April 6 - Sarga 106 of Uttara Kanda.
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Sri Rama looked like an eclipsed moon, but Lakshmana was cheerful. He spoke tenderly to Sri Rama:
न सन्तापं महाबाहो मदर्थं कर्तुमर्हसि ।
पूर्वनिर्माणबद्धा हि कालस्य गतिरीदृशी ॥
जहि मां सौम्य विस्रब्धं प्रतिज्ञां परिपालय ।
हीनप्रज्ञाः काकुत्स्थ प्रयान्ति नरकं नराः ॥
"Dear Sri Rama, please do not grieve for me. All this has been preordained by Fate, it is crystal clear. Please put me to death, without any qualm, as you should fulfill your oath that you took in front of Kala. Men of unfirm conviction, who break their promises, Sri Rama, go and rot in hell. "
"Dear Sri Rama, if you love me, please take my life. That will augur for your Dharma and will make me happy."
***
I am tearing up, remembering all the sagely counsel, motivational words, confident support, enthusiastic cooperation, able execution, supreme devotion, masterly ability from architecture to warfare to protection of the weak, that Lakshmana has always stood for. His devotion to Sri Rama and Devi Sita is pricelessly picturized by Valmiki and will never fade from memory. The same Lakshmana, with the same ardour towards his duty and devotion to Sri Rama and Dharma, is now asking his brother to take his life to fulfill his word! What cruelty of fate!
***
Sri Rama is so distraught that he knows not what to do. He summons his counsellors and his preceptor Sage Vasishtha and tells them about the strange events and his impossible predicament now. His word to Kala means that Lakshmana should die. But how can Sri Rama ever allow that to happen?
Sage Vasishtha now offers important advice. He says he has already seen this course of events in his mind's eye by his mystical prowess.
त्यजैनं बलवान्कालो मा प्रतिज्ञां वृथा कृथाः ।
"Sri Rama, you have no alternative but to disown Lakshmana in this moment. Kala is supremely powerful. You should, at all costs and at all times, adhere to your promise. If you break your promise, Dharma will be destroyed. Even the gods and sages will sorely suffer from any such act on your part, given your divinity."
लक्ष्मणेन विना चाद्य जगत्स्वस्थं कुरुष्व ह ।
"Sri Rama, you have to face the certainty that in future, you shall have no Lakshmana to lean on, and have to rule this earth all by yourself."
Sri Rama now speaks, in a deathly deep voice, in the presence of all.
विसर्जये त्वां सौमित्रे मा भूद्धर्मविपर्ययः ।
त्यागो वधो वा विहितः साधूनां ह्युभयं समम् ॥
"Dear Lakshmana, here and now I disown you and break all ties. That is entirely to ensure that Dharma will not suffer. Disowning someone or killing him, especially when he is dear like this, is treated as equal in effect by the wise ones. "
Lakshmana's eyes well up, and he instantly leaves Sri Rama's presence. He does not go home. He goes straight to the bank of Sarayu. He sits down in yogic meditation, and stops all his bodily activity, including his life breath. His radiance, his yogic prowess, is something all the gods come to witness. All the gods and rishis and apsaras shower flowers over him. Indra takes him to heaven.
Indra himself takes the spirit of Lakshmana away, and his body is seen no more.
ततो विष्णोश्चतुर्भागमागतं सुरसत्तमाः हृष्टाः प्रमुदिताः सर्वे पूजयन्ति स्म राघवम्
"Thus, a quarter portion of Mahavishnu's essence, which had taken the form of Lakshmana, returns to his eternal abode. The gods worship Lakshmana, and celebrate with joy the denouement of his avatara."
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॥ श्रीरामजयम् ॥
