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Continued
from yesterday’s instalment
 We know the quality of Rama. He flows like the rivers that move with such force when they fall down from the hills, just at the utterance of the words ‘I take refuge in you.’ The persons that surround him now are sages, ascetics and pursuers of the Self. There could be only one answer that he would give in such circumstances and he gave them his word. Valmiki puts it in a very beautiful manner.
“You should not speak to me thus. I am at the command of the ascetics.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda, Canto VI, Sloka 22) This answer differs greatly from the way he gave
abhaya to Vibishana or Sugriva. He speaks to them as their protector and his words come out with parental care. But when speaking to the sages, he adopts the tone of a son. ‘Do not say that you are speaking to me like petitioners. Order me. Command me. I am at your disposal.’
Vaidehi has her own opinion about this assurance given to the sages; but she does not speak to Rama about it there and then. She waits for the right moment to speak to him about it. The three then visit the hermitage of Sutiksana. They stay there for the night and leave for Dandaka the next morning. The Poet gives a ‘directorial touch’ here, when they prepare to leave, taking us very close to the heart of Rama. He must have sensed that Sita is not happy about the assurance that he gave to the ascetics to obliterate the demons from the face of the earth. But he doesn’t speak about it, until she opens the subject. It is most likely that he had read her mind.
The assurance to the ascetics was given in Canto 6. The stay at the hermitage and their departure to Dandaka are depicted in Canto 7 and 8 and Sita’s objections are detailed in Canto 9. When the brothers and Sita take leave of sage Sutiksana, the Poet paints the following picture in Canto 8.
Rama, along with Lakshmana and Sita bow at the feet of the sage and take leave of him. The sage asks Rama to come back to the hermitage once again, when he returns from Dandaka.
evam uktaH tathaa iti uktvaa kaakutsthaH saha lakSmaNaH | pradakSiNam munim kRitvaa prasthaatum upacakrame || (Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda, Canto 8, Sloka 17)
“Thus addressed, Kakutstha together with Lakshmana said, ‘So be it!’ and going round the sage keeping him to the right, started on his journey.” He started on his journey.
The Poet makes it very clear that their journey started.
 It can be seen from Sloka 19 that they had not left the hermitage as yet.
This means, they had prepared to go, but had not yet left the precincts of the hermitage. But strangely, Rama had not taken his bow! Or any other weapon for that matter! Where was his bow? Where were his arrows? It is not only Rama; it appears that Lakshmana has also left his weapons back! Observe the Sloka that follows:
tataH shubhatare tuuNii dhanuSii ca aayatekSaNaa | dadau siitaa tayoH bhraatroH khaDgau ca vimalau tataH || (Ibid, Sloka 18) “Then Sita, possessed of large eyes, handed to those brothers very excellent quivers, bows and polished swords. Both of them Rama as well as Lakshmana, fastened the beautiful quivers, took with a twang the bows, and left the hermitage for proceeding on their journey.”
(Sloka 19)
It was she who brought the weapons to them. “Here the Poet tells us something which he has not told us before,” observes Right Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastriyar. “I myself suspect that there is some significance in doing it.”
There lies the clue to Rama’s mind and the way he understood his darling.
More follows...
Published on 11th
February 2003
Hari Krishnan
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