King Romapada beamed with the glow of Sun from the high throne in the august court. Other befitting seats were occupied by highly intellectual philanthropists, scholars and warriors. Like a calf which recognizes and approaches its mother cow among a thousand cows, Dasharatha’s gaze wandered towards Rushyashrunga leaving everyone else in that gathering of pearls!
That is how it is ….
Even though nine planets, including Sun God reside in a GrahaKundali, an astrologer’s gaze first fixes on Guru (Jupiter) automatically!
Attraction of Guru-hood is very special; the way it identifies a being which suits and attracts towards it is unmatched!
The word “attraction” can mean two things – ‘desirability’ as well as ‘pain’. All attractions on earth are in fact pains in disguise! Only exception is the attraction one has towards Guru. After all what does Guru do after attracting people towards him? नि:शेषदोषहरणे शुभवर्धने च वीर्यं गुरोरधिकमस्त्यखिलग्रहेभ्य: (फलदीपिका – 4-11) removing the impurities inherent in lives; improving substantially the inherent good in lives -astrology said no one can match Guru in these qualities. Is it not a boon for life if it is attracted towards Guru!?
- If there is power of attraction in Guru why it doesn’t attract all beings?
= though magnet can attract iron easily, it doesn’t attract iron which is rusted! It is the fault of the iron and not that of the magnet. It is
the (mis)fortune of some lives!
It is not that Dasharatha had met Rushyashrunga earlier; it happens when there is connection from within though there is no connection apparent to the naked eye; don’t we feel very close to some people at the first glance!?
Dasharatha stood rooted to the ground the moment he looked at Rushyashrunga, the bundle of radiance who out-shined the cumulative radiance of all others who were present at the court; eyes fixed in him; his inner being cried, “Here is the road to your well-being!”.
As Dasharatha’s eyes were glued to Rushyashrunga, stare of the King of Anga moved towards the main gate. Lo, Dasharatha arrives with his entourage! King of the whole world at his doorstep! For Romapada Dasharatha is not only an emperor, he is his friend, friend of a long time, a soul-mate! Having seen the tall personality which was his pet pal, feelings of astonishment and exhilaration competed to find expression within Dasharatha!
That is the way of friendship; it is the bridge between un-equals; it demolishes all distance, it brings equality among all! When there is friendship the distance of wealth, abilities, age, opinion everything gets destroyed! If not, where is an ordinary King Romapada and where is Dasharatha, who is an emperor on whose feet countless Kings like Romapada prostrate?
Romapada offered all due honors in fitting way to the emperor. But the respects he offered to the sovereign ruler were flavored with the fondness of fellowship!
Generally when we meet with intimate people we celebrate something that was not there ‘then’ and is there ‘now’, right? Romapada celebrated flaunting Rushyashrunga to him; the biggest benefit that blessed him in the interim was the boon of getting Rushyashrunga as his son-in-law; he was the invaluable pearl with King of Anga!
Romapada introduced Dasharatha to Rushyashrunga with open mind and fulsome praise. He explained the majestic rule of Dasharatha as well as the deep-rooted and affectionate kinship he shared with him. As a feeling of warmth was evoked in the heart of the sage, Romapada became the reason for the thrill Dasharatha felt as he was caressed with the affectionate look of the sage with golden gaze.
Can Dasharatha hope for a more comfortable atmosphere than this to mention the mission behind the purpose of his arrival? But somehow Dasharatha felt a strage loss of words! Dread denial had diminished his courage! Having stayed in Angarajya how could he return without accomplishing the purpose of his arrival!? King of Kosala was keen on a convenient occasion; the air outside was convenient by all means; both the King and the Sage were oozing affection all the time at Dasharatha; inconvenience was internal, within Dasharatha’s bosom! Confusions within Dasharatha had camouflaged the courage and comfort outside! The words he wanted to speak continued to stay uncomfortably within him!
Time passed; nay, days passed! Seven ~ eight days had already passed after he arrived in Angarajya! How long could he stay there without doing anything? Isn’t Angarajya ultimately an alien land too?
As the hour of departure was nearing Dasharatha was anxious as he could not say those words – the words which were to be said at any cost but he was not able to tell!
Romapada too sensed the shadow of Dasharatha’s anxiety; result was a play of light and shadow within Romapada too; mixed feelings within his heart;
it was ultimate bliss to have his bosom buddy with him after a long time; but this new style of the King of Kosala – not giving him the slightest clue as to “Why? What?’ even after staying there for seven-eight days – was an enigma!
Romapada’s heart swung like a cradle without being able to fathom the new style of the old pal!
Every heart was a cradle till Rama’s cradle swung!!
~*~*~
(ಸಶೇಷ)
Way to Wisdom:
- There is a story within story in circulation. Dasharatha had a daughter by name Shanta. She was given on adoption to Romapada. Some commentators too concur and have quoted this. They have also established this fact with an illustration from puranas. But Sage Valmiki has not expressly mentioned about this.
As RamaRashmi of SriSamsthana follows the script as per Valmiki Ramayana, this story has not been mentioned here.
- <Confusions within Dasharatha had camouflaged the courage and comfort outside> The imagery here is that of an eclipse where the external favorable atmosphere was eclipsed by the internal turmoil of Dasharatha. Without using the word ‘eclipse’ the feeling has been conveyed here – this style is called as Swabhavokti Alankara (स्वभावोक्ति अलंकार:) in Sanskrit.
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