గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః
గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః
శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం
ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే
శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం
నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం
ఓం నమః శివాయ
I have been tied up with few things over the last couple of months because of which I could not post anything... During this period, I compiled a small book on Krishna Yajurveda Sandhyavandanam. I got some copies printed as well.
So let's get going with our post.
After Raavana gets killed by Sri Raama in the war, all
the raakshasas run towards Lanka from the battle field. All the wives of
Raavana start weeping inconsolably on hearing the news of Raavana’s death.
Vibheeshana starts weeping on seeing Raavana lying on the
ground. He speaks about the bad things that Raavana had done, how he did not
heed to his words, what kind of a life he had led, what kind of wars he had
waged etc. Finally, he gets up and informs Sri Raama, that he wants to conduct
the last rites for his brother.
Sri Raama reaffirms and says, “The enmity ends with the
death. You should conduct all the last rites as per the shashtras without fail
for your brother. He is a great warrior who died in a war. One should not weep
for such people. Please go ahead with your plan.”
In the meanwhile, along with all the wives of Raavana, Mandodari comes to the battle field. Keeping Raavana’s head on her lap, she weeps inconsolably and did lot of talking about Raavana.
·
What a great
warrior and king he was.
·
How he won
over so many kings and kingdoms
·
How all the
devathas used to shiver by his name
· How he
destroyed the lives of Rishis, pativratas (by killing their husbands),
unmarried females etc.
·
About the
pompous life that he had led
She went on to say, “Because of your misdeeds the entire
lanka got destroyed. All the women of lanka became widows.
Sita is not greater than me on any front like beauty,
knowledge, lineage etc. But your misdeed of abducting her when Sri Raama was
not there, has led to your death.
You had suppressed your indriyas (sense organs) and did
great tapasya. After that they have taken revenge on you by overshadowing you.
My brother in law (Vibheeshana) told you about returning
Sita to Sri Raama. You never paid attention to his words. He took the side of
dharma, whereas you did not.
You did not realize that Sri Vishnu himself took the
avatar of a human being (Sri Raama) to kill u.”
She went on to describe various other bad things that
Raavana had done all through his life.
After some time when she stopped, then Vibheeshana turns
towards Sri Raama and said, “My brother had done so many bad things. He has
troubled so many people in his life. I have now decided that I will not conduct
the last rites for my brother. When the world comes to know that I have taken
this decision, I am sure they will all appreciate it.”
Hearing this Sri Raama once again informs Vibheeshana
that he should still conduct the last rites for his brother and why those are important. Hearing this Vibheeshana gets convinced and performed the last rites for Raavana.
If you observe the change in stance of Vibheeshana, it is
clear that we get influenced and get carried away very easily. One should have the
clarity of thought like Sri Raama so that we do not change our stance under any
influence. You have to be firm when doing good things and be firm not to do bad
things.
సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు
PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and
english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.
