Hari Aum.
Om Sri Ramaya Namah.
I hope all readers had a wonderful Diwali celebration. Let us continue our study of the Ramayana of sage Valmiki.
In the previous post, we saw Sri Rama, Lakshmana and the sages arrive at the kingdom of Mithila (also known as Videha).
Within this fortunate land, lived Sita, incarnation of Mother Lakshmi and daughter of the ruler, King Janaka. As the land was inhabited by an incarnation of the Goddess of spiritual and material wealth Herself, it was no wonder that it shone with an extraordinary divine splendour.
The sages, accompanied by the Princes, entered the kingdom praising it for its great beauty. They made their way to an area where worship was being conducted by the King. Upon being informed of the arrival of the sages, King Janaka was filled with delight and hastened to welcome them.
The King himself was no ordinary ruler; he was a 'rajarshi' (or 'raja-rishi'; in Sanskrit, 'rajah' means 'king' and 'rishi' means 'sage') , i.e. a kingly sage, a man of great spiritual wisdom (Self-Realisation). He embraced Vishvamitra and the other sages with great joy. Then, in accordance with tradition, he reverentially worshipped them, offering them a seat, food and drink.
After they were all well-rested, and had exchanged pleasantries, the King curiously asked about the origin of the two Princes. Remarking that they resembled the demi-gods in appearance and prowess, he asked sage Vishvamitra to tell him who they were.
Sage Vishvamitra explained that they were the children of King Dasharatha. He went on to tell the King and his entourage about the various valorous deeds performed by them including vanquishing negative forces and offering protection to the sages in the forests. He then went on to narrate the redemption of Ahalya that had occurred as a result of her meeting Sri Rama.
The family priest and chief sage at the palace of King Janaka, Shutananda, was none other than the son of Ahalya and her husband, sage Gautama. He was overcome with joy and wonder upon hearing that his mother had received the fruit of her many years of penance, and that she had been reunited with his father.
Exclaiming that the arrival of Sri Rama was a great blessing, he praised both Him and sage Vishvamitra. Declaring that Sri Rama was very fortunate to have Vishvamitra as His Guru, he went on to tell Him about the greatness of His Guru.
He explained in great detail how the former King Vishvamitra had decided to abandon his royal riches, and embark upon a very lengthy and extraordinarily intense course of austerities that had led to him finally becoming a great sage. (This is a long story and I am not going to explain it in full here as I want to remain focused mainly on the legend of Sri Rama Himself).
In essence, Vishvamitra had discovered that sages had much greater powers than kings after foolishly trying to battle with one of them (the great sage, Vasishtha). He then decided that it was futile to continue to be a king and performed great tapas to become a sage. He finally succeeded after numerous failures (including overcoming the loss of his spiritual power due to being seduced by the celestial dancer, Menaka, an apsara who had been sent by Indra to distract him from his penance).
After the narration of the great deeds of Vishvamitra was completed, King Janaka praised him greatly saying there was no end to his glories. However, as it was now dusk and time to perform the evening worship, he sought the sage's permission to depart, saying they should meet again in the morning. He then went around sage Vishvamitra along with his entourage as a mark of respect, received his blessings and left for his home.
After a restful night, they met again the next morning in the outdoor place of worship. Vishvamitra then told the King that Sri Rama and Lakshmana were very eager to see the great bow of Lord Shiva and requested him to show it to them.
King Janaka was very pleased to hear this and told them a bit about the bow. This had been given as a gift by Lord Shiva to the demi-gods. They, in turn, had given it to King Devarata, an ancient ancestor of Janaka, for safekeeping, and the bow had remained in the care of their family ever since. It was exceptionally large and heavy and had been placed inside a strong chest made of iron.
The King explained that he had declared that the man who could lift and string the bow of Lord Shiva alone would be a fit suitor for his daughter, Princess Sita (there is a legend that says the reason for this is that he had once seen Her lift the bow in play as a child while searching for a missing toy).
Many kings and princes had attempted to this task desiring to win the hand of the Princess but their efforts had all been in vain. Far from being able to lift and string the bow, they had not been able to even move it. After their failure, some of them had become enraged at the perceived insult to their prowess and had attacked Mithila. The King had been compelled to seek the help of the demi-gods to defend his kingdom.
Janaka then told them about his daughter, Sita. One day, he had been ploughing a field in which some worship was due to be performed. In the furrow that he had created, he had noticed a tiny baby girl. As he and his wife had not had any children of their own at the time, they had resolved to adopt this little girl as their own daughter and named Her 'Sita' (this means 'furrow' in Sanskrit). The baby girl had grown up unusually quickly (this was usually the case with divine beings) and was now a beautiful young woman.
Saying that if Sri Rama could lift the divine bow, He would win the hand of his daughter, Sita, in marriage, King Janaka commanded the bow to be presented to Him. Several thousand strong and well-built men were required to perform the task of bringing the bow before Sri Rama. A large group of citizens from the kingdom of Mithila also gathered around with great interest to watch the events.
The chest was opened and the divine bow of Lord Shiva was revealed to Sri Rama. As He gazed upon it, King Janaka declared that when numerous beings with great divine powers such as the demi-gods, Gandharvas, Nagas and Yakshas had found it impossible to lift the bow, let alone string it, a mere human being could not be expected to achieve this task!
Sage Vishvamitra now addressed Sri Rama saying "Dear child, behold the divine bow!".
Sri Rama, gazing at the bow, declared His intention to lift the bow, toss it in the air and string it! He then grasped the bow firmly in the middle, and lifting it, strung it with ease making the entire process appear like child's play.
As He bent the bow while tying the string, it broke into two pieces due to the force that He had applied! As the divine bow broke, a terrific sound was produced (like an enormous crash of thunder) that reverberated in all directions. This was rapidly followed by a great earthquake that led to most people falling over except for sage Vishvamitra, Sri Rama, Lakshmana and King Janaka!
After everyone had recovered somewhat from the shock of these events, King Janaka addressed Sage Vishvamitra. He declared that it was simply extraordinary that this had taken place. Never in his wildest imagination could he have even contemplated such a thing happening he said!
Saying that he was in no doubt about Sri Rama's power and glory, he declared that He would be a most fitting husband for his daughter, Princess Sita. Having secured Him as Her husband, She would no doubt be most fortunate, he declared!
He stated that he wished to immediately send his eminent ministers as messengers to King Dasharatha to inform him of the wonderful events that had occurred. They were to tell Dasharatha that Sri Rama had won the hand of Princess Sita in marriage and invite him to Mithila to have the wedding conducted without any delay!
Vishvamitra agreed to these plans and King Janaka's ministers were sent to the palace of King Dasharatha in Ayodhya. Upon hearing this news, King Dasharatha was filled with immense joy and excitement!
He informed his own ministers, and they delightedly agreed to the alliance between Sri Rama and Princess Sita. King Dasharatha then declared that they would travel to Mithila the very next day! They would be accompanied by a number of sages and priests, carrying a great number of gifts and be protected by a sizeable portion of their army.
The ministers of King Janaka were exceedingly pleased with the highly favourable response from King Dasharatha. They spent the night at the palace in Ayodhya while preparations were made for the journey the next day.
To be continued.....
Om Sri Ramaya Namah.
Om Namo Narayanaya.
Hari Aum Tat Sat.
