There is an exclusive Sarga
in Kishkinda kanda that offers the reader a fine description of the varsha ritu—suddenly
life getting rejuvenated, getting a fresh lease, and the whole universe swaying
in celestial joy under the dark clouds… in the first showers of the season. Countryside
shines in deep emerald. Birds, being relieved from the scorching summer winds,
chirp in raga. Monsoon rains simply wash away the old and give life to
new creativity. They are the muses to poets and Valmiki is the first to offer
us an excellent poetry woven around rains. Let us take a peep…..
After killing Vali, having directed that Sugriva be
installed on the throne of Kishkindha and Angada may assume the office of
Prince Regent, Rama arrives at Mount Prasravana to live in a cave till the end of
the monsoon.
Looking at the sky that is overcast with clouds “giving
birth to the elixir of life,” Rama says to Laksmana: “esā gharma pariklistā nava vāri pariplutā / sītā iva
śoka samtaptā mahī bāspam vimumcati” (VR 4-28-7)—this
earth, that is overly agonized with the searing-summer having been now immersed
in fresh rain-water, is radiating heat as Sita who tormented with grief is
shedding tears.
Perhaps, disturbed by the thunders and lightning, Rama
wonders: “kaśābhih iva haimībhih
vidyudbhih iva tāditam / antah stanita nirghosam savedanam iva ambaram” (VR 4-28-11)—the sky, being lashed on all sides by whips of gold
in the form of lightnings emitting groans as rattle of thunders, appears antahsa vedanam iva full of anguish inside. This very thought might have
reminded him at once of the plight of Sita, his beloved, in Lanka making him
lament thus: “Flashing in the nīla
meghā āśritā vidyut interior of a somber cloud, the sphurantii vidyut lightning
appears to me like the raavanasya
anke sphurantii tapasvinii vaidehii iva penitent
Vaidehi struggling in the grasp of Ravana” (VR 4-28-12). Interestingly, as the saying
goes, “As the one Sun appears / To each observer a different Sun”, the same
lightning appears to Sudraka as a lamp for Vasantasena but to Valmiki as a
reminder—reminder of the fate of Sita.
Seeing the Kutaja trees in blossom standing on the mountain
peaks, Rama, asking Laksmana to look at them, says: “Saumitre O son of
Sumitra! Look some are withered at places by the heat radiated by the earth
after the fresh shower and thus appear as though bathed in tears, while at
other places they look sated with rain water—just as a lover feels on meeting
his beloved—and thus they are kāma
samdīpanān rekindling love in me though I am śoka abhibhūtasya overwhelmed
by grief”(VR 4-28-14).
Recalling that it is time for Lord Vishnu to slowly fall
asleep, Valmiki makes the protagonist of the epic, Sri Rama, wonder: “nidrā śanaih keśavam abhyupaiti / drutam nadī sāgaram abhyupaiti /
hrstā balākā ghanam abhyupaiti / kāntā sa kāmā priyam abhyupaiti” (VR 4-28-25)—sleep is slowly stealing over Lord Vishnu, river is
swiftly running to join the sea, the female heroine is gleefully moving on her
wings closer to the cloud, a loved woman full of longing getting closer to her
beloved.
Sri Rama, perhaps, looking around the gaiety forest wonders:
“jātā vanāntāh śikhi supranrttā /
jātāh kadambāh sa kadamba śākhāh / jātā vrsā gosu samāna kāmā / jātā mahī sasya
vana abhirāmā”(VR 4-28-26)—interiors of the
forest have become joyful with the charming and playful dance of peacocks; the
Kadamba trees are exhibiting the flowers of their boughs; the bulls have become
eager for union with cows that are equally adaptive; the earth has assumed an
attractive appearance with its enrapturing crops and orchards.
There is another beautiful verse—stringing verbs together as
a garland perhaps to present the reader with an happening image of the rainy
season in the forest—that Valmiki, makes Sri Rama wonder with: “vahanti varsanti nadanti bhānti / dhyāyanti nrtyanti samāśvasanti
/ nadyo ghanā matta gajā vana antāh / priyā vihīnāh śikhinah lavamagāh”
(VR 4-28-27)—surging are the rivers, showering are the clouds,
trumpeting are the rutty elephants, shining are the forests, speculating are
the loverless, rocking are the peacocks, reassured are the monkeys.
Describing that ‘nature’s music,’ audible in rainy season,
Valmiki makes Rama observe: “satpada
tamtrī madhura abhidhānam / plavamagam udīrita kantha tālam / āviskrtam megha
mrdamga nādaih / vanesu samgītam iva pravrttam” (VR 4-28-36)—concerted music has commenced—sweet melodies of Veenas (string
instrument) in the form of humming of honeybees in an increasing speed duly
accompanied by the sound of mridangam (percussion instrument) in the form of the rumbling clouds,
and the taal (sound of beating time) by mouth in the form of the croaking
of frogs in the woodlands, as though programmed. It even has dancing and
singing, says the poet: “kvacit pranrttaih
kvacit un nadadbhih / kvacit ca vrksa agra nisanna kāyaih / vyālamba barha ābharanaih
mayūraih / vanesu samgitam iva pravrttam” (VR 4-28-37)—rather,
music with dance has been set in operation in the forest by peacocks merrily
dancing at one place, crying loudly like singers at another, and resting
elsewhere high on the trees with plumaged tails as their dangling decorations.
Obviously, being smitten by rains and looking at the
waterfalls that are sparkling like pearl necklaces getting broken and the
pearls being scattered in caves in which peacocksare crying loudly (VR 4-28-49);
the water streams that are falling in all directions just as the svarga strī hāra mauktikāh, the necklaces of celestial women that are suratām arda vicchinnāh disjointed when violently pressed during sexual embrace (VR 4-28-51),
Rama pines at the absence of his beloved, Sita thus: “deprived of my wife and
disinherited from my extensive kingdom, I am toppling down like a kilnnam nadi kulam iva, riverbank that is toppled over, O Laksmana!” (VR 4-28-58).
He further sums up his trauma inflicted by the rains thus: “śokah ca mama vistīrno my grief is enormous for varsāh
ca bhrśa durgamāh / rains are exceedingly difficult to
pass; while rāvanah ca mahān śatruh apāram
pratibhāti Ravana appears to me an endless
expanse” (VR 4-28-59). Seeing the roads that are extremely difficult to
tread, which incidentally ruled out martial expedition, Rama says, “I did not
feel inclined to say anything to Sugriva.” Therefore, keenly seeking the
goodwill of sugrīvasya nadīnām ca prasādam
abhikāmksayan Sugriva as well as a favorable turn of
rivers, I am abiding by time (VR 4-28-63).
Going through Valmiki’s evocation of rains, one is tempted
to marvel at the strength of rains to kindle romanticism even in a man
extremely saddened by the absence of his beloved. It also speaks about the
integrity of the kavi, for his poetry subtly reminds the reader about the
importance of the “authenticity and sincerity of the pursuit of goals”— as is
reflected when Rama says, “I did not feel inclined to say anything to Sugriva”
for rains have made roads unpassable—in the realm of ethics, politics, and
aesthetics, that the modern day romanticists (Isaiah, 1990) are talking about.
The poet’s greatness in authentically narrating the psyche
of a man in a situation like the one Sri Rama is in, reflects well in how Sri
Rama muses about Sugriva: “Sugriva, having overcome his enemy and been united
with his wife and being crowned as King, enjoying happiness during the rains
that offer many excellences” (VR 4-28-57). The poet thus shows how
vulnerable people are to fall in the abyss of ‘self-pity’ when they are
deprived of their longings.
Aside of the beauty of the verses, a reader is more likely
to wonder: How Laksmana—who is also away from his wife and for that matter for
more years than Rama—could have put up with the hearing of all that Rama
narrated about the beauty of rains and the romanticism embedded therein?
Maharshi appears to have taken Laksmana as a man of no
emotions! A mere sounding board! Otherwise, how else can one explain Laksmana’s comforting words
submitted to Rama: “O ruler of men, Sugriva will before long accomplish all
this desired object of yours… Awaiting the autumn, bear you this obstruction
caused by the rains…”
Laksmana, what a great character!
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