Hari Om.
Let us begin the fifty eighth sarga of the ayOdhyA kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
After rAma bids good bye to sumantra, he crosses over the river gangA on the boat arranged by guha and then on the banks, walks towards prayAga to the spot of confluence of rivers yamunA and gangA. There he goes to the hermitage of sage bharadwAja. he receives guidance from the sage regarding a suitable place to stay during the exile. The next morning he proceeds as per the directions and in a day or two reaches chitrakUTa. Meanwhile, sumantra waited on the banks of gangA till his eyes could spot rAma at a distance on the southern banks of river gangA and even longer till he learnt of the journey into the hills of the resolute rAma along with sItA and lakshmaNa. He then returned to ayOdhyA as per the order of rAma to report to the king that the first part of the boon that kaikEyi sought has been fructified. His empty chariot brought much grief to ayOdhyA. The so far desolate streets of ayOdhyA now filled up with devastated citizens. Watching all that sumantra makes it to the palace of king daSaratha and meets him in his chamber. The numb king listens to the verbatim message of rAma and then faints. There is much commotion among the wives of king daSaratha. Queen kausalyA taunts the king out of her grief to inquire from sumantra about rAma. Onwards…
After a while the king recovered his senses and called for sumantra to listen to his message and to inquire about rAma. Minister sumantra was standing with folded hands in front of the elderly king, grief stricken and constantly brooding over rAma, sighing heavily and resembling a newly captured elephant which is also indisposed. The king was a very picture of misery – disheveled, covered with dust, unkempt, teary eyed and very eagerly he inquired about rAma –
“O sumantra, how is the righteous rAma used to all sorts of royal comforts to live under a tree and what shall he eat? Undeserving of any sorrow, how is the son of the lord of the earth to sleep on the earth? For one whose sojourns are piloted by foot soldiers, chariots and elephants, how is he to live in desolate forests infested with wild beasts and venomous serpents like the black cobra along with sItA and lakshmaNa? O sumantra, how indeed did they along with the delicate sItA alight from the chariot and walk off into the forest. Those two mighty men must have resembled the aSwini twins entering the mandara mountains; you are blessed indeed to have beheld them. What did rAma say having entered the forest and what were the words of lakshmaNa and those of sItA. O sumantra, please tell me all, how rAma sits in the forest, how he sleeps, what he eats – please tell me everything about him. Only those words will keep me alive”.
Thus questioned by the king, the charioteer sumantra, choked and fumbled for words, tears running down his cheeks. He composed himself and started his narration –
” O king, the great rAma spoke the following words with utter humility for you. He said, O sumantra, I salute with head bowed in reverence at the feet of my worship worthy and self assured great father. Please convey my respects appropriately and inquiries of well being to all the women in the inner chambers without distinction.
Please convey my salutations to my mother kausalyA and tell these carefully considered words. O mother, please be observant of righteousness and be punctual in the rituals performed at the sacrificial altar. Please treat king daSaratha as a god in serving him. Please conduct yourself without pride or prejudice towards other mothers of mine and ensure that mother kaikEyi remains well disposed towards the king.
Please treat bharata with the respect due to a king even if he is younger as per rAjadharma. Convey my welfare to bharata and also my words to him. He should treat all mothers equally. Also tell him that he is the crown prince and the delight of the ikshvAku race and that he should be obedient to the king and follow him in ruling over the kingdom. Please tell bharata not to inhibit or cause obstructions in the path of the king and follow his commands.
And then rAma’s eyes filled with tears as he said these words to bharata – treat my mother kausalyA as your mother as she would be longing for her son. With these words rAma’s eyes were filled with tears and his voice choked and he could speak no more.
lakhmaNa was livid! He was hissing intensely and asked – for what fault of his has rAma been banished? The king has submitted himself to the whims of kaikEyI and perpetrated this injustice which he thinks as justice and we are suffering that act of his. Whether the king banished rAma for the greed of the kingdom or to respect the boons he conferred – either ways this banishment is not done. Or the king might just have exercised his supreme power as the lord of the land in banishing rAma. I can’t think of any other reason why he would give up rAma. This act done without thinking and against any proper consideration and deliberation will surely lead to misery.
I don’t appreciate paternity in the king any more. For me brother, friend, relation, lord and my father is rAma alone. He further asked, how in the world can anyone be happy with the king for having banished rAma – the delight of everyone, ever engaged in everyone’s welfare and how can he call himself the king by antagonizing everyone in your kingdom?
sItA (jAnaki) had a blank expression on her face, sighing heavily and stood there as if possessed. It was an unprecedented situation for the princess and she was shedding tears and was unable to tell me anything. She just blankly stared at the face of her husband as I was taking leave. rAma stood there with folded hands and teary eyes supported by lakshmaNa as I left and sItA was shedding tears watching the royal chariot and me.
Here we conclude the fifty eighth 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: 2.59. The ocean of grief
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 