[Advaita-l] saMkShepa rAmAyaNa 3 - ayodhyakANDam

[jaldhar at braincells.com]

॥ अयोध्यकाण्डम् ॥

तमेवंगुणसंपन्नं रामं सत्यपराक्रमम् ॥१९॥
ज्येष्टं श्रेष्टगुणैर्युक्तं प्रियं दशरथः सुतम् ।
प्रकृतीनाम् हितैर्युक्तं प्रकृतिप्रियकाम्यया ॥२०॥
यौवराज्येन संयोक्तुमैच्छत्प्रीत्या महीपतिः ।

“rAma who possesses all good qualities and true valor is the eldest, best 
qualified and most beloved son of dasharatha. With a desire to promote the 
welfare of the people, the lord of the Earth[1] decided to install him as 
crown prince.”(19b-21a)

[1] dasharatha by performing the ashvamedha yaGYa and conquering all the 
other kings earned the title of samrATa or emperor.

तस्याभिषेक संभारान्दृष्ट्वा भार्याथ कैकयी ॥२१॥
पूर्वं दत्तवरा देवी वरमेनमयाचत ।
विवासनं च रामस्य भरतस्यभिषेचनम् ॥२२॥

“Thereafter, having seen the preparations for the installation, his wife 
queen kaikeyI[1] who had been promised earlier a boon by dasaratha[2], 
demanded of him the exile of rAma and enthronement of bharata[3].”(21b - 22)

[1] Apart from kausalyA, dasharatha had two other wives.
[2] KaikeyI having a warriors spirit would accompany her husband into 
battle.  Once, the axle of his chariot broke leaving them in mortal danger 
in the midst of the enemy.  KaikeyI put her own left arm (which had been 
blessed by a R^iShi to be as strong as the vajra or thunderbolt of indra.) 
through the wheel as a temporary axle saving their lives.  In gratitude, 
dasharatha gave her the boon of anything she wanted.
[3] kaikeyI had one son, bharata.  Note this is not the bharata whom 
bhArata is named after.

स सत्य वचनाद्राजा धर्मपाशेन संयतः ।
विवासयामास सुतं रामं दशरथः प्रियम् ॥२३॥

“dasharatha, true to his word and restrained by the bonds of dharma, sent 
his beloved son rAma to the forest.”(23)

स जगाम वनमं वीरः प्रतिज्ञामनुपालयन् ।
पितुर्वचननिर्देशात्कैकेय्याः प्रियकारणात् ॥२४॥

“Mighty rAma in order to please kaikeyI and obey the command of his 
father, went to the forest and helped the king to keep his promise to 
kaikeyI.”(24)

तं व्रजन्तं प्रियो भ्राता लक्ष्मणोऽनुजगाम ह ।
स्नेहाद्विनयसंपन्नः सुमित्रानन्दवर्धनः ॥२५॥
भ्रातरं दयितो भ्रातुः सौभ्रात्रमनुदर्शयन् ।

“As he departed for the forest, his beloved brother lakShmaNa , who is 
modest, courteous and the increaser of the joy of sumitrA[1], displaying 
his fraternal love, followed him.”(25-26a)

[1] dasharatha’s third wife is sumitrA whose sons are lakShmaNa and 
shatrughna.

रामस्य दयिता भार्या नित्यं प्राण समा हिता ॥२६॥
जनकस्य कुले जाता देवमायेव निर्मिता ।
सर्वलक्षणसंपन्ना नारीणामुत्तमा वधूः ॥२७॥
सीताप्यनुगता रामं शशिनं रोहिणी यथा ।

“rAma’s beloved wife equal to his own breath, who always did what was best 
for him, born in the family of janaka[1], and created like devamAyA[2], 
possesor of all auspicious characteristics[3], the best among  women, sItA 
also followed rAma as rohiNI follows the moon[4].”(26b-28a)

[1] As we had discussed on the list some time ago, janaka the father of 
sItA is not the same person as the janaka who was the patron of 
yAGYAvalkya but an earlier king of the same dynasty of videha.
[2] i.e. beautifule.  devamAyA or viShNumAya is the bewitching power of 
bhagavAn.
[3] See my note to shloka 11.
[4] The 27 nakShatras of the zodiac, rohiNI etc. are the wives of 
somadeva. The star rohiNI is the one called Alpha Taurii or Al Deberan.


-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>