Individual verses with meanings
Hari Om.
Let us begin the sixty third sarga of the bAlakAnDam with offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
viSwamitra is rigorously pursuing penance to beget the title of brahmaRshi. In the process, his helping nature causes distractions – first in the pursuit to send king triSanku to the heavens bodily and then in protecting SunaSSepha from a certain death. In spite of these obstacles, viSwAmitra makes a determined effort. Onwards…
In pushkara, sage viSwAmitra continued his penance for a thousand years. At the end of this, lord brahma came along with the gods, desirous of rewarding the sage for his penance. For his penance well done, lord brahma bestowed the title of Rshi on the sage and wishing him well, went back to the heavens. viSwAmitra continued his penance in pursuit of the coveted title of brahmaRshi.
As his penance continued, one day in the lake in pushkara, he sighted the beautiful apsara mEnaka cooling herself off. She appeared strikingly beautiful like the lightning in the clouds! Watching her, viSwAmitra came under the spell of the god of love and was instantly infatuated smitten by her bewitching beauty! He courted her and welcomed her into his hermitage. mEnaka happily obliged and started living with viSwAmitra in the hermitage. Ten delightful years passed by! At the end of it, viSwAmitra realized his folly and was ashamed and depressed of the distraction he suffered. He recollected with indignation the infatuation he suffered and the consequent loss of time and effort towards his goal of getting the title of brahmaRshi, lost in sensual pursuits with the divine damsel. He divined that it is the act of gods to distract him from his goal. He sighed heavily, was grief-stricken and remorseful. mEnaka was frightened sighting the sage thus. viSwAmitra held no grudge against her and with sweet words bid good bye to her and moved on the northern mountains to perform further tapas in pursuit of his goal.
viSwAmitra realized that lack of sense control proved to be his undoing and took a vow of celibacy adhering to rigid and rigorous rules with a view to win over the senses. He performed intense penance in the banks of yamuna for a thousand years. The gods were watching this and recommended to lord brahma that the sage can be bestowed the title of mahaRshi – great sage – as a recognition of his long and dedicated penance.
Acceding to the request of the gods, lord brahma hastened to the place where viSwAmitra was performing penance and hailed him sweetly with the words – “welcome O mahaRshi! my dear child, I confer upon you, preeminence among Rshis in recognition of your penance”. On this conferment from lord brahma, viSwAmitra maintained composure and was neither dejected nor delighted (indicating his better sense control). With folded palms the sage saluted lord brahma and thanked him for his grace and wondered if he had achieved sense control since the title of mahaRshi was conferred upon him. Lord brahma replied in the negative and advised him to strive more and left for his abode.
viSwAmitra resumed his penance with even more vigour and rigor – standing without support, with upraised hands and subsisting just on air he continued his penance. Completely exposed to the elements – standing amidst five flames in the summer, under the open sky during rains and immersed in water day and night during the winters he performed penance that terrified the gods led by indra! The lord of gods, indra hailed the apsara rambha and began to plot the means of distracting viSwAmitra from his intense penance.
Here we conclude the sixtythird sarga of the bAla kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
Next: 1.64. Ravishing rambha gets cursed
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 