Book I : Bala Kanda - The Youthful Majesties
16.Yagna purusha presents divine dessert as fruit of ritual
सः अन्तःपुरम् प्रविश्य एव कौसल्याम् इदम् अब्रवीत् |
पायसम् प्रतिगृह्णीष्व पुत्रीयम् तु इदम् आत्मनः || १-१६-२६
पायसम् प्रतिगृह्णीष्व पुत्रीयम् तु इदम् आत्मनः || १-१६-२६
26. saH antaH puram pravishya = he [Dasharatha,] palace chambers, on entering; kausalyaam idam abraviit = to Kausalya, this, said; aatmanaH putriiyam = for your, son causing; idam paayasam pratigR^ihNiishva = this, dessert, you receive.
Then Dasharatha on entering palace chambers spoke this to queen Kausalya, "Receive this dessert to beget your son." [1-16-26]
This divine dessert is meant for the 'eligible' queens, as informed the Ritual Being and also in order to maintain the divinity of Ram's birth. In the context of seed and field, the field has no equal importance to the seed biija kshetra nyaya . Hence the seed is divine in the form of dessert and fields are therefore shall 'be eligible' for the seedling. As such the First Queen and Empress Kausalya is being addressed firstly, and given firstly.
कौसल्यायै नरपतिः पायस अर्धम् ददौ तदा |
अर्धात् अर्धम् ददौ च अपि सुमित्रायै नराधिपः || १-१६-२७
कैकेय्यै च अवशिष्ट अर्धम् ददौ पुत्रार्थ कारणात् |
प्रददौ च अवशिष्ट अर्धम् पायसस्य अमृत उपमम् || १-१६-२८
अनुचिन्त्य सुमित्रायै पुनः एव महीपतिः |
एवम् तासाम् ददौ राजा भार्याणाम् पायसम् पृथक् || १-१६-२९
अर्धात् अर्धम् ददौ च अपि सुमित्रायै नराधिपः || १-१६-२७
कैकेय्यै च अवशिष्ट अर्धम् ददौ पुत्रार्थ कारणात् |
प्रददौ च अवशिष्ट अर्धम् पायसस्य अमृत उपमम् || १-१६-२८
अनुचिन्त्य सुमित्रायै पुनः एव महीपतिः |
एवम् तासाम् ददौ राजा भार्याणाम् पायसम् पृथक् || १-१६-२९
27, 28 29. tadaa nara patiH = then, people's lord - king; kausalyaayai = to Kausalya; paayasa artham dadou = dessert, half of it, gave; nara adhipaH = people's, lord - king; arthaat artham = half of the [remaining] half [-one fourth]; sumitraayai cha api dadou = to Sumitra, also, even, gave; avashiSTa artham = of the remaining, half [one eight,]; putra artha kaaraNaat = sons, purpose of, desiring; klaikeyyaiH cha dadau = to Kaikeyi, also, gave; mahii patiH = king;anuchintya = thought a while; paayasam = dessert; amR^ita upamam = ambrosia, equalling; avashiSTa artham = remaining part [one eight]; punaH eva = again, thus; sumitraayai = to Sumitra; dadou = gave; evam = thus; raajaa = king; taasaam = to them; bhaaryaaNaam = among his wives; pR^ithak = differently; paayasam= dessert; dadou = distributed.
The king then gave half of the dessert to queen Kausalya, and he gave half of the half, i.e., one fourth to queen Sumitra. And to Kaikeyi he gave half of the remaining half, i.e., one eight of the dessert, with a desire to beget sons. Then thinking for a while gave the remaining, i.e., one-eighth portion again to queen Sumitra. Thus, the king distributed the dessert to his wives differently. [1-16-27, 28, 29]
This is a much-discussed distribution by the traditionalists. Adhyatma Ramayana, a treatise that postulates god-hood to Rama, gives a well-constructed argument about these shares of dessert and the resultant births of the four brothers, viz., Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrughna, in accordance with these shares. In its simplest terms and as contained in these verses, queen Kausalya got half of the dessert as an Empress, paTTa mahiSi. Sumitra gets one-fourth in the first round and after a rethink by Dasharatha, she gets another one-eighth portion. Kaikeyi gets only a one-eighth quantity. Thus, Kausalya gives birth to Rama, Sumitra to Lakshmana and Shatrughna, and Kaikeyi to Bharata. The quantum of apportionment of the dessert does not make Rama all-powerful or Bharata the least. Since the Absolute is indivisible into parts, the dessert that is divided is not to be taken as the divided Absolute, but a kind of medium through which the incarnation is made possible.
There is another declination enquiring whether the incarnation of Rama is full or partial, puurNa avatara or artha avatara... Rama is Vishnu Himself while Bharata and Shatrughna are his disc and conch-shell, while Lakshmana is the thousand headed snake aadi sesha on whose coils Vishnu reclines. The whole dessert is divine and parts of it do not signify and inter-divided god-hoods. Hence, the apportionment of the desert is done in order to keep up the hierarchy of the queen-hoods and their status. Throughout this magnum opus Rama never said that he is god or an incarnate of god, but called himself, nimitta maatra a casual relation to the course of events. Should Rama be the incarnation of the Almighty Himself, he has little or no necessity to incarnate the weaponry along with him. They are at his beck and call at any time. Thus, Rama is neither a half nor one-fourth incarnation of the Absolute nor a dividend of the whole, but an incarnate of the virtuously ideal personality of Vishnu, maryaada purushottama Rama.
Incidental to this apportionment of the dessert, the aspect of eldest son is also studied. Rama is the first-born and thus the eldest. This is because the dessert is given to queen Kausalya in the first instance, and half of the whole vessel. She immediately consumed to lionise her share and as an Empress. Sumitra waited a while till apportionment is complete. Kaikeyi got her portion but waited till her elder sister Sumitra completes her drink. In the meanwhile Dasharatha thought a while, as said in the verse, and gave Sumitra another one-eighth part. Sumitra then consumed her two parts. Later Kaikeyi drinks her dividend.
ताः च एवम् पायसम् प्राप्य नरेन्द्रस्य उत्तमाः स्त्रियः |
सम्मानम् मेनिरे सर्वाः प्रहर्ष उदित चेतसः || १-१६-३०
सम्मानम् मेनिरे सर्वाः प्रहर्ष उदित चेतसः || १-१६-३०
30. narendrasya uttamaaH striyaH = of king, best, ladies; sarvaaH = all of them; taaH evam paayasam praapya = they, that way, dessert, on getting;praharSa udita chetasa = gladness, exuberance, with hearts; sammaanam menire = a reward, they deemed [the dessert.]
On getting the dessert all of those best ladies of the king, whose hearts are exuberant with happiness, deemed it as a reward. [1-16-30]
ततस्तु ताः प्राश्य तद् उत्तम स्त्रियो
महीपतेः उत्तम पायसम् पृथक् |
हुताशन आदित्य समान तेजसः
अचिरेण गर्भान् प्रतिपेदिरे तदा || १-१६-३१
महीपतेः उत्तम पायसम् पृथक् |
हुताशन आदित्य समान तेजसः
अचिरेण गर्भान् प्रतिपेदिरे तदा || १-१६-३१
31. mahiipateH tataH uttama striyaH = of king, those, best, ladies; tat uttama paayasam = that, best, dessert; praasya = on consuming; hutaashanaa aaditya samaana tejasaH = Fire, Sun, equalling, in resplendence [queens]; chirena tadaa garbhaan pratipedire = after some time, then, pregnancy, they got - conceived.
Then on consuming dessert those best ladies of the king whose resplendence then vied with that Fire and Sun became pregnant after some time. [1-16-31]
A synecdochic expression to indicate that Sun and Fire, the enliveners of living beings, pratyaksha naraayaNa are there in those wombs and their resplendence is shining out of mothers bodies.
ततस्तु राजा प्रतिवीक्ष्य ताः स्त्रियः
प्ररूढ गर्भाः प्रति लब्ध मानसः |
बभूव हृष्टः त्रिदिवे यथा हरिः
सुरेन्द्र सिद्ध ऋषि गणाभिपूजितः || १-१६-३२
प्ररूढ गर्भाः प्रति लब्ध मानसः |
बभूव हृष्टः त्रिदिवे यथा हरिः
सुरेन्द्र सिद्ध ऋषि गणाभिपूजितः || १-१६-३२
32. tataH raajaa = then, king; praruuDha garbhaaH = having confirmed, about their pregnancies; taaH striyaH = at those, ladies; prativiikshya = on seeing;prati labdha maanasa = again, recaptured, [his lost] heart; tridive = in heavens; sura indra siddha R^iSi gaNaabhi = gods, [Indra,] by great souls, sages, by groups of; puujitaH = worshipped; yathaa hariH = as like, Vishnu; babhuuva hR^iSTaH = became, delighted.
Then on seeing his queens with confirmed pregnancies Dasharatha regained his lost heart for sons, and he is gladdened like Vishnu, who will always be gladsome when worshipped by gods, namely Indra and others, as well as by the assemblages of great souls, sages. [1-16-32]
इति श्री वाल्मीकि रामायणे आदिकाव्ये बालकाण्डे षोडशः सर्गः ||
Thus, this is the end of 16th chapter in Bala Kanda of Valmiki Ramayana, the First Epic poem of India.
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