Ramayana of Valmiki and Kamban-Balakanda-!.The birth of the epic

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Balakanda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1-THE BIRTH OF THE EPIC

 

 

 

Valmiki Ramayana, as the name indicates, was written by sage

Valmiki. It is called Aadhi kavya because it was the first work in the

form of Kavya. Before Valmiki's time even though sloka form existed

there was no epic poem as such. In fact the lakshana, definition and

characteristics of kavya given by vyasa later, was based only on

Ramayana

The circumstance connected with the composing of Ramayana by

Valmiki is interesting. The story goes that it was Sage Narada who told

Valmiki about Rama. It was also Narada who was instrumental in the

transformation of Valmiki into a sage from a hunter. .

Valmiki once asked Narada, who came to see him in his asram,

'NARADHAM PARIPAPRACHCHA VALMIKIRMUNIPUNGAVAM,' that who among men

possessed the best qualities and also most valiant .'KONVASMIN

SAAMPRADHAAM LOKE GUNAVAAN KASCHA VIRYAVAAN?'

Here the word used for asking is 'paripaprachcha' which means 'to ask'

with genuine interest with full faith in the guru. In Gita Krishna tells

Arjuna, 'thadvidhdhi pranipaathena pariprasnena sevaya,know the truth by

repeated asking with faith and humility.'

Valmiki lists the qualities of the man he is seeking as

gunavan, virtuous, viryavan, powerful, dharmajna, knower of dharma,

krthajna, knows how to show gratitude, satyavaakyah, truthful in word,

dhrdavrathah, firm in resolve, chaarithrena yukthah, righteous,

sarvabhootheshu hithah, benefactor of all beings, vidvan, learned,

samarthah, skilful in applying his reasoning, aathmavan, selfcontrolled,

jithkrodhah, conquered anger, dhyuthiman, lustrous, anasooyakah, one who

never finds fault with others and finally who is the most formidable as

a foe whom even devas will fear 'kasya bhibhyathi devascha jaathroshasya

samyuge.'

Narada replied relating him the story of Rama in short. The

words of Narada here is known as samkshepa Ramayana reciting which, is

supposed to give the same result as in reciting the whole Ramayana

 

Valmiki, when he was going to the Thamasa river, saw two

krouncha birds happily chirping together and his heart was filled with

joy on seeing them At that instant an arrow came and struck the male

bird which fell down dead. This pained the sage and seeing the hunter

who did this he said,

Maa nishaadha prathishtaam thvam aganmah ssaasvatheessamaah

yathkrounchmithunaadhekam avadheeh kaamamohitham

This means, 'Oh hunter, you will not get peace or rest forever since you

have killed one of the two krouncha birds who were in love.'

 

The next moment his heart was filled with remorse, being

saathvik by nature, and he relented thinking that he had no right to

curse the hunter. But to his surprise the words of the curse formed a

sloka, the metre and rhythm of which surprised him. To Valmiki in

meditation later, appeared Brahma and told him that the whole thing was

the leela of the Lord. From his shoka of seeing the bird killed has

sprung a sloka. And he said that Valmiki should relate the story of Rama

in the same metre and rhythm and gave him the vision to see the events

of the life of Rama as though it was happening in front of his eyes

Valmiki repeated the sloka to fix his mind on its construction and

composed Ramayana. Thus came the great epic Ramayana into being.

 

This sloka has been interpreted by the learned acharyas to

be the mangalasloka of Ramayana itself. Maa nishaadha means the resort

of Lakshmi, that is the Lord Vishnu. 'Maa,' the negative particle being

removed and taken in the sense of Lakshmi as she is called 'maa', the

words 'maa prathishtaam thvam agamah ' becomes 'prathishtaam thvam

agamah, you will be established in the hearts of all for

saasvatheessamaah long time to come.'Yath krouncha mithunaadhekam

avadheeh kaamamohitham' the gives the meaning, "As you have killed the

lustful one of the couple, Ravana and Mandodhari.' The word krouncha

also means Rakshasa. Thus the curse itself being the leela of the Lord,

became a benediction. Such is the richness of the sanskrit language.

 

Valmiki composed the whole Ramayana, seeing with the divine

vision given by Brahma everything that happened in the life of Rama and

when he was contemplating as to whom should he teach this to spread it

in the world, the boys Lava and Kusa came and prostrated before him.

Valmiki considered their merirs and decided to teach them the epic. They

were raajaputrou, princes, dharmajnou , knew dharma, yasasvinou, already

gained reputation as well learned, bratharou, brothers and

aasramavaasinou, resided there in the asrama and more than anything else

svarasampannou, they possessed sweet and resonant voice.

 

In olden days all the learning were oral only and the

students committed to memory what they have learnt by reciting them

every day. The chanting of the Vedas required a good voice and

pronunciation as the intonation is very important in veda because the

wrong accent will change the entire meaning. The mantra

‘indrassatruh,’ pronounced by Tvashta who wanted to

create a son to kill Indra by wrong accent made Indra the killer of

vrthrasura instead of vice versa.

 

Then the merit of the kavya itself is extolled as

‘seethaayaah charitham mahat’ The word Ramayana means Rama

is described by this work, Raamah ashayathe anena, but it is the great

story of Seetha. Ramayana is called ‘sharanaagathi

shaastra’ by Vaishnava Acharyas because it tells about the

efficacy of surrendering to the Lord. Raama specifies in yudhdhakaanda

that it is his vow to give surrender to anyone who takes refuge in him

even once but he protected only those who surrendered like Kakasura and

Vibheeshana. .But Seetha went one step ahead of him because she gave

refuge even to those who oppressed her like the rakshasis in Ashokavana

when Hanuman wanted to kill them after the war, saying the famous and

oft quoted words, ‘na kaschit naaparaadhyathi,’ “is

there anyone who is faultless?†That is why the epic is called

Seethaayaah charitham mahat

 

Kusa and Lava sang the epic in the presence of the sages and

went on singing in all places and reached Ayodhya. All who heard it were

very much impressed not only with the richness of the kavya but also

about the skill of the singers.

 

The slokas of Ramayana are sweet sounding and render

themselves beautifully to music. The kavya is rich in sentiments, the

navarasa. The singers were proficient in music as well as in expression,

bhava. Besides they were handsome with their resemblance to their

father Srirama. When they sang in front of Rama he praised them and took

them to his yagasala and asked everybody to hear them.

 

Then starts the Ramayana as sung by Kusa and Lava