Namaste!
Recap from last week: Thataka was killed by Rama and Lakshmana upon their teacher's orders.
When Rama killed Thataka, all the Devaas were happy and proud that they found someone who is righteous and would ultimately stop Ravana from his wrongdoings. Sage Vishwamithra was happy with his students and then taught them the mantras of various Astras (weapons).
Astras need not be physical like the other swords and spears; one knowing the mantras can take a straw of grass and recite the mantra and turn it into a weapon. So Sage gave his students various astra mantras for
|
|
When the Powers of these astras took human form and stood before Rama to ask him what he would want them to do, Rama with utmost respect requested them to stay in his mind and help him when ever he would need them to. The powers obeyed and disappeared.
Then Sage Vishwamitra took them to the yaaga shaala (place where the yaaga was to be performed) and told them that he would be in mounavrata (vow of not speaking to anyone) till the yaaga finishes and both Rama and Lakshmana should be alert as the demons could come at any time to disrupt the yaaga.
It is said that, not just during a yaaga but even in the daily puja one should take a vow of mounavrata until the puja finishes and should not talk to anyone unless it is their Guru. If we speak during the puja/ prayers, our punya (blessings) will be given to the one we spoke to and we would be left with no blessings.
Rama and Lakshmana took the blessings of their teacher and started guarding the yaaga shaala by walking and watching from one end to the other. With the power of Bala and Athibala vidyas they were never tired or hungry. They were supposed to guard the yaaga for 7 days and nights. There was no sign of demons till the sixth day. The demons were waiting for these kids to get tired and finally seeing no chance, demons Maareecha and Subahu (sons of Thaataka) tried to pour blood into the yagna from the sky to disrupt it.
Like said by an anonymous writer, "when you do good, even the nature supports you", even the Agnihotra (sacred fire) in the homakunda (place where sacred sandal wood sticks are placed and ignite fire by pouring ghee onto them with sacred chants) suddenly rose high up indicating Rama and Lakshmana that something is about to happen. Rama and Lakshmana were even more alert now, sensing the danger. Rama then looking at the demons told Lakshmana, "O Lakshmana, look at Maareecha and Subaahu and the other demons! I am going to kill Subaahu with Agneya astra and hit Maareecha with Maanava astra which will make him fall unconscious and throw him all the way upto hundred yojanas from here! I will kill all the others with my Vaayuvya astra!" Saying so, Rama used the above said astras on the demons. All the sages were happy that Rama destroyed the demons and saved the yagna and were praising the kids. Sage Vishwamitra was waiting to see if the kids would develop false pride for what they did.
Rama and Lakshmana with folded hands came to their Guru, bowed down and said; "O Guruvarya! Please know that we are your kinkaraas (servants) and order us if there is anything else we can do! Please do not think twice before asking us to do something, what ever it is just order us to do so and we will never question your word!". Vishwamithra was immensely happy hearing this. He blessed the kids and told them that he was here for the yagna which has now finished and he would return back to his aashrama in Himalayas, but before that he would be visiting the kingdom of Mithila under the rule of great king Janaka.
There is a small catch in the story here. Vishwamithra came into King Dasharatha's palace when the king was talking to his Guru Vashishta and his ministers about the marriage of Rama and other sons. Vishwamithra knew that Vashishta had the chance of naming the kids, Vishwamithra wanted the punya of helping Rama (by giving him the astras) in his ultimate motive of defeating Ravana and to grab the opportunity of performing the marriage of the incarnation of Lord Sri Maha Vishnu.
But as an obedient son, would Rama decide or let someone else other than his father decide about his marriage? If Vishwamithra would say he wanted Rama and Lakshmana to accompany him to Mithila so that he would perform Rama's marriage; Rama would ask him to consult his father and not him about his marriage, so the sage twisted the fact a little bit (did not lie) and said, "O prince Rama! I would be going to Mithila now, the kingdom of King Janaka. He has a huge bow called 'Shiva Dhanus' which no one till today could stand it up and tie the string to the bow. Everyone including devas, gandharvas, kinneras and kimpurushas tried but failed. Ofcourse if all these people failed, I would not expect mere humans to tie its thread, they are not that capable." Rama being a kshatriya (warrior) prince could not take the insulting of humans and he became curious to see that bow and if possible take his Guru's permission and win over it. So Rama requested the sage to take them along with him to see it.
Agreeing happily Sage took both his disciples and started the journey towards the kingdom of Mithila.
Precap next week: What happened during their journey to Mithila? What and who did Rama and Lakshmana see in the course of their journey.
Stay tuned!
Sai Ram
Vipanchi Krishna.
No comments:
Post a Comment