Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Kālidāsa's Raghuvaṃśa 12th Sarga - 55


जय श्रीराम!



स रावणहृतां ताभ्यां वचसाचष्ट मैथिलीम् । आत्मनस्सुमहत्कर्म व्रणैरावेद्य संस्थितः ॥१२.५५॥ 
Notes: Kālidāsa says,"Jaṭāyu spoke to the two brothers and narrated how Sītā had been forcibly carried away by Rāvaṇa. There he lay, full of wounds that told the story of his heroic battle with the demon, and then he became still - he succumbed to the mortal wounds and breathed his last." 
 Jaṭāyu plays a vital role in the story. He not only showed Sītā that the world would rise up to defend her honour and freedom. In the forest, denizens like Jaṭāyu gave her comfort and support missing from what she had been accustomed to in the royal environment. After that, Jaṭāyu gave the determination to Śrīrāma and Lakṣmaṇa to make the effort to bring Sītā back. But most vitally, he informed them who had abducted her.  The countdown to the grand act of Rāvaṇa's destruction had just begun, to fulfil the objective of the  Śrīrāma Avatāra.

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जय श्रीराम!