He was a hunter Himself before, after a great penance He

became a Maharishi and the loss to the female bird made Him utter some words

spontaneously. Though sage Valmiki uttered these words in grief they had a great

rhythm and eloquence to it. They can be divided into four padams each padam has

8 letters. (Padam means one fourth of a sloka.). This is called as anushtup

chandas.

 

ma nishada prathishtam thwam

agamaha sasawathis samaha

yath krauncha mithunath ekam

avadhihi kamamohitham

 

These words were the first poem on this earth and thus He became Adikavi. Only

Vedamanthras had chandas and rhythm before this poem. Kavi means a poet, who can

experience the feelings of the other persons and can describe it in words.

Valmiki who was a sage until then became a poet now. It was Brahma's wish for

Sage Valmiki to write Sri Ramayana and it was Saraswathi Devi who blessed Him to

write it. Now let us learn the meaning of the very first sloka uttered by Sage

Valmiki out of "soka".

 

This is the first and foremost sloka on this earth though it appears as 15th

sloka of 2nd sarga in Balakanda.

 

" Nishada-Oh hunter! Yath-by which reason ,thwam- you, krauncha mithunath-out of

the kranucha pair, avadhihi-you killed, ekam kamamohitham-the one filled with

love for the other, (because of that reason only) saswathis samaha-for several

years ,thwam prathishtam ma agamaha-you will not get life for several years(that

means you will lose your life soon)"

 

Once Valmiki spoke these words He Himself wondered how He was able to compose a

poem, and being a sage, how He could loose His self control and curse an

ignorant hunter. With saddened heart He returned to His Ashram to finish His

daily duties. Brahma wants to clear Sage Valmiki's doubts and give Him peace of

mind. So He visits Valmiki's Ashram where He was received with the due respect

of a great person. Valmiki got up and welcomed Chathurmuka Brahma with folded

hands, bowed head, washed the Holy feet of Brahma, and water to wash His hands.

He took Brahma into His kuteeram (hut) chanting Veda mantras and requested Him

to be seated and did padapuja to the divine feet of Brahma. Then He enquired

about the welfare of all and stood with folded hands until He was asked to take

a seat.

 

HERE WE HAVE TO KNOW THE CUSTOMS TO BE OBSERVED IN THE PRESENCE OF GREAT PEOPLE

LIKE AN ACHARYA. We have to get up when our Acharya comes, we have to wait until

He takes His seat and gets comfortable. We must be humble while offering the

upacharams. Then we can do aradhana to His lotus feet. We have to prostrate

before Him and unless he gives permission we shouldn't get up and not sit until

He says so. We are not supposed to be sitting while He is standing, except with

His permission, and also then only we can speak or ask questions. While in

discussion also we are not supposed to speak in a loud voice in their presence.

Like this there are so many dharmas to be practiced in the presence of great

people. Sage Valmiki did everything to honor Brahma and again he is thinking

about the prior incident and the poem (curse).

 

Braham could read the great sage's mind and revealed the secret with a smile.

Oh! My dear Valmiki don't feel sad. Everything happened according to my wish

(sankalpam) only. So you need not worry about anything. Now you became Adikavi

and you are eligible to write SriRamayana. Valmiki was surprised and asked how I

can become eligible for such a noble cause when I cursed someone today. Brahma

replied to Valmiki, "No, it is not a curse, actually, if you think about the

poem once again it will become a great mangalasasanam to Ramachandra. The slokam

came out of you with the help of Saraswathi. So it was not a curse, it is a

blessing to Rama. Don't think otherwise, be happy and start the Sriramayana."

 

Let us learn the second meaning of the same sloka. Ma means Goddes Lakshmi;

nishada means residence, so now we have to join manishada-Residence of Lakshmi

(i.e. nothing but the heart of Lord Narayana).So Oh! Lakshmipathi! You will get

keerthi for several years, because you killed the (krauncha-kutila) wicked one

Ravana who became blind with Kama, out of the pair Mandodari and Ravana. Thus

the slokam says mangalasasanam to Lord Srirama. Thus Sriramayana was started

with this mangalasasana sloka.

 

After Valmiki so many great poets wrote Sriramayana in several languages with

different versions. Among them which Ramayana is the authentic one? How can we

say this is the authentic one? Let's know in the next mail and enjoy the meaning

of Sriramayana

 

Jaisrimannarayana!

(Cont)

 

Saradha Ramanuja Dasi

Prajna- JET USA

 

 

One of the websites for source:

http://www.valmikiramayan.net/bala_kanda_contents.html