In the last post, we had seen the turbulation in the kingdom and its king caused due to the impending moment for Rama’s exile. It is difficult to process the situation for Dasaratha, ministers and all the people. While Rama has hung onto the virtues, the people who hung onto Rama and his qualities cannot digest the moments before his 14 year long life in the forests. When a mountain of a man prepares to desert the people and lead a nothing life, the prospect pierces the heart of one and all. The beloved prince and princess prepare to take leave and let us look at how it pans out in the next many chapters.
In chapter 37, Rama puts on bark and when it is imposed on Sita, Vasistha blames Kaikeyi, says Sita was not ordained to wear bark.
When Rama heard Dasaratha to carry an escort with him, he gently said, "Father, having renounced all comforts to live in the forest, of what use is an escort? He, who gives away his elephant, has no use for the rope that had once bound it. I desire to possess nothing. Grant me robes of bark and allow me to take a spade and basket, to serve me in my exile". At that moment in the presence of the entire assembly Kaikeyi had the supreme audacity to shamelessly present them to Rama saying, "Wear them!" Rama quietly exchanged them for his silken finery and Lakshmana followed suit. Sita, that most virtuous of women and cherished daughter of Janaka, looked with great fear at the coarse robes, as a deer would at a deer trap. Her mind in turmoil, eyes filled with tears, she stood rooted to the ground, clutching them. Unaware of how they should be worn, open to the scrutiny of a thousand eyes Sita bashful and sad asked Rama, as to how they should be worn and he quickly helped drape the ascetic habit over her silken robes. Shedding tears of distress, the women who had witnessed this poignant act implored Rama to let Sita remain. "The revered princess is not meant to dwell in the forest like a hermit. Grant us the favor of her presence here, in Ayodhya".
Sita would not give up her resolve of accompanying Rama. Vasishta who was witnessing the heart-rending scenes finally gave way to unbridled anger. His explosive voice boomed menacingly as he berated Kaikeyi, "Your wickedness will destroy the mighty Ikshvaku dynasty. Sita need not go into exile but can rule in Rama's place, as the wife is one half of the husband. If Sita goes to the forest so will the kingdom, the treasury and the people. Bharata and Satrughna, also clad in bark garments will be with Rama. Alone, you will rule a deserted kingdom. Obstinate woman, you were born to destroy the earth. A kingdom where there is no Rama, is no kingdom, it is now in the forest where he dwells. Never will Bharata accept a crown that is not bestowed upon him, nor will he, born of Dasaratha, allow himself to live under your tutelage. Aware of the tradition of the Ikshvakus, he will never allow himself to be king, so long as an heir older than him is alive. You have committed a great folly in trying to crown Bharata, the favor you think you have rendered him pales in the injury it will cause him. None will remain in the kingdom, even animals will follow Rama. As for Sita, she was not part of your boons, spare her. Call for chariots and attendants. She will not wear bark robes but fine silks and jewels". Not a word of this tirade seemed to penetrate Kaikeyi's stubborn stance, nor did it dissuade Sita, from following her Lord.
In chapter 38, Dasharatha is enraged to see his precious daughter-in-law in rags and takes Kaikeyi to task. Rama seeks blessings of his father for departure and requests him to keep his mother Kausalya, who is aging, comfortable.
Sita donned her bark robes like a woebegone waif, though consort to the mighty Ikshvaku. "Blamed be Dasaratha" condemned the people of Ayodhya as they wept at the injustice. Hearing the heart-rending sounds of grief, Dasaratha no longer cared for his honor, his fame or his life. Sighing deeply he said, "How can a dainty princess inhabit the jungles? What harm has this virtuous daughter of a virtuous king done to warrant her banishment? Though wrested out of me against my will, the barbarous command I have issued makes me unfit to live. Kaikeyi, blind to your devious designs I granted you the boons. Now by unscrupulously exiling Rama you commit an act that will destroy you, as a bamboo bloom destroys the very bamboo out of which it was born. Your desire to see Sita clothed in bark robes will cast you in hell. Sinful woman. For what fault of hers do you punish her so and what harm has Rama done?" To Dasaratha who could not control his grief Rama said, "Father, Kausalya that virtuous queen of yours, though immersed in sorrow does not blame you. Never has she suffered any hardships and you are her only refuge, do comfort her. She needs all your kindness and support, to bear the pain of my separation from her. Protect her, because pining for me, she may even die.
In chapter 39, Sumantra arranges for a chariot for the travel of Rama, Seetha, and Lakshmana at the orders of Dasharatha. Kingly ornaments are obtained for Seetha. Rama seeks blessings from his mother Kausalya and others too. Kausalya's parting advises to Seetha.
Beholding Rama in the mendicant's attire, the king and his consorts broke down, the sorrowing monarch could neither bear to look at Rama nor speak to him. "Perhaps the transgressions of my past lives haunt me now, causing me such distress. Glowing like the god of fire, he stands before me robed in the coarsest of garments, witnessing which I should have perished, but even death unkindly flees me. Men will accuse me saying, is this the reward of virtue? How is it that a prince so noble is banished by his father and mother?"
Dasaratha ordered the best of clothes and jewels to be brought for Sita. Draped in those most gorgeous of silks her beautiful limbs aglitter with jewels, she illumined the entire palace with her celestial beauty. Kausalya overwhelmed with love and admiration for Sita, embraced her, saying, "Many ignoble women, though cherished and pampered by their husbands, will desert those men when they fell in their fortune. They will not shy away from severing bonds grown strong over the years. Their passing fancies render them inconsiderate to family, to kindness received and to the bonds of affection. Deceitful and fickle, their wicked minds lack finesse. Only the virtuous and the faithful with their supreme sense of duty, realize their husbands to be their asylum and their salvation. Hence, though in exile do not censure my son, in prosperity or adversity he is your master". Sita with palms held together in respect said "Like a chariot without wheels and a veena without strings, is a wife without husband. How can I who have been taught these values by my parents, forget my obligations towards a consort who is my god." With these words Kausalya's tears of grief turned into tears of joy.
Rama assured Kausalya that his fourteen years exile would pass but like a dream. Bowing to the three hundred and fifty consorts of Dasaratha he said, "If I had ever, in my ignorance caused you any distress do forgive me". Those humble words saddened them even more, plunging the palace into deeper gloom. The resonance of music and the clanging drums was soon replaced by the wailing of many tormented souls.
The chapter 40 depict the departure of Rama from Ayodhya for his exile. When they are charioted through the streets of Ayodhya, the citizenry wails and weeps for Rama's disposition. In his unsurpassable affection towards Rama, King Dasharatha follows the chariot like a commoner, but fails to go further and falls down.
The chariot stood waiting and it was the hour of Rama's departure. Rama, Sita and Lakshmana reverently took leave of Dasaratha, Kausalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi. Sumitra tenderly kissed Lakshmana's forehead saying "Rama is the custodian of this earth, born of Kausalya for its protection. You are born to serve that Rama. Created by the gods to roam the forests, in the service of your divine brother from now on in adversity and in prosperity, he is your refuge and takes the place of Dasaratha. Sita, that virtuous daughter of Janaka, takes my place and the forest shall be your Ayodhya. Go my son and may you fare well!" So Sumitra inspired and encourage Lakshmana on his mission.
The resplendent chariot drawn by the most magnificent horses came driven by Sumantra. Sita a picture of loveliness stepped in, followed by Rama and Lakshmana. Rama departed and Ayodhya fell into despair, dark and seemingly irrevocable as man and beast wept, bereft of their master. Troubled, were the horses and elephants that moped, neighing, trumpeting and giving rise to a great commotion. The people of Ayodhya, the old, the young and the children, milled around the speeding chariot as they beseeched Sumantra to drive slowly, so that they could feast their eyes on Rama longer. Their eyes brimmed with tears, as they wondered at Kausalya's heartbreak. The sorrowing citizens were unwilling to live in a city bereft of Rama. Rama, whose valor defied description and whose might inspired awe in the three worlds, shuddered at the despairing sight of an old king bent with sorrow. Aware that people were trying to follow him, Rama hurried Sumantra to speed away. Caught between his master and the subjects of his master, who wanted Rama to linger Sumantra felt torn .The dust raised by the fleet footed horses mingled with the tears of those thronging the streets of Ayodhya.
Rama looked back helplessly like a foal held back by the cord of dharma while Dasaratha was had held back by the inexorable hand of fate. He stood gazing after his son who rode further and further away. It wrung his heart to see the chariot merge and become one with the horizon. His life started to ebb away at a sight so final and so poignant.
In chapter 41, the ladies and others of the royal retinue lament over the exile of Rama. The citizens of Ayodhya also are reduced to a miserable plight. All Nature mourns at Rama's departure.
The people of Ayodhya continued to accuse their king much after Rama left. They aired their wrath saying that for the destruction of the world had the foolish king driven away Rama. "Where has he gone, the protector of the world? In whom shall we now seek refuge?" The rebuke of his people and the sobbing of his consorts made Dasaratha cower under the burden of so much reprove and sorrow.
In an Ayodhya without Rama life came to a standstill. People fell into a great apathy seeking neither food nor diversion. Cows refused to let their young suckle, elephants threw out the food they held in their trunks, sacred fires no longer burned and no householder cooked any food. The planets assumed a menacing stance while the moon refused to glow and the stars hid their twinkle. The whole universe seemed troubled as all signs of joy were snuffed out. The winds ceased to blow; the sun no longer warmed than the moon cooled. Every one neglected everyone else. Fathers forgot children and children paid no attention to parents while women heeded neither husbands nor family. To meditate upon Rama, they even deserted those they loved. A city deprived of its beloved lord, shuddered with fear feeling left open to every peril.
In chapter 42, the dust raised by Rama's chariot having disappeared after a while, Dasaratha feels dejected and fell insensible on ground. His personal attendants take him to Kausalya's place and seeing him plunged in grief, Kausalya seats herself beside him and tries to comfort him.
Thus came to pass the fateful day of Rama's exile, the dreadful realization of which left Dasaratha devastated. He stood rooted to the ground as he gazed longingly, in the direction in which Rama had gone. So long as the dust raised by the chariot was visible that long did the king look, and when he could no longer see Rama he fell into a dead faint. Kausalya and Kaikeyi rushed to his side. Regaining his senses Dasaratha grew irate as he burst out, "Kaikeyi, do not touch me! You are no longer my consort. I disown all relationship with you; protecting your own interests you have brought my authority to naught. The holy pact of matrimony I had entered into, I now renounce, in this world and the next. If Bharata is pleased with the crown of Kosala, may his funeral offerings at my obsequies not reach me! I see the hoof marks of those magnificent horses that bore my son away, but I do not see my son". With that Dasaratha fell silent. He was shrouded in a sorrow which haunted him from the day Kaikeyi had shattered his most cherished desire of crowning Rama.
In a voice crippled by myriad emotions Dasaratha managed to feebly ask to be taken to the palace of Kausalya. "The only place where I will find solace," he declared. The day passed and darkness descended upon the earth. To Dasaratha who had flung himself on a couch it seemed like the night of death. Calling Kausalya he said, "My gaze that had followed Rama, far beyond the horizon refuses to return." Kausalya gently took his hand trying to comfort him who agonized so intensely for a son whom he could no longer see.
In chapter 43, Kausalya laments in many ways over the night about the happenings of day just passed.
To the royal couple, the night passed painfully and regretfully. In the dark silence Kausalya asked Dasaratha, "My Lord, will Kaikeyi who has stung Rama with the poison of her deceit, now infest the palace like a snake that has cast off its slough? By depriving him of the crown, to gratify the whims of a wayward woman you have offered Rama as Havis to the very Rakshasas. What harm will not befall my children, who roam the wilderness, surviving on the spartan offerings of the jungle. When will my son return to Ayodhya with his beautiful wife? I must have separated many a calf from its mother for I too am deprived of my child."
This completes chapters 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 and 43 of Ayodhya Kanda where we had seen the despicable saga of Rama’s departure as a young prince who leaves all his subjects behind and puts them in emotional despair. He put on nothing but bark clothes and speeds past the wailing people in a chariot that took away the light in the lives of people. The outer nature depicted the sad day as the sun, moon, stars and the wind loses sheen and put across a dim atmosphere. We will continue to see the subjugation of this grim aura over the subjects of Ayodhya as well as the future journey of Rama in the subsequent posts.
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