Ayodhya Kandam

Translation into English from Thunjathu Ezhuthachan's Malayalam translation of Adhyathma Ramayanam

By P.R.Ramachander

The chapter on Ayodhya is the second chapter of Ramayana. It describes Narada’s visit to Ayodhya to remind Rama, that he should kill Ravana, the fixing of date for coronation of Rama by Dasaratha, the stopping of the coronation by Kaikeyi on the advice of Mandhara as dictated by Goddess Saraswathi sitting on her toungue, the grant of two boons to make Bharatha king and to send Rama to the forest for fourteen years, the advice of Rama to Lakshmana, the leaving of Rama to the forest along with Sita and Lakshmana, their meeting with Guha, their visits to hermitages of saints Bharadwaja and Valmiki, the story of Valimiki, building of Rama’s hermitage in Chithrakoota, relating the old story by Dasaratha of his killing a sage in the forest, death of Dasaratha, the coming back of Bharatha, his great sorrow, the advice of Vasishta to Bharatha, the visit to forest by Bharatha along with his army, the discussion of Bharatha and Rama, the going back of Bharatha with slippers of Rama, visit of Rama to the hermitage of Athri and meeting of Sita with Anasuya in the hermitage.

Introduction to Ayodhya Kandam

Oh Parrot which is dear to Lakshmi, come here, Understand that it is not good to delay things, Please tell with interest and great joy, The story of Sri Rama further. Please hear, I will tell it in short, Many types of problems will disappear, And sorrows will also not come, By hearing the stories of the lotus eyed God Rama who is the treasure house of luck, Of Sita who is but Goddess Lakshmi, Put an end to the pride of Lord Parasurama, Travelled further and entered the city of Ayodhya, And entered the great palace along with his father, His mothers, The guru Vasishta who was son of Brahma, With his brothers, with the army, With Sita who was the daughter of earth, And along with the people who received them, And there was happiness for the earth, Because they saw the very good qualities of Rama.

When The angry god, the greatest god, the god of the universe, The god who wears serpents, (the son of Kadhru) as ornament, One with divine form, he who does not have second, he who is the winner over death, The divine one, he who grants safety, the god and destroyer of evils of Karma, Started telling the essence of the story of Rama to the goddess who was his wife, Who was wearing incomparably great corals and was the daughter of the mountain, She was drowned in joy and saluted the feet of her lord, And he started telling the story with very great devotion.

Even if the story of God Narayana, One with pretty eyes like lotus, The one who attracts the mind of ladies, Madhava, One served by Narada, one who likes sit on lotus flower, One who saves people from hell, an expert archer, Lord, friend of the people, One who pervades in different worlds, One who is the soul of several types of learning, One who has thousand names, One who has pretty lotus like face, One who is the enemy of Narakasura, one who is born in family of Sun, Sri Rama the divine, Best of all purushas, ocean of mercy, One who gives what one desires, one who is the cause, Of the destruction of clans of very many Rakshasas, The real Mukunda, One who gives joy, a gentleman, One who gives wealth as well as salvation to his devotees, One who frees desires, one who keeps those detached souls in his heart, One who is clear, one who is not clear, one who is endless, One who is free of the drawbacks, One who has power, one who loves those who surrender to him, And One who gave salvation to Ravana who was the king of asuras, Is heard day and night I would not get satisfied and I do not want even salvation.

When The Goddess Gowri who is pretty. Told like this with devotion, lord Shiva, the killer of God of love smiled, And told, “Oh pretty one, please hear.”

Narada Raghava Samvadam

(Discussion between sage Narada and lord Rama)

One day Rama,the son of king Dasaratha, One with lotus eye, one who looks after devotes, One who likes auspicious gods, Raghava, One who is saluted by Lord Shiva, Kesava, Was in the private quarters engaged in love sports, Along with Sita who has an auspicious body, And he was black like the blue lotus, Had moving eyes like leaves of blue lotus, Had the shine of blue sapphire, was incomparable, Was pure, one who is liked by Shiva with blue neck, One who is forever, one who does not have any stains, And his body was covered with ornaments of gems, And he was sitting on a gem studded throne, And was being fanneed by white fan with gem studded handle, By his own wife, and he had decorated his crescent like forehead, By marks of sandal paste, and whose neck, Was decorated by the shining Kousthubha gem, And when he was spending his time chewing, The betel leaf given by Sita with moon like face, Narada came and decorated the world, For the sake of all the worlds of universe.

He was with the shine of the full autumn moon, And had a body shining like a pure crustal, And came immediately from the sky, And appeared very fast with great respect.

Sri Rama also immediately got up with agitation, Seeing Narada and immediately stood up, And along with the gem of lady Sita, Fel l on the floor and saluted him., And he provided water to wash his feet, And Seat, water for drinking and also for worship, And after the honourable Narada told, Raghava, he sat down and smilingly saluted him.

Slowly he told that great sage, “Salutations to your feet Oh ocean of mercy, To us who are family people who are, With mind embroiled in various matters, Your lotus like feet, which is extremely, Difficult to see would make us wise. It may be due to good deeds that I have done earlier, That I got a chance to see you, Oh son of the lotus born, Oh great sage, Oh treasure of penance, my clan, birth, And kingdom has become very clean today.

Oh treasure of mercy, kindly tell me, What I can do to you now? What reason made you undertake this visit? Kindly tell this with great joy, And though I am a fool, If you have mercy on me, I will be able to do all.”

Hearing this, with a slow smile, that great sage Narada Addressed Lord Rama who likes his devotees, And also was a great human hero and told with love.

“Why you are putting me in deep illusion, With words that imitate the usual men, And which are clever and which were delivered sweetly ? Oh Lord of Raghu clan, please do not, Increase the illusion of my mind, with sweet words, Though the words were of domestic nature, It may be needed by the great ones like you.

“ The words of yours that you are a householder, Are really very true, Oh Lord of Yoga, It is also true that the Goddess of Illusion, Who is the cause of all the universe, Is your divine wife, Oh God who is the father of all universe, When all the fourteen worlds are your house, Your word that you are a householder is also true, And all the different people are born out of your illusion.”

Since right from Brahma to the lowly grass, Which include all the moving and not moving beings, Are your children, it is only true, when you claimed, You are a householder and is it not true that, For all the animals of the world that are seen, Always, you are chiefly their father, And is not the Vishnu Maha maya, Who takes colours like such as white, red and black, And character divisions like good, royal and base, your wife, And she is the one who gives birth to all beings, And so it is but proper without any doubt that you are a householder.

Oh greatly intelligent being, you are a householder, Greatly interested in son, friend, wife and in all things, And for the great house of the three worlds, You are the one and only one householder.

You are Narayana, And Janaki is goddess Lakshmi, You are the killer of god of love and Janaki is Uma devi, You are the Lord Brahma and Janaki is Goddess Saraswathi, Are you not Sun god and Janaki the light, You are the moon and Janaki is Rohini, Are you not Devendra and Janaki is Sachi devi, You are the fire God and the daughter of earth is Swaha, You are the God of death and she is the law of punishment, You are Niryathi and she is the darkness.

You are Lord Vishnu and Janaki is Lakshmi, You are the God of wind, and Janaki is the right course, You are the Kubhera and she is giver of wealth, You are the king of kings and she is the earth, Oh lad who belongs to clan of kings, Oh Lord of Raghu clan, Oh God with lotus like eyes, Oh Rama, Oh treasure or mercy, Are you not Rudhra and she Rudhrani, You are the sacred tree and she is the climbing plant, Why should I tell these in more detail, Oh ocean of truth, valour and good character.

All that, all that which is masculine, Oh God venerated by Vedas, all those are you, Oh God who attracts the mind, all that which are feminine, And all that is Goddess Janaki, Without either of you, I do not see or hear any other thing, And Oh lord of the Universe how can one, Search and serve a thing like that.

Are you not the one who is hidden by illusion, And are you not the one that which should not be made clear, And only from that arises the great philosophies, And from that arose pithy formule to make things clear.

Oh Lord of the earth, From the total soul of the mind and body, The entire world was developed and this would also include, Pride, the five vital airs and the magic of sense organs, And then there is birth, death, pleasure and pain, And that which is called soul by the pure beings, Is that which is the primeval knowledge, which cannot be described, And some people call this as the cause of action, And the three ways of action of the mind, which is the root, Are the reality, that which is hidden and that which is the cause And all these together becomes specially the being, And Lord, you are complete, divine and separated from it.

Are you not that lotus eyed one, Who is shining divinity and the divine soul, Which is the reflection of the entire world, Which exists above all the worlds, And which is the witness for everything, From you all these worlds were created, And all that exists, exists within you, And at the end all these merge with you, And proper thought shows that all these are your sports, And definitely for everything you are the cause, Oh Narayana, Oh killer of Naraka and lord of human beings.

All beings carry the fear like feeling, That the real rope is assumed to be a snake, And once we come to know that we are the divine soul, Then the sorrow of life, birth and death come to an end, By hearing your name and stories, The devotion grows in the branch of mind, And when that devotion slowly matures, In the mind, the knowledge of you would arise, And when that devotion becomes fully mature, Without any doubt, one gets salvation, Please count me also as one amongst, The slave of the slave of your devotees, Please do not attract me by your illusion, Oh Lord of universe and bless me daily. Once upon a time from a lotus growing out of your belly, My father the Lord Brahma took his birth, And specially bless me as I am existing, As your grand son and your devotee, Again and Again Narada saluted him, And told these things along, With eyes completely filled with tears of joy, And that sage who carries the Veena continued.

I have come here at this time due to, The wishes of Lord Brahma, Since you have promised that you would kill Ravana, And protect the world and have taken incarnation as a man, And as the son of Dasaratha and though this is assured, It seems King Dasaratha has decided of crowning you, So that his country would be protected And you also would agree for this proposal, And later there may not be any time or chance, To kill the ten headed Ravana and though, You are a truthful man who has told, That he would protect the truth, But Brhama has asked me to tell you, That since you have taken birth as a man, There is a chance that you may forget it.

Hearing that which was related by Narada, Sri Rama told the following as the answer, “ I would not break my oath at any time, And so do not get sad within your mind, This is only postponing the act, And I see there is a reason for that. For completing any task, we have to Study the suitable occasion, so that task is accomplished. Does not God Shiva have the form of time, And sometimes attempts do fail, And so everything has to be done at proper time, For otherwise our attempt would be only an apology.

“ I am going to the forest tomorrow, I am telling this as an oath at the feet of Lord Vishnu, Afterwards we would live in the forest, In the form of sages for fourteen years, And I would completely eradicate, The clan of Rakshasa as well as Ravana at that time, Making Sita as the causal need for it, This is a promise that the Rakshasa would be killed.” Said Sri Rama and with mind full of joy, That time Narada went round Sri Rama, And after taking permission from devas and sages, Went with great happiness to the place of devas.

Those men who read or hear or even remember, This discussion of Sage Narada and Sri Rama, With devotion would get salvation without any doubt. Suppose you want to hear the story further, For removing problems, I am going to continue telling it.

Sri Ramabhishekam aarambham,

(Starting of the coronation of Rama)

Once the king Dasaratha was resting With a mind full of joy, he saluted, His clan Guru Vasishta, the son of Brahma and told, “The citizens and important ministers, Are always praising Sri Rama, and When they see many different good qualities in him, Without any doubt they become happy. Since I am becoming an old man, I want to crown Rama, my first son, as soon as possible, So that he can look well after the earth and rule it, And I have told about this earlier to you. And knowing the desire of the people, Arrangements have to be made quickly. Bharatha and Shatrugna have gone, To their uncles place and yet have not returned. The next Muhurtha day is Pooyam(Pushyam) Which is a good star and I am thinking in my mind, That we need not wait for them and perform the cornation now.

So we have to start making the arrangements today, And start collecting all that is needed immediately. And you also should tell Rama about it without delay, Let us erect pretty hangings and decorations immediately, And along with the pretty flags, The sounds, Of Big drums should be played so that, Happiness spreads in all directions.

Then later with great respect, Looked at Sumanthra his minister and told, “Please make all auspicious arrangements, As per the words of Vasishta, Tomorrow we have decided to crown, The lotus eyed one, Rama As Yuva raja (assistant king).”

Sumanthra filled with joy, saluted, Vasishta and asked him, Please tell me all that you need, And I would make arrangements for them without delay.” Sage vasishta after little thought told Sumanthra, ‘Hear, tomorrow morning, in the courtyard, You should arrange for sixteen pretty maidens, Who are prettily made up and also, We need to dress the elephants in gold.”

Then the well decorated four tusked, Elephants who were born in the family, Of Iravatha should come forward.

Arrangements should be made for, One thousand gold pots, Pots with sacred waters in which, Divine gems should be put and, Covered with leaves of sandalwood tree, And also we have to arrange for a new hide of tiger, And also arrange for a gem inlaid fan with golden handle, And also clean cloths decorated by pearls, Garlands, other ornaments, and, We should ensure attendance of good sages, Holding the Dharba grass there.

Along with dancers, girls and brides, Dancing, musical and instrument playing community, Divine musical instruments should be played, From the pretty courtyard of the king, Military consisting of horses, elephants, chariots and soldiers, To show their strength And people should come dressed, In their finery and ornaments and, in all temples there should be special worship, And the houses should be decorated with row of lights, And also send word for other kings to attend, And let the coronation of Rama be celebrated with luster.

After thus deputing away Sumanthra, Vasishta immediately rode in a chariot, To the house of Rama which was lustrous, And approached it with great joy, And when Rama came to know of this, He went and saluted him by falling at his feet.

Rama made him sit in a gem studded seat, And along with his wife, with devotion, Using the pure water in a golden pot, Washed the sage’s feet and wore, That divine water on his head, And with a happy frame of mind told.

“Hear, I have become blessed today, As I was able to wear the holy water, Which has been used to wash the feet,” Hear this sentence as told by Ramachandra, “Good, good, are the words that you uttered, Oh son of a king, I have to tell you something, By wearing the water washing of your feet, Even Lord Shiva would become blessed., Oh king my father Lord Brahma, only, Became purified after wearing that water, And now for the sake of teaching common people, Oh man of valorous wonder, you told like this. I have a very good understanding of you, And I have become what I am because of you.”

The real divine Brahmam, the divine soul, The one who gives salvation, the one who pervades in universes, The god has been born in this world, By this time without any doubt, For the sake of the devas and with great mercy, For killing Ravana and removing their pains, And for giving salvation to his devotees, Oh great lord, you have been born. It is extremely secret as it is for the sake of devas, And that is why I am not bringing it to light now, Please do all the actions that are needed, As the man of great illusion, Oh consort of Lakshmi.”

You are the student and I am supposed to be your teacher, Please teach me for the good of the world, oh lord, You are the teacher of all moving and not moving things, And really you are the grandfather of father’s, Being hidden from all, but spread within everywhere, You who are the one who makes all the universes move, Are a form that is really the real meaning of all philosophies, You who are the real force behind all actions, Have taken the human form as son of Dasaratha, In the earth using the power of Yoga maya.

I have understood this fact earlier, As my father Lord Brahma had told it to me, And after knowing this only,I have become, The priest of the clan of the sun god, So that I can have contact with you, For if something good comes, it is not a mistake.

Today the wish of my mind was fulfilled, I am only asking one more thing, Oh Lord of yoga Let the Goddess of great illusion, The bewitcher of the world, Not make me more attached and attracted to everything. If you are desirous of repaying me as your teacher, My desire is that I should not be attached due to illusion, As per your desire, I am free of everything. And do not tell what I told elsewhere.

Due to being told by king Dasaratha, Oh lotus eyed one, I came here. He wanted me to tell you, That the coronation would be tomorrow, Along with Sita, you have to observe fast, And sleep in the floor today, Also you should observe Brahmacharya(celibacy). I am going to make arrangements, For several things for the coronation. Without being late come there at dawn, Saying these that greatr sage got in to the chariot and left. Later Sri Rama secretly told Lakshmana with a laugh, “Tomorrow father wants to celebrate my coronation, As Yuva Raja, without any doubt, For that, I am the doer for namesake, And you are the one who will get the kingdom, Son, Since you are my soul, Get dressed and be ready for that, It is definite that you are equal to me, And no body would compete with us for these

When things like these were being talked about, Sage Vasishta went to the palace of the king, And told in detail all the news with joy, And king Dasaratha was happy to hear in detail, The worships and rituals that are to take place, Of the Cororonation of the lotus eyed one, From Vasishta, the son of the lotus born god. One gentleman with joyful curiosity, Told about this news to Kausalya and Sumithra, When they heard it they became greatly joyous, And gave him a pure necklace, Kausalya, for the sake of good luck of her son, Went and worshipped Goodess Lakshmi with joy, “Oh Goddess, Oh great Goddess, You are my only help,” And then she saluted the Goddess with devotion.

Ahbhisheka vignam

(the stoppage of the Coronation)

The teller of truth, the valorous king, Dasaratha, Whether he would celebrate the coronation of his son, Is doubtful, because he is amenable to the daughter of Kekaya And because of this worry grows in my mind, Oh Durga, Oh Bhagawathi, Oh destroyer of bad acts, Avoid bad luck and help us, Oh Ambika, The king Dasaratha is a lover, And Oh God, we do not know the will of Kaikeyi,, Let only good should be brought about, “ saying thus, When Kausalya was being worried and sad, All the devas joined together, And made a request to Goddess Saraswathi.

Oh Mother of the world Saraswathi, Bharathi, You have to urgently go to Ayodhya., For stopping the coronation of Sri Rama, As we do not find any other way, You have to live on the toungue of Mandhara, And living there by making her tell Kaikeyi And induce Kaikeyi to talk and by this means, You have stop the coronation, Later without any problem you can return. When devas requested like this, Goddess Saraswathi went and lived in the face of Mandara, And she lived there for the work of devas.

At that time Mandara the hunch back, With three bends making up her mind, Entered the palace, and seeing Mandhara, Who entered speedily Kaikeyi asked, “Hey Mandhara, tell me about the reason, For the entire country to be decorated.”

“It is definite that the coronation of, The lotus eyed Rama would be celebrated tomorrow, Oh ill fated one, oh fool, Oh very proud lady, Because of you being asleep all the time, When a great danger comes to you, You do not have any friend, definitely. The coronation of Rama is for tomorrow, Oh head gem of the lovely women.”

Hearing what she told and surprised, The daughter of Kekaya got up, And took a very luxurious armlet, Made of gold and gave it to her and told, “When times are very happy, What problem do you expect to come to me ? I am not able to understand, as much, As I know not of any problems whatsoever.”

In my mind I do not love anybody, More than Rama, You please remember, And not only that my love towards Rama, Is much more than my love to Bharatha, And without any doubt Rama also loves Me more than Kausalya, and remember That no one has more devotion, faith, And Respect to me than Rama.

Would my dear son give good things, To any one but me, He will not utter a word that I do not like, And he never has any difference between me and his mother, Without any laziness he would look after me, With great love, and oh fool. What is the reason for your fear, Towards Rama, for my son is liked by all, As there is no enmity in his mind, He is peaceful and merciful.

She heard the words of the daughter of Kekaya, And as soon as she heard them she further told, “Poor one, Hear from me the reason for that great fear, Has not the king forcefully sent your son, Bharatha and Shatrugna who loves him, To see his uncle, and I am sure this is willful.”

If it is the coronation to Rama, Lakshmana would have great influence with the king, And so it is luck for Sumithra, and the ill-fated you, Would daily serve as a slave of Kausalya, And Bharatha would possibly, Have to live serving the son of Kausalya. Do not assume any royal treatment for you, For there is a possibility that you would be sent away, From the country or even killed.

When there is pain by the bad treatment, From co wives, it is better to die, Rather than live in this world suffering,’ There is no doubt to it, please hear what is good for you.

Suppose you are interested to act, The king would hold coronation for your son, And Rama would go to forest for fourteen years, By the rule and order of the king., Then the entire country will come to Bharatha, And you can also live with great fame and power, Suppose you want, Oh bosom friend, I will tell you a trick for that.

Once when Indra for the sake of friendship, Invited Dasaratha to help him in the, War between devas and Asuras, The king along with the bows and arrows, Got in to his chariot along with his army. He entered the country of devas with you, And when Dasaratha got ready for the war, And was fighting the war, he did not notice, That the nail stopping the wheel of the chariot had become loose, And you seeing this put your hand in the hole and held the wheel, For the sake of saving the life of your husband, And stood like that till the war came to an end.

After killing his enemies, the king, When he got free after the war came to an end, Saw what you have done and became very happy, And hugged and caressed your very pretty body, And with a smile told that king of kings, “What you have done is great, great and I have, Decided to give you two boons, because you, Have saved me, you can ask for them now,” You, after hearing the words of your husband, Were happy and mixing it with in your mind told, “ Would you permit me to save this offer of boon, So that I can ask the two of them, on some other occasion, And this is my request to you now,” And now you can ask those two boons today, Without any hesitation, And I due to the order of the God, Suddenly remembered about this, which I had forgotten.”

With courage immediately you enter, Your home of anger and lie down there, After breaking away all the ornaments, After untying your pretty black curls, After wearing dirty cloths, lie down On the floor so that, Your body is full of dust And after wetting your face and breasts, Completely with tears by crying and crying, And then ask the king for those two boons, And make him firmly to take an oath granting them.

Kaikeyi immediately did as told by Mandara, Without any defeciencies,thinking, That all these are very good for her, And Kaikeyi told Mandara, “ Now, Till Rama goes to the forest, I would be lying her, if that does not happen, I would definitely give up my life., If the king does coronation to Bharatha, And make him rule this country, I would give you for the sake of your enjoyment, One hundred villages without any doubt.”

“If no difference comes to your determination, Surely, whatever you have thought in your, Mind would be achieved “ saying this Mandara left, And later that queen followed her advice. Even if one is brave, very kind, blessed- With good character, follows rituals, Follows justice, follows the teacher completely, Is of good conduct, Is having clear perceptions, Is interested in knowledge and also disciplined, By the company of bad people, over time, You Would definitely became hated by good people. A good gentleman should keep bad people far away, And completely avoid them with great effort, For even gold will lose its luster, with coating of dirt.

Then at that time king Dasaratha, after, Talking with his ministers about, The Coronation of Rama with lotus like eyes, Entered the private quarters of his wives. There due to not being able to see, His wife who was his friend of the soul, He became very nervous and that king, Thought like this in his mind, “Normally as soon as I enter the house, She would come near to me with a soft smile, And where has that pretty lady gone today, And this makes my enthusiasm vane slowly.”

“Oh maids, please tell me, where is your mistress, Who has an auspicious form, Where else she has gone,” When the king asked like this, The Maids of that lady told like this, “We do not know anything, as she has entered, The house of anger, Oh king, Your honour,please go there and follow, All her wishes, without any delay.” Becoming scared after hearing this the king, With nervousness went near her and after sitting down, Slowly and softly patted her and asked, “Darling, pretty one, Oh wife tell me why, Why are you lying down on the floor, With dust coated all over you and with sorrow, Oh lady who has a very pretty face, Oh lady of good character, What happened now which made you sad, I know that all the people in our group, Will never do anything undesirable, Oh wife, was it females,males, Who did something undesirable to you. If you tell me, I would without hesitation, Punish him or even sentence them to death.”

If you happen to like an extremely poor man, I would make him extremely rich, Else suppose you dislike one most, I would make him forever poor, I can make one punished by death, Even if he does not merit such punishment, For I am always under your control, Hey lady, what is the reason for your sorrow.

At this time, more dearer than my soul to me, Is my son Rama, and I am taking an oath, on him, who is one with sterling character, Oh gem among women, that I would, Do as per your wish, and so my wife, do not grieve, And when Dasaratha told like this to Kaikeyi, Hearing his taking an oath, she became more alert, Wiped her tears got up and, Told the king slowly,” you who have taken an oath, If you have really has been telling the truth, I would now tell you what I want most, And Oh king, do not waste your oath.

“A t the time of the war between devas and Asuras, I helped you, by saving you from your problem, And that day you became very happy with me, And did you not give me two boons to me at that time? I have kept the two boons with you, Saying that I would request them when I want them, And I desire to have them today, Oh king.”

Out of that one is that you have to, Perform coronation of Bharatha today, And the other one is that Rama, Should go to the forest today itself, That valorous one should wear a tuft, Dress himself in the barks of trees, Would dress himself as one who does penance, And should live in the forest for fourteen years, Eating only fruits and roots, Oh king. The country should be ruled by Bharatha, And Rama should go to the forest in the morning, And if you do not give these two boons to me, I would definitely and surely die today.” Immediately after Kaikeyi told like this, The king fainted and fell down on the ground, As if a mountain hit by Vajrayudha fell on the land, And the king fell as if he is attacked by a fever, After a moment was over, The king shedding tears and shaking told, “Alas, I have to hear these words which cannot be tolerated, Is it a bad dream alas, Am I seeing it alas, Have I suddenly become mad, Has my time of death come near, Oh Lord Parameshwara, Oh God, Oh lotus eyed one, Oh Parabrahma, What can be done by me now.”

Seeing and again seeing the face of, The foolish Kaikeyi who was standing, Like a tigress near him, Dasaratha, Was scared of her and told her, “Oh lady, why are you saying like this, What harm has Raghava done to you? What is the reason for your telling words, That may lead to my death,” Earlier I have hear you telling me words, That were praising the character of Rama, “He does not have any difference in his mind, At any time between me and the lady Kausalya,” And to you who have been telling like this earlier, Why these thoughts have come to your mind.”

“I can give the country to your son, Oh Lady with good character, Is it, Necessary for Rama to go to the forest ? There would be no fear for you from Rama, Even though Bharatha remains as the kng,” Saying this and crying and crying again, That king fell down and caught the feet of Kaikeyi, And then making her eyes red Kaikeyi told, “Why are you becoming mad Oh king, Sir, Why are you telling these lunatic words? If you tell words which are lies, You would go to horrible hell? “if the lotus eyed Rama does not go, To the forest in the morning, Without any doubt, I would take my life, In front of you the king, This is certain, Please protect your name that, King Dasaratha is the keeper of truth, And do not suffer pains and sorrows, By leaving from the correct right path, Oh king, for nothing do not make the oath, That you have taken on Rama as an illusion.” Hearing the very firm coercing words of Kaikeyi, Thinking of the need to part with Rama, The king was drowned in the ocean of sorrow. Then he got up, sat up. lied down, And cried and prattled thinking of his son, And crying Rama, Rama, Rama, Spent the night like a year.

By the time that the Sun was raising, The flatterers, musicians and others, By playing the auspicious instruments, And shouting “Victory” and by various, Forms and types of music, at that time, Reminded the king that it was time to wake up, And then the ebbing anger in her mind, Immediately made them go back, And they stood there with great sense of wonder

Then by that time for the sake of celebrating the coronation, The town was completely filled up by people, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras, The saints, the maids along with, The white umbrellas which increased splendour, Fans, groups with lighted plates, flags, decorations, And wearing gold ornaments and other make ups, The army consisting of elephant, horses,chariots and infantry, The ladies of the rich families, citizens came. The shining golden throne studded with jewels, Gold pots, tiger skin and all that Vasishta wanted, Without any fault in them were arranged. Women, children, old people and other city people, Immersed in the very many entertainments, Had completely not slept at night, And roamed here and there with great joy.

The lad Rama who is our soul, Wearing a very pure crown, With a cheeks well decorated by, The very pretty ear studs, With the pretty eyes resembling the lotus leaf, With the face similar to the full moon, With the shining smile, cool like that of moon light, With teeth which resemble the jasmine buds, With lips which have the splendour of hibiscus flower, With the Kousthbha gem hanging on his neck, With the shining and pretty chest and the lips, With the yellow silk over the body of the colour of the dusk cloud, With the shining golden belts worn over the flower like dress and the hips, With the thighs which even a great elephant will salute, With the knees similar to the forehead of the elephants, With the shining arrow case shining like the god of love, With the feet similar to that of a back of a tortoise, With the pretty back which makes you salute him, With the end of the feet similar to a lotus, With the body which would be saluted by the blue sapphire, Wearing necklace armlets, rings which increase his prettiness, Wearing dress of silk and riding on the neck of any elephant, Along with his younger brother Lakshmana, Would appear before us to be seen, And we have been hungering for such a sight, Of Rama who is the son of the Lord of this land, And could be seen definitely in the morning. This ogress called night is not going away, And they, who are the citizens, all with a heart full of anxiety, Are searching for the Sun God and not able to see him, And the wish is making them drown in the ocean of joy

Vichinnabhishekam

(The coronation that did not take place)

At the time the Sun rose up, But the king had not still woken up, The chief minister Sumanthra Anxious to know the reason, Thought a lot and slowly, Entered the quarters of the queens.

“Oh king who belongs to the clan of friend of lotus flower, Oh king, Oh best among king of kings, Victory, victory.” Like this he praised the king and saluted him on the floor, Stood up and again saluted him, and then he saw, The worried king with shedding tears and lying on the floor, And also greatly upset and seeing him thus Sumanthra, Immediately addressed Kaikeyi and asked her, “ Oh queen equal to deva ladies, darling of the king, Oh Qheen Kaikeyi,, Always victory, victory, What is the reason for change of the mood, Of the king, Oh consort of king of kings, please tell me,” Hearing this Kaikeyi replied like this to Sumanthra,.

The great king did not get any sleep, At night and that is the reason, For his being not all right and, Also he is sick in the mind, And keeps on repeating Rama, Rama, And always thinking about only Rama, And also since he was not able to sleep at all, The king has become greatly worried. Since the king is sad in not seeing Rama, Without delay go and get Rama.”

Hearing this Sumanthra told, “I can go and bring that lad easily, But oh lotus eyed one, how can I go, Without the orders of the king himself.” Hearing this the king himself told, “ You go and get Rama here quickly, I have to see without delay the face, Of that pretty one called Rama Kumara,” Hearing this Sumanthra became scared, And went to the son of Kausalya and told, “ Your father is calling you urgently, So without any delay you have to come,” And Rama hearing the words of the minister, Speedily along with his younger brother, Lakshmana got in to the chariot, And reached the house where his father was staying out of love, And saluted both the feet of his father, And fell at his feet in the ground,”

When the king readied himself, To take and hug Sri Rama, And extended his hands, He fainted and fell on the floor. Saying Rama, Rama and seeing him, Rama speedily took the king and also hugged him, And then with respect he made him lie on his lap, Seeing this the ladies with heightened sorrow, Started crying and wailing, and hearing their, Cries sage Vasishta immediately entered the house, And Sri Rama at that time asked, “What is the reason for my Father’s sorrow, People who know it, please tell me straight,” And then the daughter of Kekaya told straight, “ You are the only reason for your father’s sorrow. In the world the root of sorrow is pleasure itself, And you can easily make amends for that, And make your father leave his sorrow, And for removing the sorrow of my husband, You should at least play a role.”

You make your father teller of truth, Because he is a great protector of truth, The wish in the mind of the king is definitely, Your duty as you are his first son. I have been given two boons, By your father when he was happy. And those two which can be done only by you, Were requested by me today. Ashamed to tell you about them, He has become disconsolate, And you are the only one to save, Your father who has been tied by his oath. You please understand that Brahma, Coined the word son(puthra) because, They would save their parents from hell call “puth”.

Hit by the trident of the words of the mother, Rama who was the son of the ruler of the country, Told with lots of sorrow as follows, “Is it necessary to tell all this, mother, For the sake of father, without any doubt, I would give up even my soul or my mother,, Or Sita, without any sorrow in mind, If my father wishes, Oh mother, I would even give up this country, I would even give up Lakshmana, Within no time, If he tells me.”

If it is neccasry to fall in fire or drink poison, If father tells,I will do it. There is not even Little doubt in my mind about it, you understand, The son who does the wishes in the mind, Of his father without him telling is great, The one who does it after he tells is medium, Though it is proper, a son who says that, It is not his duty is the poop of his parents, Say the good people and this is all I have understood. So it is for sure that I do not have sorrow or pain, For observing what my father tells me, This is an oath, this is an oath, I am taking an oath and there is no two opinions about it.

After hearing the oath of Kaikeyi, Told the following words to Rama, “ Let all the things that have been collected, By your father for your coronation, Be used to celebrate the Coronation of Bharatha, There is also a second boon, it is that, You should live inside the forest, For fourteen years in the garb of a sage,. The king feels bad to tell you this, And also it will cause sorrow to him.” Hearing this Sri Rama told like this, “What is the problem for carrying it out today, Let the coronation of Bharatha be performed, And oh mother, I would go to the forest forthwith, Why did not father tell me about this? What is the reason for his thought and sorrow? He is very suitable to protect the country, And I am prepared to leave this country.”

To carry out the burden of a country is a punishment, But Residence in Dandaka forest is very easy, It is only because of the mother’s love, That she asked me to rule only my body. Bhageeratha brought Ganga from the sky, Speedily to the nether world, So that his ancestors are satisfied, And Puru made his father very happy, By giving his youth and taking his old age, And both of them became great by the grace of their manes.

Thinking of such an insignificant matter, There was no need for my father to be sad.” The king after hearing the words of Rama, With great sorrow told his son, “Since I am a slave to ladies, a lover, And a worst king, without any delay, Tie me with a rope and take the country from me, You will not have any sin by doing that, Otherwise I would be suffering the guilt. Of not following the oath, son, Ocean of good character, Oh Raghava..”

The king of kings Dasaratha again, Started crying and telling, “Hey Rama, Hey Lord of the world, Hey hey Rama, Hey rama, Hey, hey the lord of my soul, Oh son how will you go in to the deep forest, After going away from me?” He went on telling many such things, Shed tears and was telling unsteady words and again cried, Hugged him tightly and again hugged him,., And then left out several hot breaths, And seeing his father who was greatly upset, Rama washed his face with cold water, And told him several words of consolation, Which were really great and that Great diplomat further consoled him

Why does my father unnecessarily become sad? Oh king, how is this a punishment? For protecting the truth, we have, No dearth of strength for these two, My brother will rule over the country, And I would comfortably live in the forst, If we analyze It is more comfortable, To live in the foest rather than to rule the country, It is good that My mother has alloted to me with love, A job which is not difficult to do. I will salute my mother Kausalya, Tell Maithili about the news, And would come soon to depart., he said. That god went to his mother’s palace, And there that mother who was a follower of Dharma, Was conducting fire sacrifice and worship, By well acknowledged Brahmins, For the orderly progress of her son. She also gave monetary gifts to many, And she with devotion established the feet of God, In her mind and was in deep meditation, And did not see her son who had come there.

At the end Sumithra with happiness, Went to Kausalya and told, “Rama has come, have you not seen, Oh Darling of the king, please see “ And then seeing Rama who is saluting her, Slowly she caught hold of him and caressed him, And then she made him sit on her lap, Then smelt his head and smelled with joy, That black body which was like blue sapphire, And slowly patting him she told, “My son, is there any reason that, Your face should look wan and faded? Are you hungry, if so sit down to eat.” And when his mother told him like this, Rama suppressed his great sorrow, And told his mother as follows.

“Now there is no time to eat, I have go urgently to live in the forest, Long ago my father had given, Two boons to my mother who is the daughter of Kekaya, One was to make Bharatha rule the country, And the other was that I should go to the forest. And live there for fourettn years, As soon as it is over, I would come back without delay, Oh mother, please live with satisfaction till then,” As soon as Kausalya heard the words of Rama, She fainted and fell on the ground, Then when she woke up, she started, Crying and crying as she was drowned in the ocean of sorrow, And she then told her son, ” Suppose you go to the forest today, Without hesitation take me also there, For I cannot live without you even for half a second.”

If you go to the Dandakaranya forest today, I would go to the home of the god of death, Is it possible to tell and describe, The sorrow of the cow which has parted with the calf, If Bharatha has to rule this country, Is there a law that you should go to the forest.

“Think whether you have done any errors, To Kaikeyi or for that matter, your father, I and your father are equally elders to you, And suppose father tells you to go and suppose, I oppose it and tell you not to go, Suppose you disobey me but obey your father, I would definitely put an end to my life, And that will lead to the destruction of humanity.”

Hearing the words of Kausalya like this, Lakshmana who was standing there with a burning mind, With fire in the eyes and full of sorrow and anger, Seeing Rama started telling, As if to burn the entire world in fire, “What is the reason for all these sorrow?”

Lunatic minded, a zombie, an old man, One who is slave to ladies, one who is restless, And one who is adamant is our father, And I am saying let us arrest our father, And all those who are against us, And kill them instead of needlessly, Being sad about it and without any problem, Celebrate the coronation and, There is no need to become sad for this, Oh mother become happy, And let us celebrate the coronation of the great son, And definitely I have the valour to do that, And if even our Guru starts to do, Things that are unjust, we have to discipline him.

After telling like this when Lakshmana was, Standing ferociously as if to burn the entire world, After breaking in to a slow smile, speedily, And with joy, he was tightly and firmly embraced by, The pretty one, one who is the darling of Goddess Lakshmi, One who is joyful,, one who is of the colour of bee, One who has eyes like blue lotus, One who is, Worsipped along with music by Indra and the group of devas, One who is like the full moon, One who is dear to Lord Shiva, And One who is like a wish giving tree to his devotees.

Lakshmanopadesam

(Teaching to Lakshmana)

Oh son, Oh son of Sumithra, Oh lad, Please hear my words leaving out competitive spirit, I have understood your principles, And also your love towards me, And also that no one has love to me as much as you have, And also it is definite that no job is impossible for you, But please hear this one from me, Only if the visible things like kingship, body, World, incomparable wealth and land are the truth, Then only your effort will be proper, And suppose it is not, what will result? All the pleasures are as temporary as the lightning, And they vanish quickly like our life, please remrmber this.”

The human life is like a drop of water, Fallen on a metal piece made red hot by fire, And some thing which vanishes in a second, Like the frog which is in the throat of a snake, Seeking for food, the beings caught in the grips of time, With a melting mind, seeks for pleasures. Understand that the meeting that we have with, Son, friends, wife and others lasts only for a little time, Like the wayfarers in a rest house of the high way, Are getting upset when they meet and part, And like the wooden pieces floating in the river The meeting of the people in the world is purely temporary, And also wealth also is not at all stable for men, And would the state of youth be with us permanently.”

The pleasure out of a wife is like a dream, And short life also is similar, Oh Lakshmana, The life between birth and death which, Is intermixed with pleasures, if properly, Studied is also like a dream, my friend, And remember it is like a city of Gandarwas, Which cannot be seen, and the foolish people, Observe that the Sun god comes out speedily, Goes speedily in to the sea, followed by sleep, And again the sun god comes out fast. People who have this type of imagionation in their brain, Never think about anything over time, And they do not know when the soul goes away, And are lying drowned in the sea of illusion.

With old age, with white hair and wear and tare, Some people die with enlarged desires, Though people see using the eye, They are not able to know the greatness of illusion, The foolish people think that now it is a day, After some time it will be night, which would be followed by day, Not knowing the acts of God, and without, Remembering all the sports done by, The God who is but the form of time, Live a life like water in an unbaked pot, And people are never are able to understand the goings of God.

“It is certain that the enemies called diseases, Would come and destroy the body, And like the tigress wear and tare will come near, And definitely attack the body, And the death is always within us, Looking for a proper time to attack, The beings due to their body, mix the pride, Add desires to it and live, And chant that, “I am Brahmin”, I am the king”, “I am a noble man”, all their life, And during that time they eat, go poop, Or even burn in to white ash and disappear, Or can even become worms under the mud, And so it is not good to have desire because of the body.”

The body is but a mixture of skin, flesh, blood, Bones, poop, urine and semen and is, Made of the five elements and it would, Be pervaded by illusion and that body, Is subject to change, it is certain.

Due to the desire again due to attachment, To this body, you are thinking of burning the world, And that thought of yours in the mind, Shows that you do not have wisdom, Lakshmana.

All the defects are with those who love their body, And come to them due to their anger, you please remember, The feeling of a man that “I am the body”, Is due to ignorance which is the mother of desire. And once you think that “I am not the body, But am the soul”,that thought is the killer of desires, And is the real knowledge and please know, That ignorance is the one that makes the life of birth and death, And knowledge is that which completely destroys this thought.

So if you are, one thirsting for salvation, You should sit alone and develop that deep wisdom, And then passion, anger, avarice as well as desire, Would all become your enemies, please understand, And also please know, that anger is the emotion, That puts a stop for the aim of getting salvation, And that gentleman completely destroys, Mother, father, brother and friends.”

Due to anger arise misunderstandings, Due to anger man gets tied up by domestic life, And Is not anger the real destroyer of Dharma, And so the wise man should give up anger, And is not anger definitely the god of death, And strong desire is the river Vaitharani,(Indian equivalent of Styx) That encircles the city of death.

Happiness is the garden of the devas, And always hear that peace is the wish giving cow, Think about this and pray for only peace, And then always you will never have sorrow, Hear that the soul lies above the body, sense organs, The movement, intellect and ego, Please always think that the soul in you, As filled up with the pure, dazzling self filled with joy, Which is the meaning of all philosophies, Which does not have any actions, which is for ever, Which can be known in the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, As witness of everything and god of everything always.

You who know the essence of everything please hear, Pleasure, pain, difficult duties have to be undergone, You have to definitely carry out with utmost sincerity, All the duties dictated by organs as well as Karma, Without attaching yourselves to the results of Karma, And as fated by Karma,dedicating it to the supreme god.

Since none of the karmas can attach, Themselves to the pure soul, After understanding all that I told you, Always meditate on that form of wisdom, Giving away egoistic feelings, and daily, Get drowned in divine joy, remove, From the mind the desires created by illusion, For egoism is the reason of all dangers.

After telling like this to Lakshmana, With a happy face he told his mother, “Please hear mother, Let not my words, Which are clear cause sorrow to you, Unlike the people who do not know the soul, You know that sufferings cannot be caused to it, All the people who live in this world cannot, Always live together and since you know everything, Please understand that I would speedily, Come back after living in the forest for fourteen years, And so please throw away all the sorrow, And bless me with a happy heart.

“If there is one desire in the mind of father, Mother also should have the same desire, It is definite that The virtue of a married women, Is the repetition of all the duties of her husband, If my mother permits me with happiness, I do not have any sorrow whatsoever And the life in the forest would be pleasurable, Do not have any sorrow in your mind.” Saying this he saluted her, Again and again at the feet of his mother, With love and she took him on his lap. Hugged him and bathed him with her tears, And then she immediately told words of blessing, And then Kausalya begged the gods.

“Oh creator, Oh Brahma, Oh God who sits on a lotus, Oh healthy ocean of mercy, Oh greatest Purusha, Oh Hari, Oh winner over death, Oh great God, Oh consort of Gauri, Oh protectors of different directions who have Indra in front, Oh Durga, Oh Goddess, Oh destroyer of sorrow, Oh cause of creation, upkeep and dissolution, Whenever my son takes to walking, And whenever he sleeps forgetting everything, Please protect him with great joy.”

When her son Rama requested like this, She hugged him tightly with falling tears and, She permitted to go to the forest saying, “Live in the forest for fourteen years and come back,” And immediately Lakshmana with a broken voice, Told Rama to his satisfaction, “Whatever doubt that was remaining in my mind, Has vanished after hearing your words. For the sake of doing service to your feet, I also want to accompany you and, You have to give permission to that with joy, Oh consort of Sita, Oh Ramachandra, Oh treasure of mercy, And suppose you do not permit, I will take away my life, Oh Lord of Raghus, Oh lord with a moon like face.” And then the lotus eyed one told him with love, “if so you can also come with me.”

Then to take leave from Sita, He entered Sita’s house happily. Seeing her husband who has come, She got up speedily with a smile, And with water in a golden pot, Washed his holy feet with love, And with shyness and a soft smile, That pretty one slowly and slowly told.

Oh treasure of mercy, how come you have come, By walk without anybody accompanying you? Oh husband where is the valorous elephant, The ornamental umbrellas, decorative fans, The pair of chowries, the musical accompaniment, And the made up look with gold and gem ornaments? How come you have left the minor kings, And have come with a very worried look, alas?

Hearing the words of the daughter of Videha, The son of the lord of earth told like this, “He gave me the kingdom of Dandakaranya, For earning good deeds, please know, I am going immediately to look after that, And you live here without sorrow in the mind. Oh wife you live here happily, Looking after my mother Kausalya.” Hearing the words of her husband that Janaki, Told like this to the king Rama, “Your father is in a state that he, Cannot even part with you at night, And in such a circumstance, why, Did this thought of giving a forest kingdom, To you Come today to his mind, what is the cause? Was it not the king himself with joy, Made arrangements for the coronation yesterday, Tell me speedily whether it is true, my husband, Please tell me in detail all that has happened?”

Hearing this Sri Rama told her, “Oh gem in the garland of great ladies, hear, The king had earlier promised to give, Two boons to my mother who is the daughter of Kekaya, In the land of devas during a battle between asuras and devas, For showing great valour and helping him.”

One is to make Bharatha as the king, And the other is to send me to forest, Deciding in his mind that he would, Be going against his oath and being afraid of it, Father has already given the boon to mother, And so I am going today to the Dandakaranya, And live there for fourteen years, Avoiding any rule and I will come back then. You please do not tell no to it, And leaving love life, live with my mother “ After hearing this as told by Sri Rama, That lady with a face of the full moon told, “I would be the first to walk to the forest, And you can only come behind me, Your going away leaving me is not proper, And you have to understand that.”

That Sri Rama told her who speaks sweet things, And walks like the elephant king, “How can I take you there, For it is full of densely grown trees, Wild lions, tigers, pigs, bison, Elephants, pythons wolf and other animals, The Rakshasas who eat human beings, And also very many bad wild animals, Which are innumerable and seeing all of them, We would become perplexed and filled with fear, And for ladies there is a special sense of fear, please understand.”

“Oh lady, there for food only roots, And fruits which are sour and bitter are available, Clean and tasty foods, sweet pancakes, rice, drinks, Good quality honey, drinks of milk are not there at any time,”

Ups and down caves, holes in the land, harsh stony path, Would be all over that bad way, which is full of thorns, Except for that type of harsh path, You would not be able to see any body there known to you, Apart from that the climate would be cold winds, hot weather, And the suffering due to these are extreme. We have necessarily walk with our legs, And when we see the very bad Rakshasas, No body would be able to tolerate it., underatand? So obey my words and live here, Looking after my mother in a proper fashion, And for coming back it would take, Fourteen years, there is no doubt about this.”

After hearing the words of Rama, With increasing sorrow again told, “Lord, I am dharmic wife of virtue, And I do not have any other support, Oh treasure of mercy, there would not be any problem, Please do not end my penance of serving your feet, When I am living in your presence, Who can ever cause harm to me?”

“Eating some roots and food with water, As The remains of food eaten by husband, Is equivalent to nectar to me, When I am walking with my husband, Even very sharp pointed stone and thorns, Is equivalent to walking on spread flowers to me, Oh Lord equivalent to god of love, do not forsake me, By me you will not have any problem, And Oh Husband, I do not have any fear.” Once a Brahmin expert in astrology, After determination has told me, “ You would be living in the forest, With your husband and there is no sorrow, Also I will tell you a truth that I have, Heard earlier and I would tell you that now, Though several poets have written the story of Rama, Along with joy, I have not heard one, In which Rama has gone to live, In the forest without Janaki?

Is there any existence of Prakrthi from Purusha? If we properly think are not both the same? We have to remember the chant during marriage, That these two will not part till time of death, When it is like that, if you leave me and go, To the forest alone and without me, I would take my life away today itself.

After Hearing what that goddess told, The king along with a slow smile told, “So my wife, come along with me soon, A sorrow need not come due to my telling you something, Oh Janaki, please give away all the necklaces, And other ornaments To Arundathi, (wife of Vasishta)”

Then he told like this to Lakshmana, Please make the noble Brahmins to come, And as soon as he told this to him, He got several great Brahmins to come there.

Clothes ornaments cows, And unlimited money with great respect, Was given to great Brahmins who had mastered Vedas, Who were of good character, who were great, Because of very good character and who were family people.

He also gave gifts to the very great Brahmins,, Who were the assistants of his mother. Also to all those who live in his private quarters, And to his servants he gave gifts by various kinds. Due to his giving gifts to the sages and Brahmins, They recited words of blessings to him with joy, Shedding and shedding great amount of tears. Janaki along with love gave gifts, To Arundathi who took it with happiness.

Then the valorous Lakshmana, entrusted, His mother Sumithra to Kausalya, And saluted her and then Sumithra, Hugged her son and also blessed him well, And also told the following advice to him, “You have to always serve your elder brother, And always walk by his side without parting from him, Always daily think that Rama is Dasaratha in your mind, Also you have to think me as the daughter of Janaka, And think Ayodhya as the deep forest, And once You firmly believe these without illusion, You would be happy there and cme back happily.”

Lakshamana completely took the advice, And saluted his mother with respect, And then along with his bow and arrows, Stood near Rama and saluted him. Immediately Rama along with Sita, And Lakshmana, went to salute, His father and at that time, With happiness he saw the citizens of Ayodhya.

The pretty lad, the stealer of the mind, One has pretty black body, Raghava, One who can be compared to God of love, One who is lovely and handsome, The honourable Rama, the ever pretty Rama, For all the world, the Rama of the soul, The one with eyes like lotus, One who is served by Lord Shiva, One who pervades in different worlds, When he was walking towards his father’s home, The citizens who were sad seeing, That he was walking to the palace, Told each other with great sorrow.

Alas, alas. alas, see, see, ho, Oh god why has this come to this alas, Along with brother and his loving wife, Without any help, he is walking, With a path strewn with stones and thorns, And which is bad path and very difficult to walk, With their pretty, greatly soft and slippery feet, Which appears to be softer like a red lotus, And the mind of the king which asked them, To daily walk in the forest is very cruel.

Till yesterday no one had the love for son, As much as king Dasaratha had, What is the reason for this thought today. Hearing this immediately another one told, “It seems he had given two boons to Kaikeyi, And because of that Rama is going to forest today, And Bharatha would live as a king, He could go to the forest along with him, Because he cannot tolerate parting with him.” Hearing these type of talks between, The Brahmins of the city, Vamadeva, Told to the citizens the following.

Rama Sita thathwam

(The principle of Rama and Sita)

None of you should be sad by thinking of Rama, And also Due to Janaki who has a pretty form. I am now telling you the principle, Please hear with great attention, Rama is the real Maha Vishnu, Who is the primeval Narayana with lotus eyes, Lakshmana is Anantha and the daughter of Janaka, Is the goddess Lakshmi who is the illusion of this world.

Due to the different properties of Maya(illusion), The god assumes several different forms, Lord Brahma who was born out of the lotus, Has the Rajasa property and created, The two worlds in a very clear way, Assuming the form of Vishnu, Which has predominantly Sathwa form, The god, who is divine and is never born, Always keeps on protecting this world. But illusions makes us see them. In the form of Rudra, with the thamas property, That consort of daughter of mountain destroys. Becoming pleased with the devotion of Vaivaswatha Manu, That God took the incarnation of fish., And he killed Hayagreeva, and returned, Back all the Vedas and he is this Rama.

When the ocean of milk was being churned, And when the Mandra mountain entered the nether world, The one who took the form of a severe form of a tortoise, And held the king of the mountains on his back, is this Rama, The one who killed the bad Hiranyaksha, Taking the form of a boar and lifted the earth, And played in the causal ocean, Is this Rama who is this causal man.

He who took the form of the roaring Narasimha, For looking after his devotee Prahalada, And tore the chest of the horrible Hiranyakasipu, By using his cruel nails is, This consort of Lakshmi who is an expert in saving.

When Atithi with great devotion requested him, And also worshipped him for the birth of a son, Along with great mercy, he who was born as, Her son and younger brother of Indra, And went to his great devotee Mahabali, Requested for three feet of earth, And measured the three worlds in three feet, And got the earth from Mahabali and gave it back to Indra, As the Trivikrama who likes his devotees is also Rama.

For killing exterminating of kings, Who were born as hater of Brahmins, The one who was born as Parasurama, Is this Rama who is the blessing of this world.

He has been born as the son of Dasaratha, And the husband of the daughter of earth in this world, For saving Dharma by killing all the Rakshasas, And to lighten the burden of this earth. He is primeval, not born, divine soul, god of gods, The divine one who is an expert in Vedas though not a Brahmin, Narayana, the greatest Purusha, one who does not change, The causal man, Rama, the stealer of the mind, And the reason for his is going today to the forest, For killing Ravana for the sake of devas, Is not because of Mandhara nor Kaikeyi and None of you get startled, the reason is not even Dasaratha. The God Vishnu who pervades the earth, the Madhava, The Vishnu along with the daughter of Janaka, The great goddess of illusion who Is the one who creates, upkeeps and destroys, Is starting now with excess of joy.

Yesterday Narada came here and, Rama told him “for killing of, The Rakshasas, I will definitely, Start to the forest tomorrow” And from this, please understand, That he is not sad at going to forest, And so please do not think of Rama and be sad, All of you, please chant “Rama”, “Rama”, And to all those men who chant “Rama”, “Rama” daily, There would be no fear of death for them and they will get salvation, And they will all definitely get these. He is one who does not have sorrow or pleasure, He does not decay, he is one without characters, , He is the great one of Raghu clan, The one who does not have less or more, He is pure, full of joy, endless and consistent.

How can sorrow ever come, To one who has a form of God like him, He was born in this earth due to the prayer, Of his devotees and he is the lover of his devotees, For fulfilling the desire of Dasaratha, And for killing Ravana, and for, Looking after the three worlds, He has taken this incarnation. Oh simple people, that man has become God.

After telling about Rama like this, Vamadeva retired from there and, Afterwards those who drank the nectar of Vamadeva, Those citizens knew that Rama is only Narayana, And al of them were drowned in the ocean of divine joy. Those who meditate on this secret of Rama and Sita, Again and again with utmost joy, Will get firm devotion towards God Rama, And sorrows of all of them would be destroyed. I told the divine meaning of Rama, Which is secret, which should be hidden from others, And one that would destroy all your sins, Thinking that all lovers of Rama are great, The pain in the minds of the citizens was destroyed, And that great sage also went back with joy.

Vana yathra

Journey to the forest.

Then Rama entered the house of his father, And without sorrow saluted and told, Kaikeyi, who was his mother, “Please leave out sorrow from your mind, Me, Lalkshmana and the daughter of Janaka, Have started from here with pleasure, Please leave out the sorrow far away, And let my father order me what should be done,”

Hearing those pleasant words Kaikeyi immediately, Got up along with nervousness and, She gave cloth made of bark individually to, Rama, Sita as well as Lakshmana, And Rama forsaking the rich cloths, Dressed himself in those wooden bark.

With the permission of Lord Rama, Lakshmana also wore that and at that time, Sita who was the Goddess Lakshmi, Holding the bark cloth in her hand, with sorrow, And For finding out the intention of Rama, Secretly saw the lotus like face of Rama, With a thought as to how to wear it tightly, And Rama the husband of the goddess of auspiciousness, With diplomacy took it from her, and, Tied that hard bark over her divine dresses, And stood there with great politeness.

Seeing this the wives of the king, And all the other people assembled there, Started weeping due to sorrow and hearing this, The great sage Vasishta who was standing there, Berated Kaikeyi with great anger and told her, “Why you had this thought?, oh bad woman, Oh Rakshasi, Oh lady with an unclean mind, Oh lady who has a hard mind when seeing misery, Oh base lady, Oh characterless lady, Was it not your boon that Rama should go to the forest? And what was the reason for the thought in your mind, To give the wooden bark cloth to Sita, Janaki who was devoted and a virtuous wife, If she travels along with her husband, She Would go with ornaments all over her body, And wearing divine cloths, for she is going, To lighten the sorrow caused by forest to her husband, And would live there providing happiness to his mind, And she would be with him and look after him, With a clean and clear mind and live there.”

Hearing what sage Vasishta has told, Dasaratha saluted the sage and told Sumanthra, Immediately get here a chariot suitable for kings, For the sake of travel of the lotus eyed one.

After saying like this and seeing the face of Rama, Dasaratha cried, “Hey son, hey Rama, Hey Lakshmana, Hey daughter of Janaka, Hey Rama, Rama, Hey Rama who attracts the three worlds, Hey son who is like my soul, Hey pretty one, And with sorrow he again fell down on the floor, And was crying completely loosing his grip on himself, And at that time Sumanthra brought the chariot, And at that time Sri Rama told

“Please get in to the chariot quickly Sita, We should not waste any more time now”, And that pretty ladsy saluted him and got in to the chariot, Rama who is the husband of Lakshmi, After leaving out the sorrow in his mind, Saluted his father on the floor, went round him, And again bowed and saluted him and got in to the chariot. At that time Lakshmana loaded the, Arrows. Bows and quivers in the chariot, And himself got in to it and Sumanthra with sorrow, Started driving the chariot and Dasaratha, Shouted “Stop”, Stop” but Lord Rama told, Let it go, let it go speedily, And the entire world became still then.

When the lotus eyed one disappeared in the distance, The king fell down fainted on the floor, The male, female,children and old people of the town, With heightened sorrow went crying behind Rama, “Oh Lord Rama, oh treasure of mercy, do not go, do not go, How can we tolerate when we are not able to see, Your body which is like nectar, Oh God, what a fate, we feel as if our soul has left.

Telling like this and wailing all the people, Without delay started walking behind the chariot, And the king after crying a lot, With sorrow told his helpers, “Please carry me and put me, In the house of Rama’s mother, After parting from Rama, I cannot, And would not now live in this earth.

Hearing these words, those of his servants, Carried the king and placed. Him in the house of Kausalya and at that time, Again the king fell down fainted And after waking up started crying, Even with Kausalya who was also sad.

When the night fell Sri Rama, Went to the bank of river Thamasa and stayed there, Drinking only some liquids and along with Janaki, Not taking any food, he slept at the root of a tree. Lakshmana armed with bow and arrows, Guarded them and with sorrow, Spent his time talking of sad things with Sumanthra, And the citizens also came near them, Thought firmly in their mind that if, They are not able to take Rama with them, They also would live in the forest with them.

Seeing the crying and sorrow of the citizens, Sri Rama decided in his mind, “When the sun rises, they would not allow us to go, And there would be problem for our purpose, And now they are sleeping tired with sorrow, And they do not have consciousness and, We shall go from here before they wake up, And so immediately get the chariot readied.” As soon as Sumanthra heard the words of Rama, And when he immediately got the chariot ready, Both the Raghavas and the daughter of Janaka, Got in to the chariot and at that time, The citizens did not know any thing, And Sumanthra drove the chariot, For little time towards Ayodhya and, Later drove it fast to the southern direction.

All the citizens who were sleeping round them, At the time, woke up next day but, Did not see Rama and cried with deep sorrow, And went back to Ayodhya and, By always thinking about Rama with Sita, In their mind again and again daily, Lived with a very pure mind, All of them lived with their sons and friends.

Raghava the husband of the auspicious goddess, Reached the shores of Ganges and along, With Sita took the auspicious bath in the river, And along with his brother reached a place, Not far from the town of Srungivera, And happily lived below a Iruvul tree.

Guha Sangamam

(Meeting with Guha)

Guha heard the great festival of coming, Of Rama with great happiness and to see and, Worship the feet of God Rama who is a youth like him He came with a mature mind and devotion speedily, Along with ripened fruits, honey and flowers, And after placing them near Rama with devotion, He saluted Rama by falling on the floor.

Rama immediately took and made him stand and, Hugged him tightly and embraced him, And with a soft smile sweetly and happily, Enquired about his news and welfare, And seeing the lotus eyed one, With folded hands Guha asked.

Today I have become greatly blessed, And definitely the life of a tribal has become pure, And this country which belongs to the tribes, Is without any faults and please look after me, Who am your slave and this country, Without any botheration whatsoever.

Along with great happiness your honoured self, Should always live here and purify, My private quarters with the divine dust, Of your lotus like feet and also, Bless me with great sympathy.

To Guha who was there after this prayer, With a happy smile Sri Rama told, “My friend, please hear my words, I cannot have better pleasure than that, But I have to spend fourteen years, In the forests without taking, Food given by others till, The period of the forest life is over.”

This country is mine and are you not my friend, And you being honorable, please look after this country, And do not mix sorrow with this arrangement, And go and bring the milk of banyan tree,” Immediately the milk of banyan tree was brought, Along with Lakshmana using the mixture, Of ash and the milk from the banyan tree, And made a firm matted hair style, And using the durba grass and leaves brought by his brother, And spread with respect and adoration, He slept along with his wife Sita, Who had taken only a liquid food, With the same happiness of olden times, When he used to sleep on a cot in his palace.

Then Lakshmana carrying his bow and arrow, Stood gurad for them along with Guha, Seeing Rama the husband of goddess Lakshmi, And Sita who was the goddess Lakshmi herself, Sleeping near the roots of a tree, Guha with flowing tears due to great sorrow, Started telling Lakshmana as follows, “Friend, are you not seeing the lotus eyed one,”

Alas the lotus eyed one had to sleep, On a bed of leaves below a tree, Instead of a golden cot in a great house, In a great city, this blessed man, Along with the daughter of Janaka, Is sleeping on a bed of leaves, In a forest and the reason, For the sorrow of God Rama, Is Kaikeyi due to the evil words of Mandara, And has not this Kaikeyi done a very great sin.?”

After hearing the words of Guha, Lakshmana immediately answered him, “Oh one with balanced thought, Hear my words and chant the names, Of Rama always without fail, In these three words, who is the cause of whose sorrow? And oh friend, who is the cause of happiness of others? The reason for pain and pleasure in these worlds, Is the karma that we have earned in previous births!”

Definitely no body has thought in his mind, About giving away of sorrows and pleasures, Always the ignorant people tend to think, That so and so is the one who gave pleasure to me, Or so and so is the one who gave sorrow to me, And such thoughts will not arise to the wise men. Hear, due to unnecessary pride some times, We think that we are the people who are doing it, And the world is tied up by the thread of karma, And all pleasures that we enjoy arise from real karma.

Friend, enemy, servant, relatives, those who hate us, The go in between, people who love us are only a mental illusion, And our actions if we think about it are strange, As we think, so it happens and sorrow and pleasure, Are completely controllable by our real actions, And when I thought about all these, Whatever speedily comes, should over time, Definitely become all right and we should live contented.

Do not go on desiring for pleasures, Pleasures come by fate and so there is no need to forsake it, As far as I can think worrying about them is a waste, The human body whose mind gives rise, To the good and bad is the place, Where sins and blessings are produced, And so all these are determined by fate.

Pleasures and pains are common to everyone, And these cannot be removed by devas or asuras, In the world sorrow comes after pleasure, And no need to worry, it is followed by pleasure, And they keep on changing like day and night, And when we think about it, it does not stop with that, Pleasure comes in the middle of sorrows, And sorrows come in the middle of pleasures, And there are people for whom they are merged together, And friend they are like water and mud, And because of these, the learned people, Live without happiness and sorrow in their mind.

When Guha and the son of Sumithra, Were talking several subjects, The Sun came up and immediately Rama, Finished his morning rituals and told, “Arrange for a boat” and immediately Guha, Brought immediately a boat and saluted him.

Oh Lord, please get in to this boat, Along with Lakshmana and Janaki, I myself am going to row the boat, Oh Valorous man, The lord of my soul.

As soon as he heard the words of king of Srungavera, He first helped Sita, who is the goddess of auspiciousness, To get in to the boat holding her hands, Then he got in, holding the hands of Guha, And along with all the weapons, Lakshmana also got in and, With the help extended by his relatives, Guha rowed the boat with great respect.

The lady Sita who had auspicious characters, Prayed river Ganges and saluted her, “Oh Ganges, Oh Goddess, My salutations, Oh pretty one who lives on the crown of Shiva, Oh golden lady, my salutations, Oh slow moving river, Oh goddess, Oh ganges, salutations, When we all come back after the life in the forest, And come here, I would offer you sacrifices and worship.” And after she prayed and saluted her, They speedily reached the other shore, Guha got out of the boat, saluted them and told his wish, “Please give me permission to go with you, otherwise I will gave away my life here, Oh Lord of the universe, Oh God with moon like face.

Hearing the words of that tribal, With a happy frame of mind Rama told him as follows, “It is an oath, we would live in the forest. For fourteen years and we surely would come back, And so please go and live without worries, Because the words of Rama will never become untrue.”

Like this he advised him on several things, And with wonderful joy hugged him tightly, And then that Rama send back the devotee, And he after saluting him with great devotion, Slowly and slowly Guha rode the boat, And went to his home and became thoughtful.

Bharadwaja Asrama pravesam

(Entering in to hermitage of Bharadwaja)

Then Rama along with Vaidehi(Sita), And his brother, killed a deer, And happily ate it and slept happily, On a bed of leaves below a tree. When the Sun rose up, he finished, His daily rituals including washing of his feet, And walked towards the hermitage, Of sage Bharadwaja and when they, Were with joy, nearing the hermitage, They were able to see a student of Vedas.

Then Rama told him, “Now itself you go and tell the sage, That Rama the son of Dasaratha is here, Along with his wife and younger brother, And has come and reached near the hermitage, And please go and tell him without any delay.,” And that student went immediately and told the sage, Along with completely brimming happiness, “Oh lover of people who depend on you, The son of Dasaratha is near our hermitage,” And hearing this sage Bharadwaja got up, And taking with him water and other requirements, Immediately went in front of Sri Rama, And then he worshipped him along with Lakshmana, And seeing Rama along with Lakshmi who are full of mercy, And got drowned in the great joy.

Sri Rama along with his brother and wife, Saluted the feet of Bharadwaja, And with the words of blessing that Sage told with great happiness, “ By the dust of your feet you purify, Oh soul of Vedas, my hermitage.”

After telling this he took Sita, Rama who is the form of truth And Lakshmana inside the hut, He worshipped them according to rules, And then that great sage told them.

Due to my meeting you today, Today I am getting the fruit of all my penance, Oh Lord of Raghu clan, I know all about your story, The past as well as the future, Oh treasure of mercy, I understood that you are the divine spirit, Which has become a man, by illusion in this earth.

Due to being requested by Brahma earlier, For what purpose you have taken birth, And also the reason for the life in the forest, I have understood the reason for it, With my divine vision which I got by praying you, Oh personification of wisdom, I have seen everything, Why should I tell more about it, I am with a joyful way thankful to you.

Then that divine Lord Rama saluted him, And told as follows to the great sage, “Be kind enough to bless us who are, The friends and helpers of kings, with joy.” Like that after talking with each other, The night was over in the company of the sage.

Valmeekyasrama pravesam

Entering into hermitage of Valmiki

They got up at the break of dawn, And along with the lads who were the sons, Crossed the river Yamuna, And after getting down, proceeded, By the way shown to them by the sages, And reached the Chithra koota mountain, And there they went to the hermitage of Valmiki, Which was pure, filled by several sages, Full of various types of animals, Pretty, shining with good trees and climbers, And which has flowers, fruits and leaves produced daily, And saw the sage who was sitting and saluted him.

Seeing Rama, the blessed valorous Rama who is handsome, Eye catching, black in colour, attractive, pretty, Who is as pretty as God of love, who has eyes like blue lotus, Who is worshipped by Indra and the hoards of devas, Who carries arrows, bow and quiver, Who is an expert in protecting the world, Who shines with the matted made up hair, Who is accompanied by Sita and Lakshmana, Who is king among men, Valmiki shed tears of joy, And embraced tightly the body of Rama.

Narayana, the form of divine joy, The man who is sea of the nectar of mercy, Was worshipped and the most honorable of the universe, He who pervades all over universe, One who has lotus like eyes, The great king and the one who grants salvation was worshipped with devotion, By offering him water for drinking and washing his feet And he was offered food of fully ripe honey like fruits and roots.

After eating and taking rest to remove tiredness, And after saluting the sage, Rama told him, “ Due to the orders of father, I started, Along with my brother and daughter of Janaka, And I do not think that I should tell the reason, For you a scholar of Vedas would be knowing it.

Please tell me where I should live, Happily along with Sita, for, There is a desire in my mind, To stay here for a long time, For these are auspicious places, Where sages live is suitable for living.

Hearing this the great sage Valmiki, Smilingly told as follows, “All the worlds live in you, And you live all over the world, And since your place of residence is like this, What shall I reply to you? Since you asked for a suitable place, To live along with Sita, I shall tell you, About the home where you can live with her happily, I shall tell you this with description.

For you the house where you can live with happiness, Is the heart of those who are contented, tolerant, Who do not have any hatred to any beings, Who are peaceful and meditate your name. The lotus like heart of those who have forsaken, All the daily rituals but pray and sing about you Is the house which is very suitable for your living. The lotus like heart of those, who have daily surrendered to you, Who consider themselves not any different from you, Who do not have any jealousy in them, Who do not have worldly desires, And who are busy with chanting your name.

The mind of those very intelligent beings, Who are peaceful, who do not have pride, Who consider mud and gold as equal is your home.

The house of those who have dedicated, All their actions to you and live with, A mind given to you and live, With great contentment is always, A suitable place of pleasurable stay to you. The mind of those who are not happy, By fulfillment of all their wishes. Or are sad by non fulfillment of their desires, And live with a firm faith that all is illusion, Is divine and is the temple where you live.

All the emotions in the six stages of life, Viz birth, childhood, teen age, youth, old age and death, If we think within our mind affect only the body, All hunger, thirst, pain and pleasure, If we think are not applicable to the soul. The mind of those they believe in this, And sing about you is a good home for you.

His mind who is able to always see your form, As the divinely dense form of Vedas, Which is limitless, which is alone, Which is the beginning of Vedas and Vedanthas, Which is the cause of universe, which is form at the end of sound, Which is the divine Brahmam, Which is Achyutha, Which is in all homes, which is the basis of all, Which goes everywhere, which is the called the divine soul, Which is Vasudeva, Which is the one who blesses, Which is that wished by all and which lives all over the universe, Is a very suitable place for you and daughter of janaka to live.

Oh God who gives all just by thought, oh sea of mercy, Along with Sita you please live in the mind of those, Whose mind has become firm by constant practice Who are always interested in serving your feet, Who are always interested in chanting your name, And who are happy and rich with great devotion, Along with a form that cannot be known by everyone.

Valmikiyude Athma katha

(The biography of Valmiki)

No one can possibly adequately describe, The greatness of your nectar like name, And by the greatness of your divine self, I am a Brahma sage, please unsderstand.

I was evil minded and along with hunters, I did several disrespectful things several times, Though I was born in a Brahmin family earlier, I forsook all the rituals of a Brahmin, And I got interested in the activities of Shudras, And I lived with a shudra girl for some time.

I produced several sons, And without shame joined along with thieves, I daily became a thief and wearing bow and arrow, I killed several beings by deceiving them, I plundered much material from Brahmins, And once in a forest of sages,

When I saw seven sages coming there. I went there speedily for plundering, The cloths of the sages like an idiot. Those sages with the shine of the noon sun, Seeing me, a bad man, approaching them, Without any mercy, speedily in the dense forest, Without any human beings, with great nervousness, Told me, “stop, stop, what are you doing? Oh bad man, tell us the truth,” And when those satisfied sages told like that, I being a very cruel soul, Oh king, I told them “That is my wish”

I have several sons and wives, And they have been affected by hunger and thirst, And as a profession I steal things, From the wayfarers and I have, To take something from you also, Thinking like that I came speedily here.

As soon as they heard it those great sages told, To me with great respect and with a smile, “Then you should obey what we tell, You go and ask your family members, Would all of you be prepared to share, The sins that I do for the sake of you? Till you go and ask and come back, Without any doubt, we will stand here.

Hearing this I went to my house and asked, My wives and sons as follows, “Daily I do several sins for looking after all of you,, And would you share that sin that I commit with me, Or should I alone eat all those sins? Please tell me the truth”, When I asked like this, They told me as a reply to my question, “For the good and bad that are being done daily, Who else but the doer will eat the sin? For all actions that you do yourself, You yourself should face the consequences.”

Hearing that I got disinterested in that life,, Thought and again thought in my mind, And with sorrow reached the place, Where the sages were standing and saluted them. Due to my contact with those sages, My mind became very pure.

After throwing out the bow and arrows far away, I saluted their feet with great devotion and told, “Please save me who was preparing to drowning in the, Sea of hell with great mercy, for saving those who surrender, To them is an ornament to great people”, After clearly telling this I fell at their feet, And seeing that those great sages told me.

Get up, you please get up now, You will get peace of mind by praying the God, And by company of good people and learned people, You would get immediate result and see it soon. We will teach you even today itself, So that you will get salvation because of that.

After thinking as well as consulting with each other, Those honourable sages thought like this, “He is one with bad character as well as a debased Brahmin, And though he is being forsaken by divine people, He has come to surrender to us saying Save, Save, And so though he is a bad one he is fit to be saved, By giving him the knowledge of the divine Brahmam.”

Saying this they taught me two, “Rama” words in a different way, and told, “Daily please chant mara mara, With a concentrated mind without break. Till we again come back, You please chant the same thing”.

After giving blessing like this, those great sages, Went along the divine path, And I started chanting Maraa with great devotion, For a period of one thousand yugas with devotion, And I was completely hidden by an ant hill, And I was completely hidden from outside, And at that time those great sages came there, And hearing their words “come out”, And I came out breaking the ant hill.

Since I was born again out of an ant hill(Valmika), Those great sages also named me, “You are the great sage called Vamiki, May you know all the Vedas and become a sage of Brahma,” Saying that those great sages went their way, And from that day I had come here, Due to the power of the name of Rama, Oh Rama, I became as you see me, And today I got a chance to see you, Along with Sita and son of Sumithra, Possibly due to the good deeds that I have done earlier, Have given me this good result, Oh sea of the water of mercy, Oh lotus eyed one,Oh Rama, Oh merciful one, Oh son of a great king, Oh Raghava, By seeing you by my own eyes, I have attained freedom from desires, Oh expert in saving, Oh Lord of the devas.

For comfortably living with Sita, I would show a place, come with me” Thus telling he went along. Surrounded by his various disciple sages, To a place in between Ganges and Chithrakoota mountain, And sage constructed there a very pretty hermitage, And constructed two roads from east to west and south to north, Which were extremely pretty to look at, And requested Rama to live there, along, With Sita who was equivalent to god of love, And brother Lakshmana who was pure, Rama who was the Brahmathma lived there, Being daily worshipped by Valmiki, Along with Sita who had pretty limbs, And along with his brother Lakshmana, And lived there with great happiness, Similar to Indra the king of devas being served By Narada and living on earth.

Dasarathande Charama gathi

The death of Dasaratha

That minister Sumanthra after getting in to the chariot, Reached Ayodhya, covering his face with a cloth, Shedding copious tears, which he again and again wiped. He parked that chariot outside Dasaratha’s home, And with great courage saluted the king and told, “Oh lord of earth, Victory to the valorous crown, Victory to one with intelligence, Victory to the sea of valour, Victory to treasure of fame, Victory to the master, victory,victory, Oh great one born in the clan of sun god, victory, To that servant who told like this and praised by him, That great king asked at that time.

“Where is Rama along with the daughter of Janaka, As well his brother, and what did he tell to inform me, Who is shameless and a very great sinner, What message did Lakshmana sent to me? And also the Goddess Lakshmi like Janaki, Hey Rama, Hey ocean of good qualities, Hey Lakshmana, Hey lotus eyed lass who is the daughter of Mithila, To be near me who due to heightened sorrow, Am nearing my death, who is there ? And my bad luck is that I am, Going to die not seeing my children.

To the king who was crying like this after telling like this, Along with a great pain in the mind Sumanthra told, “As per your orders, I took in the chariot, Rama, Sita and son of Sumathra, And when we reached Srungi verakhya pura, And when we were living in the banks of Ganges, The king of Srungiverakhyapura, Guha, Brought several roots and fruits.”

Those lads accepted just by touching them, And they both wore the matted hair there, And later Sri Rama told to me as follows, “Let no one be sad thinking about me, You have to tell this to my father and request him, Not to worry too much in his mind about me, In fact in forests life is more pleasant than Ayodhya, And it is also the high way to attain salvation, My salutations to my mother, With a request, That she should not have special sorrow about me, And tell this again and again because my father, Is very old and extremely sad, he should, Control the sorrow of parting with me, By the blessed nectar like words.”

Janaki also saluted me and told, From her lotus like face, slowly and slowly, With shedding tears and stuttering voice, “My salutations to the feet of my father in law”, And then they got in to the boat along with Guha, And when they parted with me, I stood there, Till they reached the other shore and disappear from my vision, And I stood in this shore like the body of a dead man, And only after passing five six miles, I got back, My courage and slowly got free of that feeling.

Then Kausalya started telling as follows, “ The two boons have been given long long ago, To the very dear Kaikeyi, was it not, Sufficient to give her a kingdom with happiness? What bad acts has this sinner done, So that her son is sent to the forest, And what is the reason for all this, Cry and wail from our part?

The king heard the words told by Kausalya, With great pain and slowly told, “Without any purpose why are you, Keeping a burning stick on a wound, And increasing my sorrow? Please do not melt my inner feelings, At a time when I am going to die of sorrow, And this is because of the curse of a sage, When he was preparing to die.”

Oh darling, you please hear about the history of the boon, For the real great saints are really gods, One midnight wearing the bow and collection of arrows, In my hand, attracted by hunting of animals, When I was standing on the shore of river in a deep forest, With great desire to hunt, one sage who was sent, By his father and mother who were thirsty, With a great valour came out in the darkness, With a pot to draw water and when he was drawing water, Hearing the sound of water entering the pot, Thinking that it is the sound of water entering the elephant’s trunk, I sent the arrow called “splitter of sound” from my bow.

“Ho, ho, I am being killed, Ho, ho, I am being killed” I heard a human sound like that, “I have not done any harm to anybody, Then why should I be killed, killed this way, for nothing, My mother and father are waiting, Greatly wanting water due to great thirst,” Hearing a human sound like that, I, Became greatly fear stuck, went there immediately, And the saintly lad fell at my feet, And with sorrow I told the son of the sage.”

“Sir, I am the king Dasaratha, I am the culprit, please save me, I without knowing but interested in hunting, Thinking that it is the sound of elephant drinking water, Have shot an arrow and I who am a sinner, Will soon take away my life.”

To me who has fallen at his feet and crying, With sorrow told that son of the sage with sorrow, “ That is my Karma and so no one can stop it, You will not have the sin of Brahma hathya, Because I am a merchant, so without delay, Go and console my mother and father, Who are very old, greatly disabled, And waiting for me without even eyes, With thirst, so that they can drink water,. You first give them water and later, Tell all that happened here. If it is the truth they will save you, But if father gets really angry, Understand that he will make you in to ash. I am having very great suffering, Because I am not dying, so without delay, Take out this arrow from my body, Hearing that, I took out the arrow from him, And along with the pot of good water, When I reached with great nervousness, To the place where the couple were sitting, “ Apart from being old we have also lost our eyes, And at this midnight for us who are thirsty and hungry, Our son has gone to bring water. Why this delay? Has he forgotten us? For us except you, There is no body to take care of us, Why is there a delay on your part? You are a devotee and earlier, Oh son, you were not neglecting us?”

When they were talking like this, The sound of my footsteps was being heard there, And hearing the sound of my foot fall, With great interest that father told, “What is the reason for the delay, oh our son, Give us water, water quickly, immediately,” And when I heard this I saluted the feet, Of the couple with devotion and with great fear, Told them about all the happenings that took place, “I am not your son but I am, The king and ruler of Ayodhya and my name is Dasaratha, With interest in hunting I came to forest at night, And after killing several wild animals, When I was waiting in the banks of the river for more hunt,”

“Hearing the sound of water entering the pot, Thinking that is the sound of water being, Taken in a trunk by a great elephant, I send an arrow to that place with strength, And when it hit your son, hearing his cry, I went there greatly afraid, And saluted your son, And then he told me as follows, “What has come to me is due to Karma, You will not have the sin of Brahma hathyaa, Without eyes and with greatly old age, My parents due to great hunger and thirst, Are waiting for me in the hermitage, And to them please give water.” When he told me like this, I have come here speedily, You who are wise people should pardon me, And this sinner does not have, Any other support except your lotus like feet, And you being great sages, Are people who have great mercy on animals.

Hearing this after crying a lot, With very great they sorrow told me, “Where does our son lay, Sir, You please take us there, Hearing this I carried them there, And with humility showed them, The body of their son,Alas, alas, They said this is our Karma, And touched and patted the body of their son.” Then they told several things and cried, And with great sorrow they told me, “Now you have to make a good funeral pyre, And lit the fire to it without delay.” Then I immediately built up a pyre, And they along with their son entered that pyre, And with their burnt body, those three, Went to the heavens and lived there.

That old sage at that time told me, You would die due to sorrow of parting with your son, And the period of the curse has arrived, And the words of the sage can never become a lie.” The king saying this cried a lot, And again and again started crying, “Hey Rama, Hey son, Hey Sita, Hey daughter of Janaka, Hey Rama, Hey Lakshmana, Hey hey ocean of all that is good, This death has come to me after parting with you due to Kaikeyi.” Thinking and thinking about the lotus eyed one, The king Dasaratha entered the heavens.

Bharathagamanam

The coming of Bharatha

All ladies attached to the king started crying, Again they started crying loudly, And the sound of their cry and beating on their chests, Was immediately heard by the great sage Vasishta, And after consulting with ministers with anxiety, They entered the private quarters and told, The kings body should be put in an oil boat, So that the body does not deteriorate.

After saying this, he called the envoys, And told them, “You have to go today itself, To the Kekaya kingdom and tell, The king Yudhajith who is the uncle, To send without wasting any time, Shatrugna and Bharatha very immediately, They who were sent quickly entered the Kekaya kingdom, Saluted the king Yudhajith and told him, “Please hear king, these are the words, Of Sage Vasishta, Please send Shatrugna, And Bharatha to Ayodhya without any delay, And hearing these words of the envoy that king, Told the boys to go and they started immediately.

There must be some danger happening, To our father or to our elder brother, Thought Bharatha and he also, Thought about very many other aspects. And he entered Ayodhya very much worried. Ayodhya was devoid of happiness, without any sound, Without any auspiciousness, and also was devoid of people, And seeing that it was opposite of celebration throughout the country, And also seeing that it lacked the shine, And also seeing that the palace was not having Rama and Lakshmana, And seeing there, Kaikeyi, both of them saluted her, And that mother became happy on seeing her son, Got up, hugged him tightly and made him sit on her lap, And smelling his head she asked, “ Are the people of my clan safe, and please tell, Is there any sorrow to my mother, father and other relations.”

When Kaikeyi told him like this, Bharatha, In reply to that he told immediately, “There is worry in my mind of not seeing father, Where does father live now, Oh mother? I have never seen father any time, Secretly living any where else? Why are you now living alone? In my mind there is a lot of fear and sorrow, And to please him, Kaikeyi told him, “ What is the need for my son to be sad, I have arranged for realization of all your desires.”

“After performing Fire sacrifices like Aswamedha, After spreading his fame all over the world, Your father got the place where good people go “ And hearing this Bharatha fell on the floor, Due to intense sorrow and started crying.

Bharathante Vilapam

The crying of Bharatha

“Oh father, drowning me in the sea of sorrow, To which direction you went, oh king, Without entrusting me and the kingdom, In the hands of Rama, how did you part, And go away, my father, treasure of all that is good, To do good to us who is there for us now,” When her son was crying like this, Kaikeyi made him stand up, wiped his tears and told, “Come out of this, What is the result of this sorrow, Understand that everything is ordained by God. I have seen to it that you got a rise, And you have got all that is to be got,” Hearing the words of mother, Bharatha with great sorrow asked, “Mother, did not father tell, Anything at the time of his death?” “Hey Rama Rama, Lad, My sita, Sri Rama, Lakshmana, Rama, Rama, Rama, Hey Sita, Hey daughter of Janaka, these, Wee repeated by your father with sorrow again and again.” And hearing this Bharatha asked his mother, “ Why is it alas? At the time of his death, Were not Rama, Sita, Lakshmana near him?” Hearing this Kaikeyi told, “When the king got prepared for, The crowning of Rama, I told him that, You should be crowned and stopped the coronation, And I can tell you now all these”

Once your father had given me two boons, With one of them I asked that you should be crowned, And by the other I wanted Rama to go to forest, To the king at this time, And that king who was bound to truth, Gave the earth for you and sent Rama to live in forest, Lady Janaki sticking on to her virtue, Went to forest along with her husband, And Lakshmana went to forest along with his brother.

Father thought of them and cried, And with sorrow saying Rama, Rama, Went to heaven, Hearing these words of mother, Bharatha fell down on the floor because of sorrow, And when he was greatly upset like this, Kaikeyi asked, “Hey, what is the reason for this sorrow? You have now got the kingdom, Live as a great one, after leaving out these tantrums.” And when he heard these words of Kaikeyi, He stared at his mother with great anger, And All those witnessing these were worried, That his mother would get burned in the fire of his anger.

“Oh sinner who killed her husband, Oh terrible woman, Oh shameless one, Oh merciless one, Oh bad woman, Oh Rakshasi, Alas I am the great sinner without good, Due to being born in your womb, Now without talking to you, I will go, And will die falling in a fire or, I would drink Kala koota poison or I will take my sword and cut off my head, And by all accounts I will die, There is no doubt about it, Oh unchaste one, And I would live in the horrible, Khumbi paka hell because of this.”

After shouting at his mother like that, with sorrow, He immediately went and entered the house of Kausalya., And when he saluted her at her feet, The mother Kausalya hugged him., And she who was with tears and had become thin, Pitifully and with great sorrow told, “ My son caught in the problems of Karma, Has been taken far away from here. Rama, his younger brother and Sita, Wearing the bark of a tree and with matted hair, Have reached the forest drowning me, In the ocean of sorrow with very great pain. And made me as speechless, and without fear. Hey Rama, Rama, Leader of Raghu clan, Narayana, divine god, Lord of the earth, Lord, though you were born as my son, Sorrow is not leaving me at any time, And when I think about it, I realize, That it is but by strength of fate.,”

Seeing the mother who was crying like this, Bharatha told her with sorrow as well as devotion, “Since mother is having a very unhappy and troubled, Mind she has to hear what I say, My mother stopped the coronation of Rama, But mother I have not known about it, On oath on Rama, And mother if I have known even little about it, Definitely I would be afflicted by the, Sin of killing one hundred Brahmins.

Let the sin of cutting the head of, Sage Vasishta, the son of Brahma, And his very chaste wife Arundathi, And killing them fall on me, and I will have to suffer all that. By taking several such oaths, Bharatha was expressing his ebbing and overflowing sorrow, And when Bharatha was crying like this the mother told, ‘I know that there are no defects in you.”

Saying this she hugged him very tightly, And smelled and caressed his head, And all those who saw that started crying loudly, And hearing this incident the great sage Vasishta, Along with the ministers came there with love, And Bharatha saluted him with great sorrow, And seeing the wail, Vasishta told, “This sorrow is sufficient, please hear this, Dasaratha who was the king was also old, Valorous for truth, Man with great heroism, And he after enjoying all manly comforts, And pleasures of a great king, Conducted very many fire sacrifices, Gave as gift lot of wealth, And has gone now to land of devas, And has got half the seat of Devendra, And is being saluted by Indra and other devas, And he is there with great joy, and so, Why are you crying and shedding tears.”

The soul is pure, does not have birth or death, It is forever, matchless, not decaying, with no two divisions It is form of truth and spread in all worlds, It does not have death or birth, it is the cause of the world, But body is only a shell and purely temporary, The cause of desire, That which opposes salvation, That which is not pure and not at all divine, And so if we think this in mind, There is no time to be sad about it, What is the use of sorrow to those subject to death.

Whether it is father or whether it is son, When they die, very foolish people, Beat their chest, hit and shout, Get tired because of this and fall down fainted. This domestic life is really worthless, And only good company is the one that does good, And to bring pleasant feeling to it, The only method is living in peace which is forever.

When there is birth, there is definitely death, And it is also definite that birth will come to those who die, We have to understand that it is a state, Which cannot be prevented by any one, And also that everything occurs due to our Karma, And the learned man who knows this principle, Will not have sorrow at the time of parting with, Things like Son, friends, property and wife, And always being with them is not pleasure giving.

Seeing that billions of universes have been lost, And many have been again created by Brahma, And understanding that this has occurred innumerable times, In the human life that is like a bubble which bursts, What desire would greatly wise people keep? What is the relation between body and the soul, And when we think about its illusory existence, To those who realize this, where is sorrow?

Like the drop of water attached to the shaking leaf, This life will fall and is purely temporary, And by the activities in the previous life, again, The soul would enter a suitable body, The soul throws away the dirty tattered cloths, And wears new cloths with great luster, And like that the dead bodies are left, And new bodies with full of luster are had, And please understand that this karmic difference, Is due to the speed at which the wheel of time rotates.

Please tell me what is the reason for this sorrow, Please hear from me the opinion of learned people, There is no birth or death to soul, And when you think about it, soul does not have six stages of life, And it is a form of perennial joy, and is steady, It is the form of truth, god of all and perennial, It is the witness to intelligence, soul of all and without beginning, It does not have divisions, it is one, divine, the top most and peaceful, Thinking and thinking about these things, You have make your mind steady, forsake sorrows, And start the usual allotted duties. And by this there would not be any worry.

Samsakara karmam

(After death rites)

Hearing the advice of the Guru, that son of a king, After deciding to do the after death rites as per law, Along with friends, servants, mothers, and brother, That lad Bharatha who was well prepared, Removed the body of the father from the oil boat, And respectfully bathed it and decorated all parts of the body, With divine cloths ornaments and unguents, And with the fire used by his father for sacrifices, And with the help of an expert in fire sacrifice, And along with his Guru performed the rites. On the twelfth day he offered Gingelly and water, And later offered with devotion the sacred rice balls, And gave offerings of money, cows, villages, jewels silk cloth, Ornaments, unguents, betel leaf and betel leaf, To experts in Vedas and to other Brahmins along with his brother, And both of them saluted on the floor, And words of blessings from Vedas were chanted, And all of them became pure.

That human hero Bharatha, Thinking and thinking in his mind, Of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita, Who have reached the forest, Lived along with his younger brother, That day along with other friends.

To that assembly, sage Vasista came with, Many great sages and that sage, Who is equal to Brahma in stature, Occupied the golden seat, with respect. And when Bharatha along with Shatrugna, Came there, they along with ministers, Citizens joyfully conversed with each other. That son of Lord Brahma addressing, Bharatha who was saluting him told.

By using words suitable to place and time, I as your teacher am telling you, Your father Dasaratha is a truthful man, And he has given the earth to you, Which was given as one of the two boons, Given to Kaikeyi who asked it for the goodness Of her son and I would carry out your coronation, With love,along with suitable Manthras, With the cooperation of the ministers. Since the kingdom will become one without a king, Oh Lad, you cannot say no to this, And also you have to obey the wish of your father, And that would also not be a crime to any one, And by the grace of the guru, All the good things accumulate to all men.

To Vasishta who told like this, Bharatha saluting him told, “What is the use of the kingdom to me? My elder brother would become the king, And all of are talking knowing all this, I am going tomorrow morning, To bring back the lotus eyed one.” Me, yourself, your wife Arundathi, Various citizens, ministers, Elephant, chariot, horses and walking soldiers, Brother, Brahmins, sages, regional kings, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Shudras, And all mothers except Kaikeyi, Should go there and we should stay, That till Rama comes back here, We would only sleep on the floor, And only eat fruits and roots, And coat ourselves with ashes, Wear bark of wood as cloth and Dress ourselves like a savants, And keep a matted hair, And live there mixed with pain, And when people heard this, They told that it was great great.

Bharathande vana yathra

Bharatha’s journey in to forest

When the good people were praising him, “It is a great wonder that this thought came to you, Are you not the most good one among the good ones,” The sun arose in the east and Bharatha, Started the journey with Shatrugna, And because of the orders of Sumanthra, The army also started to see Lord Rama, With joy filling completely their mind, The wives of kings like Kausalya, Started walking to see the lotus eyed one, The master of penance Vasishta and his wife, Along with a crowd of sages also started. The dust that came out of the happy earth, Filled and occupied the entire sky, And that crowd whose mind was occupied by Rama, Never felt the toil of walking that way.

After reaching Srungivarakhya pura, That great army stood at the banks of ganges, Guha then hearing that the son of Kaikeyi, Has come along with a great army, With a suspicious mind called, And told his servants, “Along with bow, arrow and other weapons, Tie all our boats and be ready, and I would, Go there and come back soon.” He thought that if he goes and salutes them, He would be able to understand their thoughts, And if they are all against Sri Rama, They should certainly not be allowed to proceed, But if they are good, they should be helped to cross, Without any problems to them on their way,” Thinking like that Guha went there, And saluted at their feet.

After offering to them with various types of presents He stood there in front of him with joy. Seeing him Dressed in bark, black in colour, wearing twisted hair, Always keeping on repeating the name of Rama, Bold, young, comparable to Rama, great hero, Brother of Sri Rama along with his brother, With a body like the love god, Guha fell on the floor and said, “I am Guha”, And again saluted him and then Bharatha, Made him stand up and tightly embraced, That devotee and great friend of Rama, And enquired about his welfare, And further told Guha, You are the head gem of good people, Did not Rama with the colour of rich black cloud, Embrace you, Oh great one,”

You should remember that this, Will not be possible for anyone else except Lakshmi, And my friend there is no doubt at all, That you are one of those blessed in this earth, Where did you lovingly see, Rama along with his brother and Janaki? What did he say to you? And What did you reply with joy, Where did the lord of Raghu clan get down, Along with Sita, You please show me those places.” Hearing all this Guha with a completely happy mind, Decided that the devotee Bharatha was great, And thinking like this he walked further.

After Guha went to the place, Where Sri Rama slept with Sita, he told, “Please see the great bed of dhurbha where Sita slept along with that black coloured one.”

Seeing that with tears falling like a river, With a shaking throat and with a shaking voice told, “Hey tender one, Hey pretty one, Hey Janaki, You who used to sleep in the great palace, On a golden cot, with soft white spreads over the bed, How did you sleep along with Rama with pleasure, On the very harsh bed of dhruba grass, Which was spread on the mud, Where you sad Sita, the wife of my elder brother?

Thinking that this happened due to my fault, I want to give up my soul, But this is because I was born in the womb, Of the sinner Kaikeyi, I have berated myself, Again and again As I am a great sinner, And my birth would only be fully compensated, If as a younger brother I am able to always assist and take care of, My elder brother who has pure heart and luck, Because he went to the forest with great interest.

If I become the slave of the slave of the slave of Rama, With very great devotion to him and daily, Serve him always then I would get the result of this human birth. Please tell me where does the son of Kausalya live, And then I will go there speedily and bring him back.” Hearing this Guha told, “ Since you have, Such a great devotion to that husband of the auspicious goddess, You are the greatest among the blessed people, And then please hear what you wanted to know, oh intelligent one, “Your brother along with Sita and his brother, Are happily staying near Chithrakoota mountain, Which is near, if you cross the ganges.” Hearing these words of Guha Bharatha told, “My dear friend, we will go there now, And let me be blessed to be able, To cross the river speedily.”

Hearing the words of Bharatha with respect, He went to make arrangements to enable, Them to cross the river and along with, All his servants but with nervousness, He brought and spread there five hundred boats, Which had big pipes, which were broad, And completely filled the entire shore. Taking hold of a very big oar, and selecting, A very big boat he himself helped, Shatrugna, Bharatha, the great sage Vasishta, Kausalya the mother of Rama, The Crooked Kaikeyi, the good woman Sumithra, The wives of kings and others to get in to the boat, After saluting them, and slowly rowed, So that there was no fear and helped them to cross the river, At that time he saluted the Ganges and before him the great army also crossed. Reaching quickly the hermitage of sage Bharadwaja, Which was filled with mutually friendly tigers and cows, Bharatha became extremely happy and, Stopped his great army at a far off place, And he accompanied by his younger brother, Entered very happily the hermitage, And later after standing there for some time, And seeing the shining sage of great penance, Who had a mind without worries and was equal to Brahma, He along with his brother saluted him falling on the floor, With great devotion and understanding that they, Are the sons of Dasaratha, that great sage, Worshipped them with great love.

Laughingly he enquired about their welfare, And seeing them dressed in bark and with matted hair, He told them with merriment, “What is this problem? This dress is not suitable to you, Who rules the kingdom and is worshipped by many people, Why are you wearing this sages attire of bark and matted hair? What is the reason for you to come to this forest, Accompanied by a very large and great army?

Hearing the words of Bhardwaja, Bharatha, Told as follows to the great sage, “Oh great sage, In this world nothing, Happens which is not in your knowledge, And in spite of that I will inform you the truth, So that you would bless me to get rid of this sorrow. Oh great sage, On the oath on Rama’s lotus like feet, I did not know anything about, The reason for the stoppage of coronation of Rama, The reason for his coming to the forest, Is the speedy poison injected by, My mother who is the daughter of Kekaya.,”

Whether I am pure or impure now, Oh treasure of mercy, On oath on his, Lotus like feet, I am telling you, I do not see any use of any pleasures, When I can become the servant of Sri Rama, And daily pray the pair of that lotus like feet Except for that I do not have any other desires, I would like to fall at the feet of Rama, Submit all the wealth as well as kingdom, And conduct the coronation of Rama, Along with Vasishta and other citizens., And serve my great honourable brother.” Hearing these words of Bharatha, The sage Hugged that Bharatha with an auspicious soul, Kissed him on his head and told with joy, “What more is there son, by my divine, Sight I have come to know of all the matters. Do not have sorrow in your mind and hear me.” “Your devotion to the consort of Lakshmi, Is more than that of Lakshmana, And the future has to be decided by Rama, And now I will show my hospitality, To you along with the army without any doubt. You can take your food and sleep, And you have to see Rama early in the morning, As it is the proper time to salute him.” Let everything be as you have told, And I do not have anything against it, Said Bharatha and the great sage, Washed his feet and did Aachamana, With singly pointed mind did, Meditation on the wish giving cow As well as fire sacrifice, and, Immediately the forest became, Equivalent to the place of devas, All the trees became devas, And all the climbers became deva maidens, What a wonderful thing is the, Greatness of the working of the mind.

The rice, eatables and drinks were very tasty, And there were several types of side dishes, The dining halls, the barracks of the army, And homes for the kings were very pretty, And everything was made either by gold or silver, And even Adhisesha would find it difficult to describe.

As per the laws of the religion, With consent of all at first, Vasishta was worshipped, And later Bharatha his brother, And the army took food as much as they want, And satisfied well slept in The ashram which was like the city of Indra.

They got up in the dawn, and after, Completing the rituals saluted Bhardwaja, And after taking leave from him, The princes started from there, Reached the Chithrakoota mountains, Made the army stay little far away, And Guha who is a friend, Sumanthra, Sathrugna and Bharatha himself, With anxiousness to see Rama, Slowly enquired in different hermitages, With the sages and not able to find out They asked bowing and saluting, “Where does the lord of Raghu clan stay, Along with Lakshmana and the princess?”

To the very good lad Bharatha, Those great sages gave an answer, “In a place which is in the northern side of Ganges, Very near to the Chithra koota mountain, In a great hermitage that great man is living,” And hearing that Bharatha went with lot of curiosity, And when he reached there what he saw, Was a scene of the greatly wonderful, Hermitage of Sri Ramachandra.

Filled with flowers, fruits, leaves, climbers, small flowers, That extremely pretty forest place was having, Trees of Mango, Banana, silk cotton, Jack fruit, Hog plum, Arjun, Salt cedar, white jade, Coconut, arecanut, butterfly tree, Castor, Champa, asoka, palm tree, Blossoms of jasmine, important climbers. Black cumin, egg tree, sala tree, Many types of bees, sounds of pretty birds, Lions, elephants, snakes, monkey, deer And other hoards of animals, A nd That place was pretty and seeing it, With the bark dresses which were hanging on trees, Bharatha saluted that hermitage of Rama.

That Bharatha who was very lucky, saw, In the dust of the path the imprint, Of the lotus like feet of Sita and Rama, Which was pure, divine and new, And w as decorated by flowers of lotus, Being imprinted with lines of goad flags diamond and fish And which was greatly auspicious, And became very happy, fell and rolled on them, Saluted and cried and put the dust, Collected from there on his head.

“I am blessed today, Blessed I am today, Because a chance has come to me to see, The imprint of the lotus like feet of Rama, Due to the good that I did previously, For this is that which was constantly, Searched by devas, Brahma and Shiva, Vedas and also by the sage Narada.”

Thinking like this and with a mind drowned, In the juice of joy and extreme love, And with eyes shedding tears of joy, He slowly and slowly went in front, Of that God and he could see them.

Seeing The pretty Rramachandra who is divine joy, Who is saluted by Indra and groups of devas, Who is having a place in the mind of Lakshmi, Who was born as younger brother of Indra, Who has eyes resembling the blue lotus, Who is back like the Dhoorva grass and is pretty, Who is his elder brother, Who has blue eyes like the leaves of lotus, Who is Rama with matted hair and dressed in bark of a tree, Whose lotus like face has the pleased look of the moon, Who shines like ten thousand rising red coloured suns, Who spends time with Sita who is like lightning, Who has a splendorous light, but worries in his mind, Who has the incomparable Sri Vathsa on his chest, Who is the home of Lakshmi, Who is Achyutha spread all over the world, Whose lotus like feet are served by Lakshmana, Who is primeval and whose form is the model of Lakshmana, Who is served by Lord Shiva, Who rides on the king of birds, Who is the destroyer of Rakshasas, who is an expert in saving, Who is the one who sleeps on Adhisesha, Who has several universes in his belly, Who is full of mercy and son of Dasaratha, And who enjoys stay in the forest and steals one’s mind, With emotions of sorrow, love and devotion, He fell at his feet and saluted him.

Rama with happiness raised him, And Shatrugna up, and for curing their nervousness, Embraced them with his long hands, And both of them took long breaths, And the brothers shed tears out of their long eyes, For a very, very long time, And again took both of them on his lap, And once again hugged both of them, And at that time Lakshmana who was good, Saluted the feet of Bharatha, And Shatrugna with great reverence, Saluted the feet of Lakshmana. All others, Like the cows which are greatly thirsty and hungry, Rushees swiftly on Seeing a big lake nearby,they, Went before him and saw the form of Rama.

Seeing his mother who was crying, Rama fell down and saluted her feet, And Kausalya with very great longing, Bathed her son in the rain of her tears, Hugged him tightly, smelled his head, And due to great joy her breasts produced milk. He then saluted all other mothers with respect, Lakshmana also saluted like him, And Sita who was like Goddess Lakshmi, Was tightly hugged by Kausalya and others, And wiped away her tears of sorrow. Seeing his teacher who had come there, Rama saluted him with great devotion, And saluting him told him, “ It is definite that I am greatly lucky, Is my father doing well, has he, Got more sorrow due to parting with me again? What did he tell to inform me, What did he tell to inform Lakshmana?” And hearing these words of Rama, Vasishta told, “Greatest among the wise, hear from me the news of your father. After parting with you, berating himself. The king became more and more sad, And cried, Rama, Rama, Sita, Oh lad, Rama, Lakshmana and wailed, And understand that he has reached the heaven, And there he is happily living with pleasures of heaven.”

Hearing the words of Guru which bored in to his ears, Sri Rama fell down on the ground, And immediately started wailing at the top of his voice, To Lakshmana, the ladies who were his mothers, Who also started crying with an open mouth, “Hey father, by the action of fate, where, Did your great self go leaving me here, Alas, alas, I am dead, From now I am an orphan, Where is the chance now of your fondling and caressing me? I would leave this body and die immediately, As I do not have wish to live any more.” Sita as well as Lakshmana also cried, Like that and fell on the ground.

At that time hearing the words of Vasishta, Their inner sorrow came down a bit, And they got in to Ganges and took bath, And performed the oblation of water in a proper manner And offered balls of honey mixed with fruits and oilcake, Remembering that it has been ruled by the words of Vedas That we have to offer that food to the manes that we usually eat And with sorrow after offering these balls, they again took bath, Performed the purification ceremony, again took bath, Went to the hermitage and all people did not take food that day, And when next day morning when the Sun god came out, They took bath in Ganges did salutation to the dawn, And went back and lived in the hermitage.

Bharatha Raghava Samvadham

The discussion between Rama and Bharatha.

Then at that time Bharatha went and, Saluted Rama and started saying, “Hey Rama, Rama, Lord, Rama, great hero, Please hear carefully to what I say, I have with me materials for the coronation, As I have brought them, so now without any delay, The coronation has to be performed, Rule over the country which is your father’s properly, You are the eldest brother, because for the, Kshatriya’s the great dharma is to rule over people, Perform several Aswamedhas and spread, Your fame all over the world, Produce sons and after entrusting, The king to the son, then only you have to go to forest, And now it is improper for you to go to forest at this time, Oh Lord with wonderful valour, agree with me, Oh treasure of mercy do not think about the, Wrong doing of mother at this time.”

He had told this by keeping the lotus feet, Of his brother on his head, He also saluted him falling on the ground, And seeing that lad Bharatha there, Sri Rama went near him made him stand, And caressed him with joy and told.

“ Lad please hear what I have to say, Whatever you have said was heard by me as such, Father had asked me with love, To go the forest for fourteen years, And father gave you the country, Because of mother’s views, When we see properly these are, The orders of our father and, We have to obey them, He who disobeys father, And leads a bad life in this world, He is dead even when he is alive, And after death he would go to hell without any doubt, So you depart and look after the country and, And I will live in this dandaka forest.

Hearing Rama’s words Bharatha told, “Our father who is a lover has a foolish mind, He is controlled by women, He is mad, Old man, Due to his being a king he has Rajasa qualities, And so oh greatly intelligent one, His words are not acceptable, So without hesitation live as a king.

Hearing those words of Bharatha, Sri Rama, Again smiled and replied to him, “Our father who was the king was not controlled by ladies, He was not passionate nor was a foolish soul, hear, You should not find fault with any thing, Done by father, for good people Have greatest fear for breaking an oath, And about telling a lie and going to hell.” “Then I would live in the forest, And you look after the kingdom without sorrow “ Hearing these words from his younger brother, Raghava told again, “Earlier our honourable father, Has told that the kingdom is for you and forest to me, And if we change what he wished, Definitely we would be going against his oath.” “Then I would come along with you, And be your assistant like Lakshmana, And if you do not allow me to come to forest, I will take my life and go to the forest.” Saying this he started permanent fast, So that he can give up his soul, Spread Dhurbha grass and stood, Facing the east in the hot sun. Seeing that he is adamant, Rama, Made a sign by his eyes to sage Vasishta, To advice him, and Vasishta went to son of Kaikeyi, And told, “Do not be foolish and hear what I say, Which is a very great secret, oh son of the king, Sri Rama is the divine Narayana, And due to the request of Lord Brahma, He was born to the son of a king of Ayodhya, In the clan of the Sun, for killing Ravana, And to look after the welfare of devas.”

Sita is the Goddess Yogamaya, And Lakshmana is the chief of the snakes Anantha, Understand the father and mother of the world, Are Rama and Sita respectively. Rama has started to the forest for, Killing Ravana for the sake of devas, The words of Mandhara and the adamancy, Of the mind of Kaikeyi are created by devas.

“Please give up your great desire, For the return of God Rama, You who are the causal man should immediately, Without any hesitation go to your capital, Along with ministers, mothers, people, And with the endless army immediately, And reaching Ayodhya, you should live there. Your elder brother along with his younger brother, And the Goddess would come back after fourteen years, After killing Ravana and his sons.

After hearing this advice from his Guru, With a great sense of surprise growing in his mind, Went along with great devotion in front Of Rama, And after saluting his elder brother told, “Give me your slippers, for doing service, Oh Lord of lords, till the day you come back, I would be praying you always, my God.,”

After hearing these words of Bharatha, Rama gave his slippers which were, Embracing his golden feet to Bharatha, The younger brother saluted and received it, Which was covered with costly gems and, Keeping it on his head, with devotion, Went round Rama and saluted him, Got up and told him with a tottering voice, “The first day after this period is completed, Suppose you do not come, I would, On the next day in the dawn make a big fire, And die after jumping in to it.”

Hearing that Sri Rama wiped his tears, And told Bharatha with great love, “Let it be like that, there is no difference on that, I would definitely come back on that day.” Telling this he bid farewell to Bharatha, And the blessed Bharatha saluted him, And then went round him, and again saluted him, And slowly Bharatha started to leave. The mothers and the great ministers, Brother. teacher and the great army, Kept God Rama deep in their mind, And took him away with them. Guha, the king of Srungivera, Also told his good wishes.

Guha went in front of them to show the way, And behind him the big army marched, And Kaikeyi taking the permission of her son, Leaving out her sorrow, walked along with her son,. After crossing Ganges with the permission of Guha, The boys along with the army with its four divisions, Went and entered the city of Ayodhya, And there they went on daily thinking about Sri Rama, With devotion and a very holy thoughts, the citizens, Lived all together with daily pleasures. Bharatha dressing himself in the garbs of a sage, With sorrow along with Shatrugna did penance, And went to Nandi Grama with love, And thus joy came to all the people of the world.

They kept the slippers of Rama on the throne, Imagined it as the holy feet of Rama, And worshipped it with sandal and flowers, And nearby they stood serving it.

Being served by various sages, That human hero and pretty Raghava, Along with Sita and younger brother, For some time lived on the Chithrakoota mountain, For Some days with joy in the mind, And later Raghava had a thought in his mind, “ From Ayodhya groups of our friends, Would come here often, if we live here, And so it is necessary for us to go with joy, To the Dandaka forest and, This has to be done very urgently.” Thinking like this along with the daughter of earth, And the extremely good natured Lakshmana, Sri Rama leaving the Chithrakoota mountain, Started walking further in the forest,.”

Athraysrama prevesam

Entering in to the hermitage of Athri.

Entering the hermitage of Athri, Rama, Saluted the sage with great devotion and told him, “I am Rama, I am blessed, oh great sage, In being able to see your holy feet.” The great sage knowing that he was, The real Vishnu, the divine Narayana, And the one who can grant salvation, Worshipped the lotus eyed one, Along his brother as well as wife, And offering him water, To wash his feet as well as to drink,

That sage told to the sons of the king, “Hear that my pretty wife is there, And she is very old, greatest, Among the women sages, follower of Dharma, An expert in penance and she lives, Inside this hermitage, Oh daughter of king Janaka, Please go and see her.” After hearing this with the permission of Rama, Sita went and saluted the feet of Anasooya.”

“Daughter, come near me, Oh daughter of Janaka, Please remember that company, Of good people in the greatest luck in our life.” Then she caught hold of her and embraced her And that wife of the sage easily understood her character, And gave her a silk cloth made by Viswakarma, Which was prettiest in the world, Ear studs and ornaments for the forehead, For dressing herself properly.

“ It is great that observing the Dharma of a wife, You came along with him over here, The shine would never diminish in your case, Go along with your peaceful husband, And later go long with him to the palace, And live happily for a very long time,” After blessing her like this, with love, She told Sita to go near her husband. After making all the three eat well, That great sage Athri with great joy, Told Rama, ‘I know that you are God Narayana, It is definite that Your great illusion would attract, All the residents of the three worlds.” Hearing these words from the great sage, Rama lived there for a night. And that God told the goddess as follows, Said the parrot at that time.

Ithyadhyatma Ramayane Uma Maheswara Samvadhe, Ayodhya Kandam Samaptham.

Thus ends the chapter on Ayodhya in the discussion Between Shiva and Parvathi, Which occurs in Adyathma Ramayana.

Contributors to this article

Krishna Maheshwari

Explore Other Articles

Sri Shukra Stotram
Sangushta nasana Vishnu Stotram
Qualities Of A Teacher In Ancient India
Shipbuilding And Navigation
Aadeer OOnjal sarvesar