Namaste!
Recap from last week: Sage Valmiki asked sage Narada to describe a person who has 16 gunas (qualities) mentioned by him. Sage Narada describes the story of Rama till that day in just 100 slokas (Sankshipta Ramayanam).
So after sage Narada left, sage Valmiki left for river Thamasa to offer his Sandhyavandana. Whatever he was doing, his heart was filled with only Rama. He was immensely happy, whatever he saw, he related it to Rama. He then finished his Sandhyavandana and then started walking back where he saw a krounchi and krouncha (a type of female and male bird) playing and he felt happy. He suddenly saw a hunter hitting the male bird, Krouncha and it died immediately. Till now he was immensely happy seeing and feeling Rama everywhere and then suddenly after seeing the male bird dead and female bird screaming he feld terribly sad and anger towards the hunter. He cried and cursed the hunter. This is where the book of Ramayana was born.
There was no fault of the hunter, he did his duty which was kill and sell the bird for money but then why did Valmiki feel the anger and curse him. He felt the story of Rama inside him and cursed. So how did he relate Ramayana and the death of the male bird? He saw the Krouncha as the Ravana and Krounchi as Mandodari (wife of Ravana) and the hunter as the MahaVishnu. Ravana(krouncha) without following the laws and ethics roamed all around and harassed every lady he saw, so the Lord(hunter) had enough of this harassment and killed him but Mandodari(krounchi) who was a noble lady could not bear the death of her husband and cried hard. There he saw the story of Ramayana unfold in front of him and uttered a sloka(poem) in the midst of his shoka(sadness) as a curse. Though it looks like a curse from outside, this shloka when analysed with the poetic rules inturn turns into a praise of the Lord.
He was purely surprised and confused with what all just happened. Then came Lord Brahma to his aashrama, who told him that all this happened for a reason and the Lord himself wished for Valmiki to write the story of his avataar, the Rama Avataar. Lord Brahma gave him a boon that when Valmiki would offer his prayers and sit to write Ramayana, he would not only see what happened but also he would be able to see what was running in the minds of the characters at that moment.
Balakanda:
Once upon a time there was a Kingdom named Kosala on the banks of Sarayu and the city Ayodhya was its capital. It was very fertile and very large kingdom built by King Manu from the Ikshvaku Vamsha. It was always prosperous and very secure. The guards and archers guarding the kingdom worked as per the rules of Dharma. They never shot/killed a person who was an orphan or who had no sons. They never shot anyone who ran away from them or who fell at their feet asking for mercy. The rulers always wished for their population to grow and hence never killed anyone without a valid reason to do so. All that mattered to them was Dharma.
At the present time, King Dasharadha was the ruler of the kingdom. He always gifted generously to the Brahmins, soldiers and needy. He was a skilled fighter, he could wage a war with numerous soldiers at a time. He always sponsored yagnas for the good of his people. He was friendly to everyone and never spared an enemy. He was wealthier as Indra and Kubera and always ruled according to law.
There were no miser, no spend- thrift, no illiterate citizens in the kingdom. All citizens were wise, happy, peace loving people. Every citizen always was civilized, wealthy and good natured.
Sage Valmiki says there was no one who was an "alpa bhogavan"- not self contended- How could one always be a self contended person? By being happy with what one has. If someone argues that they have more jewelry than you have then be happy that you have one less worry to bear in your head! Its security would be more important and worrisome than feeling happy that you have it. Its how we learn to start living self contended. As said earlier, Ramayana is not just a story, its a guide to happy living, its however you want to learn from it.
Coming back, Sage Vashishta and Sage Vaamadeva were the prime purohiths of Kosala Rajya. King Dasharadha had eight important prime ministers, namely Drushti, Jayantha, Vijaya, Sidhartha, Ardhasaadhaka, Ashoka, Manthrapaala and Sumanthra. The prime ministers were completely knowledgable and uncorrupted. They possessed the skill of deciding the right and wrong. They had the knowledge of knowing and using the resources only till their needs suffice and not waste anything. They would never punish even an enemy if he did not do a crime and would never leave out even their sons if they were punishable.
The ministers or the citizens would never talk bad or count their parents' or Guru's mistakes. Today we see movies that insult teachers, parents; we hear kids talking or calling names of their teachers. Where did we come? The land where parents and teachers were next to God has turned into a land where they are the ones first insulted. Didn't we do this? I accept! I did this mistake! Aren't our siblings, friends, kids doing this? Is it not the right time to turn to Ramayana, surrender, learn and rectify our mistakes?
So in Kosala, all and everything was happy and peaceful except one- the King himself! He was sad that he had no sons who could carry his family name and rule the country after him. He thought for long and thought only Ashwamedha yaaga as the only prayaschitha (asking for forgiveness) for his sins that were stopping him from having sons. He summoned his ministers and consulted his purohiths about the yaaga he decided on doing. Everyone were happy and purohiths blessed him that he would have the best sons in the world. He knew his Gurus and purohiths would never go wrong, their blessings would definitely come true.
Sage RushyaShrunga, grandson of the great Kashyapa muni and son of Vibhandaka maharshi was called in with all due respects to lead the yaga. Shrunga means a horn. Sage Rushyashrunga was a peculiar sage who was born with a horn on his head like a deer; he was born to Vibhandaka maharshi and a deer. This deer was actually an apsarasa (dancer in heaven) by name Chitra Rekha. This ChitraRekha was once dancing in front of Indra but was looking at a deer nearby instead of concentrating. Hence Indra cursed her to be born as a deer and told her that her curse would be broken when she would find Vibhandaka Maharshi and have a son with him. This Rushyashrunga later became a great tapasvi with whose mere words one could get what he wanted.
Precap Next week: So how was the great Ashwamedha yaaga conducted? Can we do it even today? The discussion about even the small but important facts/details of the birth of a Great Hero and Lord- Shri RamaChandra Murthy.
Sai Ram
Vipanchi Krishna.
