Ram, Sita and Lakshman had bid farewell to all their kin and well-wishers who had come from Ayodhya and Mithila to meet, greet, and if possible, take them back to Ayodhya. The three lived like hermits in the verdant forest of Dandkaranya. The forest was redolent with the presence of several sages. Their sacred ashrams had the beauty and grace which even the celestial beings envied.
Ram thought there was no need of violence in such a sacred place. Says Maharishi Balmiki –
“Graced by maharishis on felicitous diet, that array of hermitages was glorious and sonorous like Lord Brahma’s abode with the recitation of the Vedas. Several gifted and scholarly Brahmans adorned those hermitages. On seeing the constellation of those hermitages, the most glorious Ram undid the string of his bow.”
Balmiki Ramayan, Aranya Kand, Canto 1(viii)
By unstringing his bow, Ram declared to the venerable rishis his intention to spend his days of banishment in spiritual pursuits like anyone else among them, putting aside his martial qualities of a ruler. But the sages insisted on according to him all the honours due to a raja. It was their way to remind him of his responsibilities as a powerful raja.
With folded hands the preceptors of dharma addressed him thus –
“O Scion of the Raghus! The mace-bearing raja is the supporter of dharma, (he is) the most illustrious protector of this assembly, and the honourable, revered guru of all. Being the one-fourth portion of Lord Indra on this planet, he defends his subjects; therefore, the raja is venerated by all ….
“We live in your kingdom; therefore, you should protect us. Whether you live in a city or in forest, you are still our king. You are the ruler and guardian of all the people.
“O King! We have,vanquishing anger and mastering our faculties, forsaken hurting all living creatures. Now penance is our only wealth. As a mother protects the child in her womb, so should you protect us always.”
– Ibid, 1(xviii-xxi)
Keeping in mind the submission of the sages, Ram parted with them – Sita walking behind him and Lakshman following both of them closely. It was a dense forest where wild beasts roamed about freely. The unfamiliar trail brought them to the den of a ferocious rakshas by the name of Viradh. He made a frightful sight with his sunken eyes, gigantic build and a huge belly. A tiger-skin smeared with gore and dripping with blood covered his loins. Remains of wild beasts such as lions, tigers and wolves lay scattered about him.
“I am Viradh, Viradh the Rakshas,” he thundered, “I feed on the raw flesh of rishi-munis and roam about this remote forest fully armed!
“You two, with your matted hair and tree-bark garb, look like hermits,yet you have a beautiful young woman with you.Who you are in realty? Why have you intruded into my domain? I shall drink your blood after killing you both in a fight andkeep your woman for myself.”
Maharishi Balmiki devotes four cantos (cantos 1-4 of Aranya Kand) to Viradh’s killing at Ram’s hands. The rakshas could defy death by any weapon, thanks to a boon he had received from Lord Brahma. Even so, by way of expressing his evil intention about Sita, he compelled Ram to mount his bow to fight him. Eventually, both Ram and Lakshman had to bury him in a huge pit dug for the purpose by Lakshman.
Sant Tulsi Das does not dwell much on the Viradh-killing episode. He mentions it in passing –
Jehn jehnjahin Dev Raghuraya/Karhinmeghtehntehnnabhchhaya//
Mila Asur Biradh mag mata/Aavat-hin Raghbir nipata//
Turat-hin Ruchir ruptehinpava/Dekhidukhinijdhampathava//
Puni aayejehn Muni Sarbhanga/Sundar anuj Janaki sanga//
At every place where Raghunath-ji goes, clouds shade the sky for him. RakshasViradh met him on the way. Raghunath-ji killed him as soon as he saw him.
(Upon his death at the hands of Shri Ram), he attained a divine form. Finding him in distress, Ram despatched him to His abode. Then, he with his handsome younger brother Lakshman and Sita-ji, arrived at the place where Muni Sharbhang lived.
Ramcharit Manas, Aranya Kand 6(iii-iv)
Sant Tulsi Das’s sanitised version of the Viradh-killing merely indicates his intention to save any gory details for the war-like scenarios as in ‘Lanka Kand’, where they synchronize better with the context. Yet, he does not take away the martial attribute from Ram’s character. Ram is someone whom he adores as”Paanaubaanshraasanamkatilasttunirabhaaramvaram” (see, shlok 2) – the one who has in his handsarrows and a bow, and (whose) waist is adorned with the weight of a quiver.
Tulsidas’s intention is evident in the Jayant episode in the Aranya Kand of Ramcharitmanas. (Balmiki Ramayan does not have this episode.) Jayant, Lord Indra’s wayward son, took it into his head to test the might of the Vishnu-avatar, Ram –
Surpatisutdhari bayas besha/Sath chahat Raghupati baldekha//
Jimi pipilikasagarthaha/Maha mandmatipaavanchaha//
Sita charanchonchhatibhaga/Moorhmandmatikaarankaga//
ChalaarudhirRaghunayakjana/Seenkdhanushsaayaksandhaana//
Jayant, the foolish son of the King of Devas, Indra, assuming the form of a crow, wanted to measure Raghunath’s strength, as if an extremely dumb-witted ant were to fathom the ocean.
That foolish one (who had taken the form of a crow), because of his stupidity, pecked at Sita’s feet and fled away. Ram perceived (the mischief) as she began to bleed. He cooked a reed on his bow.
– Ibid 1(iii-iv)
The mantra-powered reed-arrow pursued Jayant everywhere he went for refuge, but no one – not even his father Lord Indra – offered protection to that ‘Ram bimukh’ – he who had estranged himself from Ram. At last, as the story goes on, Rishi Narad took pity on him and sent him back to beg Ram’s pardon. Ram let him go after putting out one of his eyes.
Ram had desired to renounce – albeit temporarily – violence while living in the serene surrounds of Dandakaranya. But he was born a Kshatriya. He could not forgo punishing the likes of RakshasViradh or Indra’s son, Jayant, who dared to harm him, his spouse Sita or all those who were devoted to him. That was the Maryada Purushottam’s way of saying that one is bound to follow one’s dharma.
In Gita, (Chapter 18, verse 60), Lord Krishan says something similar to Arjun. Even if you are not inclined to act in a certain mode, your material nature would drive you to act that way.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
