SRI RAGHAVENDRA SWAMY’S SRI RAMACHARITRYA MANJARI (ಶ್ರೀ ರಾಘವೆಂದ್ರ ಸ್ವಾಮಿ ವಿರಚಿತ “ಶ್ರೀ ರಾಮಚಾರಿತ್ರ್ಯ ಮಂಜರಿ ಅರ್ಥವಿವರಣೆ)

SRI RAGHAVENDRA SWAMY’S SRI RAMACHARITRYA MANJARI

(ಶ್ರೀ ರಾಘವೆಂದ್ರ ಸ್ವಾಮಿ ವಿರಚಿತ “ಶ್ರೀ ರಾಮಚಾರಿತ್ರ್ಯ ಮಂಜರಿ ಅರ್ಥವಿವರಣೆ)

 “RAmaviyOgAddasharaThE mrutE (ರಾಮವಿಯೋಗಾದ್ದಶರಥೇ ಮೃತೇ): Dasharatha demised due to the distress caused by the departure of Sri Rama. On the sixth night after the departure of Sri Rama, Dasharatha was melancholic. He remembered a sin he had committed during his pre-marriage life and narrated that incident to Kausalya. “Oh dear Kausalya, a skill of hunting purely by following sound is known as ShabdavEdha (ಶಬ್ದವೇಧ). I am an expert in this subject. When I was very young, I went to the forest in the dead night once for hunting. A boy came there, along with his aged blind parents. Since his parents were thirsty, he made them wait on the banks of a river and went out to fetch water from the nearby river. When the boy immersed the vessel into the river, a sound emanated from it. It was too dark at that time and I fired an arrow targeting the sound that had actually come out of the vessel. I did not know that the origin of that sound was a human being. Thinking that some wild animal had come to drink the water, I had fired the arrow. Instantly, a scream for help was heard. I went to the spot and I was shocked to know that a young man had been killed by the arrow I had shot. He took pity on me. He understood that I had fired the arrow by mistake. He said that he was born to a Vaishya from a Shudra woman and hence I would not attract the sin of Brahma Hatya. He went on to say that his parents were waiting to drink the water and requested me to take water to them immediately. That person died immediately after narrating his story. I regretted for what had happened. As instructed by the youngster, I went to the place where his parents were waiting. I saw his parents. As they were blind, they thought that their son had returned with water. But, when I narrated everything and gave them water, they cursed me that I should also die with a great sense of nostalgia caused by the departure of son.” Dasharatha became silent for a while after narrating this story. Later, he appealed to Lord Brahma that in his future births at least he should be able to see Sri Rama again. Remembering Sri Rama for a very long time in the dead night, Dasharatha breathed his last. The next morning servants and attenders came to the apartment of Dasharatha to wake him up. Kausalya

was unaware of the situation. When the servants started screaming aloud, she woke up only to get the fact of the demise of her beloved husband confirmed.

  As Bharata was away, the corpse of Dasharatha had to be protected till his arrival. Meanwhile, the night when Dasharatha died, Bharata had dreamt a very horrible dream. Next morning some messengers from Ayodhya met him and said: “Sage Vasishtha and other priests want you to meet them immediately to discuss some important matter. Please start immediately.” Bharata suspected that something grave must have happened. However, the messengers did not reveal anything as they had been instructed by Sage Vasishtha to hide the matter. Bharata returns and became severely distressed. He was unaware of the chain of events, including the forest exile of Sri Rama, Seetha Devi and Lakshmana, that had led to the demise of Dasharatha. He chided his mother Kaikeyi and beat Manthara. After performing the last rites of Dasharatha and after completing the inauspicious period, he goes to the forest to bring Sri Rama back. All the queens, priests, army and a large number of citizens accompanied Bharata.

  In the next episode, the meeting of Bharata with Sri Rama will be explained. Please read, comment and share. SDN