The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode we witnessed that Ravana comes to know the condition of Soorpanaka and is shell-shocked! Eventually he vows to take revenge on the perpetuators and thus makes a plan in his mind. Meanwhile, Soorpanaka provokes him by explaining the beauty of Sita and that, Ravana should target Sita to defeat Rama and Lakshmana easily. Finally, Ravana became interested and focused on Sita and how to abduct and marry her! The plan was made!

Thus Ravana sets out immediately from Lanka in his “Pushpaka Vimaana” (it’s very interesting to note that the concept of an aircraft was known even in those days!) and reach a place, which is at some distance from Panchavati and Janasthaana. He straightaway goes to meet Maareecha, who is one of his uncles. It should be remembered by the readers at this point that it was this Maareecha whom Rama chased and pushed into the ocean while killing Shubaahu. It might be remembered that this incident had happened when Rama and Lakshmana were with Sage Vishwaamithra on the way to Mithilapuri. Thus, this same Maareecha manages to escape and make his way out of the ocean after a few years and is living in close vicinity to Panchavati. However, he had learnt his lesson from the drubbing he had received from Rama and thus started living a saintly life.

Ravana now approaches Maareecha for seeking his help for achieving his mission. Maareecha welcomes Ravana into his hamlet. In due course of the conversation, Ravana explains his mission to Maareecha. Upon hearing this weird mission, Maareecha was shocked! He tries to educate Ravana and make him aware of whom is he trying to fight with!

“Apprameyam hi tathveshaha yasyasaa janakaathmajaa!!”

Maareecha warns Ravana by saying, “Oh Ravana! You don’t seem to understand to whom are you seeking revenge upon! Please do not commit this sin to Sita and Rama! You do not know their significance! Let me explain you their uniqueness!” Ravana immediately quipped, “How do you know about these two people?” Maareecha now explains, “Yes Ravana! I know it and that’s why I’m advising you accordingly! I saw Rama when he was a twelve-year-old child! When he had come with Sage Vishwaamithra to protect his “Yagna”, Shubaahu and myself went and attacked him. The drubbing that I had received at that time is still fresh in my mind! Shubaahu was killed and I was blown and chased away by his arrows into the ocean!”

There is a popular phrase in Sanskrit that goes to say, “Rakaaraadhi naamaani”. It signifies that, if we like someone so much from our heart, we’ll be able to remember and see him or her all the time around us. Similarly, if we have a fear towards someone, we would be able to remember him or her even when we are asleep! 🙂 Thus Maareecha adds on, “Oh Ravana! Even if someone opens their mouth and utters the alphabet “Raa”, I start shivering within myself, upon thinking what I’ve gone through! Your name is Ravana. Even if I’ve to utter your name, since it starts with “Raa”, I feel so scared! Hence, I’m advising you to go back to Lanka! Just forget what has happened! Oh Ravana! Please realize that Soorpanaka committed a mistake and hence she was punished accordingly! There ends the matter! Please do not blow this up further and get into trouble! Please pay heed to my advice! Make sure that you don’t get yourself into unwanted trouble with Sita and Rama!”

Upon hearing this, instead of coming to terms with the reality, Ravana gets even angrier! This is where we say, “Vinaasha kaale vibhareetha buddhi!” Wherein, if the bad times arrive, our mind would go into the wrong direction and even if someone tries their best to advise and mend ways, it becomes futile! Similar is the case of Ravana here! His “Vinaasha Kaala” (Bad times) is fast approaching and thus, his mind is now channelized in a wrong direction (“Vibhareetha Buddhi”). Ravana replies back to Maareecha, “Oh Uncle! You’re talking such things even after knowing that I’m an invincible person on this earth! Nobody in this world has the guts to come and stand in front of me in a war! You’re talking about Rama, who is afterall a powerless saint-like human being! Can he even think in his wildest dreams to take on this mighty Ravana? He has had the audacity to insult my sister in the worst way possible! I will definitely seek revenge on him and his life is going to be finished only by this mighty Ravana! Thus, Maareecha! Go to the place of Rama and Sita and roam around by taking the form of a beautiful golden colored deer! Try and attract Sita’s attention! All the other things would automatically fall in place! Do as I said!”

Maareecha, thus failing to convince Ravana, gives into his order and takes the form of a beautiful golden coloured deer. He goes near the hamlet of Rama and Sita and roams around, seeking the attention of Sita who was sitting there! What happened next? Did Sita fall into the trap? What did Rama and Lakshmana do? Let’s wait eagerly to find out in the next episode!

In the previous episode we witnessed the important event wherein Lord Rama was victorious over the 14,000 raakshasaas at Janasthaana. We also saw how Rama singlehandedly took control over the situation and won over the Raakshasaas, thus fulfilling his promise given to the Maharishis at Dhandakaaranya. Doing thus, there was one raakshasaa who escaped and fled the scene and it was none other than the smart Akampana who was the chief advisor to Ravana – the king of the Raakshasaas at Lanka. Akampana hurries his way towards Lanka and briefs Ravana about the situation at Janasthaana! He explains to Ravana how this prince by name Rama from Ayodhya singlehandedly killed 13,999 raakshasaas within a jiffy!

It was at this time during Akampana’s explanation that Soorpanaka comes into Ravana’s chamber – Her nose and ears bleeding profusely! Upon seeing the condition of his dear sister, Ravana was shocked beyond words! He asks Soorpanaka what had happened, and upon which, Soorpanaka explains the entire story that had happened at Panchavati! She narrates how she fell in love with a handsome prince by name Rama, and how she approached him! She also narrated how Rama and his brother Lakshmana insulted her one after the other before finally chopping off her nose and ears!

It is only upon hearing this explanation from Soorpanaka, did Ravana’s anger increase exponentially! He vowed in front of everyone that he would definitely seek revenge against Rama and Lakshmana in some way!

Soorpanaka further explains about the “weakness” that Rama has! Here she explains about Sita and how beautiful she was. Soorpanaka says to her brother, “Oh Ravana! From my observation, Rama’s greatest weakness is his wife Sita! If you attack her, he would lose himself and get wounded heavily! So try and target this beautiful woman! Moreover, you can even think of marrying Sita while Rama is alive! This would be the greatest punishment that you can give to that wicked Rama and Lakshmana!”

This suggestion from Soorpanaka kindles Ravana’s mind in a wicked way and thus the plan was made! Ravana decides to abduct Sita at any cost and by that, teach Rama and Lakshmana a fitting lesson for what they had done to his sister!

While this was happening at Ravana’s palace at Lanka, let’s see what’s happening at Panchavati. Rama, after defeating the Raakshasa army, returns back to their hamlet. Sita sees Rama coming back victorious, however, his body was full of injury marks everywhere with stains of blood all over his body!

“Tham drishtvaa shathruhanthaaram maharishiinaam sukhaavaham!

Babhoova drishtvaa vaidehim bharthaaram parishasvaje!!”

Upon seeing Rama coming towards her with victory, Sita was extremely happy (“Babhoova drishtvaa”) and hugged Rama with all her love and affection! It seems that Goddess Mahalakshmi’s body was full of herbs with medicinal value! Thus, while she hugs Rama, she lifts her beautiful face and looks at Rama (“Tham drishtvaa”) who had promised the Maharishis of freeing them from the clutches of the raakshasaas and thus fulfilling it! It should be remembered that it was Sita who had put Rama under test as to whether he remembers the promise that he had made! Thus, Rama replies Sita through his eyes, “Oh my dear Sita! You asked me why am I holding this bow in my hand everytime! This is the reason I hold it – To destroy the Raakshasaas and to restore the Dharma in this world!”

Moreover, Rama was having a thought deep within him for so many years now – In fact, for the past 13 years! Readers, you might be remember that in one of our previous episodes, when Rama was starting to the forest from Ayodhya, Sita wants to accompany Rama. But when Rama refuses to take her along, she scolds Rama by saying, “My father has been cheated because he has got a son-in-law who is a girl, dressed in the attire of a boy!” Indirectly, Sita scolds Rama that he was not courageous enough to protect his wife in the forest and wants to leave her in the kingdom! Upon hearing this from Sita, Rama was shocked and ashamed. He had been thinking within himself for all these years, “Oh my goodness! I made a big mistake by picking up this kind of an argument with this Sita! 🙂 I never knew that I would be embarassed to this extent! Somehow, I need to change this opinion that Sita had formed within her about me!” Now that Rama had emerged victorious against the 14,000 Raakshasaas, Sita realizes that Rama had proved himself against the impression that she had! Thus, Sita was so immensely happy and she hugs Rama with all her love and affection! Once Sita’s body touched Rama’s, with the impact of all the medicinal herbs, Rama’s body was cured of all the wounds and injuries he had acquired during the war!

As this was happening at Panchavati, Ravana takes to his “Pushpaka Vimana” and lands at a place somewhere close to Panchavati and meets Maareecha. What did Maareecha say to Ravana? Did Ravana pay heed to his words? Let’s find out in the next episode!

In the previous episode we witnessed that Soorpanaka goes to seek refuge under her companions at Janasthaana. Upon seeing the condition of Soorpanaka, Kara and Dhushana who lead a huge army of fourteen thousand “Raakshasaas” plan to attack Rama and Lakshmana to seek revenge for what had happened! Accordingly the fourteen thousand-member Raakshasa army led by Kara and Dhushana marches towards the place where Rama and Lakshmana were residing along with Sita.

As they approach Panchavati, there were bad omens seen in the sky indicating that a fierce battle with a huge bloodshed is going to take place very soon! Rama and Lakshmana sense this situation that they are under attack and they prepare themselves to face the enemy. The enemy came in the form of this ultra huge army of Raakshasaas!

At this time, Rama recollected his promise that he had given to all the great Maharishis in the Dhandakaaranya forest a few years back, and realizes that the time had come now to fulfill his word! As Lakshmana was also getting ready to fight the war, Rama stops him and asks him to stay at the hamlet and protect Sita, while he ventures all alone to fight the war singlehandedly!

Thus the war begins! Rama’s sharp and pointed arrows were focused towards the huge army, while Kara and Dhushana try to take the fight forward from the Raakshasaas’ side! Kara and Dhushana put in their best of their valor during the fierce battle; however, they were no matches to the valor of Lord Rama! Both of them were killed one after the other and subsequently the entire army of the Raakshasaas started to lose confidence and thus started getting killed one by one! At the end, the entire army of the Raakshasaas were destroyed and it was done singlehandedly and miraculously by Lord Rama!

Here is an interesting point – Although Rama had emerged victorious in the war, he did not destroy the entire army of fourteen thousand! Over 13,999 raakshasaas were killed and there was one raakshasaa who escaped from the massacre! He was none other than Akampana! In various commentaries of the Ramayana, this person by name Akampana is described as one of the chief advisors to Ravana – the Raakshasa king. He somehow managed to escape and flee away from the battlefield by draping a saree that was lying at a corner near a huge tree! When Rama’s eyes fell on him, he thought that it was a woman passing by and thus left him out! Akampana used this opportunity to flee away to safety!

It was this Akampana who fled all the way to Lanka, meets Ravana and narrates the whole story of what had happened! This is another important event in the entire Ramayana story. Here is where Ravana comes to know that there is somebody called Rama! Now, Akampana starts to describe the incidents that had just happened at Janasthaana to Ravana. He says, “Oh Ravana! I’ve come here to share very important information with you! There is a prince by name Rama who hails from Ayodhya! Wow! How good a warrior is he! He is so handsome looking and yet seems to be invincible! It seems like he has gained mastery over all the important Asthras and artillery!”

We might wonder how did this Akampana manage to talk high of another prince in front of Ravana! Given Ravana’s stature, anybody would tremble to even stand in front of him and open his or her mouths to talk a single word! But Akampana wasn’t afraid and he narrated the entire story from A to Z that happened in Janasthaana, in front of Ravana!

Ravana was least bothered with whatever Akampana was saying. He just asked one simple question, “What was the result of the war? How many raakshasaas were dead?” Akampana replies, “13,999 Raakshasaas out of 14,000 died!” Even then, Ravana didn’t ask how did all of them perish! Instead he asks, “How did you manage to escape? If all of them had died, you must have also died! How did you come out of that?” For which, Akampana replies, “No! There was a saree that was lying at one corner and I managed to drape it and escape! That’s all fine! Now you should know who this Rama is! He was the person who is responsible for the demise of the entire Raakshasaa clan that lived at Janasthaana!”

Starting thus, Akampana describes the entire story that happened and along with it, he describes at length about the valour of Rama and Lakshmana! What was Ravana’s reaction? Did Akampana’s explanation carry him away? Did he take it seriously? Let’s find out in the next episode!

In the previous episode we witnessed one of the most important turning points in the entire Ramayana wherein Soorpanaka attacked Sita and eventually Lakshmana steps in and chops off her ears and nose! Soorpanaka veils in pain and frustration of defeat and takes a vow to seek revenge for what she had undergone!

Thus with her bleeding ears and nose, Soorpanaka goes to “Janasthaana”where there were around fourteen thousand “Raakshasaas” residing there! All were her friends and relatives! 🙂 Now before we go into the next event that unfolded, let’s check out the geographical location of this place called “Janasthaana”. So far we’ve been seeing that Panchavati is the place where Rama, Sita and Lakshmana had been staying. This Panchavati is located near the present day city of Nashik in the state of Maharashtra in Central India. Many of us might know that Nashik is located somewhere around 200 kilometers north east of Mumbai. Now this “Janasthaana” is situated at a small distance south of Nashik-Panchavati. Normally “Janasthaana” is a place wherein lot of people live together like a township. It is this “Janasthaana” which was the hub of all the “Raakshasa” activities, wherein there were around 14,000 Raakshasaas (Demons) residing there under the leadership of Kara and Dhooshana.

Soorpanaka was thus going to this place wherein Kara and Dhooshana were residing. Upon seeing Soorpanaka approaching them with bleeding ears and nose, Kara was shocked and asks her what happened! Upon Kara asking her, Soorpanaka should have ideally replied what had happened straightaway! Isn’t it? Surprisingly she tells the following beautiful sloka!

“Tharunau roopa sampannau sukumaarau mahaabalau!

Pundareeka visaalaakshau ksheerakrishnaajiraamvarao!!”

Look at the beauty of the above sloka! Even the great Aalwars and Aachaaryaas wouldn’t have sung such beautiful slokas describing Bhagawan Rama! 🙂

Through the above sloka, Soorpanaka describes Rama as an exceptionally young prince (“Tharunau”), who is extraordinarily beautiful (“Roopa Sampannau”) and is so soft, silky and sensitive (“Sukumaarau”), yet is full of invicible power (“Mahaabalau”)! Moreover, his eyes are so long and admirable (“Pundareeka visaalaakshau”) and he’s dressed like a saint (Ksheerakrishnaajiraamvarao”)!

Upon hearing all these beautiful descriptions from Soorpanaka, the Raakshasaas including Kara and Dhooshsana couldn’t understand anything! They were looking at each other and thinking, “Normally this Soorpanaka talks only about killing people and blood! But what is she talking about today?” Thus, Kara shakes her up and asks again, “Oh Soorpanaka! Tell us clearly what happened!” Upon which, she replies, “Oh Kara! It is this beautiful prince who was responsible for this pain that I’m experiencing now! This is what I wanted to convey!” 🙂

Normally even we do this kind of talking – Given a subject, we keep talking everything else apart from that subject! This is exactly the same thing that happened here too! Once there was a person who went for an exam. He had read everything about the benefits of a coconut tree, assuming that this question would appear in the exam! Unfortunately to his bad luck, the question paper had asked the benefits of a cow, and not the coconut tree! He didn’t know the answer obviously! So this person was smart enough and wrote all the benefits of the coconut tree and finally at the end, he wrote that this cow is tied to the coconut tree! 🙂 Same is the case that had happened to Soorpanaka here too! She was so impressed by Rama’s beauty that, even when she was hurt and insulted, she had the words to praise him!

Upon hearing the story from Soorpanaka, Kara and Dhooshana were fuming with anger and they wanted to seek revenge! Hence, all the fourteen thousand raakshasaas unite together and prepare themselves to wage a war against these two handsome princes of Rama and Lakshmana! Thus, the omens of a deadly war start appearing at Panchavati and Rama and Lakshmana prepare themselves to face the enemy! The enemy came in the form of 14,000 raakshasaas!

Now, Rama directs Lakshmana to stay at the hamlet and protect Sita, while he goes alone to fight all the fourteen thousand raakshasaas! What happened next? Did Rama manage to defeat them single-handedly? Let’s wait and find out in the next episode! 🙂

In the previous episode we witnessed that Soorpanaka (Ravana’s sister) falls in love with Rama and expresses the same to him. However, Rama softly turns down Soorpanaka’s proposal and asked her if she can try her luck with his brother Lakshmana!

Thus, Soorpanaka is now walking towards Lakshmana and expressing her wish to him. Soorpanaka still didn’t lose hope as she atleast gets a chance to try the other prince, who is equally handsome in appearance! Now when Soorpanaka expressed her wish towards Lakshmana, he replies,

“Katham daasascha me daasi bhaarya bhavithumicchasi!

Aaryaschathvam visaalaakshi bhaarya bhava yaveeyasi!!”

From the above sloka, Lakshmana says to Soorpanaka, “I’m afterall a “Daasa” (Servant) to my brother Rama. How can a “Daasa” have a “Daasi”? Can a servant have another servant? It’s still okay to be a “Daasa” to Bhagawan. But what is the use of being a “Daasi” for a “Daasa”? Oh Soorpanaka! You better go back to Rama and try!” Saying thus, Lakshmana redirected her towards Rama!

Thus, Soorpanaka again comes to Rama and Rama again directs her to Lakshmana! This game continued for a while and Soorpanaka realizes at a point of time that she was made to look like a fool! Thus, Soorpanaka becomes angry now and takes her original form of a “Raakshasi”. She now makes a plan. She was determined to marry Rama at any cost! Hence she thought to herself, “Ha! This Rama is rejecting my proposal only because of this Sita who is by his side, isn’t it? Now, let me attack Sita and finish her off! Then automatically Rama will have no other option but to pay heed to my proposal!”

Thinking thus, Soorpanaka jumps over with her ferocious face to attack Sita! Rama immediately sends a message to Lakshmana to take over!

“Ithyukthvo lakshmanaha tasyaaha kruddho raamasya pashyathaha!

Uddhruthya kandam chit chetha karna naase mahaabalaha!!”

Thus, Lakshmana gets the message from Rama and he pulls out the sword to counter Soorpanaka! He throws the sword towards Soorpanaka and the sword cuts down her nose and ears (“Chit chetha karna naase”) Thus, Soorpanaka was badly injured by Lakshmana’s sword and she was bleeding all over her face!

More than just a physical injury, Soorpanaka considered it to be an insult to her and her great brother, Ravana! Hence her anger towards Rama, Lakshmana and Sita increased manifold and this particular episode marks the start of all the subsequent events that unfolded! Soorpanaka takes an oath in front of the three of them and fumes by saying, “Oh Rama, Lakshmana and Sita! You’ve committed the greatest mistake of your life by playing with the sister of Ravana, the great king of Raakshasaas! For this, all three of you would pay the price very soon! I shall never rest till I see you suffer!”

Fuming thus, Soorpanaka runs with her cut nose and ears towards a place called “Janasthaana” wherein around 14,000 raakshasaas were camping and creating havoc in and around that entire area! What happened next? What are the next series of events that unfolded? Let’s wait to find out in the next episode!

In the previous episode we witnessed that Soorpanaka, Ravana’s sister had accidentally come across Rama at Panchavati and she has fallen in love with him at first sight! Hence she approaches Rama by changing her form into a young beautiful girl and introduces herself to him. In turn, Rama also introduces himself to her and in due course we also witnessed the important life lesson of being straightforward and honest at any situation in life. Eventually Rama asks Soorpanaka the reason as to why she’s there in front of him and upon that she replies that she intends to marry him and she has fallen in love with him the moment she saw his handsome appearance!

Upon hearing this from Soorpanaka, Rama was surprised, but at the same time he didn’t get angry on her for what she had uttered! Yet, he tried to explain to her calmly. Rama says,

“Sweschayaa svakshayaa vaachaa smitha poorvamathaabhraveeth!

Kritha dhaarosmi bhavathi bhaaryeyam yayithaa mama!!”

From the above sloka, Rama replies to Soorpanaka, “Oh Young woman! Please realize that I’m a married man (“Kritha dhaarosmi!”) and I cannot marry another woman in this birth!” Here, “Dhaaraaha” means “wife”.

“Tva vidhaathu naareenaam sudhurthaartha svabhaha pradhaa!

Shreemaan akritha dhaarasya lakshmano naama veeryavaan!!”

Rama continues in his reply: “Moreover, even if I marry you, over a period of time, you might also not like to be a “second wife” of a man. You can see my brother standing besides me isn’t it? His name is Lakshmana and he is unmarried!!! (“Akritha dhaarasya”) Maybe you can try and approach him!”

From this above reply of Rama we can find an interesting twist in the tale! What is that? Rama is asking Soorpanaka to approach Lakshmana, who is “Unmarried”! Now this seems a gross statement! How can Lakshamana be told that he’s unmarried? Isn’t he married to one of Sita’s sisters, Urmila? We might be surprised here as to how did Rama utter a lie?

Even Valmiki Maharishi was utterly surprised by this “peculiar” reply of Rama! So how do we interpret this controversial statement made by Lord Rama? Let me explain it in a bit more detail. In Sanskrit, “Dhaaraa” means “Wife”. There are other similar terms used to denote a wife – “Kalathram”, “Dhaaraha”, “Pathnee”, “Bhaaryaa”. All these words mean “wife” in Sanskrit. In Sanskrit language, only “Shabdhas” will have the “Masculine” and “Feminine” differentiation (Pullingam and Streelingam) and not individual words! We’ve to differentiate this very carefully here! Here, “Dhaaraaha” is a “Shabdha” and is considered to be “Masculine” (Pullingam). “Pathnee” is another shabdha and is considered to be “Feminine” (Streelingam). However, both these “Shabdas” indicate the term “Wife”. In other languages however, this kind of a “Masculine” and “Feminine” differentiation is done only with respect to people and not with respect to phrases and words! Hence, the phrase “Akritha dhaarascha” should be read as “A-saha kritha dhaarascha” which means that the person is married, but “his wife is not currently physically near him”.

Thus, we can infer from this explanation that, Rama is not denoting Lakshmana as an unmarried person, but he is trying to say that Lakshmana is married, but his wife is not with him at this moment! This is how we need to interpret the above phrase.

Thus, Soorpanaka thinks to herself, “Alright! Even if we are not lucky enough to marry this Rama, atleast we can try our luck with Lakshmana! He also looks equally good and handsome!” She now approaches Lakshmana and proposes to marry him! What was Lakshmana’s reply? Did he accept the offer or reject it? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! 🙂

In the previous episode we witnessed that Soorpanaka, Ravana’s sister strays her way into Panchavati and her eyes fall on the handsome Rama! We also witnessed a beautiful exhibition of “Haasya Rasa” wherein Valmiki Maharishi makes a funny comparison between Rama and Soorpanaka! Thus the moment Soorpanaka sets her eyes on Rama, she changes her appearance into a beautiful looking girl and approaches the hamlet where Rama, Sita and Lakshmana were staying! She has now fallen in love for the handsome prince!

Now Soorpanaka reaches Rama’s hamlet and asks, “Oh Handsome prince!! Who are you?” This was the only question that she asked! For a moment let’s introspect within ourselves – If a stranger comes and asks us who are we, what would we reply? Most of the time we would ask back, “Who are you?” 🙂 We’re so straightforward! We would never reveal our identity to anybody! Sometimes it would be very interesting to note people who pick up the phone and start a conversation – If the other person asks “Hello! Who’s speaking?”, we would immediately shoot back, “Whom do you want?” 🙂 Thus, normally we never reveal our identity to anyone so easily! Of course, in the modern day there are other reasons that are valid for not revealing identities to strangers! However in this context, the moment Soorpanaka asks Rama “Who are you?” here comes a long reply!

What did Rama reply her? We would have expected Rama to atleast tell his name and stop! However on the contrary he started with describing who King Dasharata was!!! 🙂 It looks like Rama himself loves to narrate the Ramayana so much! He starts, “Aaseeth dasharatho naama ratha kunjara vaarimaan…” In short, he starts by saying, “There was a great King by name Dasharata! He ruled Ayodhya for over 60,000 years but however he was childless for a long time! Then he conducted the “Puthra-Kaameshti Yaaga” and thus four of us were born to him. I’m the eldest of the four and my name is Rama! Here is Lakshmana, one of my brothers! Bharata and Shathrugna are in Ayodhya. At the age of 12, Sage Vishwaamithra came to Ayodhya and took me to Mithilapuri. There was a Shiva Dhanush and I had the opportunity to lift it in my hands and thus I married Sita who is nearby me! We lived together happily in Ayodhya for the next 12 years and after that Kaikeyi, King Dasharata’s second wife had a desire that her son Bharata should rule Ayodhya henceforth and thus we had to come on exile to the forest for fourteen years! We were visiting so many places for the past 12 years and now we’ve come to Panchavati to spend the last 2 years of our exile and after that we would be going back to Ayodhya and meet our family members who are eagerly awaiting our return! Once we return back, I’ll have to take charge of the Ayodhya Kingdom and I’ve to protect my people!” After narrating all these stories to a stranger, Rama asks, “Who are you?” 🙂

Soorpanaka was utterly surprised and thought to herself, “Oh wow! I’ve never heard anyone narrating such a long story just for one question!” 🙂 Valmiki Maharishi was so impressed with Rama’s honesty and straightforwardness during this particular episode! Here is a very important lesson for our modern day life –  If we are honest and straightforward, we can be ourselves! We needn’t fear for anyone! We needn’t hide anything from anybody and we can be transparent! It is only when we are not honest and straightforward, we tend to start lying to people and thus the transparency is gone! It should also be remembered that if one lie has to be upheld and “protected”, we need to utter a thousand other lies!

This is why we see numerous unethical happenings in our society today – Be it the politicians who run governments, CEO’s who run big corporates! Why do we see innumerable allegations against various people in public life? It is because they are not true to themselves and to what they do! They get carried away by their “Power” and “Position” to perform unethical actions and for that period of time it would be enjoyable! However, sometime later if some of their unethical actions get exposed in the public domain, they’re unable to accept the reality and accept their fault!

Hence the important lesson to be learnt from today’s episode is that, whatever maybe the situation or position that we come across in our personal/professional life, we should never sacrifice our honesty and straightforwardness! It can be seen from this episode that Lord Rama is an epitome of this impeccable character and we should try and follow this example in our day-to-day life!

Upon reading this, one might immediately pose a question, “Oh! You are talking about the “Threthaa Yuga” wherein Rama was honest and straightforward! Now it is “Kali Yuga”! Will it still be applicable today?” My answer to this question is very simple – Honesty and straightforwardness is the same for any “Yuga” or Age! There is no point in blaming the “Yuga”. Bhagawan creates all the four “Yugas”! We’ve to note that Bhagawan never creates anything that is bad for us! There are certain good aspects with respect to “Kali Yuga” too! It is upto us to grasp those good aspects and follow them, rather than blaming the “Yuga” or Bhagawan or any other person! We should always keep this in mind!

Thus, once Rama gives this long explanation it is Soorpanaka’s turn to introduce herselves. She now says, “I’m Soorpanaka – sister of the Raakshasa King Ravana! You must have heard of Vibhishana who is a “Dharmaathma”! I’m his sister!”

Rama now slowly asks Soorpanaka, “All this is fine. For what purpose did you come here?” Now Soorpanaka breaks the ice finally and replies, “Oh Rama! I just wanted to see all of you and thus I came here! However upon seeing you, I fell in love with you! Hence I wish to marry you and be your beloved wife for the rest of my life!”

What was Rama’s reaction upon hearing this from Soorpanaka? Did Rama accept her proposal or did he reject it? What happened next? Let’s wait curiously for the next episode to find out! 🙂

In the previous episode we witnessed how Rama appreciated Lakshmana for his selfless and noble service and compares him to King Dasharata! It is to be noted again here that Rama sees his father King Dasharata in the form of Lakshmana! He says with tears in his eyes that his father has not passed away, but is walking and talking with him in the form of Lakshmana! From here we can understand how Bhagawan hails people who do selfless service! Moving on further, we also saw that Rama was waiting for the apt time to destroy the Raakshasaas and according to Rama’s “Sankalpa”, the next set of important events start unfolding one by one!

Thus, as per Rama’s Sankalpa, the first to arrive at the scene is Soorpanaka. She is none other than the Raakshasa King Raavana’s sister! She was just wandering around in that forest area in Panchavati and by chance, her eyes fall on Rama, who was at a distance from her! Valmiki Maharishi beautifully brings out this scene in the following sloka:

“Tan desham raakshasee kaashidh aajagaama yedirchayaa!”

Here Valmiki Maharishi says “Tan desham raakshasee”, meaning “Some demoness coming from an unknown place!” He continues, “Aajagaama yedirchayaa”, meaning, “She comes to that place, by chance where Rama, Lakshmana and Sita were residing.” However, the moment Soorpanaka’s eyes fall on Rama’s handsome face, she immediately falls in love with him! Hence, she changes her form, takes the form of a beautiful girl and comes towards Rama’s hamlet.

During the first few episodes, I had mentioned that Valmiki Maharishi had invoked the “Nava Rasas” in the entire Ramayana text. In this context, we can see that he has placed the “Haasya Rasa” (Comedy). Here is a place to laugh! Valmiki Maharishi tries to compare Rama with Soorpanaka! How similar were both! 🙂 He says,

“Saadhu soorpanakaa naama dashagreevascha rakshasaha!

Bhagini raamamaasaadhya dadarsha kritha shopamam!!

Sukumaaram mahaasathvam paarthiva vyanjanaanvitham!

Sumukham dhurmukhee raamam vruddha madhyam mahodadhi!!

Visaalaaksham viroopaakshi sukhesham thaamra moorthajaa!”

Thus, to begin with, Valmiki Maharishi introduces Soorpanaka into the scene and goes on to make a hilarious comparison between Rama and Soorpanaka! He uses the two opposite words “Sumukham” and “Dhurmukhee”, which directly mean “Handsome” and “Ugly/fearful” respectively! Rama’s face can be admired for days and nights together without a break, whereas, Soorpanaka’s face is so fearful that even if we see her for a minute, we would not get proper sleep for the next ten days! He continues to say, “Vruddha madhyam mahodadhi”, which means, Soorpanaka’s hips are the most prominently seen parts of her body! Whereas, Rama’s body is perfectly according to the “Purushothama Lakshanam” wherein the hip portion is never visible! We would have heard this term called “Saamudhrika Lakshanam” often. According to this “Saamudhrika Lakshanam”, a woman’s hips should be the most negligible part in her entire body! Nobody would know  such a woman in today’s life! 🙂 But however, this is how the rule is! It is said that Sita was perfect according to this “Saamudhrika Lakshanam” and Rama was perfect according to the “Purushothama Lakshanam”.

Now Valmiki Maharishi continues with the comparison and goes to the next point. He says, “Visaalaaksham Virupaakshi!” Rama’s eyes are so beautiful that we can keep admiring them for days! Soorpanaka’s eyes – We cannot even know where is she seeing! The eyes are small and have that wicked look in them! He continues further – “Sukhesham thaamra moorthajaa!” Here he compares Rama’s beautiful hair with that of Soorpanaka’s! Of course we’ve seen earlier too that Rama’s hair is so long, beautiful and bluish black in colour! Whereas, Soorpanaka’s hair is described as “Thaamra moordhajaa” meaning, brownish white in colour! Here we can see that Valmiki Maharishi makes fun of “Coloured hair”! I would not comment on it further since nowadays many of them spend so much of money in “Hair colouring”! 🙂

Moreover, the comical comparison concludes by saying that Rama’s way of talking is so soft and pleasing for the ears, whereas the voice of Soorpanaka is so harsh and unpleasing for the ears to listen to! Thus, Valmiki Maharishi makes a beautiful but comical comparison between Rama and Soorpanaka in various aspects!

Thus Soorpanaka approaches Rama and moment she sees Rama in front of her, she wants to propose her love to him! Did she do that? What did Rama say for it? Let’s wait to find out in the next episode! 🙂

In the previous episode we witnessed that Rama, Lakshmana and Sita reach Panchavati and Lakshmana is building a hamlet or a cottage for them to stay. Panchavati is a wonderful place even today, full of natural beauty around and on the banks of the great river Godavari. Lakshmana completes the construction of the hamlet and while Rama was inspecting it, he was extremely happy and moved to tears of joy!

It is at this point that Rama completely reveals his love and affection towards Lakshmana. We had already seen the instance of the “Paadhuka Pattabhisheka” wherein Rama expressed his love for Bharata. He is again going to repeat it for Bharata during the “Yuddha Kaanda” and we shall witness it at that point. But for now, Rama with all his love and affection showing in his eyes full of tears, hugs Lakshmana with him and says,

“Bhaavagnyena krithagnyena dharmagnyena cha lakshmana!

Tvayaa puthrena dharmaathmaa na samvruthaha pithaa mama!!”

Through the above sloka Rama says to Lakshmana, “Oh my dear Lakshmana! By giving you to me, our father has accomplished something great in his life! According to me, my father hasn’t passed away! He is living in the form of you! I see my father, King Dasharata in the form of Lakshmana who is standing in front of me! (“Bhaavagnyena krithagnyena dharmagnyena cha lakshmana!”) Oh Lakshmana! You’re doing such a wonderful service to Sita and me by sacrificing your personal life and personal pleasures of living in the palace! You’re doing a selfless service, which cannot even be imagined by anyone in this world! I’m so gifted to have you as my brother!”

Thus, Lakshmana was extremely happy with Rama’s wonderful compliment! If Bhagawan himself has to say that Lakshmana is like His father, we can imagine the significance of Lakshmana’s selfless service to the Lord!

This is a very important lesson for all of us to learn: Our service towards Bhagawan or Bhaagawathas (Spiritual Masters) should be in such a way that they feel immensely happy and satisfied and this would automatically lead us to attain Bhagawan’s lotus feet! This is why we find many Spiritual Gurus even today like Shirdi Sai Baba, Puttaparthi Sali Baba, Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma) laying huge emphasis on performing selfless service towards mankind! As the old adage goes, “Service to mankind is service to Bhagawan!” we should embrace this advice from all our spiritual gurus, and follow that meticulously in our day-to-day lives. Thus, the important lesson that we can learn from this particular episode of the Ramayana is that, Valmiki Maharishi has indirectly laid stress on performing selfless service and that is the best way to reach Bhagawan!

Thus Rama, Sita and Lakshmana start their life at Panchavati in their new hamlet. It was a beautiful time period for all the three of them. As time progresses, Rama thinks to himself, “Where is this Surpanaka? Where are these Raakshasaas? Why aren’t they coming here? It seems as of now that nothing is moving and my mission is yet to be accomplished! We’re running short of time! Chapter after chapter is rolling by in the Ramayana story but nothing seems to move! 🙂 Only if Surpanaka comes, will my work get going! Else the Ramayana story would be over by today itself! No further episodes and no further trouble at all!” 🙂

As Rama was thinking this way, things start moving quickly! How did it all begin? How did it proceed? Let us wait till the next episode with all our curiosity to find out! 🙂

Yesterday, we had stopped at a very interesting point wherein Rama along with Sita and Lakshmana reach Panchavati and Rama asks Lakshmana to prepare a nice hamlet for all of them to stay. However when Rama conveyed this, Lakshmana was all in tears and fell upon Rama’s feet, weeping bitterly!

Rama was surprised upon this sudden burst of tears! He lifts Lakshmana and with his ever-beautiful smile, asks Lakshmana the reason for his sudden outpour! Lakshmana replies, “Oh Rama! I’m sorry, but I think you’ve decided to abandon me!” Rama was shocked beyond words and asks back, “Abandon you? Oh Lakshmana! How can I ever think of such a thing even in my wildest dreams? How did you come to such a conclusion?”

Upon which, Lakshmana gives a very important reply – This is one of the finest illustrations of Lakshmana’s immense devotion and commitment to Rama.

Lakshmana says.. “Oh Rama! What did you say just now? You said,

“Ramathe yathra vaidehi tvamananchaiva lakshmana!

Thaadrisho drishathaam veshaha sanivrishta jalaashrayaha!!”

Oh Rama! You asked me to build a hamlet at a beautiful place, which would make Sita happy (“Ramathe yathra vaidehi”)! You asked me to build a hamlet at a beautiful place where you would be happy! Yes. That’s perfect! However, you added one more clause and asked me to choose a beautiful place, which would make this Lakshmana happy! The moment you tried to induce a happiness into me, I understood that you are going to abandon me soon! Oh Rama! Your happiness is my happiness! Sita Devi’s happiness is my happiness! This Lakshmana doesn’t need to have a happiness of his own! I shall automatically be happy if I see both of you happy!”

Such is the purest form of Bhakthi that Lakshmana exhibited! Upon hearing these words from his brother, Rama became completely speechless and he hugs Lakshmana with all his love and compassion! He was so moved and his beautiful eyes were “decorated” with tears of joy!

Here is a very important message for all of us: It’s a popular saying that “Svaboutkrithva Buddhi” is disastrous for spiritual growth! Let me explain this in a bit of a detail here – Many of us do “Kainkarya” (Service) at temples, churches, mosques, important ashrams, Mutts, etc. All of us should realize the important fact that purpose of doing the “Kainkarya” is for the happiness of Bhagawan, and not ours! This is the main reason why there is lot of politics inside the management of temples and other spiritual places!

Many of us would have had this thought at some point in our lives – Why do people who are closely associated to big temples, ashrams, Mutts’ of Spiritual Gurus always fight with each other? Why is there lot of politics going on in temples and Mutts? Aren’t they ardent devotees of the Lord? Yet why do they fight? The main reason is that, all those people who create politics over “Kainkarya” fail to realize that it is for the happiness of Bhagawan that they do, and not for the happiness of the self! The moment we realize that doing “Kainkarya” is for Bhagawan’s happiness, we would never even open our mouths and utter a single word! Afterall we are Bhagawan’s children and we are just doing some small service to make Him happy! We should realize this very important message!

For instance, we adorn ourselves with a garland of flowers – Does the flower feel happy? We apply sandalwood paste to ourselves to make our skin shinier! Does the sandalwood feel happy? The answers for the above questions are obviously a “No!” Similarly, we should realize the fact that doing service to the Lord enhances the happiness of the Lord and not ours! Of course, we can feel happy while seeing Bhagawan getting happy with our service! But selfish happiness is never to be experienced while doing service!

Thus, Lakshmana surrendered at Rama’s feet once more and as per the instruction, built a beautiful hamlet at a beautiful place! Rama and Sita take a look around the hamlet and are very impressed with Lakshmana’s work. He was happy that Lakshmana had taken into account all what he had said while building the hamlet and in addition to that, Lakshmana had ensured that he had built it beyond Rama’s expectations as well – Rama had asked Lakshmana to build a separate room wherein they can sit and interact with rishis, a separate room for resting, another room for preparing food, etc. However, Rama hadn’t asked for a separate place wherein Sita and himself could sit and talk comfortably! But Lakshmana had made sure that such a place was also built in the hamlet! Thus we should realize here that a true “Kainkarya” or Service is that wherein the Bhaktha offers beyond normal expectations!

Thus on seeing this, Rama was totally moved to tears on the expertise of Lakshmana! He hugs Lakshmana with all his love and compassion and appreciates him for his wonderful work! At this point, Rama gives a very important complement to Lakshmana, which is to be discussed in a bit of detail. Let us wait till the next episode to find it out! 🙂