Hari Om.
Let us begin the fifth sarga of the yuddha kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
Overcoming the brief spell of anxiety about crossing the ocean, pep talked by sugrIva, rAma soon regained his spirits and sought details of lanka and its layout from hanumAn to start the planning for the battle. Once he understood the task at hand, he was confident and ordered sugrIva to start the journey towards lanka. Displaying great alertness and foreseeing the challenges that can come on the way, rAma divided the army into columns and ordered them to move. The huge army began to move led by nIla, through the hills, dales, rivers, ponds, lakes and forests with utmost enthusiasm and keen for the fight at hand. They were all roaring aloud and raring to go. The spirit was such that, each one of them proclaimed they would vanquish rAvaNa himself! Surrounded by these warriors, rAma rode on the shoulder of hanumAn and lakshmaNa on that of angada. On the way lakshmaNa, the expert advisor spoke on the favourable planetary and stellar positions for rAma which foretold his victory. Beholding amazing flora and fauna, the army moved and finally reached the shore of the ocean. The ocean and the sky both looked limitless and resembled each other in many ways. The army camped there and was instructed not to stray away from the camp while a plan to cross the ocean could be thought of. Onwards…
On that northern shore of the ocean, the army settled down in the camp duly overseen by nIla and the camp was protected by the twin warriors – mainda and dvivida. With the army well settled in the camps, rAma said to lakshmaNa who was by his side –
“Generally, the passage of time heals and reduces grief. But in my case, not able to see my beloved, the grief is increasing day by day. More than her distance from me and abduction, I am feeling for her on account of her age frittering away. O wind, the same waft with which you touched her, touch me as well with that giving me the feel of her touch! Looking at the moon, I feel like my gaze has united with hers.
वाहिवातयतःकान्तातांस्पृष्टवामामपिस्पृश ।
त्वयिमेगात्रसंस्पर्शश्चन्द्रेदृष्टिसमागमः ।।6.5.6।।
The very thought of how my beloved would have cried for me for protection while being abducted devastates me as if I have consumed poison. The separation from her as the firewood and her constant thoughts as the flames, my body feels gutted by longing for her. O saumitri, I should go and sleep in the waters of the sea to calm this raging fire of longing.
बह्वेतत्कामयानस्यशक्यमेतेनजीवितुम् ।
यदहंसाचवामोरूरेकांधरणिमाश्रितौ ।।6.5.10।।
O lakshmaNa, only this thought keeps me alive that I and she take refuge on the same earth. Just like a paddy field that is not watered, draws some of the wetness from the neighboring field, I am alive only by the news of her survival. I don’t when I will see the charming woman with lovely limbs after vanquishing the enemy. I don’t know when I will be able to lift her face and drink from her lips like an afflicted person draws the juice of life. I don’t know when I will enjoy her warm embrace. Alas, I wonder how is surviving without me, her protector in the middle of the demons. Alas, how is the daughter of janaka taking it all? When will she emerge out of the demons’ clutches like the crescent moon emerging from the clouds? She is already thin by nature. Now by abstaining from food, she must gone down further! Alas! When will I be able to rescue her by killing the demon king with my arrows! Alas, when will the godly princess sItA embrace me and shed tears of joy. When will I be able to discard this grief from mind like soiled clothes”?
As rAma lamented thus, the sun was setting in the western skies. Comforted by lakshmaNa, rAma, smitten by the separation from sItA, recovered and performed the evening ablutions.
Here we conclude the fifth sarga of the yuddha kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
Click on the above link for word by word meaning from IITK website
Click on the above link to listen to the audio by SrIrAma ghanApATi
Next: 6.006. The demons confer
Previous: 6.004. They move for the conquest
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 