The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode we had witnessed that Mother Sita prays ardently to all the celestial beings including Lord Shiva and Goddess Paarvathi Devi. So as to answer Mother Sita’s prayers, Garuda who is the vehicle of Lord Vishnu and also the king of eagles comes to the battlefield where Rama and Lakshmana have fainted on the ground! Garuda comes and sucks out all the poison from both of them and thus Rama and Lakshmana are up on their feet again!

As the two brothers get up from the ground, the entire Vaanara camp is up on its feet! Slogans of victory are being heard all around the place! This victorious sound somehow reaches Ravana’s palace. Immediately Ravana wants to know from where is this huge sound coming. The messengers come to Ravana with the news that Rama and Lakshmana have not died! They are up and alive and thus the whole Vanara camp is celebrating! Moreover, they are ready to attack Lanka anytime!

Hearing thus, Ravana is stunned! So is Indrajith! As his father looks on at him, Indrajith is embarrassed and his anger knows no bounds! He wants to take on Rama and Lakshmana immediately! However, Ravana stops him. He wants someone else to go for the war. Whom does he send next? It is going to be “Vajradamshtra” – One of the key army chiefs of Ravana. As Vajradamshtra starts out to the battlefield, a fierce war commences again and there are of dead bodies being thrown apart in every direction. There are heavy losses to both sides! Finally as Vajradamshtra nears the core Vaanara group, Angadha decides to take him head on. A fierce fight between the two commences. Here, Angadha proves too good for Vajradamshtra and at one stage, Angadha attacks him with his powerful “Gadha” (One of the main weapons used in warfare during those times) and Vajradamshtra is heavily wounded! Now Angadha picks him up single-handedly, tosses him up and throws him to the other side of the battlefield! Unable to bear the physical fractures, Vajradamshtra falls on the ground dead!

As Angadha emerges victorious, the entire Vaanara camp stands by him and appreciates him for his valour and courageous act! As the news of Vajradamshtra’s death reaches Ravana, he quickly sends the next person from his court – Jumaali. As Jumaali comes out, a huge army of Raakshasaas accompanies him to the battlefield. The war begins again and as Lord Rama and Lakshmana look on, Hanuman goes forward to tackle Jumaali. Since Hanuman has already visited Lanka before, he knows the strengths and particularly the weaknesses of Jumaali. Thus Hanuman knows where and how to attack him. Hanuman waits for Jumaali to inch closer towards him and as he nears him, Hanuman uses his immense and invincible strength to neutralize Jumaali and throws him to death! Unable to withstand the strength of the invincible Hanuman, Jumaali too loses his life!

As yet another Raakshasa loses his life Indrajith cannot stand this anymore. He looks up at his father and requests for another chance to prove his worth. However, Ravana is still not ready to send Indrajith to the battlefield. He now wants his brother Kumbakarna to be woken up!

According to Ravana’s instruction, a huge number of people march towards Kumbakarna’s chamber with the idea of waking him up from his long hibernation! It is a known fact that Kumbakarna is asleep most of the time and it requires a special effort to wake him up from his deep slumber! What happens next? What is Kumbakarna going to do if he wakes up? The action continues in the next episode!

We are currently at a crucial juncture wherein Rama and Lakshmana have fallen down unconscious to Indrajith’s “Naagaasthra”. The poison of the missile is too powerful and intense that it has started to trickle inside their bodies. Every minute is crucial now! If Rama and Lakshmana have to be reviewed, a miracle should happen from nowhere!

At this point, Ravana goes to Ashoka Vana to convey the news to Sita that Indrajith has successfully killed Rama and Lakshmana! He is roaring with laughter as he announces this to Sita! Hearing this, Mother Sita couldn’t believe her ears! She is stunned! How can such a thing ever happen? Is this Ravana way too powerful to accomplish this?

As Sita is coming back to her senses, Ravana proposes to her that he would show the dead bodies of Rama and Lakshmana and she can see it if she wishes to! He forcefully asks her to come with him to see the ghasty sight! Mother Sita at this point is in tears and she is sobbing bitterly! She shouts out helplessly “Oh my dear Rama! Look at what kind of an end has come to you! It is only because of me that you’ve reached such a ghasty end to your life! If you weren’t married to me, maybe you would have led a better life! I have just been a disgrace to your life! It is because of me you’ve suffered and finally how am I going to witness you in this deplorable condition?” At this point, Mother Sita gives in to Ravana’s words and believes that Rama is no more!

As Sita was crying bitterly thus, Ravana makes her to enter into the “Pushpaka Vimana”. Vibhishana’s daughter Trijadha (about whom we’ve already discussed in one of the episodes during Sundara-Kaanda) is accompanying Mother Sita in the “Pushpaka Vimana”. She now consoles Sita and says, “Oh Mother! Please do not believe in Ravana’s words! Rama is very much alive! I’m saying this because if you had become a widow, you would not be able to step into this Pushpaka Vimana at all! This is a divine thing and one cannot step inside this Vimaana if he or she is a widower or a widow!”

Listening to this, Mother Sita gets half of her breath back! Now she slowly gains confidence that her husband is very much alive. Now as she nears the battlefield, she sees Rama and Lakshmana lying on the floor and the entire Vaanara army including Hanuman around them. They are clueless as to what is going to happen next!

At this point, Mother Sita musters up her courage, anger and confidence and prays to Lord Shiva, Goddess Paarvathi (Lord Shiva’s consortium) and all the Celestial Beings! She prays thus – “If it is true that this Sita is a sincere “Pathi-Vrath” and if it true that Rama loves this Sita with all his heart, please protect my beloved husband and bring him back to his normalcy! If Rama has to win over the “Adharma” please make him get up from this state!”

As Mother Sita prays thus, immediately the king of eagles, Lord Garuda responds to her prayers! It is to be remembered that Garuda is the vehicle of Lord Vishnu. (Lord Rama is the incarnate of Lord Vishnu). Seeing his Lord in trouble, Garuda comes from nowhere! He rushes towards his Lord! As it is known that eagles are the enemies of snakes and the eagle has the capacity to neutralize the snake’s poison, Garuda comes near Lord Rama and Lakshmana, sucks out all the poison from their bodies, neutralizes the poison and flies away! What a miracle!

As the poison is getting neutralized, Lord Rama and Lakshmana slowly get back to their senses! They are up and running now! Upon seeing this, the entire Vaanara camp starts rejoicing! They shout slogans of victory upon seeing Rama and Lakshmana getting up from the ground! As Rama gets up, he acknowledges Garuda’s timely help and blesses him! Garuda returns to Vaikunta.

As the Vaanaras are up and excited, they are getting ready to face Ravana and Co. again! For today, we shall also rejoice the “almost re-birth” of Lord Rama and Lakshmana and keep praying for their victory over “Adharma”! Who is going to come to attack the Vaanara army next? What is the next set of events? The action continues in the next episode! 🙂

 

In the previous episode we’ve seen that the war between Rama’s and Ravana’s troops have begun and is getting fiercer by the minute! Eventually we had also seen that this war chugs on for the next seven days and nights continuously without a break!

As the war begins, both the troops try to show their valor by fighting it out with each other. Ravana initially sends one of his able ministers, Brihsastha, who is neutralized by Hanuman and Co. Next comes one of Ravana’s major powerhouses – Indrajith. Also called by the name “Meghanaadha”, he is known for his expertise in illusionary warfare. This means that he can hide is physical form from the vision of the opponent and yet fight with the same amount of valor.

As Indrajith comes for the war, Rama and Lakshmana prepare to take him on. The fight begins and it is a fierce one! Indrajith fires arrows after arrows, which were completely neutralized by Rama and Lakshmana! At one point, Indrajith could not match the valor of Rama and Lakshmana. He starts to realize that he is going to be defeated by them in no time and thinks of a different strategy – Here comes the illusionary tactics!

As the fight is progressing at a brisk pace, Indrajith suddenly disappears from the spot! Upon seeing this, Rama and Lakshmana are taken aback! They did not expect such a cunning tactics! As Indrajith senses that Rama and Lakshmana are clueless, he starts firing powerful arrows towards them! However, given Lord Rama’s invincibility, he still manages to counter Indrajith’s powerful arrows somehow!

Now Indrajith strategizes – “Oh! It is not going to be possible for me to neutralize these two brothers with arrows! The only way to neutralize them is with “Asthras” (missiles)! Which is that “Asthra” that can be employed now? The best “Asthra” that can fit this situation is the “Naagaasthra”, which is extremely powerful and poisonous like that of a cobra!”

Thinking thus, Indrajith chants the manthra of the “Naagaasthra” and fires it at both Rama and Lakshmana! Unable to take it on, both Rama and Lakshmana are tied by this “Naagaasthra” and they fall on the ground! Not only do they fall on the ground, the poison of the missile starts entering into their bodies and it makes them unconscious! As mentioned before, this poison is extremely powerful that it spreads into Rama and Lakshmana rather too quickly before any remedial measure can be taken!

As the two brothers fall on the ground, the entire Vaanara camp rushes towards them! To their utter grief and disbelief, as Hanuman tries to wake up Rama, he doesn’t succeed! Rama and Lakshmana are now completely unconscious! The entire Vaanara army is in despair and clueless as to how to proceed further! They’ve started to taste defeat – That too, so easily!

On the other side, as Rama and Lakshmana fall on the ground unconscious, celebrations begin in the Raakshasa camp! Indrajith is full of victorious laughter! Even though Rama and Lakshmana are just unconscious, Indrajith quickly concludes that he has killed both of them with the “Naagaasthra” and thus straightaway goes to father Ravana to convey the “good news”!

Upon hearing this “good news” from his son, Ravana is overwhelmed! He feels relieved that atlast his enemy has been neutralized – And that too, so easily! The celebrations begin! The first thing that Ravana does now is to convey this news to Sita! He immediately rushes out to the Ashoka Vana and says to Sita, “Oh Sita! Now you have every reason to marry me and be my wife! Rama is no more! Lakshmana is dead! So what are you waiting for? If you want, I shall show you the dead bodies of Rama and Lakshmana lying on the battlefield!!”

Hearing this, Sita is stunned! This was the worst news that she could get at this testing time of her life! Is it true? Does she believe Ravana’s words? What happens next? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out!

 

In the previous episode we had witnessed that Lord Rama is sending Angadha as a messenger to Ravana as a final attempt to broker peace. However, Ravana is not willing to relent from his stance and thus this attempt too met with a deadlock! Now there is no other option other than fighting it out physically!

As Angadha comes back he conveys Ravana’s stance to Rama and thus the decision is made – The war is to commence!

“Gaganam gaganaakaaram saagarah saagaropamam!”

Thus from this point onwards, Vaalmiki Maharishi starts to give a step-by-step accord of the various events that happened during the war. He starts by exclaiming that the build up to the battle is so fierce that even the ocean and the earth and the sky cannot be equal to the magnitude of the battle!

The two sides are getting ready to fight it out. Ravana instructs his troops to follow certain important protocols and similarly Rama and Lakshmana are strategizing their moves to counter Ravana’s troops. There are several gates that lead into Lanka city, as described by Vaalmiki Maharishi. Lord Rama and Sugriva are strategizing as to which gate should be attacked first and who would attack which gate!

As the strategy is planned out, the fierce battle commences. The war goes on for seven continuous days, irrespective of day and/or night! If we compare this with the war that took place in Mahabharata, the war doesn’t happen after sunset. However, the war that we are witnessing here in the Ramayana happens irrespective of day or night!

As the Vaanaras get ready and storm gate after gate, the Raakshasas give it back to them. There is heavy loss of lives on both sides. At one stage, Ravana’s army proves no match to the valor of the Vaanaras’. At this point, the seniors in the team in the likes of Sugriva, Angadha, Hanuman, Jaambhavaan step up their abilities and fight it out. Brihastha (Ravana’s able minister) comes and throws everything that he has got, on the Vaanara army. As the Vaanara army struggles to take him on, Hanuman intervenes and shows his immense strength during the fierce fight. Thus Hanuman’s strength proves no match for Brihastha and his army and thus eventually he gets killed!

As Ravana hears the news that Brihastha has perished, he calls out his son Indrajith to take over the war proceedings. Indrajith is known for his expertise in illusionary warfare. He can fool the enemy with his war tactics and take them on with ease! Indrajith now comes to the battlefield with a huge army to support him. A fierce battle commences between Indrajith and Lord Rama and Lakshmana! Lord Rama’s arrows are so pointed and powerful that Indrajith is unable to withstand it. At this point, it seems that Indrajith is clearly loosing the battle, but however he is now shrewd enough to employ his illusionary powers and suddenly disappears from the place!

As Indrajith disappears, Rama and Lakshmana are not able to trace him out – However, arrows kkeep coming towards them! They can hear Indrajith’s roar of laughter, but are uable to trace out from where is this laughter coming! What happened next? Is Indrajith able to win over Rama and Lakshmana? The action continues in the next episode!

In the previous episode we had witnessed that the bridge is getting constructed in full swing, with the help of Nala and the other Vaanaras and squirrils. The work of building a bridge of 100 yojanas is completed within five days! Such was the speed at which the work took place! Not even a single minute was wasted!

As the bridge is complete, Lord Rama along with Lakshmana and the other Vaanaras march across and finally set their feet in Lanka’s soil! As the entire Vaanara army reaches Lanka, this signals alarm bells for Ravana and Co. Ravana is totally surprised and shocked for a moment that his Lanka is made accessible! Initially he was confident that nobody could access Lanka because of its geographical isolation. But now, this confidence has been breached!

As Lord Rama sets his feet in Lanka, he doesn’t intend to invade the place straight away. He again wants to test if Ravana is ready to broker peace with him. Hence he decides to give him another chance of respite – He again sends a messenger to Ravana. Who is that messenger this time? It’s none other than Angadha himself, who is Sugriva’s deputy!

As Lord Rama turns towards Angadha with this intention, Angadha immediately understands what Rama wants him to do! He immediately sets out for the task and hurries his way into Ravana’s magnificient palace. Thus Angadha presents himself in front of Ravana in his courtroom and starts his narration – He talks about his father, Vaali! As Ravana listens on, he thinks within himselves, “Oh wow! Just a few days back we had one monkey talking about this Vaali! Now there is another with the same story! What’s going on here?” 🙂

As Ravana is feeling the fear building within him, Angadha is now quick enough to change the story. He now talks about a person by name “Kaartha-Veerya”. Angadha narrates this story to Ravana – I shall keep it to a small brief for our readers!

Angadha says to Ravana, “Oh Ravana! There was once upon a time a person by name “Kaartha-Veerya” in the banks of the river Narmadha. He had a thousand hands! He once blocked the whole Narmadha river with his thousand hands! At that time you were offering your prayers to Lord Shiva on the riverbank. Because of Kaartha-Veerya’s blockage, the water in the river started to flow in the reverse direction towards you! You got angry because of this act and hence went to fight out this Kaartha-Veerya. At that time, Kaartha-Veerya held you hostage just like how an insect is held hostage by a human being! Moreover, Kaartha-Veerya ditched you into a cage and kept the cage as an “Exhibition piece” in front of his place and insulted you! I know this Kaartha-Veerya very well, however I wonder if this Ravana is the same guy who was caged by him!”:)

Now Ravana is totally puzzled! Previously Hanuman insulted him by taking Vaali’s name and now this Angadha is insulting him by taking Kaartha-Veerya’s name!

Angadha continues.. “Oh Ravana! Lord Parasuraama destroyed this Kaartha-Veerya with a single arrow! And it was this Parasuraama who was neutralized by our Lord Rama with just a single arrow! And it is with this Lord Rama that you are intending to mess up with! I’ve come here as the second messenger from Rama! I warn you again! Please bring back Sita to Rama! If you don’t follow what I say, you shall meet the same end as what Kaartha-Veerya and Parasurama met with!”

Does Ravana relent atleast now? Does he realize that he is committing blunder after blunder of all sorts? Does he realize that just because of his desire, he is going to hold the entire Lanka as a hostage and destroy the whole city? Let’s wait to find out in the following episodes!

In the previous episode we had witnessed that Samudra Raaja makes his appearance in front of Lord Rama and seeks apology for his delay! In turn, Rama too accepts his apology and asks him for a solution to cross over the ocean to reach Lanka. Accordingly Samudra Raaja gives some important tips as to how to build a bridge across the ocean to cross over. What are those tips? Let us witness them today!

Now Samudra Raaja says,

“Ugra darshana karmaanaha bhavasthathra dasyavaha!

Ayam soumya nalo naama tanayo vishwa karmanaha!!

Yesha sethum mahothsaahaha karothumayi vaanaraha!

Pithraa datthavarasshreemaan preethimaan vishwa karmanaha!!”

From the above two slokas, Samudr Raaja instructs the important technique: “Oh Rama and Sugriva! Amongst your huge group of monkeys, there is one by name “Nala”. If this Nala touches each stone that is to be used to build the bridge, these stones would be able to float in the water and not sink down! Hence oh Lord! Please call upon Nala and you may start the work immediately!”

Now that the technique is loud and clear, all the Vaanaras gear up to explore the places nearby from where they would get hard rocks. They go about in different directions to explore through mountains, cliffs and hills to unearth huge rocks from there to build the bridge. There is now a huge chain of monkeys aligned one after the other, passing all the stones one by one from the source to the destination. Since innumerable monkeys are involved in the task, the job gets done in a jiffy! Nala stands at the edge of the shore near the water, and as each of the stone passes through him, he touches them with his hands and passes it by! As per the words of “Samudra Raaja” and to their utter amazement, as Nala touches each stone and gives, every stone starts to float in the water!

Thus, one set of monkeys start breaking down cliffs and mountains to unearth the stones. Another group of monkeys start to pass each stone to the shore through the “monkey-chain” 🙂 One set of monkeys started to assemble the stones over the water. As the monkeys are busy building the bridge, the squirrels that are present in the vicinity start to think within themselves, “Oh wow! These monkeys are doing a lethargic work! The stones are here, but who will pave them on the water together? Let’s all do it together!” Thus the squirrels also involve themselves in the “Raama-Kainkarya” (Service to Bhagawan). It is very important to note here that even animals are actively involving themselves in the service to the Lord! Where are we? What are we human beings doing today?

Thus the squirrels enter into the water, wet their backs, go into the sand, roll over and comes in between each stone and spreads the sand from their backs! What a service! As the squirrels do this, they look up to the monkeys and say, “Oh Monkeys! You are all doing the job very slow! Push through all the stones quickly!” Hearing this, Hanuman is surprised and he asks back, “Who is asking whom? Look who is commanding us!”

Upon this, one of the squirrels lifts its head up and replies Hanuman, “Oh Monkey! What you’re saying is wrong! The one who paves is the boss and the ones who transport the materials are the subordinates! It is for this reason that we are pressurising you! Here, you monkeys are the subordinates of us because you are transporting all the rocks and stones and we are the bosses here because we are paving the stones! Hence, bring all the stones quickly without wasting even a minute!” Hearing this from these small squirrels Hanuman is heart-touched! “This is what is Bhakthi! My Bhakthi towards Rama is never going to be equal to these innocent squirrls’!” Thus, the squirrels’ level of devotion overwhelms Hanuman!

Now Vaalmiki Maharishi explains the time taken for the construction to be completed – Day 1: 14 Yojanas, Day 2: 20 Yojanas, Day 3: 21 Yojanas, Day 4: 22 Yojanas and Day 5: 23 Yojanas! Thus a total of 100 Yojanas are covered within just five days!

As the bridge is complete, Lord Rama and Lakshmana are extremely happy with the wonderful efforts from the Vaanaras! Now all of them are ready to cross the ocean through the newly constructed bridge! For today, let us also travel along with Rama, Lakshmana and the Vaanaras across the bridge to reach Lanka! The action continues further in the next episode! 🙂

In yesterday’s episode we witnessed that Lord Rama is praying to “Samudra Raaja” (King of the oceans) for a solution to cross over to reach Lanka. Three days and three nights pass by and Samudra Raaja shows his negligent attitude by not appearing in front of Lord Rama. After the third night is gone, Lord Rama loses patience. He has had enough with Samudra Raaja. He wants to teach Samudra Raaja a fitting lesson! Hence he instructs Lakshmana to bring his bow and powerful arrows quickly. As Lakshmana brings them to him, Rama’s fury knows no bounds! He now locks one powerful arrow in his bow and is ready to let it go and attack the entire ocean!

It is at this point that Samudra Raaja is starting to realize his mistake! He is shaking with fear as to what would be the repercussion of Lord Rama’s powerful arrows! He immediately makes his appearance in front of Lord Rama and apologizes for his folly!

As Samudra Raaja tenders his apologies to Lord Rama, he says thus, “Oh Rama! You’ve pushed me into a paradoxical situation! It is you who had created this world with all the mighty oceans. Till this moment, nobody has ever thought about constructing a path across an ocean to reach another land mass! This is the first time that such a miracle is being prayed for – And that too, by the Creator himself! I did not know how to react to your prayer and thus I hesitated to appear in front of you all this while!”

“Yeva mukthvaa thu dhanushpaanihi krodha vispaarudekshinkaha!

Babhoova raamo dhurdharshaha udaanthaagnir virjvalan!!

Tatho madhyaath samudrasya saagarassvayamurthithaha!!”

Thus, Samudra Raaja bows in front of Lord Rama and seeks apology. However, Lord Rama has already locked a powerful arrow in his bow. Now since Samudra Raaja has apologized, Lord Rama thus says to him, “Oh Samudra Raaja! I’ve locked one arrow in my bow and this cannot be left as such! Hence, tell me if you have any enemy and this shall go and destroy that person!”

As Vaalmiki Maharishi views this scene, he himself was surprised! He thinks within himself “Oh wow! Only now I know that even Rama is a liar!”

Vaalmiki Maharishi could not understand how Lord Rama quickly changed his stance! Till now, he was furious with Samudra Raaja and suddenly he now says that this arrow is not meant for destroying him but his enemy! This is the significance of “Sharanagathi”! Now Samudra Raaja surrenders unconditionally to Lord Rama and look how Lord Rama changes his stance!

From this episode thus, the important message for all of us is that, if we truly surrender to Bhagawan’s feet, He is ready to change anything and everything for us! All what Bhagwan checks is that are we true in our heart while approaching Him! Now Rama says,

“Amohoyam mahaa baanaha kasmin deshe nipaathyathaam!

Raamasya vachanam shurthvaa thancha drishtvaa mahaacharam!!

Dhruma kullya ithihkyaathaha lokekshyaatho yathaa bhavaan!!”

Thus Samudra Raaja replies back, “Oh Rama! In the north-west of India there is a place called “Dhruma-Kulyam” and there is a holy sea that borders it. In that place there are innumerable people who drink that holy seawater and inflict lot of troubles for me. Hence you may focus your arrow on that direction and destroy that entire place!”

Thus according to Samudra Raaja’s words, Rama turns towards the north western direction, flexes his bow and releases the arrow towards “Dhruma-Kulyam”. The arrow travels the whole of India, reaches “Dhruma-Kulyam”, destroys those people who were creating trouble and protects the sea that borders that place.

Thus, Samudra Raaja is extremely happy that Lord Rama has finally protected him and most importantly accepted is apology and surrender! He now shows Rama and Co. the way to build the bridge across the ocean towards the east, from the town of Rameshwaram (Velaavanam). What is that way? What is the method in which the bridge construction is going to take place? Who are those going to be involved in the construction? The action continues in the next episode! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed that Lord Rama and Vibhishana meet each other and Vibhishana subsequently announces his unconditional surrender to Lord Rama. Accordingly Lord Rama too accepts Vibhishana as his sixth brother, after Lakshmana, Bharata, Shathrughna, Guha and Sugriva. In due course of the last episode we also witnessed that Rama coronates Vibhishana to Lanka’s throne as Ravana’s successor, well in advance!

Moving on now, the debate restarts as to how to cross over to Lanka from here. Sugriva starts the discussion and Lord Rama immediately tells Sugriva, “Go and ask Vibhishana for a solution for this!” Accordingly, Sugriva goes to Vibhishana to ask his idea on this, and the reply that Vibhishana gave to Sugriva, shocked him completely! What was that reply? Vibhishana says,

“Samudram raaghavo raja sharanam gaththumarhathi!!”

Vibhishana says, “Oh Sugriva! If we’ve to cross the ocean by foot, ask Rama to surrender and pray to Samudra Raaja!” Sugriva was caught off guard with this reply – He thinks, “If this Vibhishana announces complete surrender (“Sharanaagathi”) towards our Lord Rama, how can he ask Lord Rama to surrender to somebody else? Is this the right approach to take?” Sugriva is confused now!

As Lord Rama listens to Vibhishana’s idea, he decided to pray to “Samudra Raaja” (It is to be remembered that Samudra Raaja is the king of the oceans). Thus, Lord Rama commences his austere prayers towards Samudra Raaja. Lord Rama in himself is an ocean of “Kalyaana Gunaas” and this ocean is praying to another ocean of salt water!

Thus Rama lies down on the shore of the ocean, keeps his head on the shore and commences his prayers towards “Samudra Raaja” for a solution to cross over the ocean. Lord Rama spreads the grass (Dharba) on the floor and thus places his head on the “Dharba” and commences his prayers. This is why we can witness even in the modern day, that there is a famous Vishnu temple by name “Dharba Shayana Perumaal” at the present day town of “Thiruppullaani” near Rameshwaram in the south-Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Now Lord Rama is in the form of “Dharba-Shayana-Perumal” in Thiruppullaani and is praying towards “Samudhra Raaja” for three days and three nights continuously non-stop! Does Samudhra Raaja respond to Lord Rama’s “Sharanaagathi” and ardent prayers? He does not! Samudra Raaja did not care a damn to respond to Lord Rama’s ardent prayers! He never even cared to acknowledge Rama’s call!

Thus, Lord Rama is unfazed and continues his prayer. However, by the end of the third night, he loses his patience. He has had enough now! He quickly realizes that “Sharanaagathi” and prayers are not going to work anymore and it is the time to take the stick in hand! Now Lord Rama is clearly getting angry at the negligence attitude of Samudhra Raaja and he immediately searches for his long and powerful bow and arrows. He looks at Lakshmana with all his anger-filled eyes and says, “Oh Lakshmana! Bring my bow and arrows immediately! I’m going to evaporate all the water in this ocean with my powerful arrows and let all the monkeys march towards Lanka by land!”

As Rama is in anger, Lakshmana’s anger is double as that of Rama’s! He quickly rushes to the storehouse, picks up Rama’s powerful bow and a set of arrows and brings them to his brother in a jiffy! Rama takes the bow in his hand and locks one powerful arrow in it! He is now at his peak of anger and is determined to take “Samudhra Raaja” head-on!

What happens now? Does “Samudra Raaja” learn his lesson, or does he still remain lethargic? Does he appear in front of Lord Rama and apologize? The action continues in the next episode! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed that Lord Rama has managed to finally convince Sugriva and asks him to bring Vibhishana. Sugriva finally relents from his stance and goes to call for Vibhishana to meet Lord Rama. The moment Vibhishana sees Rama, he is moved to tears and directly falls on his feet! He now says, “Oh Rama! From this day onwards, I’m yours! I’ve sacrificed all my family, luxuries, etc. in Lanka and I have come to be your devotee! Please accept me!”

“Bhavath gatham me raajyancha jeevithancha sukhaani cha!

Tyakthvaa puthraam cha dhaaraam cha raaghavam sharanam gathaha!!”

This is the most important sloka of this entire episode wherein Vibhishana announces his complete and unconditional surrender to Lord Rama’s feet!

As Vibhishana utters these important words with tears, Lord Rama lifts him up and signals his acceptance with his beaming smile. Vibhishana is happy that at last after all these trials and tribulations that he had faced all his life, he is now able to meet Lord Rama and announce his surrender!

In turn, Lord Rama is also extremely happy that at last he is able to grant the unconditional surrender to one of his most ardent devotees! As Rama accepts Vibhishana’s surrender he is so pleased with him that he goes on to coronate Vibhishana as the successor of Ravana to Lanka’s throne!

“Abhisikhsicha lankaayaam raakshasendram vibheeshanam!

Kruthakruthyastathaa raamaha vijjuraha pramamodha ha!!”

Thus Vaalmiki Maharishi is himself shocked and surprised as he writes and that’s why he uses the term “Ha” in the last portion of the above sloka! Why is Vaalmiki Maharishi surprised here? It should be noted that at this stage, Rama hasn’t even crossed over to Lanka, he hasn’t fought Ravana yet and is yet to kill him. Even then, he coronates Vibhishana to the throne of Lanka! How is this possible? Is Rama really a “Paramaathma” (Bhagawan) or “Jeevaathma” (like all of us)? It is proved here itself that Rama is a “Paramaathma” because he has coronated Vibhishana to the throne of Lanka even before the war has happened! This means that Lord Rama knows what is going to happen in the future to come and he has anticipated already that Ravana is going to be killed and it is he himself who is going to do that very soon!

Thus, Lord Rama, Lakshmana, Sugriva and Hanuman join together and coronate Vibhishana to Lanka’s throne in advance! Now Vibhishana tells Rama, “Oh Rama! This is not what I wanted from you! I have not come to you to become the king of Lanka! I have come to you to be with you and to surrender myself at your feet with all my devotion! When your brother Bharata came to Chitrakoota, you had kept your footwear on his head and blessed him! Similarly I have also come to you to seek such a wonderful and a priceless blessing from you!”

Hearing these tear-filled and emotional words from Vibhishana, Lord Rama is also moved into tears of joy and happiness. He wants to fulfill Vibhishana’s wish then and there! Hence he takes his feet and places them on Vibhishana’s head, thus accepting him completely as his devotee!

“Katham saagaram akshobhyam paraama varunaalayam!

Chainnyah parivrithaassarve vaanaraanaam mahaujasaam!!”

Now Lord Rama proclaims in front of everyone: “Dear all! From this minute, this Rama is accepting Vibhishana as his sixth brother, after Lakshmana, Bharatha, Shathrughna, Guha and Sugriva!” It is to be remembered that Rama as already accepted Guha and Sugriva as his brothers during different stages of the Ramayana.

Saying thus, Rama looks at Vibhishana’s tear-filled eyes with all his mercy and love! Vibhishana too acknowledges Bhagawan’s love and blessing by bowing to Him with all his devotion! For today, let Vibhishana enjoy the bliss of Rama’s love and blessing! We shall also stand by Vibhishana to enjoy Bhagawan’s unending bliss! We shall wait till the next episode for the action to continue further! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed that Lord Rama has heard the arguments from both Sugriva and Hanuman and is about to take his decision. Meanwhile Rama has understood that it is only because of the fear that Vibhishana might act as a spy and he might pose a serious threat to his life. Thus Rama is trying to convince Sugriva by explaining his invincible strengths to him. In this way, Lord Rama is trying to boost Sugriva’s courage by assuring him that none in this world is capable of defeating and killing Rama!

Thus Lord Rama replies Sugriva, “Oh Sugriva! You’re saying that Vibhishana has come for a selfish motive of succeeding the Lanka kingdom after Ravana’s death. Isn’t it? So be it! Let him rule Lanka! What’s our problem in that? If Ravana is dead, it means that we are going to get back Mother Sita! This is our primary aim! After Mother Sita is back with us, how are we to bother if Vibhishana or someone else rules Lanka? Moreover, according to our great Ikshvaaku Dynasty’s “Dharma”, even if an enemy comes in front of you and seeks refuge (for whatever reason), it is our duty to accept him! Now Sugriva! If I do not accept Vibhishana, I would end up disobeying the righteous path of our clan!”

On hearing this from Lord Rama, Sugriva is in tears of joy! He thinks within himself for a moment, “Oh wow! This Rama is such a righteous person!” Here, Sugriva equates the relationship between Vibhishana and Ravana (two brothers) and Vaali and Sugriva himself (Again two brothers)! Now he thinks, “Are relationships between brothers so dangerous that one kills the other for a selfish motive?”

As Sugriva thinks thus for just a split of a second, again Rama realizes Sugriva’s thought process and immediately changes his reply!

“Na sarve bhraatharasthaatham bhavanthi bharathopamaaha!”

Rama continues, “Oh Sugriva! Please don’t think like that! Relationship between brothers is such a divine thing! I have a brother by name Bharata and he is an epitome of this! No brother in this world can equal the sacrifice and love exhibited by Bharata!”

It might be surprising for us that, with Lakshmana by his side, Rama is praising Bharata who is so many kilometres away from this place! Why is that so? If we remember our first few episodes, I had insisted that “Paarathanthryam” form of Bhakthi (Devotion) is one step higher and significant than “Seshathvam” form of Bhakthi. Bharata is always a person who acts only according to Lord Rama’s wish and this is why “Paarathanthryam” is always more significant.

Thus here also we are seeing that, because of this significance Bharata has a special place in Lord Rama’s heart! It is only due to this significance, Lord Rama is trying to bring out Bharata’s speciality for all of us to understand!

As Sugriva listens to all this, again he has a small thought within himself within the split of a second: “Oh! This Rama always keeps talking about himself, his family and his brothers only!” The moment this thought flashes in Sugriva’s mind, Rama again changes his reply immediately, “Oh Sugriva! If there should be a good friend in this world, it should be you! You have proved that a friend in need is a friend indeed! You are an epitome of friendship!”

Sugriva is totally surprised upon hearing this! He is completely taken aback by Lord Rama’s righteous but smart replies! Thus now, Sugriva is totally convinced and he has understood what is Lord Rama’s intent! He understands and realizes that Lord Rama does not reject anyone who comes to him for surrender! He did not abandon me! Hence he should not abandon Vibhishana too!

Thus Rama finally announces his decision: “Oh Sugriva! You’ve told that Vibhishana is a bad person. Hanuman has told that Vibhishana is a good person. I’m not going to accept both of your arguments – I’m going to consider one portion from what you’ve said and one portion from what Hanuman has said!”

“Doshoyadhyabhi tasyasyaath sathaametath anarhitham!!”

Rama announces his decision finally: “I’m telling now – I will accept Vibhishana even if he is a bad person!”

Thus, this becomes a landmark decision of Lord Rama in the entire Ramayana story – He accepts even Raakshasaas who come to him with unconditional surrender! This is the speciality of Bhagawan! For today, let’s ponder upon this important point and digest this within us. We shall wait for the next episode to find what happens next! 🙂