|
Continued from yesterday’s instalment
 ‘en kol thriu uLam?’ asked the simpleton. A direct translation would mean, ‘What do you intend to do?’ ‘Would you please have them now’, is what Guha conveys. Rama turned to the sages and smiled.
‘virutha maadhavarai nOkki muruvalan.’ He looked at the hermits and smiled. Quite a pregnant smile it was. It was not the smile that hides an embarrassment. It was not an apologetic smile either. It conveys, ‘I know that this fellow has brought something that is obnoxious to you all. But I look at the love behind his act. I am bound by love and anything that comes to me with love is acceptable to me.’ Let’s see the verse that follows.
‘ariyadhaam.’ It sure is dear to me ‘vuappa uLLaththu amaindha kaadhal theri tharak koNarndha endraal,’ if what is brought to me is impelled by love and devotion welling up in the mind.
‘amizhdhinum seerththa andrE.’ It is more delightful to me than elixir itself.
‘parivinin thazheeya ennin paviththiram emmanOrkkum.’ If what is offered is suffused with love and devotion, it is sacred for the likes of me.
‘No matter what is offered to me. I go by love, affection and devotion. The offering of the devotee is saturated with love and that’s sufficient for me.’ Kamban makes Rama play both his human and superhuman roles here. It was the prince in exile and it was the Lord as well who was talking. ‘Though you may not like it, I value it because it is my devotee who has brought this,’ is what the verse connotes.
This verse, followed by the last line of the previous verse, ‘virutha maadhavarai nOkki muruvalan’ confirms that Rama’s smile was neither embarrassed nor apologetic. There is no reason for the Lord to feel embarrassed or to apologise to one devotee for the act of love of another devotee. He finds no difference between these two. Whether you offer the most delightful offering available on this earth and beyond, or you offer him what may look like ‘unacceptable’ in the eyes of others it doesn’t make a difference to Him. Both were created by Him, after all!
 This is one of the scenes where Rama excels as bhakta-vatsala. One who is so very gracefully fond of his devotees. This scene, again, is unique in Kamban’s version of Ramayana and not found in Valmiki Ramayana. As we mentioned earlier, Rama was more a king than an avatar in Valmiki’s time and when Kamban wrote his version, he was more an avatar than a king. Kamban had an additional job of highlighting the divine qualities of Rama, more often than his predecessor.
Turning to Guha, Rama said, ‘inidhin naamum uNdanam andrO.’ Let it be taken as having been eaten, delightfully. ‘I accept what you have brought and let it be considered that it has been eaten.’
“Here is thy footstool and there rest thy feet where live the poorest, lowliest and lost,” sang Rabindranath Tagore. His feet are naturally to be found among the poorest, lowliest and the lost. As Tagore said, “Pride can never approach to where thou walkest in the clothes of the humble among the poorest, and lowliest and lost.” The all-encompassing cosmic power - omniscient - is bound by a thin thread. The thread of love.
More follows...
Hari Krishnan
Previous
Articles
|
