Ramayan of Krittivas Ojha: a study *New updt pg 11 - Page 5

Originally posted by: _Vrish_

Vrish - blue & orange

Urmila - pink

How about Dasharath - does he describe Dasharath's rule as well in length, aside from his marriages and battles w/ Shambara?  How about Shravan Kumar - is that something narrated only indirectly via Dasharath (as in Valmiki), or does it get narrated separately in Adikand?  How does the transfer of the kingdom from Aja to Dasharath take place?

Also, does Krittivas have Dasharath having 350 more wives, like in Valmiki & Kamban?

Yes, Dasharath's effort of keeping his people always happy is expressed by some incidents, in one word, he has been shown as a affectionate & kind King from different sides. His marriage with Kousalya, Kaikeyi & Sumitra has been elaborately described as well as the Sambar vadh part too. Here the son of blind sage-couple is named Sindhu, & his death incident has been shown in Dasharath's life directly (in Aadikand), not as his narration in Ayodhyakand like Valmiki did. Then Dasharath tried to get rid of this vice & asked Vamdev (Vasistha's son) how to do it. Vamdev advised him to utter the name 'Ram' for 3 times (as Dasharath became the reason of 3 people's death). Dasharath did it & happily returned. But when Vasistha knew this, he became very angry with his son & said him, "if a person utters 'Ram' just once, he gets rid of one crore bramha-hatya (killing of Brahmins), but you don't know this inspite being my son?  You forced the king to utter it for 3 times! Go & become a chandal." That Bamdev took birth as Nisadraj Guhak. Thus Dasharath's life is narrated separately & the story of his curse has been elaborately told in Aadikand before RLBS's birth.

In Valmiki's Baalkand, Vashista's sons had been cursed by Vishwamitra during the time they refused to support him in the yagna that Trishanku wanted done for his own self-aggrandizement.  I'm surprised that Vashista had any sons left to curse.

 

But I'm not getting this - if Dasharath overcompensated his killing of Shravan Kumar by  uttering Rama's name thrice, why did that merit Vamdev being cursed?  Dasharath should simply get bonus points, so to speak, for the 'excessive' atonement?  Incidentally, Shravan Kumar was the son of a Vaishya father & Shudra mother, and told Dasharath that he won't be guilty of Brahmahatya: was the same true of Sindhu?

No actually this is not a matter whether Sindhu was a Brahmin or not. Vasistha wanted to mean that, uttering the name of Ram is able to liberate one from a dangerous vice like Brahmahatya, it was just an example of extremity of vice, as Brahmahatya was treated as the biggest vice in that era.  

 

Another point above - this seems to be the first a/c that says that Shambara was killed: in Valmiki, there is no mention of Shambara's fate, and indeed, he may well have been victorious, since Kaikeyi takes a wounded Dasharath off the field, implying that he may well have been defeated.

 

When Dasharath was just a child of one year, his mother Indumati died due to the touch of a Parijat flower & King Aja cried bitterly (just like Raghuvangsa) & then he died too. Then Vasistha took little Dasharath to his ashram & started to teach him. At the age 5 years, Dasharath sat on the throne.

 

That's sad - so the story of Indumati's death really surfaced first in Krittivas?  I wondered whether Kalidas' Raghuvansa also had this account.  So for 5 years, Vashistha ran Ayodhya?  I think if Dasharath inherited the kingdom that young and had to single-handedly manage it until Rama came of age, I understand why he was so anxious to transfer the kingdom over to Rama.

Yes Raghuvangsa has the same account in this regard. Kittivas didn't say explicitly but we can guess that he was Vasistha who ran Ayodhya for that 5 years.

 

In Krittivas, King Dasharath married 750 wives in total, one of them was daughter of King Bhargav (as mentioned by Krittivas) & she had a girl child long before RLBS's birth. That daughter of Dasharath had name 'Hemlata'.   

Is she the same as Shanta i.e. does Dasharath adopt her out to Lomapada, and is she given in marriage to Rishi Angira?  I thought that this account was interesting - in Valmiki, where Dasharath has 350 wives, it's reasonable to suppose that only KSK were originally princesses, while others were common women.  But in Krittivas' account above, he married 4 princesses, not 3?

Yes, Hemlata is Shanta & Lompada adopted her as this was a promise of Dasharath. This daughter married sage Risyashringa later. In VR also, Shanta was wife of Risyashringa, not of Angira.

& there is no specification about the 750 queens, yes we can see there 4 princesses but I'm not sure whether the others were common women or not.

 

Edited by Urmila11 - 12 years ago

Originally posted by: _Vrish_

Urmila

 

Did Mahiravan's wife die as a result of Hanuman kicking her and forcing the birth of Ahiravan?  And as a rakshasha, he was fully grown after being born?  In which case, he wasn't a baby.

 

Did all this happen b4 Rama's Durga puja?  In which case, why did Rama have to do tapasya, when he already had Durga w/ him b4 that?

 Krittivas became silent about Mahiravan's wife after Ahiravan's birth, so I'm not sure whether she died or not. Krittivas didn't say anything about her death. Yes, Ahiravan was fully grown after his birth.

Yes this happened before Ram's Durga Puja. Ram had Durga before that, but when Ravan made Durga pleased with his prayer (before the last war with Ram) Devi Durga sat on Ravan's chariot. Nobody could defeat Ravan for her blessings on him, then Lord Bramha advised Ram to perform Durga Puja.

Thanks.  Now, how different was the story of Angad's encounter w/ Ravan?

@ Lola,
It's my extreme pleasure that you enjoyed the stories 😊 I always need your sweet support to keep this thread alive 😊. & the video you posted from the movie is really LOVELY to watch! ⭐️ I myself didn't watch this movie before but Shivang bhaiya sent me this link some days before, & he told me about its similarity with the Krittivas story 😃 only with a little change, in Krittivas, Sita maa is highlighted in this incident & in the movie, Shri Ram is highlighted as the Tulsi given by him could quench Hanuman's hunger!
Wait for my next update 😉 it's coming very soon 😊 

@ Gunia,
OMG! My sweety Guni the Gyani has entered here 😆 I'm really very very pleased with your presence! ❤️ Thanks for your sweet words 😳😊 it's my honor that you enjoyed reading this 😃 & keep visiting this thread to know more interesting stories 😊 they are coming very soon 😉

@ Aishu,
I'm so honored that you read & enjoyed this thread 😳😊 you have no need to apologize dear sister, we are friends, aren't we? 😃 It's your devotion for Ramayan which has taken you here 😊 I respect your love for our beloved Raghukul family ❤️⭐️ Keep visiting this thread as more stories full of Bhakti-rasa is coming soon 😉😊

Friends! Here is my next update  which contains two stories, 😊 hope you will like them 😊

Uttarkand

A wonderful story of Lakshman's sacrifice during vanavas

 

After Ram's rajyabhishek, great sage Agastya came to visit Ram. He asked Ram, "I'm curious enough to know about your war in Lanka in detail. How did you end all the rakshases? Which demons were killed by you & which ones by Lakshman?" Ram replied, "We had to face a very difficult struggle. We have destroyed countless demons. I killed Ravan & Kumbhakarn; Lakshman killed Atikay & Indrajit."

Then the sage told, "Ram! Indrajit was the greatest hero in the whole Lanka. He was able to bind the king of Gods, Indra. He was able to fight secretly from the clouds. Did Lakshman slay that person? Then I must say that there is no warrior in these three worlds who can equal Lakshman!"  

Shri Ram became wondered, "Lord! Was Indrajit even more powerful than Kumbhakarn & Ravan? How can you praise him instead of Ravan?" Agastya said, "Raghunath! There was no warrior equivalent to Indrajit in universe. If a person could starve for 14 years, could spend sleepless nights for 14 years, & didn't look at any woman's face for 14 years, then only he could slay Indrajit!"

Shri Ram got shocked enough, "Lord! What are you saying? How it's possible? How could Lakshman starve? I gave him fruits everyday in vanavas. Sita was always with him, how could he resist his gaze at Sita's face? He lived in separate cottage, how could he spend sleepless nights during 14 years? How can I believe such impossible words?"

Agastya told, "Call him here. Lakshman will surely narrate all of his sufferings in this court." Then Ram ordered Sumantra to bring Lakshman in the court. Sumantra did so. Lakshman entered into Ram's court & touched Ram's feet.

Shri Ram asked his brother, "Give answers to my few questions. We three lived together for 14 years. How could you live without a single gaze at Sita's face? You used to bring fruits for us, did you starved yourself? You lived in a separate cottage, how could you resist your sleep for 14 years?"

Lakshman replied, "Brother! After Sita's abduction, when Sugriv showed us her ornaments, you asked me, 'Are they Sita's jewelries? Can you identify them as hers?' I couldn't identify her ornaments except the anklet. Yes, my Lord! We three lived together, but I never noticed her but her feet!

You two lived in your cottage, & I guarded the cottage with bow & arrows in my hand. When sleep came to my eyes, I hurt the Goddess of sleep (Nidra devi) with my arrow, & told her, "O Nidra devi! You have to obey my words! Don't come to me for these 14 years. When my brother Ram will sit on Ayodhya's throne as king, & queen Janaki will sit besides him, & I will stand besides them with the raj-chhatra, you may come to my eyes on that day." Lord! After your rajyabhishek, when I stood with raj-chhatra, it fell from my hand, did you notice that?  Actually then Nidra devi came to my eyes according to my order! I became sleepy & couldn't resist the fall of chhatra.

This is also true that I ate nothing for 14 years. I brought fruits from forest & you divided them into three parts. Can you remember what did you tell me? You gave me fruits & told, 'hold it, dear', so I took it & kept in cottage. But you never told me, 'eat the fruits'. Brother! How could I eat without your order? I have kept all the fruits of 14 years!"

Shri Ram asked, "How have you kept them? I'm wondering hearing all of your words!" Then Lakshman asked Hanuman to bring all the fruits from forest. Hanuman went at once & found that all the fruits have been kept in the tunir (the bucket in which the arrows were kept). Seeing it Hanuman thought, "It's too small to carry, even a small monkey can do this! Then why have my Lord sent me for this negligible work? This is an injustice for me." As a result of this pride, Hanuman couldn't lift the tunir full of fruits! It became as heavy as the Shiv-dhanu! Hanuman returned to Ayodhya & told, "I can't understand why I fail to lift it!" Then Shri Ram ordered Lakshman to bring the fruits & Lakshman did so very easily.

Shri Ram ordered Lakshman to count all the fruits. Lakshman counted all fruits of 14 years, but it was found that seven day's fruits are missing from 14 year's collection! Then Shri Ram told, "Lakshman! You have surely eaten fruits on that seven days, otherwise why are they missing?"

Lakshman replied, "My Lord! Fruits have not been brought on those seven days. Those days were:-

1)      The day on which we got the news of father's death.

2)      The day on which Sita was abducted.

3)      The day on which Indrajit bound us with Naag-pash.

4)      The day on which Indrajit killed the Maya-Sita to mislead us.

5)      The day on which we both were in Mahiravan's chamber in patal lok.

6)      The day on which I became unconscious with shakti-shel of Ravan.

7)      The day on which you destroyed Ravan & we attained victory (I forgot to bring fruits due to immense pleasure!)

On those seven days I couldn't bring fruits for you for these reasons. So you can't find seven day's fruits here.

Now believe, brother, this is true that I ate nothing for 14 years! Can you recall sage Viswamitra's advice? He gave us mantras to defeat hunger & thirst. I just obeyed him & thus became able to slay Indrajit."

Tears rolled down from Ram's eyes, he hugged Lakshman affectionately.     

Edited by Urmila11 - 12 years ago

Lankakand

Taranisen vadh

 

After Makaraksha's death, Ravan called Taranisen & told him, "Your father Vibhishon has left me, but I believe that you will help me in this danger! I know that you respect me, my son, save our Lanka!" Taranisen humbly replied, "I will try at my best."

Before going to the battle-field, Taranisen went to meet his mother Sarama (Vibhishon's wife Sarama was very kind & helpful to Sita, Sita addressed her 'Sakhi'). He bowed to Sarama & said, "Mother! To obey king's order I'm going to join to this war. I will see the Purna-Bramha Narayan today with these eyes! My body will be purified with Shri Ram's darshan! Will also see my father's feet! Mother! Please give me your permission to go there!"

Sarama became frightened, "No, my son! I can't permit you to join to this dangerous war. This war will burn the whole Lanka. I will leave Lanka with you. Your father is a follower of Dharm, he took shelter of Shri Ram. You must follow your father's footprints. Shri Ram is not a man; he is the Lord of Vaikunth. He has incarnated himself in order to destroy Ravan with his whole rakshas-kul. Your father knows this. Why should you want to fight with Shri Narayan?"

Taranisen replied, "I know well that Ram is incarnation of Vishnu. Still I decided to fight with him. I will be able to reach Vaikunth directly if he slays me! Why are you so sad, mother? I'm fortunate enough to be killed by His hands! But, if He denies killing His devotee's son, then I will return to touch your feet."

Taranisen became ready for war. He wrote the holy name of Ram on his chariot & flag with holy clay of Ganga! When he entered into the battle-field, Shri Ram asked Vibhishon, "Who is he. Dear friend?" Vibhishon replied, "My Lord! He is a nephew of Ravan, but he is a follwer of Dharm & also a great warrior." He didn't reveal that Taranisen was his own son!

On the other hand, Tarani was searching for Ram, he thought, "When will I see Him? Where is Shri Narayan? Where is my father?" but when he tried to reach to Ram, Neel stopped him, & said, "Where do you want to go? I will kill you at this moment." Seeing Ram naam on his chariot & flag, he laughed, "The demons are clever enough! He has come to fight in a disguise of devotee! Just like Makaraksha came with cows on his chariot! & now you want to cheet us with your false devotion! Is this a new plan of rakshas society?" Neel started war with Tarani, but Tarani easily defeated him, Neel became unconscious. Then Hanuman started to fight against him, but could not win! After Hanuman's defeat, most of the vanaras became afraid. Angad tried to stop Tarani but he failed too! Mahendra, Debendra, Sushen & also king Sugriv was defeated by Taranisen.

Then the son of Vibhishon appeared in front of Shri Ram & Lakshman. He offered his pranaam to Vibhishon with indication (just like Arjun's pranaam to Dronacharya with arrows) & openly bowed to Shri Ram & Lakshman.

Shri Ram asked, "Friend Vibhishon! This rakshas has come here to fight against us. Then why is he offering pranaam to me?"

Vibhishon replied, "Lord! He is your devotee; he knows nothing but your feet! He has to join this war only to obey the order of king Ravan."

Shri Ram told, "If he is my devotee, then I bless him. His desire will be fulfilled."

Lakshman became astonished, "Brother! What are you saying? He is a rakshas. His desire is Ravan's victory. Will you fulfill this desire?"

Shri Ram smiled, "No, Lakshman! My devotees can never keep a wish of wealth or victory in their mind! They only want me!"  

Meanwhile, Taranisen made a sound by pulling his bow (tankar) & shouted, "I'm here. So don't expect to return your home!" Lakshman became angry with those words. He started to fight with Taranisen. He threw lots of arrows towards Tarani, but the great devotee destroyed all the arrows just by uttering 'Ram' in his mind. If Lakshman applied Agni-ban (fire-weapon) then Tarani destroyed it by Barun-ban (water-weapon). If Lakshman threw Pashupat astra, Tarani canceled it with Vaishnav astra. Lakshman's Parvat-ban (mountain weapon) was destroyed by Tarani's Pavan-ban (wind-weapon), & Sarpa-ban (snake-weapon) was destroyed by Garur astra. Then Lakshman applied the Gandharva-ban, it created numerous Gandharvas who killed the whole rakshas army of Taranisen. Being worried with his army's fall, Tarani threw a shakti on Lakshman & the later became unconscious.  

Then Taranisen shouted, "Where is that vanavasi Ram?"

Ram came & told him, "Don't worry! I will surely send you to Yamlok very soon! But Tarani was silent. He could see viswa-roop of Ram! He saw the whole universe in Ram's body! He left his weapons, offered a 'bhumistha pranaam' (pranaam by lying the whole body on ground) & started a stuti of Ram,------

"You are the Lord of all Gods! You are the Lord of Vaikuntha! You are Bramha-Vishnu-Mahesh; you are Kuber-Barun-Yam-Indra; you are Chandra-Surya, you are day & night! You are the Lord of distressed people. You do the creation, protection & destroy. You have spread yourself in the whole universe. You have taken the forms of Matsya, Kurma, Baraha & Narasimha; you are the enemy of demon Hiranyakashipu, you are the Lord of Ksheer-Sagar! O Sun of Surya-dynasty! Give me shelter on your feet! I don't know how to worship you. Even Lord Shiv can't find the limit of your glory, how can I find it? Save me, Lord, I have no power to describe you, I'm a poor rakshas! It's the result of my tapasya in previous births that I could born in rakshas kul as your 'vadhya' (who has to be killed). I don't want swarg-lok. Kill me, & then I will reach to your lok directly! If you destroy my body with your own lotus-hands, I will surely reach Vaikuntha dham with a great pleasure!"

Hearing this stuti, Shri Ram wept, "Friend Vibhishon! He is my great devotee in Lanka! How can I hurt him?" he left his weapons, & told, "Vibhishon! All our efforts failed, I can't rescue Sita from Ravan's hand. I don't want Sita, I don't want to return Ayodhya, I only want my devotee! How can I apply arrows on my devotee? My heart breaks even if my devotee is hurt by a small pin! My devotee is equivalent to my parents & my life, they are my all!"

Now, seeing this, Taranisen thought, "Lord has been pleased with me, he will not kill me. Then how will I attain the 'Moksha'? Who will 'uddhar' this body of rakshas? If I want to be killed by him, the I have to fight with him, otherwise it's impossible to fulfill my desire! He took his bow & arrows & shouted, "Ram! If you think that I'm your devotee, then you are completely wrong. I just wanted to test you with some sweet words! Have you thought that I will not fight? I'll send you to Yamlok very soon. Today I'll kill you & your brother, then king Ravan will easily marry Sita."

That acting of Taranisen was enough to make Lakshman angry. Lakshman told, "He is false. He is not a devotee, uttered several stuti only for saving his life." He became ready for war with Tarani, but Tarani wanted to be killed by Shri Ram only! Vibhishon understood his mental condition, & told Ram, "He is a dangerous warrior of Lanka. He defeated Lakshman once, why are you sending Lakshman again? Only you can slay him."

Finally, war started between Ram & Taranisen. But Ram's weapons failed one by one! Then Vibhishon advised him to apply Bramhastra as it was the only weapon to kill Taranisen.

Shri Ram threw Bramhastra. Seeing it, Tarani uttered, "I'm sacrificing my life in front of you, O Lord! Give me shelter at your feet after my death!" meanwhile, Bramhastra hurt him, & his body was divided into two parts. After being separated from his body, his head started to utter 'Ram' again & again & fell on the ground!

Vibhishon started to weep bitterly. Shri Ram asked the reason of his cry. Then Vibhishon revealed the truth, "This Taranisen was my son who has just died!"

All who were present there broke down in immense grief. Tears rolled down from Shri Ram's eyes, he said, "Friend! Why did you not tell me this before? If you told me that he was your child,, I never fought against him! How merciless your heart is! You told me the way of his death (Bramhastra)! O Vibhishon! Why did you kill your own child? & why are you weeping now when it's impossible for him to return?"

Vibhishon replied, "Lord! I don't weep for my son. He has reached to your holy lok, who will weep for such a blessed son? But Lord! What will happen to me? All my relatives are attaining Moksha in spite of being your enemy! But I, your devotee, will fail to achieve it as I'm immortal!"     

Is this the only account that has Taranisen fighting for Ravan?  B'cos no other account has it.  Also, Vibhishan disclosing to Rama the secret of how to kill him sounds even worse than what he did to Indrajit.

Originally posted by: Urmila11

 

Shri Ram became wondered, "Lord! Was Indrajit even more powerful than Kumbhakarn & Ravan? How can you praise him instead of Ravan?" Agastya said, "Raghunath! There was no warrior equivalent to Indrajit in universe. If a person could starve for 14 years, could spend sleepless nights for 14 years, & didn't look at any woman's face for 14 years, then only he could slay Indrajit!"

I got the answer of my question why Keikei asked for exile of 14 years only and not 15 and not 13 or 10 or any other number.😃

Lovely posts Sema. Your last two posts have made the informative thread full of devotion. Best updates in the thread. I loved to read every content about Lakshman & Taranisen just except the point of Hanumanji's pride & Ramji's ignorance about Lakshman. And personally I loved the way Vibhishan read the mind of Taranisen & helped Shri Ram to give him the way of death of his son. Height of devotion & knowledge and love for son. True love. He didn't think about his body but the salvation or uplift of soul and helped him along the way of his devotion & mission too.👏 And superb reply in the end too to Shri Ram's question. He has truly set the ideals of devotion for the modern society people living in the middle of vices.

Edited by ShivangBuch - 12 years ago

Thank you for sharing both these stories Sema, and that too in such great detail... really enjoying this thread thoroughly!!! The Lakshman one was really inspiring (apart from the point of Hanumanji having pride, as Shivang bhaiya pointed out... excuse us both for being allergic to that implication 😆), and it was something that I was curious about after seeing a comment under a youtube vid which briefly alluded to this as the reason he was able to defeat Meghnaad. It was the vid of RSR's Meghnaad Vadh scene. Now I know the full details thanks to you!!! And the Taranisen story was indeed very tragic... what made it most tragic, IMO, was that Vibhishan knew what was in his son's heart but Shri Ram didn't?! I'm used to the "prabhu toh bhakt ko pehchaane, par bhakt nahin prabhu ko pehchaane" concept even when it comes to Shri Ram... so for him to not abide by it in this situation and bring it to the point where Vibhishan had to do what he did is just really 😭 Please do follow this up with a humorous one like the Angad-Ravan exchange, along with any other light incidents like the Hanumanji one from last time! We need dessert 😛 Thanks again for these though 🤗

Urmila

I remembered another thing - when we first saw the killing of Ravan in ASR, my uncle mentioned to me that the weapon used to kill him was obtained by Hanuman from Mandodari by tricking her.  According to this, that weapon had been in Mandodari's possession, and buried within a pillar in her quarters.  Hanuman found out that only Mandodari had that weapon, so he took the form/disguise as Ravan, and visited her, and asked her for the weapon.  Mandodari told him that it was buried in that pillar, and then Hanuman took his real ginormous form, broke the pillar and stole it from under Mandodari's nose.

Is this in Krittivas, or does he not cover it?