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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00063 Sep 2003

 
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Dear sri vaishNava perunthagaiyeer, 

My friend asked me a question "can you state the `age' of the couple 
sree raamaa and seetha when sree raamaa was crowned as the king of 
ayOdhya after raavaNa is killed". 

I answered him sree raama was 30 and may be seetha was 23 or 24 since 
in those days early marriage for women [to be precise girls] was 
quite common.

Then he asked me how you arrive at that.
I started saying, `dear, here is the clue to start with, in the baala 
kaaNdam, about age of raama'.  

Sage visvaamithra approached the king dhasaratha and asked to send 
sree raamaa along with him to help him in killing the demoness 
thaataka and her sons maareecha and suBhaahu. 

For this request king dhasaratha replies
oona shOdasa varshO mE raamO raajeeva lOchana: |
na yudhDha yOgyathaam asya pasyaami saha raakshasai: || 1-20-2
[one is baala kaaNdam, 20 is sargam 20 and two is slOkam number]

oona = less than 
shOdasa varsha = sixteen years of age 
mE raama raajeeva lOchana: = to my raamaa the lotus eyed 
asya pasyaami = I foresee for him 
saha raakshasai na yudhDha yOgyathaam = no warring eligibility or 
capacity with demons

meaning: Age wise less than sixteen years is my raamaa, the lotus-
eyed, and I foresee no warring capacity / eligibility to him with the 
demons.

I answered my friend, the conclusion from this slOkam is, since 
raamaa is less than 16 as stated here. After going with visvaamithra 
and killing thaatakha, raamaa went to mithila and marriage took 
place. After marriage he returns to ayodhya along with parents 
brothers and their wives. Thus ends baala kaaNdam. 

In the ayOdhya kaaNdam, the first and second sargam are dealing with 
king dhasaratha praising raama on his own first, then announcing it 
to people, third speaking his mind of proposing raamaa as the crown 
prince. As we all know this crowning did not take place and he went 
to forest for 14 years. 

So raama was 16 at the time of marriage + 14 years he spent in 
forest and returned to ayodhya to be crowned as king after killing 
raavaNa.
 
Immediately my friend floored me, saying `dear, please see slOkam 3-
38-6' where in it is said raama is only 12 when visvaamithra asked 
dhasaratha for sending raama along with him. 

prathyuvaacha mahaabhaagam visvaamithram mahaa munim |
oona dhvaadhasa varshO ayam akrutha asthra: cha raaghava: || 3-38-6

prathi uvaacha = in turn spoke [replied]
mahaa bhaagam mahaa munim visvaamithram = to the great-fortunate and 
the great-saint visvaamithra 
oona dhvaadhasa varsha ayam = he, [raamaa] is not more than twelve 
years in age 
raaghava: akrutha asthra: cha = raaghava has not performed [or not 
practiced] in use of weapons also 

meaning: dhasaratha replied that great-fortunate and great-saint 
visvaamithra, 'he, this raaghava, is less than twelve years in age, 
and not practiced in the usage of weaponry also. 

Point: This slOkam appears in the narration of maareecha speaking to 
raavaNa, when raavaNa sought the help of maareecha in abducting 
seethaa. 

Then I referred the website www.valmikiramayan.net site on this 
slokam. A comment on the "oona shOdasa" slOkam in web site is

Quote - This particular statement `oona shOdasa varsha' [less than 
sixteen years] has evoked a spate of commentaries in deciding the age 
of raamaa at this juncture of going with sage visvaamithra, and at 
the time of his marrying seetha, and, at the time of his exile to 
forests. His age is said to be twelve years as of now. This is 
confirmed by maareecha while advising raavanaa, that 'as a boy of 
twelve raama, killed my mother and brother, and hit me out' as at 3-
38-6, oona dhvaadhasa varsha: [Or, baalo dvaadasha varSo ayam as per 
other versions of the same slOkam] 

A kshathriya of sixteen years or less age is not to war with any one. 
But raamaa is still under sixteen, but he goes to war. But as stated 
in another verse - tejasaam hi na vayaH sameekshyathE. 'dexterous 
person's age is not to be reckoned'. This is as per gOvindharaajaa.

Coming back to our discussion, now it is more confusion. Whether 
twelve is correct or sixteen is correct. In Baala KaaNda, the age of 
raamaa as said by dhasaratha to visvaamithra is `oona shOdasa 
varsha 'less than sixteen years.' In this slOkam maareecha is saying 
that raama is less than twelve. 

On this point I referred again the valmiki ramayan site. There it s 
stated "Maheshvara Theertha another raamaayaNa commentator says -
maareecha lessened the age of raamaa only to intimidate raavanaa". 

This also seems to have some logic. So both myself and my friend 
agreed ? yes there is some logic in this argument. 

After some time my friend threw at me another set of slOkams, where 
in seetha says as follows: [the following three slOkams are an 
introduction of herself to raavana, her abductor, waiting at the 
doors of her parNasaalaa]

ushithvaa dhvaa dhasa samaa: ikshvaakooNaam nivEsanE |
bhunjaanaa maanushaan bhOgaan sarva kaama samruddhinee || 3-47-4

ushithvaa dhvaa dasa samaa: = on residing twelve years 
ikshvaakooNaam nivEsanE = in the ikshvaakoo's residence or palace
bhunjaanaa maanuSaan bhogaan = relished human prosperity 
sarva kaama samruddhinee = I enjoyed all cherishes sumptuously.

Meaning: On residing in the palace of ikshvaakus [meaning in Ayodhya] 
for twelve years, I have relished all human prosperity and all 
cherishes, sumptuously. 

thaththra thrayOdhasE varshE raaja amanthryatha prabhu: |
abhishEchayithum raamam samEthO raaja manthribhi: || 3-47-5

thaththra thrayOdhasE varshE = there in Ayodhya in the thirteenth 
year 
raaja amanthryatha prabhu raamam = the king [Dasharatha]deliberated 
my lord raamaa
abhiSecayithum = to anoint [as Crown Prince] 
samEtha raaja manthribhi = together with imperial ministers.

Meaning: In the thirteenth year, therein [in that Ayodhya] that 
lordly king Dasharatha deliberated together with his imperial 
ministers, to anoint my lord raamaa as Crown Prince.

mama bharthaa mahaathEjaa vayasaa pancha vimsaka || 3-47-10
aSTaa dasha hi varshaaNi mama janmani gaNyathE |

mama bhartaa mahaatejaa = my husband the great resplendent one 
vayasaa panca vimshaka: = was of age twenty five
ashtaa dhasa hi varshaaNi = only eighteen years 
mama janmani gaNyate = my from birth reckoned up

Meaning: My great-resplendent husband was of twenty-five years of age 
[at that time] and to me, eighteen years are reckoned up from my 
birth.

After going through these slokaas, now the age of raama at crowning 
stage can be calculated as 16+ 13+ 14 =43. 

Even if we consider the other calculation with 12, then it is 12+ 13+ 
14 = 39. [This figure of 25 goes well with the above slOka 3-47-10]. 

But only thing when raama is 25 and her age is 18, 18-13 = 5. 

So the age of seetha at the time of her marriage is 5. This seems to 
be a little odd. Learned bhagavathaas are invited to throw some light 
on this. 

I feel that 5 may not be correct. The reasons for this conclusion are 
1. As stated in valmikiramayan web site for slOkam 3-47-10, "These 
foots are said to be nonexistent in some more ancient mms. But 
lengthy narration are there in calculating the age of Rama and 
Seetha, at this point of legend, with these stanzas". 

2. seetha is being addressed as kanya by his father janaka and 
offered as veera shulkam for whoever is able to lift that dhanus in 
mithila. Sri vasudev govind apte in his sanskrit english dictionary 
says a kanya is a girl of 10 years of age. 

Considering the twentyfive and eighteen as age of the couple, the 
difference is seven. So seetha a kanya of 10, marrying 17 years raama 
seems alright with the first slOkam oona shOdasa varshe. 

For along with visvaamithra a long trek into forest, few days spent 
in the forest, again a de-route to mithila. Considering those days 
they have to either walk or go on horses all these might have taken 
few weeks. So oona shOdasa varsham may have been completed and first 
few week of age seventeen started. 
 
With the above points, I request the learned in the group to throw 
more light on the age at the crowning stage of raamaa. Of course the 
interest is to know more in depth on `raamayaNam' and not anything 
else.

Dhasan
Vasudevan m.g.






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