Ramayan Prayag - Ayodhya kanda 24
The next morning Bharadhvaja instructed Bharatha the way to
chithrakoota where Rama was staying with Seetha and Lakshmana.
At the time of departure the three queens of Dasaratha came out of their
palanquins to pay obeisance to the sage and he asked the identity of
each one. In Kamban it was Guha who asked this and the reply and
the reaction of Guha is worth mentioning and we shall see it presently
as a contrast to the scene in Valmiki.
Valmiki decribes the queens as follows. Kousalya was trembling with
trepidation perhaps about the outcome of the expedition and she was
emaciated and piteous, 'vepamaanaa krSaa dheenaa,' and she
touched the feet of the sage with Sumithra. Then Kaikeyi, whom
Valmiki describes as 'asamRddhena kaamena sarvalokasya
garhithaa,' the one whose desire was thwarted and who has become
despicable to the whole world.
Bharatha introducing the queens said that the one who is emaciated
by grief and fasting and looks like a deity is the one, who gave birth to
Rama as Adhithi to Vamana, was Kousalya and the other standing by
her side looking like a branch of karnikara tree with withered flowers in
her grief is the godly Sumithra the mother of the two heroic princes
Lakshmana and Sathrughna.
Then pointing to Kaikeyi he introduced
her as the one who is the cause of the exile of two tigers among men
and the death of her husband and who is of fierce temper,
indiscriminate, arrogant, high in self esteem,avarice and who appeared
as a noble woman which she was not. And added that she was his
mother Kaikeyi who is the cause of his misfortune, making Kaikeyi
miserable and ashamed at his words.
Then Bharadhvaja said that what
happened was not the fault of Kaikeyi but the machinations of the
devas and the exile of Rama was going to result in the welfare of the
whole world. Thus we see in Valmiki several instances where the
divinty of Rama is proclaimed by the sages and the devotees.
This incident which Valmiki describes as having taken place in the
hermitage of Bharadhvaja was transferred by Kamban to the place
where Guha helped them to cross the river and they were getting into
the boat.
Guha seeing Kousalya revered by all, fell at her feet and asked
Bharatha about her identity. Bharatha said that she was the crowned
queen of Dasaratha and inspite of giving birth to the one who is the
creator of the whole world, lost all her glory because Bharatha was
born.
முற்றத்தான் முதல் தேவி: மூன்று
உலகும் ஈன்றானை முன் ஈன்றானைப்
பெற்றத்தால் பெரும் செல்வம், யான்
பிறத்தலால் துறந்த பெரியாள்
When Guha fell at her feet Kousalya asked Bharatha who he was and
Bharatha replied ,
இன் துணைவன் ராகவனுக்கு , இலக்குவர்க்கும்
இளையவர்க்கும் எனக்கும் மூத்தான்
" He is a close friend of Rama and elder brother to me , Lakshmana
and Sathrughna."
Guha then asked him about Sumthra and Bharatha said,
ராமன் பின்பு பிறந்தானும் உளன் என்னப்பிறியான் தன்னை
பயந்த பெரியாள்
" She is the one who gave birth to Lakshmana who proved that there
is a brother to Rama and who was inseparable to Him."
What Bharatha meant was that
only Lakshmana was fit to be called a brother to Rama.
Then Guha enquired the identity of Kaikeyi to whom Kamban refers as
the one who has sent her husband to cremation ground, plunged her
son into the sea of sorrow, exiled the sea of mercy, Rama to the forest
and the one who had pervaded the whole world with her wickedness
as the Lord did with His cosmic form.
In Kamban's words,
கடுமயானத்திடை தன் துணை ஏக,
தோன்றல் துயர் கடலின் ஏக,
கடுமை ஆர் கானகத்துக் கருணை ஆர்கலி
ஏக, கழல்கால் மாயன்
நெடுமையால் அன்று அளந்த உலகு எல்லாம்,
தன மனத்தே நினைந்து செய்யும்
கொடுமையால் , அளந்தாளை ''ஆர் இவர் ?
என்று உரை "" என்ன , குரிசில் கூறும்;
By this we see the deep felt anguish of the devotee Kamban .
Bharatha replied in more or less in the same manner as in Valmiki and
Guha bowed down to her also, because she was the mother of
Bharatha, perhaps thinking that because of her only he had the good
fortune of meeting Rama.
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