Aranya Kandam (Contd)
11.Ayomukhi Padalam
Chapter on
Ayomukhi
(Rama and Lakshmana reach a garden like forest when they
are proceeding in search of Sita. Rama asked Lakshmana to bring some water for him to drink. When
Lakshmana is searching for water
A Rakshasi called Ayomukhi sees
him and falls in love with him .When he does not agree for her
proposals Ayomukhi makes Lakshmana
faint and carries him to her Cave.
When Lakshmana does not come back Rama
becomes greatly upset. And was
about to kill himself. At that time Lakshmana wakes up from his trance and cuts
off the nose and ears Of Ayomukhi. Rama and Lakshmana continue their search.
In Valmiki
Ramayana , they both see Ayomukhi
together and when she tries to catch
Lakshmana , he cuts off her ears, nose
and breasts. They see lot of ill omens
after that.)
3541. When the
time became late evening , the brothers
Rama and Lakshmana ,
Started from that
place and went and stayed
on a very large red mountain
Which was like Kumkum, The darkness which is the place for great
sorrow,
Rose up like
the Rakshasas who could not be controlled by Indra.
3542. Everything like
the forests and the
mountains seem to get sad for the sake of,
Rama and
Lakshmana and they dripped honey and waters
of streams ,
Which looked like they were shedding tears and
during the night ,
The insult to
Rama, his anger and sorrow due to
death of Jatayu ,
Seemed to fight
each other for supremacy and hurt the minds of
those two.
3543. Like the
wisdom not having the
eye sight of philosophy ,
Like the one who
was born with lie staring at
the bad fate ,
That eye of the
darkness went on growing and could not be destroyed, for them,
And their deep
breath became like
the huge fire on which ghee is poured ,
And that long time without activity seemed to be one which did not have any boundary.
3544.That Rama who
wore flower garlands from which
honey dripped,
Had his red
eyes which were like lotus flower which were not closing
at that night ,
And was this
because he lost Janaki with a
very pretty smile or was it .
Because he was
not able to see her moon like face ?
We are not able
to understand the reason for it clearly.
3545.We are not able to understand what thoughts went in the mind of faultless
Rama,
Due to
the great sorrow caused by parting
with the pretty Sita
Who was like a
shining lamp among ladies, but his
eyes did not close,
That night
like the eyes of his younger brother
Lakshmana.
3546. For
creating love in the mind of the valorous Rama
the cool ,
Sweet breeze wafted
and in the nearby
mountain where ,
The snake which
does not miss its aim was
slithering,
The white
moon with its rays
spread and made the sky
,
Bright with its
cool light , making Rama think that he has seen,
The shining
pretty face of Sita who wears flower garland ,
Frequented by
very many bees on the sky.
3547.In that dark night
when the proud god of
love without form was hiding,
That light of the
moon which had spread all
over the world and troubled Rama,
Like the poison
coming out from teeth of the poisonous
snake of pure darkness.
3548.When the
poison like white moon light was troubling that valorous Rama ,
T he great sorrow
of insult spoiled his great wisdom and
bereft of any other thought,
He started thinking
only about the hips of Sita which was like a hooded serpent ,
Her words which
were as sweet as the spreading
sweetness of milk , And her very long eyes.
3549.With teeth biting his lips due to
sorrow of parting and anger with
Ravana,
With the oft
emerging deep breath , suffering due to sorrow ,
enthusing himself ,
With a wish to kill Ravana who broke
the tusk of elephants, but
having a
very weak shoulders ,
Rama started
thinking about Sita who was like a
branch with cool emerging leaves and
buds.
3550. Rama who
was breathing long which was like the
waves in the ocean,
Which rise and
then stop was thinking that Sita would
be seeing the long path,
In both directions
with a wish that Rama with a bent
bow will come to save her.
3551. Rama thought “When that Ravana who had teeth which was separated like
lightning,
Approached her
saying “stop, stop” , whether it would be proper say that
,
She did not think about him at all ? What all things she
must have thought about me?”
3552. Rama
thought “Sita who has lost her luster like that of moon losing its light ,
When it was caught
in the cruel mouth of the snake
whose teeth emits poison,
Must be thinking that Rama afraid of the cruel strength of those
,
Rakshasas who
were having cruel anger and that
is why he was not coming.”
3553. He thought
“Due to my soul being troubled by the thought of insult
that I had,
And my
unshakable love towards Sita ,
alternatively again and again ,
Is it necessary for me
to be holding a bow in my hand?”
3554. That Rama who is considered as the ultimate God
by all those ,
Who were knowing about the end of the Vedas , looking at his bow,
Would laugh thinking
that it was of no
use to him , seeing at his high shoulders,
He would think ,
this also is useless as it did not
help him to protect Sita,
And would get startled thinking that
he would get a bad name due to
his not protecting Sita.
3555. Rama who
was breathing with sound “Bom” like an
elephant calf,
Due to the
parting , which was as cruel as the hot
wind of summer like God of death,
Would think
whether she who married him as per Vedic tenets
has gone away from him.
3556.He thought, “I who had agreed to stand and protect all beings ,
Am not even fit
to remove the sorrow of the noble lady ,
Wearing several ornaments who is my wife. My strength is indeed great!”
3557.Rama whose
mouth and mind had completely
dried up,
Would lie down on
the bed of wet new leaves
arranged by his brother,
And at that time
those leaves would get
scalded due to his body heat,
And as soon as they are scalded he would sit erect,
And with a pain
filled soul , would become greatly
tired.
3558.Rama who
used to feel the time of closing
his lotus like eyes,
Is thousands
of eons , was not able to see the end of night in that bed,
And we do not
know whether it was due to parting or due to his great love to Sita.
3559. Rama looked
at Lakshmana holding the bow of victory in his hand,
And asked ,”Have you not seen very many nights along with me,
Which were similar
, but how come today night
,
Appears to be
very long unlike all other nights”.
3560.Looking at
the moon of the evening
which appear s long to lovers,
“Whenever I have compared you to the
face of Sita , feeling
shy,
That you are never equal to her , you
are becoming thinner and thinner ,
And now
because her lustrous face with several ornaments are not with me,
You seem grow more and more daily and look greatly lustrous.”
3561.”The sun who has a matchless chariot , moving about in the long sky,
Due to the very
bad name coming to his clan which was as bright ,
As that of the clan of moon , becoming ashamed , must have
,
Gone to a
hiding place where no one can see him”, he thought.
3562.Becoming
very dejected thinking that the
night which burns him was very long,
Rama thought that
perhaps, that Rakshasa carrying
a sword , due to his power,
Has put in a big
prison the Sun God along
with Aruna holding the stirrups
of the horse.
3563. He thought, “If that Sita who has a waist like
a hand drum does
not appear ,
Before me ,
before the end of this cruel dark night and coming of dawn,
This huge earth
surrounded by the oceans would be destroyed by my power”
3564. If
Those who give great trouble to sages who do penance by their strength ,
Destroy and eat all
the beings of the world , and roam about without Dharma ,
And are going to
get strength and live happily , What
is the use of following
Dharma” he said.
3565. The God of love
who had a bow with a long divine
string of crowds of bees,
Who sends his flower arrows in his sugar cane bow , stared at Rama ,
For the sake of sending his arrows on the faultless Rama ,
But not being able to send his arrows , he
struggled ,
3566. Due to
sorrowing for some
sorrowing incident that happened earlier
Would some one get
strength for a character
that one possesses,
And the God of
love who lost his body due to the anger the primeval Lord Shiva
Who did great Yoga, sorrowed greatly thinking of the body that he lost.
3567. Rama who was of blue colour ,
When the thoughts
of parting with Sita ,
Were trying to
destroy him like a spear
,
As if Lord Brahma who was the primeval,
Cause for everything
and who was born in a lotus
flower ,
Was saying the time of deluge is over, that night got over.
3568. To Rama
who was drowned in the ocean
of chastity
Of Sita who wore on hair the flowery garland making
sounds of bees as well as honey,
Who had come to earth
detesting the desired sleep
on the Ocean of milk with sound of waves,
Birds would make sound
, gardens would make sound , rivers
and streams would make sound ,
But if when he dresses up for the battle , the arrows of quiver does
not make sound ,
Is there any
possibility of the great Rama not losing
his life?
3569. Rama was
seeing peacock and peahen wandering together
,
Male and
female deer wandering together near to each other,
The playing she elephant and male elephant in rut
,
Wandering here
and there before him and would not
Rama who has parted with Sita
say,
“The sweetness of her voice made one say
that the song of the koel,
The sweetness of
sugarcane juice , The sweetness of well matured honey,
The sweetness of
the music from flute , The
sweetness of well made sugar syrup
,
And he sweetness of necatar eaten by
every one with relish is not
sweetness at all,”
And become
very unhappy.
3570.The Sun with
rays seeing that , the long time
of darkness is over ,
To show the valorous
Rama who has not heard the
sweet voice of Sita
Who speaks like a parrot ,and who was in the
fully open scented lotus
flower
Just like a swan
,was not there in the flower
now , came at the top,
Of the rising mountain
completely so that all lotus
flowers got opened.
3571. Rama would see the garden there , he would see the Chakravaka birds,
Living in that garden
, he would see the beauty of the flowering branches there,
He would see her likeness in the young peacocks , he would then think of Sita,
Who had the
likeness of all of them . He would then think of her black hair,
Her two mountain like breasts , the
absence of any work by those
breasts,
And his shoulders which have not hugged them and spent his time like that,
3572,The your hero
Lakshmana then saluted the feet of his
brother,
And son, “Oh elder brother , does the job of sitting here without
,
Searching for Sita
give us any fame ? And Rama said,
“Let us search for the place where
that Rakshasa lives ,
Continuously “ and
those two heroes who carried lustrous bows,
Started
walking In the hot forests which
had continuous mountains?”
3573.Those brothers who were similar to the elephants which carry
the directions ,
Went through several
forests densely filled with green fresh leaves ,
Crossed several
faultless mountains and several forests ,
And covered a
distance of eighteen Yojanas(36 miles)
3574. After searching
and not able to find out, Sita
who had come to earth,
Due o the penance
done by it and who was
wearing a honey dripping garland,
With the rage in
their mind coming out as deep
breaths , Rama and Lakshmana,
Entered a huge
cool garden where birds
had taken up their residence.
3575.The Sun who
had very hot rays , knowing the sorrow of those valorous ones,
After searching
for Sita who was a lady everywhere
and after ,
Wandering
through the entire world, went
back behind the Meru mountains.
3576.Like the blackness
of Kajal getting scared and
surrounding ,
From all directions
, darkness spread everywhere
like a not clear ,
As well as ignorant mind
and speedily all the ten
directions became dark.
3577.The nagana
birds which have voice like the musical tune “Ili”,
Were teaching
those sweet words to parrots in that
garden,
And they seeing a
crystal rock which was shining like the moon,
And which was surrounded
by Murukku trees , decided yo stay there.
3578.Lord Rama after going there seeing the strong
Lakshmana,
Who was like a bull
said, “Oh valorous one , please
search for some water,
And bring it here” and that Lakshmana who had
a bow ,
Which made
enemies retreat , went away from Rama.
3579.Searching for drinking water everywhere and not
finding it ,
That Lakshmana
was wandering alone like a
lion and then
One Rakshasi
called Ayomukhi (iron faced one) who had cruel eyes ,
And who was living
in the forest , saw him with passion.
3580. She who was
angry like a serpent and
who,
Did not respect
the Manthras told by very wise people,
Concluded, “He is definitely God of love” and ,
Slowly lost her her great pride as well as anger.
3581.That Rakshasi who fell deeply in love with Lakshmana
,
With great passion
which lead to very great sorrow,
Came and stood
before Lakshmana due to disease
of passion,
Thought, “I will hug him but never eat him “ and
greatly sorrowed.
3582. That
Ayomukhi who was more cruel than the fire
, when she neared,
With desire to
posses him thought, “ If he does not
agree ,
To my proposal, I
will take him to my cave and hug him with force “
and and speedily went and stood against Lakshmana.
3583.She used to bring
out fire in her
heavy breath,
Had a stomach
which she used to fill up by
sweetly ,
Chewing and eating
elephants using her teeth,
Had huge breasts
tied by the big rope of,
Several powerful serpents and had a sunken eyes.
3584-3588.. She wore an anklet made of
very strong lions,
And Yalis ,
tied with huge snakes which made sound,
And she had a
face like the
Sun at the final deluge,
She had a cave
like mouth which was lige a huge ladle,
Which could vbe used even to dry an ocean,
She had hairs flowing
on both sides and which made,
Her look like
raging burning fire at
deluge ,
And she was walking with long steps which
cannot,
Be easily measured like scales and was covering several things,
And due to that
her liver that she had
swallowed was thrown out ,
And she had hips
like the big snake
with a great hood ,
She gnashed her
teeth creating sound like thunder,
She was staring
with an angry eye like that of Lord Shiva,
She had teeth
that shows great cruelty possibly ,
Indicating that the
anger from her eyes
had cooled down,
She used to talk so harshly that
mountains were displaced ,
And the oceans
hitting each other made very
huge sound,
She was walking
which made the faultless goddess
Lakshmi ashamed,
She was wearing several
bangles made of serpents
in her hand,
She was wearing a garland made of several male tigers,
She had tied
several Yalis and made it her Mangala Suthra ,
And also she was wearing
several lions as ear ornaments.
3589.She who was looking with coolness using her
coloured seed like eyes,
From which
the red tears flowed due to passion was seen
by
Lakshmana who was like
a fearful lion in darkness in the
light of her teeth.
3590.Lakshmana
as soon as he saw her realized
that ,
She was a a lady
belonging to the crowd of Rakshasas,
Who was like the strong Soorpanakha who lost her nose
And became sad and
also one who was like Thadaga.
3591.Lakshmana thought
that these people who did not have good nature ,
And who are
sinners did not have a
proper reason to approach people like
him,
And asked,.”Hey
woman who are you , who have come inside
the forest,
Frequented by wild animals in this darkness, Reply me quickly.”
3592.When
Lakshmana asked her like this
that Ayomukhi who had a swinging
mind,
Feeling shy to tell
about her passion to him personally told him,
“Though I did not have any previous relation with you ,
I have come with
great love towards you and my name is
Ayomukhi.”
3593. She
further told him, “Oh
heroic one who is very
pretty ,
“Please permit me
to hug with my breasts which
were not ,
Touched by any one else
Your gold like very pretty
chest ,
So that my soul
would not go away from me.,”
3594. When
she who was in great love with Lakshmana
, told like this,
Lakshmana
who was like an angry lion ,
getting his eyes more reddish due to anger,
Said, “If you tell me such words by your mouth , my matchless ,
Very long arrows
would cut your body in to pieces.”
3595.Though Lakshmana
told these contrary words
she did not get angry at him,
And folding both hands above her head s told, “Oh Lord
“If you come with me and ,
Help me to continue to hold this life , I would get the result
of this birth.”
3596. That Ayomukhi
who was not very angry further said, “oh great one
,
If you are searching for good water here , if
with you pretty hands ,
You give me
protection saying , “do not get scared”
, then,
I would even bring the water from ganges and give it to you .”
3597. Not able to tolerate her words, the son of Sumithra told her,
“Before I cut your nose and two ears go away from here with speed,
She stood there
without blinking her eye and thought
like this.
3598.”I would take him away , keep him in my cave and then remove
His rage and
then he would agree to my proposal and I would get joy speedily .
And this one will only
do good to me “ thinking like this she
went near him.
3599. That very cruel Ayomukhi let loose magical illusion before ,
She approached
and lifted Lakshmana who
was like
a mountain,
Touching the
sky and similar to lifting the
moon along with the cloud ,she
proceeded.
3600.That Ayomukhi
who carried Lakshmana looked
like the Mandhara mountain,
Along with the
ocean and looked like she elephant who was consort od Airavatha ,
And also looked like
the peacock on which Lord Subramanya
,
Who had a very powerful spear with which he killed
Soorapadma , rode.
3601. In that
stage being tightly
hugged on her chest That
Lakshmana,
Wearing pretty
heroic anklets and very long bow , looked
very pretty,
And he was like
Lord Shiva who hid behind his great
rage behind,
The hide of an
elephant which had flowing rut.
3602.Like that
she hugged and carried him there
and in another place,
Rama Due to the
heat of parting with his wife and also his brother ,
Who had gone in search of water in that dense forest thought,
“Lakshmana who has the strength of a huge mountain has still ,
Not come “ and
then he started from there and went in search of him.
3603.”For coming with speed , he does not lack speed , he is one ,
Who does not have the nature of not coming back
,,
Does non availability
of water in the forest the cause
for his delay,
Or Has some other accident happened? What is the reason
for this ?”
3604.”When I told him
, “go by this way and bring water”,
If you have not returned back for this long , it
appears that ,
You have started
a war with those Rakshasas who have kidnapped,
Sita who has breasts
which are tightly tied with cloth.”
3605.” Has That
Ravana who with deceit has kidnapped
Sita ,
Who talks as pretty as a parrot kidnapped you
also ?
Or have you passed away
by the cheating of
Ravana who is much more cruel than poison?”
3606.”My younger brother who is my soul and
who carries,
A huge strong bow has
not come back. Has he given up his life
,
Thinking that I
had to part with Sita because ,
I did not
care about his very wise words,
And had to suffer
very great amount of
sorrow ?”
3607.”Lakshmana
who has left me in this pitch darkness
is like my eyes,,
And but for him I do not have any other
eyes and in the mind ,
Which was sorrowing due to parting of Sita , there is more pain
now,
I am upset beyond words now, how shall I now search.”
3608.”Me who has
got a bad fate that can never be
removed , have now lost you,
Who is like my soul
like you and who is one who does
not have any one to match.
Oh younger brother who is like my son
, Oh lad who is elder to me in
wisdom ,
You have done a mistake
and this act of yours is very cruel ,
And this act of yours would not be accepted by the world.”
3609. “Oh Strong one
who can remove sorrows which
cannot be removed,
You have given
sorrow that cannot be
removed , Oh valorous one,
Who is saluted even by your enemies, How is it that you hate me so
much?
How is it that
without coming here , you have
lived there without returning?”
3610. “ In spite of parting with my father , my mothers ,
And Sita who is like Goddess Lakshmi and who wears golden ear globes,
I am alive , it is
because of not parting with your breath in me.”
3611”.Oh Lakshmana who is like a male elephant who came
in search of me,
You have made me
who has been searching for
Sita who was wearing in her ears,
The golden ear globe
and doing penance , come in
search of you now .”
3612.”I would not remain
alive today and hearing
that ,
All our relatives who
hear about it also would die ,
And you would
become the cause of death of
all ,
Our very united
relatives, Oh cruel one, is it OK with
you?
3613. In the clan of ours from the time of Mandatha ,
After I have forsaken my kingship , when no
other,
True relatives
accompanied me, You alone came with me,
Have you also decided
to forsake me ?
3614. Our matchless
leader Rama saying
several things like this,
Would get up and then fall down. He would sit and think
about it,
Get his wisdom diminished and he would say “In this
darkness,
When there is no thunder or lightning , what is happening .”
And like this the miseries that
Rama suffered were very greatly.
3615. Rama who was like an elephant which was
proud and is in must,
Went to several places and searched for his younger brother
.
Would shout “Lakshmana”
and run to different places ,
And would become so depressed and
would faint.
3616.”Would Lakshmana
who used to guard over me and Sita,
Who had very great patience without batting an eye ,
Delay so much to return? I do not think that I would continue,
To live
because life has become a burden
due to Bad Karma,
But I really do not know
about it?”
3617-3618. “If I
have good fate , let that
Lakshmana be born as my elder brother,:
Saying this Rama
with his valorous and very sharp sword ,
Was trying to get rid of his soul
and at that time ,
Lakshmana got out
of the magical illusion of Ayomukhi,
And he caught
hold of her nose and was cutting it,
And due to the
great pain , when the Rakshasi shouted ,
That sound was
heard by Rama and he became normal.
3619.Rama thought
that , “this is not the sound raised
by,
Rakshasas whose
many heroic anklets make
sound ,
Who are moving in
this forest that is full of pebbles,
Nor is it the
war cry when they are fighting
with each other ,
But a sound of
the wail of a lady , who is loosing an organ.”
3620. That black
coloured Rama , thinking like that
,
Took out a fire
like long arrow by his red hand ,
And when he was trying
to send it , the darkness ,
Left this world and went
to the other world,
And even that night
was looking like the day time.
3621. Then Rama
with a speed three times the speed of storm,
Rushed to attack
her making mountains
powdery,
Making huge trees
break and raising ,
Sound “Chata, chata”
on all dirctions.
3622, Seeing his
elder brother who was looking like
the raising,
Black sea at final,
deluge was coming at him, Lakshmana,
Who was born
next , seeing his great
protector said,
“Oh brother
who is angry, Do not sorrow
, do
not sorrow.”
3623,”I have come
out , do not be sad due the
darkness of ignorance,
Lakshmana told in a clear manner and
he fell at the feet of Rama
which was like ,
the , soft new leaf, and seeing
that Rama felt ,
As happy as one
who regained his lost eye.”
3624. Rama who was
shedding tears like stream from his
eyes ,
Like a cow which
was sad due to having lost its calf and ,
Not able to bear
it was wailing and became like it
when suddenly ,
That calf comes
and joins it and milk comes out
of his udder and became extremely
joyous.
3625. Then he hugged
the golden body of his
brother several times ,
He bathed him with the copious tears that he was shedding and told him,
“Oh Lakshmana who has shoulders like mountain and
Kanaya tree,
I was worried to
see that you were missing and became
extremely sad.”
3626, “What happened there , please tell,” when Rama asked like that ,
That
Lakshmana told everything in detail, and Rama who did not have ,
Anyone greater than him except himself
,
Became happy as
well as very sad at the same
time.”
3627. “Should one who drives a ship in the deep sea
become sad,
Every time he sees
a new tide? And should we
who have been caught up ,
In the prison of bad fate
, be depressed when faced with
sorrow? Is it proper.” Rama said.
3628.”Even if the trinity of gods and the people of the three worlds ,
Come to fight with me as matchless enemies,, who can win
over me?
My younger brother
, your being with me is my
strength ,
And when you are
there , is there a need for protection for me?”
3629”Oh valorous one who wears long
heroic anklets ,
Let all those who
want to go away from me , go,
Let all great
sorrows come towards me,
They all would go away from me because of you,
And would never
be able to stay with me.”
3630.”Oh valorous one
who is an expert in war , you
only told me,
That you won over that Rakshasi who is a great expert in war ,
Possibly as per
the words of elders you did not kill,
Her who is engaged
in this very bad work.”
3631.That Lakshmana with his hand saluted Rama
told,
When I cut her nose
, ears , curved teeth and lips
,
In to pieces , She
wailed with a very loud
noice.”
3632. Rama greatly
shaken with great joy
hugged him and told ,
“In the pitch darkness
that Rakshasi came to kill you ,
But you did not kill her
but cut her nose and ears only,
Oh lad who came in the path of Manu , you are
great.”
3633.The valorous
Rama and his younger brother
,
Who completely got rid
of the sorrow that cannot be got over,
Chanted the Varuna
Manthra and drank the water from the sky,
And stayed on a mountain
which was supporting the earth,
Waiting for the breaking of the dawn
.
3634. That valorous Rama , in the open land with stones
spread on it,
Laid down in the bed prepared using soft sand , forest
flowers
And new leaves
with measureless sorrow ,
With Lakshmana massaging his very soft legs.
3635.Rama after parting with Sita who looked like a peacock,
Suffering from the disease of insult , did not eat any thing and
Due to great sorrow
did not sleep either .Is there a need to tell this?
And he in between his deep long breaths felt as if his soul was going away.
3636.” Am I
seeing with eye the great form of Sita
in the entire forest ,
Due to my
thinking about her
always without any break?
Or is it
because of the illusion created by the Rakshasas?” Rama sorrowed like this.
3637.I am hugging
with great love that,
Sita with black
hair who has eyes
with streak of Red,
Is like the great ornament for ladies with chastity ,
But I am not
seeing anything here and has the form of
Sita,
Become a lie similar that
of her waist?”
3638. “Seeing
Sita who has a face like newly opened
lotus flower,
And her red fruit like mouth
which is full of honey ,
I ate that
nectar from her
coral like mouth without her being here,
Is it possible to see
dreams even when one is not asleep?”
3639. “If a
suffering comes which is greater than
thought ,
And greater than
the five elements earth, sky, fire , water and air,
Then does it mean that
this cruel night is longer than the eyes,
Of The daughter of
Janaka who had cool , scented , long black hair.”
3640. “The spread out rays of the pretty moon seems
to have,
Created eruptions
in my body , which are like the
swimming fishes,
Making one suspect
that the heat of the fire at deluge ,
Creates eruptions
all over the sky and all over.”
3641.Saying such
words several times that king Rama ,
Who has lost his power
, became greatly confused,
And the Sun with
rays seeing this condition and
Feeling “He has greatly thinned” came
out to wipe his sorrow.
3642.Searching the chaste
Sita who has great patience making other say
That the heavens do not have patience and
who was looking like peacock,
The birds which wander
were making noise as if
they were crying ,
And Rama and
Lakshmana in that early dawn went speedily in search of her.
12.Kavandhan Padalam
The chapter on
Kabandha.
(Rama and Lakshmana then meet a Rakshasa called Kabandha . They cut off his huge
hands. He gets out of his curse and assumes his original form of Gandharwa . He prays Rama.He advises them
to meet Sabari , then strike friendship with Sugreeva , the monkey who
was the son of Sun God .
In Valmiki
Ramayana Just by touch of Rama,
Kabandha does not attain his original
form. He requests Rama and Lakshmana burn him and when they do it he gets back
his original form. He says there that he
got this form because Indra beat him on his head with Vajrayudha. The
Instructions given by Kabandha are in great detail in Valmiki Ramayana .He does not recite a prayer to
Rama.)
3643-3646.Rama and Lakshmana crossed
fifty Yojanas (100 miles) and were wandering,
In the place
which was surrounded by forests
and the sun reached
,
The centre of
the sky and then they
saw the forest
of Kabandha,
Who used to extend both his hands
from the place where he is ,
And swallow all
that is caught
within them And
Right from the
huge sized elephant to the tiny ants
fell down ,
Developed a
vacant look , became scared and
were .
Caught in a net
from which there was no
escape ,
And they became
like the citizens of the kingdom ruled
,
By a weak king ,
who was not capable of ruling and
Who was unable to
make things stand properly in
their places.
They all got
greatly scared , scattered and their
bodies,
Became in to a very
big heap and they stood perplexed with great
sorrow.
They ran sobbing
and stood perplexed and Rama and Lakshmana saw them.
At that time huge
rocks of mountains rolled down , the trees were uprooted ,
And all directions
became like empty
spaces without water ,
And the water
filled clouds rolled and fell down.
3647. Rama and
Lakshmana entered in the space between those hands ,
Which were nearing
like the raising four oceans
at the time of the cyclone at deluge,
Making very
great sounds and becoming
very tall , rotating in all
directions.
3648.Being caught
in the boundary wall like
hands of Kabandha which were ,
Nearing like the huge Chakravala mountain , they thought ,
For the sake of Sita who talks sweetly the Rakshasa army,
Sent by
Ravana has surrounded them and became happy.
3649. Rama looked
at his younger brother and told him,
“Know that the home of Ravana who troubles Sita is ,
Within these
boundaries and so our great
sorrow is destroyed.”
3650.”If what is standing around is the army of Rakshasas, then,
We are not hearing
the sound of the beating of the
drums ,
Nor the sound of booming of the conches and so ,
The great sound we are hearing must be some other
thing “
Said
Lakshmana and then saluted him
and stood in front of him.
3651.Lakshmana further said, “Oh Lord who stays with stability
Even at final deluge
, either Vasuki which was
tied by the Devas ,
Around the Mandhara mountain when they were trying to get nectar,
Or some other
snake has tied
its head with its tail, ,
And it looks that it is trying to catch all that is within it.”
3652. Realizing that
the words of Lakshmana were
very apt ,
The Lord who walked on the earth for the welfare of beings,
After thinking
walked another two Yojanas and
reached ,
Near Kabandha who
was very much like a sitting mountain.
3653-3654. He was
having two
boiling eyes which looked
like .
The hot sun has
been pasted on the huge
Meru mountain,
And the distance between one teeth and another teeth of
his,
Was two Kadams and he had a ocean like mouth which was
,
Fixed on his belly
and he had two long hands which ,
Was lying on both
his sides and it looked like the serpent,
Vasuki which was used
to churn the moon touching
,
Mandhara mountain by the devas
and Asuras.
3655,He had a
huge nose from which fire and smoke
emerged ,
Which was like the
bellows of the blacksmith and had a
rotating,
Toungue which was
similar to the tongue of the raging
fire ,
Which was capable
of drying away the huge ocean which was its enemy.
3656.He had two
long protruding teeth which was like the
,
Full moon , broken trying to enter a strong cave,
Located on the mountain with streams when he
got scared ,
Of the huge
serpent which was rolling and coming to eat him.
3657.His shape was not fitting with the
five elements ,
Like the cold water
as well as earth and he seemed ,
To be the five great crimes mentioned
by ,
The tradition of Vedas
rolled in to one form.
3658. When the great
cruel serpents who normally try to swallow ,
The very hot sun
and the cool moon , did not have
any work to ddo,
His ear
holes were found by them as suitable to take rest,
And they were
making fun of him that his
belly was more worse ,
Than the hell
where the beings who do sin and cruel deeds live.
3659.He had hands
using which he used to
catch and lift ,
All the beings
within the frame of his
hand and in huge,
Chunks he
used to stuff of them in his mouth
and,
This looked like
the dead beings entering
,
The victorious
entrance of the
place of God of death.
3660.He was
raising great sound like the torrential
sound of the ocean,
And had a burning black body like the Halahala poison,’
And he had a headless
body like that of Kalanemi ,
Whose head was cut
by divine wheel of Lord Vishnu.
3661.That
Kabandha who had a body like
the mount Meru,
Which had lost
his tall peak by the force of a torrential wind ,
And Rama and
Lakshmana who had very clear hearing ,
Saw that
Kabandha sitting there only with his body.
3662. Seeing the
huge mouth of Kabandha
which was like the world
,
Surrounded by the
Chakravala mountain in which,
Huge rivers and
even oceans entered , Rama and Lakshmana ,
Thought that it was an entrance to a town with an old wall
,
Belonging to the Rakshasas where
Devas cannot enter.
3663.Then at that
time Lakshmana after
critical examination,
Told, “Oh expert in archery , this is a very huge ghost
,
Which would catch all the beings within its reach ,
Bend its hands
and put them all in to its
mouth ,
What shall
we do?” And Rama answered.
3664.”Oh younger brother
, I lost my peacock like wife ,
And Jatayu who
was like our father also
is no more ,
And I do not want to wander carrying this bad name on my head,
And so I would become food to this ghost and you some how escape.”
3665.”I Having brought sorrow to my parents as well
as Bharata,
Having made
wise elderly people sad and having also earned a bad name ,
I do not think that I would be able to wipe away the bad name
, except in death.”
3666. Would I care
to go on carrying a
mountain like quiver ,
And go to the king
of Mithila and inform him,
“That Sita
who was given by you to me , who had
culture to suit my home,
Who is like a tender
creeper speaking very sweet
words is ,
Now in the
home of great Rakshasa and I
have come alone.”
3667. “ Instead of
people telling about me tha
t” Being one who was not able to protect Sita who was like a flower
garland,
Rama is living with the great desire
of ruling and looking after heaven,”
It would be better
that people to say “Rama has attained heaven”,
And so I think that
it would be much better for me
to die.” Said Rama.
3668. When Rama
who is god who rules every one
told like this,
The younger
brother of the Lord said, “My
fate would be great ,
If this sorrow
happens after I decide to follow
you to forest,
And If I return
alive back to Ayodhya , before you do.”
3669.After telling this
, Lakshmana further told ,
“one is valorous,
Only if he fights
with the problems that he faces and wins over it ,
And if one
were not to leave his life
before , father, mother ,
As well as elder brother
like the enemy who does not
love
Would not his
fame go away from him.”
3670.Before the people
who once praised , “this Lakshmana ,
Sacrificed his sleep
and guarded his
deer like sister-in-law,
And his elder
brother , what a great job”
making others talk,
“This Lakshmana has
come back alone without both of
them,”
Would be the greatest mistake
of all.
3671.My mother
told me “ “Obey everything that your
elder brothers orders,
And if sorrow occurs because of that
, do not retreat because of that
but accept it,
And if death were
to occur to the famous Rama , before he dies , you embrace death.”
And my behavior
would be only truthful to my mother , if I obey her orders.”
3672.”Oh Rama who has pretty shoulders ornamented
with Gold ,
If me and my
mother were to get a fame that without
differing ,
From you and your mother , we both were always with you ,”
We would think that fame would be greater
and never think,
That our life
would be greater and would
never leave you.”
3673.”If I tell you the truth , even all things at all places are destroyed,
And even when
Devas who tell the Vedas which can never be destroyed,
Are destroyed ,
you would not die and when this is the truth ,
If you tell me
that you would die because the ghost
living in this forest
Which eats
animals like elephant kills you ,
is there any meaning in it.”
3674. “People who
happen to hear about your decision will not accept it,
Those who happen to see it directly would
not like your act ,
You instead of getting the fame that in the
great war that arises,
You got Sita who
lives wearing the flower garland released ,
Without her getting dejected , would
you like to accept the bad name ,
That Rama died
because he was not able to get victory
in war.”
3675.”This ghost which
burns like poison merits
to be cut,
Today by my
sword and it is not proper to
estimate it otherwise ,
Leave your sorrow
and see me cutting away it hands
,
Which catches
everything that it can
hold and its cave like mouth,
Where it puts them all
without any mistake “ Lakshmana
told.
3676. Saying like
this For cutting that Ghost Lakshmana
went before,
His Lord Rama
who was trying to go and do it before Lakshmana .
And that younger brother
who was comparable stopped the
elder ,
And people rush one against the other cannot be seen anywhere ,
And the Devas who
were witnessing this competition
between them cried.
3677. Like this they competed with each other and both of them ,
Who were wearing
big heroic anklets that produced sound
,
Similar to the two eyes
of the face seeing the same
thing,
Neared Kabandha
who asked them, “Oh valorous ones,
Who are you and
why have you come here
to get destroyed” ,
And both of them
who had same opinion about ,
What is going to happen
stood there in great rage.
3678. “Even after
seeing me they have not upset
and since they are ,
Standing stable
they are insulting me” thinking
like this ,
Kabandha got very angry
and the newly appeared rage,
Appearing in every pore of his body , thinking
that ,
He would swallow them
and just when he started ,
The valorous
heroes cut both his arms
by swords.”
3679.Due to his hands being cut, Kabandha was surrounded by a river of blood,
And without any doubt
he resembled the Chaiya
mountain from which,
River Cauvery flows
from west to east in two branches and
was looking pretty.
3680.That Rama
who was ruling all beings
touched him by his pretty hands,
And due to that Kabandha got rid of the curses
which was due to sin
committed earlier,
And when his shoulders were cut , he got
rid of his body which was evil,
And like a bird
coming out of a cage , rose up in the sky and appeared there.
3681.Kabandha
who rose up in the sky
understood that Rama is
the great God ,
Who is the leading
light of Gods like Lord
Brahma and started praying
,
That great one
listing his innumerable great qualities , for ,
When you are having
good fate nothing
would be impossible to get.
3682”.Oh Lord who came
to the place where I live
and appeared before me,
And rubbed
off my curse which had
a very rare result,
Are you not the
one who has created every thing
,
Are you not the
witness to the endless
effort of Dharma,
Are you not the one who appeared here
due to penance of devas,
Are you not the
primeval god who became in to the trinity?’
3683.”Oh lord without any cause , but who is the cause of everything ,
The forms that you assume
according to your will are ,
Things that
cannot be understood by
any one ,
Please tell me
whether your real form is the banyan tree of deluge
,
Or the music of
that tree or are you the
baby who sleeps on the banyan
leaf .
Or Are you the
the expanse of water at deluge .
3684.”To those who see
and all that which are seen ,
you are the eye,
You who are not
dependent on any thing are
standing like,
One whom
every thing in the world depends and due
to,
Your divine greatness
you are hiding all the world in
your belly ,
During the
deluge and after deluge you bring out all of
them,
Are you masculine, feminine or neutral or
something different from these?”
3685,” You
are the primeval God who is the creator and
you are ,
The primeval god who is the root of everything and
if there is,
Some thing which is before the primeval root , you are that ,
You are the flame of light , If
the Vedas which tell about you ,
Request you ,
would not those Gods , who are
,
Outside of
the ambit of Vedas
become ashamed.
3686. With the
eight directions becoming the
walls , with the ,
Fourteen worlds as the fourteen stories , the
huge temple ,
Which is a globe which is lighted by the
moon, sun and stars,
And which is the lotus
flower that never opens is your home.”
3687. Oh Lord who is above everything , you
take food ,
The offerings
which come up from
the fire of Homa ,
Which cannot be seen
by any one and which has
,
The eight directions as its limits and offered by Brahmins,
You are the one who makes people who offer you food to eat,
And who would be able
to understand your culture ,
In which you are both
the one who eats and one who make
others eat.
3688.Oh Lord who is
greater than all
those things that are
great,
Like the water bubbles
which appear in the stable ocean of birth ,
The worlds which
do not have any differences during
time of
peace ,
Rise up at
the time of creation and appear
inside you,
And at the time of
deluge they all disappear in you, Is it easy to understand.
3689.” Have the
great Vedas been made knowing
about your activities
,
Or is it that your activities are
being undertaken as per the
tenets of Vedas,
You have given me
great wealth that does not
go behind the evil acts ,
Which are not as per Dharma and
to get this great blessing ,
What are the
good acts done by me in my previous births?
3690. Oh Lord , who removed my attachment to this birth ,
Who gave me this faultless body
, who made me the cross the ocean of sorrow,
And who cut off
the connection with ignorance of
me ,
Who was wandering
like a ghost due to my slipping
away from Dharma ,
And what great could act have I, who am like a dog , done , to get your grace.
3691.When in this
manner Kabandha praised Rama who
is the ultimate God ,
Thinking that if
I tell more such things in a plain
manner ,
It would not suit
to the assurance Lord Vishnu had given
to Devas ,
He did not tell anything further , like a calf which has seen his
mother cow,
And stood in the sky in the divine form , Rama
who shows himself
To those who travel in the path of Dharma and Bhakthi
, saw Kabandha.
3692. Rama then
told his brother “, See him who is standing above ,
As he has taken a different form blessed with great luster ,
And is standing
on the sky , just before us ,
Please find out who he is ?” and then
asked,
Kabandha , “Who
are you, please tell
us.”
3693, He said, “Oh
valorous one who wears good ornaments and garland
,
My name is Dhanu
and I am a Gandharwa and due to the curse of a sage,
I was born in this lowly form of
Kabandha , Due to the touch of
flower like hands ,
Of Yours who
have come here , I got back
my original form .
You are like
the father of my father .Please hear
what I have to say.”
3694.Though there is no body who are capable of protecting you ,
Or those who
should protect you , you who are
carrying bow and several arrows ,
It is proper
that you take the help of others to search
the matchless Sita,
It is difficult
for people without raft to cross the ocean,
And like that it
is difficult to destroy enemies without help of others.”
3695. “Is it necessary
to describe in detail about
your masculine power ,
Which is faultless ,
To destroy all the creations by the
very great Brahma
Who sits on the
seat of lotus flower, the matchless destroyer
,
Lord Shiva has to take the help of The Bhoothas who have
,
Great ability
for destruction , and I am
sure you know about this truth.
3696-3697. “As per
tenets of Dharma , do not join with evil
people ,
But take help
from people who are of good character ,
As I told you earlier and so please
meet Sabari,
Who helps beings
more than a mother and follow,
The path indicated by her
and meet personally ,
The son of Sun God
Sugreeva who is golden in
colour ,
Hug him and after fixing a firm friendship with him,
Speedily start searching for Sita
who has ,
Shoulders like Bamboo.
This would be good for you.”
Said Kabandha and
those heroes who wore ,
Heroic anklets
that make sound agreed to that
proposition.
3698.Afterwards Kabandha saluted them , praised them and
went away by the path of the sky,
And Those lads born in the clan of Manu started going towards
direction indicated by Kabandha,
Crossed many forests
and mountains and by night fall reached ,
The hermitage of
sage Mathanga which had very many elephants.
13.Savari pirappu neengu padalam
Chapter on
salvation of Sabari.
(Rama and Lakshmana reached the hermitage of Mathanga. There they are received by Sabari who
was doing penance on Rama and who was waiting for Rama. After showing them hospitality and
telling them how to proceed to Rishya mooka mountains where Sugreeva
lives Sabari attains salvation. Rama and
Lakshmana reach the lake Pampa .
In Valmiki
Ramayana Sabari says that she was
assisting sage Mathanga and other sages for a long time. When they went to
heaven they told her to wait for Rama,
The folk story
of Sabari giving the fruit tasted by her
to Rama is not found in both versions.
3699. The
prosperous , and sweet smelling
garden of Mathanga
Was like the wish
fulfilling Karpaga tree, which gave
them ,
Plenty of honey like fruits and roots where
only pleasure,
Liked by the world
was there and no sorrow
was there ,
And it was like
heaven where only people with good
Dharma live.
3700.Rama who did
not have any other
thing that existed before him,
Reached such
a hermitage of Mathanga
, stayed there for some time ,
Met Sabari who was
doing penance for him for a limitless time,
And told her sweet words
and asked her,
“Did you have a
life free of sorrow till now.”
3701.At that time
, Sabari praised Rama with extremely great love ,
Wept due to her great devotion and having
eyes like streams,
And said , “The
illusory attachment to the
world for me,
Has come to an end
and the result of the
great penance ,
That I
undertook has reached me and my future births have gone away”,
And brought and
offered to him large amount of
fruits and at that time ,
When the feast was underway she said
“Oh Rama you are like my father.”
3702,”Oh my
father ,Lord Shiva , Lord
Brahma sitting on lotus flower,
And all Devas and
Indra , the king of those devas had come
here ,
And have told me “the time for enjoying the end result ,
Of your faultless penance has come, Please do worship ,
Of Rama who is going to come here and then come to us.” And have gone back.
3703.”Oh my father
, since I knew that you
would be coming here ,
I stayed here
expecting for your arrival and by
your coming today ,
My penance has
earned me blessings “ said Sabari and hearing that ,
Rama and
Lakshmana looked at her
with great affection and told,
“Oh mother , you
have removed our sorrow due to long
travel , live long.”
3704. That
faultless Rama and his younger brother
stayed in that,
Hermitage of sage
Mathanga that day and
Sabari who had ,
Done great penance
and got greatness here
as well as in the other world,
Looked at them with true love and
told them the path to go to,
The Rishya Mooka
mountains where Sugreeva , the son of Sun God
,
Who rides on the
hot horse drawn chariot of his , lives
,
Which can be only
known with great and rare thought.
3705.Great elders say
, that Rama who has the sweetness ,
Which can be only realized by Great ones , all whose ears ,
Are perforated by
Vedas and which can only
be tasted by great knowledge ,
Heard all
that was told by Sabari which taught
them
The real path
which is suitable to attain salvation ,
Like the real
teachers of that ultimate wisdom.
3706.Later , that
Sabari due to the greatness
of path of Yoga ,
Left her
body and sweetly attained the great
state ,
And those valorous
Rama and Lakshmana attained ,
Great wonderment
and with their heroic
anklets making sound ,
Travelled through
the path as told by Sabari to them.
3707. They then
after crossing several forests and hills
,
Which were cool and scented and
reached the lake Pampa,
Which melts the intentionally
committed sins ,
In this world daily
just like fire but appeared
like
The completely
melted results of good deeds
only .
