Sita told Rama that he was a noble person with irreproachable qualities. However, she said that she could not approve of Rama carrying weapons in the forest where they were to live as hermits. She also requested Rama not to go and fight with rakshasas as asked by the rishis who wanted his protection. She said that they were ordered to live like hermits or rishis therefore Rama and Lakshmana should not use any weapons and lead a life of ahimsa or perform no acts of violence. She said that once they completed their life in the forest and return to Ayodhya then Rama could use the weapons and fight. Sita prayed to Rama to think well along with Lakshmana and comply with her request.
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Rama explained to her the
duties of a king. The rishis were harassed by the rakshasas and they had
surrendered unto him for protection. Rama said “Dear Sita I have given my word
and I will stand by it at any cost. There is no going back on my word, as you
know. I think you have spoken to me out of your love and affection for me. I
might forsake Lakshmana or you but never a word was given by me”. Rama often
declares such sentiments. Rama stands for Dharma and for truth. Once promised
he would not go back on it. Having convinced Sita thus they all continued their
journey.
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Then accompanied by the
rishis, Rama and Sita followed by Lakshmana proceeded to Dandakaranya. They
passed by several beautiful forests, rivers, and small hills. They saw several
animals such as spotted deer, buffalos, wild boars, and elephants. They also
saw several ponds with various birds. Towards the evening they came by a
beautiful pond covered with beautiful lotus and other flowers (a scene that
comes often in Ramayana) and from where strangely there came sounds of musical
instruments. Rama enquired about the rishis and learned that a rishi called Mandukarni
did penance there for thousand years. His penance was disturbed by five Apsaras
(sent by Lord Indra) and since then they all lived under the water in a house
from where the music came. (Lord Indra often disturbed the rishis who attained
greatness by their penance in order to keep his supremacy). Then they reached
the place where there were so many ashrams and they stayed there being welcomed
by the rishis. Rama and all spent their time visiting all the ashrams there.
Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana thus spent almost ten years in Dandakaranya visiting
various ashrams. So a good part of the period staying in the forest was
spent.
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Rama visited rishi
Suteekshna again and asked him about the whereabouts of the ashram of the sage
Agastya. Agastya was a very famous sage who had performed several great acts.
Suteekshna explained the way and asked Rama to first go to Agastya’s brother’s
(name not given) ashram which was at a distance (measured in units of Yojana, a
Yojana is about 13 km), and to rest there. He asked Rama to then proceed to
Agastya’s ashram. The directions given by Suteekshna included many detailed
descriptions of the parts of the dense forest that they had to cross. One finds
often the description of water tanks covered with lotus and various flowers and
which are also habitats of various kinds of birds such as swans, chakravaka
birds, and so on.
Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana
then proceeded in search of Agastya Ashram. On the way, Rama described the
greatness of Agastya, how he vanquished the rakshasas there and made the place
peaceful for the hermits. He then told the story of two Asuras, Vatapi and
Ilvana. Ilvana used to cook his brother and feed it as goat meat to the
Brahmins, in the guise of performing the death anniversary (shraddha). (It
appears that in those times Brahmins too ate meat on occasions. Incidentally, there is a mention of Rama and all hunting deer for eating). Then he called out
‘Vatapi’ who came out tearing the Brahmin’s body. This way he was killing many
Brahmins. But when this trick was tried on Agastya, by the power of his penance
he simply said “Vatapi be digested”. Then by the power of his penance, he also
burnt Ilvanan to ashes. This story was told by Rama to Sita and Lakshmana. They
then reached the Ashram of Agastya’s brother and rested there for the night and
resumed their walk the next day.\
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As they approached Agastya’s
Ashram, Rama pointed out the special features of nature. The birds and animals
were very calm and the whole place was so beautiful with fruit trees, flowers, and water tanks. Rama said that that should be their destination.
They entered the Ashram and announced their arrival. They were asked to enter and as they walked along Valmiki, gives some interesting details of what they saw. There roamed several peaceful deer, and there were several places of worship (in Sanskrit given as Sthanam meaning place or temple) for Brahma, Vishnu, Indra, Kubera, Vayu, Agni, Varuna, Shiva, Gayatri Devi (let us recall that Gayatri Mantra was composed by Vishwamitra) and so on.
These were probably
equivalent to our places of worship. It is intriguing if there were also any
idols representing these Gods even if they were probably not sculpted into
figures. For instance, in Kerala temples, Godheads are just represented by a
stone of some shape. In Vadakkenathan Shiva Temple in Trichur (Kerala State)
there are worshipping places for Parashurama, Veda Vyasa, etc. One finds that
they are represented by just a piece of stone installed on a small platform. It
is of special interest to note that in the Ashram of Agastya there was a place
also for Lord Subrahmanya. This is important because Subrahmanya or Skanda the
son of Shiva is said to be more ancient than Rama and one finds evidence of
this in Valmiki Ramayana. We mentioned in Balakanda about Vishwamitra
describing the birth of Skanda to Rama. Also in another instance, Rama praises
the bravery of Skanda. Let us also recall that Skanda or Muruga is celebrated
as a war God. Muruga came to be associated strongly with Tamil culture. Could
this mean that the Tamil or Dravidian civilization was as old as the Ramayana
period or even earlier than that? At any rate, all this would indicate how
things are united in India and the common heritage of the people in the north
as well as in the south. The Aryan Dravidian divide was invented alas by the
British colonial powers and it is regrettable that many in our country have not
realized this yet.
Sage Agastya welcomed the
Raghu family. He offered them hospitality and food appropriate for those in the
Vanaprasta ashram (the last stage of life prescribed for man).
Agastya presented Rama with
the great Vishnu Dhanus and a sword with his blessings. He also gave him a
shield hard to break. All this would show the knowledge of metals and metallurgy
that should have existed at that time. In another place, there is a mention of a
maze studded with iron nails (Aayasah Shankubhaihi).
The next day morning Rama thanked
Agastya and told him that the hospitality shown was so great that they felt
that they were in Ayodhya palace. Agastya blessed Rama saying only good things
were going to happen to him. He praised Rama for having honored his father’s
words.
Before taking leave Rama
asked Agastya to describe to him the details of the place and the sage explained
in detail. That region was in drought for a long time and infested with
rakshasas. There was total abandon. Agastya came there from the Vindhya
Mountains, brought rains, and then also the trees generally found in the
Himalayas by his power of the mind and so on. By constant penance, all sickness was
removed. Let us note that Agastya Vaidyam (Medical treatment) is still used in
some parts of south India.
Agastya asked Rama to give
protection to the rishis from the rakshasas. He said, “This Dandakaranya once
belonged to the Kakutstha kings but was abandoned by them for long. Now you
have come here to redeem it and so destroy all the rakshasas and bring peace
and prosperity here”. Rama thanked him and asked him to advise him to find a
suitable place for them to live. After thinking for a while Agastya asked Rama
to proceed to a place with many fruit trees and water tanks which was about two
Yojanas from there. The place was called Panchavati and it would be the most
ideal place for them to settle down. It is interesting to see that the landmarks are given to find the way generally concern a particularly big tree, rivers, and
description of flora and fauna.
Rama with Sita and Lakshmana
took leave of the Sage and started walking towards Panchavati. Let us note that
this place is still there and still called by the same name even though now a
city has displaced the forest.
On their way, they came
across a huge Eagle seated on a big tree. Rama asked the bird who he was
because he suspected it to be a rakshasa in disguise. Rakshasas were capable of
changing their forms. The bird replied that his name was Jatayu and he was a
friend of Dasharatha. Rama hugged the bird, became great friends, and asked
Jatayu to tell its origin.
Here again, we have a
detailed description of the origin of birds and animals. Jatayu started
describing Manu and traced it down to several generations. For instance, he
told about Kashyapa who married Aditi and all her seven sisters, all daughters
of Daksha Prajapati. Their children then ruled the world. In the following
generations, some gave birth to the kingdom of animals and birds, and serpents.
It is a bit difficult to comprehend this part. Jatayu also mentioned the birth
of the four categories, Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Sudra from different
parts of Vishnu as mentioned in Purusha Suktam is well known.
This raises a question about
the caste (Jati) system. One finds in Shastras and in The Baghavad Gita that
there are four Varnas and by distinguishing oneself one can move to a higher
category as this is not a rigid classification. Vishwamitra rose from Kshatriya
to Brahmana by the strength of his penance. Therefore one is not per se a
Brahmin because of birth alone but only by his conduct. Lord Krishna reiterates
the same thing in Mahabharata too. What Jatayu says is that these four types
were created as one finds also in Purusha Suktam.
Jatayu continued and said
that Vinata gave birth to two sons Garuda and Aruna. Sampati and Jatayu were
Aruna’s sons. Jatayu promised Rama to take care of Sita if the need arose. Rama
thanked Jatayu and accepted his suggestion.
Rama asked Lakshmana to find a suitable place to build their ashram where there should be a lot of trees, water tanks, flowers, and darbha grass. They finally found such a place near the river Godavari. The landscape was very beautiful, with palm trees (coconut trees are not mentioned yet in Ramayana), date trees, other flowering trees, and Karungali trees(very strong and durable wood) and also citrus fruit trees. They liked that place and Rama asked Lakshmana to build an Ashram for them. The description Valmiki gives of the ashram is interesting. He says “it was a spacious one with level floors and with mud walls built around and the roof constructed with bamboos and leaves”. Rama was immensely pleased with Lakshmana’s work and he hugged him and said that it was the only reward he could give. They all lived happily there for some time.
Then started the winter
season (Hemanta rutu) as described by Rama to Sita. Valmiki in the words of
Rama says, “Sita here is a season you like. Water is too cold and one likes the
proximity of the fire. The sun reached the south and the northern part is like a
lady without her tilak. One can no more sleep in the open. The sun being in the
south looks dim similar to a reflection from a mirror coated with breath
(condensation). The rising sun looked like the moon”. Rama also thought of
Bharata who did not go to the palace but lived as a hermit awaiting Rama’s
return. Then they all went to the river Godavari and had their bath and offered
their prayers too.
One also learns that wheat
was grown there. Valmiki gives a touching description of the water being so
cold. He says that the elephants, which went to drink water when they touched
the water with their trunk quickly pulled it out because it was so cold.
He often uses the simile, “shone like the moon in presence of the star
Chaitra”.
It is not clear why he says
so. It could perhaps mean the moon in the month of Chaitra. This full moon in
the Tamil month of Chithrai (April- May) is even now being worshipped at least
in the south. One offers rice cooked in milk to the rising moon. It is also
possible that this has some importance from an Astrological point of view.
Incidentally on this night, there is a very high possibility of the full moon
residing near the star Chitra. Again and again one finds that Valmiki was a
great astronomer too.
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