Kayekyi Dasaratha Debate contd
Is King Dasaratha worthy of undergoing such agonizing moments in Life? Is he worthy of rolling on the bare floor of the palace? It looked like King Yayathi who had reached the Heaven and after all his punya (Good deeds bank Balance)was over he was pushed out of the heaven by the Celestial Angels and and fell on the ground and was lying on earth. Kayikeyi who was an embodiment of Paap(Sin), since her plan to send Rama to forest and crown Bharatha may not fructify, she was non chalant and was not bothered about the worldly ridicule nor was she scared of her husband wee bit, and she started coercing him again to grant the 2 boons Dasaratha had granted her earlier. “ Hey King! You used to say ‘I the King Dasaratha speak only the Truth.I do not falter on my word’and you used to praise yourself, if that be the case why are you wanting to be in debt for the 2 boons you have granted to me?.
When Dasratha heard this he again fell unconscious for Muhurtham time of 1 ½ hours. His thinking got shattered then composed himself and with fierce anger said “ you woman of Lowly quality! Sworn Enemy ! you please kill me, drive away The Noblest Rama to forest,may your plan succeed and be happy, Celestials in Heaven if they say to me ‘Dasartha ! you listened to the voice of a crooked Woman and in order to win over her affection, why did you you send your 1st son who is personification of all Virtues to the forest? ’what will I reply them & how will I hold my Life? I fulfilled the promise I had earlier given her’ if I tell this truth my promise to Rama that I will make him Crown Prince will become a Untruth., so sending Rama is neither comfortable in this Life on Earth nor is it suitable after Death.
60,000 years I did not have children and I had done countless Vrat (fasts) Recited God’s Name,penance,did Charity, upheld Dharma (Righteous conduct, Duty, Pious, humble,Charity ,being Noble, all this done beyond expectation and without anticipation), did prayers (yaga –Yagnya) lighting fire and prayed to God’s and obtained Rama with Great PARAKRAM (Achievement, Might, Puissance,Exploits,Valor, Heroism, Gallantry,Prowess,Ability,Valour)as my son. You are asking that Child to be driven away to Forest. How will I agree?.
Rama is a valourous ! he is an exponent in all forms of Arts & Sciences,one who won over anger, he is personification of Patience,my child who has the eyes like the Red couloured Lotus petals how can I drive him away from my Kingdom? His complexion akin to Black Neithal flower colour. His arms stretch upto his knees .He is extremely strong, he is dear to all Living beings. Such a child of mine how can I tell him ‘Go to Dandakarayna(Dense Forest)’? how can I witness Rama undergoing sorrow and anguish trials and tribulations in the forest ;when he is worthy of Sukham (Comfort, Luxury, Joy, Fun,Cheer, Love, Affection and fulfilled her Desires).. If I do not create such hardship and die that itself will give me Sukam. Hey Wicked minded woman! One who is seeking only peril! Why do you want me to send him to forest when no one on earth will desire that too for Rama my child who is Courageous and full of Valour? Alas as long as this world will have Living Beings the shame, Ridicule & disrepute will not leave me.” Thus blabberd Dasaratha incoherently.
Sun had set. Night has fallen. the night time looked like Yugam(Million years) to Dasaratha who was lamenting. Dasaratha was looking towards the sky and bemoaning, often heaving big sigh of breath and looked like a man suffering from an incurable disease and going on Lamenting.
“ Hey night decorated by Stars! Please do not allow Dawn. Iam praying to you with folded hands. Even that is also ok. I have no choice but to look at his greatest Sinner Kaykeyi during night.When it becomes dawn people will come to see me.Then she will not be seen by me. So Night please go away immediately. i do not want to see this woman who is responsible for all this sorrow. Then realizing he has no other go looked at Kaykeyi once more and with folded hands prayed to her and tried to evolve peace.
“ Hey Lady ! so far I have earned the reputation of being a man of Good Conduct. Now I am old, I will not survive for long, my heart has sunk, I have no other recourse than you. further I am your king eh! You are a lady of good behavior.you became Queen because of me, considering all this please have mercy on me.
Earlier when I gave you Boons and no one knows about it. If suppose you say , you do not want it , no one is going to make fun of you. No one is going to coerce you. You can relent a bit and compromise. My promise to Rama is not of that nature.i have made that promise in the Throne in presence of Ministers, Citizens, Brahmins, Saints, Cheiftains of various Clans, Kings of Countries “ I will coronate Rama tomorrow as Crown Prince”. If I falter on that what all of them will think of me? You are an young girl. May be you have been advised by some one and you are adamant like this. Iam not perturbed by that. Let it go. Atleast now please listen and accept my prayers and fufill the same. You are very dear to me .You have the most beautiful eyes dear. You may get angry with me at least have mercy on Rama. I hereby give you this Kingdom. But please have mercy on me and Rama. Please accept this request and give it as a gift .Let him only govern the country for a long time. By doing this you will get eternal fame in this earth and also blessed in Heaven. Hey one who has rotund thighs! One who has charming face and enchanting look ! if we do this way my prayers will be answered, Rama will be happy, All Livign beings will adore you, Good person will get contended, are you thinking; by any chance Bharatha may feel bad? Bharatha is a great Noble person. He is Dharma personified(Righteous conduct, Duty, Pious, humble,Charity ,being Noble,). He has boundless love for Rama. There is no doubt he will be happy on Rama becoming Crown Prince.
King Dasaratha is pristine pure in heart, where as Kaykeyi is is wicked by thoughts; Dasarathas eyes were red due to pain and anguish and no sleep through out Night; similarly Kaykeiyi’s eyes were also red due to Anger and sleeplessness. When ever he was thinking of parting Rama, tears rolled down Dasaratha’s face.Kaikeyie eyes swelled as she was unable to entice Dasaratha. Dasaratha tried by various methods of Persuations and threat, which will make any one hearing his plea melt and feel pity for him. Kayikyei in turn was strenuously trying to sway Dasratha’s heart by speaking harshly, softly, reminding him of his righteous conduct of Dharma (Righteous conduct, Duty, Pious, humble,Charity ,being Noble, all this done beyond expectation and without anticipation) relentlessly trying to get her job done. Since she is stone hearted, and cruel behavior, she did nto pay heed to his prayers, requests even wee bit and ignored them thoroughly. Seeing this Dasartha again fainted and got consciousness back, ‘So far Kayikeyi had been a woman of good behavior, she is worthy of my excess Love for her, now she is opposing me and talking back, is she the same? as now she is just not listening to my pleas and prayers and she is adamancy magnified? Wondered Dasartha staring at her all the while. Immeditatleey he was reminded of the demnd for sending Rama to forest, he was overcome by emotions and fell unconscious in the Earth. Thus Dasaratha of noble character spent the whole night heaving Hot breath and lamenting his pain and sorrow ,
Then Dawn happened.Then all the Musical instruments such as Conch blowing and others were played to wake up the King, But he asked them stop them.(Slokas 27)
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