Post 10
Dear srivaishnava perunthagaiyeer,
In the bow's story, in srimadh vaalmeeki ramayaNam, in the seethaa kalyaaNam
portions, [what we are discussing] there is no mention or place for raavaNan
entering the scene. Also his trying to lift the bow, could not succeed and
returned as a failure, etc are not featuring. Srimadh poundareekapuram swamy in
his book raamapiraanaik kaRpOm -vol 1 - quotes 'aanandha raamaayaNam' giving
this portion of ravaNan handling siva dhanus story. [I am just giving only the
substance. For errors please pardon me].
Like other princes / kings, who wanted to take part in the swayamvara of
seethaa, by having a go at the siva's bow, raavaNan also came. He could open
the box, lift the bow and he wanted to go for stringing. But by the time he
tried to put the bow vertically for stringing [naaN ERRa], the bow leaned on
him. By the sheer weight of bow, raavanan got underneath the bow and shouted /
cried for help. Then king janakan with an army of people helped raavana out of
the bow. As such raavaNan could not succeed at the bow, thereby missed to win
seethaa. Then after some time raamaa came. -- [Rest we have seen already with
vaalmeeki and kamban's raamaayaNam].
Also in www.indiadivine.org website sri swami atmatattvadas in his RamayaNa
lectures [based on valmeeki and many other puranams as stated in the first page
itself] gives the following, where raavaNa enters the scene with a big bang and
then returns with disgrace.
Quote -- So one or two very puffed-up kshatriya kings came. The first one could
not lift it, and another got his hand stuck between the floor and the bow, and
he had to be pulled out. Just then the whole assembly became dark and the earth
was shaking. They heard someone laughing loudly. So then Janaka caught hold of
Vishvamitra's hand and said, "Tell me what is now happening." Vishvamitra said,
"This must be a demon. Very soon he will enter." In another three minutes there
was a flash of light, and between the light came Trilokeshvara, Ravana. He had
arranged that before he came, two other demons would precede him and announce,
"Trilokeshvara Ravana is coming." Everyone was scared, "What is this demon
doing in our assembly?" So then Ravana appeared. "What is this svayamvara? You
are all spineless people. You can't even lift this bow! You must know who I am.
I am Ravana, and I have lifted Kailash with Lord Shiva on it. This is only his
bow. This is the bow of Lord Shiva, and Lord Shiva, his whole family, his
entire troop of ghosts and goblins and the whole Kailash mountain was lifted by
me, and I flew to Lanka. That is my strength." So then everybody thought, "He
can easily lift this bow."
So Ravana came, and he put his hands on each side, and he lifted the bow.
Everyone was amazed. "Ah! He has lifted the bow!" Then Lord Shiva in Kailash
was thinking, "What's going on? I didn't leave it for him. I left it for Lord
Rama." So then Shiva went inside the bow and pressed down. Ravana got stuck.
That also happened when he lifted Kailash mountain, when he put it down he got
stuck. Now he was also stuck. He was crying and pleading, and finally Lord
Shiva let go, and he got his hand out. And then Rama came, but he didn't use
two hands, only one. He put his foot on the other end of the bow and he took
the string. As he pulled it, the bow broke into two pieces. Everyone clapped
their hands, and flowers fell from heaven. -- Unquote.
One thing very curious in the above para is visvaamithraa's presence in the
hall during raavana trying a hand at the bow. [Anyhow that is not the point for
us.] So from these two references, it appears raavaNa also attempted at the
bow, and returned empty handed.
In vaalmeeki raamayaNam, when raavaNa meets seetha in the sanyaasi garb, and
starts describing her, there is no trace that he has seen her earlier during
the swayamvaram. See slOkam -
na Evam roopaa mayaa naaree dhrushta poorvaa mahee thalE | 3-46-23
meaning: I have not seen such a lady in this world earlier.
Nor seeethaa indicates a trace of information that she has seen or heard about
raavaNan who attempted to marry her in swayamvaram. See slokam
braahmaNa: cha athithi: cha Esha anukthO hi sapEtha maam |
ithi dhyaathvaa muhoortham thu seethaa vachanam abraveeth || 3-47-2
meaning: But thinking briefly thus, 'he is a Brahman and an untimely guest. If
I do not speak with him, he may curse me' and hence spoke this sentence.
This comment is available in valmikiramayan.net under this slokam: 'A lie
cannot be uttered to a sanyaasi, much less to a Brahman. But this friar appears
as someone who is attired as a sanyaasi to fill his stomach. But he is
BraahmaNa, because he came booming vedic hymns, which no other lesser BraahmaNa
can do. Thus, he is someone with a perfect Vedic background, and according to
the saying sanyaseenaam poojanam kaaryam striyaa vaa puruSena... ' an ascetic
is to be revered either by a lady or a gentleman' and thus he cannot be turned
out saying 'my husband is not at home' and if he is neglected he may curse'.
These are the thoughts criss-crossing Seetha at that moment.
The following important point is from MGV: If that is so, now a doubt arises in
me.
If raavaNan could not lift the bow and nor handle the bow, which seethaa just
pushed aside [then as a six year old], that too, with her left hand so
casually, how come raavaNan could lift that very same seetha so easily. What
happened to all her powers, if she had some extraordinary powers to push that
heavy siva's bow as a child?
Since it is connected with the bow and powerful seethaa as a child and now a
powerless seethaa, I am presenting this question - that too as a grown up when
raavaNan wanted to abduct her, what made her so weak in front of raavaNan, that
he could easily lift her? [Already we have seen, seethaa saying to raamaa, even
indhran cannot do any harm to me by his physical might, but now she is in such
a weak position in front of raavaNan].
Considering the time and physical power aspects, she was a six year old then,
and could push the siva's bow so easily where raavaNan has failed. Now, when
she is standing in front of raavaNan, she is a fully grown lady, married to
raama, having lived with raama for 12 years in ayodhyaa, and another 12 or 13
years in the forest - so now must have better powers, that too after her
association with raama - for this abduction by raavaNan incidence takes place
only towards the end of the vanavaasam period of 14 years.
[why this further 12 or 13 years of vanavaasam 14 years - Actually 10 months
she remained in isolation in ashoka vaatikaa. When hanumaan meets seethaa, she
says within two months if raama does not turn up I will die etc. For raavanan
gives 12 months time for her to change her mind and become his wife, when he
ordered the servants to keep her in ashoka vaatika immediately after he
abducted her. Further within that 2 months raama came, rescued seetha and
returned to ayOdhya, before the end of 14th year and just in time to save
bharathan from going to sacrifice himself in fire at the end of 14th year - one
day or so remaining in 14 years]
That is the question posed now? Clarifications / Comments / Points / from
bhaagavthaas are welcome.
Dhasan
Vasudevan m.g.
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