Individual verses with meanings
hari: Om.
Let us begin the twentyninth sarga of the bAlakAnDam with offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
In this sarga, sage viSwAmitra narrates the legend behind the sidhhASrama, the hermitage of lord vAmana.
As the rAma of amazing prowess enquired thus, the effulgent viSwAmitra began narration. “O mighty armed rAma, this is the very place where vishNu, the foremost among the gods, performed penance for innumerable years spanning over hundreds of yugas. This is verily the hermitage of vAmana where he performed penance and succeeded and hence it is known as sidhhASrama, the hermitage of achievement.
During the period vishNu incarnated as vAmana and performed penance here, bali, the son of virOchana vanquished indra, maruts and the other gods and ruled over the three worlds with benevolence. Once while bali was performing a yajna, the gods led by agni (fire god) approached lord vishNu and proposed that while bali was performing the yajna and granting whatever the seekers would ask during this period, this was an opportune time to achieve the purpose of dEvas. They requested lord vishNu to accomplish this task for the welfare of the dEvas by assuming the form of vAmana, a dwarf. O rAma, in the meanwhile, the sage kaSyapa who is effulgent like fire and his consort aditi performed a vow spanning over a thousand years and propitiated lord madhusUdana (vishNu).
Having secured the vision of the lord, he hailed Him as the very embodiment of penance, the very essence of penance, as being full of tapas and as the very form of tapas and that he was beholding Him after performing penance appropriately and rigorously. He extolled vishNu as the one without a beginning and end and saw in Him, the entire creation.
तपोमयं तपोराशिं तपोमूर्तिं तपात्मकम्।
तपसा त्वां सुतप्तेन पश्यामि पुरुषोत्तमम्।।1.29.12।।
Lord vishNu was pleased at this eulogy from the sinless kaSyapa and offered him a boon. The great kaSyapa, son of mArica sought a boon for aditi, himself and the dEvas. He submitted that the lord be born as son of aditi, as younger brother of indra and be of help to remove the sorrow of the dEvas.
kaSyapa, further submitted, since my penance bore fruition here this place shall be known as sidhhASrama (siddhi is achievement) and Oh lord vishNu, please rise from this very place and remove the difficulties of the dEvas. The lord vishNu was then born from the womb of aditi as vAmana and approached bali for alms. Having asked for three feet of land from bali, vishNu, who is ever immersed in welfare of all, snatched everything that belonged to bali and occupied with his feet in His universal form. He then gave back the three worlds got by alms from bali back to indra and anointed him the ruler.
Due to my devotion to lord vishNu, this ASram of lord vAmana is dwelt upon by me. This is the very place, rAma where the demons wreak havoc and need to be demolished. Let’s get into the ASram which is very dear to me, please feel at home, O rAma. As the sage entered the ASram along with rAma and lakshmaNa, he appeared lustrous like the moon in conjunction with the star punarvasu.
The inmates of the sidhhASrama accorded a grand and worshipful welcome to the sage as well as the princes. After resting for a while, the princes requested the sage to initiate the proceedings of the yajna. The sage was pleased and immediately took initiation being self restrained and following all rituals duly. The princes spent the night restfully and having woken in the morning, cleansed, completed the morning rituals and ablutions and presented themselves in the service of the effulgent sage viSwAmitra.
Here we conclude the twenty ninth sarga of the bAlakAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 