Hari Om.
Let us begin the one hundred nineteenth sarga of the ayOdhyA kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
Bereft of the pious company in the sylvan surroundings of the chitrakUTa, rAma, sItA and lakshmaNa, move on from there and reach the hermitage of chancellor atri. The sage receives the trio with due tradition and honor and showers hospitality on them. He then introduces his sagely wife anasUyA and suggests that sItA could benefit greatly by talking to the pious old woman who had been a great ascetic herself having indulged in unmatched penance and thereby solving the problems of both gods and men. Obeying the command of the sage, rAma asks sItA to go and spend time with lady anasUyA. What follows was an extraordinary dialogue in the conduct of respectable women. The old lady is very pleased with sItA’s commitment to dharma and her husband and she offers her divine clothes, jewelry and unguents. She asks sItA to narrate to her the tale of her wedding. Gladly sItA takes the trip down the memory lane and recounts the way rAma broke the bow, kept the vow and wedded her. Onwards…
The righteous anasUyA was thrilled to learn first hand the saga of sItA’s swayamvara and wedding. She embraced sItA and smelled her forehead in blessing and said – “O sItA it was wonderful to hear first hand from you the blow by blow account of your wedding. I am so thrilled by your sweet and articulate narration and enjoyed it thoroughly. The sun is setting and the night is drawing near. You can hear the chirping of the birds returning home after flying far and wide in search of food. The sages have kept their vows and took a dip in the river and returning with their wet clothes on. They have come and duly offered oblations into the fire whose smoke can now be seen billowing out and wafting through the air. The farther quarters are no longer discernible. The nocturnal animals are out and the deer have taken shelter of the places near the sacrificial altars. The dawn of night has brought the starry sky adorned with the moon lighting the earth. You may leave now and reach rAma. I am very pleased with your sweet speech and narration. O sItA, you may please adorn the clothes and the jewels that I offered. You adorning those shall delight me no end, let me also help you with it”.
As desired by the old lady anasUyA, sItA adorned herself with the garments and jewelry given to her. She looked splendid like the divine child.
सा तथा समलङ्कृत्य सीता सुरसुतोपमा।
प्रणम्य शिरसा तस्यै रामं त्वभिमुखी ययौ।।2.119.12।।
Prostrating at the feet of lady anasUyA she set out to meet rAma. Beholding sItA so wonderfully decked by the gifts of grace of lady anasUyA the articulate rAma was thrilled in delight. She narrated in detail the way anasUyA gifted her the raiments, jewelry and the unguents. Listening to her narrative about the gifts of grace received from anasUyA, rAma and lakshmaNa were taken by surprise as they were matchless and peerless unavailable for mere mortals.
That night rAma was worshipped and conferred hospitality by the ascetics in that hermitage and stayed there for that sacred night. When morning dawned, rAma completed his ablutions followed by the lighting sacrificial fire. He then took leave of the ascetics and moved on. The ascetics on their part informed rAma and lakshmaNa of the dangers that the forests are filled with in form of the man-eater demons and blood thirsty wild beasts. They submitted to rAma that he should protect the ascetics whose lives are ever endangered by such cannibalistic demons. They showed the beaten path in the otherwise thick forests which was used by the ascetics to collect fruits and roots. They told rAma that they may make use of that trail to get into the forest safely.
Thus the tormentor of enemies, rAma, obtained the blessings of the ascetics for his onward journey and accompanied by sItA and laksmaNa entered the danDaka forests much like the sun was entering the mass of clouds in the skies.
इतीव तैः प्राञ्जलिभिस्तपस्विभिर्द्विजैः कृतस्वस्त्ययनः परन्तपः।
वनं सभार्यः प्रविवेश राघवस्सलक्ष्मणस्सूर्य इवाभ्रमण्डलम्।।2.119.22।।
Here we conclude the one hundred nineteenth sarga of the ayOdhyA kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
here with we offer the ayOdhyA kAnDam – the book of dharma at the lotus feet of SrIrAma.
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: araNya kAnDam – mission in motion
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 