Dr. Shrikaanth K Murthy

kiransurya · Post by **kiransurya** » 04 May 2006, 19:10

Nidhi
Thank you...

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 04 May 2006, 21:13

Thanks srinidhi
That is the pinnacle of "Indian" feminine grace. I can't also wait for the starting of Ramayana thread to enjoy such gems of our literary treasures!

DRS

you are quite right Valmiki does not say that shUrpaNakha approached Rama in disguise. She simply states:
'aham shUrpaNakhA nAma kAmarUpiNI'
(I am shUrpaNakhA who can assume any form)
She adds
'vik^RitA ca virUpA ca na sA iyaM sad^RishI tava|
aham eva anurUpA tE bhAryA rUpENa pashya mAm||'
(this one (sItA) is ugly and deformed and is unworthy of you; I am the one worthy to be your wife, look at me!)

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 05 May 2006, 00:01

CML,
MS Gupt has some great examples of understatement and vyanjana in his poems. urmiLA is a great example, which we can discuss later.
Ravi

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 05 May 2006, 00:26

Story of araNya kANDa- part 1

Taking leave of atri and anasUyA, rAma and co enter the daNDaka forest. No sooner do they enter the forest than they encounter virAdha, a demon that eats human flesh. He had been tyrannising the area. virAdha is actually a gandharva by name tumburu, who has been cursed to be a demon by kubEra. He comes up to the group and picks up sItA and begins running. Here rAma is pained and says that the pain he experiences on seeing someone touching his beloved sItA is more than any other pain including the loss of kingdom for him. The brothers put up a fight following which virAdha drops sItA and carries the two with the intent of eating them. The borthers let themselves to be carried a distance. Then, hearing sItA's pleas that she would rather be eaten than see the brothers eaten, rAma and lakShmaNa sever the arms of the demon. Now virAdha realises that this is rAma and understands that his salvation is nigh. He reveals to them his story and directs them to the hermitage of sage Sarabhanga. The brothers bury him and perform rites for him and go in search of Sarabhanga's hermitage.

As they reach the hermitage, they see indra's steeds and chariot and see that he is visiting the sage. rAma goes into the ASrama with a wish to meet indra. On realising this, indra hurriedly takes leave of the sage as the time is not yet ripe for him to meet rAma. Sarabhanga welcomes the three explaining to them that indra had come to take him to brahmalOka dues to his accrued merits. Sarabhanga, being a seer, has declined for the moment as he knew rAma was coming and he wished to see rAma with his mortal eyes before leaving. Now that he has seen rAma and sItA, he dedicates on rAMa all his accrued merits of meditation and directs them to the hermitage of sutIkShNa. Having done this, he invokes the yOgic fire to consume him, thus giving up his mortal coils.

Sage suTikShNa too dedicates all his merits to rAma. Hearing from the sages about their woes due to the cruelty of demons, rAma promises to exterminate the demons. As the leave, sItA gently cautions him against a causeless enmity. rAma refutes saying whether in the city or in the forest, it his duty as a king's representative to protect those who seek refuge in him and to make sure that righteousness is upheld. After 10 years of peregrination and meeting various sages, they go to sage agastya who presents rAma with divine bow, arrows and an inexhaustaible quiver. He further directs them to pancavaTi as a suitable place for them to build their Asrama whic they do.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 05 May 2006, 00:41

In pancvaTI prasang, MS Gupt says:

pancvaTI kI chAyA mein hain
sundar parN kutIr banA
uskE sammukh swacch shilA, par dhIr vIr nirbhIk manA
jAg rahA yEh kaun dhanurdhar jabki bhuvanbhar sOtA hai?
bhOgI, kusumAyudh yOgI sA, banA drishTigat hotA hai
banA huA hai praharI jiskA, us kuTIR mein kyA dhan hai,
jiskI rakshA mein rat iskA tan hai, man hai, jIvan hai?

In the shade of the 5 trees, a beautiful cottage was built; and at night, in the clear and pure moonlight, who is that fearless, and handsome hero who sits on a boulder outside this cottage? He looks like he is used to living in the lap of luxury. And what wealth is he guarding in that cottage?

Who is the sentry and what is he guarding? (Not for DRS, CML or Srinidhi!)
Ravi

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 05 May 2006, 00:56

Cyutapancamam Finally captured!

Gottem! Finally!

I was determined not to giveup on the cyutapancamam. So finally I hunted down the buster in DRS's vasanta. To understand it you must first have info on DRS's shruti (in Hz) which is
sa ri1 ri2 ga1 ga2 ma1 ma2 pa da1 da2 ni1 ni2
127 135 143 151 160 170 180 190 202 214 226 240

This was obtained from his svaras elsewhere. He fluctuates +/- 3% (about 5Hz maximally). The phrase in vasanta with the cyutapancamam is
M G P M G~ , G~ , ,||
pA- - d-hu- -Di

The audio is
http://rapidshare.de/files/19626553/pAdhuDi.wav.html

The fourier plot is
http://rapidshare.de/files/19626717/MGPMGG.jpg.html
with the fleeting cyutapancamam marked.

Here is the detailed analysis:
The starting M = 172 Hz (close to 170 Hz from table)
The following G = 164 Hz (close to 160 Hz expected)
The P = 184 Hz (just between the pratimadhyamam and pancamam) and it is of duration ~200ms. It is fleeting indeed but the ear is able to catch it. I guess that is the reason it is called 'cyutapancamam'!

Thanks DRS for that 'unwitting' demo! Hats off for the rock solid shruti that helps!

VK

If this indeed reminds you of Arvindh then I am with you! But doesn't it confirm the 22shruti theory which Arvindh is trying to demolish

Suji Ram · Post by **Suji Ram** » 05 May 2006, 00:57

In pancvaTI prasang, MS Gupt says:

Who is the sentry and what is he guarding? (Not for DRS, CML or Srinidhi!)
Ravi

As always...it is Lakshman guarding Rama and Sita.

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 05 May 2006, 01:11

CML
AM glas that you have pinned down the cyutapancama

There seems to be some error in the Sruti values you have given for each swara. P should be at 190 (3.2*S). Please correct it.

Thanks Srinidhi and Ravi for the nice quotes.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 05 May 2006, 01:28

As always...it is Lakshman guarding Rama and Sita.

Suji,
Good job, but partially correct - I figured you would be the person posting!
According to Gupt, it was just sItA...

the verse is:
martya lOk mAlinya mETnE swAmi sang jO AyI hai
tIn lOk kI lakshmI nE yEh kuTI Aj apnAyI hai
vIr vansh kI lAj yEhI hai tO kyOn vIr na hO praharI?

To remove the hardships of this mortal world, the mistress of all the three worlds, who has accompanied her husband (chAyA iva anugatA sadA) has occupied this cottage today. If she is the wealth/treasure/honor of this heroic dynasty, then shouldn't her sentry be equally heroic?
Ravi

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 05 May 2006, 01:30

Shouldn't CML break out into 'kETTEn, kETTEn, kETTEn panchamatai, kETTEn shrIkAntarE'?
Ravi

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 05 May 2006, 02:00

DRS
P= 127*(3/2) = 190.5 and has been rounded to 190. The values are not aligned! The calculations are based on the equitempered scale (on the spreadsheet). I know our CM frequencies (natural scale) are different! But these values are only notional!

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 05 May 2006, 02:02

Yes. I was just noticing that they were not aligned. It can be rather confusing. Would it be possible to align it or "bolden" the relevant values?

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 05 May 2006, 02:33

Shankar

shrIkAntamEva acyutam (shrIkAnta is (indeed) Acyuta)
tasmAt cyutam pancamam (One who has slipped from him is an out-caste)
sa hi cyutapancamam (he indeed is cyutapancamam)

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 05 May 2006, 02:39

Cyutapancamam Finally captured!

Gottem! Finally!
Thanks DRS for that 'unwitting' demo! Hats off for the rock solid shruti that helps!
VK
If this indeed reminds you of Arvindh then I am with you! But doesn't it confirm the 22shruti theory which Arvindh is trying to demolish

Excellent. I will spend some time looking at it later..just too occuppied with work now.

Yes, this will be a good challenge to Arvindh's contention.

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 05 May 2006, 05:29

Story of araNyA kANDa- part 2

While living in pancavaTi, they also meet jaTAyu, the great eagle who was a friend of daSaratha. lakShmaNa gently reminds rAma of his purpose and his promise to the sages to kill the demons and to protect hem. He says that there is not much time left now before returning to ayOdhyA.

One day, SUrpaNakhA, who is passing that way beholds rAma and become love-lorn. She is the sister of rAvaNa, the indomitable king of lankA who has defeated even the suras and acquied boons from brahma and ISvara. She approaches rAma and expresses her desire hamelessly. Not only does she do this but also she derides sItA and calls her ugly, unchaste and unfit for rAma. She tells rAma that she with her beauty will mAke rAma a fit wife. rAMa decides to play along for a while rAma smiles sardonically and says he is commited tosItA and is unable to marry other woman. He then directs her to lakShmaNa who is without a wife. SHe then quickly transfers her love to lakShamaNa and approaches him, only to be told by him that he is after all a servant and she too would become a servant on marrying him. SO he sends her back to rAma saying only rAma is fit for her beauty. Thus sent back and forth, SUrpaNakhi gets angry and lunges at sItA to eat her up. At this juncture, rAma decieds enough is enough and commands lakShmaNa to give her her due. lakShmaNa, who can put up with anything but ill spoken about or done to sItA, forthwith catches hold of SUrpaNakh and cuts her ears and nose.

Her face defaced, SUrpaNakhi departs wailing and goes to her brother khara in janasthAna to report the matter. She twists the story and incites khara to avenge the insult meted out to his sister. Now khara also happens to be a sage reborn as rAkShasa due to a curse. He immediately sends 14 of his assistants(also accursed) to teach rAma a lesson. All these 14 get killed in a jiffy. SUrpaNakhA too has followed them and on seeing them massacred, she runs back to khara in utter dismay and gets him worked into a frenzy. khara, dUShaNa and his 14,000 strong army set out to finish off rAma. Even as they set out, they see many ill-omens. Dismissing them all, the reach rAma. Even as they are coming, rAma tells lakShmaNa to take sItA to a cave away from the scene of action and to safeguard her. He stands single-handedly to fight the army of demons. The sage are apprehensive as he is alone. But, much to all their aazement, he fights them like rudra Himself and decimates the whole amy in just a matter of 72 minutes(One and a half muhUrtas) with the rain of arrows from his bow. Note here that khara and dUShaNa are no mean warriors and khara also manages to break one of rAma's bows. But rAma takes up the bow given him by agastya and slays khara.

Among a handful who manage to escape is akampana who runs hastily all the way to lanka to report the matter to rAvaNa. He tells rAvaNa of the turn of events and also describes to him the unearthly beauty and grace of sItA and suggests that sItA should be abducted as she will make a suitable wife for rAvaNa alone and not for a strappling youngster removed from his land and deprived of his kingdom. rAvaNa, given as he is to lust after other women, rushes to mARIca who has now given up all demoniacal acivities and settled down to piety. mArIca strongly deters him from this escapade saying he has been ill-advised by someone who does not wish him well. He tells rAvaNa about his own encounter with rAma and says that rAma is not a guy to play with. He also explains that rAma has done no wrong as he only killed the armmy in self-defense. Hearing all this, rAvaNa pays heed and turns back to lankA.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 05 May 2006, 05:39

DRS,
Is it akampanA or sUrpaNakhA who describes sItA through AK's 'kANa vEnDum laksham kaNgal, sItA dEvi tan kAlukku nigarO peNNgaL?'

Also, which of rAma's bows is the kOdanDam? The one agastyA gave him?

Also, another interesting obseration I made is that rAm and sItA in the hands of different poets are considered 'incomparable':
In gOswAmI tulsI dAs's 'Tumak calat rAmachandra' - he says, "raghuvar chabi kE samAn raghubar chabi baniyA!" (the only comparison for rAm's face is rAm's face!) - Anup Jalota sings this fabulously!

In AK's "kANa vEnDum laksham kaNNgaL" he says of sItA 'avaniyil illai Idu, avaLukkavaLE jOdu'!
Ravi

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 05 May 2006, 05:44

Also, which of rAma's bows is the kOdanDam? The one agastyA gave him?

I think the bow that he takes over from paraSurAma(visShNu dhanussu) is the kOdaNDa. I guess he does not use this bow until the final encounter.

kANa vENDum lakkSham kaNgaL is I think by SUrpaNakhi. Although it can be eaither of them , I would think such graphic description of her beauty is likely to come from a woman. (For the sake of propriety, AK would not have let a man do it I should think)

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 05 May 2006, 05:48

I thought he gives parashurAma's bow to someone for safe keeping before heading on to ayOdhyA...Don't recall his coming back for it...
Ravi

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 05 May 2006, 05:55

It is said that rAma hands over the bow of viShNu to varuNa. However this is not part of vAlmIki rAmAyaNa. Nothing whatsoever is mentioned about the whereabouts of the bow after rAma strings it.

sudarshan · Post by **sudarshan** » 05 May 2006, 16:44

During Mareecha vadham also, Shri Rama uses the Kodandam.

The bow weilded by Shri Vishnu is called Sharnga, hence Sharngapani. Sharngadhanva Gadadharah - Vishnu Sahasranamam.

kiransurya · Post by **kiransurya** » 05 May 2006, 16:50

I dint even know that Raama has two bows..
Interesting...

Suji Ram · Post by **Suji Ram** » 06 May 2006, 03:01

Going through the story of Ramayana here I am reminded of the beautiful temple in Hampi among the Vijayanagara ruins-The Hazara Ram temple".The inner and outer walls has been sculpted with episodes of Ramayana. Beautiful indeed. Are there any other temples like this one?

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 06 May 2006, 05:48

Story of araNyA kANDa- part 3
The lure of mArIca

Now SUrpaNakhA arrives on the scene, taunts, urges and instigates rAvana to abduct sItA by awakening those base animal instincts in him. rAvaNa, drawn inexorably by fate, secretly leaves lankA in his puShpaka vimAna and goes again to mArIca. mArica, in vain, tries to deter rAvaNa from a course of action that was sure to be his undoing. rAvaNa threatens him and tells him clearly that he has not come for advice but to command him as his king to aid him in the abduction of sItA. He detailed his plans and told mArIca to assume the form of a most alluring deer of golden hue and wander in the vicinity of rAma`s hermitage so as to catch sItA's eye. mARica is a master of guise and guile and rAvana knows this very well. rAvaNa threatens mArIca with death if he does not fall in with rAvaNa's plan. He assures mArIca that he would take him along in his vimAna nad give half his kingdom once mArIca had done as perplans. mArIca laughs this off and says his death is certain either way:- if he did not comply with rAvaNa's wishes, he would die and he if complied, then too he had no hope of escaping the sure mark of rAma's arrow. He clearly says that he would rather die in the hands of rAma.

They set off and mArIca assumes the form of a moste exotic and exquisite deer of golden hue with dapples like various gems. The other denizens of the jungle however recognise him immediately and run away from him with the fear of death. He soon manages to catch sItA's attention whereupon she calls rAma and lakShmaNa to behold it. lakShmaNa fortwith sees the deer for what it actually is and tells rAma that it is none other than mArIca. sItA is unmindful andexpresses her wish to have it dead or alive. She however does not insist and leaves it to rAmas discretion. rAma, despite being all-knowing, is even more allured by the deer than sItA is and hankers after a hunt. All the more so because his wife has expressed a desire for the same.

So he commands lakShmaNa to stand guard over sItA and tells him he will bring back the deer dead or alive. Now this deer is verily the will of the wisp, appearing one moment and disappearing the next. Thus playing hide and seek, it leads rAma a great distance from his hut into the thick of the jungle. rAma is tired and exasperated and decides that this deer is best killed. Thus deciding, he removes an arrow from his quiver, takes aim and shoots the deer. Mortally wounded, mArIca regains his true form and scream "hA sItA! hA lakShmaNa" mimicking the voice of rAma. rAma knows that this will unsettle sItA and begins to rush back to the hermitage. But sItA and lakShmaNa have heard this too. While lakShmaNa remains unperturbed, sItA is in deep anguish and asks lakShmaNa to go after rAma to his aid.

lakShmaNa tries to reassure her saying rAma is invincible and that this is all a trickery of that mARica. But these words, fail to calm her. And much to his chagrin, they irk her and, as is a woman's wont, she starts accusing lakShmaNa of lusting after her. She tongue lashes him variously saying he has been biding his time for this moment and wonders aloud if he is doing this in cahoots with bharata. Unable to bear these unfair and unseemly allegations, lakShmana who himself is choleric, tells her off. When she threatens to give up her life, he takes leave of her to go in search of rAma. Even as he leaves her in the care of jaTAyu and the forest deities, he expresses his doubts about seeing her on their return.

meena · Post by **meena** » 06 May 2006, 07:00

Story of rAmAyaNa narrated by DRS so far, i've it on word doc. for 'easy-read'

http://rapidshare.de/files/19727789/rAm ... S.doc.html

-DRS hope its ok?

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 06 May 2006, 10:22

I wanted to post this today! Of course it may be difficult to decipher even if you know Tamil well enough (perhaps DRS is an exception

), though you may be able to surmise the drift.(feel free to guess!) I will clear the mystery by tomorrow

arunthu mathu aRivilArkkuM
marunthithenRu mAmuni makizhnthaLiththaan
virunthithena isai kUTTi chamaiththOnip
perunthakai peRunthakai pORRiDeerO!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 06 May 2006, 11:02

First of all I want to share with the world a very good news that our dear DRS is now a respected member of the Royal college of Physicians (in Psychiatry). He now has the MRCP (psych) title one of the most coveted and prestigious degree in that field on this globe! Let us all join in congratulating him and wishing him a stellar professional career. He is already contributing through this Forum and especially through this thread a divine medication, CM which is the ambrosia for all our mental and spiritual ills! Thank you Dr. Shrikaanth K. Murthy MRCPsych for your continued service to the CM community as we invoke heaven's choicest blessings on you and your family showering you in abundance with peace and prosperity!

Since we are in the midst of Ramayana I have composed a fitting encomium which is what appears above. Now please await my interpretation!

sudarshan · Post by **sudarshan** » 06 May 2006, 12:32

Congrats, DRS. May many more accolades and laurels come your way. Srimad Ramayana is a kalpavruksha and this has been demonstrated yet again by DRS' promotion.

By the way, yesterday on TV, there was coverage about a grand festival that was held in honour of the Srimad Ramayana at Sri Ramachandrapura Mutt, Hosangara, near Shimoga. Here, Akanda Srimad Valmiki Ramayana Parayana along with Koti Thrayodashakshari Mahayaga was performed for about 10 days. The grand finale was the Sri Sita-Ramachandra Mahasamrajya Pattabhishekam, which was literally enacted the way it happened in Treta Yuga.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 06 May 2006, 12:55

Congrats DRS !!!!!!

kartik · Post by **kartik** » 06 May 2006, 18:54

Many congrats DRS!!

kiransurya · Post by **kiransurya** » 06 May 2006, 18:55

Congrats DRS!!!!

CML
I dint understand one single bit of that tamil....

meena · Post by **meena** » 06 May 2006, 20:29

DRS Congrats

srinidhi · Post by **srinidhi** » 06 May 2006, 20:44

Congratulations DRS Sir.

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 06 May 2006, 20:50

Thank you all for wishing me

Suji Ram · Post by **Suji Ram** » 06 May 2006, 22:29

That's great news!
Congratulations DRS!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 07 May 2006, 00:34

arunthu mathu aRivilArkkuM
marunthithenRu mAmuni makizhnthaLiththaan
virunthithena isai kUTTi chamaiththOnip
perunthakai peRunthakai pORRiDeerO!

Here is the detailed explanation

http://rapidshare.de/files/19789028/encomium.mp3.html

I trust most of you will be able to follow. But then if you have difficulty Pl let me know. I would then request our Shankar to kindly anglicize it (though the poetic beauty will be lost in translation

)

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 07 May 2006, 01:25

CML
I am honoured by your praSansA and ASIrvacana. It also highlights your kathA-telling skills. Thank you.

Meena
Thanks for compiling my narration. You have done a great job.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 07 May 2006, 01:28

DRS
The honour and pleasure are all ours!
thank YOU!

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 07 May 2006, 02:05

Story of araNya kANDa- part 4

The abduction of sItA

No sooner does lakShmaNa leave, than rAvaNa appears in the guise of a sanyAsi and a brAhmaNa. He approaches sItA and begins praising her beauty and comeliness severally. Although initially disinterested and preoccupied with her concerns about rAma's well-being, she then responds to rAvaNa by clearly telling him who she is and how they came to be in the forest. She does harbour some doubts about who rAvaNa is as he has extolled her beauty although appearing as a sanyAsi. She hence addresses him as a brAhmaNa only and offers him a seat and offers hospitality. When she asks of him to reveal who he is, he tells the truth and asks her to become his wife. sItA of course rejects him and dismisses him saying he is no match for rAma and that she will never think of any other man. Here she compares rAma to a banyan tree (ASrayu kuDarAlamaru kaNA)

sarva lakShaNa sampannam nyagrOdha pari maNDalam |
satya sandham mahAbhAgam rAmam anuvratA || 3-47-34

She points to rAvaNa his folly and warns him of the consequences. He then begins prasing himself and brags about his valour, prowess and glory. She scorns him and says she knew of his valour even as he approached in disguise when her husband was not around. Thus scorned, rAvaNa is enraged and grabs her in a frenzy by her hair and thighs. sItA cries piteously for rAma and lakShmaNa to come to her rescue her. But alas! Have they not gone faraway out of earshot? Was it not she who urged lakShmaNa to leave, with her scorching tongue? Despairing, sItA asks the trees, flowers, creatures and river gOdAvari to tell rAma of her plight. She then sees the aged jaTAyu napping on the tree, calls him and asks him to convey the news to rAma on his return.

Now jaTAyu tries to reason with rAvaNa who of course is in no mood to listen. Seeing rAvaNa thus proceed unheeding, jaTAyu puts up a valiant fight. He manages to destroy rAvaNa's chariot, royal paraphernalia and chariot as well as kill his charioteer. But old as he is, he is tired and rAvaNa hews his wings and feet with his sword. Mortally wounded, jaTAyu falls to the ground. sItA weeps pitifully and hugs jaTAyu with tender affection. rAvaNa again picks her up by her hair. It is worth noting that, inspite of her anguish, not once does she plead with rAvaNa for mercy. She only calls to her husband and son-like lakShmaNa. She then strongly advises rAvaNa to give up the hope of ever gaining her affection and warsn him of the dire consequences.But all this to no avail. As she is dragged across the firmament, the flowers and jewels that have bedecked her strew the ground. As they are passing kiShkindA, sItA notices a group of 5 portly vAnaras. Wishing to leave behind a trail for rAma so that it will be easier for him to search for her, she ties a bundle of all her ornaments and drops it among these vAnaras. Soon rAvaNa reaches lankA with sItA.

There, rAvaNa leaves sItA in the custody of demonesses. He also sends 8 demons to janasthAna with the sole purpose of surreptiously watching rAma and to subvert his activities and undermine him in every possible way. rAvaNa is somewhat unnerved at the thought of rAma but dismisses it. He then attempts to lure sItA by showing her his palace and riches. He pleads with her variously to consent to become his queen. She repudiates him and threatens him with sure death at the hands of rAma. Thus slighted, rAvaNa is wrathful and serves her an ultimatum of 12 months by which, if she has not agreed to become his queen, he will have her cooked for breakfast! He has her held captive in the aSOka gardens, closley guarded by demonesses whose job is to threaten her, tell her of rAvaNa's greatness and try and convince her to accept rAvaNa's overtures.

kiransurya · Post by **kiransurya** » 07 May 2006, 02:22

DRS

A small doubt. Is Lakshmana Rekha a folklore thing? I take it that it is not from Valmiki ramayana

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 07 May 2006, 04:15

Story of araNya kANDa- part 5

rAma sees many ill-omens and worries and hurries back. On the way he meets lakShmana and admonishes him for leaving his guard of sItA and coming thither. When lakShmaNa explains what has transpired back at the cotage on hearing "hA sItA hAl akShmaNa", rAma reproaches him for heeding the angry words of a woman.On arriving, they find a vacant and desolate cottage with articles shattered and strewn all over, indicating that a struggle has taken place. rAma becomes delirious with grief and vainly searches for sItA everywhere. He rants and raves for sItA. Becoming deluded with grief, he sees sItA in every tree, flower, creeper, fruit etc. He wanders aimlessly, stricken by boundless sorrow. lakShmaNa tries to console him and reminds him of his purpose and asks him to take hold of his resolutions and be resolute.

By and by, they spot jaTAyu lying on the ground. rAma mistakes it for a demon that has gobbled up sItA and is lying down. He rushes to slay the demon. But he soon realises that it is his dear friend jaTAyu and hugs him in tears. jaTAyu recounts the events as they happened and ressures rAma that he will regain sItA unhurt and untarnished. He says it was indeed rAvaNa who abducted sItA and breathes his last before giving any further details. rAma performs the last rites for thie dear friend of his father. The animals of the jungle too point in a southwesterly direction to indicate which way sItA was carried. Further along the way, they encounter a huge misshapen demon with neither head nor legs but just a colossal trunk with a mouth and one eye and extra long arms that extend for miles. This is kabandha.

kabandha grabs them both with one hand and begins moving them towards his infernal cave-like mouth to gobble them. As soon as he draws them near his trunk, the 2 brothers sever an arm each with their swords. Howling in pain, kabandha asks them who they are. Coming to know who
they are, he is gladdened inspite of his great agony. He narrates his own story of being cursed by sage sthUlaSira for his tyranny when he was a gandharva. He also tells them that due to his arrogance, he once challenged indra who then smote him with his vajrAYudha. And it was indra who told him that he would attain salvation when his hands were severed and his trunk burnt by rAma. He requests rAma and lakShmaNa to burn him promising to direct them further in their quest for sItA. Hearing this, the brothers who have already severed his arms, make a pit for him, throw him in and pile logs on him and set fire to him.

This done, kabandha regains his splendid gandharva form. He then directs rAma to befriend sugrIva on RShyamUka mountain on the banks of lake pampA. He also tells them of sage matanga's hermitage and of SabarI. He also gives specific directions to reach this spot. The brothers proceed as directed and reach the hermitage of matanga where SabarI is the only living soul. Sabari is a very old and nearly blind maid that has served the sages in the days of old. As directed by the sages, she has remained behind to catch a glimpse of rAma, serve him and attain salvation. She pays obeisance to them, offers them fruits and gives up her mortal coils. The brothers then proceed towards lake pampA.

End of araNya kANDa

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 07 May 2006, 06:16

Very well done CML on the encomium for DRS and wrapping it all in a kathA. Nice. I will piggy back on your sentiments and wish DRS all the best and offer my congratulations.

Rigapada · Post by **Rigapada** » 07 May 2006, 06:35

Dear DRS,
samasta sanmangalAni Bhavantu ! cirayurastu !
--Rigapada

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 07 May 2006, 06:51

DRS, why has Ramayana become a full fledged feature in a thread devoted to your compositions?

meena · Post by **meena** » 07 May 2006, 07:44

chembai

DRS composed: rAmAyaNa mangaLarAgamAlikA suLAdi
DELETED

Jai hanuman!

srinidhi · Post by **srinidhi** » 07 May 2006, 13:09

Kiransurya wrote

A small doubt. Is Lakshmana Rekha a folklore thing? I take it that it is not from Valmiki ramayana

No. Neither Valmiki nor Tulsidas mention any line drawn by Lakshman. Both say that Lakshman entrusted Sita to the Forest dieties and the dieties of directions.

VAlmiki says

Rakshantu tvaam vishalakshi samagraa vanadevataa
nimittani hi ghorani yaani praadurbhavanti mae
Api tvaam saha Raamena paschyeyam punaraagatah

May the sylvan dieteies protect you, o lady with large eyes.
I see evil and fearful omens which make me doubtful whether I will see you when I return with Sri Raama.

Goswamiji also says pretty much the same thing

Maram bachan jab sita bola hari prerit lachchiman man dola
Ban didi dev saunpi sab kaahu chale jahan raavan sasi rahu

When Sita uttered harsh words, Lakshman's resolve(not to leave Her alone) wavered (due to Hari's will). Entrusting Her to the Forest dieteies and the gods presiding over the Quarters, Lakshman proceeded to where Rama was.

kiransurya · Post by **kiransurya** » 07 May 2006, 15:29

Srinidhi
Thank you...

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 07 May 2006, 21:03

Srinidhi see the following quote from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakshman_Rekha

Shri Ramacharitamanas, the popular rendering of story of Shri Rama does not feature the Lakshmana Rekha in the Aranya Kanda. However in Lanka Kanda Mandodari rebukes Ravan on his boisterous claims of valour by hinting that his claim of strength and valour is shallow for he could not even cross a small line drawn by Shri Rama's younger brother Lakshmana.

Could you retrieve the relevant dohas?

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 07 May 2006, 21:05

Thank you all for your wishes

CML, Srinidhi,

hold on to those dOhAs until later in the rAmAyaNa thread. We need to move on.

FYI
Sabari's tasting fruits and offering them as well as lakShmaNarEkhA do not occur in vALmIki. But they are so much a part and parcel of Indian culture (without exception- be it kannaDa, hindi or tamizh).

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 07 May 2006, 21:30

DRS

just one last clarification....

LakShmana Rekha finds expression in other Ramayanas. here is thw quote from Hanumat (mahAnATaka rAmAyaNaM)

cirAt d^RiShTE rAmE karNakaThubiH maithila sutA vacObhiH
kOtaNDa aTani janita rEkhAntaragatAM nidAya EnAM....
soumitriH agamat||
(not seeing Rama for a long time, hearing the harshwords of the Mithila putri(sItA), with the kOtaNDa marking a cicle and setting her inside... LakkShmaNa went)
incidentally note that kOtaNDA simply means bow since even the one wielded by lakshmana is called a kOtaNDaM.

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 07 May 2006, 23:00

chembai

DRS composed: rAmAyaNa mangaLarAgamAlikA suLAdi
http://freepgs.com/carnatic/viewtopic.p ... &start=825

Jai hanuman!

Meena, I saw this... but what I wanted to know is why it is going in the direction of exploring the entire Ramayana. No issues though :cheesy: