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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00034 Dec 2006

 
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 Post 8



Dear sri vaishNava perunthagaiyeer,



In the previous 7 posts, we saw 'lakshmaNa' donning 5 roles, that of

   - bhaalya sakha to raama ? playmate in young days,
   - vazhith thuNaivan to raama ? companion in long trekking,
   - husband of oormiLaa
   - assistant administrator in ayOdhyaa,
   - angry young brother to raama.



Before we take up the next role, just I would like to add three
slOkams on *raamaa's
meat eating* in the forest. We have already seen that raama has assured to
his mother that for 14 years he will live only as a 'saakhaahaari' ? a pure
vegetarian, living only on fruits, roots, and leaves. Towards that we have
also seen that 'varam ? boon' of brahmaa given to raavaNan that he can be
killed by a person who lives on roots, fruits, and leaves, in the forest,
living like a mendicant for 14 years.



See here in these three slokams raama says 'I will be a vegetarian' and also
giving meat to his wife. There again vaalmeeki adds a word - which is very
important for us.



upaspru*s*am thrishavaNam madhu moola phala a*s*ana: |

na ayOdhyaayai na raajyaaya spruhayaami thvayaa saha || 2-95-18



Meaning: Raama says to seethaa [in the forest before bharatha meets raama in
chithrakootam] ? 'I, who does three times bath in a day and has honey,
fruits, and roots as food, will not like other things ? let it be for
ayOdhyaa's sake or for the sake of kingdom'. [this is a sort of assurance
given to seethaa]



thaam thathaa dharsayithvaa thu maithileem giri nimnagaam |

nishasaadha giriprasthE seethaam maamsEna chhandhayan || 2-96-1



meaning: Having shown Mandhakini River in that manner to Seethaa, the
daughter of Mithila king, Raama set on the hill-side in order to gratify her
appetite with a piece of flesh.



[in another book this 'maamsEna' is translated as 'the flesh of fruits' ?
may be fruits like mango which has lot of flesh ? 'sadhaip paRRu udaiya
pazham' in tamil]



idham mEdhyam idham svaadhu nishTaptham idham agninaa |

Evam aasthE sa dharmaathmaa seethayaa saha raaghava: || 2-96-2



Meaning: Raama, whose mind was devoted to righteousness, stayed there with
Seetha, saying; "This meat is fresh, this is savoury and roasted in the fire
for you."



*Point:* 1. Here it is seethaa, who is eating meat and not raama. That is
why vaalmeeki adds that important adjective 'sa dharmaathmaa ? that
righteous person'. When raama gives an assurance, he sticks to it and does
not violate that under any circumstance.



So, in the discussion whether raama is a meat eater or not, the answer will
be, as a kshathriya, yes,  he is a meat eater. But, he is not a meat eater
during the sojourn in the forest. This will be the correct position.



This also gets corraborated by hanumaan to seethaa in sundhara kaaNdam.
There again ? when hanuman says 'madhu' ? it may mean honey also. Perhaps
raama has given up one more item ? honey - for seethaa's sake. Why I raked
this topic here is ? this is a continuation of that 'brahmaa's varam topic'
covered in earlier post.



2. Since the next role of lakshmaNa ? that of 'ardous servant of raama'
requires a lengthy dealing for lakshmaNa as an ardous servant on many
occasions. So we will see the smaller roles on priority since these are ,
may be asingle occasion or two, and then take up that lengthy role. Thus I
will take the next smaller role is that of an 'oarsman' ? or 'boat builder'.




3. When the trio of raama, lakshmaNa, and seethaa started on their forest
sojourn, lakshmaNa takes up this role to cross the river yamunaa. Sage
Vaalmeeki says the boat [or craft] building is done by both raama and
lakshmaNa, but kamban describes that as a full effort by lakshmaNa only.
Since kamban's was lingering in my mind, I added that in the list of roles
done by lakshmaNa, which shall stand slightly modified. [since vaalmeeki's
raamaayaNam is more sacrosanct for us].



ithi thou purusha vyaaghrou manthrayithvaa manasvinou || 2-55-12

seethaam Eva agratha: kruthvaa kaaLindheem jagmathu: nadheem |

athaa saadhya thu kaaLindheem *s*eeghra: srOthOvahaam nadheem || 2-55-13

chinthaam aapEdhirE sarvE nadhee jala thitheershava: |



Meaning: Deliberating thus, Raama and Lakshmana, the tigers among men, who
were highly intelligent, headed for the river Yamunaa guarding Seethaa still
in front. Having reached the River Yamunaa, running with rapid stream, all
of them then plunged into a thought of how to cross those river-waters.



thou kaashTha sanghaatamathO chakrathusthu mahaa plavam || 2-55-14

*s*ushkair vam*s*ai: samaastheerNam uLeerai*s*cha samaavrutham |

thatO vEtha sashaakhaa*s*cha jamboo *s*aakhaa*s*cha veeryavaan || 2-55-15

chakaara lakshmaNa*s*chhithvaa seethaayaa: sukham aasanam |



Meaning: Then, Raama and Lakshmana prepared a big 'barge' with pieces of
timber fastened together, covered with a kind of grass and spread over with
dry bamboo canes. Thereafter, the valiant Lakshmana made for Seetha a
comfortable seat, after chopping branches of reeds and branches of rose
apple tree [naaval maram in tamil].



thattra *s*riyam iva achinthyaam raamO dhaasarathi: priyaam || 2-55-16

eeshath samlajjamaanam thaam adhyaarOpayath plavam |



Meaning: Then Raama, the son of Dasaratha, helped Seethaa to mount the raft,
his beloved consort, who was unimaginable to common people, like the goddess
of fortune, and who was feeling shy a little.



paar*s*vE cha thathra vaidhEhyaa vasanE chooshNaani cha || 2-55-17

plavE kaThinakaajam cha raama*s*chakrE saha aayudhai: |

aarOpya prathamam seethaam sanghaaTam prathigruhya thou || 2-55-18

thatha: prathErathuryaththou veerou dhasaratha aathmajou |



meaning: Raama kept the two robes, the jewellery, a shovel and a basket by
the side of Seethaa in the raft there, along with weapons. Those valiant
sons of Dasaratha firmly held that raft, firstly helped Seetha to ascend it
and then ferried across the river watchfully.



Point: here, perhaps, you may think wherefrom jewellery came, for raama did
a lot of dhaanam ? yaathraa dhaanam ? and also seethaa, before they set off
to the forest [ayodhyaa kaaNdam - sargam 32]. But, just at that time, when
they took leave of dhasaratha ? the king ordered the treasurer of the
kingdom to give adequate jewellery and clothes to seethaa ? not to raama.
That is the jewellery which they carried ? and get a mention here.



kaaLindheem atha seethaa thu yaachamaanaa kruthaanjali: || 2-55-21

theeram Eva abhisampraapthaa dhakshiNam varavarNinee |

thatha: plavEnaamsumatheem seeghragaam oormi maalineem || 2-55-22

theerajair bahubhir vrukshai: samthErur yamunaam nadheem |



meaning: Seetha of excellent complexion thus praying with joined palms to
Yamuna River, forthwith reached the southern side of the river. Thus, by the
raft, Seetha Rama and lakshmaNa crossed the River Yamuna, which flows
briskly, wreathed with waves, with many trees born on its bank and having
rays for it reflection.



thE theerNaa: plavam uthsrujya prasthaaya yamunaavanaath || 2-55-23

syaamam nyagrOdhamaasEdhu: seethalam harithachchhadham |



meaning: They, who have crossed the river, abandoned the raft and march
through the river-forest of Yamuna and reached a cool banyan tree called
Syama having green leaves.



Point: see here vaalmeeki placesboth contributed to the making of raft and
crossed yamunaa. But see what kamban says

aaRu kaNdanar agam maghizhndhu iRainchinar aRindhu

neeRu thOi maNi mEniyar nedum punal padindhaar

ooRu melkani kizhanginOdu uNdu neer uNdaar

ERi Eghuvadhu enganam enRalum iLaiyOn



vaangu vEi kazhai thuNiththanan maaNaiyin kodiyaal

Ongu theppam onRu amaiththu adhin umbarin ulampOl

veengu thOl aNNal dhEviyOdu inidhu veeRRiruppa

neenginaan andha nedu nadhi irukaiyaal neendhi ? vanam pugu padalam



meaning: once the trio relaxed after enjoying a bath in the yamunaa river
and after having food containing fruits, roots, etc, thought of how to cross
the river. Quickly the young one, viz lakshmaNa, cut bamboos and tied the
bamboos with 'maaNaik kodi' ? [a sort of creeper] and made a craft strong
enough to carry the two ? raama and seethaa. He acted as an oarsman by
pushing water with both hands to push the craft, and swimming, to cross the
river..



Please observe the variation between the two authors. So lakshmaNa is the
boat builder and oarsman. This role forms part of that major servant also.
Next let us see lakshmaNa as the engineer ? to construct house according to
vaasthu.



Dhaasan


-- 
Vasudevan MG


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



 
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