Bits of life

J-10 Words-1700

at the animal, the more enamored she became. She stopped playing and addressed her husband thus:
“O Rama of the noble line of Raghu! I am longing to have that lovely doe as my playmate. Isn’t she adorable? Go get it for me right now. This is my request. Won’t you please oblige me?”

Rama smiled at his wife and said, “my loving Janaki (Janaka’s daughter, therefore Janaki), you know I cannot deny anything you ask for. I am going to catch that quick footed animal this minute and give it to you for your pleasure.”

So saying he turned to Lakshmana and said,
“Brother Lakshmana, don’t leave the ashram under any circumstances. Don’t be concerned for me. I will definitely return safely. Keep watch and don’t stir from your sister-in-law’s side.”
So saying Rama went running in the direction where he saw the female dear that sparkled like spun gold in the morning sun.

After sometime, Sita and Lakshmana heard the voice of Rama crying out,
“oh, Sita, oh Lakshmana! I am in danger. Come and help me, oh, oh, oh no, I am going to lose….”
They heard the voice that sounded exactly like that of Rama, and both were alarmed. But Lakshmana did not doubt that Rama would be safe and that he was capable of taking care of himself. Yet, Sita was beside herself with anxiety. So she started urging Lakshmana to go after that voice which she swore was that of her husband.

“Dear Lakshmana my brother, please listen to me. Go after your brother. He may be in danger and requires your help. Something must have happened to him. Why would he take our names otherwise?”
Lakshmana did not budge from his earlier position as a vigilant of the ashram and sita’s safety
When Lakshmana did not pay heed to what she said, Sita got angry with him and tried to blame him for something he was innocent of. She said he wanted his brother Rama to die so he could become the king of Kosala and several other uncalled for suspicious allegations.

Lakshmana felt hurt and sorrowful at his sister-in-law’s words which were like sharp barbs for him. He decided to go in search of his brother for her sake. He knew nothing would hurt Sree Rama. He had more confidence in his brother than Sita. Before leaving Lakshmana said to Sita,
“Oh mother Sita! I am going only to satisfy you. I am disobeying my brother Rama’s command. He asked me not to leave you alone in this hut by yourself. Yet you are obstinate that I should go and you have accused me of wrong doings. I cannot bear your accusations any more. So I am leaving. Before I leave I have request to make to you.”

“What is it brother Lakshmana?” asked Sita.
Lakshmana took a piece of chalk in his hands and draw a line before the hermitage. He said,
“Dear sister-in-law, don’t come out of this line. Stay within. Don’t cross it come what may.” He extracted a promise from Sita to this effect. Then he too left in search of his brother Rama. Sita went within and stayed there thinking of what might have happened to her husband.

Soon she heard the voice of a mendicant begging for alms. The voice was insistent and the edge was rough with anger. Sita came out and looked at the tall sanyasi (a man who renunciated the world, or a rishi) with her eyes widened. Ravana looked at her decided to take her away as soon as possible. He felt the strong desire to possess this extraordinarily beautiful lady. As an asura or rakshasa he had no morals no ethics. Asuras were epicureans. They drank, ate and mated as they wished. No one could disobey them because of their monstrous personalities and abnormal temper and nature. They were proud, overbearing and harsh in their behavior.
The tall mendicant talked to Vaidehi (Sita was the daughter of the king of Videha, therefore the name, Vaidehi) thus:

“O, woman of unparalleled virtue! Come and grant me some alms. I can cook the grain you will give me and fill this weak stomach of mine.”
He stood before the parnashala without moving. Janaki said, she could not cross the line drawn by her brother-in-law Lakshmana ( in the Ramayana, the line drawn by Lakshmana was Lakshmana rekha). Lakshmana prevented her from crossing the line.

Then the tall impressive guy who was dressed like a rishi tried to cross the line. At once there came up an inferno and the man was taken aback by the power of the line. He withdrew quickly and said to her,
“Look lady of rare beauty! I warn you. If cannot give a little something to the sanyasi begging for alms, you might fall into misfortune. You cannot deny a hungry man a humble meal. It is a basic need. To fulfill my need you could cross the line and drop something into this satchel of mine.”

So saying he kept quiet and did not move from where he stood.
Sita was in fix. She could not decide whether to cross the line and give the mendicant a little rice or just ignore his foreboding words and be silent. As she debated within herself, the rishi started talking to her in an angry tone.

“If you cannot give me a little food then I am going to curse you and your family.”
Now Sita could not hesitate. She went in and brought some rice in a bowl and crossed the line drawn by Lakshmana. She sealed her fate at once by disobeying the words of Lakshmana.
As she put her hand forward to pour the rice into the small cloth bag proffered by the rishi, he changed his guise. He transformed himself from a humble looking mendicant to the ten-headed asura king Ravana. Sita lost her consciousness at once and was caught in the arms of Ravana who laughed his head off thinking of the easy way by which he could cheat all the three human beings responsible for the making his sister Surpanakha suffer injury and insult. He flew away into the air with Sita in one arm and the other carrying his famous weapon, the mace.

Let us see go back to the ashram of Rama and Lakshmana and see the fate they were suffering from.
Lakshmana who went in search of his brother Rama went deep into the forest and looked for him everywhere. At quite a distance he found his brother Rama standing near the body of a rakshasa poised with his bow and arrows.

On seeing his brother Lakshmana, Rama said,
“Brother Lakshmana, why did you come here? I have specifically asked you not to move from the side of your sister-in-law. She is too delicate to take of herself. Why did you come?”
Lakshmana narrated the whole episode of how Sita accused him of wrong doing for not responding to her persuasion to go after her husband who cried out for help, whose voice of utter dismay moved and frightened his wife, Sita. He also told Rama of the line he drew for her not to cross, as the last resort of her safety.
Rama felt sorry and was worried beyond words for sita’s safety. He told Lakshmana of what happened after he went after the golden skinned doe as requested by his wife. After running a distance, Rama wanted to capture the dear with a single harmless arrow. The arrow hit the doe and at once the doe changed its shape into that of an asura. He assumed the voice of Rama and cried out loudly, “Oh Sita, oh Lakshmana, come and help me. I am about to die.”

They came to know that this asura was the second son of Thataka whom Rama killed during his stay with sage Viswamitra and guarded his yaga with the other rishis of the forest. His name was Maricha. Ravana, the demon king persuaded him to assume the shape of an attractive doe or a female deer to attract and fascinate Sita, Rama’s wife. It was a successful plan and the rest of the story was witnessed by the readers.
Rama and Lakshmana hurried back to the ashram and found it deserted. They cried out for Sita and found her nowhere. Rama was like a mad man hit by unexpected sorrow for his wife, his better half. He repented that he should not have brought her to the forest, he should not have let her come with him, and that he should have forced her to stay back in Ayodhya.

Both brothers wandered the hill side aimlessly crying for Sita and asking every tree and hill if it had seen her. Rama’s attachment to Sita was well depicted in this scene when a strong and brave person can lose heart if he missed a loved one. His deep love and craving for Sita were brought to surface in this part of the Ramayana.
As they went on and on without paying attention to their condition or weather, they came across an almost half dead buzzard. The buzzard spotted the brothers and recognized them to be the sons of Dasaratha who was a dear friend of his.
He raised himself with effort and spoke to Rama in human voice thus:

“O Rama, come here. Listen to what I say carefully. My name is Jatayu. I am a close friend of your father Dasaratha. We were chums in our youth. Together we enjoyed hunting and moved pretty close. Coming to the point, I have just seen your wife, the beautiful daughter-in-law of my friend Dasaratha being carried away by the asura king, the ten headed Ravana on the airway. I flew up and tried my best to stop the evil king from taking away your wife. I fought to the best of my ability but I am too old and too frail to withstand the strength and youth of a rakshasa king. I don’t have much time. I somehow kept myself alive so I could see and let you know the news of your missing wife.”