4. Source of the Ashcharya Chudamani

The poet has taken the plot from the Valmiki Ramayana. The construction of the hermitage at Panchavati mentioned in the 66. Ibid., V. 36, p-236. 67. The Wonderful Crest Jewel by C. Sankararama Sastry, p-134.

116 first act of the drama is referred to in the Aranya Kanda of the epic. After leaving Chitrakuta, Sri Rama goes in search of a new place for him to stay. He is accompanied by Sita and Lakshmana. On the way, he meets several sages and pays respects to them. He also calls on Sage Atri and his wife Anasuya. Anasuya is so impressed by Sita's unflinching devotion to her lord that she presents her a miraculous cloth, a magical cloth 68 and a wonderful cosmetic. She tells her that if she constantly wears them, she would ever appear beautiful in the eyes of her lord. The presentation of these gifts it may be noted, is mentioned in the second act of the play. Sri Rama soon after meets Sage Agastya and after paying respects to him requests the sage to select a suitable place for constructing his hermitage. 69 The sage suggests Panchavati. Sri Rama goes there and after constructing a hermitage lives happily with sita and Lakshmana. The heated discussion between 'Sri Rama and Lakshmana in the first act has its parallels in the epic. The first instance is when Sri Rama takes leave of his mother Kausalya before going to the forest on exile. Lakshmana who accompanies him is no longer able to restrain himself on seeing the great grief of Kausalya and he gets angry and shouts that he would undo the wrong done to his brother. 'Sri Rama goes and consoles 68 idam divyam varam malya vastramabharananica ! angaragam ca vaidehi maharham canulepanam || || Valmiki Ramayana, published by R. Narayanaswami Iyer, Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 118, V.18, Madras, 1958. 69 ito dviyojane tata bahumulaphalodakah deso bahumrgah sriman pancavadyabhivisrutah || Ibid., Aranya Kanda, Sarga 13, V.13, h.319.

117 117 him by his sane words. The second instance is when 'Sri Rama with his brother and wife is residing at Chitrakuta. One day, hearing a great noise resembling that of the march of an army, (Sri Rama asks his brother to find out its cause. Lakshmana climbs a tree and perceives an army headed by Bharata and Satrughna marching towards the hermitage. He then hurriedly comes down and informs his brother that Bharata is coming fast with his army to attack them and put an end to their lives. He asks him to get himself ready with arms to face the enemy. Sri Rama who intimately knows Bharata and his mind, flatly dismisses his wild guesses. Finding that Lakshmana contimes to entertain his mistaken notion about Bharata's visit, Sri Rama makes a sharp remark that if the lure for kingship is responsible for his unbridled out bursts, he (Sri Rama) would satisfy him by asking Bharata to hand over the kingship of Ayodhyu to him This caustic remark has the desired effect of silencing Lakshmana. The 'Surpanakha episode figuring in the first and second acts of the drama is more or less the same as seen in the epic. The demoness while roaming about in the Dandaka forest, happened to see Sri Rama and Lakshmana. Attracted by their lovely forms, she falls in love with them. She first approaches Sri Rama and seeks to gain information about him and his family. Sri Rama discloses his identity and in turn asks details about her. 10 . yadi rajyasya hetostvamimam vacam prabhavase ! vasyami bharata drstva rajyamasmai pradiyatam " ucyamano'pi bharato maya laksmana tatvatah rajyamasmai prayaccheti badhamityeva vasthati " 70 Ibid.,Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 17, s. 17-18, h.266.

118 118 Surpanakha reveals herself as the sister of Ravana and she informs him that she has come to seek his hand. Sri Rama expresses his inability to oblige her since he is already wedd ed. He however suggests to her to approach his brother Lakshmana for fulfilling her wish. Accordingly, she meets him and seeks his hand. But Lakshmana cold-shoulders her proposal. He asks whether she would agree to be a slave by marrying one who is already a slave 1. approach his elder brother once again. He asks her to Bitterly disappointed as her efforts have turned infructuous, she again meets Sri Rama and informs him of the failure of her mission. She tells him that she has no other choice than to have him as her husband. But Sri Rama remains adamant in spite of her plea. She therefore gets angry and threatens to devour sita and carry off Sri Rama forcefully. As she tries to grab Sita Sri Rama asks Lakshmana to punish the demoness by disfiguring her body 72. Lakshmana immediately steps in armed with sword and cuts off her nose and ears. The bloody demoness in fear and despair flees for her life. The story of the abduction of Sita described in the third and fourth acts of the drama is not the same as in Valmiki Ramayana. (Surpanakha goes and contacts her brother Khara. 1: katham dvarasya me dasi bharya bhavitumicchasi ! sodahamaryena paravan bhrata kamalavarnini | Ibid., Aranya Kanda, Sarga 18, V.9, 327. 72. imam virupamasatimatimattam mahodarima ! raksasi purusavyaghra virupayitumarhasi 1"1 Ibid., Sarga 18, V. 20, h.327.

119 119 After reporting to him the indignity suffered by her at the bands of Sri Rama and his brother, she requests him to retaliate. Khara therefore sends an army of fourteen thousand demons along with 'Surpanakha to punish Sri Rama. But the entire army is destroyed in the battle that followed. Surpanakha again goes and informs her brother about The the tragic end of his army. Khara is infuriated and placing himself at the head of an army marches towards Panchavati. He meets Sri Rama and a bloody battle ensues. Khara and his army are completely wiped out. Surpanakha therefore goes to her brother Ravana and relates to him the entire episode. She also dwells at length on the unparalleled beauty of sita in order to rouse his sexual appetite 73. Ravana had already heard of Sita through his spy Akampana and he is desirous of getting her. He has earlier consulted Marica who had dissuaded him from entertaining such desires in his heart. description of sita given by Surpanakha serves to rekindle his dormant desire for her and he decides to have her at all costs. He consults his ministers and then goes to Marica to seek his aid. Marica reluctantly agrees after warning Ravana of the disastrous consequences that will flow from his action. Ravana and Marica then go in a chariot to Panchavati. On reaching the place, Marica assumes the form of a magical deer and tries to draw the attention of Sri Rama and Sita. sita on seeing the rapturous beauty of the deer wants to 73. naiva devi na gandharvi napsara napi danavi ! tulya simantini tasya manusisu kuto bhavet || Ibid., Sarga 31, V. 30, p. 346.

120 120 capture it alive for her to play with 74. Sri Rama agrees and he goes to the forest leaving Sita under the protection of Lakshmana. Unable to capture the antelope alive, he shoots an arrow at it. Fatally wounded, the deer before it expires imitates the voice of 'Sri Rama and cries out "Ha Sita", "Ha Lakshmana". Sita hears the voice and believing it to be her lord's, forces Lakshmana to go immediately to his aid. Lakshmana refuses to go saying that the voice they have heard is only a faked one. sita gets angry and scolds him in bitter language 75 Lakshmana stunned by her words, leaves her presence, praying the gods to protect her. Ravana who is waiting for an opportunity to abduct Sita is glad to find her alone in the hermitage. demands alms. He comes and appears before her as a hermit and sita takes him to be a real anchorite and invites him to the hermitage. The false hermit agrees and accordingly enters the heremitage and takes his seat. Sita then makes enquiries about him. The pseudo sage discloses to her great fear and anger that he is Ravana and that he has come to seek her hand. Sita admonishes him for coveting the wife of another person. But her protests prove ineffective. The false hermit assumes his real demoniac form and carries Sita off in his chariot. 74. aryaputrabhiramo'sau mrgo harati me manah ! anayainam mahabaho kridartha no bhavisyati || Ibid., Sarga 43, v. 9,h.362. 78. sudustastvam vane ramamekameko'nugacchasi ! mama hetoh praticchannah prayukto bharatena va || Ibid., Sarga 45, V.24, b.366.

121 The wailings of Sita are heard by Jatayu, a great friend At once he is on his wings and facing Ravana of king Dasaratha. asks him either to release Sita or to fight with him. Ravana AB chooses to fight and in the first round of the battle, Jatayu wins Ravana loses his chariot, horses and charioteer. Jatayu is exhausted, Ravana tries to escape with Sita. But Jatayu is in hot pursuit and in the fight that follows, the former falls seriously wounded by the latter's sword Chandrahasa. Ravana thus rid off his enemy, goes straight to Lanka with Sita. He first puts her in his harem and later on in the Asokavanika. Meanwhile, he sends some of his warriors to Janasthana to cause harm to Sri Rama. With great Sri Rama after killing the deer returns to the hermitage and on the way he meets Lakshmana to his great surprise. He enquires of him the reason for his coming, leaving sita alone in the hermitage. Lakshmana narrates to him the entire story. Sri Rama reprimands him for paying heed to the foolish words of sita without taking into consideration his own words. apprehension regarding Sita's safety 'Sri Rama hurries to the hermitage accompanied by Lakshmana. To their bitter disappointment, they find that Sita is missing. In vain, they search for her. At last they meet Jatayu, who mortally wounded by Ravana's sword is almost dying. Before he expires, he tells Rama that Ravana has abducted Sita. Sri Rama and Lakshmana bury the bird with due honcurs. They then move southward in search of sita. They meet on the way Sugriva and Sri Rama enters into an alliance with him promising that he would kill Bali provided Sugriva would

122 render aid for redeeming sita. Sri Rama kills Bali and makes Sugriva, the ruler of Kiskiniha. As promised, Sugriva sends his monkey warriors in search of sita. Hanuman is sent southward. 'Sri Rama has great When confidence in him that he would succeed in his mission. Hanuman takes leave of Sri Rama, the latter presents him his signet ring with his name engraved on it as a token to be given to sita when he meets her 76. Hanuman goes with other monkey warriors and reaches the shores of the Southern sea. Their next task was to cross the ocean. But nobody in the monkey army dares to do it. They are equally afraid to return lest Sugriva punish them for not having found out Sita. Thus prevented from going back or fore the monkey warriors decided to lie down on the sea shore and starve themselves to death. To wile away their time, they recount the story of Sri Rama and his valour. Sampati, the brother of Jatayu who resides in a cave nearby happens to hear this. He comes out and meets the monkey warriors. He learns from them of the heroic death of his brother Jatayu. Sampati who had lost his wings miraculously gets them back on hearing the adventures of Sri Rama. To help his brother's friends, he flies far alone and scanning the topographic features of Lanka, returns to the monkeys and gives them valuable clues as to where Sita is kept under guard in 76. do dadau tasmai tatah pritah svanamangopasobhitam ! anguliyamabhijnanam rajaputryah paramtapah || Ibid., Kiskindha Kanda, Sarga 44, V. 12, h.502.

123 Lanka. The monkeys heartened by the piece of information given by Sampati debate among themselves as to who should cross the sea. At last the choice falls on Hamman Hanuman crosses the ocean successfully and reaches Lanka. After defeating Lanka Lakshmi, he enters the city under cover of darkness. There, he makes a thorough search for Sita and is unable to locate her. In desparation he thinks of committing suicide. Soon he gets over his despondency and makes a vigorous search for Sita. He first finds out the Asokavanika and later on the 'Simisipa tree. From the tree, he sees Ravana making evertures of love to sita. He witnesses sita turning them down and Ravana losing temper. The demon king is giving an ultimatum to Sita to take a decision either to accept him as her lord or not within two months. He further notices the demonesses teasing Sita after the exit of Ravana. He also sees another demoness by name Trijata coming and silencing her companions and narrating to Sita, a dream that she had last night. The dream of Mandod ari described in the fifth act of the drama is different from the dream of Trijata described in the epic. Trijata tells sita that she saw her in the dream clad in white silk garments riding in a beautiful ivory palanquin which was drawn by one thousand swans accompanied by Sri Rama and Lakshmana. She also saw her dressed in white silk and seated on the top of a mountain which was surrounded on all sides by the sea. Subsequently, she saw Sri Rama and Lakshmana riding on a four tusker and meeting sita. She also

124 sav her being embraced by /Sri Rama and mounting the elephant led by her lord. She further sev Sri Rama riding the Pushpaka chariot end going north. 77 In the dream, she saw Ravena falling headlong from the Pushpaka chariot. She further saw him with his head closely shaved and dressed in black robes riding a donkey and going towards the south. She also saw him getting afraid of the donkey and as a result falling unconscious to the ground. Further, she saw him appearing confused, naked, speaking incoherently and drinking oil. She also sav Ravane, his sons and Kumbhakarna, with their heads closely shaved, riding on different animals like boar, camel etc. and going south. She saw Vibhishane dressed well riding a four tusker followed by four ounsellors with drums 78 sounding all the way. The demoness further tells her that in the dream, the entire city of Lanka was seen disappearing in the sea. She also sav Lanka burnt to ashes by a monkey messenger sent by Sri Rama, She further saw the women in Lanka drinking oil and dancing wildly in the streets. In the end she saw Kumbhakarna entering a cesspool of cow dung. Trijata after narrating her dream warns the demonesses not to provoke site, for the dream 77. aruhya puspakam divyam vimanam suryasamnibham " uttaram disamalokya jagama purusottamah ! Ibid., Sunde rekende, Garge 27, Vs. 19-20, p. 586. 78. aruhya sailasamkasam meghastanitanih svanam ! caturdantam gajam divyamaste tatra vibhisanah || Ibid., Sarga 27, V.34, h.587.

unmistakably foretold the triumph of Sri Rama. 125 125 sita feels rejoiced at the prospect of success of her lord as forecast in the dream. Only Sita Soon all the demonesses go to sleep. remains awake in that night. She is in a dejected mood and thoughts of committing suicide loom large in her mind. As she is making a self introspection and retrospection of herself, Hanuman recites the story of Sri Rama and thus makes known his presence to her. sita is filled with wonder on hearing it and she listens to it with great interest. Meanwhile, Hanuman comes down and appears before her in the form of a small monkey. He first dispels her doubts about his bonafides. After giving her an account of Sri Rama's adventures since her abduction, he presents her the ring 79. Sita is overjoyed on receiving it and feels as though she is united with her lord. Sita then gives him in return her crest jewel to be given to her lord. Besides, she also discloses the Kakasura episode which is known only to herself and her lord. Hanuman after giving her assurances that Sri Rama would redeem her soon from the clutches of Ravana, takes leave of her. He then destroyed Lanka and meets Ravana. After setting fire to Ravana's capital and once again meeting Sita, he returns to Kiskinha. He meets Sri Rama and conveys to him the happy news of his meeting sita. He presents him with the crest jewel. Sri Rama is berumbed and then shedding tears of joy, 7 17 . vanaro'ham mahabhage duto ramasya dhimatah ! ramanamankitam cedam pasya devyanguliyakram !! Ibid., Sarga 36, V. 2,h. 601.

726 126 recounts to Sugriva who stands hearby, the story of the crest jewel. sita's fire ordeal described in the sixth act of the drama is more or less the same as described in the Valmiki Ramayana. After vanquishing Ravana, Sri Rama asks Lakshmana to arrange for the coronation of Vibhishana. Lakshmana accordingly performs Vibhishana's coronation and he then comes back to meet his brother. Sri Rama asks Hanuman to convey the news of his victory over Ravana to Sita and also ascertain her reaction to it. Hanuman goes and conveys the news to sita. sita is 80 extremely happy to hear it and she conveys her desire to meet her lord. Hanuman comes back and reports to Sri Rama about her sad condition and her desire to see him. Sri Rama is filled with grief on hearing it and he asks Vibhishana to bring her to his presence immediately after getting herself well dressed As instructed, Vibhishana brings Sita, richly dressed, in a closed palanquin. The monkey warriors seek in vain to catch a glimpse of her and they obstruct the palanquin's passage. Vibhishana orders his servants to clear the monkeys so that the palanquin may move on. Thereafter a minor skirmish occurs between Vibhishana's servants and the monkey warriors. Sri Rama observes it and asks Vibhishana to bring Sita in the open. sita gets down from the palanquin and goes to the presence of her lord accompanied by Vibhishana. (Sri Rama seeing her puts 80. divyangaragam vaidehim divyabharanabhusitam h 58 211111212: 2-211-1142-2114 22 22 11 iha Ibid., Yuddha Kanda Sarga 117, V. 7, p.898.

127 127 on an angry face and he tells her to her great surprise that he has discharged his duty of releasing her from Ravana's custody 81. 82 and that she can go anywhere she like since he is not prepared to accept her Sita thereupon tells her lord that her chastity remains unsullied in spite of her stay in Lanka and to test it, she offers to undergo the fire ordeal. She requests Lakshmana to arrange for it quickly. Lakshmana seeks his brother's permission and after getting it, arranges a big pyre. sita after paying respects to her lord, boldly leaps into the blazing fire At that time, Lord Brahma and other gods arrive from heaven to meet Sri Rama. Sri Rama goes and pays respects to them. Lord Brahma congratulates him on his victory over Ravana. He further reveals to Sri Rama his own identity as the incarnation of Vishnu. Meanwhile, Ag ni emerges from the pyre and presenting sita to Sri Rama assures him of her chastity and requests him to Sri Rama warmly receives her. The two then take her back 83 pay respects to Dasaratha who is introduced to them by Lord Paramesvara. He blesses them. He congratulates Sri Rama for 81. 82. 83. nagaccha habhyanujnata yathestam janakatmaje ! eta dasa disom bhadram karyamasti na me tvaya || Ibid., Sarga 118, V. 18, p.90 vivesa jvalanam dipram nihsankenantaratmana ! Ibid., Sarga 119, V. 29,p.902 visuddhapanam nispapam pratigrngisva raghava ! Ibid., Sarga 121, V. 10, h. 904

128 128 sticking to his words and he asks him to go to Ayodhya and take back the royal sceptre. The gods after blessing Sri Rama disappear. Sri Rama then goes to Ayodhya with Sita, Lakshmana and the entire monkey army by the Pushpaka chariot provided by Vibhishana.