In the previous episode we witnessed that Rama, Lakshmana and Sita were at Athri-Anasuya Ashram, wherein Athri Bhagawan was interacting with Rama and Anasuya was interacting with Sita. We also witnessed that Anasuya brought some natural flowers and ornaments and decorated Sita with them! Sita was so happy to receive all this from her.
Thus after a few days, they bid farewell to Athri Maharishi and Anasuya and the journey commences again! Rama, along with his wife Sita and Lakshmana start walking towards the southern direction and on the way, they had to confront the first enemy – Viraadha! While walking through their way in the dense forest, Viraadha suddenly appears in front of them with all his might and with a fearful appearance! Within a split of a second, he captures Sita and takes her away, even as Rama and Lashmana look on!
Rama and Lakshmana now muster up their courage and decide to take on Viraadha! A fierce battle followed and eventually Rama and Lakshmana cut off Viraadha’s legs and hands with their sharp and swift arrows! Thus, Viraadha was rendered powerless and Sita is freed from his clutches. Rama and Lakshmana were relieved to a great extent!
Finally Viraadha realizes whom was he fighting with all this long – It was Lord Vishnu Himself! At this moment, Viraadha is grateful to Lord Rama and says, “Oh Rama! A great saint cursed me long back that I would be a demon! Now that you’ve destroyed the demon in me! Thank you for relieving me of my curse of being a demon! Here is your wife Sita! Have a happy time in the forest and I wouldn’t be of any disturbance to you anymore!”
Rama acknowledges Viraadha’s surrender and words and blesses him! From this episode we can know that Lord Rama is compassionate not only towards his Bhaktas (devotees) but also towards his enemies! We’re going to see many more examples like this as we progress further!
We can visit this place of Viraadha even today – When we proceed towards the southern direction and enter the “Dhandakaaranya” forest area, the first stop would be “Viraadha Kundam”! It is even today a complete forest area with lot of wild animals roaming around and is very difficult for human beings like us to access that area!
Now you might all ask me, what is this “Dhandakaaranya”? Where is it located? We shall see the detailed location of this beautiful forest – Imagine the map of India and let us start from “Chitrakoota”. I had already mentioned that “Chitrakoota is located in the state of Madhya Pradesh, the central part of the country. Let’s keep a dot at this place. Now, let’s move further southwards from Chitrakoota towards the state of Maharashtra – Many of us would be knowing the place called Nagpur. There is a place by name “Raamthek” which is around 60 kilometers north of Nagpur. Let’s keep another dot at this place. All of us know Mumbai, which is the capital of Maharashtra. There is a place called Nashik, around 200 kilometers east of Mumbai. Let’s keep the third dot here.
Now, we have three dots – One at Chtrakoota, the second at “Raamthek”near Nagpur and the third one at Nashik. If we join these three dots, we can form a triangle – The area within this triangle is the “Dhandakaaranya” forest area! The main significance of this “Dhandakaaranya forest” is that, numerous great Maharishis resided here and were doing immense penance! Hence it is a divine area!
Thus after defeating Viraadha, Rama, Lakshmana and Sita continue their journey towards the southern direction and enter inside this “Dhandakaaranya forest”. What did Rama do in this place? Whom did Rama meet next? We shall wait till the next episode to find out! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 