||om tat sat||

||om tat sat ||

Sundarakanda
Sarga 9

Tattva dipika
Hanuman in "Manomaya Kosa"

In the very beginning of ninth Sarga we hear
" अससादाथ लक्ष्मीवान् राक्षसेंद्र निवेशनम्" (9.04), अससादाथ

that the "Lakshmivan" namely Hanuman,
entered the palace complex of Ravan,
the the King of Rakshasas.
This line appears for the third time.
That is the third sheath of the layers.

Describing of the wealth of Ravana,
the poet says that the riches present in that palace are
"तादृशी तद्विशिष्टा वा"(9.09)
meaning there by that they are equivalent to
or exceeding those available with Kubera, Yama or Varuna .

The "गंधस्त्वं", or the sweet scents were floating in that palace.
They were inviting Hanuman as though he was a relative being invited.
Where were they leading him?
"तत्र यत्र स रावण" (9.21) - " to that place where Ravana is !

Again mesmerized by the display of opulence Hanuman wondered:
, " स्वर्गोयं देवलोकोयं" (9.31).
"Is this heaven, or the abode of Devas or the abode of Indra".
Those are- भोग लोकाः -
These are places where people enjoy the fruits of their works.
Each one exceeding the other in opulence.
Hanuman's wonder also grew in leaps and bounds.

There Hanuman saw "सहस्रं वर नारीणां" (9.34).
Thousands of women.
Women in their best attires and in different poses.
They are Ravana's wives.

In that large group of women
None appear to have been brought by force against their will.
None was in love with some one else or was a lover someone else.
They were all desirous of the company of Ravana.
They were all aristocratic .
There was none who is not fit to be his wife.
None who is not fit to be served.
None who did not deserve to be desired !

Hanuman thought.
'If the wife of Raghava was living like these wives of the Rakshasa king,
his life would have been " sujaatam".
or served its purpose'.
Then immediately as though correcting himself ,
Hanuman felt,
" Sita is without doubt pure and virtuous.
The king of Lanka behaved in an abominable manner towards her.
What a tragedy." (9.72)

That in brief is the story we hear in the ninth Sarga .

In the first few lines we hear for the third time

" अससादाथ लक्ष्मीवान् राक्षसेंद्र निवेशनम्" ,
"Lakshmivan Hanuman enters the palace of the King of Rakshasas".

It is as though he entered the third level of that Palace complex .
In the eighth Sarga we heard about the search for Self
The 'Self', hidden within the five sheaths ( Pancha Kosa).
Now when Hanuman reached the third level,
it is as though he entered the third sheath, namely the Manomaya Kosa.

In the first Sarga we heard that
"रावयति असत् प्रलापान् कारयति इति रावणः".
Here "रावयति" meaning one who awakens your instincts to "rave",
"असत् प्रलापान् कारयति" meaning one who makes you rave about "me" and "mine",
both define that one as Ravana !

In reality the one that makes us think of "me and mine",
the one that makes us rave,
bringing "ego" into forefront is our mind.
Mind is the seed bed of all thoughts.
So Ravana effectively is none other than our own mind.
Entering the Ravana chambers is like entering the sheath of mind,
- the Manomaya Kosa.
Ravana's palace is the Manomaya Kosa.

Seeing the opulence of the royal palace,
Hanuman wonders " स्वर्गोयं देवलोकोयं".
This must be the heaven or the abode of Gods,
or Amaravati ,the abode of Indra etc

In Ramayana Tilaka,
heaven or Svarga is referred to as "ज्योतिष्टोमादिक यज्ञ फलभोग भूमिः".
Superior to that Svarga is the world of Devas.
That is referred to as "वायु वरुणादिलोकः".
Superior to that world of Devas is the abode of Indra "अमरावति".
That is referred to as "इंद्र लोकः".
All these are, भोग लोकः.
Places where one enjoys the fruits of his deeds.

Looking at the opulence,
Hanuman's wonder also grew in leaps and bounds.
Hearing these sights described and Hanuman's wonder,
we realize how easily the mind is captured by the external beauty and opulence.
If Hanuman himself is seemed to have been captured by the external opulence , even if it is only momentarily,
what to think of normal mortals.

In that search , Hanuman sees ,
"सहस्र वरनारीणां" - thousands of women in that royal palace.
What kind of women?
All women of superior breeding,
All of whom are desirous of his company
None of whom have been brought by force against their will.
Except for Sita, who was brought by force against her will.

Here we hear the echo of a thought.
One may think of many good things and do the good things too.
But one bad deed is enough to destroy
the power of all good deeds done.
The mind which it is not focussed on one thought,
the mind which muses along many thought lines,
will utterly fail in the search of "Self".
A "Self" hidden within the five sheaths.

Poet describes all the women of Ravana's harem.
They are all women of noble bearing.
They may have come of their own free will.
But by kidnapping Sita in a helpless condition,
and bringing her by force,
we see how all the merits of Ravana have been lost.

Hanuman keeps musing.
"None among the women has been won over through force.
All of them have been won over by his virtues.
None among them came here after being the lover of someone else,
None among them is devoted to someone else.
None who is not desirable",
and so on.

Hanuman's train of thoughts continues.
"...
यदीदृशी राघवधर्मपत्नी।
इमा यथा राक्षसराजभार्या
सुजातमस्येति हि सादुबुद्धेः॥9.72||

"If the wife of Raghava lived like the wives of the Rakshasa king,
the life of the Rakshasa king would have been worth while ( सुजातम्") .

There is a coarse thought echoing through the construction of this sentence.
The thought of that possibility occurs to Hanuman also.
We see in the very next sloka saying "punaScha.."..thinking again.

But first we shall see the three possible coarse constructs.

1 "Even before the Svayamvara with Rama,
if Sita chose Ravana his life would have been worthwhile",
this thought could not have occurred to Hanuman,
who was called "सादुबुद्धि" by the poet.

2 "Just like these Rakshasa wives were living in delight with their husband,
if Sita, not having been kidnapped, was living in delight with Rama,
then this Rakshasa's life would have been worthwhile".
This could be one other thought.

3 The third thought is -
"Just like the kidnapping of Sita by this Rakshasa,
if the Rakshasa's wives too were kidnapped,
then his life would have been a worthwhile lesson.

Although there is no blemish in Hanuman ,
the construct of his momentary thought has those faulty echoes.
This possibility occurred to Hanuman himself and he thinks again.
Hanuman says to himself.
" Sita is far superior to these women in character".
The Rakshasa king , acting in an ungentlemanly way,
has acted cruelly towards this virtuous woman"

In Gita at one point Krishna says the following.

"मनुष्याणां सहस्रेषु कश्चिद्यदति सिद्धये।
यततामपि सिद्धानां कश्चिन्मा वेत्ति तत्त्वतः"॥ (गीत 7.03)

Among thousands of people only one may try for search for "Self".
Among those who try only few will be able to go ahead.
Even among those who move forward,
only one may be able to understand Supreme being.

On a similar token ,
among the many "वरनारीणां "in that harem of Ravana,
none had the thought of leaving Ravana.
They did not have the knowledge of any other desirable one
and were lost in the opulence in the world of Ravana.

Only Sita was able to see through the wealth of Ravana.
Rejecting that , she longs for SriRama.

Every body will not get the desire to go in search of Self:
Among thousands one may get the idea of "Searching for Self"
That one is "mumukshu".
He is the seeker

From this it is clear ,
to be a seeker is a very difficult proposition.
The obstacles to be overcome in order to become a seeker are many.
They have been very well described in this Sarga.
Those are the visible forms of the opulence in the palace of Ravana.
Those are also seen as the best of women in the harem of Ravana.

This is what we hear in the "Tattva Dipika" of Appalacharyulu garu.

||om tat sat||
|| This is what we understood from Tattva Dipika of Shri Bhashyam, Appalacharyulu garu"||
|| om tat sat||