The Immortal Takshashila – 1

~~~*~~~

Have you heard of the story of SriRama decimating a kingdom of outward enjoyment to establish a kingdom of inward accomplishment? “Any story of Rama has to be like this only and not be in any other way!” – is this your reaction? True; but this is one story which you may not have heard much about, something which you must listen; this story is about how Takshashila materialized!

~

Yudhajit, the king of Gandhara was a worried man; Gandharvas had invaded his kingdom; they had usurped the picturesque land on both sides of river Sindhu! Yudhajit was in no position to confront over 30 million of Gandharvas; that caused the worry of Yudhajit.

But he needn’t have worried a lot; because he had the strength of SriRama! Wasn’t Yudhajit the brother of Rama’s stepmother Kaikeyi? He was maternal uncle to SriRama according to relationships. Yudhajit wished to narrate the miseries of Gandhara to SriRama, who was his relative and relative of the whole world and moreover, the saviour from all sufferings; King of Kekaya sent Sage Garga, his master, to seek assistance from SriRama, the divinity descended on earth in the form of the most supreme human ever lived.

Rama was red rage on hearing from Guru Garga about the rampage of Gandhravas on Gandhara; Rama’s army was ready in no time for the victory march over gandharvas! Grandson of Gandhara, Bharata was given the charge of the war of Gandhara. Pushkala and Taksha, his two sons, joined Bharata’s convoy of conquest.

~

Curiously, then and there Lord Rama appointed Pushkala and Taksha as the rulers of the twin-cities which were yet to be won!

Please note: Army of Ayodhya is yet to commence its journey to the battlefield; they have to reach Gandhara, declare war and defeat Gandharvas; thereafter they had plans to build two cities on the two sides of Sindhu River; question of appointment of Bharata’s sons as rulers there will arise only after that! But Rama has already completed the appointments!

Here we see the accuracies of Lord Rama’s farsightedness and the level of his confidence.

~

This is not new to Rama;

Is he not the Lord who..even before the bridge was built on the ocean.. before the His army crossed the ocean… even before the commencement of battle of Ramayana.. much before the killing of Ravana..  anointed Vibhishana as the Lord of Lanka?

~

In the meanwhile, Bharata bade goodbye to Rama by touching his forehead on the feet of the Lord and accepting the dust from Lord’s feet as holy cover, he proceeded towards Gandhara with his army; a pitched battle ensued between the armies of gandharvas and raghavas; the fight between pleasure and penance lasted for seven days and nights! Finally, the army of gandharvas was annihilated by the mighty weapon called Samvarta, which had KalaYama (Lord of time, meaning death) as its presiding deity! That marked the completion of first part of SriRama’s command.

~

After the completion of the chapter of decimation, there began a chapter of creation; after defeating the gandhravas through the mighty weapon, Bharata built twin cities of Takshashila and Pushkalavata on the twin banks of Sindhu River. Abiding by Rama’s dictat, Bharata stayed at Gandhara for five years. He built two capital cities in the vicinity of earlier Gandharva Kingdom and established his two sons as kings there before returning to Rama.

~

Immoral Takshashila by Srismsthana

 That is how Takshashila became a creation of Rama’s vision! Rama’s brother’s creation! Rama’s children ruled that nation!

What is the surprise if the lights lit by Rama illuminate the universe era after era? Yes, over time Takshashila illuminated the planet for a long period of time through Takshashila Vishwa Vidyalaya, the mighty empire of learning, which was born in it!             

Source: Vamiki Ramayana, Uttara Kanda 100th and 101st sargas by name “GandharvaVishayaVijayaYatra’ and ‘Taksha-PushkalaNivesha’