Guest guest Posted January 19, 2003 Report Share Posted January 19, 2003 Ramayana Topic Sita's mercy and kindness is quite incredible; Periyavaccan Pillai remarks (again, while commenting on the Tiruppavai) that even in solitude, even while she was alone with Rama, she never bore tales about the demon-women who taunted her. Periyavaccan Pillai, like Vedanta Desika, celebrates her words to Hanuman after the war. Replying to Hanuman's request to harm the demon women, Sita says in her usual mild manner: "The notable ones (arya) should show mercy (karuna) to sinners, to good people and to those who are wont to kill. Is there any one here without sin, or without fault, O monkey?" (Ramayana, Yuddha Kanda, 116-44). Periyavaccan Pillai notices that she considers the suggestion to be rather silly; she has called Hanuman "monkey" (Skt: plavangama) which, as far as monkey- terminology goes, is not very respectable. The commentator elucidates the word 'monkey' thus: "Sita says that she has seen his animal- qualities, that which is innate to his class of beings"; he then adds "usually she addresses Hanuman as 'the best among monkeys' (vanarottama); here she calls him a mere monkey (plavangama)." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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