RamayanapfValmiki and Kamban

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2- DESCRIPTION OF THE LAND OF KOSALA AND AYODHYA.

Valmiki briefly mentions the greatness of .the line of

Ikshvaku and says that the epic came into being through the grace

of Brahma, and he is only making it known to the world as it contains

the three purushaarthas, namely dharma, artha and kama, which

subsequently lead to the fourth, Moksha. Valmiki then entreats the

listener to hear it with sradhdha, faith and without asooya, cavil.

Every literary work must satisfy four requisites, namely,

vishaya, subject matter, adhikari , to whom it is intended,

prayojana, the fruit and sambandha , relevance. Vishaya has been

indicated by ‘Ikshvaakoonaam idham theshaam raajnaam vamse

mahaathmmanaam mahadhuthpannamaakhyaanam ramayanamithi srutham,.’

this Ramayana, the story of Rama , descendant of the line of

Ikshvaku. Adhikariis the one with sradhdha and without asooya,

Prayojana is the four purushaarthas and the sambandha is made

specific by the above.

Then comes the description of the land of Kosala which is

situated north of Ganga, on the banks of the river Sarayu. It was

prosperous and fertile the residents of which were mudhitha. Happy

and spheetha, rich. While Valmiki only hinted at the splendour of

Kosala, Kamban has gone into raptures and dedicated a whole chapter

for the description of Kosaladesa and its inhabitants. One of the

most beautiful and oft quoted verse of Kamban about Kosala is,

’ thandalai mayilgal aada, thaamarai vilakkam thaanga,

kondalgal muzavin Enga, kuvlai kan viziththu nOkka,

thenthirai ezini kaatta, thembizi makarayaazin

vandugal inidhu paada, marudham veetrirukkum maadhaO.

’ The type of land was called Marudham, fertile agricultural region,

which reigns supreme in Kosala. With plenty of rain one can always

hear the thunder of the clouds sounding like the regal trumpet and

drum, the peacocks are the court dancers, the lotuses are the

carriers of lamps, while the singers are the bees, the kuvalai

flowers are the audience and the curtain for the stage is provided by

the waves of the Sarayu river. Only a vague description can be

provided as the beauty of the poetry can be understood only when it

is read in the original Tamil.

After just one sloka about Kosala Valmiki starts to describe

the city of Ayodhya by three slokas. It was constructed by Manu, the

father of Ikshvaku. The city covered the area of twelve yojanas long

and three yojanas wide.( A yojana is approximately nine miles.) The

streets of Ayodhya were highways, flanked by trees, strewn with

flowers and the city was always cool with enough rains and watered

otherwise. The city as described by Valmiki proves that in ancient

India .city civilization was of a high standard. The houses were

inlaid with precious stones and with barns full of food grains always

filled with the sweet sound of musical instruments.

Valmiki describes the people of Ayodhya. They were

laghuhasthaah, skilled and dexterous, vishaaradhaah, learned and

strong, able to kill wild animals by arrows as well as by

hand, ‘hanthaarah nishithaissastraih balaath baahu balairapi.’. But

they were also noble and desisted from hitting by mere sound na

sabdhavedhyam, even though they could, perhaps learnt their lesson by

the experience of Dasaratha who killed a hermit’s son mistaking him

to be an elephant by the sound and incurred the curse of his parents.

There were no cowards, or orphans or loners in Ayodhya..

Ayodhya means yodhdhum na shakyaa, invincible. Valmiki

indicates the invincibility of the city by saying ‘ dhurgagambheera

parikhaam dhurgham anyaih dhuraasadhaam, surrounded by moats deep and

difficult to cross over and hence inaccessible to others.

The description of the prosperity of the citizens of

Ayodhya by Kamban is interesting. He says,

’kalvaar ilaamaipporul kaavalum illai; yaadhum

kolvaar ilaamaikkoduppaaargalum illai madho.

ellaarum ellaapperunchelvamum eidhalaale

illaarum illai ;udayaargalum illai maadho.

Since there were no robbers there was no police. Since there

was no one to receive there were no givers. Since all were enjoying

all riches there was no one who can be termed as poor nor as rich.