Insight into the Aswamedha and payasa

INSIGHT INTO THE ASWAMEDHA AND PAYASA
VIBHAGA IN VALMIKI RAMAYANA

Dr M. Lakshmi

Having no progeny to succeed him, Dasaradha felt very sad, and sought the advice of elders. However, he himself announced his intention to perform Aswamedha (Bala, Sarga 8, Sloka 8, page 33). Vasista hailed the decision of the king (Bali Kanda, Sloka 11, page 33). Dasaradha asked his three queens to under go consecration. While these arrangements were going on, Sumantha, the minister, suggested to Dasaradha to invite Rushyasrunga to conduct the holy yaga (Bala Kanda, Sarga 9, Sloka 19, page 37). Dasaradha readily agreed to the proposal and went to King Romapada. At the instance of Romapada, Rushyasrunga accepted to go to Ayodhya (Bala Kanda, Sarga 11, Sloka 21, page 42) to help Dasaradha.

In Ayodhya, first ‘Aswamedha’ was performed and then, the ‘Putra Kameshti’ Yaga was completed. Rushyasrunga proceeding to conduct Aswamedha was questioned by some critics. They say that by convincing with other Brahmins Rushyasrunga tried to grab riches from the king and conducted Aswamedha. Did Rushyasrunga prove treacherous? Did Dasaradha fall a prey to the plot of the priests? These doubts have to be cleared.

As observed in the eighth and eleventh slokas of eighth Sarga. Dasaradha, even before approaching Rushyasrunga, decided to perform Aswamedha. He had ordered to let a sacrificial ground be prepared on the banks of the river Sarayu (Sarga 8, Sloka 15, page 33). So we can not attribute any motive behind the action of the great sage Rushyasrunga. After returning to Ayodhya, Dasaradha, himself sought the help of Rushyasrunga for conducting the horse sacrifice (Sarga 12, Sloka 2, page 44) and Rushyasrunga to help Dasaradha agreed (Sarga 12, Sloka 3, page 44). Now let us know why the king Dasaradha performed the Horse sacrifice.

King Dasaradha, married three princesses to beget sons. His third queen was Kaikeyee. Aswapati, the father of Kaikeyee, insisted that Dasaradha should anoint the son of Kaikeyee as the future king. Earlier, Dasardha had married Kausalya and Sumitra. He had no children by them. Even after marrying Kaikeyee there was every possibility of his thinking of marrying a fourth one. Aswapati desired that only the son of Kaikeyee and none else should ascend the throne. The king agreed to this condition.

After many years of married life, Dasaradha’s queens did not beget. Now he desired to get the blessings of gods. He turned to divine help. He decided to pray to gods and perform Yagas to beget sons. Dasaradha was reputed to follow Dharma. (Sarga 6, Sloka 2, page 26). It was a fact that he had promised Aswapati to make the son of Kaikeyee as heir to his kingdom. But when the human effort failed and Dasaradha decided to get the blessings of divine power to have children, the promise made to Aswapati became ‘Null and void’. Now the priority again starts from the first wife, that is from Kausalya. Kausalya as the first wife has to conceive the heir to the kingdom. Dasaradha knew the procedure of Aswamedha. Having thought deeply, Dasaradha decided to perform Aswamedha. In this Yaga, it is a custom that the wife of the performer of the yaga, who is to receive the benefit of divine grace should stay with the horse of the sacrifice for a night. For this purpose, Dasaradha asked Kausalya to undertake the holy duty (Sarga 14, Sloka 31, page 53). The point to note here is that neither Sumitra nor Kaikeyee raised any objection claiming their preference over Kausalya, to fulfil the divine duty.

In Valmiki Ramayana, several characters talk about the lenient view of Dasaradha towards Kaikeyee. As a matter of fact when love is divided between persons, it can not be measured out equally. To have a greater liking towards Kaikeyee is a personal matter of the King. When the question of justice came first, Dasaradha never tresspassed the moral path.

Dasaradha, by performing Aswamedha, made it clear that begetting sons by obtaining the blessings of gods was a fresh attempt and the normal course of family life, and for this holy attempt, Kausalya, being the first queen was eligible to get the first and primary chance to receive the grace of gods to have sons and to give the heir to the kingdom. His moral and legal thinking triumphed and nobody tried to protest the action of Dasaradha in choosing Kausalya for receiving divine grace.

With this thinking in his mind Dasaradha proposed Aswamedha. One should remember, that this Yaga was not proposed by either Rushyasrunga or the priests. Aswamedha was not at all an unnecessary ritual to denounce it as foolish. It is an act of great thinking on the part of Dasaradha and he succeeded in his attempt.

Division of holy Payasa

Maharshi Valmiki followed a method in describing the division of Payasa. Afterwards many poets evolved many other methods. There seems to be some confusion in ‘Payasa Vibhaga’ and its result even in Valmiki Ramayana itself. Dasaradha gave half of the Payasa to Kausalya and made over one half of the other half to Sumitra. And then he gave half of the rest to Kaikeyee. The remaining eighth part was again given to Sumitra, after much thinking (Sarga 17, Sloka 27 to 29, page 62).

But while narrating the births of the Raghavas, Valmiki says that Kausalya gave birth to Rama, who represented one-half of Lord Vishnu, Kaikeyee to Bharata, who represented a quarter of Vishnu and Sumitra to Lakshmana and Satrughna the twins representing the remaining portion of Vishnu (Sarga 18, Sloka 11 to 14, page 68). This gave scope to many poets who resorted to Avalmikas and tried to write about the division of Payasa according to their own line of thinking.

Kalidasa, in his Raghu Vamsam says that Dasaradha gave half to Kausalya and the other half to Kaikeyee. This is in a way, suitable to his line of thinking. Sumitra had two sons. Kalidasa tried to explain this. Kausalya gave some part of her payasa to Sumitra and likewise Kaikeyee too gave Sumitra some of hers. So after consuming two parts, Sumitra begot two sons. This may be presumed even from the division of Valmiki, as in his Ramayana too, Dasaradha gave payasa parts to Sumitra twice. But the main intention of Kalidasa, it seems, is to say that the part given by Kausalya is of Lakshmana, and he accordingly followed Rama. Likewise, the part given byKaikeyee is of Satrughna and he accordingly followed Bharatha. A nice thinking to reckon with.

Adhyatma Ramayana follows the same division but the idea of parts of Vishnu took a meaningful turn in Adhyatma Ramayana. The title of the book itself denotes the ‘Atma tatva Vichara’, the main intention of the author. Atma is unique. It is indivisible. We can understand it better byreading the sloka in Bhagavadgeeta. (Samkhya yoga, Sloka 24). In Valmiki Ramayana Sri Hari says that he would descend to the earth dividing himself into four parts and be born as the four sons of Dasaradha (Sarga 15, Sloka 20, page 58). Adhyatma Ramayana explains this sloka in a vivid manner. As Atma-the soul is indivisible, it says that Sri Hari has taken birth from Kausalya, and Adisesha-his couch was born as Lakshmana and Sri Hari’s conch and Wheel as Bharata and Shatrughna (Bala Kanda, Sarga 17, Sloka 18, page 35). ]n its own way Adhyatma Ramayana explains this episode attractively and meaningfully.

The Payasa Vibhaga is a different question byitself and it need not be clubbed with the birth events of the Raghavas. More over, from Valmiki Ramayana itself, it is a cognisable fact that Rama is the Avatara of Sri Hari. In the beginning of the story, Sri Hari says to Brahma and other gods that he would kill Ravana (Bala Kanda, Sarga 15, Sloka 27). And at the end of the story Indra praises Rama as Sri Hari (Yuddha Kanda, Sarga 120, Slokas 8-9, page 528). So we can conclude that the division of Payasa can not establish the parts of Vishnu. We have to take the idea of Dasaradha in dividing the Payasa among his queens, as a casual action as many poets have done after Valmiki. There is a method in his division.

The division of Payasa was not an affair of whims and fancies. Many poets who invited Avalmikas to their Ramayana stories took the Payasa vibhaga in a casual manner and they took pleasure narrating in their own way about the procedure of Payasa Vibhaga.