Interesting facts from Valmiki Ramayana

Interesting facts from Valmiki Ramayana

1. Adhwamedha Yajna was followed by Putrakameshti 

In popular stories, we generally hear that King Dasharatha performed Putrakameshti and we do not hear much about Ashwamedha Yajna.

In Valmiki Ramayana, King Dasharatha first performed Adhwamedha Yajna and then performed Putrakameshti.

"Yajna" is an elaborate ritual involving everyone in the society. Yajna involved both actual sacrifice of animals (yajna-pashu) and symbolic sacrifice. Many Yajnas didn't involve animal sacrifice at all. Ashwamedha Yajna is a year-long ritual and the yajna-pashu I.e. horse was sacrificed at the end.

Whereas, "ishti" is a short ritual involving only family members of yajamana (the sponsor & performer of Yajna). Ishti was specific to the desire of Yajamana and in Ramayana Dasharatha performed "putrakameshti" i.e ritual to fulfill desire for having children.

King Dasharatha in consultation with his ministers decides to perform Yajna and Rishi Rishyashringa who presided over the "yajna", advises the king to perform "ishti" at the end to fulfill his desire to have children.

In the next write-up we will discuss the second interesting fact: two stories of Rishyashringa Rishi.

Madhwesh K

Vedic Tribe

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2. Two stories of Rishyashringa Rishi.

Rishyashringa was born to Vibhandaka Rishi and was raised in seclusion. He was raised as a great Vedic scholar but wasn't exposed to worldly affairs. When he was a teenager, King Romapada required him to preside over a Yajna but feared the wrath of Vibhandaka. So, courtesans of his kingdom lured Rishyashringa to come to the kingdom and marry Romapada's daughter shantha. Then he presided over Romapada's Yajna and made it a success.

The same story appears in Valmiki Ramayana as well as Vyasa Mahabharata. The story in Ramayana is short and the story in Mahabharata is elaborate. Apart from a few differences, both the stories are narrated in the same way.

Ramayana's story is a narration but Mahabharata's story is an exposition of human emotions. For example, when courtesans entice Rishyashringa, he explains his experience to Vibhandaka in the most innocent way. This involves human's disposition while they interact with any new environment.

The same Rishyashringa presides over King Dasharatha's Ashwamedha Yajna and advises the king to perform Putrakameshti to fulfill his desire to have children.

In the next write-up we will discuss the third interesting fact: the greatness of King Janaka.

Madhwesh K

Vedic Tribe

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3. The greatness of King Janaka

In popular stories we hear about King Janaka as the father of Seeta and apart from this fact we hear very little about him.

In Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna praises King Janaka as an ideal Karma Yogi. Being a king he involved in all worldly affairs and Vedic rituals. Yet he remained detached from them all and appeared like a Rishi. He performed his duties for the benifit of the world outside and for the love of almighty inside. He attained his divinity in the path of action (Karma Yoga) whether it be worldly affairs or Vedic rituals.

He patronized all Rishis, scholars and all kinds of intellectuals of his time. His name appears in Upanishads narrating stories of his regular Vedic congregations. 

Janaka was also a very close friend of Dasharatha and the first invitation for Dasharatha's Ashwamedha was given to Janaka out the utmost respect her commanded among his contemporaries.

In the next write-up we will discuss the fourth interesting fact: Avathara, Amsha & Avesha.

Madhwesh K

Vedic Tribe

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4. Avathara, Amsha & Avesha

In Vedic tradition, "avatara" means incarnation of God. In Valmiki Ramayana, Rama is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. For ordinary humans, the Lord appears to be born with mortal body (bhautika sharisha) but for the ones who have attained "sidhhi" it is evident that the Lord is present as-is (i.e. as the primordial divine being).

In Christianity, Jesus is considered "God incarnate"; i.e. God is born in the mortal body as Jesus of Nazareth. 

In Bengal's bhakti tradition, which can be prominently found in ISKCON movement, Lord Krishna is considered "poorna-avatara" and others (including Rama) are considered "amsha-avatar". Here, "Amsha" is considered "a part of the almighty" and accordingly Krishna is Vishnu as-is and Rama (and others) are parts of Lord Vishnu. 

However, in “tatvavada” all avatars of Lord Vishnu is considered poorna-amsha-avatar; i.e., in all avatars including Rama, the almighty is present in his complete divinity and there is no difference between the original form of the almighty & avatara forms. Only to the eyes of lay people, the almighty appears mortal.

In Vishishta-advaita tradition, jeevatma and Paramatma have "amsha-amshi" relationship; i.e. Paramatma is "Amsha" (complete being) and jeevatma is it's "amshi" (parts of the complete being). 

"Avesha" is just a special influence which the almighty exercises on a particular jeevatma to get a mighty devine task done. For example, in puranas, Adi Shesha incarnates as "Nara" and Lord Vishnu incarnates as "Narayana". They both ("Nara-Narayana") perform a great penance to and today they are worshipped together in Badarinath. In this case, “Nara” is considered to have Narayana’s “avesha”. I.e., Narayana exercise his influence on Nara so that he also can perform such a great task alongside the almighty Narayana. Such an instance of “avesha” is not found in Valmiki Ramayana.

In the next write-up we will discuss the fifth interesting fact: Backstory of “Tataka”.

Madhwesh K

Vedic Tribe

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5. Backstory of “Tataka”

In popular stories we hear Lord Rama slaying a “rakshsi” called “tataka” to protect sages and the “yajna” they were performing.

In Valmiki Ramayana, before Rama engages with “tataka”, Rishi Vishwamitra narrates a backstory of “tataka”.

After crossing river Ganga, Rama, Lakshmana & Vishwamitra enter a dense forest and out of curiosity Rama asks about the forest. Vishwamitra narrates that - when Indra slayed Vritrasura, he contracted “brahma-hatya” sin and to get rid of the same, he was showered with holy water in the place where this dense forest stands today. Because he got rid of the curse, he blessed this place to prosper and it prospered accordingly spawning two major cities. 

Tataka was originally a “yaksha” and she was the daughter of “Suketu”. But due to her hostility towards sage Agastya, she was cursed by the sage to be a “rakshasi”. She continued her hostility towards everyone else and the said two major cities fell victim to her hostility. Overtime people deserted the city and a dense forest grew in its place.

After this story, Rama engages with “tataka” and hesitates to kill her at first. After witnessing her evil rage slays her with the help of Laxmana.

In our next write-up, we will discuss the 6th interesting fact: 

Madhwesh K

Vedic Tribe