Ramayana - Another Great Epic

Eelavar,

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i know this site reaveal us many of the Vedic civilisation and his hughe contribution to the world.

But unfortunately they talk only a little about the Siddha .

Siddha is recognized by the tamil schoolars as the equivalent of the vedas...

Unfortuntely atribute support the humiliting caste system, i cry for all the innocants vicitims of this human's injustice ,at the birth...

i hope the democratic and modern attitude will rise in India.
Many say it's is a indigenous GREAT invention, but....really...

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I think the Siddha system was integrated into the vedic system that's why everywhere ppl talk abt vedic culture as something that encompasses the entire Indian Hindu culture irrespective of region.

I fully agree with you on the caste system. We & the generations to come are well equipped to chage that injustice. So lets practice that in real life and when our kids are older don't shrink from societal responsibilities & wholeheartedly support & accept them if they marry someone from a diff caste or even race.

For now lets not digress from Viggop's work.

Cheers.

Hi Friends
A doubt in Ramayana.Rama is known as belonging to the descendants of King Raghu(Raghuvamsam). But who is this King Kakustha?
Muthuswamy Dikshitar , in one of his songs(Ramachandram Bhavayami raghukula tilakam upendram), uses these words in charanam "kakustam dhimantam"(descended in king Kakushtha line).So, who is this king Kakustha? anyone knows the genealogy of Rama?

Kakustha was Bagiratha's son. Bagiratha is famous for having brought Ganga down from the heavens to the Earth. You will find the entire genealogy of Rama being recited at the time of the wedding with Sita. This was narrated by the Sage Vasishta, to apprise Janaka that the family into which he was giving his daughter is indeed a worthy one. Janaka in turn narrates his family's ancestry, tracing it back to his illustrious forbears including Kings Nimi and Mithi, who founded Mithila.

This tradition is followed even today in weddings, when the respective priests of the groom and the bride read out 3 generations of ancestors in for each, to demonstrate that the bride and groom come from respectable families that have always adhered to Dharma.

I am giving here a brief summary of Rama's ancestry.

Brahma created Marichi. Marichi's son was Kashyapa, who's sun was Surya. Surya’s son was Manu, Manu had a son named Vaivaswatha Manu; he ruled over the people and earned the appellation, Prajapathi. A son lkshvaku was born to him; he was the first overlord of Ayodhya; and so the dynasty itself came to be called the Ikshvaku Line. Ikshvaku’s son was Kukshi. Kukshi's son was named Vikukshi. His son was Bana; Bana's son was Anaranya; Anaranya had a son who was named Trisanku. Trisanku's son was Dhundhumara, Dhundhumara’s son was Yuvanaswa; Mandhata was the son of Yuvanaswa; his son Susandhi had two sons, Daivasandhi and Prasenjit. The famous Bharata was the son of Daivasandhi. Bharatha’s son was Asitha; His son was Asamanja, who had a son called Amsumantha; Amsumantha's son was Dileepa, whose son was named Bhagiratha. Bhagiratha begot Kakustha. Kakustha’s son was Raghu. Raghu had a son, Pravardha. Pravardha had Sudarsana as son and Sudarsana's son was Agnivarna. Seeghraga was the name of the son of Agnivarna. Maru was the name of the son of Seeghraga. After him, the throne came from father to son, to Prasusruka, Ambarisha and Nahusha, in succession.

"Nahusha's son was Yayathi and Yayathi's son was Nabhaga. Nabhaga had Aja as his son. Dasaratha is the eldest son of Aja, and his four sons, a precious jewel each one, are Rama, Lakshmana, Bharatha and Satrughna. Rama, the eldest of the four, raised, bent, strung and broke the Bow of Siva.

Wow! I thought it was Bharatha who brought down river ganga.
Is this Yayathi related to the Yayathi of Mahabharatha?

it cannot be because mahabharatha was a different yugam altogether. :-)

It would be interesting to know the Sanskrit translation of the name of each of the kings.

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Originally Posted by viggop

Wow! I thought it was Bharatha who brought down river ganga..

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Illa pa!! Have you heard of the phrase, "Bagiratha prayathnam" referring to the superhuman effort that Bagirtha did in getting the river down?

Also, Ganga is known as Baagirathi, and gets the name as daughter of Bagiratha.

Actually, an interesting point is that the Yayati of Mahabhartha is also referred to as Nahusha's son!!!

So unless there were 2 Nahusha's and both of whom named their sons Yayati, looks like it is the same Yayati.

Also, Yayati had 2 wives and many sons, so it is entirely possible that one continued the solar line, while Puru goes on as the first king of the lunar dynasty.

Thanks Badri.In the dwapara yugam, i thought everything was created new.The pralayam of previous yugam is supposed to have destroyed everything.I dont know how a lineage can come across yugams.Anyway,lets ignore that.

kamban is sort of happy to introduce mantharai as 'she' is the one who is going to fullfill the purpose of Sri rAmavatar!

here is Rama, who promised the dhEvas that He will finish off rAvaNA and has descended on the earth.
And what He does... marries seethA and is getting ready to rule the earth as the king, the next day!
We can see the plight of kamban as to how to stop this from happening as then, the 'purpose' is going to be delayed as rAma will be busy with 'rAjya paripAlanam'.
We can see his restlessness and introduces Gooni and changes the whole course of rAmAyanam in just 47 verses!
And he chooses the right person who can do this!
She is..
துடிக்கும் நெஞ்சினாள்; -- hard-hearted
ஊன்றிய வெகுளியாள்;-- extremely angry person
உளைக்கும் உள்ளத்தாள்;-- mentally disturbed
கான்று எரி நயனத்தாள்;-- fiery-eyed person
கதிக்கும் சொல்லினாள்; -- one with a burning tongue
மூன்று உலகினுக்கும் ஓர் இடுக்கண் மூட்டுவாள்-- capable of creating problems for all the three worlds
Who else can substitute her to do the job!?

And, the reason he says for all these....?
he doesn't blame gooni but only speaks of her natural evil tendencies but the reason she is there in the first place is not herself
but... the following are the main reasons!
1. இன்னல் செய் இராவணன் இழைத்த தீமைபோல்-- Because of the evil done by rAvaNA
2. சூழ்ச்சியின் இமையோர் மாயையும்-- due to the mAyA of the dhEvaas who were afraid that rAma might have forgot the 'purpose'!
3.அவர் பெற்ற நல்வரம் உண்மையாலும்-- as the validity of their boons by mahAvishNu for this cause is true
4.ஆய அந்தணர் இயற்றிய அருந் தவத்தாலும்- due to the harder penance done by the saints[again for the same cause]
5.அரக்கர் பாவமும்-- due to the sins accumulated by the rAkshasaas
6.அல்லவர் இயற்றிய அறமும்-- finally the persistance of the good deeds by the destitutes despite rAvaNA's misdeeds against them

These were the reasons that pushed gooni to kaikEyi's place that night!

here kamban also tells us a sacred truth.
rAvaNa's misdeeds alone, nor the boons got by the dhEvAs alone, nor the saints' penance alone nor the the sins of the demons alone were enough for rAmA to go to forest!
It is the final thing... the persistance of righteousness by the common men that was the clinching straw that sent rAmA to get His job done! It is a message to all of us to keep up with the faith and continue to do ONLY the right deeds that will give us the salvation in our present cause!

He further states that but for gooni, we, the present geneartion will never know of rAma's greatness!

இரக்கம் இன்மை அன்றோ, இன்று, இவ்வுலகங்கள், இராமன்
பரக்கும் தொல் புகழ் அமுதினைப் பருகுகின்றதுவே?
Because of gooni's heartless act only, today, all the worlds are singing the praise of shreerAma!
[perhaps the only place where kamban deviates from the storyline and addresses the present day happening. Again, his glee is evident here!]

He calls kaikeyi as

'ஏய வரங்கள் இரண்டின், ஒன்றினால், என்
சேய் அரசு ஆள்வது; சீதை கேள்வன் ஒன்றால்
போய் வனம் ஆள்வது' எனப் புகன்று, நின்றாள் -
தீயவை யாவையினும் சிறந்த தீயாள்.

He calls kaikeyi as தீயவை யாவையினும் சிறந்த தீயாள்.

He uses very strong words like

அஞ்சலள்; ஐயனது அல்லல் கண்டும்; உள்ளம்
நஞ்சிலள்; 'நாண் இலள்' என்ன, நாணம் ஆமால்;
'வஞ்சனை பண்டு மடந்தை வேடம்' என்றே
தஞ்சு என மாதரை உள்ளலார்கள், தக்கோர்.

இன்னே இன்னே பன்னி இரந்தான் இகல் வேந்தன்;
தன் நேர் இல்லாத் தீயவள் உள்ளம் தடுமாறாள்,

ஊழின் பெற்றாய்" என்று உரை; இன்றேல், உயிர் மாய்வென்;
பாழிப் பொன் - தார் மன்னவ!' என்றாள், பசை அற்றாள்

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Originally Posted by viggop

Thanks Badri.In the dwapara yugam, i thought everything was created new.The pralayam of previous yugam is supposed to have destroyed everything.I dont know how a lineage can come across yugams.Anyway,lets ignore that.

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Viggop...there is no pralayam in between Yugas in a cycle or Manvantharam. Only after all the 4 yugas, that is to say, the end of a Manvanthara is there the pralaya.

Did you not know that Dwapara passes into Kaliyuga during the Mahabharatha war? That Parikshit meets with Kalipurusha and in the ensuing exchange, wrests a promise from Kali that he will only reside in
Gold, gambling places, etc?

On the day of coronation,Rama goes to kaikeyi's palace to get blessings of dasaratha.He never meets him.He only hears dasaratha's orders through kaikeyi's mouth.Kamban has a nice trick in his sleeve here.

ஆயன நிகழும் வேலை, அண்ணலும் அயர்ந்து தேறாத்
தூயவன் இருந்த சூழல் துருவினன் வருதல் நோக்கி,
'நாயகன் உரையான் வாயால்; நான் இது பகர்வென்' என்னா,
தாயென நினைவான் முன்னே கூற்றெனத் தமியள் வந்தாள்

Rama sees dasaratha fainted on the floor.He couldnt understand this situation.Kaikeyi,whom Rama thought to be his mother came before him like a yema.She said "Dasaratha wont say this with his mouth.So I am saying this"

வந்தவள் தன்னைச் சென்னி மண்ணுற வணங்கி வாசச்
சிந்துரப் பவளச் செவ்வாய் செங்கையின் புதைத்து, மற்றைச்
சுந்தரத் தடக் கை தானை மடக்குறத் துவண்டு நின்றான் -
அந்தி வந்து அடைந்த தாயைக் கண்ட ஆன் கன்றின் அன்னான்

Rama fell in the ground and prayed to kaikeyi.He closed his mouth with one had of his and obediently listened to her orders.His mentality was that of a calf which saw its mother.

ஆழி சூழ் உலகம் எல்லாம் பரதனே ஆள, நீ போய்த்
தாழ் இருஞ் சடைகள் தாங்கி, தாங்க அருந் தவம் மேற்கொண்டு,
பூழி வெங் கானம் நண்ணி, புண்ணியத் துறைகள் ஆடி,
ஏழ்-இரண்டு ஆண்டின் வா" என்று, இயம்பினன் அரசன்' என்றாள்

இப்பொழுது, எம்மனோரால் இயம்புதற்கு எளிதே? - யாரும்
செப்ப அருங் குணத்து இராமன் திருமுகச் செவ்வி நோக்கின்;
ஒப்பதே முன்பு பின்பு; அவ் வாசகம் உணரக் கேட்ட
அப் பொழுது அலர்ந்த செந்தாமரையினை வென்றது அம்மா

I guess these passages are pretty clear.Kaikeyi says those cruel words.After hearing them Rama's face doesnt show any disappointment.His face looks like that of a lotus that blossomed that day morning.

kamban then says this rather peculiar verse through the mouth of Rama

'மன்னவன் பணியன்று ஆகின், நும் பணி மறுப்பனோ? என்
பின்னவன் பெற்ற செல்வம் அடியனேன் பெற்றது அன்றோ?
என் இனி உறுதி அப்பால்? இப்பணி தலைமேற் கொண்டேன்;
மின்னொளிர் கானம் இன்றே போகின்றேன்; விடையும் கொண்டேன்

"This is not my fathers order.This is your order.Will I refuse it?My borthers wealth is my wealth.I take this job on my head.I am going to the shining forest immediatly.I bid good bye to you"

Rama's face was like a lotus after hearing this news.But what did lakshmana do after he heard this?He went wild in rage writes kamban.

கேட்டான் இளையோன்; கிளர் ஞாலம் வரத்தினாலே
மீட்டாள்; அளித்தாள் வனம் தம் முனை, வெம்மை முற்றித்
தீட்டாத வேல் கண் சிறுதாய்' என யாவராலும்
மூட்டாத காலக் கடைத்தீயென மூண்டு எழுந்தான். 111

கண்ணின் கடைத் தீயுக, நெற்றியில் கற்றை நாற,
விண்ணிற் சுடரும் சுடர் தோன்ற, மெய்ந்நீர் விரிப்ப,
உள் நிற்கும் உயிர்ப்பு எனும் ஊதை பிறக்க, நின்ற
அண்ணல் பெரியோன் தனது ஆதியின் மூர்த்தி ஒத்தான்

Lakshmana rose in rage like pralaya fire.Sparks flew from his eyes and his true self (athi sesha) came out.He equalled athi sesha in his rage says kamban.