Dear srivaishNava perunthagaiyeer,
In both the two major stories of India or the two ithihaasams, the two greats
of all times - raamaayaNam and mahaa bhaaratham - both center on the same point
"one bow is kept to win the heroine of the story". Whoever proves his capacity
in using that bow wins the girl or heroine, and then the story builds around
the bow and the lady till the end.
In raamaayaNam we all know seethaa's 'kanya sulkam' - 'the deed to do to win
the girl or the price to be paid' is the handling of the 'siva' dhanu: and
raama broke the dhanu:. In mahaa bhaaratham dhroupathy's kanya sulkam again is
another bow, with a tag, 'whoever can lift and use the bow to hit the whirling
target of fish by aiming through its reflection in oil' will win the girl
dhroupathy, [which arjuna only can do]. Each is a special bow and only the
hero, the valiant, could use the bow and won the girls.
In this and next few posts, we will see how this bow brought a special name to
raama, given by none else than that girl seethaa, who was won through that act
of bravery with the bow. Here is the story of that special bow, the 'Siva's
bow', which was kept as the tool to test the capacity of the 'would be son in
law' by the father 'janaka' of the girl 'seethaa'. The story of the bow will be
as far as possible through the raamaayaNa slOkams.
Here we are starting with baala kaaNdam slOkams.
puthrou dhasarathasya imou kshathriyou lOka visruthou |
dhrashtu kaamou dhanu: srEshtam yath Ethath thvayi thishtathi || 1-66-5
putrau + dhasarathasya + imou = sons of Dasharatha these two
kshathriyou + lOka + visruthou = Kshathriyas in world renowned
dhrashtu + kaamou + dhanu: + srEshtam = to see desirous bow marvellous
yath + Ethath + thvayi + thishtathi = which [bow] that one in you [with you]
have a place.
Meaning: In the palace of janaka, the king of mithila, sage visvaamithra,
having brought raama and lakshmaNa there, says to the king janaka, "These two
are the sons of king Dhasaratha, well-renowned Kshathriyas in world, and they
are desirous to see that marvellous bow which has a place with you".
Ethath dharsaya bhadhram thE krutha kaamou nrupa aathmajou |
dharsanaath asya dhanushO yathaa ishtam prathiyaasyatha: || 1-66-6
Ethath + dharsaya = that [bow] show
bhadhram + thE = bades well to you
krutha + kaamau + nrupa + aathmajou = done [come true] desires king's sons [two
princes]
dharsanaath + asya + dhanusha: = by beholding that bow
yathaa + ishtam + prathi + yaasyatha: = as they like return [back] they go
meaning: sage visvaamithra continues to janaka "You may show that bow, well
bodes you, and on beholding that bow, the desire of these two princes will come
true, and they will go back as they like.
Point: here in raamayanam, the hero raama is accompanied by a braahmaNa comes
to the king's palace and expresses the desire to see the bow and finally wins
the girl seethaa. In mahaa bhaaratham also arjuna comes in the guise of a
braahmaNa, accompanied by his brothers in same braahmaNa's guise and expresses
his desire to see the bow, finally wins the girl dhroupathy.
Evam uktha: thu janaka: prathyuvaacha mahaa munim |
srooyathaam asya dhanushO yath artham iha thishthathi || 1-66-7
Evam + uktha: + thu + janaka: = thus addressed but Janaka
prathyuvaacha + mahaa munim = replied the great sage
srooyathaam + asya + dhanusha: = I let you hear about that bow
yath + artham + iha + thishtathi = by which reason here it has a place.
Meaning: Janaka replied the great sage Visvaamithra, when he was addressed
thus, "I shall first tell by which reason that bow has its place here".
Point: dear raama bhakthaas, let us also hear the story of this dhanush, the
bow for that is the topic, which we are going to discuss here.
dhEvaraatha ithi khyaathO nimE: jyEshtO mahee pathi: |
nyaasO ayam thasya bhagavan hasthE dhaththO mahaathmanaa || 1-66-8
bhagavan = oh, godly sage
nimE: = from Nimi
shashta: [jyEshta:] = sixth [eldest]
dhEvaraatha + ithi + khyaatha: = DhEvaraatha thus renowned
maheepathi: = king
ayam = this [bow]
thasya + hasthE + nyaasa: = in his hand as custodial care
mahaathmanaa = by sublime soul [siva];
dhaththa: = given.
Meaning: Oh, godly sage, there was a king renowned as dhEevaraatha, sixth one
from Nimi, [the originator of our lineage,] and this bow was handed down to him
for custodial care by the sublime soul, siva.
dhaksha yajna vadhE poorvam dhanu: aayamya veeryavaan |
rudhra: thu thridhasaan rOshaath sa leelam idham abraveeth || 1-66-9
dhaksha + yajna +vadhE = dhaksha prajaapathi's vEdhic ritual devastation
poorvam = once;
dhanu: + aayamya + veeryavaan = bow outstretching [bowstring] mettlesome [god]
rudhra: + thu + thridhasaan = rudhra but to all gods
rOshaath + sa + leelam + idham + abraveeth = rancorously, with, playing with
[superciliously] this said.
Meaning: Once, during the devastation of the vEdhic-ritual of dhaksha
prajaapathi, the mettlesome god rudhra, rancorously outstretching the bowstring
of this bow, said this to all gods, superciliously.
yasmaath bhaaga arthino bhaagaan na akalpayatha mE suraa: |
vara angaani mahaaarhaaNi dhanushaa saathayaami va: || 1-66-10
yasmaath = whereby;
bhaaga + arthina: = portion [of oblations in vEdhic-ritual] desirer
bhaagaan + na + a + kalpayatha = apportioned not made
mE = to me
suraa: = oh gods
vara + angaani = best limbs [heads]
mahaa + arhaaNi = highly revered [heads]
dhanushaa + shaathayaami = with bow I will shred
va: = yours.
Meaning: Oh, gods, whereby you have not apportioned my portion [of oblations in
vEdhic- rituals, as I am also] the desirer of such portion, [thereby] I will
shred the highly revered heads of yours with this bow.' [So said siva to gods]
thathO vimanasa: sarvE dhEvaa vai munipungava |
prasaadhayanthi dhEvesam thEshaam preethO abhavath bhava: || 1-66-11
thatha + vimanasa: + sarvE + dhEvaa + vai = then dismayed all gods truly
muni pungava = oh best saint
prasaadhayanthi + dhEvEsam = on supplicating God of Gods [siva];
thEshaam + preetha: + abhavath + bhava: = of them glad He became Bhava [another
name of siva.]
meaning: Then, oh, best saint visvaamitra, all gods are truly dismayed, and on
their supplicating, Bhava, viz siva, the God of Gods is gladdened.
preethi yuktha: thu sarvEshaam dhadhou thEshaam mahaathmanaam |
thath Ethath dhEvadhEvasya dhanoo rathnam mahaathmana: || 1-66-12
nyaasabhootham thadhaa nyastham asmaakam poorvajE vibhO |
preethi + yuktha: + thu = glad having [gladly] but
sarvEshaam + dhadhou = to all gave
thEshaam + mahaa aathmanaam = to them great souled gods
thath + Ethath + dhEva dhEvasya = that this God of God's
dhanoo + rathnam = bow gem of a
mahaathmana: = by sublime soul siva
nyaasa bhootham = for custodial care
thadhaa + nyastham = then given
asmaakam + poorvajE = to our ancestor
vibhO = oh, godly saint.
Meaning: That sublime soul siva gladly gave that bow to all of the great souled
gods. Oh, godly saint visvaamithra, then those great souled gods gave this gem
of a bow of siva, the God of Gods, to our ancestor [dhEvaraatha] for custodial
care.
Point: Thus the story of how the siva dhanu: reached the ancestors of janaka is
told by janaka to visvaamithra [includes raama and lakshmaNa for they were by
the side of visvaamithra when all these are spoken]. But we have to see first
how siva got this bow which is an interesting story. That we will see in next
post.
Dhasan
Vasudevan m.g.
PS 1: [Very important point: please do not pick the thread how you can say
"siva, the anya dhevatha, can be said 'god of gods' etc", for I have just truly
reproduced what is in sreemadh raamaayanam, with slokam no etc.]
PS 2: Sri.V.Anjaneyalu of Itarsi provided the important thread for this post
and my gratitudes are due to him.
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