Hari Om.
Let us begin the ninty sixth sarga of the ayOdhyA kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
As the focus shifts to rAma’s reveling at the chitrakUTa, he is taking sItA around and showing her the bewitching beauty of nature at the charming chitrakUTa mountain and the ravishing river mandAkinI. He is so smitten by the beauty of nature and the presence of loving sItA and righteous lakshmaNa that he says he can spend any length of time in that setting and that he doesn’t miss ayOdhyA at all! The exile in the forests is proving to be a fantastic time for the trio. Onwards…
Having taken sItA around to the majestic chitrakUTa mountain and the charming river mandAkinI, they sat down on the mountain slope and the righteous rAma offered meat roasted on fire to sItA and gratified her. In the meantime, the dust kicked up by the travel of the large entourage of bharata touched the skies, the din unleashed by the movement scared the wild animals of the forest and made them run helter skelter. He wondered about the source of the noise that the wild beasts were scared of and were fleeing. He turned to the blazing lakshmaNa ans said –
“Hey lakshmaNa, do find out what is the tumultuous noise reverberating through the forests which are resulting in the scared wild animals like the elephants and buffaloes run for their lives! Is it a king who has entered for hunting or is it a ferocious wild animal like the lions whom other animals are fearing and running away? even the birds find it difficult to scale the heights of the chitrakUTa, so do find out at once the source of this commotion”.
Prompted by rAma and realizing the urgency of the matter, lakshmaNa climbed a tall sAl tree and surveyed all the directions and focused on the eastern direction. And then turning his gaze northwards he beheld a large army made of infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots sporting banners heading in their direction. He immediately reported that to rAma and hurried him up by saying –
“O noble one, put out the fire (lest the smoke leads enemies unto them), let sItA enter a cave for protection, string the bow, get the arrows and armour ready at once”
अग्निं संशमयत्वार्य स्सीता च भजतां गुहाम्।
सज्यं कुरुष्व चापं च शरांश्च कवचं तथा।।2.96.14।।
And then rAma enquired of lakshmaNa with a hint of surprise to find whose army it appeared like. And to that question, lakshmaNa, seething with anger, as if he would turn the army into ashes, replied –
“Having been crowned, in order to enjoy the prosperous kingdom unchallenged, and remove the obstacles from his way, bharata is heading our way with a large army in order to get rid of us. The fluttering flag on the chariot bears the emblem of the kOvidAra tree and it is pretty clear to whom it belongs. Advise whether we shall lay in wait for the enemy on the mountain or right here, being fully armed! O rAma, can we clinch this kOvidAra flag in this battle (can we win over the enemy), can I ensure that bharata at whose behest you were banished along with sItA and myself is slain!? O rAma, ” [he asserted aggressively] “I do not see anything wrong in ensuring that bharata is slain as it is not unfair to kill someone who has done disfavor earlier! This bharata has given up righteousness and deserves to be killed and today the greedy kaikEyI shall see her son felled by me like a tree felled by an elephant. When I accomplish this, you shall rule over the entire world. Not only that I shall slay kaikEyI also along with her attendants and mitigate the burden of sin on this earth. O protector of honour, rAma, today, I shall unleash my pent up anger on this army and destroy it like the fire consumes the bushes. Today the mountains of chitrakUTa will be painted red with the blood of the enemy vanquished by my sharp arrows. Let the wild beasts of the forest drag away the corpses of the men, elephants and horses felled by my arrows. By vanquishing bharata and his enemy I shall be relieved of my debt that I owe to my bow and arrows!
Here we conclude the ninty sixth 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: 2.97.Brotherhood exemplary!
Previous: 2.95. rAma doesn’t miss ayOdhyA!
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 