The Vimana took off commanded by Rama and it moved in the sky as a cloud pushed by the wind.
Valmiki gives a beautiful
description of the flight. Through Rama he describes the various places, the
Vimana flies over. Though Sita was brought by Ravana also in a chariot, which
also moved in the sky, she was mostly unconscious and so did not see anything
at all. So Rama now describes to Sita the various places that they were flying
through. It is a running commentary as it were. Reading the description one
is led to believe that such a machine existed in that period. It is of course
difficult to prove its existence, as it is to prove the contrary.
Rama described the landmarks
as the Vimana flew over the various places. He showed her Lanka which was built
on Trikoota Hill and which was very beautiful before the war. Rama said “Sita
look at the battlefield covered with the flesh and blood of both the Vanara and
Rakshasa armies. It is here that the wicked king Ravana was lying dead killed
by me to avenge what he did to you. I killed Kumbhakarna, Prahasta, and others
there and Hanuman killed the Rakshasa Dhoomraksha. It was on this spot that
Lakshmana killed Indrajit. Angada killed Vikata here”. Thus he described the
various war scenes to Sita. Rama pointed out where Mandodari fell over Ravana’s
body and cried and where hundreds of Ravana’s ladies had gathered to mourn his
death.
Then they reached the sea
and Rama said, “For your sake the dam was built on the sea which was indeed a
feat. Look at the sea, which is shore less and filled with conches, pearls and
so on. Janaki looks at that Mainaka Mountain which comes up splitting the sea as
it were. Hanuman rested on it while crossing the ocean. You can see the shore
of sea which is called Setubandham and which looks so picturesque and was
blessed by Lord Shiva. Vibheeshana came here to meet me”.
It is perhaps appropriate to
mention briefly about Rameshwaram at this point. Rameshwaram along with Kashi
(Varanashi) are only too well known to every Hindu household. Generally one
alludes to Valmiki Ramayana when one talks about Rameshwaram. Strangely Valmiki
does not make any mention of this specifically as we shall see. The
mythological account of Rameshwaram should therefore come from some Puranas.
The mythological story of Rameshwaram, which is well known, is briefly as
follows.
Rameshwaram is located on a
small island just at the tip of India in the south that is close to Sri Lanka.
It is here that the famous Ramasetu was built and the presence of stones still
visible today are attributed to the remnants of this bridge built by Rama using
the Vanara army. NASA has taken a satellite photograph and attests to a manmade
structure there. It is generally referred to as Adam’s Bridge, which is
unfortunate. Several other proofs exist now (for example the structure is built
on the coral bed which itself is on a sandy ground and corals are known not to form
on the sandy ground hence artificial) to show that it was a man-made structure and
it is beyond the scope to describe them here.
Kanchi Maha Swami has said
that Rama first offered worship to Lord Vinayaka at a village now called
Uppoor. Then Rama offered worships to Navagrahas at a place to day known as
Devipattinam. Then Rama reached a marshy land known as Darbharanyam (forest of
darbha grass) where he worshipped Lord Shiva and received Astras from him. It
was there that Nala built the bridge as we had described earlier.
After vanquishing Ravana,
Rama was afflicted by the sin of killing a Brahmin because Ravana was the great
grandson of Lord Brahma. So according to mythology Rama again came to
Rameshwaram on his way back from Sri Lanka. Rama wanted to consecrate a shrine
for Shiva to wash off the Brahmahatti sin. Hanuman was sent to the Himalayas to
fetch a Linga but as he was late Rama asked Sita to make a Lingam and she made
a Lingam out of sand known as Ramalinga. Rama offered worship to that.
Meanwhile, Hanuman returned from Shiva’s abode with two Lingams. He was
disappointed that Rama had already finished his worship and became angry. Rama
pacified Hanuman and installed a Lingam brought by Hanuman from Kailas to the
left of Ramalinga. Rama ordained that one should first worship this Lingam
brought by Hanuman then the Ramalinga, a practice that is followed even today.
Now let us examine Valmiki
Ramayana for some reference to the above mythological version. Let us consider
the Yudha Kanda, Sarga126. In the verse 18, Rama tells Sita as they are flying
over “Sita look at the holy Mainaka Mountain which came out of the sea to let
Hanuman take some rest”. In the verse 19 he says, “In the middle of the sea
this is where the army rested”. In the verse 20 Rama says, “You see the famous
and holy Setu Bridge ‘Setu Bandham’ on the sea shore. In the next verse 21 in
just one line Rama concludes, “Here all powerful Lord Shiva blessed (me)”. If
one analyses these four verses one can see that the middle of the sea where the
army rested should refer to an island. It was here that the construction of
Setu Bridge started and where Lord Shiva should have blessed Rama. This island
could be the only spot where present Rameshwaram is situated. Also Rama points
this to Sita only after the Pushpaka Vimana had crossed the ocean and
approaching the main land. “This is where” said Rama to Sita “Vibheeshana came
and surrendered to me”. All these point out clearly to the location of
Rameshwaram without mentioning it as such. However Valmiki does not describe
anything more about the place. The details are hidden as it were in just two
verses.
As it stands today
Rameshwaram is still an island as one can see as one comes from Ramanathapuram
and crosses the sea using the Pamban Bridge. However Rama and the Vanara army
had reached this place without having to cross the sea. At least Valmiki does
not mention any such thing. Therefore it could be concluded that in those times
it could perhaps be easily reached by walking across. Probably the sea was very
shallow. Since Rama calls it an island there must have been water separating it
from the mainland.
However, Valmiki does not at
all say that the Pushpaka Vimana landed in Rameshwaram on their way back to Ayodhya
and that Rama worshipped Lord Shiva to purify himself. As we shall see below
Rama in fact rushed to meet Bharata on time and the first and only place he
halted after he left Lanka according to Valmiki was Kishkindha to pick up the
wives of the Vanara chiefs. So we have no proof from Valmiki about Rama
performing any worship to Shiva Lingam to wash off his sins after killing
Ravana. So as I mentioned earlier the story is mythological and taken probably
from the Puranas. It is useful to bear this in mind.
Then Rama pointed to Sita
the place in Kishkindha where Vali was killed by him. Sita expressed her desire
to meet the Vanara ladies and to take them also to Ayodhya. Rama acceded to her
request and landed there and asked Sugreeva to order all the Vanara chiefs to
come and join them along with their wives. Accordingly Sugreeva instructed Tara
who brought all the Vanaras who were so happy to meet Sita and visit Ayodhya.
They all wondered at Sita’s beauty and worshipped her and got into the Vimana.
The Vimana rose up and
resumed its flight. Rama showed Sita the Rishyamooka Mountain, which was
beautifully covered with various rich minerals of gold (Rama says that it was
shining like a cloud with lightning) where he said he had first met Sugreeva
and became friends. Then he pointed to Sita the lovely forest near the Pampa
Lake and said that he had wept so much thinking of her. It is indeed very
touching that Valmiki gives such a realistic picture. Even Rama suffered from
the pangs of separation from his dear wife. Even though he was an incarnation
of Lord Vishnu he behaved like a mortal. Rama told Sita how he had killed the
mighty rakshasa Kabandha there. Then Rama said “My beauty, it was here that
Jatayu fought fiercely with Ravana to liberate you. The spot where he was
killed in Janasthana is seen close to that tree. You can see the beautiful
hermitage from where you were taken away by Ravana. You can see Godavari and
also Sage Agastya’s ashram. The ashram of the famous Suteekshna is also there.
There is Sharabhanga ashram and it was where Indra had appeared”. It might be
recalled that when Rama first came to this Ashram he had seen Indra’s chariot
waiting there and also Indra who had come to take Suteekshna to the Heavens.
Indra was visible only to Rama’s eyes. Indra then left the place saying that it
was not yet time for him to see Rama and he would wait for Rama to accomplish
his mission on earth.
Rama continued to explain to
Sita all the places and the events that took place there. Rama said “You
can see the Ashram of Atri Rishi where you also met with his wife Anasuya. Here
is the place where Bharata had come to meet me. You can see Yamuna at a
distance and the Ashram of Rishi Bhardwaja is close by. Look at the river Ganga
which flows here. This is Shringiberapura where Guha met me and became my close
friend. Look at the Sarayu River and the capital Ayodhya. Pay your respects to
the city”. Then Vibheeshana and others also looked at Ayodhya and paid their
respects.
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