Hari Om.
Let us begin the twenty five sarga of the ayOdhyakAnDam with offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
Mother kausalya’s abode is witnessing unusual conversations! As rAma is resolute to honor the untold wish of his father and ensure that he stays true to his word, neither kausalya not lakshmaNa are thrilled by it. Motherly love does melt at the sight of the trouble to even ordinary children, then what to speak of rAma, the very embodiment of every conceivable virtue. So the mother puts forth her arguments of helplessness. On the other hand, the heroic lakshmaNa is livid and vows to vanquish every single person that entertains the thought of opposing rAma, be it daSaratha be it kaikEyi! But rAma’s resolve is himalayan! He doesn’t budge from his very clear stand. It is slowly dawning on the heroic mother kausalya that rAma’s decision is irreversible and is steeped in dharma. What does she do now? Onwards…
Unable to dissuade rAma from following the highest dharma of ensuring truthfulness of his father, the exalted kausalya then moved onto perform the appropriate ceremony to bless rAma in his pursuit. She sipped water in form of Achamanam and said –
“O rAma, I cannot stop you from following the foot steps of the virtuos. Go forth to the forest and return soon. The dharma that you are following so assiduously, may that dharma protect you.
यं पालयसि धर्मं त्वं धृत्या च नियमेन च।
स वै राघवशार्दूल धर्मस्त्वामभिरक्षतु।।2.25.3।।
May the gods that you bow to in the temples and holy places and the great sages protect you.
May those divine weapons bestowed upon you by the great viSwAmitra protect you.
O my dear son mighty rAma, live long protected by the service you have rendered to the father, mother and the truth.
O rAma, in the forests, may you be protected by the sacred kuSa grass, the sacrificial altar, temples, mountains, trees, plants, lakes, birds, serpents and lions.
May the gods sAdhyas and viSwEdEvas, maruts, great sages, dhAta, vidhAta, bhaga, aryama, pUsha (various forms of the Sun god) and the guardians of the quarters led by indra ever protect you.
May the seasons, fortnights, months, years, nights, days and moments bring good unto you.
May you be ever protected by your memory, determination, by lord skanda, sOma, bRhaspati, saptaRshis and sage nArada.
May the exalted sidhhAs and the guardian deities that have been propitiated by me protect you at all times in the forest.
While dwelling in the forest, may the mountains, seas, lord varuNa, the heavens, the antariskha (space), the earth, rivers, stars, planets, the gods, day, night and the times of transition (sandhyas) protect you always.
May the six glorious seasons, months, years and other smaller units of time be favorable to you.
When you go around the forest donning the garb of a Rshi, may the gods and demons be favorable to you.
May there be no fear to you from the demons, evil spirits engaged in gruesome deeds and from animals that feast on meat.
May you be untroubled by the monkeys, scorpions, mosquitoes, flies, reptiles and other insects in the forest.
May the mighty elephants, lions, tigers, bears, buffaloes with their sharp horns and incisors not bring you any harm.
The ferocious carnivores and the frightening animals are propitiated by me and may they not harm you.
O my dear rAma, may your paths be full of auspiciousness, may you be successful in every pursuit and may you be accomplished. May your valor be fruitful. Go ahead and be safe.
आगमास्ते शिवास्सन्तु सिध्यन्तु च पराक्रमाः।
सर्वसम्पत्तये राम स्वस्तिमान्गच्छ पुत्रक।।2.25.21।।
The gods on the earth and in the sky, may then protect you ever and ever and let there be no harm to you from adversaries.
Propitiated by me, guru, sOma, sUrya, kubEra and yama protect you while in the danDaka forest.
During your ablutions, may the fire god, wind god, smoke and the mantras chanted by the Rshis protect you.
May the trinity, brahma, vishNu and mahESwara along with the Rshis protect you while in the forest”.
Thus the illustrious mother kausalya propitiated the gods by offering garlands, sandal paste and other articles appropriate to the invocations. She took help of the priests to perform the hOmam sacrifice with articles such puffed rice, mustard, ghee, butter, curds and other appropriate articles wishing for the peace and happiness of rAma and averting evil. Having completed the sacrificial worship as ordained, she gave gifts in charity to the officiating priests. And then she spoke in benediction again profusely blessing her son –
“May the blessings conferred upon indra by all the gods when he was fighting the demon vRtra be upon you.
यन्मङ्गलं सहस्राक्षे सर्वदेवनमस्कृते।
वृत्रनाशे समभवत्तत्ते भवतु मङ्गलम्।।2.25.32।।
Let the blessings that vinata conferred upon garuDa during fetching the amRtam be upon you.
यन्मङ्गलं सुपर्णस्य विनताऽकल्पयत्पुरा।
अमृतं प्रार्थयानस्य तत्ते भवतु मङ्गलम्।।2.25.33।।
When the amRtam emerged from the ocean upon churning, in the subsequent war, the thunder wielder indra vanquished demons by virtue of the blessings of aditi. May those blessings be upon you.
अमृतोत्पादने दैत्यान् घ्नतो वज्रधरस्य यत्।
अदितिर्मङ्गलं प्रादात्तत्ते भवतु मङ्गलम्।।2.25.34।।
The highly illuminous vishNu occupied the three worlds by growing into gigantic proportions and earned outstanding repute. May such auspiciousness be yours.
त्रीन्विक्रमान्प्रक्रमतो विष्णोरमिततेजसः।
यदासीन्मङ्गलं राम तत्ते भवतु मङ्गलम्।।2.25.35।।
May the seasons, the oceans, the islands, vEdas, worlds and the directions confer auspiciousness upon you”.
ऋतवस्सागरा द्वीपा वेदा लोका दिशश्च ते।
मङ्गलानि महाबाहो दिशन्तु शुभमङ्गलाः।।2.25.36।।
With these blessings, the gracious and loving kausalya blessed rAma by keeping her hand on his head, smeared sandalwood paste and tied a talisman on his hand with the herb viSalyakaraNi repeatedly chanting appropriate mantras. Although overcome by grief, kausalya feigned normality in her tone and pretended to be happy and in that pretense her words were fumbling! Then having smelt the forehead of her beloved son, she blessed him and encouraged him to go ahead in his mission, be peaceful and return successfully. She said –
“O rAma come back healthy and accomplished. I will see you well settled in the royal palace upon your return. My anxieties shall vanish the day you return from the forest and I will see you like the rising moon. Having fulfilled your father’s words when you return from the forest and grace the throne, I shall be happy. After exile when you return replete with auspiciousness you shall fulfil the desires of sItA as well as myself.
O rAma, the pantheon of gods, lord Siva, mahaRshis, great demons and serpents and the four quarters shall always confer good on you while dwelling in the forest“.
Thus fighting her tears and unable to stop them, she circumambulated the scion of the raghus conferring talismanic protection upon him and embracing him tightly in motherly love.
The radiant raghAva fell upon the feet of his mother repeatedly and sought her blessings and then the glorious son of the raghus left for the abode of sItA.
Here we conclude the twenty five sarga of the ayOdhya kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
Click on the book for word by word meaning from IITK website
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Next: 2.26. sItA’s questions, rAma’s advise
Previous: 2.24. dharma trumps even mother’s love
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 