The Ramcharitmanas 2

by Tulsidas

  shivaling: A phallic representation of Shiv.

  Shringber; Shringberpur: The town of Shringber, it lay on the left bank of the Ganga. It was on the border of Koshal with Bhil country. The area around was inhabited by the Nishad tribe; their chief was Guha. The town has been identified with modern Singraur.

  Shringi: ‘The deer-horned’; a hermit, and son of the sage Vibhandaka. Shringi or Rishyashringa as he was called, performed the fire-sacrifice that resulted in the birth of Ram and his brothers. One version of his story says that his mother was a doe, and he was therefore born with antlers; another version says that his mother was the apsara, Urvashi, who abandoned her infant son and his father, her lover, after the child’s birth. Rishyashringa was brought up by his father in the forest, in complete isolation from all other human beings. He was endowed with magical and mystical powers. Once, when the kingdom of Anga was struck by intense drought, its king, Lomapad, was told that he must hold a sacrifice conducted by a priest who was perfectly chaste. The only such priest that could be found was Rishyashringa, who had grown up with no knowledge of women at all. He was persuaded to come to Anga and perform the sacrifice, which successfully ended the drought in Anga. Rishyashringa then married Shanta, the daughter of Lomapad. (Shanta was actually the adopted daughter of Lomapad; her real father was King Dasharath.)

  Shrutakirti: Sita’s cousin, the younger daughter of Janak’s younger brother Kushadhvaj (Kushaketu); she was married to Shatrughna.

  Shudra: The fourth, and lowest, of the four castes of Hinduism. This is the servile class, whose duty it was to serve the three higher castes.

  Shuk; Shukdev: An eminent rishi, he was the son of Vyas and the main narrator of the Bhagavat Purana.

  Shvapach: Literally, ‘one who eats dog-meat’, and thus refers to one belonging to the lowest, most degraded caste.

  Siddha: ‘Accomplished’, a semi-divine being, of great purity and holiness, and said to be specially characterized by the eight siddhis or supernatural faculties, which he acquires by the performance of intense austerities or certain mystical rites or processes. The Siddhas, together with the Munis, and other holy and accomplished beings, inhabit the Bhuvarlok or middle region between the earth and the sun. The term ‘Siddha’ is also used for a great sage or ascetic who has attained the eight siddhis, usually through intense austerities and yogic practice.

  Siddhi; siddhi: Success or accomplishment personified; one of Ganesh’s wives. In northern Indian tradition, Ganesh’s two consorts are Siddhi (Success) and Buddhi (Wisdom). In one recounting, they are said to have been born of Brahma’s mind, who then offered them to Ganesh as his brides; in another they are regarded as having been summoned by Ganesh himself, and then offered to him by Brahma. Buddhi is also sometimes called Riddhi—she is spiritual success, as opposed to the material success that is her sister Siddhi. In the plural, the siddhis are supernatural faculties. They are usually stated to be eight in number. They are: (i) aṇima, the faculty of making oneself infinitesimally small; (ii) mahima, the faculty of making oneself infinitely great; (iii) laghima, the faculty of becoming infinitely light; (iv) garima, the faculty of becoming infinitely heavy; (v) prapti, the faculty of obtaining whatever one wishes; (vi) prakamya, the faculty of doing whatever one wishes; (vii) ishitva, the power of absolute supremacy; (viii) vashitva, the power of absolute subjugation.

  sindur: Vermilion; applied on the head of a woman it indicates that she is married; it is applied to the head of the bride for the first time by the bridegroom upon the completion of the wedding rites.

  sinsupa: The ashok tree.

  siris blossom: The flower of the tree Acacia sirissa; the flower is exceptionally fragile and delicate-looking, with pale, slender filament-like petals.

  Sita: ‘A furrow’; in the Vedas, Sita is the furrow, or farming personified and is worshipped as the goddess of agriculture and fruits. In the Ramayana, she is the daughter of Janak, the king of Videha, and the wife of Ram. Remnants of old Vedic belief can still be seen in the story of her birth. It is related that one day, as King Janak was ploughing the field in preparation for a great fire-sacrifice to obtain children, there sprang from his plough a baby girl, whom he adopted. He named her ‘Sita’, which means ‘furrow’, and took her home to his palace, where she grew up as his beloved daughter. From her father, she is known as ‘Janaki’. So, from the manner of her birth, Sita is also called Avanikumari, ‘daughter of the earth’. She is also known as Vaidehi, ‘daughter of Videh, king of Videha’ or ‘princess of Videha’; and Maithili, ‘princess of Mithila’.

  sixteen ways of honouring a guest: In Hindu tradition, a guest is considered equal to a god, and he is honoured by being given the following sixteen things: (i) asana, a seat; (ii) arghya, a libation of water with milk, flowers, etc.; (iii) padya, water to wash the feet; (iv) achamaniya, water to drink; (v) snaniya, water to bathe and for ablutions; (vi) gandhakshak, sandal paste and rice grains; (vii) vastra, fresh clothes; (viii) pushpa, flowers; (ix) dhupa, incense; (x) dipa, light or lamps; (xi) naivedya, food; (xii) mukhasta jal, water to rinse the mouth with; (xiii) tambula, betel leaves; (xiv) dakshina, a gift; (xv) pradakshina, circumambulation; and (xvi) nirajana, a worship with lighted lamps.

  Skand: The god of war, the planet Mars, and the commander of the divine armies. He was born miraculously from the seed of Shiv, for the express purpose of destroying the Asur Tarak. It is said that Shiv cast his seed into fire, and it was afterwards received by the river Ganga. From her waters came forth Skand, in the form of a beautiful baby boy. He was found by the six Krittikas (the Pleiades), and each claimed the baby for herself, and each wanted to nurse him. In order to please them, Skand grew six heads. He is shown as riding on a peacock, with a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. He is also known as Shanmukh, ‘one with six-faces’.

  Sone: A river in central India, it is a tributary of the Ganga.

  spheres, fourteen: According to Hindu scripture, the universe is divided into fourteen spheres, seven ascending and seven descending. The seven higher spheres, in ascending order, are: Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svah, Mahah, Janah, Tapah and Satyam; the lower sphere, in descending order, are: Atal, Vital, Sutal, Talatal, Mahatal, Rasatal, Patal.

  states of being, four: The four states of being are: (i) jagrat or waking; (ii) svapna or sleeping/dreaming; (iii) sushupti or deep repose; and (iv) turiya or the state in which the soul has become one with the Supreme Spirit. These four feminine states are each paired with a male consort; these are: (i) vishva or creation; (ii) tejas or power; (iii) pragya or wisdom; and (iv) brahm, the universal Absolute.

  Subahu: A Rakshasa. He defiled and interrupted the fire-sacrifices of the sage Vishvamitra; for this, he was killed by Ram.

  Sugriv: King of the monkeys, and brother of Baali. He is also called Sukanth.

  Sukarkhet: A town, identified with the town of Soron in northern India. It is located on the river Ganga, about thirty-two miles south of modern-day Ayodhya. It is an important place of pilgrimage for Hindus.

  Sumantra: Dasharath’s trusted minister and charioteer.

  Sumitra: One of Dasharath’s queens, the mother of the twins Lakshman and Shatrughna.

  Supnakha; Surpanakha: Literally, ‘having finger-nails like winnowing fans’; a Rakshasi, Ravan’s sister.

  Surasa: A goddess, the mother of the Nagas, she was asked by the gods to test Hanuman’s strength and courage as he flew across the ocean to Lanka.

  Sutikshna: A hermit who lived in the Dandak forest and met Ram and Sita during their exile. He was a disciple of the sage Agastya.

  Svati: The star Arcturus, as forming the fifteenth nakshatra, or lunar asterism. According to popular belief, the rain that falls under this lunar asterism is endowed with special properties including the attribute that if a drop of it falls into a seashell, it becomes a pearl. The chatak subsists only on the rain that falls during autumn, under the influence of this nakshatra.

  svayamvar: The public ceremony of a young girl or princess selecting a husband
of rank from an assembled gathering of suitors; this ceremony is usually restricted to the Kshatriya caste. Sometimes, a task may be set by the bride’s family for her suitors to accomplish, as in the case of Sita’s svayamvar, where the successful suitor had to string and break Shiv’s bow.

  tamal: A tree found across India; it has very dark bark and white blossoms.

  Tamas; Tamasa: A tributary of the Ganga.

  Tara: Wife of Baali, king of the monkeys, and the mother of Angad. After Baali was killed by Ram, she was taken by Baali’s younger brother, Sugriv, as his wife.

  Tarak: A Daitya, whose austerities made him formidable to the gods, and for whose destruction Shiv’s son, Skand, the god of war, was born.

  Taraka: The daughter of the Yaksha, Suketu; turned into a Rakshasi by the sage Agastya, she lived in the forest at the confluence of the Ganga and the Sarju and ravaged the surrounding land and terrorized the rishis in the forest. Vishvamitra wanted Ram to kill her, to stop her from doing further harm. But Ram was reluctant to kill a woman. So deciding to deprive her of the power to do harm, he cut off her two arms. Lakshman cut off her nose and ears. But using her magic powers, she pelted Ram and Lakshman with a shower of rocks and boulders, so that finally, at Vishvamitra’s command, Ram killed her with a single arrow. Her son was the Rakshasa Marich, who later helped Ravan in his abduction of Sita.

  three afflictions or the triple fires: These are mental and physical distress, distress caused by the acts of God, and distress caused by others.

  tilak: A ceremonial mark made with vermilion or sandalwood paste upon the forehead between the eyebrows upon installation to office, coronation of a king, betrothal, etc.

  triveni: ‘Triple-braid’; the confluence of the three sacred rivers Ganga, Jamuna and the subterranean Sarasvati at the city of Prayag (modern Allahabad). The waters of the Jamuna are dark, and of the Ganga light. The stream of the Sarasvati is invisible.

  Trijata: A Rakshasi who befriended Sita when she was Ravan’s prisoner in Lanka. She is also called Dharamagya.

  Trishanku: The name given to Satyavrata, a prince of the solar dynasty, and king of Avadh. Satyavrata was a good king, but in his arrogance he decided to ascend to heaven in corporeal form. He therefore asked the sage Vasishtha to perform the sacrifice by means of which he could attain this end. Vasishtha declined to perform the ceremony, declaring that what the king wanted was impossible. Satyavrata then appealed to Vasishtha’s sons, who refused, saying that he wanted to make trouble between them and their father and, for his presumption, cursed him to become a Chandal. While in Chandal form, and having nothing to eat one day, Satyavrata killed Vasishtha’s cow, the Kamadhenu, and ate her. For these three sins, of pride, making trouble between father and sons, and killing a cow, Vasishtha gave him the name ‘Trishanku’ (from tri or ‘three’, and shanku or ‘sin’). He then turned to Vishvamitra, who agreed to perform the sacrifice and send him to heaven in his current body. The sons of Vasishtha opposed the sacrifice, for which Vishvamitra reduced them all to ashes. He then began the sacrifice, but as Trishanku ascended to heaven, Indra and the other gods opposed his entry and hurled him down to earth. Trishanku fell head first, and hung upside down in the sky, midway between the earth and heaven. It was finally agreed that that is where he should stay. He can still be seen in the sky, as the constellation Trishanku in the southern hemisphere. The saliva that dropped from his mouth is said to be the River Karamnasa, the waters of which, if touched, destroy all religious merit.

  Trishira: Literally, ‘three-headed’; a Rakshasa, and a brother, son, or friend of Ravan, killed by Ram.

  twice-born: A man of any one of the three upper Hindu castes (but particularly a Brahman), whose investiture with the sacred thread upon puberty constitutes, religiously and metaphorically, his second birth.

  Udayagiri: This is the eastern mountain from behind which the sun is supposed to rise; it is also called Udayachal.

  Urmila: Janak’s and Sunayana’s daughter, Sita’s younger sister; she was married to Lakshman.

  Vaikunth: The paradise or heaven of Vishnu; its site is sometimes described as in the Northern Ocean, sometimes it is said to be located on the eastern peak of Mount Meru. Vishnu himself is also sometimes designated by this term.

  Valmik; Valmiki: The author of the Sanskrit Ramayana. Regarded as the first, or original poet, he is said to have invented poetry when he began to compose the Ramayana. Tradition maintains that before he became a sage and the author of the Ramayana, Valmiki was the dacoit Ratnakar, who would waylay travellers and then rob and mercilessly kill them. One day, he ran into the sage Narad, who asked him why he did what he did. Ratnakar replied that it was for his family; Narad asked him whether his family appreciated the burden of sin that he was accumulating for their sakes and whether they would share it. Ratnakar staunchly replied that they would, but when he asked his wife and children, they refused to accept the burden of his crimes. Ratnakar realized the folly of his ways and begged for forgiveness. Narad then gave him the mantra of Ram’s name, but since this was a mantra that could not be given to thieves and murderers, Narad told him to recite it backwards. Ratnakar did so, and meditated on the name, sitting so still and for so long that anthills grew around him. He continued his penance for many long years, till finally a divine voice declared him to be free of the guilt of his crimes, and renamed him Valmiki, or ‘the one born of anthills’.

  Vamdev: A prominent rishi, attached to Dasharath’s court.

  Varun: Amongst the oldest of the Vedic gods, Varun is the personification of the sky, the maker of earth and heaven. He is described as being furnished with snares and nooses, with which he seizes and binds evildoers. No mortal can escape from Varun’s snares.

  Vasishtha: A celebrated Vedic sage, to whom many hymns are ascribed. According to the Vishnu Purana, he was the family priest of the house of Ishkvaku; he was contemporary not only with Ishkvaku himself, but with his descendants down to the sixty-first generation, including Dasharath and Ram.

  Veda; Vedas: From vid, ‘know’; hence ‘divine knowledge’. The Vedas, composed in verse in an ancient form of Sanskrit some time between 1500 and 1000 BCE (though opinions vary considerably about their age, and many scholars believe that they can be pushed back at least another thousand years), are the foundation of Hindu belief and practice. It is believed that the Vedas emanated as the breath of the Supreme Being. It is agreed that they were revealed orally to the sages whose names they bear, and thus the whole body of the Veda—the entire body of divine knowledge—is known as ‘Sruti’ or ‘what was heard’. The Vedas are four in number: Rig, Yajur, Sama, Atharva. The Rig Veda is the oldest; in fact, it is the original Veda, from which the Yajur and Sama Vedas are mostly derived. The Atharva Veda was composed much later.

  Vedant: ‘End of the Veda’; name of the complete Veda; name of a certain system of philosophy and theology based particularly on the Upanishads; and of works concerning this philosophy and in support of it.

  Vedashira: One of the seven great rishis (Saptarishi), associated with the fourth Manwantara. (See Manu.)

  vedi: A quadrangular space, with the sacred fire in the centre, where wedding rites are conducted.

  vedika: Ground prepared for a sacrifice or ceremony, usually consisting of a raised floor or platform and covered with a roof supported by pillars.

  Vena: Son of Anga by his queen, Sunita, and a descendant of Manu Swayambhuva. Vena grew up to be a cruel and vicious man, so much so that his father, unable to bear his atrocities, left the kingdom and disappeared, no one knew where. Seeing the kingdom without a king, the sages decided to put Vena upon the throne. Royal power made him worse, and in his arrogance, he banned offerings and performance of sacrifices to the gods, declaring that he alone was worthy of such worship. The sages reasoned with him, but he refused to listen; they admonished him more strongly, but he would not change his mind. Finally, they killed him with blades of consecrated grass. After his death, the sages saw clouds of dust in the distance, and w
ere told that these were raised by men who had begun to loot and plunder because the country was now without a king. Since Vena was childless, the sages rubbed his left thigh to produce a son; from this arose a short, dark man with a flat nose. He was asked to sit, ‘nishida’; he did so and thus became a Nishad, from which sprang the tribe living in the Vindhya mountains. The sages then rubbed the right hand of Vena, and from this came forth his son Prithu. (See Prithuraj.) Vena’s story is told a little differently in the Padma Purana. This states that Vena was a good king at the start of his rule, but soon turned to the teachings of the Jains. For this heresy, the sages attacked and beat him, till from his left thigh came forth the Nishad tribe, and from his right arm came Prithu. Being freed of sin by the birth of the Nishad, he gave up his kingdom and retired to an ashram on the Narmada, where he engaged in penance. For this, Vishnu forgave him and made him one with himself.