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Ananda RAmAyanam - VII

From the Bhakti List Archives

Kalyani Krishnamachari • June 29, 1997 


                          Sri RAmajayam

                       Stories from ANANDA RAMAYANAM - Continued

This is the seventh posting in Ananda RAmAyaNam series:


4.  Stories from YAtrA kANdam:

==========================================================================

In YAtrA kANdam, SItA requests RAma to see if her prayer to
Mother Ganges (on their way to the forest during the 14 year exile) can be
fulfilled now.  PattAbhishekam is over and everything is all settled.
RAma gladly agrees to the proposal and finds that SItA wishes to go the 
Ganges-Sarayu sangamam place.   He instructs his servants to inform LakshmaNa
to announce the news to the whole of AyodhyA.  

On an auspicious day, RAma leaves AyodhyA with great royal pomp and splendor, 
to offer prayer to Ganges. The royal queens and womenfolk of AyodhyA get on the 
pushpaka vimAnam which follows him closely in the air.  The troops
and rest of the men folk follow him on land, along with SIta, and his
brothers.

[ The pushpaka vimAnam that RAvaNa had usurped from his brother KubEra
is used for bringing RAma and others back to AyOdhyA.  After the pattAbhishekam,
RAma orders the vimAnam to leave SugrIva, VibhIshaNa and others in their
respective places and go back to its owner, Kubera.  However, Kubera orders
the vimAnam to serve RAma well till he goes back to VaikuNtam.  So, per
RAma's orders, the vimAnam stays outside AyodhyA all the time in his 
service.]

On reaching the sangamam spot, SItA and RAma offer their full-fledged prayers
to Mother Ganges. Based on Sage Kumbhodhara's advice (that RAma needs to 
visit the holy places to purge the sin of killing a Brahmin- RAvaNa), RAma 
decides to go on a world pilgrimage.  He sends word to Sumantra to send all
the necessary items for an extended pilgrimage.  When Sumantra sends in 
supplies, RAma requests the vimAnam to expand horizontally and vertically to 
hold all the people and all the troops and all the things.  He blesses the 
vimAnam to have strength to hold everything.  His servants create  100 rows of 
roads around the center of the vimAnam.  The vimAnam now looks like the 
AyodhyA city with all the palaces, gardens, kitchens, entertainment places, 
ponds and so on.  Wherever RAma is, there is AyodhyA!

The rest of the yAtrA kANdam talks elaborately about the holy yAtrA undertaken 
by RAma and the whole troupe in the pushpaka vimAnam.  The geography of 
RAma's time must have been entirely different from that of the present day; 
RAma covers the whole of India and the surrounding islands and places we do 
not even know of.  

On several holy river banks, RAma, SItA and LakshmaNa create ThIrtams 
(bathing ghAts) in their names.  Lord HanumAn once visits RAma and SIta in
KAsi and he also creates a ghat (now called Hanuman Ghat) on the Ganges
river bank.  It is said that RAma visits Lord Siva in the 
KailAsA Mountain and receives Kaustubha maNi as a gift and that he visits
the Meru mountains and receives the KAmadhEnu from Lord Brahma.
At the end of the holy pilgrimage, the vimAnam returns to Ayodhya.

Whoever listens to or reads the yAtrA kANdam is said to receive the fruits
of visiting all the holy places visited by RAma.

[ If anyone is interested in reading the Tamil translation or the 
Sanskrit verses with Hindi vyakyanam of this holy yAtra, please let me
know and I can fax or mail the pages to you.]

==========================================================================

Several things are striking in YAtra KANdam:

1. Chapter 1 talks about Lord VishNu giving 4 slokams to Brahma, who
teaches them to VyAsar.   Lord SivA tells PArvati that these slokams
are very holy; they remove ajnAnam and impart the greatest knowledge;
they remove all sins and shower the greatest blessings.

I have tried to translate these slokams with the help of the Hindi 
vyAkyAnam for the Sanskrit verses and the Tamil translation.

SrI BhaghavAn UvAca:

AhamevAsamevagre nAnyat yat sadasatparam
PascAdaham yadetacca yovasishyeta so'smyaham   1.

(Before creation, I was the only one existing. There were neither good nor
bad things besides me.  So also, after pralaya, I will be the only one that
will exist.)

Rtertham yatpratIyeta na pratIyeta cAtmani
Tat vidyAdAtmano mAyAm yatabhAso yatA tamah      2.

(Those things which are seen and those that are not seen, are all my 
creative illusions just as light and darkness are.)

YathA mahAnti bhUtAni bhUteshUccAvaceshvanu
PravishtAnyapravishtAni tatha teshu na teshvaham  3.

(Just as the five mahA bhutas - earth, fire etc. - are present in the
things in this world, and yet can be seen as independently existing,
I permeate the five mahA bhutas and yet I am distinct.)

EtAvadeva gijnAsyam tatva gijnAsunAtmanah
AnvayavyatirekAbhyAm yatsyAt sarvatra sarvadA        4.

(  For one who wants to learn about Atman - this is all there is to learn:
namely, apparently conflicting things simultaneously coexist because of Me.)

I was unable to translate this 4th slokam unambiguously. I would like to
request the learned bhakti group members to help me with the translation and
also provide corrections for the first 3 translations.

2.  In the beginning of the yAtrA kANdam, a description of how the various
RAmAyanams came into existence is given. This probably gives a clue as to
why many RAmAyanams came to be claimed as written by VAlmIki. 
I will be dealing with this part in my next posting. 

3.  During the yAtrA to Gaya kshEtram, RAma attempts to make piNdam for 
his late father and is waiting for Dasaratha's hand to come out of 
the PhalguNi river to accept the piNdam.  Meanwhile, SIta is trying to do a 
puja for Goddess Durga and is making 5 balls out of sand to make Durga 
Bhimbam and putting them on the river bank to start the pooja; she notices 
Dasaratha's hand coming out of the river and taking all the sand balls.  
Realizing that Dasaratha is trying to accept them as piNdams, Sita offers
108 sand balls.  Being scared, she does not tell anyone about this incident.  
RAma and LakshmaNa are wondering and waiting and questioning why
Dasaratha has not accepted the piNdams.  Finally, when LakshmaNa asks SIta
if she knows the reason, she tells the truth.  RAma wants to know if she
had a witness; she does, but, none of the witnesses want to admit it in fear
of incurring RAma's wrath.  Finally, the SUN (Surya) tells RAma that it is 
true; Dasaratha comes and tells RAma that he accepted the maNal (sand) piNdams 
offered by SIta and he is very happy and satisfied that he is now
relieved from hell.  RAma wants to know why Dasaratha did not come to 
accept the actual piNdams offered by RAma and chose to accept the maNal 
piNdams offered by SIta.  Dasaratha explains that he was afraid that something 
might interrupt (vignam) his accepting the piNdams and he wanted to hurriedly 
accept them from SIta; accepting Gaya piNdam does not happen so easily; there 
will always be hurdles.  He then tells RAma to offer the piNdams again, 
just to follow the custom and set an example to mankind, and then accepts the 
PiNdams one more time happily and goes back to heaven.

4.  The gifts received by RAma:   SItA chooses to keep the kAmadhenu (cow)
for herself and lets RAma keep the kaustubha maNi (jewel).  After returning
to Ayodhya, SItA prays to kAmadhenu everyday to produce enough food for 
everyone for the time.  RAma declares that no one in Ayodhya (except
swayam bhAgham people - those who wish to eat only what they themselves 
cooked) should cook; the whole city was fed by RAma and SItA with the help of 
kAmadhenu!   (Whether this was written by VAlmIki or not, I would
definitely have loved the situation where I didn't have to cook and do 
the dishes!)

More to come,

Kalyani Krishnamachari