March 30 - Sargas 94,95 and 96 of Uttara Kanda.
Kusha and Lava recite Ramayana in the presence of Sri Rama and everyone else including the great sages, vanaras, and rakshasas as well as kings and commoners. Everyone is simply swept away by their recitation.
They disclose that this is the composition of Sage Valmiki and they are his disciples. They refuse the heap of gold Sri Rama asks them to accept as their reward.
Sri Rama now realizes they are Sita's children and sends for Devi Sita to come to the royal assembly and vouch for her purity. She comes in tears following Sage Valmiki who speaks emphatically about her purity.
***
तां च शुश्राव काकुत्स्थः पूर्वाचार्यविनिर्मितम् ।
अपूर्वां पाठ्यजातिं च गेयेन समलङ्कृताम् ॥
"As the charming twin brothers Kusha and Lava went around reciting the Ramayana poem, Sri Rama also came to listen to it as composed earlier by the great sage. It was incomparable as a poem to anything he had heard earlier, and was also sung bewitchingly."
We have seen already how many elements of classical music were highlighted by Sage Valmiki. It simply shows how ancient our system of music is, derived as it is from the Samaveda, replete with shrutis (our scale has 22 microtones versus the western 12 tone scale and follows the pure harmonic/natural scale and not the equitempered one). It was set to ragas of different types, it was set to tala cycles, it was set to different metres, and octaves.
Sri Rama made it a point to get the boys to recite the epic poem in the presence of sages, priests, kings, scholars, scriptural reciters, grammarians, holy brahmins, musicologists, devotional poets, astrologers, great musicians, Vedic scholars, citizens, compositional experts- poets, experts in metre and syntax, laya experts, scholars specialized in Vedic recitations which follow strict rules, artisans, craftsmen, polyglots, those with insights into esoteric literature, commoners, villagers, weavers, lawyers, painters, and so on. There would be a multitude of people in such a variegated audience filling the huge yajna hall, listening transfixed to their musical outpouring of the world's greatest epic poem. It was the story of Sri Rama!
This went on day after day, and none was satisfied. They wanted more and more.
All those who saw the boys said,
उभौ रामस्य सदृशौ बिम्बाद्बिम्बमिवोत्थतौ "What a wonder, these two boys are an exact image of our Lord Sri Rama!"
जटिलौ यदि न स्यातां न वल्कलधरौ यदि ।
विशेषं नाधिगच्छामो गायतो राघवस्य च ॥
"If they were not clad in bark and wearing matted locks, there would be no way to tell the difference between these two singers and Sri Rama."
The recitation started with the very first sarga which contains the summary of the Sri Ramayana as told by Sage Narada to Sage Valmiki. It followed the scheme of twenty sargas everyday and was sung with the accompaniment of the veena.
Sri Rama asked Bharata to reward these two remarkable singers with eighteen thousand gold coins each. When this was graciously presented to Kusha and Lava, they exclaimed,
वन्येन फलमूलेन निरतौ वनवासिनौ ।
सुवर्णेन हिरण्येन किं करिष्यामहे वने ॥
"Oh, King! We are but forest dwellers, living on fruits and roots! What shall we do with gold coins!? Kindly do not be offended by our refusal of this gift."
Sri Rama and everyone else was astonished by their reply. Sri Rama asked,
किंप्रमाणमिदं काव्यं का प्रतिष्ठा महात्मनः ।
कर्ता काव्यस्य महतः क्व चासौ मुनिपुङ्गवः ॥
"Oh, children, what is the origin of your great poem? What is its length? Who is the great epic composer of this work, he must be a great sage indeed!?"
"Oh King! Bhagavan Valmiki, our guru, is its composer. He is a Bhargava (indeed, he was descended from the lineage of Sage Bhrigu!), and indeed he is present here for the yajna. This poem consists of twenty-four thousand shlokas and has over a thousand episodes. It is in around five hundred sargas, set into six Kandas. It consists of all the episodes of your life, oh, great king!"
The two boys requested Sri Rama to continue attending their recitation during every break of the yajna, as long as the yajna continued, along with his brothers. Sri Rama was delighted to accept the idea!
***
After hearing the recitation of the epic Ramayana poem over many days, Sri Rama called his most capable messengers. "Go at once to the great sage Valmiki. Convey my request to him that Devi Sita comes here."
यदि शुद्धसमाचारा यदि वा वीतकल्मषा ।
करोत्विहात्मनः शुद्धिमनुमान्य महामुनिम् ॥
"If Devi Sita is a lady of a pure life, and without any blemish, may she, under permission from the sage, come to this assembly and establish her purity." "May Devi Sita come here tomorrow morning itself."
When Sage Valmiki heard this, he was indeed very positive. एवं भवतु भद्रं वो तथा करिष्यते सीता दैवतं हि पतिः स्त्रियाः "Of course! bless you, for bringing this invitation from Sri Rama. Indeed Devi Sita will proceed as told, as for a woman her husband is verily her god."
Sri Rama was most delighted with the positive confirmation from Sage Valmiki. He wanted all the great sages, kings, citizens, and everyone else, to be present to witness the event. Sri Rama's invitation to Devi Sita was hailed by everyone as a highly noble gesture that only Sri Rama would be capable of.
Sage Valmiki now lists a big array of names of the greatest sages of our Hindu epics as present the next morning in the royal assembly, including Vasishtha, Vishwamitra, Narada, Chyavana, Durvasa, Pulastya, Agastya, and so on. It is a big list.
The vanaras and rakshasas with their leaders were also present. They were all eagerly waiting for Devi Sita to come and say under oath that she was pure and blemishless. We cannot escape the irony of this - the epitome of divinity and purity in a woman was to be subjected to this ordeal.
***
Devi Sita made her appearance, shedding copious tears as she walked with her head downcast behind Sage Valmiki. She had only one thought. The thought of Sri Rama in her heart. All around, there were exclamations of "Glory to Devi Sita"! Everyone present in that assembly was plunged into sorrow on seeing Devi Sita and recollecting what an ordeal had been her lot. Many said, साधु सीते! साधु राम! "Hail Sita! Hail Rama!"
Sage Valmiki stood in the centre of that hall and spoke firmly and solemnly.
इयं दाशरथे सीता सुव्रता धर्मचारिणी ।
अपवादात्परित्यक्ता ममाश्रमसमीपतः ॥
लोकापवादभीतस्य तव राम माहाव्रत ।
प्रत्ययं दास्यते सीता तामनुज्ञातुमर्हसि ॥
इमौ तु जानकीपुत्रावुभौ च यमजातकौ ।
सुतौ तवैव दुर्धर्षौ सत्यमेतद्ब्रवीमि ते ॥
प्रचेतसोऽहं दशमः पुत्रो राघवनन्दन ।
न स्मराम्यनृतं वाक्यमिमौ तु तव पुत्रका ॥
बहुवर्षसहस्राणि तपश्चर्या मया कृता ।
नोपाश्नीयां फलं तस्या दुष्टेयं यदि मैथिली ॥
मनसा कर्मणा वाचा भूतपूर्वं न किल्बिषम्।
तस्याहं फलमश्नामि अपापा मैथिली यदि ॥
"Oh, Sri Rama, Dasharatha's son! This is Devi Sita, the epitome of good conduct and righteousness. Just because of the disparaging and calumnious talk of people, she was abandoned near my ashrama. You were afraid of public censure, and being a stickler for righteousness as a king, you abandoned her. Now here is Devi Sita, ready to give proof of her purity, and you should accept it."
"These two boys are the twins born to Devi Sita. They are your own sons, and of redoubtable calibre, and I speak the cardinal truth, oh king!"
"I am the tenth son of Pracetas (of Bhrigu lineage, foremost among maharshis), oh Raghunandana! I do not recall ever having told a lie in my life, and I say these boys are your children."
"I have performed a severe penance for thousands of years. Let the fruit of my tapas not accrue to me if indeed Maithili Sita is not pure as I say. On the other hand, if indeed Devi Sita is pure as I say, let me accumulate all the fruits of my impeccable life of purity in thought, word, and deed."
***
In other words, Sage Valmiki is staking his all in his defence of Devi Sita.
Sage Valmiki continues. "I swear with the five elements as my witness, with all mental faculties as my witness, that I accepted Devi Sita into my ashrama only as I knew that she was pure. She is pure like the driven snow and her god is her husband. She will surely furnish proof of her purity to you. I know from my spiritual insight that in yourself you had no doubt at all personally about her, but abandoned Sita purely out of the fear of public criticism.
त्यक्ता त्वया प्रियतमा विदितापि शुद्धा
"In spite of her purity being known fully to you, your beloved wife Devi Sita was forsaken by you, oh, Rama!"
***
॥ श्रीरामजयम् ॥
