Individual verses with meanings
Hari Om.
Let us begin the sixty second sarga of the bAlakAnDam with offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
The ikshvAku king ambarISa set out along with the prized scalp SunaSSepha who would be sacrificed at the yajna thus saving the king from the ignominy of not completing a yajna and thereby not losing merit. As they wheeled on, by noon, they stopped by at pushkara, near the place where sage viSwAmitra was doing penance in his quest to become a brahmaRshi. SunaSSepha saw the sage viSwAmitra who was actually his maternal uncle! He was overcome by grief upon seeing the sage and immediately fell in his lap with his laments of being unwanted by his parents and relatives. He pitiably pleaded “O sage, you are the refuge of all, kindly protect me such that I am able to do penance for a long time and by virtue of that merit, I attain the heavens in the end. Bless me such that I live and the kings purpose is served well”!
viSwAmitra empathized with his plight. He addressed his own sons thus – “O sons, the time to be proved as worthy children has arrived. You have all been very righteous. May you go with the king, serve as the sacrificial animal in his yajna and lay down your life. That way, you will be blessed and the king’s yajna will be protected, SUnaSSepha will be saved and my words of succor given to him would turn true”.
O rAma, SatAnanda continued, listening to the words of their father the sons led by madhuchhanda spontaneously protested and asked “O lord how is that you want to abandon your own sons in order to save someone else? It seems like partaking dog-meat!” viSwAmitra seethed with rage at this unseemly act of rejection by his sons. He inflicted terrible curse on them. He said, “you have not only transgressed my words, but dharma as well. May you all live on the earth for a thousand years eating the flesh of dogs like the sons of vasisTha”.
SunaSSepha was even more distressed now! viSwAmitra calmed him and said – “you will be tied to the sacrificial post smeared in red paste and garlanded. There at that place, invoke the god agni with these verses. Render these two verses with devotion there and you will be saved and blessed with longevity”. SunaSSepha memorized the verses immediately and went to the king ambarISa and expressed keenness to go to the yajna soon. They both hastened to the yajna altar happily. There with the consent of the officiating priests ambarISa tied the sacrificial animal – SunaSSepha – smeared in red to the sacrificial post.
SunaSSepha who was tied to the sacrificial post, followed the dictum of viSwAmitra and rendered the two divine mantras invoking indra and upendra secretly. The thousand eyed indra was pleased immediately at this secret extol. He immediately manifested and blessed SunaSSepha with a long life. King ambarISa was also blessed with the successful completion of his yajna by indra and was amply rewarded beyond his expectations.
Thus viSwAmitra saved SunaSSepha from a certain death and continued performing penance in the pushkara region for a thousand years.
Here we conclude the sixty second sarga of the bAla kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
Next: 1.63. Mesmerizing mEnaka!
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 