Ayodhya: The Prime and Eternal

It is said that this whole Earth came under the reign of Emperor Manu, the first Human/Man and our prime ancestor. He was the  progenitor of the Survanshee lineage. As you might have got it, this blood –line started from the Sun i.e. Surya-dev himself who’s other name is also Vivasvan. Manu was the son of Surya dev. 

In this very ancestry of great kings, there came a noble king known as Dashrath who ruled this city of Ayodhya that was situated on the banks of Saryu River. This whole reign came under the province of Koshal. This province had several kingdoms ruled by other ‘suryavanshee’ kings.

Great Manu himself was behind the making of this great city Ayodhya, which even overshadowed the splendor of Amravati, i.e., the heavenly abode of Indra.

It can be so inferred that Ayodhya was the first actual kingdom in the whole world and the oldest city or one of the oldest cities since inception and center of Aryavart, i.e. land of the Arya people. The people of Aryavart were the follower of an ideal Dharm that in today’s context is known as "Sanatan Dharm", this Dharm was delivered by the Vaidas to direct all the beings towards an ideal lifestyle.

The motive behind all this paraphrasing was to form a backdrop in order to introduce or rather actualize people(irrespective of any generation or belief) about our glorious past. We usually tend to have an inclination towards the west believing them as superior to us. Its a shame that Yog was practiced by a limited class or rather unknown, and when it became YOGA, it was the "in" thing instantly. Whatever, today I will elaborate about the socio-economic scenario of the era as well as the religious and cultural beliefs and practices  from Ayodhya's eye, as they were prevalent in whole Aryavart.

The kingdom ruled by great king Dashrath was provided with adequate infrastructure and facilities. The palaces built displayed incredible architectural accomplishments. The work included various types of precious stones.

{Image: justcomix}

As no one was homeless and had all basic amenities, we can easily conclude that enough preparations were done in a well planned way to deal with natural as well as unusual adversities, if any. Diseases, infections were not known to them.

This proves that our ancestors were well-versed in management.

Now if we compare this to today's scenario; after so many years since independence, people are still homeless, glad to see finally our leaders have projected homes for every family till 2022.  In summers we face scarcity of water and then our major cities drown in rainy season(what to say about usual's). Obviously we need to learn a lot from our past, our ancestors.

Moving on; art and music had got a high recognition in the monarchy; there were even some theatrical groups which were totally owned by women only and there were artisans specialized in performing different art forms. You can see there was a lot of space for every individual, freedom at its best to express.

There were markets present addressing all kinds of businessmen and traders. Businessmen and farmers formed the backbone of the kingdom’s economy, the markets were well established and governed by the king and well executed by the traders. Exploitation was the term that was unknown to them. The court always valued suggestions of the prime business people.

We will continue the rest in the next blog, till then; be proud, forever.

'सिया राम'

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Announcement

My apologies for not being available today, was out of town to visit my in-laws.
I will publish my next blog tomorrow.

The Uncrowned King; Khar

When Raavarn returned from his global conquest, whole earth was under his domain by then. Every being from devas to the daanavs, he masticated his opponents in the war-field with all barbarity he could. Though the kingdoms worked independently and they didn't have to pay him taxes or any such loads, it was just that they all had accepted his sovereignty.

But, within all his winnings, one war haunted him to sweat; the war with the suryavanshees. The conquest of human kingdoms outside Aryavart was way below his status, as they were no where close to his power. Even in Aryavart, kings like Gaadhi, Pururuwa and others accepted his sovereignty. I must tell you these were no usual kings, they had their influence among even the devas.

Raavarn then challenged king Anararnya of Ayodhya. The suryavanshee king not only accepted his challenge but also gave him the fight he remembered forever. Anararanya with his amazing bow thrashed Raavarn's army, his all commanders ran away from the combat. Raavarn some how managed to win the battle eliminating Anararnya. The suryavanshee king cursed him before dying, that someone from his lineage only will end his terror.

Raavarn asked immunity from every species but humans from Brahmm Dev, 'puny, meager creatures, what bad can they do to me' his thoughts were. Now, worrisome, he had to be-known of  every incident happening in Aryavart.

One might be thinking where is it leading to, my apologies for a long prologue, but it was the need of the hour. Following information will enlighten as how KHAR was important to the legend:

The first thing Raavarn did was to chose a strategic point; to put an eye over every kingdom that were under his dominance. For this purpose, he chose Dandkaranya (also known as Jansthan), a civilized province once. Due to an offense committed by its king, it was demolished by sage Shukracharya's curse.

After choosing Dandkaranya, Raavarn appointed his cousin Khar and maintained his dominance through him, he was the best choice who could be used for both as hawk-eye as well as a bait in case of any strike from the opponents, to asses their powers as no usual foe could face Khar's strength.

Khar, son of Raavarn's mother's sister, was an expert strategist and warrior.  By the order from Raavarn, he saw to it that the terror remains over the kingdoms, if any rituals viz. the yagyas were carried in order to strengthen the devas, he straight away sent the demons to demolish those. He had a well-spread spy network through-out the kingdoms from where he used to get all the information required. The sages who used to penance in the area of Dandkaranya or near by, were slaughtered by him, each one that looked like a possible threat to Raavarn's empire.

Following illustrations will make the concept clear:

• Khar came into highlight during Shri Ram's stay in Chitrakoot. The sages from Dandkaranya, who had a temporary stay there, informed him about the demon's terror, his mass killing of the sages resulting to which they were forced to change their places in regular intervals.

• During his exile when Shri Ram reached Dandkaranya, the sages living there informed him their similar plight as he heard from the sages in Chitrakoot. Khar not just killed those innocent sages, but he broke their souls, their morale by never ending excruciating that illustrated his heinousness. 

• We all know about the incident where sage Vishwamitra came to king Dashrath. He asked the king to entrust Shri Ram to him in order to protect his yagya. Vishwamitra was aware of the divinity of Shri Ram and the menace of Khar as well, as it was that demon on who's directions, Mareech used to demolish his yagya. The sage knew only Shri Ram can eliminate the rakshasas starting from Mareech to Khar and then Raavarn as he was aware about the prophecy.

• The demon-knight used to keep a closer check on Shri Ram's activities through his spies the day when Shri Ram saved Vishwamitra's yagya and annihilated the demons. He became care free in between when the news of Shri Ram's coronation spread. But when he heard news of Shri Ram's exile, he became alert instantly and started playing mind games by killing the sages in order to scare as well as demotivate him.

Though in Ramayan, we don't see much of Khar as he remained behind the curtains. Yet, he was the one who extended the dread installed by Raavarn by persecuting the innocent beings who ever tried to base in the regions of Dandkaranya, the sages who were not as accomplished as Agastya, Atri etc. were tormented and later slayed on his instructions.

He was always updated through his spies about the ongoing activities in Aryavart. Even Dashrath expressed his weakness to Vishwamitra in fighting the demons to save the latter's yagya, this illustrates the extent to which the kings were scared of confronting him. Khar always avoided in confronting Shri Ram as he knew about the Shiv-Dhanush bhang followed by lifting of  Vaishnav-Dhanush as well, but when Shurpnakha came to him, he decided to end this.

Au contraire, Shri Ram ended his torment and uprooted the rakshas empire installing dharm. I will end by what Shri Ram stated :

"Hey Nishachar! You came here with all the show off you could,  now look at your plight, you were always inspired from ‘kaam’ and ‘krodh’, persecuting the beings of the three worlds. Such a person or being never attains peace and success in his or her whole life"

Thus started the chain of events, which resulted in destruction of Raavarn.

'सियाराम'

Grammar Gyan -

Suryavanshee - soor-ya-vun-she

Aryavart         - Aar-yaa-vart

Shurpnakha    - sh-oorp-nakh-aa

Anararnya      -  anar-arn(n silent)-ya

Raavarn          - raa-varn, here n will be silent

Brahmm         - bruh-amm

Dev                - de-ave

Dandkaranya - dand-karan-ya

Jansthan         - jan-sth-aan

Yagya            - yag-gya

Chitrakoot     - chitra-koot

Mareech        - maar-eech

Nishachar      - nis-sh-aa-char

Shri               - sh-ree

Khar              - kha-r

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Shurpnakha: the failed enchantment

Every story has characters that are compact, yet power-packed enough to turnaround the whole plot. In Ramayan, Shurpnakha was one such character; in a way she was the invisible catalyst to the legend. You won't have seen her lasting more than two or three episodes, still she is remembered for her trickery. Now you might be thinking what's so special about her, why need to discuss her. Lets try to know more of her:

Born to sage Vishrava and Kaiksi, she was half brahmarn and half rakshasi like her brothers: Raavarn, Kumbhkarn and Vibhisharn. She was a fine enchantress and an expert shapeshifter, she possessed many magical powers though not as powerful as compared to her brothers. She was married to Vidyujjihv, a daanav king who ruled the Ashm kingdom situated in Pataal. Raavarn later presented her the abandoned and cursed Dandkaranya as a strategic point to rule, accompanied by Khar, their cousin. 

Now we know her, the reason I am mentioning her today is due to the episode where Lakshmarn chopped her nose and ears. According to some 'intellectuals', the episode was twisted as it was an act of coercion. I sometimes wonder had those critics discovered the "Time-Machine".

So what happened actually and where was her husband when the misery descended on her.

Now consider the following:

• When Raavarn went out to conquer the world, he killed Vidyujjihv during the fight with the daanavs in his fad. He realized the terrible he committed and so deported Shurpnakha to Dandkaranya to come out of his guilt. Shurpnakha was agitated but remained silent knowing her brother's strength.
• According to the legend, when Shurpnakha saw the first glimpse of Shri Ram, she was attracted towards him right there. She was an old-old lady whose contour was gruesome, while he was in his mid thirties, whose persona could melt any heart. She approached him in a beautiful woman's guise bound in lust, but her enchantment failed as Shri Ram showed no interest in her.
•  When she failed to attract even Lakshmarn, her lust turned into frustration and she attacked Devi Sita to clear the interruptions. We all know what happened next, with Shri Ram's command, Lakshmarn sliced her nose and ears.

The story was this much only that was always outstretched senselessly as you can see now. It was not the first time Shurpnakha would have tried her hands on a handsome male to fulfill her desires.

But wait, there's more:

Humiliated, Shurpnakha went to report Khar and dared him to fight Shri Ram. Khar attacked Shri Ram with all his army and at the end got eliminated. Shurpnakha now realized about Shri Ram's force, she now knew no one in this world can match to his caliber. Still, she went to Raavarn and asked him to avenge her humiliation, she went further and told him about Devi Sita. Raavarn, a womanizer and known for his lechery, instantly fell for her words and was mesmerized with the description Shurpnakha gave about Devi Sita.

Though Raavarn was her dear brother and she respected him for all reasons, but he was also the one who killed her husband. The rakshasi knew if two great warriors will collide, definitely one will fall and her revenge will be delivered either-ways; is that so, you decide.

See you next thursday.

"Truth has only one shade, divine white; humans tend to color it in their accordance"

  'सियाराम'

Grammar Gyan -
Shurpnakha - sh-oorp-nakh-aa
Vishrava     - vish-rav-aa
Kaiksi         - kai-k-see
Brahmarn   - brah-m-urn, here n will be silent
Rakshasi     - raak-chas-ee
Raavarn      - raa-varn, here n will be silent
Kumbhkarn - kum-bh-karn, here n will be silent
Vibhisharn  - v-bhee-shern, here n will be silent
Vidyujjihv  - vidyu-jivh
Ashm          - ush-m
Lakshmarn  - luc-sh-m-urn, here n will be silent
Shri             - sh-ree
Khar            - kha-r

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Ram: supremacy on dock

Whenever we picture Shri Ram in our mind; a soft, innocent and generous replica of him is what we portrait mostly. The alluring smile, that mesmerizes your heart and lets you forget all your worries. No one can imagine him in a facade being irate or callous.

But, such image has drawn some conjectures or rather conclusions among a class who allege him as a meager prince who at every stage of his endeavors sought other’s support, for example the vanars to defeat Raavarn. According to them Ram lacked the strength to confront the powerful beings viz. Bali whome he killed in hiding. Okay, let’s see:

We know how the Ram-Sita wedding happened; the insuperable bow of Bhagwan Shiv that was a challenge to every being including the powerful devtas. That amazing bow was lifted by Shri Ram playfully, says a lot about his muscle that too when he was in a tender age.

The annihilation of the demons in Vishwamitra’s yagya, elimination of Tadka, it all happened through him.

We are aware of the Shurpnakha episode. When Khar, Shurpnakha’s cousin, marched with his army to avenge her humiliation; Shri Ram annihilated the whole army 'alone' including Khar. Little we know about this valiant warfare of Ram that the army with which Khar marched consisted of 14000 soldiers.  This left us with no suspicion of his vigor, does it?

The display of his force on Sugreeve’s urge where he pierced seven giant trees with one arrow and then kicked a giant demon’s skeleton effortlessly with his toe says all. We shall see later as why he killed Bali in hiding then.

Another counter comes when people ask about his failure against Indrajeet, when the latter ruthlessly showered his arrows and everyone including Ram fainted and were injured to death. Like every-time the catch was again missed.

We should understand a fact about Ramavtar; Shri Ram was a Maryada Purshottam, the sole purpose of this incarnation was to uplift the stature of humanity, where a human can go to any extent to install Dharm if he is determined for it. With his deeds, he proved that humans weren't inferior and they can challenge the mighty beings even. He never performed miracles like he did in his Krishnavtar and that was the beauty of it.

Indrajeet was a great warrior, but he fought with cheat. Like a coward he never confronted in physical, but with his invisible power, he used the Brahmmastra at Shri Ram's army. Shri Ram knew about the significance of the weapon and hence to sustain its divinity he didn't resisted. He even stopped Lakshman from using another Brahmmastra and asked to bear the attack calmly. The real catch is; he knew that Jambvan will use Hanuman's force to save the entire army and they will be back in the war again.

"It is always easy to question, to allege; the real job is to actually understand, read between the lines."

'सियाराम'

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The Divine of Ramchandra.

I use to get a lot of queries while having a discussion about Ramayan with my friends and peers. The yearn they display pleases me; it shows that our generation believes in our legendary history, it’s just that they are not acquainted well.

Among those queries, most of them are about Shri Ram. Whether he was the incarnation of Bhagwan Vishnu as it is told, if he actually was a God then why he needed others’ help in his various endeavors. Why he had to kill Bali in hiding, after all he was ‘the God’, why did he kill a ‘shudra’ ascetic and many more.

Let’s start with his divinity quotient; in Ramayan, there had been plenty of instances where it is clearly stated as Bhagwan Vishnu incarnated as Shri Ram in Ayodhya.  Following are some of those:

Ø  When Dashrath arranged the Putreshti-Yagya for a child, the devtas gathered there and requested Brahmm Dev to find a solution to free the world from Raavarn’s dread. As they were conversing, Bhagwan Vishnu appeared; he consoled the devtas listening to their plight and vowed to root-out Raavarn with his family. He declared to incarnate as Dashrath’s son and rule the Earth for Eleven thousand years.

    Here, it very much serves the purpose proving Ram was an incarnation as he was Dashrath’s       son and ruled for the above specified time.

Ø  When protecting Vishwamitra’s Yagya, he killed every demon but Mareech and thrashed him      towards south. Why he did so when there was no need to spare him; it was his first step towards 'Mission Lanka' and Mareech was the puppet.

Ø  While returning after the Ram-Sita vivah, when Parshuram confronted Shri Ram and challenged him to launch the great Vaishnav-bow, the latter not only lifted the bow but also took the Vaishnav-aura from Parshuram. Until now Parshuram was not ready to accept the Vaishnav-factor of Ram.  Faded, Parshuram recognized Bhagwan Vishnu in him and apologized as well as prayed to him.

Ø  We know about Ahilya’s story, sage Gautam cursed her to be in an invisible form for thousands of years, way before Ram’s birth. But like other profound sages he knew about the prophecy that Bhagwan Vishnu will incarnate as Shri Ram and so opened a way for Ahilya’s salvation and announced; when Shri Ram will enter the hermitage, she would be free of the curse.

Looking at the above mentioned points, one can be doubt free of Ram’s divinity, my future posts will have further illustrations that will be an add on to this topic.

'सियाराम'

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