Individual verses with meanings
Hari Om.
Let us begin the sixty sixth sarga of the bAlakAnDam with offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
rAma and lakshmaNa along with viSwAmitra and a host of Rshis start from the siddhASrama where rAma conquers mArica and subAhu and protects the yajna of viSwAmitra. The sage then sets off to mithila where king janaka was performing a yajna. He appeals to the valour in the two boys by telling them of a formidable bow which was present there and that no one could even lift it. The princes then set off with the sage to mithila. Mission extended!
On the way brahmaRshi viSwAmitra narrates a variety of tales that is highly educational for the princes – chiefly, the descent of tri-path flowing ganga, churning of the milk ocean, the tale of indra’s misadventure to gautama’s hermitage, ahalya’s curse and redemption of ahalya by rAma. At mithila, ahalya and gautama’s son SatAnanda, the minister of janaka is thrilled to learn of the redemption of his mother by rAma. He is full of gratitude to sage viSwAmitra for being the enabler. He starts off a rather detailed narration of the manner in which a determined viSwAmitra met all odds and conquered them to final be blessed with a much coveted title of brahmaRshi. After all the flashback stories, the rAmAyaNam is now coming back to the present. Onwards….
As morning dawned, the king janaka performed his ablutions and welcomed the sage viSwamitra along with rAma and lakshmaNa. Offering them courtesy as laid down in the scriptures, he said, Welcome O lord, sinless viSwAmitra, I am worthy of being commanded to be at your service! Welcomed thus with reverence and humility, the articulate sage viSwAmitra was pleased and after blessing the king spoke these words – “O king, as you see these two mighty and well known kshatriya princes, sons of king daSaratha. They are desirous of seeing the best of the bows that is present in your place. The princes will return after fulfilling their desire of beholding the bow”.
Hearing this king janaka began to narrate the reason for the bow to be present in his palace – king dEvarAta was sixth in the line of the nimi kings (who ruled mithila). Lord Siva deposited this bow with king dEvarAta. This bow was wielded verily by the exalted mahAdEva Himself! Once there was a yajna performed by daksha to which Siva was not invited and offered His share. Out of his sportive anger, Siva raised this bow and threatened to severe the limbs of the gods who went there without Him. The gods were terrified and propitiated lord Siva there. Happy with the propitiation, He gifted the bow to the gods who in turn deposited it in trust with king dEvarAta who is my ancestor. That is how the bow came to our royal household.
Once, I was tilling the land with plough. While doing so, I found a baby girl, who became famous by the name sIta.
अथ मे कृषत: क्षेत्रं लाङ्गूलादुत्थिता मया।
क्षेत्रं शोधयता लब्धा नाम्ना सीतेति विश्रुता।।1.66.13।।
She was not one born from a mother’s womb, but verily from the womb of mother earth. I took her as my daughter and she grew up in my household. I offered to give her in marriage to any prince who proved his prowess comprehensively. Several kings and princes came seeking her hand in marriage. I refused to give her in marriage to anyone whose might was untested. Agreeing to my terms, the kings came to mithila as suitors to prove their worthiness for her.
In order to test their might, the mighty bow was brought out. Not one of them even clasp the bow, let alone lifting it! I refused to give sIta in marriage to anyone of these incapable kings and rejected them. The kings were livid at this failure and supposed humiliation. They laid siege over the city of mithila and tormented it for a year not allowing any movement into and from mithila. After spending a year like that mithila was exhausted of all the supplies. I was sad at this plight of my citizens. I propitiated the gods with my austerities.
In order to help me defeat the enemies they sent reinforcements of the four types – infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots. Taking help of this army, I vanquished the sulking kings who laid siege to mithila and they fled along with their entourage in different directions.
King janaka concluded the narration of the legend of the bow to viswAmitra in the presence of rAma and lakshmaNa and said – of course O great sage, I shall show the resplendent bow to these youngsters rAma and lakshmaNa. If rAma succeeds in stringing the bow, I shall gladly offer my darling daughter sIta to this son of daSaratha (dASarathi).
यद्यस्य धनुषो राम: कुर्यादारोपणं मुने।
सुतामयोनिजां सीतां दद्यां दाशरथेरहम्।।1.66.26।।
Here we conclude the sixty sixth sarga of the bAla kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
Next: 1.67. Broken bow, upheld vow and wedding bells
Previous: 1.65. brahmaRshi viSwAmitra
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 