Monday, 27 April 2020

SRI #RAGHAVENDRA SWAMY’S SRI #RAMACHARITRYA #MANJARI (ಶ್ರೀ #ರಾಘವೆಂದ್ರಸ್ವಾಮಿ ವಿರಚಿತ “#ಶ್ರೀ ರಾಮಚಾರಿತ್ರ್ಯ ಮಂಜರಿ”)


SRI #RAGHAVENDRA SWAMY’S
SRI #RAMACHARITRYA #MANJARI
(ಶ್ರೀ #ರಾಘವೆಂದ್ರಸ್ವಾಮಿ ವಿರಚಿತ “#ಶ್ರೀ ರಾಮಚಾರಿತ್ರ್ಯ ಮಂಜರಿ)  
Ravana ventures into the battlefield/ರಾವಣನು ಯುದ್ಧಭೂಮಿಗೆ ಬಂದುದು
The death of Makaraksha in the battlefield affected the mind of Ravana very badly. Makaraksha was a son of demon Khara, who had been killed by Srirama. Makaraksha was craving to avenge the killing of his father in Janasthana. Moreover, Makaraksha had secured a boon of invincibility by Lord Brahma through penance. But, Srirama destroyed the chariot of Makaraksha, killed his charioteer and finally separated his face from the body with a sharp arrow. Gods, goddesses and deities, Rishis rejoiced over the death of another cruel tormentor at the hands of Srirama. They showered flowers on Srirama to express their happiness.
Ravana was highly disturbed and enraged. He was perhaps realizing that the battle was turning out to be beyond his capacity to sustain or survive. In a fit of anger, Ravana decided to end the war on his own. He ordered his personal security force, which had helped him win several wars against deities, gods and goddesses, to accompany him to the war with Rama, now. Seeing the ten faces, twenty eyes of Ravana rushing to the battlefield, along with the roaring army, several Vanaras were frightened to such an extent that they started hiding behind rocks, trees or running away from the war field. With his dark complexion, ten heads adorned with colorful crowns, his eyes burning like fire due to anger, Ravana looked very dangerous and diabolic. The army accompanying Ravana was very large and all the soldiers were carrying deadly weapons.
Gaja, Gavaksha, Gavaya, Vrushabha, Gandhamadhana, Katthana and other Vanara chiefs began slaying demon soldiers in clusters. Ravana hit all those Vanara chiefs with lethal arrows and they fell on the ground, unconscious. Mainda, Vivida and Jambavanta hit Ravana with huge mountains, though Ravana destroyed all those mountains with sharp arrows. After destroying the mountains, Ravana made those Vanara chiefs too lose their consciousness with sharp arrows. Angada put up a brave fight against Ravana but met the same end as his fellow Vanaras. Sugreeva, who tried his best to confront Ravana, also lost consciousness after getting hit by an arrow shot by Ravana.
Enraged by the plight of the Vanara chiefs, Hanuman hit Ravana with his fist but without exerting himself. His intention was not to kill Ravana but to frighten the demon king. All the ten heads of Ravana bled and the demon king lost consciousness for a while. Ravana praised Hanumantha for his valor, power and strength and responded well by hitting Maruti with his fist. Hanumantha did not want to continue the war with Ravana as it might assume alarming proportions and might incidentally end in the death of Ravana. Haumantha wanted Ravana to be killed by Rama and therefore pretended to have lost the consciousness. With this, Ravana turned his attention towards Neela, the son of Fire God. Neela lost his consciousness by the Ajneyastra shot by Ravana.
A fierce battle began now between Ravana and Lakshmana. Lakshmana taunted Ravana by reminding him that he had “stolen” Seetha Devi like a coward, in the absence of Rama. Ravana ignored the comments of Lakshmana and launched a serious onslaught with numerous arrows on Lakshmana. Both were experts in archery and therefore the battle went on for a long time. None appeared to win it. Finally, Ravana decided to fire a special arrow that Lord Brahma had given him with a boon that it would not fail against any enemy. Although the arrow could not kill Lakshmana, it succeeded in making Lakshmana lose consciousness. Ravana suddenly decided to capture Lakshmana in that unconscious state. He got out of his chariot, reached the felled body of Lakshmana and tried to lift the body with both hands. Lakshmana was an incarnation of Adishesha on whom Srirama always rested. Srirama loves Lakshmana. Therefore Rama did not want Ravana to insult or humiliate Lakshmana. When Ravana tried to lift the body of Lakshmana, it had become so heavy that Ravana could not even shake the body of Lakshmana. Ravana used ll his power to somehow take away the body of Lakshmana. But, he could not even sake that body. Hanumantha, who was watching all these developments, reached Ravana, hit him again with the fist on the head, took the body of Lakshmana with both hands and took it to a safe and secure place. Ravana once again lost consciousness after he was hit by Hanumantha. Hanumantha took the body of Lakshmana to where Rama was sitting. Although Rama was sad after seeing Lakshmana in that state, he removed the arrow that had been stuck on the forehead of his brother and caressed the entire body, passionately. Lakshmana immediately regained his consciousness and was relieved from the pain and injuries.
Meanwhile, Ravana regained his consciousness and immediately rushed towards Rama. Rama smiled and felt happy since Ravana was rushing towards him. A serious battle unfolded between Rama and Ravana. The fight went on for quite some time. Rama broke the bow of Ravana, destroyed his quiver, demolished the chariot, removed the flag and smashed all the Astra, Shastras and arrows shot by Ravana, whose strength and enthusiasm declined drastically. Rama observed that Ravana was not in his elements and therefore told him: “Ravana, you have been terribly pained by my arrows. You are not in a position to continue the war. I do not want to fight against you in your present state. Return home, take rest, enjoy whatever way you want to and try to satisfy all your desires. Return to the war field whenever you are ready to die. I am sure, you will not return home the next time you come here.”
Ravana was helpless. He could not gauge the speed with which Rama was firing the arrows and the speed at which those arrows were reaching him. He could not withstand the onslaught. He was broken hearted. Ravana was now a bundle of worries. He slowly retreated and reached his royal apartment to ponder over what had transpired. 

Rama looked at the vast number of Vanaras who had died, who were injured and were suffering from inexplicable pain, with kindness and grace. As soon as his kindly looks touched them, the Vanaras woke up as though they were in deep slumber till then. They hailed Rama and saluted him.
Shloka number eight will begin from next episode.      
Please read, comment and share. SDN


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