Sarga 14 , bAlakAnDam
Individual verses with meanings
Listen to the audio of recitation of this sarga
Hari Om.
Let us begin the fourteenth sarga of the bAlakAnDam with offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
In this sarga, maharshi describes the observance of the aSwamEdha sacrifice by the emperor daSaratha.
A complete year elapsed since the beginning of the vow and the spring season came back, and so did the horse that was let free. The king daSaratha started the observance of the horse sacrifice on the northern banks of the river sarayu. Led by the resplendent Rshi RSyaSrnga, the magnanimous king performed the aSwamEdha yajna. The chief priests who had mastered the vEdas performed all the various aspects of the yajna in a sequential manner in complete conformity to what was laid down in the scriptures. The eminent ascetics performed various parts of the sacrifice viz. pravargya, upasada in a wholesome and prescribed manner chanting appropriate mantras after duly completing their morning ablutions. The juice of the sOma plant was freshly extracted and offered as havis (sacred offering in the yajna) to the lord indra. The best among the brAhmins officiating over the various parts of the yajna offered fresh havis in the three times of morning, afternoon and evening after duly completing their ablutions. Sticking to the scriptures completely, there was no defect or lapse or omissions whatsoever in that yajna with everything taking place to the chants of appropriate mantras. None of the brAhmins had less than a hundred disciples and they all took part in the yajna whole day without ever feeling hungry or tired!
The brAhmins performing the sacrifice and the other people enabling the arrangements, all had plenty of food to partake. Further even the citizens who came in thousands to witness the great yajna, the old people, women, sick people, children knew no limits to their entitlements in terms of food and clothing. The organizers generously exhorted the distributors to distribute food and clothes and they did wholeheartedly. Mountains of cooked food was seen daily which was consumed by everyone who came to participate or witness the yajna. The brAhmins were so satiated by the food that they profusely blessed the king profusely out of that satisfaction. The people who served the food also dressed up nicely and wore stone studded jewelry. The brAhmins, when they were not busy with yajna or food, engaged themselves in debates with other scholars and tried to outsmart each other through their arguments. They all were sticklers to tradition, kept their vows and performed the sacrifice completely as per the scriptures. There was no brAhmin there who was not well versed in the six vEdangas, not learned in Sastras, not skillful in debate and not an observer of vows. [maharshi beautifully uses negation to break monotony of assertion to make his point].
It was now time to erect the sacrificial posts. A total of twenty sacrificial posts were erected. There were six posts made of bilwa trees, six of khadira and as many of parni wood. There were two posts made of dEvadAru wood and one made of SlEshAtmaka wood. All the posts were separated from each other by a distance of two outstretched hands and each had a height of twenty one feet (araTni, a distance from thumb to elbow). Each post had eight well polishes sides, was tastefully carved and decorated by men experienced in conducting sacrifices. Further they were elegantly covered by colorful clothes and studded by gold and decorated with sandal paste and flowers.
The sacrificial pits, the fireplaces of appropriate dimensions were built with bricks by brAhmins who were experts of such measurement of the land. The sacrificial altar (yajnavEdi) of the lion-among-kings, daSaratha appeared in the shape of the divine bird garuDa (eagle) and comprised of eighteen sacrificial pits. Various animals, birds, serpents and aquatic animals were tied to the sacrificial posts in accordance with the deities for which they were intended. There were three hundred best of the horses tied to the posts. kausalya, devoted and dhArmic, was pleased and circumambulated the yajna paSu, the horse that was let free, three times and severed its head as per the scriptures. She then spent one night with that horse as part of the vow and was kept company by the priests, attenders and other queens. The self restrained chief priest, knowledgeable in the scriptures then removed the marrow from the horse thus sacrificed and cooked the meat. The king, performer of the sacrifice inhaled the burnt marrow as per the scriptures and absolved himself of all the sins and thus readying himself to receive the boon. The sixteen officiating priests offered the limbs of the horse into the sacrificial fire as per the procedure. As per the kalpa sUtra, the aSwamEdha sacrifice is held for three days. On the day one, a sacrifice by name chatushTOma is arranged followed by ukthya and atirAtra. Various other ceremonies, viz. jyotishTOma, AyurhOma, atirAtra, viSwajit, aptoryAma were also performed as per the due procedures. King daSaratha, desirous of extending his lineage, gave away the eastern region to hOta, western region to adhvaryu, southern region to brAhmaNa, and northern region to udgAtra in accordance with the prescriptions of lord brahma. Having successfully completed the yajna, the dhArmic king gave away the entire earth in charity to brAhmins. However the brAhmins said to the king sanctified by the yajna to consider giving some other charity in lieu of the land as they were constantly reciting vEdas and were incapable of protecting the land, while the king was capable of protecting the land. Having heard their submission, the king bestowed upon them, ten hundred thousand cows, a hundred crore of gold coins and four times as many silver coins. The priests offered all that charity to the chief officiating priests RSyaSrnga and vasisTha. The two then equitably distributed it among the brAhmins. He further distributed gold coins to brAhmins who came to just see the sacrifice. All of them blessed the king profusely and he prostrated in front of all of them. To a particular brAhmin desirous of the gifts, the king offered his own golden bracelet!
yajna destroys sins and makes one ascend to the heavens. Such a sacrifice could not be performed by any other monarch, hailed the brAhmins. Such was blessing being conferred on daSaratha. The king was satisfied with the completion of the yajna and prayed to the sage RSyaSrnga, the performer of vows that he be blessed with progeny which ensured the continuity of his race. The sage RSyaSrnga then blessed the king that he will be blessed with four sons who will perpetuate your race.
Here we conclude the fourteenth sarga of the bAlakAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 