Hari Om.
Let us begin the fifteenth sarga of the araNya kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
On the way to panchavaTI as directed by sage agastya, rAma, lakshmaNa and sItA encounter the gigantic vulture jaTAyu. The brothers mistake him for a demon and enquire his identity. The mighty bird reveals himself to be a fatherly figure for them, a friend of their father daSaratha. They warm up to him and enquire further. Then jaTAyu reveals the facets of creation and and generation of various species such as tigers, lions, horses, serpents, birds, humans, demons and others from sage kaSayapa. The bird assures them that he shall be a guardian for them in the forest and will look after sItA when the brothers are out in the forest for any reason. Onwards…
The trio headed to panchavaTI, the beautiful woods with abundance of a variety of flora and fauna. Then rAma addressed lakshmaNa –
“O saumitri, here we have arrived at the panchavaTI as directed by the sage agastya. This forest is in full bloom. Find out a suitable place where we can build our hermitage and dwell. You are an expert in identifying such a place. We should be able to enjoy our stay at that place, ensure a beautiful location in sylvan surroundings with easy accessibility to water, flowers, kuSa grass and wood for our fire sacrifices”.
Asked thus by rAma in fron of sItA, lakshmaNa folded his hands and gently replied –
“O rAma, I am dependent on you even if I live for a hundred years. Kindly show me the place where you want the hermitage to be built”
परवानस्मि काकुत्स्थ त्वयि वर्षशतं स्थिते।
स्वयं तु रुचिरे देशे क्रियतामिति मां वद।।3.15.7।।
rAma was pleased with lakshmaNa’s response and with some deliberation, identified an appropriate place. Having come there, rAma took the hands of saumitri in to his and said –
अयं देशस्समश्रीमान् पुष्पितैस्तरुभिर्वृतः।
इहाऽश्रमपदं सौम्य यथावत्कर्तुमर्हसि।।3.15.10।।
“O lakshmaNa, look here, this place seems appropriate, surrounded by fully bloomed forests, O auspicious one. Not very far from here is a lotus pond sporting shining lotuses radiant like the sun. As suggested by the self realized agastya, the gOdAvari here is enchanting where the swans and geese are sporting merrily. And not too far either are the mountain peaks, in the caves of which you can hear the screams of the peacocks, find flocks of deer and the mountains show streaks of minerals like the copper, gold and silver. And here see the variety of trees – sAl, palm, dates, jackfruit, mango, aSOka, champaka, kEtaka, sandalwood, kadamba and other dense trees that don’t let light pass through. Elsewhere you also find creepers and other smaller plants. This place is indeed rich in foliage. The place appears holy and we have company of many birds and beasts. We shall reside here in the company of jaTAyu”.
Thus ordered by rAma, lakshmaNa dug the ground, planted the bamboo poles, leveled the ground and covered the hut with leaves and kuSa grass and built a hermitage there soon.
Then he went to the river gOdAvari, took bath and came back with flowers and fruits. He offered the flowers at the newly built hut and showed rAma the hermitage he has built. rAma along with sItA was extremely delighted to behold the newly built elegant leaf hut. He affectionately and lovingly embraced lakshmaNa tightly and said –
“O lakshmaNa, Your diligent efforts have delighted me. I show my appreciation through this tight embrace! My father lives through you manifesting the gracious qualities of understanding, gratitude (means to say I don’t miss his care)”.
Delighted thus rAma, along with sItA and lakshmaNa lived happily in that leaf hut for quite some time to come just like lord indra dwelling in the heavens.
Here we conclude the the fifteenth sarga of the araNya kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
Click on the above link for word by word meaning from IITK website
Click on the above link to listen to the audio by SrIrAma ghanApATi
Next: 3.16. A winter morning in the forest
Previous: 3.14. jaTAyu’s narration of the creation
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 
