Hari Om.
Let us begin the sixty first sarga of the ayOdhyA kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
Queen kausalyA came down heavily on the king daSaratha for having caused the unbearable and unjust banishment of rAma. Appropriately she brought up the crisis that the ikshvAku clan would face upon return of rAma from the exile. The farsighted queen that she was, she questioned, how will rAma take up a kingdom that was governed by his younger brother and the ignominy and indignity that would fetch to him if he did so. Therefore, there was no way he would take up the kingdom even after returning from the exile. And if bharata continued to rule, there would be departure from the tradition of the ikshvAkus for anointing a younger son as the heir instead of the eldest. And king daSaratha would be solely responsible for that situation. She was both brutal and precise in her observation that the king found rather difficult to gulp. He was already feeling guilty for having banished rAma and then this possibility weighed him down even more. He begged her pardon with folded hands. The queen at once was remorseful for her outburst as the husband is not supposed to prostrate before his wife. She fell at his feet and asked for forgiveness for the outburst that was caused by grief. She consoled the king and recognized his adherence to the truth which has caused this situation. The king felt a tad lighter and slipped into sleep but not before remembering a gruesome incident that occurred in his youth. Onwards…
The king had a rude awakening after a few moments of his sleep. Bereft of rAma and lakshmaNa, he felt rather gloomy like the Sun was eclipsed. That sixth night post rAma’s exile, king daSaratha began brooding over an unintended mistake that he committed long ago in his youth and he began narrating that to kausalyA. Going down the memory lane and revisiting the sad episode in his life, he said to kausalyA –
“O auspicious one, the consequences of one’s action either good or bad are inescapable. It can be only termed childish if one doesn’t foresee the results of one’s action before doing it. If someone foolishly uproots the mango tree and in its place plants the forest flames (a tree called palASa) and keeps watering it is sure to get disappointed when he gets only flowers instead of mango fruit. This disappointment is solely due to the absence of foresight in him. Likewise I have uprooted the fruit yielding tree that is rAma and in its place I am watering the palASa tree and foolishly expecting mango fruits!
O kausalyA, when I was young, I was an ace archer who could hit target guided by the sound that it generated. And it led me to committing a great sin, the result of which I am seem to be experiencing now. It was as if a child consumed poison out of ignorance. Just like the fool who planted the forest flame tree, I too committed a heinous sin out of utter foolishness.
I was in the prime of youth, the crown prince and we had not married then, the rainy season had set in inflaming my pride and passion. In its northern sojourn, the Sun had sucked the waters from the earth and was now in the southern sojourn, moving around in the frightening region of the manes. As the summer heat subsided, dark clouds appeared on the horizon and inundated the earth with incessant showers. It was a welcome shower indeed and the frogs, geese and the peacocks rejoiced. The trees were drenched as were the wings of the various birds. With those wings dripping water, the birds struggled to reach the treetops. The deer reached the mountaintop in herds and the flock looked like water bodies. As the rains lashed the mountains, impromptu streams began flowing down and as the serpentine water streams mixed with various minerals on the mountains, the streams took up the color of the minerals. In that very delightful season, I went to the forests on the bank of the river sarayu, determined to to pleasure hunting with no control whatsoever on my senses.
Hiding there through the night and being ready with my bow and shafts I lay waiting to hunt for animals that might come to quench their thirst. Following the sounds of a couple of beats that came to drink water, I killed those with sharp arrows. And then I heard the sound of a pot being filled and took it to be an elephant drinking water. I got my bow ready and aiming in the direction of sound in that darkness I released a venomous shaft. And then I heard the cry of alas from a human being, perhaps a forest ranger. The dawn was breaking and in that light I could see him being hit on a vital part by my arrow and fall into the river uttering terrible words in pain.
He fell asking in pain who would shoot an arrow at an ascetic such as him! I came to the solitary spot at the river by night to fetch water and why did some one shoot an arrow at me when I had committed no offence towards anyone! I live the life on ascetic, abhorrent of violence and living on forest produce, wearing barks and sporting matted hair and so who would want to kill me especially when I have done no disfavor to anyone? Whoever committed this heinous act won’t be appreciated at all by anyone and in fact will be detested like the transgression of a disciple towards his guru. However, I don’t regret my loss of life so much as I feel helpless about my old parents whom I tended all the while and what would come upon them upon learning about my death! Surely we three have been felled by this single arrow as they won’t be able to live without me. Ah, who is that wretch who did this to us?
Seeing his plight and hearing his lamentations, I was aghast at myself and was palpitating. The bow and arrow dropped from my hand. I very much wanted to follow the righteous path. But this inadvertent cruel act has been perpetrated by me. Dragging my feet, low on energy I approached the place where the bloodied boy lay battling for his life struck down by my arrow. The blood stained pitcher lay to his side. With painful yet radiant eyes, he looked at me and said “How cruel”, what harm have I done to you O king? With one arrow you have claimed me as well as my old parents. My aged parents, weak and blind must be waiting for me to fetch them water to quench their thirst. My old and blind father is unaware that I am lying on the ground and am in my last moments. Alas, what could he do even if he knew that I am in this state? He can’t even walk and so he will be helpless like a tree unable to protect another tree being axed. Ah, it seems true that there indeed is no reward for penance or learning vEdas or else my father wouldn’t be in this helpless state now.
O rAghava (daSaratha) go at once and inform my father of this before his rage consumes you like the wildfire consumes the forest. This way leads to the hermitage of my father, please go and inform him, lest he becomes angry. Ah, this arrow is piercing my vitals and sucking the life out of me! It is painful! I feel stirring pain just like the river banks experience the lashing currents of the river. Please gently rid me of this arrow.
I was in a dilemma. If the arrow was not removed, he would be in devastating pain and if it were removed he would die. For a few moments I didn’t know what to do. Watching my inaction, the boy suffering from unbearable pain, understood my hesitation. His limbs writhing and voice falling, he attained a semblance of balance and in feeble voice asked me to remove the fear of the sin of slaying a brAhmin. He said he was born to a vaiSya father and sUdra mother and so the king would be spared of the sin of killing a brAhmin. And so he asked me to rid myself of guilt.
I bent down, took him in my lap and gently removed the arrow from his vital place. He writhed in pain and looking into my eyes lost his life force. His body was wet with water and soaked in the blood flowing out of his wound caused by the arrow. Breathing heavily and moaning, he passed away and lay dead on the banks of river sarayu. I was aghast at the turn of events and stood there in remorse.
Here we conclude the sixty first sarga of the ayOdhyA kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
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Next: 2.64. The dreadful past act catches up
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 