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Continued from yesterday’s instalment
 We both are standing at the doors of death, inevitable death, a death that we are welcoming with hands open. The doors are wide open for me right now and be forewarned that you will follow. The moment Rama sets his eyes on me, I am quite certain that I cannot escape his arrow this time. But I am not worried so much about my death.’
“Although this terrible and unforeseen calamity (in the form of death at your hands) has been met with by me, nevertheless on this score you (alone) deserve to be pitied (and not I) inasmuch as you are going to meet your doom with your army. Having killed me, the aforesaid Rama for his part will dispose of you before long. I shall, however feel accomplished of purpose through such
death; for I would fain give up the ghost when killed by an enemy (rather than by you, my king.)” (Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda, Canto XLI, Sloka 15, 16)
‘puRaththu ini uraippadhu ennE?’ What more remains for me to tell you?
‘puravalan dhEvi thannai thiraththuzhi andri,’ (if at all you want) to own Sita, then fight with Rama and get her; ‘vanjiththu eydhudhal sirumaiththu aagum’ but to get her by means of deception does not befit you and is disreputable indeed. Why can’t you fight with Rama, win him over and take possession Sita? Why should you adopt such devious methods?
‘Do I need an army to fight with those two men? They can’t survive if I unsheathe my sword. I am afraid that that damsel would also die at the same moment. I need your help only because of that. I am trying to take revenge on a human who killed your mother and you are hesitating so much!’ Ravana
‘dhEviyaith theeNdaa munnam,’
Before he could even touch Sita, ‘ivan thalai sarathin sindhip pOm vagai puNarkkum’ he (Rama) would work wonders with his arrow as to make his heads roll on the ground
‘endru pundhi yaan pugalgindreRkkum aam vagai aayitru illai’
My words did no good either to him or to me. ‘yaar vidhi viLaivai Orvaar?’ Who can see what destiny has in store?
‘Eviya seivadhu allaal illai vEru ondru.’ I am left with no option but to obey him.
 Märïca is an example of what an evolved soul would think and act like. He tried his hardest, even risking the wrath of his king, to set him on the right path. And when he saw that he was left with no option but to die at the hands of Ravana, he preferred to die at the hands of Rama instead.
The Poets have endeavoured to set an example to all of us through each and every character, however minor it is, to establish that evolution of the highest order is possible, if only one wishes to reach for it. Märïca
is more comparable with Kumbakarnan who chose death while performing his duty, though he was convinced against what his brother did and advised him against it.
At the moment of decision, Märïca captivates the hearts of all, especially when he says,
“I shall, however feel accomplished of purpose through such
death,” preferring to die at the hands of Rama rather than that of Ravana.
More follows...
Hari Krishnan
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