SRI RAGHAVENDRA SWAMY’S
SRI RAMACHARITRYA MANJARI
(ಶ್ರೀ ರಾಘವೆಂದ್ರ ಸ್ವಾಮಿ ವಿರಚಿತ “ಶ್ರೀ
ರಾಮಚಾರಿತ್ರ್ಯ ಮಂಜರಿ”)
Search for Seetha continued/ಸೀತಾನ್ವೇಷಣ ಮುಂದುವರೆದುದು
Sampati appears/ಸಂಪಾತಿಯ ದರ್ಶನ
Sampati, king of
vultures, who was lying on a rock that was in close proximity to where the
Vanaras had assembled and were discussing aloud, heard that the Vanaras had
decided to commit suicide. Sampati, for a moment, felt very happy as he thought
that he would, after a long time, be getting a large quantity of human flesh to
beat his hunger. He came to the edge of the rock and was waiting for the
Vanaras to die.
The Vanaras began
reciting the story of Srirama as the recitation of the name of Sri Hari or
Srirama just before death would be spiritually meritorious:
“Sri Hari is the
Lord of the entire universe comprising Anantasana, Vaikuntha and Shweta Dweepa.
He took birth as Rama and son of Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya. He killed
Subahu and other demons and protected the sacrifice that Sage Vishwamitra
performed. With this act, Srirama showed to the world that he had incarnated to
punish the evil and protect the virtuous.
Later, he broke
the bow of Lord Shiva to show that he was superior than Lord Shiva. He married
Seetha. As a token of respect for the words that Dasharatha had given to
Kaikeyi, Srirama sacrificed the throne and moved off to the forests, along with
his younger brother Lakshmana and wife Seetha Devi. Srirama demolished fourteen
thousand demons single handedly to make everyone realize that he alone is the
Lord of this universe. Later, his wife Seetha Devi was abducted from Janasthan
by demon king Ravana. Jatayu, king of vultures, fought against Ravana to
prevent him from escaping with Seetha Devi but was killed by Ravana. Jatayu had
exhibited his devotion to Lord Hari. Ravana had killed Jatayu through deceitful
means. Srirama met Jatayu, who was still holding his breath to convey that
Ravana had eloped with Seetha Devi. After narrating the whole incident, Jatayu
breathed his last and Srirama cremated him.
There in Ayodhya,
because of the departure of his beloved son Srirama, Dasharatha passed away.
Srirama met Sugreeva, became a friend of Sugreeva, killed Vali and installed
Sugreeva on the throne of Kishkindha. Sugreeva ordered the Vanaras to trace
Seetha Devi and return to Kishkindha within a month. We had been asked to
search for Seetha Devi in the southern region. Now that the one-month deadline
has expired, we would be sentenced to death by Sugreeva, if we return bear
handed and without Seetha Devi. Therefore, we have decided to end our lives
here.”
These words of
Vanaras filled the heart of Sampati with sorrow. He immediately enquired with
the Vanaras about Jatayu. Sampati first told Vanaras that Jatayu was his
younger brother. Vanaras reiterated the entire story and revealed the reason
for deciding to end their lives. Vanaras now enquired about the background of
Sampati and the reason why he became anxious after hearing the name of Jatayu.
Sampati began narrating his story:
“Aruna is the
charioteer of Lord Sun. Aruna had two sons and I am the eldest of the two. My name
is Sampati. Jatayu was my younger brother. Once we wanted to test the speed at
which we could fly. We also decided that the loser of this competition of
flying would hand over his entire kingdom to the winner. We began flying and we
tried to match the Sun on speed. Yet, the heat was too much and we could not
continue the journey. We were losing consciousness. I saw Jatayu fainting and
therefore I spread my wings to provide a shadow to Jatayu. As a result, my
wings were burnt and there was trace of Jatayu since then. I fell on this rock
and since there was no meaning in remaining alive, I decided to commit suicide.
When I was about to end my life, my well-wisher and philosopher Nishakara
Maharishi arrived and said: “Do not end your life now. After some time, a few
servants of Srirama will come here. You need to do some service to them by
informing them about Lanka, its king Ravana, who would be abducting Seetha
Devi. You will then get back your wings. Dasharatha is one of my most revered friends.
I wish to do some service to Dasharatha. But, I have no strength now. I would
have even killed Ravana. I can only inform you about Seetha Devi. Once, my son
Suparshwa had gone to forest to fetch food for me. He told me that he had seen
Ravana carrying Seetha Devi. He also heard Seetha yelling ‘Ha Rama, Oh
Lakshmana’. He also wanted to stand in the way of Ravana but did not do so.
Even though I want to assist Rama physically, mentally and words of mouth. I
have no strength to do anything, physically. I can only bless you to be
successful. I can see the exact location of Seetha even while sitting here.
Srirama has bestowed upon me the power to see objects that are several Yojanas
away. My body, which had been weakened, is recuperating, because of the grace
of Lord Rama. Initially, I heard the story of Rama without much interest
because I was actually waiting for all of you to die so that I could have
sufficient food after a long period. If the story of Rama can do me so much
good with half-hearted hearing, what an amount of benefit it will do if someone
listens to it with interest and devotion?” Saying these words, Sampati flew
into the sky, saw from there, in the middle of salty blue sea, at about a
hundred Yojana distance, the spectacular city of Lanka. He could also see the
Ashoka Vana in Lanka, where Seetha Devi was sitting under a tree, surrounded by
several female demons. Those demons were offering her liquor and mutton to
consume. She was abandoning all of them. Lord Devendra was there, invisibly,
and giving her Elixir, which she was dividing into three parts and consuming
one part. The other two were being kept for her husband and brother-in-law.
Anyone capable of leaping the entire distance of one hundred Yojanas in one
breath could easily cross the sea and reach Lanka.” Sampati told Vanaras and
wished them good luck before flying away to Mount Himalaya, his original abode.
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