Sunday, July 24, 2011

Lakshman Narrates Lord Rama’s Exploits

Lakshman and Guha collected leaves that were shed
And also some grass and made them into a bed
For the Lord of the Universe to sleep on it
Without feeling discomfort, the slightest bit

Lord Rama laid down on the bed made of hay
The full moon greedily touched Him with its ray
The clouds covered the moon as if to say,
“The Lord needs to sleep, you keep at bay”

Yet the moon, through the clouds’ gap, tried to peep
Hoping to get a glimpse of The Lord’s divine sleep
Mother Sita sat at His leg side, caressing His feet
Feeling privileged to perform this coveted feat

For the Lord’s feet, She made Her lap, a bed
And for His peaceful sleep, a prayer She said
She caressed, massaged, and softly pinched the toes
Which on worshipping would end its devotee’s woes

Like all other beings, The Lord too became Her child
And entered a serene sleep that was gentle and mild
After ensuring The Lord was well asleep
She too, beside Him, went to sleep

Lakshman and Guha were standing afar
In keeping a vigil both were at par
Guha recommended Lakshman to take a nap
Promising, he would watch all night without a gap

Lakshman thanked him for offering to perform the deed
But also apologized to him for being unable to heed
He had decided not to sleep for the whole exile term
In the decision he took, he was substantially firm

Lakshman spoke seriously in a pensive mood
To the ground before him, his eyes were glued
“He does not deserve to go through this, my friend
For this injustice, I do not know who would amend

He is the kind who would not hurt an ant
For the welfare of beings, His life, He would grant
I have seen Him deal with both friends and foes
Never in His actions does disrespect shows

I have seen Him both at play and at fight
He has never done a thing that is not right
I have never seen Him do anything without any care
Nor does He possess something, He would not share

He, to me, is goodness incarnate
Volunteered to be mankind’s subordinate
Only to teach men live a life of values
By leading a life bound by virtues

Look at Them, born with royal blood
Sleeping in the open, on grass and mud
At least my Brother is a strong, tough man
Look at my Mother, that noble woman!

She is the heat if my Brother is fire
She, His energy, never lets Him tire
Green, are those memories in the pastures of my mind
The auspicious day, She became His and walked behind”

Lakshman was lost in His memories with a smile
Recollecting the past, he paused for a while
At Guha’s request he began to recite
The incidents, with words, he brought before sight

“My brothers and I had just finished schooling
Brother Ram was learning the nuances of ruling
We were all enjoying our mothers’ foods after long
And spending our times, listening to music and song

We heard from a servant that there was a visitor
Sage Vishwamitra who was a Vedic reciter
A renunciate who had conquered his senses
By performing a number of difficult penances

Even the Gods would stand up in his presence
Afraid of his anger and cursing sentence
Such a sage was being received with reverence
By our father, unaware of an impending severance

The sage blessed my father and revealed his intent
Which made my father lose his calm and content
For the sage wanted Brother Rama to fight
The demons of the jungle for a good fortnight

My father was shocked, and stricken with grief
Fainted on the floor for a moment, brief
He offered himself and his entire troop
But the sage would not loosen the request loop

“Oh, venerable one, please pay heed
I would sent this entire nation for your need
As a warrior, Rama is just a sprouting seed
How do you involve Him in such difficult deed?”

“Like all fathers you too under estimate your son
To equal Him in valour, on this earth, there is none
I have at hand a Yagna to run
I cannot have a crowd around me, as if for fun

Send with me, your son Rama The Brave
My Yagna, for the world’s good, let Him save
I will return Him to you safe and sound
With fame and glory that you will astound”

My father was still reluctant to relent
Utterly baffled by the change of event
Vashishta my father’s preceptor and guide
Reassured my father not to hesitate but abide

“On behalf of Vishwamitra, I give my word
He is a genius full of reason and never absurd
To go with him would be Rama’s privilege
To this request of his, please do oblige”

My father then some how decided to yield
Gifted my Brother and me, weapons to wield
The sage was already out of the palace gate
My father took us to him in a measured gait

With both of us under his arms
Surrounded by people as per royal norms
With a heart half-full, he finally conceded
And along with the crowd he slowly receded

To me it looked like a wave coming to the shore
To deposit its precious pearls on the floor
And then going back to the sea reluctantly
Loosing its enthusiasm, and therefore silently

Our guru, my Brother, and I started to walk
While, above us, flew a wonderful hawk
We entered the forest not before long
Though old, the sage was still going strong

He only stopped in the evening nearby a river
Which proves that nature is a relentless giver
We offered water to the sun before it set
In gratitude for the numerous benefits we get

Our guru taught us two new mantras to chant
Immense strength those mantras would grant
Bala and Athibala they were rightly called
Which would kill hunger and thirst once recalled

We then ended the day and went to sleep
Talking about nature whose glories are very steep
The next day we again started our journey
Which to Brother and me was an exciting tourney

We came across a desert that was dry
Once we entered it, we heard a woman’s cry
Followed by which we saw the owner of the voice
An ugly gigantic figure making unbearable noise

At the top of her voice, she started to scream
Asking us how dare we trespassed her control realm
Stones, trees and boulders she started to pelt
Giving us no choice with the way she could be dealt

Yet my Brother stood like a moral flame
Deciding not to play the violent game
As the attacker was a woman by gender
Violence against women He would not render

Our guru cried, telling Him not to hesitate
And ordered Him for violence to perpetuate
Once He received His guru’s command
The demon could not meet His arrow’s demand

She fell to the floor, like a tree to an axe
Her blood flowed all over like molten wax
The guru appreciated Him with a pat and a smile
And asked me to locate a place to rest for a while

While we rested under a banyan tree
Our noble guru smiled at me
“Your brother is not happy with what happened there
He thinks, to kill a woman is very unfair

Yet because I ordered, He has finished the job
Now for the sake of that lady He wants to sob
This unique quality will earn Him eternal glory
Making men sing with craze His matchless story

Impeccable Ram, always keep this in mind
Towards a demon like that you cannot be kind
You have avenged a thousand widows of the past
Checking the number of widows from becoming vast

A few men like me were allowed to live by her
Since our emaciated bodies lack fat and fur”
My Brother, caressing the Guru’s feet, smiled shy
And nodded His head to show He understood why

That was the very first time, He ever killed
I could see very much that His face had dulled
I could see, for quiet sometime within Him He mulled
And then with reasonable acceptance He became lulled

My heart went out to my Brother more than before
His love wave had washed off my ego, ashore
I decided right then that I would offer Him my soul
And took up being His servant as my life’s only goal

The next day we traveled further witnessing important places
Some Ashrams where God’s had done penance and left their graces
We passed Kamashram where Shiva had burnt Manmathan to ashes
Opening His third eye in anger and emitting fire like flashes

Manmathan had tried to incite in Shiva the burning lust
Disturbed and angry Shiva had burnt him to dust
Some say Vishnu avenged his death by seducing Shiva
By taking the form of Mohini, a beautiful Diva

Shiva realised that conquering the sense
Cannot be done by becoming tense
His pride in being the killer of the love-god vanished
He appreciated the lesson though He was vanquished

We then moved on to Sidhaashram, our destination
And met ascetics who awaited us in anticipation
That was the Ashram where Vamana was born
Who was Maha Vishnu, taken a dwarf-like form

From there He had visited Bali’s Kingdom
While Bali was trying to achieve God-like stardom
By performing a difficult ritual and offering wealth
Which was stopped by Vamana by applying stealth

Vamana, as a Brahmin, went there seeking alms
Holding up in request His chubby little palms
Asked for just three foot steps of land by measure
Which was granted by Bali with utmost pleasure

But once the request was granted, the little man grew
Bali could not believe what he saw was true
The dwarf became a giant and measured the sky
None present there could ask him why

And then He measured the whole of the earth
For Him to take the third step there was dearth
To fulfill the promise, Bali offered his head
Vamana placed the third step on Bali’s head
Pressed Bali down to the world that was nether
This gave to the Devas, their long awaited breather”

Guha was enthralled in hearing such wonderful stories
Lakshman continued to elaborate Lord Rama’s glories
“Our Guru’s assistants set up the place to perform the ritual
Our Guru took up a vow of silence, which for him was habitual

With dexterity and care the Guru started the rite
My brother and I kept vigil, expecting a fight
We were told the demons would anytime arrive
We decided that this time they must not survive

Six days went by without any trouble at sight
On the seventh day we saw demons in flight
They came screaming and yelling, creating hell
My Brother finished all of them in just a spell

Only two of their leaders were left alive then
Who were devastated on seeing all their fallen men
One of them Maricha by name was hit by Brother’s arrow
And was thrown far from sight like a helpless sparrow

Subahu approached us yelping with vengeance and fury
But within a snap of a second Brother finished off his story
The ascetics celebrated their Protector, singing His glory
And carried Him all around the land, which was now gory

The Yagna was completed well with success
The guru praised both of us more than excess
He gifted us with divine missiles for later use
And advised not to use them before trying truce

He then said, “I have one more gift for you”
The smile, while he said that was very new
We followed him on a new journey further east
Completely unaware of the awaiting feast

While we traveled, we came across a hut
Uninhabited and forsaken it remained shut
In the veranda before it, was a frozen stone
Which looked like a woman sitting alone

Brother Ram went nearby to see it close
Wondering how a stone could give, woman’s pose
Some dust from His feet touched the rock
The stone became a woman giving us shock

She fell at my noble Brother’s honourable feet
And worshipped my Brother with a silent greet
My Brother got puzzled and moved behind
To accept worship from elders, He was not inclined

Anyway she remained on the ground with folded palm
With her eyes fixed on my Brother’s feet, she remained calm
My Brother looked at our guru for guidance to seek
While the stone-turned-lady started to speak

“My name is Ahalya, Sage Gauthama’s partner in life
I was cursed by him as I had failed as a wife
By giving in me to Indra’s sensual touches
And enjoyed myself though I knew it were glitches

Indra approached me, taking my husband’s form
Once He touched me I forgot marital norm
Though I realised it was not my husband’s touch
Aroused and in pleasure I remained as such

Realising I relented, my husband cursed me to grief
But considering I was cheated He offered relief
He told my redemption would come through a Holy Feet
That carries the Noblest Soul who would make sins deplete

Thou art that Person who would never flaw
The One taken birth to restore cosmic law
The One who would be the final resort to all
None would go unclean at Your Feet if they fall”

As she was speaking Gauthama arrived there
Giving up grudge and rancour he embraced her
Being re-united they started a life fresh and anew
Thanking my Brother for helping them renew”

My guru gladly appreciated my Brother
For making their heart light like a feather
He said my Brother’s limbs, like the sky, work wonders
Showering both loving rains and punishing thunders”

Awed by the qualities and exploits of Rama
Guha was eager to hear more of the Drama
Lakshman like a child expounded the glories of Ram
Jai Shri Ram! Jai Jai Shri Ram!!

2 comments:

  1. Loved the post!
    Every bit of it...ur blog is now like the mat of hay for Him and Sithai...
    btw, //privileged to perform this coveted feat
    For the Lord’s feet, //
    And oh! u forgot to mention how privileged He felt that she was there, with Him, sharing that mat of hay while she could have easily opted for the comforts of her royal bed...
    That though so-called "fate" deprived the Lord Himself of everything, she was there, with Him...He rules the whole world..and She rules Him in Her own way :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for your encouragement.

    I have praised Mother Sita for making this choice through Lakshman, who can admire her act.

    Lord Rama cannot feel privileged to have Sita with Him. He is not the kind who will want others to go through difficulty for His sake.

    Also, He is not the one who will feel deprived of anything. He only accepted both Mother Sita's and Lakshman's company out of Mercy. They can feel privileged but He cannot feel privileged.

    Please see, Lakshman is the one anxious here. Not Sita. She feels privileged. Lord Rama, He is beyond all these. He is just coll, calm and content. :)

    About Mother Sita ruling Lord Rama, I have substantially elaborated in one of the previous chapters, 'Sita's tiff with Rama'

    How much more do you want me to elaborate on that? May be you will be a lot happier if I rename 'My Lord's Story' as 'My Mother's Story'. :)

    Just Kidding.... :)

    Once again, thanks for your comments and sharing your thoughts.

    ReplyDelete