Indian Literature. Indian Museums. Indian Philosophy. Indian Purans. Indian Temples. Sports Atheletics. Indian Cricket.
Society Indian Costume. Indian Jewellery. Indian Personalities. Indian Religion. Indian Tribals. Indian Villages. Travel Beaches Of India. Forest In India. Hill Station In India. Indian Cities. States of India. Kaikasi, Mother of Ravana. Keep your word, Lakshmana, as a scion of Raghu clan. Rules are rules, Lakshmana. I will always uphold the rules, however distasteful they may be.
I expect you to do the same. Thus have I restored the honour of my family name. Let it be known that this was the reason this war was fought, not to save you. Let it be known that your presence before me does not bring me any joy; you are a blot on my family name, for you have chosen to live under the roof of another man through the rainy season instead killing yourself. Let it be known I stake no claim on you and you are free to go wherever you wish. Everyone present were shocked to hear Rama.
This was not the man with whom they had fought the war. This was not the man who wept every night thinking of his wife…! Quietly Sita asked that logs of wood and bundles of straw and it a bonfire. Everyone thought she wanted to immolate herself after being insulted. But she entered the fire, the flames absorbed Vedavati and Sita emerged and walked out of fire. Then the stoic expression returned.
He then stretch out his hands, inviting Sita to be by his side. She remembered how Renuka had been beheaded because she was unchaste in her thoughts. She remembered how Ahilya had been turned to stone because she was unchaste in her deed. She had been unchaste neither in her thoughts and not body, but how does one prove her purity? A woman came to her carrying news that Rama had sent for her.
She was bathed, perfumed, bejewelled and wrapped in fine clothes, to singing of bridal songs, with canopy over head, she left Asoka garden, emerged from Lanka and made her way towards Rama. Everyone rushed to see the woman over whom this vast war had been fought. They heard so much about her. Rakshasa, Vanaras climbed on top of each other just to catch a glimpse of Sita. Soldiers have to call to control the crowd. When Sita finally came before Rama, she saw a different man, not the youth with sparkling eyes who had set out to fetch the golden deer.
This was a tired, unsure warrior covered with battle scars. She sensed he was like a boat struggling against the current. He lacked the excitement and enthusiasm, which she saw on Lakshmana face. He was the king taking decision, not a lover waiting for his beloved. On the tenth day Ravana was cremated with full honour, the whole city gathered outside the citadel of Lanka to pay homage to their great king as the last rites were being performed.
Vibhishana anointed with vermilion, offered garland of lotus flowers, Mandodri wore fresh clothes anointed her body with perfumes and flowers and she sat beside him the queen of Lanka accepted Vibhishana as a king of Lanka.
Who was Ravana's father in law? What are the relations of ravana? Who is Ravana in Indian religion? Who is Ravana's mother?
How does Rama defeat Ravana? Which cast belong to ravana? How many pages does Resurrecting Ravana have? When was Resurrecting Ravana created? Which character from the Ramayana is a woman of virtue and purity?
Who was the eldest son of ravana? What is the caste of King Ravana? Who become the king of lanka after ravana's death? Who in the Hindu religion is Ravana? How did Rama save Sita from Ravana? What is the conflict of ramayana? What are the names of ravana's soul? How was Ravana killed? Where was Ravana lived? Who is the son of ravana? Is that sita or maaya sita took by ravana?
How is Sita invovled in the conflict between Rama and ravana? People also asked. What support do the gods give Rama? View results. Does a green card give you a Social Security number? Where is the serial on a Stevens ? As is well known,he briefly succumbed to the beauty of one divine woman Menaka. And yet again, he had to face and overcome one more distraction in the form of another divine woman this time, it was Rambha.
And the final distraction was provided by revival of his old rivalry with Vasishta which gave ample scope for exhibition of his ego once again. He offered to help Trisanku a king to enter heaven even as he was alive much against the advice and wishes of Vasishta the story of a heaven created exclusively for Trisanku is well known.
This was because he was yet to completely control or master his senses and ego as the episodes of Menaka and Trisanku proved abundantly. Viswamitra ,however,said he would stop only if Vasishta pronounced him as Brama rishi. Ultimately,Vasishta also obliged and the great tapas came to an end with the conferment of the title of brahma rishi by vasishta.
The story of Viswamitra has several interesting parallels to our lives. Viswamitra exhibited pretty much similar tendencies like any one of us — play of ego and desiring something unjustly and trying to acquire the same in an unfair manner. By any standards,his demand for Sabala is completely unjustified not to talk of using force to acquire the same. But the comparison with the common mortals probably ends there.
The defeat he faced in the hands of Vasishta forced him to look at life in a completely different perspective. It shows that a wise man will need just one incident to completely transform himself. For Viswamitra the comprehensive defeat at the hands of Vasishta was such a moment. He took it as a challenge and set himself a high goal. It is also important to realize that whenever we undertake a great task,there are bound to be distractions and obstacles which can make us lose control over our senses and allow our ego to take control.
A wise man is one who can quickly see the traps as Viswamitra did and apply corrections. The story also goes to establish the principle of meritocracy. No matter how influential one is,there is no easy way to attain the highest status of Brahma rishi. It is not a birth right nor is it to be gained by any short cuts.
One has to attain it by sheer hard work alone. The above lines are from Sundara kanda. This is a glorious description of none other than Hanuman by Valmiki. The battle of Hanuman with the Rakshasa Durdhara who was deputed by Ravana in Lanka was the scene which inspired Valmiki to glorify Hanuman by these adjectives.
It is unique in itself to combine so many great qualities in one single individual. But what is of even greater significance in the case of Hanuman is that he has a highly discriminating intellect and wisdom to utilise or exhbit the qualities at the most appropriate time and place. I will try to illustrate this particular aspect with examples of his commedable conduct.
One can find several instances of his intelligence in Sudarakanda. The very first instance of the test of his intelligence was when a demoness Simhika tried to obstruct his way while he was crossing the ocean. He had a choice either to engage in a long drawn out fight or find a shortcut to killing her.
He chose the latter strategy since he had little time to fulfill his main mission. Therefore he decided to enter her mouth in a small form and came out of her in a huge form, killed her in the process and proceeded with his journey.
As an emissary of Rama,he knew that his mission was highly critical and had a great degree of clarity on the purpose of his mission. His main job was to find Sita, console and comfort her by giving her hope. In addition to this main purpose, it would also be nice to take the opportunity to survey Lanka and assess the strengths of Ravana as part of the preparation for war.
When he found and identified Sita under the Ashoka tree,he was really at a loss as to how he should proceed to identify or introduce himself. He knew that Sita was in distress and in that frame of mind she would suspect him to be a Rakshasa in the form of a monkey. The question before him was how to make Sita listen to him without getting freightened.
He knew that was a highly critical moment of the mission and so he reflected deeply on the course of action to be taken. Reflecting thus on the course of action,he thought of a perfect idea — he decided that the only way in which he can capture her attention under the circumstances was to sing in praise of Rama so as to reach her ears and in such a manner that it created confidence in her. Thus sitting on the branch of the tree he begins to narrate the story of Rama.
Sita got interested looked around and found a monkey. Although her initial reaction was one of disbelief,eventually she got convinced and got into a conversation. Hanuman took the opportunity to give a glorious description of both His physical features,mental prowess,His knowledge of Vedas and Dharmas,His valour etc. He talked with so much passion that Sita was convinced beyond doubt that he was indeed an emissary of Rama. Even before finding Sita,Hanuman showed great maturity while reflecting on his mission and strategy.
On a couple of occasions,he got into deep despair and let his imagination go wild with thoughts of the consequences if his mission were to fail. However,thinking of the grave consequences of his failure itself was enough to motivate him to use all the powers at his command to make the mission a grand success. Clearly Hanuman himself, in a grave crisis, got into depression and sorrow like ordinary mortals. But instantly and cleverly used the same depression and fear of the consequences of failure as a motivating factor to add force to his efforts.
As Sita listened to Hanuman carefully ,she repeatedly wanted to know why Rama was delaying his actions to take her back. At this point he had to give a credible and comforting answer.
He said that Rama was so deep in sorrow by separation from her that he was in no position or state to initiate an action plan to bring her back. At the same time Hanuman gave her great hope adding that now that she had been found, Rama would certainly come with the army of monkeys to Lanka and destroy Ravana to take her back. He repeated this message several times because that was what would sustain her hope and ensure her very survival. Next ,let us turn our attention to what he did after comforting Sita.
He hit upon an idea to achieve this purpose. He had to somehow draw the attention of Rakshasas by doing something crazy. Thus he virtually destroyed the Ashokavana and in the process did attract the wrath of rakshsas who started attacking him. Hanuman ,in fact ,instantly realised that in accordance with a boon he obtained from Brahma,he could not be tied down by the missile. But very interestingly he pretended as though he had been immobilised by the missile. He would then get an oportunity to advise him as an emissary.
Hanuman knows that it is an important role of an emissary to give good counsel to the enemy and prevent war and violence as far as possible.
As expected he got the audience of Ravana. The conversation that followed between the two was really a great example of diplomacy and tactfulness combined with declarations of principles of Dharma and Satyam on the part of Hanuman on the one hand and ego display by Ravana. The way he introduced himself itself was interesting. He ,then eloborated saying that he was also a minister of Sugriva who was the brother of Vali. Hanuman,obviously, wanted to impress upon Ravana that apart from his valour and strength the taste of which Rakshasa have already seen he was also associated with Sugreeva and Vali,who were well known to Ravana at one time Vali was a terror to Ravana!
To add more credibility to his great association,he also mentioned as a matter of fact that Vali was killed by Rama with just one arrow. This sort of introduction of himself to Ravana associating himself with great names, was basically to create an interest in Ravana on what he was going to convey further. Obviously that was not the occasion to show humility — rather a perfect occasion to show off his powerful connections and credentials.
And that was what he precisely did. He then made a passionate appeal and offered advice to Ravana which was at once forceful,well meaning,diplomatic,truthful and in accordance with dharma. Diplomacy of presentation was quite evident as he paid great compliments to Ravana for his material,intellectual and spiritual attainments which was made possible by virtue of his austerity and panance. While praising him for his attainments,he also did not hesitate to talk about the glory of Rama,Lakshmana and Sugreeva.
He did not mince words in declaring tenets of Truth and Dharma Righteousness in support of his advice to return Sita. When Ravana rejected his advice and ordered his tail to be lit on fire,Hanuman used the opportunity to destroy Lanka with the same fire causing immense damage to Lanka.
The manner in which he broke the news of success of his mission was also exemplary. He showed extraordinary skill in conveying his message to his anxious audience.
Finally he showed exemplary humility in talking about the success of his mission to his monkey colleagues. He never took any credit for what he had achieved single handedly. Thus he exhibited great humility where it was indeed necessary and displayed his prowess and wisdom when it was badly needed during his stay in Lanka.
Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Email Address:. Sign me up! Blog at WordPress.
0コメント