Adhyatma Ramayanam Day 26. Uttarakandham Contd

Adhyatma Ramayanam Day 26. Uttarakandham Contd

Audiobook Link - Adhyatma Ramayanam  33.20 m

Ramayanam Kilippaattu Day 26 രാമായണമാസം - ദിവസം  26

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8MCCeM1xqo

Uttarakandham contd.

Lifting of the Mountain of Kailas

After winning over his elder brother in the battle, Ravana took charge of the Pushpaka Vimana and flew it at his will. But as he reached the area of Saravana, the aircraft stopped and would not move any further. As Ravana was thinking about the reason for this to occur, Maricha said: “Perhaps the Pushpaka would obey the commands only from Kubera?” As they were discussing, Nandi came there in the guise of a Vanara and told Ravana that the area is reserved for Lord Shankara to frolic and to perform his Tandava dance. “No one else is allowed here. So, go back immediately. Do not think of coming here with your arrogance.” Hearing the Vanara, Ravana laughed at him with contempt. “I am not killing you now as you have a boon from Lord Brahma. Since you laughed at me because I am in the form of a Vanara, I curse you. You and your clan will face destruction due to a Vanara. Your death is sure because of the cruelties you have been inflicting on Devas and Brahmanas.”

Ravana did not hear Nandi’s curse as he was still thinking: “Who is this fellow, Shankara?” He was taken over by rage and he tried to lift the mountain of Kailas with his twenty hands, and it wobbled. Lord Siva’s attendants were scared and Parvati, Siva’s consort ran to her Lord with fear and embraced him. Siva was delighted to have been embraced by his dear lady and fixed the mountain back in place, pressing by his toe. Ravana’s hands were still under the mountain, and they got crushed when Siva fixed the mountain with his toe. The whole world felt the pain of Ravana, and he knew there is no other go than to please Mahadeva to escape from the predicament.  He started singing Sama songs, making a lute out of his hands. His devotion increased and he continued his penance for thousand years. Siva relented and came to see and bless him. “There is no one as powerful as you in the three worlds! Your voice (Ravam) filled the three worlds, and you will be known as Ravana from now onward. I am gifting you this mighty sword, Chandrahasa. I am pleased with your devotion. If you keep me in your mind, you will not face any defeat. You may continue your journey in your Vimana.” Ravana prostrated the Lord and left in the Vimana. He lived happily in the forest near the Himalayas for a long time.

The Curse of Vedavati

As Ravana was living in the forest, he happened to see a beautiful girl living in a hermitage. He approached her and asked her: “Oh! Dear, how come such a beautiful girl living in a hermitage leaving all the worldly comforts, controlling the senses, and performing austerities? Who are you? Are you one of those celestial ladies – Rambha, Tilottama, or Urvashi? Are you Mahalakshmi? Who are your parents?” 

When Dasamukha asked thus, she replied: “I am the daughter of the famous sage Kushadhwaja and granddaughter of Sage Brihaspati. I am a Veda scholar and the great sages have given me the name Vedavati. Several people came asking my hands in marriage, but my father would not agree, because he wanted Lord Madhava to marry me. Because of this, one Rakshasa was upset with my father, and he killed him. My mother also died immediately after that. I have been thinking about Madhava from then on. I am doing Tapas intending to get Madhava as my husband. I know you have achieved a lot by doing Tapas and I respect you. I bless you. But now, leave me alone and you may leave.”

Ravana got down from the Vimana and approached her: “I cannot leave you that easy, my dear. Your Madhava is not as powerful as me. You have done enough Tapas and you can stop the austere life of a monk now. Please do not waste your youth in penance. Come with me.” Vedavati was furious: “Do not speak to me such lowly words.” Dasamukha was outraged and caught hold of Vedavati by her hair. Immediately a curse as an outburst came from her: “Since you touched me with the wrong intention, I should be killing you, but I am not doing that lest I lose continuity of my penance. I am going to leave my body now and I will be born on earth to cause a painful death for you. Your family also will perish with you!” So, saying, she jumped in the fire. Know that she is here as the Queen, Sita Devi and you are indeed Lord Madhava, who is Lord Narayana.

Winning over Marutta

Ravana traveled again to the place where Marutta was conducting a Yagna. Seeing Ravana, Devas went in disguise to avoid a confrontation with the Rakshasa. Indra became a peacock. Yama became a crow and Varuna, a swan. Kubera became a lizard. Marutta remained without any movement. Ravana challenged him for a fight and Marutta retorted: “Are you planning to reach the Yama’s abode soon? Who are you?” Ravana replied that he was the Rakshasa king. “I am the brother of Vaishravana and son of Pulastha. I have won over my elder brother in battle and took his Vimana. No one is in the world who is not afraid of me.” Hearing Ravana boast, Marutta laughed at him and said sarcastically. “Great! You are indeed a follower of the dharma! You have defeated your elder brother, whom you are supposed to treat like your father! Bravo! You are such a pious fellow! I must kill you and protect people from fear.” 

Hearing this, the chief of Yagna, Samvarttaka, said: Before finishing the Yagna, no one should turn their attention to anything else. You should not disrupt the Yagna conducted to propitiate Mahadeva.” Marutta agreed and Dasamukha walked away with his army of Rakshasas, imagining that he has won the debate. After Ravana left the Yagna venue, Devas came back in their original form. Indra blessed the peacock – “May you become extremely beautiful to look at. Your feathers will have charming blue eyes just like my eyes. When I shower rains on the earth, may you feel exhilarated!” 

Yama blessed the crow: “You will not die of illness or old age. You will die only if someone kills you. You can eat the food offered to the forefathers living at my abode and that will satisfy their needs. Swans were blessed by Varuna: “You will become stark white in color, living happily in the water enjoying the lotus roots.” Lord of Kinnaras, Kubera, blessed the lizards. “May you live with a golden crown on your head!” The Yagna was completed without any disruption and Marutta gave appropriate Dakshina to all. 

Ravana challenged Marutta again. “Come and surrender, or else fight with me.” Several kings, such as Gathi, Surathan, Pururavas, Dushyant, etc. conceded defeat with Ravana. Then Ayodhya was ruled by Anaranya, who would not go back on a challenge and decided to fight Ravana. A fierce battle ensued and both warriors lost several of their fighters. Finally, Ravana hit him with his mace and as he fell, he cursed Ravana; “I will die now, and that way you will not be victorious in this battle. In the Sun dynasty, Rama will be born to king Dasaratha to destroy you and your clan.”

Kartavirya Arjuna and Ravana

When sage Agastya narrated the story, Rama was pleased and asked him: “How come the kings of those times were incapable of fighting with Ravana? Was it because they were weak or was it because the Rakshasa was invincible?” The sage smiled and replied: “Listen, Ravana kept on creating havoc, disturbing the sages and Devas. He reached the city of Mahishmati which was ruled by Kartavirya. One day, the king went frolicking in the river Narmada with his ladies when Dasamukha, traveling in his Vimana, saw the beautiful Vindhya mountains below. He saw the river Narmada and decided to descend there and take a rest. 

He told his warriors: “Go and fight with kings there so that you will not be bored. We should take bath in this golden river, and I will be here performing the necessary rituals, including the Mrityunjaya Yagna.” Hearing this, Rakshasas arranged flowers and sandal paste to adorn the Shivalinga. They created a beautiful arena on the riverbank and set the Shivalinga there. Ravana did an elaborate pooja to Lord Siva following his guru’s direction. They danced and sang a stuti extolling Siva. 

“Salutations to Siva who has won over the death. I feel that the trinity that consists of me, my preceptor, and god is one.” As they were conducting the ritual, the water in the river started rising. The arena was flooded and the Shivalinga was submerged as if the river was pouring water over it.  “How come the river water is backing upstream instead of flowing downstream? Go and check why is this strange flood occurring now?” Ravana ordered. Ravana’s attendants, Suka and Sarana, walked downstream along the riverbank for half a Yojana and found that a king was playing there along with his lady friends. He has stopped the water from flowing downstream by keeping his thousand hands across the river, forming a dam. 

They reported this to Ravana, and he was outraged. “Who is this Arjuna? He must be a pitiful fellow! I must go and win him over before returning to Lanka. He could not complete his pooja properly. Ravana sent his messengers to challenge Arjuna, the son of Kartavirya. Arjuna’s ministers sent the reply: “The king is busy taking a bath today but will be ready to fight tomorrow and suppress your arrogance for sure. If you cannot wait until then, come fight with us now. If you end up killing us in the battle, our king will come and finish you. Prahasta and other Rakshasas started fighting with the ministers and hearing the commotion, Arjuna finished his water sports and asked his ladies to go to their chambers. “I will be with you momentarily,” he told them.

Kartavirya Arjuna took his mace and jumped at Prahasta, but he resisted it by a pestle. Arjuna hit him with his mace, and he fell unconscious. Dhumraksha and other Rakshasas ran away and Ravana, with twenty hands, ended up fighting with Arjuna with one thousand hands. After a long battle, Dasamukha fell when Arjuna hit him with his mace. His bow fell from his grip, and he lay unconscious. Arjuna tied him up and his servants carried him to the prison. Kartavirya took Ravana’s sword, Chandrahasa. Devas were elated and they showered flowers on the king. Asuras were distraught seeing the plight of their king and thought of a way of rescuing him. Maricha suggested: “Let us request Sage Pulastha to help us.” Hearing what happened to his grandson, Pulastha went to Mahishmati. Arjuna welcomed the sage properly and prostrated at his feet. He enquired the reason for the sage’s visit. The sage smiled and said: “Kings of Chandra dynasty are great warriors possessing valor and courage, and as one of them, I bless you to live long with fame and fortune. Amazingly, you could conquer Ravana, who can make mountains and seas behave on his command. Since you are dear to me and you are a devotee of the lord, I request you to free my grandson, Ravana. Arjuna obliged and untied Ravana. The king gave a feast to the guest and gave gifts of gold and silk, before bidding goodbye. Ravana stood there with his ten heads down in shame. He paid his respects to the sage and said goodbye to Kartavirya Arjuna. The king bid him best wishes and returned his sword. The sage was relieved. Rakshasas arrived with the Vimana, and they left the city as fast as they could like a river flow breaching a dam.

Ravana’s Fight with Bali

As they were flying, Ravana saw the city of Kishkindha. He wanted to win over someone badly to get rid of the shame of having been rescued by his grandfather. He decided to fight Bali, the king of Kishkindha. He went and challenged Bali, but he was not there. Taran told Ravana: “The king is not here now, so wait for a moment until he gets back. He will come back after finishing his daily routine of taking bath in all four oceans and finishing the ritual of giving oblations. Earlier also many people came to fight with him, but they all ended up reaching Yama’s abode quickly. You can see there a hill of bones formed of all those killed in the battles with Bali. You will also face the same fate if you fight Bali. But if you are in a hurry to die, go and see him at the shore of the Southern Ocean. He will honor you with a good fight and kill you soon. 

Hearing Taran’s words, Ravana felt insulted, and he went to the shore of the Southern Ocean with his army. He spotted Bali there, but he did not see Ravana as he was facing the sea. Ravana went behind Bali to catch hold of him and Bali in no time twirled his tail around Ravana and tightened it. Other Vanaras did not approach out of fear and Ravana was hung from the mighty Vanara’s tail. Bali jumped to the Eastern Sea and did his daily oblation there. He jumped over to the Northern Sea and Western Sea as well to finish his routine, all the time, with Ravana hanging from his tail. Finally, he reached Kishkindha and took a rest. He ate his food and relaxed. Then he remembered about the creature who was hanging on his tail. He smiled and asked Ravana: “Who are you? Why did you come without anyone to help you?”

“I am Ravana, son of Vishravas and the grandson of Sage Pulastha. It must be my karma that I am in this situation now. I would like to make friends with you and enter a pact as Kishkindha and Lanka are quite compatible.” Bali agreed and entered a pact with Ravana with Agni witnessing the deed. Ravana stayed in Kishkindha for a month before returning to Lanka. He reached Lanka and lived there happily, continuing his atrocities to noble people.

We all know how Rama killed this mighty Vanara king Bali with a single shot of an arrow to protect dharma in the world.  

Narada Meets Ravana

One day Sage Narada went to Lanka, to see Ravana. He was welcomed by the Rakshasa king and treated with pleasantries, food, and gifts. “I was thinking of visiting you, the most well-known devotee of Lord Siva. You are also one of the most powerful kings with principles. So, please listen to my words.  You have been killing many people in the world in unnecessary battles and what is the use? Human beings are subjected to illness, old age, and death anyway. What is the benefit of killing those who are already in the grip of severe illness and worldly afflictions? By killing them early, you are incurring unnecessary sins.” Ravana agreed with the Sage and said: “Glad that you opened my eyes on this. I better go to Patala, the nether worlds and fight Rakshasas and to the world of Devas to fight Indra and other Devas, instead of chasing the lowly humans.”

Narada asked: “That is a good idea, but how would you go to Patala? You have to pass by the world of Yama to get there, but he will not let you pass by his area.” Ravana laughed and said: “Ha Ha, I got your hint. I will have to win over Yama and that is the first order of business for me.” He took leave of Narada and prepared to fight the god of death, Yama. Narada left Lanka thinking that “I can witness a fierce war now”.

Narada then went to Yama singing a Sama song on his lute. Yama was sitting on his throne in the court along with his ministers, thinking about the good and bad karmas of human beings. The god of death, known as Dharma Raja, got up and received the sage. He asked: “What is the news from the three worlds? Hope everything is fine everywhere.” Narada replied: “I do not know what to talk about, but something is bothering me and that is why I came to see you quickly. Ravana, the ten-headed asura wants to win over you and he can show up at any time here to challenge you. But I have heard that once a Jiva, gets hit by you, there is no return for him to life.” As they were discussing, they saw a glittering Vimana up in the sky. Yama knew it would be Ravana coming to challenge him. He asked his army to get ready and they came in large numbers beating their drums and playing pipes.