Bala Kanda - The Youthful Majesties
Chapter 18
Rama,Bharata,Lakshmana and Shatrughna took birth
ततो यज्ञे समाप्ते तु ऋतूनाम् षट् समत्ययुः |
ततः च द्वादशे मासे चैत्रे नावमिके तिथौ || १-१८-८
नक्क्षत्रे अदिति दैवत्ये स्व उच्छ संस्थेषु पंचसु |
ग्रहेषु कर्कटे लग्ने वाक्पता इंदुना सह || १-१८-९
प्रोद्यमाने जगन्नाथम् सर्व लोक नमस्कृतम् |
कौसल्या अजनयत् रामम् सर्व लक्षण संयुतम् || १-१८-१०
विष्णोः अर्धम् महाभागम् पुत्रम् ऐक्ष्वाकु नंदनम् |
लोहिताक्षम् महाबाहुम् रक्त ओष्टम् दुंदुभि स्वनम् || १-१८-११
ततः च द्वादशे मासे चैत्रे नावमिके तिथौ || १-१८-८
नक्क्षत्रे अदिति दैवत्ये स्व उच्छ संस्थेषु पंचसु |
ग्रहेषु कर्कटे लग्ने वाक्पता इंदुना सह || १-१८-९
प्रोद्यमाने जगन्नाथम् सर्व लोक नमस्कृतम् |
कौसल्या अजनयत् रामम् सर्व लक्षण संयुतम् || १-१८-१०
विष्णोः अर्धम् महाभागम् पुत्रम् ऐक्ष्वाकु नंदनम् |
लोहिताक्षम् महाबाहुम् रक्त ओष्टम् दुंदुभि स्वनम् || १-१८-११
8, 9, 10, 11. tataH yaj~ne samaapte = then, ritual, on completion; R^ituuNaam SaT sam atyayuH = seasons, six, well, passed by; tataH = then; dvaadashe maase = in twelfth, month; chaitre naavamike tithau = chaitra month [April-May], ninth, day;
nakshatre aditi daivatye = star of the day [punarvasu,] whose presiding deity is aditi;
panchasu graheSu swa uccha samstheshu = of five, planets, in their own, highest, positions - in their own cCha sthAna-s, viz., intheir own ascendent positions - meSha, makara, karkaTa, mIna, tula - rAshI-s;
chandra yukta guru karkaTa lagne proudyamane;
karkaTe lagne = in Cancer [of Zodiac]; vaak patiH= when Speech's, Lord [Jupiter]; indunaa saha = Moon, along with; pra udyamane == when raising - when ascendent; [abhijit lagna= advancing daytime];
kausalyaa = Queen Kausalya; jagat naatham = worlds', lord [Vishnu]; sarva loka namaskR^itam = by all, worlds, adored; divya lakshana samyutam = divine, attributes, along with;
viSNoH = Vishnu's; artham = epitome of [not half of Vishnu];
mahaa bhaagam = greatly blessed one; ikshwaaku nandanam = Ikshvaaku dynasty, delight of; lohita aksham = lotus-red, eyes; mahaa baahum = lengthy, armed; rakta oSTam = roseate, lips; dundubhi svanam = drumbeat, voiced; raamam = Rama as; putram = the son; ajanayat = gave birth.
On completion of the ritual, six seasons have passed by; then in the twelfth month, i.e., in chaitra mAsa, and on the ninth day of that chaitra month [April-May], when it ispunarvasu nakshatra yukta navamI tithi, i.e., when the ruling star of that ninth day is punarvasu, for which Aditi is the presiding deity; and when five of the nine planets - sUrya, kuja, guru, shukra, shani are in ucCha sthAna-s, namely, when those planets are in ascension in their respective houses - meSha, makara, karkaTa, mIna, tula - rAshI-s; and whenchandra yukta guru, karkaTa lagne - Jupiter in conjuction with Moon is ascendant in Cancer, and when day is advancing, Queen Kausalya gave birth to a son with all the divine attributes like lotus-red eyes, lengthy arms, roseate lips, voice like drumbeat, and who took birth to delight the Ikshwaku dynasty and adored by all the worlds, and who is the greatly blessed epitome of Vishnu, namely Rama. [1-18-8, 9, 10, 11]
Twice six months had rolled a way since the great sacrifice was over and, in the first month of the New Year, on the ninth day of the bright fortnight, the Lord of the worlds chose to take human form and sent down half of His essence as the son of Kausalya (thenceforth to be known as Rama), the world-honored One, the crowning glory ot the grand line of Ikshwku, and the sum of all perfections. The constellation Punarvasu, of which Aditi was the regent, was chosen to preside at his birth. The Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn were in ascension in their respective houses. Aries, Capricornus, Cancer, Pisces and the Libra, Jupiter and the Moon were in conjunction ; the rising sign was Cancer. And KausalyA, shone with unparalleled effulgence, even as Aditi when she gave birth to Indra, the lord of the Shining Ones, the Vajra-wielder. - C. R. Sreeniuasa Aiyangar, 1910.
By this configuration of stars the supreme merits of Rama are indicated. atra sa~Nvastara mukha uttaayaNa vasanta caitra maasa shukla pakSha deva nakShatra diva abhijit lagna puNya nakShatraad utkR^iShTa kaale karkaaTaka lagne uccasya graha pa~ncake guru candra yoge shrii raama utpattiH | tasya sarva utkR^iShTataam sakala kalyaaNa guNa abhiramataam sakala shiShTa aadraNiiya sampattim mahaa paraakramam ca suucitam |dharmaakuutam.
The phrase viSNoH artham half of Vishnu - is to be taken as half of the fruit of ritual where Vedic ritual itself is pervaded by Vishnu. The fruit of ritual is obtained in the shape of dessert, and Kausalya consumed half of it, but it is not half of Vishnu as he is illimitable. Even Sreeniuasa Aiyangar took it as half, in saying half of Vishnu's essence is Rama. This has become a perennial topic debating whether the incarnation of Rama is a pUrNa avtAra, artha avatAra or aMsha avatAra.
कौसल्या शुशुभे तेन पुत्रेण अमित तेजसा |
यथा वरेण देवानाम् अदितिः वज्र पाणिना || १-१८-१२
यथा वरेण देवानाम् अदितिः वज्र पाणिना || १-१८-१२
12. kausalya; a mita tejasaa = one with unlimited resplendence; tena putreNa = by that, son; devaanaam vareNa = among gods, the best one; vajra paaNinaa= by Thunderbolt, in hand [wielder - Indra]; aditiH yathaa shushubhe = Lady Aditi, as with, shone forth.
Kausalya shone forth with such a son whose resplendence is unlimited, as with lady Aditi who once stood out with her son Indra, the best one among gods. [1-18-12]
भरतो नाम कैकेय्याम् जज्ञे सत्य पराक्रमः |
साक्षात् विष्णोः चतुर्थ भागः सर्वैः समुदितो गुणैः || १-१८-१३
साक्षात् विष्णोः चतुर्थ भागः सर्वैः समुदितो गुणैः || १-१८-१३
13. satya paraakramaH = truthfulness, as his valour; saakshaat viSNoH = manifest, Vishnu's; chatur bhaagaH = fourth, component; sarvaiH guNaiH samuditaH = with all, merits, embodied with ; bharata naama kaikeyyaam jaj~ne = Bharata, named [son], to Queen Kaikeyi, born to.
Queen Kaikeyi gave birth to Bharata, one embodied with all merits, and whose truthfulness itself is his valour and who is fourth component of manifest Vishnu, namely Rama. [1-18-13]
The fraction indicated here like 'one fourth of Vishnu' etc may be reckoned as the share of the dessert consumed by the queens, but not as a cleaved portion of Vishnu as he is an indivisible entity. Here it is half of one-fourth i.e., one-eighth of dessert given to Kaikeyi.
अथ लक्ष्मण शत्रुघ्नौ सुमित्रा अजनयत् सुतौ |
वीरौ सर्व अस्त्र कुशलौ विष्णोः अर्ध समन्वितौ | १-१८-१४
वीरौ सर्व अस्त्र कुशलौ विष्णोः अर्ध समन्वितौ | १-१८-१४
14. atha = then; Queen Sumitra; viiraau = valiant ones; sarva astra kushalau = all, weaponry, experts; viSNoH = Vishnu's; artha = essence, epitome;samanvitau = those that are embodied with; Lakshmana; Shatrughna; sutau ajanayat = to sons, gave birth.
Queen Sumitra then gave birth to two sons who are the embodied epitomes of Vishnu, namely Lakshmana, and Shatrughna, who are valiant ones and experts in all kinds of weaponry. [1-18-14]
पुष्ये जातः तु भरतो मीन लग्ने प्रसन्न धीः |
सार्पे जातौ तु सौमित्री कुळीरे अभ्युदिते रवौ || १-१८-१५
सार्पे जातौ तु सौमित्री कुळीरे अभ्युदिते रवौ || १-१८-१५
15. prasanna dhiiH = level, headed one - guileless, fair-minded; Bharata; pushye miina lagne jaataH = under Pushyami star, in Pisces [of Zodiac,] born;saumitrii = sons of Sumitra [Lakshmana, Shatrughna]; saarpe kuliire = under star presided by serpent [aaSreSa,] in Cancer [of Zodiac]; ravau abhyudite = while Sun, is rising - i.e., on next day of Rama's birth - nth of Chaitra; jaatau = they are born.
With the dawn of sun on the next day, fair-minded Bharata is born under Pisces where puSyami is the star of day, later the sons of Sumitra, namely Lakshmana and Shatrughna are born under Cancer, where aaSreSa is the star of the day, i.e., the tenth of chaitra month, [1-18-15]
Rama is born on the ninth day of Chaitra month, and Bharata is born in the earlier part of next day the tenth of Chaitra, earlier to his younger brothers, and then Lakshmana and Shatrughna are born on the later part of that tenth day.
'Pushya is the name of a month; but here it means the eighth mansion. The ninth is called Aslesh, or the snake. It is evident from this that Bharata, though his birth is mentioned before that of the twins, was the youngest of the four brothers and Rama's junior by eleven months' -- Schlegel.
The eleven-month gap between Rama and Bharata is unapparent in the words of verse. This may be from some other version of Ramayana.
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