Ramayana of Valmiki and Kamban-Ayodhyakanda-(.Sita's resolve

May 13, 2008

Dear Sarojamji,

I thoroughly enjoy your writing of Sree krishna karnaamrutham and this

Raamaayanam. Actually I went to the web and saw your Sree Krishna

Karnaamrutham on the web and reading and discussing that with my

sister in Bangalore on google talk. Both of us go to the web and open

the page and we are doing sloka by sloka. I have another old book with

malayalam meaning (which is now out of print) and we read that too. We

are enjoying this very much. I want to express my deep gratitude to

you for sharing this with all of us.

Also your explanation of the words and their different meanings makes

it very interesting. We have reached sloka 14 now.

Seetha's logic to let her go with Rama to the forest is very

interesting. Breaking of 14 years to 1+3+10 by her also gives food for

thought.

regards and prayers

Savitri

On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 5:51 AM, sarojram18 <sarojram18 wrote:

9. Seetha's resolve

>

> Rama went to his palace to see Seetha and he could now conceal his feelings

> and seeing his face Seeha asked him the reason why he was not dressed as the

> prince to be crowned and also had lost his luster. Rama told her what

> happened and said that he will be going to the forest for fourteen years and

> asked her to be brave and follow austerities after he has gone and to show

> her respect to the king and to his mother and treat Bharatha and Sathrugna

> as brothers. Hearing that Seetha was shocked not because Rama was going to

> the forest but because he told her to stay back. Kamban describes this

> beautifully.

>

> thurandhupOm enacchotRa sol thERumO

>

> uraindha paaRkadal sekkai udan ore

>

> aram thiRambum enRu ayyan ayotthiyil

>

> piRandhapinbum piriyalaL aayinaaL

>

> When the Lord left the milky ocean and incarnated as Rama to protect dharma,

> Lakshmi came along with Him as Seetha to lend Him a hand in all His

> activities as His inherent power(shakthi). Hence how could she bear the

> words of Rama who asked her to stay behind?

>

> Here we find that Seetha explains the dharma of a wife to Rama. She said

> that all other relations, father, mother, brother, son etc. follow their own

> karma and experience its results but the wife alone shares the result of

> karma of her husband. Hence when Rama was ordered to go to forest it

> includes her also. As though to ward off any doubt in his mind that how

> could he follow the dharma of a hermit if she came along, Seethaa says,

> `SuSrooshamaaNaa the nithyam niyathaa brahmachaariNee,' that she will be a

> celibate and not disturb his ascetic life.

>

> Rama tried to change her mind by enumerating the hardships and dangers of

> the life in forest but she said that with Rama by her side no one or nothing

> can harm her in the forest and about the hardships of living in the forest

> she said no difficulty would be harder that his separation. In Kamban,

> Seetha says,

>

> Parivu igandha mantthodu pattrilaadhu

>

> oruvuginRanai oozi arukkanum

>

> eriyum enbadhu yaanDaiyadhu eendu nin

>

> pirivinum sudumo perunkaadu enRaaL

>

> She chides Rama that he was talking without any love for her and asks him

> whether the forest or even the Sun at the time of deluge will burn her more

> that the separation from him.

>

> In Valmiki Ramayana, Seetha is of more forceful character.. After she told

> Rama that it was the forecast of astrologers that she would have to live in

> the forest for sometime and the time had come now, seeing him relentless

> she said what no man wishes to hear from his wife!

>

> kim thvaam amanyatha vaidhehaH pitha me miThilaaDhipaH

>

> raama jaamaatharam praapya sthriyam purushavigraham

>

> " Did my father, the king Janaka thought that he was getting as his son in

> law a woman in a man's garb? "

>

> Finally she said that she could not bear separation from him even for a

> moment. Hence how could she be away from him for one , three and ten years.

> It is significant that she said one plus three plus ten years instead of

> saying fourteen . Kaikeyi said 9+5 in order to make it sound less harsh,

> maybe, but Seetha had every reason to make it appear formidable. But she

> said 1+3+10 because, she was the divine mother who had come to play the

> part in the incarnation and implied that she was going to live in Lanka for

> one year, three years in Panchavati and ten years in Dandakaranya. Probably

> it was to remind Rama his purpose of incarnation because Rama said, 'yath

> srshtaaasi mayaa saarDham vanavaasaaya maithil, na vihaathum mayaa sakyaa

> preethih aathmavathaamayaa.,' meaning that shea was created to go to the

> forest with him and he could not possibly leave her behind her who is dear

> to him like his own self.

>

May 14, 2008

Dear Savithri puram, Thank you for your comments.It is the satifaction i of ateacher toknow that he students are benefitted by hid teaching and of he writer that his writings are appreciated. No money or reward can bring this satsfaction. Guruvayurappan has blessed me with these two rewards for my work which I do as a bhagavtkainkarya. Nay it is His doing who created a situation for me to post what litle I know ans also have given me the capacity to write what I feel. My only w ish is to finish all the owrk I have started in His service and have no other desire to reman on this earth. saroja Ramanujam Dr. Saroja Ramanujam, M.A., Ph.D, Siromani in sanskrit. www.freewebs.com/asrama3