October 12,2013.Day 221 Srimad Valmiki Ramayan - The First Epic Poem Of India. (Continued)

Bala Kanda - The Youthful Majesties

Chapter 24

The legend of demoness TaTaka

कस्य चित् अथ कालस्य यक्षी काम रूपिणी || १-२४-२५
बलम् नाग सहस्रस्य धारयन्ती तदा हि आभूत् |
ताटका नाम भद्रम् ते भार्या सुन्दस्य धीमतः || १-२४-२६
मारीचो राक्षसः पुत्रो यस्याः शक्र पराक्रमः |

25b, 26, 27a. atha = later; kasyachit kaalasya = at some, time; tadaa = then; kaama ruupiNii = by wish, guise-changer; naaga sahasrasya = elephants, of a thousand; balam dhaarayantii = strength of, possessing; dhiimataH sundasya bhaaryaa = clever one, Sunanda's, wife; shakra paraakramaH = Indra [like,] in bravery; raakshasaH maariichaH = demon, Mareecha; yasyaH putraH = whose, son is; taaTaka nama yakshii = Tataka, named, she-yaksha; abhuut hi = was there - prevailed, indeed; bhadram te = safety, to you.

"Later at sometime, a yaksha female who is a guise changer at her wish, possessor of the strength of a thousand elephants, wife of clever Sunanda, and she whose son is demon Mareecha, the one equal to Indra in his bravery, prevailed here, let you be safe Rama. [1-24-25b, 26, 27a]

वृत्त बाहुर् महा शीर्षो विपुला अस्य तनुर् महान् || १-२४-२७
राक्षसो भैरव आकारो नित्यम् त्रासयते प्रजाः |

27b, 28a. vR^itta baahuH = round, shouldered; mahaa shiirSaH = huge, headed; vipulaa asya = cavernous, mouthed; mahaan tanuH = gigantic, bodied;bhairava aakaara = mammoth, in shape; raakshasaH = demon Mareecha; nityam traasayate prajaaH = always, terrifying, people.

"That demon Mareecha is round shouldered, huge headed, cavernous mouthed, and gigantic bodied one, and he is always terrifying the people. [1-24-27b, 28a]

इमौ जनपदौ नित्यम् विनाशयति राघव || १-२४-२८
मलदांश्च करूषांश्च ताटका दुष्ट चारिणी |

28b, 29a. Raghava; duSTta chaariNii Tataka = malevolence, pursuer - malevolent one, Tataka; imau janapadau = these, inhabitations; maladaam cha karuuSam cha = Malada, also, Karuusha, also; nityam vinaashayati = always, destroying.

"And Raghava, that malevolent Tataka is always destroying the inhabitations at Malada and Karusha. [1-24-28b, 29a]

सा इयम् पन्थानम् आवृत्य वसति अध्यर्ध योजने || १-२४-२९
अत एव च गन्तव्यम् ताटकाया वनम् यतः |

29b, 30a. saa iyam panthaanam aavR^itya = she, this, route, on blockading; vasati adhyartha yojane = lives, after one half, yojana [distance]; yataH = where/ for which reason; taaTakayaa vanam = [this has become,] Tataka's, forest; ataH eva = there alone / for that reason alone; gantavyam = headway is to be made.

"She lives about one and half yojana distance from here, and by which reason this became the forest of Tataka, owing to her gruesome activities, for that reason only a headway is to be made, to eradicate her and her activities. [1-24-29b, 30a]

This verse also means 'where there is the forest of Tataka there we have to go.' The above is another shade of that verse.

स्व बाहु बलम् आश्रित्य जहि इमाम् दुष्ट चारिणीम् || १-२४-३०
मत् नियोगात् इमम् देशम् कुरु निष्कण्टकम् पुनः |

30b, 31a. sva baahu balam aashritya = your own, arms, strength - self-confidence, depending upon; duSTa chariNiim = evildoer; jahi imam = kill, this one;mat niyogaat = by my, assigned; desham kuru = this, province, be made; punaH nisH kaNTakam = again, free from, thorniness.

"Depending upon the strength of your own self-confidence you have to eradicate this evildoer, and assigned by me you have to make this province free from thorniness. [1-24-30b, 31a]

Great persons accomplish their deeds by their self-confidence, kriyaa siddhiH sattve bhavati mahataam, na upakaraNe not by their hardware.

 

न हि कश्चित् इमम् देशम् शक्तो हि आगन्तुम् ईदृशम् || १-२४-३१
यक्षिण्या घोरया राम उत्सादितम् असह्यया |

31b, 32a. Rama; ghorayaa = hazardous; a sahyayaa = in, tolerable - invincible; yakshiNya = yakshii, unearthly being turned demoness; utsaaditam iidR^isham desham = destroyed, this kind of, to province; aagantum = to come; kaschit na shaktaH hi = none, not, capable, indeed; [hence make them habitable.]

"Indeed, none is able to enter this sort of province, Rama, destroyed by the hazardous and invincible unearthly being who turned into a demoness, namely Tataka, hence you have to make the provinces habitable. [1-24-31b, 32a]

एतत् ते सर्वम् आख्यातम् यथा एतत् दारुणम् वनम् |
यक्ष्या च उत्सादितम् सर्वम् अद्य अपि न निवर्तते || १-२४-३२

32. etat vanam sarvam = this, forest, entirely; daaruNam = rendered it as a devastated one; yakshyaa = by ghoulish, she-yaksha - Tataka; yathaa utsaaditam= as to how, destroyed; adya api = now, even; na nivartate = not, returning - not retracing her steps - without refrain; etat sarvam te aakhyaatam = that, all, to you, is narrated.

"As to how that ghoulish Tataka destroyed this entire forest, rendering it as a devastated place, without refraining from it even today, all that is narrated." So said Vishvamitra to Rama. [1-24-32]

The epithets in Ramayana

The epithets used in epic may be on the increase from now, and they may not be construed as redundant foot fillers. All have implicit meanings and they can be understood with the help of commentaries. As this work cannot include voluminous commentaries, many of the meanings of epithets as said by commentators are not incorporated. This bypassing will not effect the ordinary narration. For e.g., the meaning to the words muni pungava, nara shaarduula will be 'saint, the eminent' 'tigerly man.' And trying to obtain a squeezed meaning from them would be futile, without resorting to some commentary. So also, there are words like indra, candra, simha, shaarduula, naaga, vR^iSabha, pungava which when suffixed to vocatives will mean 'best, choicest, excellent' etc., as per simha shaarduula naaga aadyaaH pumsi shreSTa artha gocaraa. But commentators have explained why that character is 'best or excellent, or a lion' at that juncture. For e.g., dharma aatmaa the apparently usual epithet in Ramayana has many meanings like – 1] one whose life is dharma; 2] one whose body is dharma incarnate; 3] one whose soul is filled with dharma; 4] one whose entity itself is dharma – so on, basing on the thesaurus of aatma that say as: aatmaa yatna dhR^iti svaanta svabhaava paramaatmaasu jiiva buddhi shariireSu..

So also, more than often Seetha will be referred as Vaidehi or Maithili in Aranya Kanda. Some details about it are incorporated in that book. Wherever possible those niceties will be included subject to availability of commentaries, which commentaries have already became 'the flowers in the sky.'

Hence, without trying to squeeze meaningless meanings, and leaving this aspect to pundits and researchers, and as this work cannot be stuffed with those intricacies, henceforth the meanings of epithets are said simply, and at times ignored also. This may please be kept in view while reading.

इति वाल्मीकि रामायणे आदिकाव्ये बाल काण्डे चतुर् विंशः सर्गः ||

Thus, this is the end of 24th chapter in Bala Kanda of Valmiki Ramayana, the First Epic poem of India.

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