Anasuya's Wrath

ANASUYA’S WRATH

Verses 273-282 from Yuddhakaanda Upasamharana Khandamu of

Srimad Raamaayana Kalpavrikshamu of

Sri Viswanatha Satyanarayana, rendered into English by

PROF. K. VISWANATHAM, M. A.
Head of the Dept. of English, Andhra University

It is to state the obvious that Sri V. Satyanarayana is the doyen of modern Telugu writers and Srimad Raamaayana Kalpavrikshamu the tallest tree in the garden of Telugu poesy. The prophetic significance of the title of the Kavya is realized in the Jnanpith Award. The title retains its mythical virtue. The Kavya is a Kalpavriksha literally and figuratively, materially and belletristically. This portion translated into English from the Yuddha Upasamharana of the poet’s magnum opus is one of the chef d’oeuvre. The verses come home to the bosoms and business of women, especially. They show the keen insight of the poet into the workings of a woman’s heart hurt by scandal, the workings of a woman’s heart blazing in anger at the suffering of another woman. A woman’s heart is known only to another woman as the peaks are known only to the stars. A woman in a hermitage understands a woman in a Pushpaka; both are women. Aged feminity understands youthful brow stained by scandal. A woman sympathizing with another cuts a man–a man like Rama–to size by ignoring him. The
Importance of Rama, in Anasuya’s eyes, is that he is the husband of Sita: indifference is worse than contempt. Even Rama is too small to be noticed by Anasuya because he has hurt Sita. This potion is an excellent elaboration of Valmiki’s:

Sita’s character is pitched high to its becoming loftiness in later verses: 300-301 in which Sita tells her lord that she too was frightened by what Anasuyadevi might say in anger against Rama because any indictment of Rama is an indictment of Sita too, as Rama and Sita are an indivisible One. A woman’s heart does not forget a wife’s duty:

273. As the Pushpaka was flying sidelong, the daughter of addressed Rama: ‘O Lord, the hermitage of Atri is yonder. What do you say? Going there will happy your mind and Anasuyadevi gets the opportunity of seeing you.’ ‘Be it so’, said Rama and the Pushpaka digressed from the aerial path.

274. That was a humble hermitage. Crores of Rakshasas and Monkeys arrived there. The sage was the very personification of extreme old age. There was the sage’s wife with eyelids half-drooping and body numbed by age. Greeting the arrival of Rama and Sita with their waving hands and fingers it was as if a sea of crested joy arose.

275. As Rama and Lakshmana and the monarch of the sages were together in front of the hermitage, the lovely Sita led Anasuya to a place at a distance bowered by tender jasmine creepers and massaging her feet spoke soft and respectable words casually.

276. Mother, when you gave me that boon it seemed gracious of you. The boon of yours turned out to be a sorrowful story in the long run. My appearance like that of the Apsara of the Heavens roused only loathing in my husband’s eyes–at a cursed hour.

277. Beyond the seas there was the ten-headed Rakshasa, Ravana by name. He may have a hundred heads, let alone ten. Revered mother, has he a head at all?

278. Maricha his close counsellor became a golden deer an unthinkingly I wanted it. The basest of Rakshasas dug a pit and I fell into it. And the ten-headed one, Mother! haled me up with ropes as one would a cow, elephant and carried me away. With that began the battalia of my misfortunes.

279. With an incredible army formed by the hundreds of thousands of monkeys who got off the aerial car quickly he crossed the seas and slew the mighty archer. It seems I stayed for a year in his house. How can I describe the abuse flung at me? Seas of nausea spilled from him.

280. Then Anasuya, raising her half-drooping eyelids and lifting her legs step by step with her bark-garments wavering, walked rapidly towards Rama and looked at him wrathfully Rama’s mind was frightened at what the sage’s wife might say.

281. The sage’s wife, changing her mind, went immediately inside. The sage felt relieved and spoke to Rama: “Ramachandra! an aged woman, an aged woman! Kshatriyas know what manliness is. Are women capable of explosive anger? Does a heart abraded by the burden of anguish look before and after?”

282. Then all went and got into the aerial car. It was about to start. Rama saw Anasuyadevi walking towards the car and stopped it. Anasuya walked to the car, got up the steps with difficulty, placed two fruits in Sita’s hands and was getting down. Sita handed over the fruits to Rama, helped Anasuya get down the steps and went , and the aerial car started on its flight.