[Guruvayur/Guruvayoor] Ramayana of Valmiki and Kamban-thanks

[Guest guest]

HARI AUM

 

Getting to read even these tit bits from the great

epic is really a blessing. There are a lot to learn

about human nature from these 'ithihasa'.

 

Thanks Sarojaji for the beautiful commentories.

 

Regards

 

Balagopal

 

NARAYANA NARAYANA NARAYANA

 

 

 

--- sarojram18 <sarojram18 wrote:

 

>

> 4. The machinations of Manthara

>

>

>

> jnAthidhAsee yatho jAthA kaikeyyAsthu sahoshithA

>

> prAsAdham chandrasamkASam Aruroha yadhrcchayA

> (VR.Ayod. 7.1)

>

>

>

> Manthara climbed the stairs of the palace of

> Kaikeyi and went to the

> top floor balcony by chance. Valmiki refers to

> Manthara as yatho jAthA,

> born somewhere, implying the person herself is of

> less importance than

> her action. She was jnathidhAsee, servant and

> relative of Kaikeyi and

> lived with her , sahoshithA. Valmiki says that she

> climbed the stairs

> accidentally, yadhrcchayA. But it was not yadhrcchA

> but eesvara icchA.

> Whatever we consider as accidental in this world are

> not so. More often

> than not, important events that cause great effects

> in our lives happen

> by accidents only which shows that though they seem

> to be accidental

> happenings to us because we never planned for it,

> they are by the will

> of the Lord.

>

> There were two women whose actions served as the

> turning points in the

> epic. One is Manthra and the other is Surpanakha,

> who also like Manthara

> , chanced to come that way and saw Rama. Thus

> Manthara gave the initial

> push towards the fulfillment of the purpose of the

> incarnation and

> Surpanakha was responsible for the finale of the

> drama.

>

>

>

> Manthara saw that the whole city of Ayoodhya was in

> festive mood and

> asked a maid who was near, about the cause for it.

> Manthara saw Kousalya

> distributing gifts to all which was surprising as

> she was usually a

> thrifty lady and this caused suspicion that the

> king was doing

> something behind the back of Kaikeyi. She figured

> that whatever caused

> joy to Kousalya would be detrimental to the

> interests of Kaikeyi! She

> mentioned the name of Kousalya as Ramamata, mother

> of Rama and arTha

> parA, who is money -minded , which showed her

> hatred towards Rama as

> well as Kousalya.

>

>

>

> The maid gleefully told her the cause of the festive

> preparations and

> the next moment Manthara descended the steps

> hurriedly and went to

> Kaikeyi, her face a picture of anger and hatred. She

> spoke to Kaikeyi

> who was resting in her bed thus:

>

> utthishTa mooDe kim Seshe bhayam thvAm abhivarthathe

>

> upaplutham aghoughena kim AthmAnamna buDhyase

> (VR.Ayod.7-14)

>

>

>

> “Get up you fool! You are lying in bed without

> knowing that there

> is a great calamity awaiting you followed by a

> series of

> misfortunes.â€

>

>

>

> Manthara told Kaikeyi that she was under the

> illusion that she has the

> exclusive love of the king but who was not sincere

> and cunningly

> arranged the coronation of Rama while Bharatha was

> away. Valmiki calls

> Manthara as vAkyaviSAradhA, clever in speech. She

> abused the king as

> being outwardly truthful but in reality deceitful

> and wicked. Acting as

> though Kaikeyi was his dearest wife he was going to

> favour Kousalya by

> crowning Rama.

>

>

>

> Kaikeyi, rising from her bed like the Moon from the

> autumn clouds,

> became delighted to hear the news and gave Manthra

> a rich ornament and

> told her that she was overjoyed to hear about the

> coronation of Rama

> since he was as dear to her as Bharatha. Kaikeyi

> thus spoke like a lady

> of noble birth who possessed good qualities and told

> Manthara to ask for

> whatever she wanted for telling her the goodnews.

>

>

>

> But it was the divine will that Rama should go to

> forest to fulfil the

> avatarakarya, namely to destroy the rakshasas and

> Ravana and hence the

> pure mind of Kaikeyi was slowly poisoned by

> Manthara thus.

>

>

>

> Manthara told Kaikeyi that it was ridiculous that

> she rejoiced with the

> news which meant harm to her and her son. Bharatha

> was the only rival to

> Rama being the next in succession and so, if Rama

> became the king he

> would try to get rid of Bharatha. Thus she first

> created fear in the

> mind of Kaikeyi for the safety of her son and then

> flung the final

> missile that if Rama became the king Kousalya would

> become all powerful

> and Kaikeyi would be reduced to an inferior

> position. Thus she kindled

> the envy of Kaikeyi towards Kousalya, which was

> working in her mind and

> finally poisoned her mind thoroughly.

>

>

>

> Even then Kaikeyi was not convinced and said that

> she knew Rama very

> well and he was dharmajna, wellversed in dharma,

> guNavAn, virtuous,

> dhAnthaH, self-controlled, sathyavAn, honest and

> Suchih pure. Moreover

> being the eldest son he only deserved the kingdom.

> And further she said

> that Bharatha will inherit the kingdom in due course

> and that Rama was

> more attached to her than to Kousalya.

>

>

>

> Manthara was not to be silenced by the arguments of

> Kaikeyi because she

> was determined to stop the coronation and told

> Kaikeyi that after Rama

> only his son will inherit the kingdom and not

> Bharatha. She said

> Kaikeyi was so innocent that she was quite unaware

> of the royal

> intrigues and it was definite that Rama will try to

> get rid of Bharata

> or even if he allowed him to live, Bharata would be

> no more than a

> servant to Rama. Finally she said that it was

> inevitable that Kousalya

> would become more powerful and Kaikeyi and her son

> would be reduced to a

> state of servitude. She pointed out that Kaikeyi

> committed a big

> mistake in sending Bharatha often to her

> brother’s house and

> hence he was away from the king for a long time and

> thus there was no

> love for him in the heart of Dasaratha, while Rama

> was always the near

> and dear son to him. Finally she reminded Kaikeyi

> that she insulted

> Kousalya many times being arrogant with the love of

> the king towards her

> and Kousalya would certainly take revenge if Rama

> became the king.

> Manthara finished poisoning the mind of Kaikeyi and

> told her to think

> about the means of making Bharatha the king instead

> of Rama.

>

>

>

>

>

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