By Dr. Saroja Ramanujam, M.A.,Ph.

D , siromani
Balakanda

6.Visvamithra arrived
Visvamithra sent word through the gatekeepers to Dasaratha who came out to welcome him
'PrathyjjagAma thamhrshtO brahmANam iva vAsavah,' asIndra would welcome
Brahma.Visvamithra enquired after the welfare of the king and his subjects and that of
Vasishta and others. Dasaratha welcomed him saying that he felt immensely pleased like
getting nectar, like a thirsty one acquiring water in a desert, like a man without progeny and
like one regained lost wealth, to see the sage at the time when he was thinking of the
marriage of his sons.
Kamban describes Visvamithra thus:
'mannuyir adangalum ulagum vEru amaitthu dhEvarodu idam kol nAnmuganaiyum
padaippEn eendu enAtthodangiya thuni uru munivan thOnrinAn.'
The sage, who challenged to create another world and heaven along with Indra and devas
and Brahma, appeared there.
Then Dasaratha asked the sage the purpose of his arrival promising to do what he wanted
from him.then Visvamithra who very well knew the possible effect his request is going to
have on Dasaratha said that he will tell the king what is in his mind and the word given by the
king should be kept."kurushva rAjasArdhoola bhava sathyaprathsrvAh."
Visvamithra then started relating his troubles in performing his yajna which is almost in a
finishng stage but two rakshasas Subahu and Mareecha polluted the place of sacrifice by
pouring blood and flesh on it. Visvamithra said he could very well destroy them by his yogic
power but he will be wasting his penance and also because he has taken a vow of
eqquanimity during the performance of sacrifice. Then Visvamithra dropped the bombshell
by saying that Dasaratha should send Rama with him to protect the sacrifice.Valmiki through
the words of Visvamithra praises Rama as 'rAmamsathyaparAkramam
kAkapakshaDHaram Sooram,' Rama is truly invincible, valiantand handsome with his
forelocks.
Kamban skips the description of the details about
the obstruction to the yaga and simply makes the
sage say that to destroy the two miscreants who
obstruct the yaga Dasaratha should send Rama
which was to Dasaratha tantamount to asking his own life."nin siruvar nAlvarinum kariya
semmal oruvanai thandhidudhi" ena uyir irakum kodumkootrinuLaiyacchonnAn.' He
did not even mention Rama by name but said you give me the dark complexioned son of
yours which of course left no doubt in the mind of Dasaratha whom he referred to.Dasaratha
, says Kamban, felt like the one who being blind got his sight only to lose it again.'kaNN
ilAn pettru izandhAn ena,'
In Valmikiramayana Dasaratha argues with Visvamithra that Rama is a young boy and will
not be able to face the rakshasas and the sage tried to convince him by saying that he was
there to protect Rama and also that Rama was capable of killing not only these two but all
rakshasas.He said that Rama was going to get glory by this and will be benefitted in many
ways, of course having in mind the breaking of Sivadhanus and Seetha kalyanam.Then
Visvamithra assured Dasaratha that no one else except Rama can kill the asuras and asked
him not to be diffident due to attachment towards his son.
Then Visvamithra said 'aham vEdhmi mahAthmAnam rAmam sathyaparAkramam;
vasishtOpimahAthEjA yE chEmE thapasi sThithah.' meaning "I know Rama and his
greatness and so does Vasishta and other sages here,".implying that Dasaratha does not have
the jnana to understand the true identity of Rama..And Visvamithra asked Dasaratha to send
Rama with the permission of Vasishta and others. But Dasaratha was not convinced and
argued again saying he himself will come with his army and them on hearing that the
rakshasa were sent by Ravana said that it is impossible even for him to fight the forces of
Ravana and how wiuld Rama who was not even sixteen then do it and finally concluding
his talk by saying that he would not send Rama which angered the sage. Here the poetic skill
of Valmiki can be seen in the usage of the word 'rAjeevalochana' with reference to Rama.
Visvamithra used the word in its usual sense of lotus-eyed or perhaps implying that Rama is
none other than the lotus-eyed Lord Narayana, in asking dasaratha to give Rama to him for
ten days to protect his yaga, 'dasarAthram hi yajnasya rAmam rajeevalochanam,' But in
refusing to give Rama Dasaratha used the same word, 'oona shOdaSa varsho mE rAmO
rAjeevalochanah,' which has deeper signofcance.The lotus closes in the night and similarly
being a lad of not even sixteen years Rama will sleep in the night. The rakshsas on the other
hand are known to roam around only in the night. So it is not possible for Rama to fight them.
Hearing the refusal of Dasaratha Visvamithra got angry and said it is unusual for one born in
the clan of Raghu to go back on his words after promising to do what the sage wanted and
said 'miTHyAprathijnah kAkuthstTHa sukhee bhava sabAnDhavah,' May you live
happily thus swerving from your promise along with your relatives, which, said in anger was
tantamount to a curse and remembering the history of the sage whole world became afraid.
Vasishta intevened and advised Dasaratha to send Rama reassuring him about the safety of
Rama and also extolling the greatness of Visvamithra and reminded Dasaratha of the glory of
his own clan in which no one has ever broken his word once given. Then Dasaratha obeyed
the command of his guru and agreed to send Rama with Visvamithra. Kamban's Dasaratha
never argued in length but immediately said that he will not send Rama and the his refusal.,
the anger of the sage and the advice of vasishta were all told by Kamban in one verse each.
7.Rama leaves with Visvamithra
Dasaratha called Rama along with Lakshmana and Rama followed Visvamithra obeying the
command of his father. Valmiki describes the scene thus:'visvAmithram mahAthmAnam
thriseershou iva pannagou anujagmathurakshudhrou pithAmahamivASvinou'
Visvamithra walked in front and Rama next followed by Lakshmana and they are compared
to Asvinidevas following Brahma.With their bow and quiver on either side they looked like
three headed serpents.
Kamban describes this scene :
kunram pOnru uyar thOLil kotravil onru thAnginAn ulagam thAnginAn
Rama was carrying his bow on his mountainous shoulders and he is refereed to as 'ulagam
thAnginAn,' the supporter of the world meaning the Lord Narayana or to imply that by
wielding the bow he has started on his mission of saving the world being the support of the
world.
After they have walked some distanceVisvamithra wanted to instruct the manthra to ward off
hunger and thirst. valmiki says 'rAmEthi madhurAm vAneem
visvaAmithrobhyabhAshatha.' Visvamithra called the name of Rama which was sweet to
his ears as Thtyagaraja says, 'vararAmanamamane khandasarkara, ramanama is like
sugarcandy.' It shows that Visvamithra was savouring the taste of Ramanama on his tongue
and relishing it.Then he taught the manthras bala and athibala to Rama which will prevent
fatigue, change in physical stature,fever and any trouble from the rakshasas during sleep
etc.Not only that, but the whole world will be under his control and he will be unparalleled,
said the rshi,instructing the manthras to Rama. Then Rama instructed them to
Lakshmana.Thus they reached the southbank of the river Sarayu and spent the night there.
The next morning Visvamithra woke up Rama with the famous words, 'KousalyasuprajA
rama poorvAsanDHyA pravarththE; utthishta naraSArdhoola karthavyam dhaivam
Ahnikam, son of kousalya,the morning has dawned. Get up, oh tiger among men, and do
your daily rituals.' This sloka is used in temples even today at the time of suprabhatham,
especially in Thirumala.Commentators have seen significance in each word of this sloka.
KouslyAsupraja- the offspring of Kousalya, Visvamithra calls Rama. This may be to praise
Kousalya as being more evolved than Dasaratha, because even after Visvamithra has said
'aham vEdmi mahAthmAnam rAmam sathyaparAkramam,' that he knew the real
identity of Rama, Dasaratha was not conviinced and said 'duhkhEnOthpAdhithaschAyam
na rAmam nEthum arhasi,' that Rama was born after great penance and Visvamihtra
cannot take him away. But Kousalya did not say a word, which presumably Valmiki would
have recorded, if she has expressed her concern. This can be seen even when Rama went on
exile . Dasaratha could not bear the separation but Kousalya stoically endured it .
Rama- the word denotes attractive form which delights the heart. So Visvamithra on seeing
Rama while he is sleeping loses his heart at the beauty of it.
PoorvA sanDHyA pravarthathe-Rama was born to Kousalya like the Sun at the dawn. This
time is like dawn, says Visvamithra because as the sun dispels the darkness Rama has started
on his avatharakarya, namely to destroy the rakshasas. The great scholars who give discourse
on Ramayana say that Visvamithra had the darsan of the Lord Narayana on AdhisEsha in
Rama at this time and hence the word poorvAsanDhyA may mean the rising of the awareness
of bhagavathsAkshAthkAra of the sage.


UtthishTa --dhaivam Ahnikam- this serves as the reminder for Rama about his task for
which he has taken incarnation.*'Visvamithra was always competing with Vasishta and the
real puropose in taking Rama along with him must be to enjoy the company of Rama in the
capacity of being a guru like Vasishta and also to outdo Vasishta in settling the marriage of
Rama!'*
(*heard in the discourse on Thyagaraja ramayana by MaduraiTNSeshagopalan)
Then they reached the place where the river Sarayu joins with Ganges and went to
Kamasrama ,the place, where, in the previous kalpa, the god of love was burnt by Lord
Siva.There were many sages who were doing penance there and they came to know through
their yogic perception that Rama has come there with Visvamithra .and foresaw the
destruction of Thataka and felt happy. Next morning they crossed the ganges in a boat and
reached a fierce uninhabited forest . Rama wanted to know the reason for the place being so
and Visvamithra told him that it was a fertile land earlier but has become so due to the demon
Thataka. and her son Mareecha.
Thataka was the daughter of Sukethu,a yaksha of good character, and was given a strength
equal to 1000 elephants by Brahma. She was married to Sundha who incurred the displeasure
of the sage Agasthya who killed him by his yogic power and Thataka with her son Maricha
started to attack the sage who cursed them both to become rakshasas.Then the two of them
started killing everyone and destroyed that place which became a terrible forest.Visvamithra
told Rama that he had to kill this demon Thataka and Rama said he will do the bidding of the
sage whatever it is as it was the command of his father to do so.
WILL CONTINUE..