Individual verses with meanings
sarga 24, bAlakAnDam
Hari Om.
Let us begin the twenty fourth sarga of the bAlakAnDam with offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
In this sarga, maharshi describes the trio of viSwAmitra, rAma and lakshmaNa crossing over the river ganga and entering into the forest as the sage narrates various stories to a curious rAma and lakshmaNa including that of tATaka.
After spending the night at the kAma ASrama, destroyer of foes rAma and lakshmaNa along with sage viSwAmitra offered morning oblation and then reached the banks of ganga for their onward journey. The sages [from the kAma ASrama] who came to see them off, arranged a boat for them to cross the ganga and addressing sage viSwAmitra, they said “please board the boat along with the princes and let there be no delay in your journey”. viSwAmitra, happily agreed and took leave of the sages along with the princes.
They all started rowing along downstream of the river ganga. As they reached midstream, rAma and lakshmaNa heard a roaring sound coming from the waters, other than that caused by the speed of the boat. They got curious and respectfully asked the sage what was causing the tumultuous sound. viSwAmitra graciously replied “there on the mount kailAsa, lord brahma created a lake which is known as mAnasa sarOvara. The river sarayu originates from that sarOvara (lake) and hence gets its name. The river that flows from the sarOvara surrounds the city of ayOdhya and meets the river ganga here. This tumultuous sound is arising here by the meeting of the river sarayu with river ganga. O rAma and lakshmaNa, please pay your obeisance at this sacred site of confluence.” Religious as they were, rAma and lakshmaNa paid their respect silently to the rivers at that site and soon reached the southern banks of the ganga and the dense forest was right ahead of them.
Entering the forest rAma exclaimed and asked “Oh, wow! This forest looks truly inaccessible filled with constant chirping of crickets and various birds and the frightful cries of wild beasts like lions, tigers, elephants and wild boars. Jam-packed with bilva, dhava, aSvakarNa, tindula, badari and kakubha trees, I wonder how dreadful this forest could be!” The radiant viSwAmitra then began to talk about the history of the forest. O rAma, “in the ancient times there existed two large and prosperous cities here by name malada and karuSa built by divine architects.
O rAma, in the past, when indra killed the demon vrtrAsura, he incurred the sin of killing a brAhmin and was haunted by taint and hunger. It was at this place that gods and austere Rshis cleansed him of his taint with water brought from several rivers. indra was delighted to have been purified thus and blessed the region that it be fertile and prosperous. Since it cleansed him of impurity, it came to be known as malada (mala being impurity) and got the name karuSa as he was relieved from hunger there. The gods were happy at this turn of events and welcomed it by hailing ‘sAdhu sAdhu’! Having been blessed thus by indra, these two townships prospered for a long time with wealth and grains. After the passage of some time, mighty as a thousand elephants, tATaka the wife of a yaksha by name sunanda and blessed with a powerful son named mArica took possession of this place. The wicked and dreadful tATaka and her mighty and muscular son mArica torment the twin towns and destroyed them from time to time. She lives here in this forest about one and a half yOjanas away and for the fear of her no one dares come this way. I have narrated to you the way the terrible yakshiNi has ruined this forest and caused havoc and hence I commend you to slay this wicked ogress and free this place of her evil influence.
Here we conclude the twenty fourth sarga of the bAla kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 