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Continued
from yesterday’s instalment
 It was Janaki who brought their weapons. As Sastriyar observes this is the first – and just only one – occasion in which she is depicted as carrying the weapons. Obviously they had left them aside when prostrating before the sage. They moved out. But they did not pick their weapons up. It was she who brought them. They then fastened the sword, strung and twanged the bow. If we remember, Rama is so very meticulous about the way he carries his weapons and removed the string of the bow before entering into the hermitage, as we saw in Canto I of Aranya Kanda. (See:
Unstringing the bow). When this being so, one is not even able to imagine that he could have left them behind ‘by accident.’
If the Poet says that they twanged the bow, it is obvious that they are really at a respectable distance from the hermitage. He would not have done so if he were within earshot of the hermitage. That goes without saying. This again points to the fact that Sita has carried the weapons from the hermitage for some distance. And again, it becomes clear that both the brothers have walked bare-handed from the hermitage to that distance.
 How is it possible that he could have forgotten such an important thing, without which he is not to be seen anywhere in the epic! It was not an umbrella, after all, to be left behind inadvertently. “It was left to Sita to bring the bows and arrows from the inside,” says Srinivasa Sastriyar, “and give them to the brothers who were to wear them. We are not told that it was her daily duty but she did it now.” It appears as though Rama has read her mind. He is able to see that she is clearly agitated about his assurance to the sages to clear the earth of demonic forces. It also appears like a deliberate move to make her bring him the weapons and hand them over to him, symbolic of her ‘approval’ to their wearing the weapons. The Poet does not directly say this. ‘This possibly must have been the reason,’ we conclude and smile to ourselves when Rama starts answering Sita in the next canto. But let us first see the objections of
Sita.
 As we mentioned earlier, any adult – adult conversation moves smoothly, only with the open recognition, acknowledgement and explicit expression of the other person’s attainments. It demands respect, no matter who utters what to whom. If you want to express what you don’t like, first make it clear what you like in him or her. This is the golden rule. This is not restricted to mere official and diplomatic relations. This applies even to the two who are bound for life to each other. Of course there are moments when love mutes all logic between the two of them. But when the intellect is at work, mutual respect is the watchword. Sita does not miss this. See how she opens her remarks and registers her objections and how beautifully she ends in a way that does not in any way affect the person’s self-respect.
“hRidyayaa snigdhayaa vaacaa bhartaaram idam abraviit” (Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda, Canto IX, Sloka 1). She spoke to him in a soft, friendly voice. ‘Even great men go astray Raghava! If a person is careful about eschewing the desires born of addiction, this can easily be overcome. There are just three things in this world that basically drive a man to err. Of these three, two cannot even approach you. I am only worried about the third.’
More follows...
Published on 12th
February 2003
Hari Krishnan
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