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Dear srivaishNava perunthagaiyeer,
On the mail of Smt.Jayasree saranathan dated 29.11.04,  I add my points as 
given below. 

Dhasan
Vasudevan m.g.

From:   jasn sn [jayasartn@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent:   Monday, November 29, 2004 10:51 PM
Subject: RE: The Bow -Varuna's connection
JASN: The bow's story is becoming interesting. Sita tells Anasuya that the bow 
broken by Rama to win her hand was given to her father by Varuna devatha in a 
maha-yajna. Rama is telling a similar version too in Ayodhya khandam. In the 
chapter dealing with Rama's dialogue with Lakshmana in asking him not to 
accompany him to the forest, Rama finally relents to lakshmana's prayer and 
agrees to take him along. He then tells him that king Janaka had given him 2 
bows (roudhra-dharsana and divye) and other weapons that he got from Varuna 
devatha in a maha-yajna. Since he (Rama) had left them in the custody of sage 
Vasishta, he commands Lakshmana to go and fetch them so that they can carry 
them when they go to the forest. (2-31-27, 28 & 29)

MGV: Before quoting the slokams referred by JASN, here is another interesting 
point: The rishis and munis, [available in the conglomeration under the 
leadership of visvaamithra in the forest for whose protection from thaataka 
sage visvaamithra sought raama from dhasaratha], say to raama that the siva's 
bow was given by gods [after he accomplished the mission of killing thataka].

thadhDhi poorvam narasrEshta dhaththam sadhasi dhaivathai: |
apramEya balam ghOram makhE parama bhaasvaram || 1-31-8

meaning: Oh, best one among men, in early times, indeed 'gods' gave that 
awesome bow, which has an unimaginable power and which is superbly incandescent 
in wars to an erstwhile king of Mithila in a congregation of a Vedic-ritual. 

Point: These gods include the varuNan as already said. Why now this point is 
that even before raama hears the story from janaka he is aware of the siva's 
bow through these rishis.

thadhdhi yajna phalam thEna maithilEna uththamam dhanu: |
yaachitham nara saardhoola sunaabham sarva dhaivathai: || 1-31-12

meaning: Once dhEvaraatha, the grandparent of the present king Janaka of 
Mithila, conducted a Vedic-ritual and he indeed prayed only for this supreme 
bow with a best grip-handle, as the fruit of that ritual from all of the gods, 
and oh, tigerly man, Raama, he got the same from them. 

Point: it is not only janaka did a yagna to please the gods, but his ancestor 
dhEvaraatha also. So what raama hears from janaka in the assembly of janaka is 
a repeat story. 
[Please pardon me for not looking into these 2 slokams earlier].

Now the slOkams referred by JASN are quoted. [my intention in quoting these 
here is to bring to notice of bhakthaas how a simple language [Sanskrit] is 
used and also to experience these interesting slokams in original form instead 
of a translation]

yE cha raajnO dhadhou dhivyE mahaathmaa varuNa: svayam |
janakasya mahaa yajnE dhanushee roudhra dharsanE || 2-31-27

abhEdhya kavachE dhivyE thooNee cha akshaya saayakou |
aadhithya vimalou cha ubhou khaDgou hEma parishkruthou || 2-31-28

sathkruthya nihitham sarvam Ethath aachaarya sadhmani |
sa thvam aayudham aadhaaya kshipram aavraja lakshmaNa || 2-31-29

meaning: "Oh, Lakshmana! At a grand sacrifice performed by Janaka, the 
great-souled Varuna (god of water) personally gave heavenly bows which are 
dreadful to look at, divine impenetrable pieces of armour, quivers containing 
an inexhaustible stock of arms, two swords decked with gold and with spotless 
luster like that of a sun - all these were kept at the residence of our 
receptor Vasishta, after paying due reverence. Take all those arms and return 
soon."

JASN: The questions that we get are,
1) Do the adjectives 'roudhrou- dharshana' and 'divye' denote the outward 
meaning like dreadful and divine or did they mean that the bows belonged to 
Rudra? If so why Rama chose to mention only about Varuna and not Rudra, the 
fact about whose possession is far more important? (The verses are available in 
www.valmikiramayana.net) 

MGV: if anvayam is done - viz. bringing to prose order is done - this will read 
- janakasya mahaa yajnE yE dhivyE roudhra dharsanE dhanushee cha mahaathmaa 
varuNa: svayam raajnO dhadhou. 

That gives the meaning - in the mahaa yagnam done by king janaka, he received 
from varuNan, these two bows. Many an armaments [listed now by raama] like 
these two swords, the quivers, safety armour - kavacham etc are understood. How 
it is - is from that word 'cha' - meaning 'in addition' or plus. As per slOkams 
given above dhEvaraatha got siva dhanu: from a yagnam, janaka got these two 
bows along with other articles in another yagnam, respectively during their 
periods]. 

JASN: 2) What are these bows called? Which then is Kothandam, which we usually 
associate with Rama? 

MGV: 'Naming the bows' - is a very difficult question to answer. In slOkam 
1-22-7, it is said raama and lakshmaNa started as dhanushpaaNi: along with sage 
visvaamithra when they left ayOdhyaa. Also in 1-26-6, it is said raama held the 
bow and made the noise - the dankaaram - the bow string pulled and a noise 
created. [thus informing thaatakaa about the arrival of her killer before the 
thaatakaa vadham]. No name for the bow is given in these two places. 

As could be 'inferred' from the parasuraama episode, which takes place just 
after the marriage, the bow received from parasuraama, [that vishNu dhanu:] was 
NOT returned to parasuraama. Instead dhasaratha raama gave the bow to varunNan 
as could be seen from 
gathE raamE prasaantha aathmaa raamO dhaasarathi: dhanu: |
varuNaaya aprameyaaya dhadhou hasthE mahaayasaa: || 1-77-1
meaning: On the departure of parasu raama, that most glorious raama of 
dhasaratha, who is now  peaceful [or quietened] at heart,  gave away that 
longbow of vishNu into the hands of varuNan, the unequalled God of Rain. 

So we can infer (is it correct?) the vishNu dhanu: what dhasaratha raama 
received previously from parasu raamaa is the "kOthaNdam", which, when he 
started to forest, got back from the house of sage vasishta. 

May be the soul of 'saarngam' - the bow of sriman naarayaNan enters this vishNu 
dhanu and performs all acts with the name kOdhandam. [this soul of saarngam 
entering the bow in front of parasuraama, we saw in the bow story earlier].  

JASN: 3) Are these bows in addition to the one Rama broke in the swayamvaram? 
Is there any reference to Rama using shiva-dhanush that he broke, after mending 
it?

MGV: This question by JASN is fairly easy. I feel I already answered above.   
Further, generally, a bow, once broken, is not repaired and used, [like other 
weapons what we see these days]. 

Also a note in www.valmikiramayan.net <http://www.valmikiramayan.net> after 
sargam 76 of baala kaaNdam throws this very interesting point: 

quote: Well known is Krishna's showing his Cosmic Form visva roopa to Arjuna, 
while teaching Bhagavad Gita in Maha Bharatam. But that Bharatam records Rama's 
display of His Cosmic form to Parasu Rama, only at this juncture. 

In Ch. 89 of anusaasanika parvam of Maha Bharatam it is said in detail as: 
pasya maam svEna roopENa chakshu: thE vitaraami aham | 
tato raama sareerE vai raama pasyati bhaargava: |
aadityaan pavamaanaan rudraan saadhyaan cha sa marudh gaNaana |
pitarO hutaasana: chaiva nakshatraaNi grahaa: tathaa| 
and a long account follows on this. But this has not been amplified or 
explained in other texts, due to unknown reasons. However, it is not part of 
Valmiki Ramayana.  -unquote.

Point: hitherto I was under the impression raama never showed a visvaroopam for 
aathmaanam maanusham manyE is his principle and code of conduct. This is 
something new. Other knowledgeable bhakthaas of the lists can throw more light 
on this.
. 
JASN: Some thoughts: In the translation found in www.valmikiramayan.net 
<http://www.valmikiramayana.net>, there is no mention of number of bows. But in 
the Tamil transliteration by A.V. Narasimhachar, it is mentioned as 2. I think 
the original text in Sanskrit is in dwi-vachanam. I request devotees to 
confirm. In the Tamil version that I have, footnotes by the translator and 
vyakhyanam by Sri Govindarajar are given at some places. This particular verse 
is also explained as a footnote but I am not able to provide the information on 
who has given this explanation (owing to the condition of the book I have, 
where the few pages on the details of the sources for vyakhyanams are missing)

Now the notes: 
1. It is said that the weapons including the bows, given to Rama by Janaka seem 
to be in pairs, perhaps to denote that both Rama - Lakshmana would be in need 
of them when they go to the forest.

MGV: a premonition for janaka?

JASN: Secondly, there is no mention in Bala khandam of this information or even 
Varuna as having given these bows to Janaka. This is perhaps to do with style 
of valmiki's narration. Similar kind of narration (of not telling the incident 
when it had happened, but telling about it at a later stage to give some 
impact) is found in two other places. One is in not having told about the 
'maNi-bhandhanam' (the choodamani being given at the time of marriage) in bala 
khandam but telling about it in Sundhara khandam and the other is in not having 
told about Kaakaasura vrudhantham in Ayodhya khandam but telling about it in 
Sundara khandam. Regards, Jayasree saranathan

MGV: It is seen that varuNan was the repository for siva as well as vishNu once 
their fight was over. Varunan later acted in a similar way to raamaa, the 
vishNu as could be seen from slOkam above. points of JASN on vaalmeeki  are 
fully in agreement.

Now I invite JASN and bhagavathaas to offer more points on this raama's visva 
roopam to parasuraamaa.

Dhaasan
Vasudevan m.g.





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