Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Another Salvation


Lord Rama and Lakshman had walked too long
Lord Rama was pensive about what went wrong
He could not find fault with Himself, His brother, or His Wife
Yet, The Three of them had suffered so much in their life

On one side, He was being treated like a God
On the other side, He was tricked by a fraud
By law, by scriptures, by Dharma, He had never flawed
Yet, by the invisible claws of fate, He was being clawed

He was, on one side, grateful for the good things that came His way
And the good things were the people who loved Him, He would say
But the very same fate that brought them to Him
Also snatched them without informing, as if by whim

He could not understand as to why He should suffer thus
In spite of all the spiritual practices, His mind was now a mess
Thinking about all this, Lord Rama was silent and sad
On seeing the state of his brother, Lakshman felt bad

Lakshman's mind was filled with grief but he did not think why
In Lakshman’s mind, Lord Rama’s face was the only sky
In that sky when the happy sun arises, Lakshman’s mind will be bright
When it is dark with sorrow, Lakshman’s mind will be like at night

It was night, and The Brothers found a place to sleep
Being new moon, the night was very dark and deep
Lakshman made ready, with leaves, for His Brother a bed
Lord Rama slept on it with His folded arms, for His head

Lakshman kept watch, for, insects or snakes may crawl
While to his surprise, he heard a woman’s gentle call
When he looked around searchingly, he saw a woman, dark
Coming closer to Lakshman, she said she wanted to lark

On seeing her, Lakshman was not in the least perturbed
But He did not want his Brother’s peaceful sleep disturbed
Signalling her to come to a place that was quiet
He humbly and strongly told her to behave right

“Lady! Go away from here, for, you may be tortured
I do not like beings like you, who are ill natured
Wanting my Brother to peacefully sleep, I stay awake intently
Without disturbing us, and getting hurt, you go away contently”

But the lady, named Ayomukhi, would not listen
She tried to hug Lakshman showing her teeth’s glisten
Already feeling sorry for Surphanaka, Lakshman pushed her aside
But the fallen Ayomukhi, on the ground, would not passively reside

She again tried to hug him and vehemently pulled
Lakshman drew out his knife, and on her face he tilled
Hurt badly and bleeding profusely, she ran away shouting
From the ears and nose that were cut, blood was spouting

On hearing her shouts, Lord Rama awoke
On Lakshman’s absence, His Heart felt a choke
Disturbed was His mind, by the lady’s crying voice
He called out to Lakshman with a broken voice

On hearing his Brother’s call, Lakshman quickly went
On seeing His brother’s face, Lord Rama’s fear did vent
“What happened? Lakshman! Where have you been?
I was completely unnerved, for, you were not seen!”

Lakshman narrated about the woman who was gruff
Lord Rama appreciated Lakshman for being tough
About how danger could anytime creep,
They talked for sometime and went to sleep

The sleep after that, for Lord Rama, was a gentle stream
He saw His beautiful Wife, by His side, in a pleasant dream
The next day morning, Lord Rama woke, calling out Her name
Shocked on seeing, His dream and reality were not the same

He sat silently for sometime digesting the truth that was bitter
He then, as per routine, worshipped the sun, and felt much better
The Brothers started the journey immediately after eating fruits
They kept walking for long through wild animals’ roaming routes

They had crossed the area, where with trees, the forest flushes
And were now walking on an area full of rocks, shrubs, and bushes
As They walked, They saw a tentacled being coming towards them
Before The Brothers could realise, what it was, it gripped them

The Brothers realised, They were gripped by a gigantic hand
And when it dragged, They could not resist or firmly stand
A weird creature was dragging Them to death, They saw
Towards its wide open mouth which had teeth like saw

It was like a big ball with one eye, which was red
Whether it was sitting or lying could not be said
It had two hands that were long, flexible like a snake
And it had a mouth in its stomach, for food to take

Lord Rama, to fight, had no mood
He decided, for the creature, to become food
Allowing Himself to be dragged, to Lakshman, He talked
Lakshman to escape somehow and go back home, He asked

“You have done so much for Me Lakshman, please escape
Let Me become food for the creature, whose mouth is agape
I am so unlucky, and for Me, You should not anymore suffer
A life, with Our mothers and your young wife, you must prefer”

On hearing Lord Rama say such things, Lakshman’s throat choked
With his sword, on the hand that was dragging His Brother, he poked
He poked it so hard that the hand, to the ground, was pinned and tied
The creature that was dragging Lord Rama, painfully, yelled and cried

Lord Rama was free, and Lakshman was being dragged
On seeing which, Lord Rama’s Heart deeply sagged
Lakshman lost heart and thought his death was close
As if bidding farewell to his Brother, his words he chose

“Brother! To be Your Brother, I know I was fortunate
Forgive me if I had anytime erred and behaved obstinate
I wanted to die with You, serving You till Your life is at brink
Now, I want You to live long! And often about me, please do think”

On hearing Lakshman say thus, Lord Rama’s tears burst
He ran drawing His sword as His anger was at its worst
Before Lakshman could enter the creature’s mouth, He leapt
The hand was cut, and by profuse blood the ground was swept

Lord Rama hugged Lakshman like His long lost wealth
In each others’ hugs, Their contentment was restored to health
They then looked at the creature, thinking, ‘what must be done next’
To their surprise, it started to talk as if reading from its heart a text

“Lord! I am Kabandha, wealthy Dhanu’s son
I am sorry, for Your life, I gave You a run
You Both are Ram and Lakshman, am I right?
I am blessed, for, You Two have come to my sight”

Lord Rama and Lakshman were surprised by his talk at first
But they remembered Viradha who was in a salvation quest
To Kabandha’s question, Lord Rama nodded
Wanting to know more, Lord Rama prodded

“Lord! Previous to this birth, I had good looks
But I did not care to be in sages’ good books
I took ugly forms and threatened all sages
And took much delight in provoking their rages

One sage, named Sthoolasiras, lost his patience
And I had to take, with ugly form, another nascence
In this birth, I performed severe penance
Brahma made my bodily strength enhance

I became arrogant due to my unlimited strength
I performed many anarchic activities at length
Once, Indra, the king of gods, in war I tried to win
Indra hit me with Vajrayudha and my head went in

My head and legs went in and stayed in my bosom
Yet, without tearing, all parts were wholesome
With my head sunk, I could not see, eat, or hear
I begged, pleaded and asked for forgiveness in fear

Indra out of mercy granted me an eye and mouth
And he told me to go down and live in the south
He also granted me hands that were long
So that, I can grab animals and eat, to live long

Indra already said that, by You Both, my hands will be cut
And that I would regain my original form, after that”
When Kabandha said so, Lord Rama was intrigued
About the information that His future was prologued

“Lord! Indra asked me to give You one more information
But my memory is vague and about it, I have no confirmation
If You could cremate me by digging a pit and building a pyre,
I can regain my original form as my sins will be burnt by fire”

As per Kabandha’s request, Lord Rama and Lakshmana did
Kabandha rose up from the fire, and the information he said
“Lord! I realise You have lost Your Wife, that noble Woman
She had been abducted by Ravana, the very wicked demon

A monkey named Sugriva, You must befriend
That friendship will change Your life’s trend
Before that, an austere woman, Sabari, You must meet
She has been waiting long for You, so that She can greet”

Saying thus, Kabandha wished them success all the way
Happy that, some useful information, to The Lord, he could say
He then disappeared after falling at The Holy Feet of Ram!
Hailing the Lord, by saying, “Jai Shri Ram! Jai Jai Shri Ram!!”

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