desire 19

[Guest guest]

Dear sri vaishNava

perunthagaiyeer,

 

We saw in last post kaikEyee

asking mantharaa her servantmaid, 'what is the means by which bharatha can be

crowned?' That also indicate her mind is slowly caught on the 'desire' and that

came as a result of mantharaa touching her pride – ref slokam 'dharpaan

niraakrutha poorvam' in 2-8-37.

 

KaikEyee reiterates again to

mantharaa --

kathaya thvam mama upaayam kEna upaayEna mantharE |

bharathah praapnuyaath raajyam na thu raamah

kathamchana || 2-9-9

 

meaning: " O Manthara! Tell me the trick by

which Bharata will get the kingdom and Rama will not get it under any

circumstances. "

 

Point: see

previously she said in slokam 3 of same sargam 9 - " O Manthara! What is

the means by which Bharata will get the kingdom but Rama will not get it by any

method? Think about it now. "

 

So it was 'think'. That is changed to 'tell me now'

– In sanskrit earlier it is sampasya - now – kathaya. It means she has decided

to implement the suggestion as it comes. By this, she expresses the changes in

her mental attitude. Also that sentence of 'after 100 years let bharatha get

the kingdom' is all a thing of past – wants the kingdom right now. All these

happen because she is touched upon her sensitivities by manthara.

 

See another slokam --

baala Eva hi maathulyam bharathah naayithah thvayaa

|

sannikarshaah cha souhaardham jaayathE sthaavareshu

api || 2-8-28

 

meaning: manthara says to kaikEyee, "You sent

Bharatha to his maternal uncle's house even in his childhood. By being nearer,

love is born even on inanimate objects. By sending Bharatha to a distant place,

you made Dhasaratha to have no affection towards him. "

 

Point: By this, manthara is driving home in kaikEyee's

mind, another mistake committed by her – of sending bharatha to maternal grand

parents place - her 'pirandha veedu' – to kEkaya raajyam – in childhood itself,

not only after marriage – as stated in baala kaaNdam sargam 77 and ayodhya

kaaNdam sargam 1 - first and second slokams.

 

See that baala kaaNdam slokam – [this may not be so

much connected with our topic of desire but to give emphasis on facts this

helps.]

 

ayam kEkaya raajasya puthrah vasathi puthraka ||

1-77-16

thvaam nEthum aagathah veerah yudhaajith maathulah

thava |

 

meaning: dhasaratha says to bharatha [and satrughna]

" This is your maternal uncle and the son of king of kEkaya, and this

valiant Yudhaajith came here to take you to kEkaya province, and he is staying

behind because of your marriage... " thus Dhasharatha bade farewell to

Bharatha suggesting that Bharatha may now go with Yudhaajith.

 

Point continuation: Thus kaikEyee kept her son

slightly away from getting father's love and attention in a good measure – that

is what mantharaa accuses kaikEyee – again this asthram also acts verily on

kaikEyee. Mantharaa is able to turn tables against kaikeyee and thus make her

obey on her point of asking kingdom for bharatha.

 

Another 'human behavioural aspect' is also described

beautifully by manthraa here – 'By being nearer, love is born even on inanimate

objects'.

 

Dear readers – think – how we get attached to a

place of living and things like that – some even go to the extent of saying

"uyir pOnaa kooda indha idaththilEyE pOgattum" meaning -"when life separates

from body, let it be from this place" – to that extent – attachment developes.

 

So mantharaa plays on that – "by keeping bharatha

away from king oh kaikEyee – you only made king to be somewhat partial towards

bharatha". Thus kaikEyee was made to succumb to desire of her son getting the

kingdom and denying raama the crown.

 

See how vaalmeekee places that on record --

anartham artha roopENa graahithaa saa thathasthayaa

|| 2-9-36

hrishTaa pratheethaa kaikEyee mantharaam idam

abraveeth |

 

meaning: KaikEyee, being brain-washed an unworthy

matter as the most worthy matter by Mantharaa, accepted her well and having

delighted, spoke to her as follows

 

saa hi vaakyEna kubjaayaah kisOri iva uthpatham gathaa |

kaikEyee vismayam praapthaa param paramadarsanaa || 2-9-37

 

meaning: Though of right thinking in nature, Kaikeyi

was very much surprised to hear Manthara's words and like a small girl, got

into a wrong path.

 

Dear readers, keep aside the dhEva kaaryam of

killing raavaNa, somebody has to get blames, some body to be blamed for

plotting for that etc, just see the human touches, human aspects and

behavioural points in these areas of raamaayaNam. And how on desire of one,

however right thinking that one may be, or however attached one may be to

another, by some provoking cross thoughts, how one gets carried -- is all the

things to learn in this kaikEyee character.

 

Let us see mantharaa's 'desire' and how she praises

raama in next post.

 

Dhasan

-- Vasudevan MG