The Ramayana (82 page)

The Wind God brought a garland of unfading lotuses from the scented pools in Indra's Nandana, and a necklace of pearls that were like drops of the moon. Then down the celestial path came more irradiant Devas to bless Rama. They all brought unearthly gifts, and Ayodhya shone for leagues around.

The Earth glowed when Rama was crowned king in Ayodhya. Nature was a riot of color; the forests burst into unseasonable flower, the rivers seemed to sing. The sky was clear as the hearts of rishis, and the sea blessed Rama's coronation with hymnal waves.

When the Devas returned to their mandalas by the sky paths of light, Rama gave away lavish gifts to the brahmanas of his sabha. Cows and horses he gave, gold and priceless ornaments. He gave Sugriva an invaluable necklace of gemstones, which he had inherited from his Ikshvaku sires. With his own hands Rama tied golden bracelets around Angada's arms, and another shimmering necklace around Vibheeshana. The four ministers of Lanka, and Neela, Nala, Dwividha, and the other vanara heroes, all had fabulous gifts from him.

Seated on her throne beside Rama, Sita undid a string of pearls from around her own throat. A hush fell on the sabha. Rama glanced at her, and he knew what was in her heart.

He said aloud, “Give your necklace to the one in this sabha who you think is all that an immaculate warrior should be. Let him be endowed with the rarest gifts of character the Gods bestow. Let him be calm and famous, valiant and skillful, truthful and persevering, intelligent and wise. Place your necklace around him whose vision is prophetic and whose insight is deep as the ocean. Think carefully before you give away the ornament you hold; for it has come to you from your mothers.”

Sita rose and with no hesitation tied the priceless heirloom around Hanuman's neck. The sabha burst into applause. Hanuman stood blushing brightly, his heart alight.

All the vanaras who had fought on Lanka were given precious gifts by Rama and Sita and by their mothers and brothers as well. Now the feasting and the other celebrations began, and they lasted a month. Rama's people took their new friends from the jungle into their homes and their hearts.

*   *   *

At the end of the month, Sugriva and Vibheeshana came to Rama in his palace. Embracing him, they took tearful leave, promising to visit him again soon and eliciting his solemn word that he would also visit them in Kishkinda and Lanka.

Most poignant was the leave-taking between Rama and Hanuman. In a rare show of emotion, the son of the wind fell sobbing at Rama's feet. Then he prostrated himself before Sita. Only when they had both blessed him did he rise, wiping his eyes.

Like a great river, the vanaras flowed away to their jungle in the south. By now they were eager to be home. They were wild folk, and longed to be in the bosom of the earth again, among living plant and tree, beside charmed pools, along flowing streams, and under sage mountains, where their natural, primitive lives waited for them.

Rama saw Vibheeshana off in his own chariot, with Sumantra as his sarathy and a small army to see him safely to the shores of Lanka. Rama and his brothers stood for a long time at the gates of Ayodhya, waving to the friends who had become so intimately involved in their lives and their destiny. Rama had tears in his eyes, remembering that but for Sugriva's vanaras and the timely wisdom of Vibheeshana, victory would have eluded him. And Ravana would still be ruling the earth.

When the last wave of monkeys and their women had passed out of sight, Rama turned back to his palace. He called Lakshmana. The king took his brother's hand and said, “Rule this ancient land with me. Let me crown you yuvaraja.”

But Lakshmana smiled and gently withdrew his hand. “Kingdom is not for me. When you sit upon the throne of Ayodhya, it is as if I sit there myself. Bharata has experience of ruling; he deserves the crown of the yuvaraja more than I do.”

Rama pressed him again and again. Bharata came and begged him; but Lakshmana would not hear of it. Quietly he insisted that Kaikeyi's son be crowned yuvaraja.

Thus began Rama's reign, Ramarajya, when Vishnu's Avatara ruled the world for ten thousand perfect years. And Swarga above and Bhumi below, heaven and earth, were truly as one.

AUM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI.

BOOK SEVEN

UTTARA KANDA

{The book of the north}

 

1. In Rama's sabha

When Rama was crowned king in Ayodhya, the rishis of the four quarters came to bless him. Kaushika, Yavakrita, Gargya, Gadava, Kanva, and Muni Medhatithi's son: all these holy ones who dwelt in the east came to the sabha of the House of the Sun. From the west came Nrisangu, Kavasa, Dhaumya, and Kauseya. From the south came Swastayatreya, Namuchi, Pramuchi, Agastya, Sumukha, and Vimukha. From the north, and with their disciples, came Vasishta, Kashyapa, Viswamitra, Atri, Gautama, Jamadagni, and Bharadvaja: seven sages.

Led by Agastya, the rishis were announced and led into Rama's sabha. They were radiant as the rising sun, and Rama offered them padya and arghya. Soon they were seated in his ancient court on darbhasanas covered in deerskin.

One of the wise said, “We have heard about your great exploit in Lanka, Rama; we are amazed that Lakshmana and you could kill Ravana's son Indrajit.”

In mild surprise, Rama asked, “Munis, does it surprise you more that we killed Indrajit than that we killed his father Ravana and his uncle Kumbhakarna? Why, my lords?”

With a smile, Agastya said, “Indrajit was invincible. But Rama, perhaps you do not know very much about that rakshasa prince, or even his father. Let me tell you about their clan.

“It was in the krita yuga, an age ago, that the Muni Pulastya lived in the world. He was Brahma's son, and resembled the Pitamaha in every quality. All the Gods blessed Pulastya and he came to Mount Meru, to an asrama that belonged to King Trinabindu upon the slopes of the golden mountain, and dwelt there in tapasya for an age.

“But the Rajarishi Trinabindu's asrama was like a bit of heaven fallen into the world. Unearthly trees grew here, and there were lakes and pools whose water was like amrita. So it was that the daughters of rishis, and naginas, gandharvis, kinnaris, and apsaras came to bathe, sing, and frolic in the enchanted hermitage. The young women disturbed Pulastya's dhyana, and he said in anger, ‘Let any woman whom my eyes see here become pregnant.'

“And in fear the apsaras, kinnaris, gandharvis, rishis' daughters, and the other young women no longer visited that asrama. But King Trinabindu's daughter did not hear about Pulastya's curse. She arrived in her father's sanctuary on a clear morning in spring, and she heard the Vedas being chanted sonorously in a voice more fine and reverberant than any she had ever heard. Innocently, the princess came and stood before the godlike rishi she saw sitting under an unworldly nyagrodha tree.

“Pulastya's angry gaze fell upon Trinabindu's exquisite daughter, and at once she felt the strangest sensation in her loins and her belly. She turned as pale as a lodhra flower and ran in fear from the sage under his tree. The princess came trembling before her father, and he asked her, ‘What happened to you, my child?'

“Tears in her eyes, she said, ‘I do not know what happened to me, father. But I wandered into Pulastya Muni's asrama, and when he looked at me I felt my body change, even as if it was not my own any more.'

“Trinabindu lapsed into dhyana, and in his meditation he saw what had happened. He learned of Pulastya's curse. Taking his daughter with him, he went to the rishi's asrama. He said to Brahma's son, ‘Lord, I have brought my daughter to you. She will serve you faithfully and look after your every need.'

“Pulastya, who saw clearly through time, knew it was destined that the princess should remain with him. He looked at her for just a moment before he said to Trinabindu, ‘Leave her with me.'

“Thus King Trinabindu's daughter became the Muni Pulastya's wife. She looked after him so lovingly that one day soon the rishi said to her, ‘You are a good wife and I am pleased with you. You shall be the mother of my son.'

“And in time she gave birth to a truly brilliant child. Since she had listened every day to her husband chanting the Veda when she was pregnant, their boy was named Visravas. He was a remarkable boy, knowing and gentle even when he was young, and compassionate to every living creature.

“Visravas learned the Veda from his father, and quickly he also became a master of tapasya. He was pure and restrained, above every temptation of the flesh, and the great Bharadvaja gave his daughter, Devavarnini, who was as lovely as any apsara, to be Visravas's wife. Visravas fathered a splendid son on Devavarnini, and that boy resembled his father so much the rishis of Devaloka named him Vaisravana.

“Vaisravana went into a tapovana and sat in dhyana in that forest's heart like a flame upon the earth. He grew like a sacred fire fed with ghee. For a thousand years he sat in unflinching penance. He began by living on just water, then on only the air he breathed; and finally he did not respire any more, but was perfectly quiescent. The thousand years passed like a single one.

“At the end of a thousand years, Brahma himself, and Indra and his Devas, appeared before Vaisravana. The Pitamaha asked his great-grandson, ‘My child, tell me what boon you want from me. You can have anything.'

“Vaisravana said, ‘Lord, make me a guardian of the world, a Lokapala. And let me be a protector of the earth, a Lokarakshaka.'

“Brahma said, ‘I was about to create the fourth Lokapala. So now, you be that guardian. Be the Lord of wealth; be an equal to Indra, Varuna, and Yama.'

“The Creator raised his hands in a mystic mudra, and suddenly the most wonderful ship of the sky appeared above him, quiet as flowers, bright as a sun, quick as light. Brahma said to Vaisravana, This is the pushpaka vimana. From now on, you shall travel in it, wherever you wish to go.'

“Raising their hands over the kneeling Vaisravana, Brahma and the Devas vanished from the forest of his tapasya. Just then, Visravas arrived there to bless his son.

“Vaisravana said to his father, ‘Brahma has made me a Lokapala. He has given me this marvelous vimana. But he has not told me where I will live. You tell me where I can dwell without harming any living creature.'

“Visravas said, ‘A hundred yojanas out on the southern ocean, and to the east of Bharatavarsha, there is a mountain called Trikuta. Upon its summit is a splendid city called Lanka. Viswakarman created Lanka for the race of rakshasas to live in, just as he made Amravati for the Devas. Lanka has battlements of gold and silver moats surround it. Its portals are encrusted with precious cat's-eyes. Long ago, the rakshasas fled Lanka for fear of Vishnu, and the city lies empty. You can live in Lanka, my son, without harming any of the living.'

“And so, Vaisravana, the pious Lord of treasures, began living in the deserted city of Lanka, upon the jade island of that name. Such was his dharma that he shone like another sun on the earth. Soon, drawn by his grace, a race of unearthly beings, the nairritas, came to Lanka, and they became Vaisravana's people. His fame, and his city's, spread through the world like the scent of flowers upon the wind. Lanka was a focus of fortune on earth. Its master journeyed wherever he pleased, through the three realms, in his pushpaka vimana. Most of all, he went frequently to visit his mother and his father in their asrama in Bharatavarsha,” said Agastya Muni in Rama's court.

 

2. The race of rakshasas

Rama seemed surprised by what Agastya said. He asked, “My lord, I had heard the race of rakshasas was descended from Pulastya. But now, you say the rakshasas lived in Lanka before Vaisravana went there. Were those rakshasas as powerful as Ravana and his clan? Who was their ancestor, Muni? Why did Vishnu drive them out from Lanka?”

Agastya replied, “In the beginning, Prajapati was born of the first waters of the origin, in the lotus sprung from Vishnu's navel. He entered the sacred waters and created the first creatures in them. Those great creatures were savaged by hunger and thirst, and they came howling to their Creator. They cried, ‘We are in pain; what shall we do?'

“Laughing, Prajapati said to them, ‘You must protect the waters with your very lives.'

“Some of his creatures said, ‘We shall.' Others cried, ‘We must eat!'

“Prajapati said to those who would be protectors, ‘You shall be called rakshasas.' To those who would eat, he said, ‘You shall be called yakshas.'

“Among the leaders of the rakshasas were two mighty brothers, Heti and Paheti, who lived at the same time as the dreadful Madhu and Kaitabha. Paheti was a pious rakshasa, and he went into a tapovana and sat in tapasya. Heti wanted a wife. He was married to Yama's sister, Bhaya, whose very name meant fear. Heti fathered a son called Vidyutkesa.

“Vidyutkesa grew like a lotus in the holy and original waters. When he was full-grown, Heti had him married to Sandhya Devi's daughter, Salakatankata, and Vidyutkesa enjoyed his bride as Indra does Paulomi. She conceived, and climbed Mount Mandara to give birth. Just as Ganga brought forth the Lord Karttikeya when Agni left Siva's seed in her water, Salakatankata delivered a powerful child on the mountain. But she was so eager to make love again with her husband, after her long pregnancy, that she abandoned the child and returned to Vidyutkesa.

“The child, bright as the autumn sun, put his hand into his mouth and cried softly. That sound was like the rumbling of the thunderheads of the dissolution. It happened that Siva and Parvati were passing in the sky at that moment, riding on Nandisvara. Parvati heard the abandoned rakshasa child, Sukesa, crying; she was so moved she made him full-grown in a moment and immortal as well. Uma also blessed all rakshasa women with a boon: that their children shall be born as soon as they are conceived, so they would not be deprived of even a day's lovemaking, which they are so addicted to. Also, Parvati blessed the race of rakshasas, that all their children shall be full-grown as soon as they are born.