Post 7
Dear sri vaishNava perunthagaiyeer,
We saw in post 6 of this bow's story, the bow was broken by sri raama. While
sage vaalmeekee says raama lifted that bow so easily - aarOpayath sa
dharmaathmaa sa leelam iva thath dhanu: 1-67-16 see kamban - he says 60000
people carried it. Of course vaalmeekee stated 5000 people dragged the 8
wheeled cart carrying the bow in 1-67-4. Whereas kamban says 60000 people
carried the bow in dhaNdu - big size round wooden logs - similar what we use in
temples to carry the vaahanams during uthsavams.
uRuvali yaanaiyai oththa mEniyar
seRi mayirk kal enath thiraNda thOLinar
aRubadhinaayirar aLavu il aaRRalar
thaLi maduththu idaiyidai dhandil thaankinar
- 3 kaarmugap padalam baala kaaNdam kamba raamaayaNam.
Once the bow was brought to the place where raama janaka and visvaamithra were
there, see the description of kamban which vaalmeekee described as 'vathsa
raama dhanu: pasya' -
ninaindha muni pagarndha elaam neRi unni aRivanum than
punaindha sadai mudi thuLakki pOr ERRin mugam paarththaan
vanaindhanaiya thirumEni vaLLalum am maathavaththOn
ninaindha elaam ninaindhu andha nedunchilaiyai nOkkinaan - 25 - ibid
That sage visvaamithra saw raama - realizing the import of that look on him by
the sage, raama also saw the big bow.
Here two points on the description of raama by kamban are worth a little more
elaboration.
a. "punaindha sadai mudi thuLakki pOr ERRin mugam paarththaan" -
raama is described as 'pOr Eru' - the 'warring bull' used - even at that less
than 16 age raama had the unique physique to be described as 'pOr Eru' - just
recollect king dhasaratha said 'my son raama is not yet 16' before sending
raama along with sage visvaamithra.
b. "vanaindhanaiya thirumEni vaLLalum andha nedunchilaiyai
nOkkinaan" - this vanaindhanaiya - means picturesque - vanaidhal is to draw -
vanaindhanaiya thirumEni - raama's body was like a picture drawn by a skilled
artist - this same description is vavailable in other places also - like vaali
when he starts addressing raama says 'Oviyaththil ezhudha oNNaa uruvaththOi',
in another place as 'Oviya uruva' when vaali calls himself as 'naayEn'.
After having a good look at the bow - he neared the bow to lift. At that stage
see the reaction of others - a beautiful description by kamban - not found in
vaalmeeki.
pozhindha nei aagudhi vaai vazhi pongi
ezhundha kozhunkanal enna ezhundhaan
azhindhahdu vil ena viNNavar aarththaar
mozhindhanar aasigaL muppagai venRaar - 26 -ibid
Like the fire how it rises, when the ghee spilling from the oblatory spoon
reaches it, raama rose. Immediately the dhEvaas made exulting noise, having
assembled in the sky. The sages, who have won the enemies within and outside
and everywhere, blessed raamaa, for his success.
Ok. The dhEvaas in the sky exulted. But what is the reaction of people in the
hall? See kamban
vaLLal maNaththai magizhndhanan enRaal
koL ena munbu koduppadhai allaal
veLLam aNaiththavan villai eduththu ip
piLLai mun ittadhu pEdhaimai enbaar - 30 ibid.
oh, no, it is silly to have placed the bow, in front of this young boy - the
bow of one who embraced the floods - ganges - pointing to sivan who received
ganges in his matted hairlocks.
This slokam "leelayaa sa dhanur madhyE jagraaha vachanaath munE:" || 1-67-15 is
given by kamban as
aadaga maal varai annadhu thannai
thEda arumaamaNi seethai enum pon
soodaga vaal vaLai soottida neettum
Edu avizh maalai idhu enna eduththaan - 33 ibid
Raama lifted the bow [from the box] as though it is a garland for seethaa - to
be placed as a maNa maalai - he lifted the bow so lightly and easily - Edu
avizh maalai - removed the leaf covering the garland.
These three lines of the slokam of vaalmeekee is given as two verses [the above
one and below] by kamban - viz. 33, 34.
aarOpayath sa dharmaathmaa sa leelam iva thath dhanu: || 1-67-16
aarOpayithvaa mourveem cha poorayaamaasa veeryavaan |
thath babhanja dhanur madhyE narasrEshtO mahaayasaa: || 1-67-17
thaduththu imaiyaamal irundhavar thaaLil
maduththadhum naaN nudhi vaiththadhum nOkkaar
kaduppinil yaarum aRindhilar kaiyaal
eduththadhu kaNdanar iRRadhu kEttaar - 34 ibid
The people assembled there [including sage visvaamithra, king janaka, king's
guru sadhaanandha, other people in the hall et al] did not wink their eyes in
surprise [for raama having lifted the bow]. In spite of not winking the eyes,
they did not see how quick raama lifted the bow with his hands, how he stringed
the naaN in the bow etc, but heard the noise of the bow breaking.
Janaka was first surprised when he heard, then, that his daughter seethaa
pushed the bow with her left hand so easily. Now he finds raama lifting it so
easily - like 'Edu avizh maalai ena eduththaan'. These two show the match
between raama and seethaa. [Just recall the matchless matches of sadagopan
iyengar swamy earlier].
Also please note the bow is broken in the middle, not at either end, but at
handgrip [vaalmeekee]. This shows the power of his handgrip and of his palm.
Again this line "eduththadhu kaNdanar iRRadhu kEttaar" is a very popular line
often referred and heard in lectures of raamaayaNam. Ok dear bhakthaas- upto
this we read the bow's story.
But is there any standard or technical specification for the bow? That is given
as a comment in valmikiramayan.net site as below. [I mentioned in my earlier
post as valimikiramayan.net, which is a mistake, and pardon me for that typo]
Specs: a. A bow has a definite height and it is a measure of length, from the
ages even up to the age of Kautilya. The bow's height is the height of the
archer plus one measure of his head's height, as the upper end has to tower the
archer's head. [Monier Williams Sanskrit English dictionary also corroborates
this point]
b. Kautilya gave many accounts for weights and measures, in his 'Artha
Shaastra' [Ref:: Penguin re-publication]. Four aratni-s cubits are one dhanu, a
bow-length. One aratni is 18 inches. Thus a bow-length is 6 feet or just above,
taking the standard height of an archer as six-foot and or a little above.
c. If that being so, this siva's bow's height must be placed more than the
human measure of 6 feet, for dhEvaas are supposed to be more gigantic than
ordinary human beings. Then it must be something like 8 to 10 feet or more. As
per description of raama available elsewhere in raamaayaNam, 'raama is not a
crane-legged boy, as his physique is sad to be of 'medium' size. Then how come
a boy of, say of 4, 41/2 feet, could catch the upper end of 8-10 feet bow and
to bend it...' is the objection raised generally.
d. An archer has to stand the bow on ground, clutch its lower end under his big
toe, and with one hand, he has to bend it. While with the other hand, he
catches the bowstring to string the top end or other end. He is not supposed to
handle it horizontally like a holdall or a briefcase.
e. To overcome this objection, it is said that the poet vaalmeekee has used the
adjective 'mahaathmaa' to raama, 'an unfathomable one with an equally
unfathomable soul'. The minute he touched the bow, it became a spongy stick and
it listened to him and bent as he wished.
f. Other way round also, raama is an ambidextrous archer and visvaamithra had
furthered his skill in archery by giving to raamaa's possession, some divine
missiles. Hence, his dexterity is now multiplied and he can handle any divine
or human bow 'effortlessly'.
MGV: Thus, though vaalmeekee and kamban vary in presenting the handling of bow
by people who brought it to the hall, how raama handled the bow, the bow's
story of siva regarding its creation, how it came to janaka's ancestors, are
not varied between them.
Now that this siva's bow is broken, that part A of the bow's story.
We have to take up the part B - the vishNu bow's story.
That we will see in next post.
Dhasan
Vasudevan m.g.
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