desire 23

[Guest guest]

Dear sri vaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

 

We are discussing on slOkam

"apaapah paapa sankalpaam dhadharsa dharaNeethalE | 2-10-24 a"

on subject - dhasaratha entering the palace of kaikEyee, saw she was lying down on floor, and why he went to kaikEye's palace is - he wanted to inform kaikEyee about raama's coronation first, than 'raama's mother and senior queen' kousalya.

 

We also points a, and b, on this slokam together with slokam 2-10-23. Continuing point c

 

Point c. While dhasaratha decided to crown raama, see how vaalmeeki places on record intention of dhasaratha – of not calling kEkaya raja and janaka --

 

na thu kEkaya raajaanam janakam vaa naraadhipah || 2-1-46

thvarayaa cha aanayaamaasa paschaath thou srOshyathah priyam |

 

meaning: The hurried Dhasaratha did not call for the king Kekaya, the maternal uncle of Bharatha or the King Janaka as he thought they both could hear the good news even afterwards.

 

Point is - kEkaya raja [being maamanaar – father in law of dhasaratha] and janaka mahaa raja [being a sambandhi – raama's maamanaar] were not invited.

 

Was dhasaratha really in a hurry all of a sudden?

Actually NO.

As per seethaa's statement to raavaNa and hanumaan later – "12 years passed off after raama's marriage. In 13th year only coronation was proposed by dhasaratha, my father in law".

 

So it is NOT due to real hurry that both these were not invited, but really it happened so. Because he has invited so many kings and people of ayodhyaa, had a long consultation with them praising raama, in turn they praise raama and finally all agreed for coronation.

 

d. The 3 commentators comment on the slokam line 'apaapah' – as

§ apaapah – the sinless dhasaratha, kaikEyee and raama,

§ dharaNeethalE – in the world

§ paapa sankalpaam dhadharsha – saw the sin embodiment raavaNa

viz. thought about the raavaNa vadha kaaryam of raama and decided accordingly to send raama to forest. [but that is more from the 'after effects angle' and not a direct meaning or comment].

 

Incidentally I also get a doubt and invite bhaagavathaas to comment. The doubt arose out of reading this slokam 2-1-46.

did seethaa, at least once, go to her 'pirandha veedu' – to father janakaa's house

– after her marriage,

– during the 14 years of forest life during which her abduction and raavaNa's killing happened,

– after raama pattabhishEkam and living for nearly 10000 years [for lava and kusa were young boys when they sing raamaayanam in front of raama the king in the throne during the aswamEdha yagnam – out of 11000 years of raama's rule]

– till she took off by going into mother earth's lap.

 

Continuationof of dhasaratha's kaamam story: king dhasaratha, since he is kaama laden, is promising on raama and says kaikEyee is his dearmost and second to raama. So she wants to push raama out so that she can be no. 1, [without realizing the consequences] -

 

avalipthE na jaanaasi thvaththah priyatharO mama |

manujO manuja vyaaghraadh raamaadh anyah na vidhyathE || 2-11-5

 

meaning: dhasaratha to kaikEyee - Oh, proud woman! Don't you know that there is nobody on this earth more dearer to me than you, except Raama, the best among men.

 

Point: see again – dhasaratha also says 'oh keikEyee, you are a proud woman' – earlier we have seen raama, then bharatha, now dhasaratha. So she must be basically a woman of high pride.

 

thEna ajayyEna mukhyEna raaghavENa mahaathmanaa |

sapE thE jeevana arhENa broohi yan manasaa ichchhasi || 2-11-6

 

meaning: Raama cannot be defeated by enemies. He is a very important person in our family. He is the supporter of life and a high souled man. I take oath by him. Tell me what is desired by you " .

 

yam muhoortham apasyamsthu na jeeveyam aham dhruvam |

thEna raameNa kaikEyee sapE thE vachanakriyaam || 2-11-7

 

meaning: Oh, KaikEyee! I can't live even for a moment without seeing Raama. This is certain. By that Raama, I am taking my oath and promising to fulfill your word.

 

Point: see how dhasaratha puts forth his statements – without seeing raama he cannot live even for a moment – on such a raama – dhasaratha promises and what kaikEyee wants is 'that raama' to be sent to forest for 14 years. So both dhasaratha and kaikEyee are on the losing side due to their individual kaamam.

 

aathmanO jeevithEna api broohi yan manasa ichchhasi |

balam aathmani jaananthee na maam sankithum arhasi || 2-10-35

karishhyaami thava preethim sukruthEna api thE sapE |

 

meaning: dhasaratha continues his assurances - Tell me that which is desired by your mind to be achieved even at the cost of my life. You need not suspect me, as you very well know your authority over me. I keep my oath on my righteousness that I shall certainly do whatever is liked by you " .

 

Point: knowingly or unknowingly dhasaratha places words which are going to come true in a short while – even at the cost of my life – yes – her words are going to cost him his life.

 

We will continue in next post how vaalmeeki uses the same two words – 'kaama' and 'mohitham' and thereby creates a sympathy - from kaama to sympathy – karuNai.

 

Dhasan--

Vasudevan MG