How Kaagbhusund Ramayana came into existence?

The story is rich in spiritual content, and it stresses on the value and importance of the glorious virtue of devotion and affection for Lord God and the need to surrender oneself to Him as a means of attaining fulfillment in life as well as to have a sense of abiding peace, bliss and beatitude.

The ‘Kaag-Bhusund Ramayana’ is also known as the “Aadi Ramayana” (ādi-rāmāyaṇa) because it is the most ancient and the first narrative of the sacred and divine story that describes the life and time of Lord Rama, a manifestation of the Supreme Being in the form of a human being on earth, and the deeds done by the Lord during his sojourn on earth.

It is ‘the most ancient and the first such narration’ of the story of Lord Rama because it was first conceived by Lord Shiva, the wisest, the most enlightened and self-realised Lord God amongst all the Gods, in his Mana (mind and heart) during meditation as he was contemplating on the divine form of Lord Rama, his revered deity. When the appropriate time came he had revealed it to his consort Uma or Parvati when she showed her eagerness to hear it, and then to the saintly crow named Kaag-Bhusund. Hence, these two were the first hearers of this story.

In due course of time the sacred story of Lord Rama was narrated by the saintly crow Kaag-Bhusund to Garuda, the mount of Lord Vishnu. Hence, this Kaag-BhusundRamayan—the ‘Aadi Ramayan’—is the first ever narration of the holy story of Lord Rama by any Jiva, a living being, to another Jiva—i.e.Kaag-Bhusund to Garuda respectively.

Lord Shiva would have kept the story to himself because it is so profound and mystical in its nature that if it is revealed to a wrong person who has no faith in Lord Rama, it is more likely to cause grievous damage by way of skepticism, absurd interpretations and irrational logics to demean the divinity and holiness of the Lord than serve any worthwhile spiritual purpose. In both the cases of Parvati and Garuda we find that Lord Shiva has revealed this story to them because he found that they were eager to hear it.

The above reason is the primary cause why Shiva had revealed this story in the beginning, thereby making it the “ādi-rāmāyaṇa”, i.e. the first version of the divine story of Lord Rama.

Another important reason why the story of the Ramayana as narrated by the crow-saint Kaagbhusund is called ‘Aadi Ramayan’ is this: The most primary form of speech is the sound that is made in the throat, the sound of the vowel. As the world evolved and developed, a necessity was felt for more clarity in expression, and vowels proved insufficient to handle the increased demand. So was sowed the seed for development of the spoken word which underwent refinement over time to present us with the form of the spoken word which we know as a modern language. To fulfil the requirement of better modes of expression and understanding for which the vowels proved totally insufficient, the consonants were developed, and they served to compliment the vowels to form the modern language.

Hence, the Aadi language was the one that had no articulate words and primarily consisted of sounds made in the throat. When a crow crows, he merely makes a sound using the vocal cords. Though we humans may not understand what a crow says, but others of his like can easily understand what is being said. So therefore, when the wisest of the birds, i.e. the saintly crow named Kaagbhusund, repeated the story of the Ramayana that he had heard from Lord Shiva in a very primitive language, it surely is the most ancient and the first version of this holy story of Ramayana that is being recited or sung or narrated ever.

Hence, the story of the Ramayana as told by Kaagbhusund is aptly called the “Aadi Ramayan”, i.e. the most ancient version of the story of Lord Ram that was preached to a disciple by a learned teacher.

Subsequently however, as time passed, others too wished to hear it and benefit from its spiritual wisdom and nectar. Others heard it and so it was transmitted from one generation of sages, seers and saints to another by the oral method of transmission, viz. by hearing and narrating. The first amongst them were sages Yagyavalkya and Bharadwaj. While sage Yagyavalkya had heard it from Kaag-Bhusund directly, Bharadwaj had heard it fromYagyavalkya.

Kaag-Bhusund or Kaagbhusund was a blessed and fortunate soul though his body was that of a crow as he had been directly blessed by Lord Rama who granted him an eternal life that would be steeped in wisdom and devotion, a life which would be free from all the taints of worldly delusions. Rarely had the Lord blessed anyone with this boon. Even Lord Shiva had not only praised the spiritual stature and wisdom of this saintly crow but had himself heard him narrate the story of Lord Rama when he went in disguise and mingled with the audience to hear it incognito.

Amongst the many listeners of this story from Kaag-Bhusund was Garuda, the mount of Lord Vishnu. Garuda had become confused about the reality of Lord Rama and was so extremely perturbed in his mind and heart that he could not rest. So he went to Narada who advised him to go to the creator Brahma, who in turn directed him to Lord Shiva, and Shiva finally told him to go to Kaag-Bhusund’s hermitage to hear the sacred and divine story of Lord Rama in order to overcome his delusions and accompanying bewilderments and restlessness.

The story of “Kaag-Bhusund Ramayan” was narrated by Lord Shiva to his consort Parvati when she had expressed surprise as to how it was ever possible that a humble bird such as a crow could be so erudite and enlightened that even her husband, Lord Shiva, would be so thrilled when he heard the divine story of Lord Rama being narrated by the former, and if indeed the crow was so highly spiritually exalted as Shiva says he was then why was he a ‘crow’ in the first place, because a crow is deemed to be of a very low birth in the hierarchy of creation; he should have been of a higher birth instead of being a crow if he was so enlightened and spiritually exalted.

Lord Shiva grabbed this opportunity to preach many important principles of metaphysics and spirituality while narrating the Kaag-Bhusund Ramayan for the benefit of Parvati. He wished to tell her that the real good from hearing the divine story of Lord Rama’s life and deeds in this world comes when one understands the import of the subtle and sublime spiritual message that it contains, when one imbibes its teachings and inculcates auspicious and noble values that it stands for in one’s own life so as to improve one’s own self both in terms of happiness in his temporal life in this world as well as for attaining spiritual bliss and salvation in the life hereafter. And therefore, merely hearing it as a re-telling of some ancient saga pertaining to some noble prince would be a fruitless exercise and time wasted.

Its main thrust and focus however, as pointed out in the foregoing discussion, is on explaining the hidden spiritual message in this divine story, and how it would benefit the ordinary creature, and herein lies the great importance of this unique version of the story of “Ramayana”. It teaches us how one would attain bliss and peace, how he would be able to get liberation and deliverance from the tangle of miseries and torments in which he finds himself in this mundane world of delusions, and how the creature’s soul can find emancipation and salvation for its own self even while remaining engaged in the duties assigned to him in this mundane world. Various aspects of metaphysics and spirituality are thoroughly explained by Kaagbhusund in a simple language and practical way that is shorn of high-flying terminology of the scriptures. This helps the profound spiritual message of the story of the “Ramayana” come within reach of even the humblest of creatures, thereby benefiting humanity at large like no other preaching and exposition on the scriptures has ever done and achieved success before.

The Genesis and Authority of Kaagbhusund Ramayana

The sacred and divine story of Lord Rama, the manifested human form of the Supreme Being known as Brahman, was first conceived in the Mana (heart and mind) of Lord Shiva who is the most enlightened, the most self-realised and the wisest amongst all the Gods. This divine, sacred and holy story of Lord Rama emerged in Lord Shiva’s Mana while he was submerged in meditation, reflection and contemplation upon Lord Rama and repeating the Lord’s holy name.

The eclectic spiritual story of the life and time of Lord Rama, usually known as the ‘Ramayana’, that was first conceived by Lord Shiva in his Mana and later revealed by him is called the “Ram Charit Manas”. The nomenclature of the story, viz. “Ram Charit Manas”, briefly means ‘the sacred, divine and holy story of Lord Rama, the incarnate Supreme Being, that describes the time, life and acts of the Lord during his sojourn on earth as a human being, as they are revealed, enshrined and revered in the Mana,the heart and mind, of his devotees’.

From Lord Shiva’s Mana first to his consort Parvati or Uma, and then to two selected blessed souls (sage Lomus and saint- crow Kaagbhusund). From Kaagbhusund this wonderful and eclectic story was heard by sage Yagyavalkya, who divulged it to sage Bharadwaj, and then from him it spread amongst the great sages and seers of his time. As time passed, the story passed from one generation of listeners to the next, and in due course of time it percolated down to even the lowest rung of creatures, giving everyone who wished an eternal source of spiritual joy, happiness and bliss. It is the same story of ‘Ram Charit Manas’ that has come down to us when it was penned by the great saint-poet named Goswami Tulsidas for the spiritual good and welfare of our present and future generations.

Lord Shiva thought that if he did not tell this story of Lord Rama to some worthy Jiva (a living being) then he would be depriving the coming generations of mortal creatures of the world a chance to get the benefit of spiritual peace, happiness, bliss, solace and succour at a time when they would be surrounded on all sides by delusions and the countless miseries, pains and torments associated with the cycle of birth and death in life in this mortal world. This would be too harsh for the creatures of the world, and it would surely not be in line with the merciful and compassionate nature of Lord Shiva.

Lord Shiva decided that the creatures should be offered an option by which they can overcome the countless spiritual delusions leading to endless miseries, pains and torments that would overwhelm one and all in this mortal gross world, and rob them of happiness, joy and peace in life. It is not good that they be restricted from accessing this golden pot of spiritual nectar.

Hence, Lord Shiva was on the lookout for some blessed soul, some worthy living being to whom he can reveal the story of Lord Rama, known as the ‘Ram Charit Manas or the Ramayana’. In due course of time he found two such candidates—one was sage Lomus, and the other was the saintly soul named Kaagbhusund.

Out of the two, the first one to whom Lord Shiva revealed this magnificent source of spiritual nectar was the exalted sage Lomus. Thus, sage Lomus is the first great sage who had heard this story of Lord Rama directly from Lord Shiva. The sage himself had acknowledged this to Kaagbhusund at the time of blessing the latter.

The second listener to whom Lord Shiva narrated this story of the ‘Ram Charit Manas’ was the saint-crow Kaagbhusund.  Sage Lomus had initially been angry at Kaagbhusund when the latter insisted that the sage enlighten him about the way to worship Lord Rama and have devotion for him even though the sage was trying to preach him on metaphysical philosophy of Brahman which stresses that the Lord has no specific form or name. Kaagbhusund’s persistence annoyed the sage so much that he had even cursed him to become a ‘crow’. But immediately he realised his mistake and blessed Kaagbhusund by narrating the story of Ram Charit Manas to him which made him eternally blessed and blissful.

After becoming a crow by his physical body, Kaagbhusund came to live on the summit of Mt. Neel (the Blue Mountain) where he abided for all times to come, living a life of bliss and beatitude by meditating and reflecting upon Lord Rama, repeating the Lord’s holy name, and narrating his divine story.

While living on the summit of Mt. Neel, Kaagbhusund used to narrate the holy story of ‘Ram Charit Manas’ as he had heard it from both sage Lomus as well as Lord Shiva to countless members of his race, the ‘Brotherhood of Birds’. This helped him derive immense satisfaction personally as it helped him to constantly remember his beloved Lord Rama, and it also helped him to spread the good word far and wide.

He succeeded in his efforts because by-and-by sage Yagyavalkya came to know of him and had gone to him to hear the story. Then it is from Yagyavalkya that the story passed to the rest of the sages and seers of his time, and gradually percolated down to reach even the humblest members of the human race.

Who was Kaagbhusund?

In the earlier Kali yuga there was a Shudra who was by nature jealous and highly egostic. Somehow he was a devotee of Lord Shiva but envious of Lord Vishnu. He used to worship by his own whims. He used to travel from place to place to find a guru who would give him “Shiva mantra”. Being naturally envious he could not approach humbly to any Guru.

At last he met one Brahmana who was by nature very humble and caring. This Shudra took shelter in his ashram and started serving him, although not with full heart as this sadhu was a Brahmana as well as worshiper of Lord Vishnu. The Brahmana knew the envious nature of this Shudra but being a pure Vaishnava he never saw his bad quality and always tried to convince him to give up the bad quality. One day the Brahmana gave him “Shiva mantra” as per Shudra’s desire, but also advised him the truth about Lord Narayana, but all in vain.

As days passed the Shudra chanted the mantra of Lord Shiva but at the same time his hatred toward his own guru increased. His guru being merciful never cared for his behavior, on other hand always tried for his upliftment.

One day as the Shudra was chanting his mantra in Lord Shiva’s temple, his Guru visited the temple. Seeing his Guru, he turned his face other side and did not bother to pay obeisance pretending as if he was deeply meditating. His guru being a pure Sadhu did not mind for this disrespect but this behavior of the Shudra was not tolerated by Lord Shiva.

With a thunderous roar Lord Shiva appeared from his diety form ,with his eyes burning like red fire, holding His Trishul, he was about to kill the Shudra. Seeing the situation, the Guru fell down at the lotus feet of Lord Shiva, and with tears in his eyes, the Guru started pleading to Lord Shiva, by offering him prayers and singing his glories. He prayed for forgiveness of the Shudra and in turn offering his own head, and in this way he was able to cool down Lord Shiva.

Lord Shiva then cursed the Shudra saying “You only pretend to worship me and did not offer any respect to your Guru. Being a pure Vaishnava he did not mind it, but I could not tolerate this insult of a pure Vaishnava. Therefore I curse you to become a python and you will have to take 1000 birth in low species form.”

Hearing this curse the guru again fell at the Lord’s lotus feet and said, “Oh! Mahadev you are called ‘Bhole Shankar’! You are so merciful. Please forgive my disciple, and sow the seed of Lord Narayan bhakti in his heart.

Lord Shiva being pleased with the Guru again said, “As my curse won’t go in vain but seeing the love of your Guru, I bless you that although you will have to change your body 1000 times you will never feel any pain while taking birth nor at the time of death and in your last birth you will become a Brahmana and will attain pure bhakti at the lotus feet of Lord Rama and you will be able to remember all your past.” Saying this Lord Shiva blessed the Shudra and dissappeared.

Being cursed and blessed by Lord Shiva, he fell down at the lotus feet of his Guru and with tears in his eyes he begged his forgiveness.

Soon, he took the form of python and kept changing his body without any pain (as per the blessing) and in his last birth he was born in a Brahmana family. In his early age he lost his parents. Taking this as the mercy of the Lord he left in search of Lord Rama’s mantra.

Whomever he met he use to ask about Lord Rama and nothing else. At the end he met a Rishi from whom he enquired about Lord Rama. After lot of argument about Lord’s niraakaar (Formless) and saakaar (with form) forms, the Rishi being under the influence of Lord Rama’s Maya, tried to convince the superiority of Lord’s niraakaar form.

The Brahmana with having no interest at all in Niraakaar form, debated and asked again the mantra of Lord Rama. At this the Rishi got furious and cursed him to at once become a crow. This curse was taken as blessing by the Brahmana boy, and with folded hands he again asked the mantra of Lord Rama.

Seeing his firm devotion, the Lord situated in everyones heart removed the influence of His Maya from the Rishi. Immediately the Rishi realized his mistake, deeply repenting for it, he asked forgiveness and at once gave him Ram mantra. Obtaining the mantra for which he waited so many lives, the crow knew no joy. He thanked the Rishi and flew away.

Lord Rama appeared in front of this crow and asked the crow to ask for any benediction. The Lord said take riddhi, siddhi, wealth, beauty or anything you name I shall give to you.” The crow being smart by nature thought that Lord offered me everything but He never ever mentioned to give His unflinching devotional service.

The crow said, “What I will do with all this? I want nothing, oh! Lord of universe, If You are really pleased with me then give me Your loving bhakti of which Lord Shiva had talked about.”

In the entire Ramayana Lord Rama has never given so many boons along with His unflinching bhakti except for Hanumana.

Lord Rama even made him immortal, and whenever Treta Yuga comes this crow along with Lord Shiva, visits Ayodhya to enjoy the “Bal Lila” of Lord Rama.

This crow’s name was “Kak Bhusundi” (Kak means crow) and even today he is present in man-sarovar where he constantly chants the glories of Lord Rama and all the liberated souls visit him to hear the nectar of Ramayana. And he never changed his body of crow. The crow’s rendition of Ramayana is very famous as Kaakbhusund-Ramayana.

 

How did Sage Yagyavalkya hear it from Kaakbhusund?

It so happened that once Yagyavalkya was sitting in his hermitage and meditating when he heard some exceptionally delighted birds who were flying over his hermitage - perhaps they were a flock of migratory birds on their way to their destination in some distant land - chirping excitedly and talking joyfully about a certain wonderful and exhilarating story that they had heard somewhere, a story that filled them with cheer and spiritual bliss like they had never experienced ever before.

Yagyavalkya became curious, and since he could understand and speak in their tongue, he asked some of these birds what it was that they were so excited about and where had they heard this story. Upon learning the details, he became eager to hear it himself as it was something novel for him, something he had not heard of earlier. So he went to the hermitage of the saintly crow Kaagbhusund to hear the divine, holy and sacred story of Ramayana being narrated by him.

When he had heard the full story, he was extremely thrilled, delighted and ecstatic beyond his own imagination. He discovered that though he was a ‘Brahm-Gyani’,i.e. one who is fully conversant with the esoteric, mysterious and transcendental knowledge of Brahm, the cosmic Consciousness, he had never felt or experienced the sort of extreme spiritual joy and exhilaration that this unique story gave him. So he decided to embrace it full-heartedly. It was like a newly discovered treasure of spiritual bliss, blessedness, beatitude, felicity and fulfillment for Yagyavalkya.

When Yagyavalkya returned to his own hermitage, he was so overwhelmed with joy and ecstasy that he decided that this spiritual gem should not to be kept buried in sacred like a piece of a miser’s jewel, but shared widely for the welfare of human kind. Thus, he decided to share this spiritual nectar with other great, wise and enlightened sages and seers of his time who would first properly understand the story itself and then propagate its message in the correct way, without distortions, dilution or corruptions.

 

How did Sage Bharadwaja hear this story from Sage Yagyavalkya?

Sage Bharadwaja had his hermitage at Prayag, the holy pilgrim site on the banks of the confluence of three holy rivers, viz. Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati. Every year a huge religious festival was organised at Prayag where a huge congregation of sages and seers assembled. During these assemblies religious texts were discussed, taught and explained, and spiritual discourses given.

Once upon a time Yagyavalkya had also come to attend one such assembly of great scholars, and after others had left for their own places when the festival ended, sage Bharadwaja asked him to stay back and tell him the story of the Ramayana which only he knew. Sage Bharadwaja had noticed that a special glow of spiritual blessedness emanated from the face of Yagyavalkya. So he asked the sage to tell him the reason. Surely, Yagyavalkya was only too glad to oblige him, and he told sage Bharadwaja that ever since he had heard the story of the Ramayana (from Kaagbhusund) he has been in a state of ecstasy and blessedness. Then Yagyavalkya cheerfully narrated the story to sage Bharadwaja, and this is how the sacred story passed from the former to the latter.

Both the sages, Yagyavalkya and sage Bharadwaja, shared the natural sense of bliss and joy that comes by narrating and hearing the story of ‘Ram Charit Manas’. Sage Bharadwaja decided that it was not something to be hidden from others, but rather it should be liberally shared and widely spread for the spiritual welfare of all living beings. So in the next assembly of great sages and seers that was held at Prayag when he played host to them, he narrated the story to all who had come to attend the religious fair.

All heard this story, and when they returned to their own hermitages they preached it to their own line of disciples. It is from here and in this general way that the sacred, divine and holy story of the Ramayana spread far and wide to all corners of the world.

 

The Four types of Jivas

From the perspective of this physical world where a living being is recognized by its physical gross body, there are said to be four types or categories of Jivas (living beings). They are the following:-

• Udbhij—these are those life forms that are born from seeds, such as members of the plant kingdom. These have only one Kalaa or aspect of the Atma called Anna Maye Kosh or Kalaa. In other words, they depend on food and become food for others higher up in the evolutionary ladder.
• Swedaj—they are those which are born from dampness and sweat, such as fungi, algae, bacteria, germs, mosquito, lice, flies etc. They have two Kalaas, viz. Anna Maye and Pran Maye. That is, they are formed from food, they live for food and they die as food. Besides this, they also exhibit signs of life, e.g. the mosquito and lice have life like any other member of the animal kingdom.
• Andaj—they are placed higher up in the evolutionary ladder, and are born from eggs, whether inside the mother’s womb or outside. Such birds as pigeon, sparrow, parrot, peacock etc. come under this category. They have three Kalaas which are Anna Maye, Pran Maye and Mano-maye. The last Kalaa refers to the fact that such creatures have a mind and heart which enables them to think, albeit in a primitive level.
• Jaruyuj—these are the creatures that are born as embryo that develops inside the mother’s womb. Under this class come the animals such as horses, cows, dogs, elephants etc. They have four Kalaas, such as Anna Maye, Pran Maye, Mano- maye and Vigyan Maye. The last Kalaa refers to their ability to have a higher level of thinking ability called intelligence. The human being comes under this last category with the added benefit of having five Kalaas.

Besides the four Kalaas mentioned  above in other creatures of this category, the man has the fifth one and it called the Anand Maye Kosh. It is only possessed by a man and not by other creatures in the sense that the man can realise the true meaning of the terms ‘bliss and happiness that is eternal and substantial’ by the virtue of his attaining higher level of intelligence and his ability to delve into the secrets of the concept of truth itself and then realising that kind of happiness and bliss that is not superficial and which is not limited to enjoyment of the sensual pleasures of the body and the material comforts of the world, but which has a holistic and all-inclusive dimension that incorporates the spirit or the soul.

Kaikeyi's sacrifice and Maya of Lord Rama

King Dasratha of Ayodhya wanted to crown Lord Rama on the throne of kingdom. But if that happened, the main purpose of the Lord coming down to earth as a human being, viz. to eliminate the cruel demons and to bless the countless sages and hermits who had been doing severe Tapa, i.e. enduring so much hardship in order to attain the Lord, would be in doldrums. Because to achieve this objective it was necessary for Lord Rama to wonder in the forest so that he could go and mingle with the sages and hermits and ascetics who lived isolated lives in secluded places strewn all over the countless forests. Then he had to eliminate Ravana keeping in mind the parameters of the boon that Brahma had granted him-and one implied immunity was that he could not be killed by an army of humans.

As a king of Ayodhya, even if Lord Rama wanted to fight Ravana to eliminate him it would not have been possible for him to do it alone, for he would be obliged to take an army along. That would defeat the very purpose as it would be against Brahma’s boon for Ravana, and so the latter would have survived no matter how invincible Lord Rama’s army might have been. The Lord must do it single-handedly to comply with the restrictions imposed by Brahma’s boon for Ravana’s death.

Hence, it was absolutely essential that some sort of obstacle is created and the Lord would be free to go to the forest to bless the many sages, hermits and ascetics who were waiting for him, and to move ahead to eliminate the demons in their own fort. This is the reason why the Lord used his famous Maya to create a situation where he was forced to a fourteen year exile.

Kaikeyi agreed to bear the ignominy for the rest of her life by becoming instrumental in the great Game that the Lord of the World decided to play, if that served the Lord’s purpose! So she prevailed upon her husband, King Dasratha, to send the Lord to the forest. No one ever realised the immense personal sacrifice that Kaikeyi had made in this connection; everyone blamed her, even her own son Bharat never talked with her for the rest of his life.

Only Lord Rama had known and acknowledged this secret of Kaikeyi’s personal sacrifice, and he had always shown her the same respect that he had for her prior to the event of his being sent to the forest exile at her behest.

 

Maya and her army

Maya is so powerful that it can instill fear in the mind of such powerful gods as Shiva and Brahma who themselves are wise and fully able to look after themselves, it (Maya) is like a timid maid in front of the Supreme Being represented by Lord Rama, who in turn is a human manifestation of Lord Vishnu, the cosmic form of the Supreme Being known also as the Viraat Purusha. Therefore, Maya cannot play tricks with its Lord, the Supreme Being. Rather, Maya has to dance to the tune set by Lord Rama.

Further, ‘Maya’ (worldly delusions) is regarded as a dancer who is very cunning. She is herself afraid of ‘Bhakti’ (the auspicious virtue of devotion for Lord God) that is personified as another maid of the Lord, but his favourite. This being the case, the dancer maid (Maya) is afraid to offend the maid who is the Lord’s favourite (i.e. Bhakti). This simply means that a person who has Bhakti in him is free from the negative effects of Maya.

The huge, invincible and fierce army of ‘Maya’ is spread all over the world (i.e. Maya is all-pervading and very powerful, conquering the entire world and marking its presence everywhere).

‘Kaam’ and others are the chief Generals of this army. The other Generals of this symbolic army of Maya, besides Kaam, are—Krodha and Lobha.

The warriors of this army are ‘Dambha’ (hypocrisy), ‘Kapat’ (deceit, conceit,fraud), and ‘Pakhand’ (pretence; falsehood).

Maya is like an emperor or king having a huge army consisting of all the negative and corrupting factors. Just like the army obeys the command of its emperor or king and serves the interest of its lord, the emperor or the king, all the entities mentioned in this discussion serve Maya and aid in its efforts to keep the world under its illusory spell.

Saying that Maya’s army is present everywhere means that no one in this world is free from the domineering presence and fear of Maya.

Maya is likened to a maid of the Lord and a dancer. The other maid that serves the Lord is Bhakti (devotion). Lord Rama is favourable towards the maid known as Bhakti because of her good virtues and character as opposed to the other maid named Maya who is cunning and full of deceit and pretence.

Maya is afraid of no one else but the Lord. Anyone upon whom Lord Rama shows his grace if free from the corrupting influences of Maya.

Maya keeps a close watch whether or not her actions and deeds are liked by Lord Rama. If she finds that she has annoyed the Lord by casting her evil spell on someone favoured by the Lord such as his devotee, and this has not been liked by the Lord when he indicates his disapproval by arching his eyebrows, Maya immediately stops her tricks and lets that person rest in peace.

It means that Maya is very obedient to Lord Rama, and therefore it does not touch the Lord’s devotees. One such example is sage Kaagbhusund himself as he is not at all affected by the negative influences of Maya by the grace of Lord Rama.

 

Why bridge of Lanka was built by Lord Rama?

Sage Agastya is a renowned sage who had composed several of the hymns of the Rig Veda. He is known as a ‘Brahm-rishi’or a celestial sage tracing his origin to the creator Brahma. He was born to sage Pulastya and his wife Havirbhuk. During this birth, his other brother was sage Visrava. His wife was a princess of the kingdom of Vidharva, and her name was Lopaamudra.

Sage Agastya did severe Tapa and had vast knowledge. He is said to have destroyed the two demons named Ilvala and Vaataapi. The sage had stunted the growth of Mt. Vindhya which was growing and expanding endlessly so much so as to obstruct the light of the sun.

Sage Agastya lived in the Dandakaaranya forest when Lord Rama met him. The sage had then given some invincible divine weapons to the Lord which stood him in good stead during the epic war of Lanka, as well as in overcoming the demons whom the Lord encountered and destroyed during his sojourn in the formidable forest.

Once, when Indra had killed the demon Vrittaasur, other demons named ‘Kaaleya’ managed to escape and they hid themselves under the water of the ocean. From there they began terrorizing the sages and seers. They stayed under water during daytime and came out at night to torment and devour these sages, and generally cause nuisance and havoc all around. These demons had not spared even such renowned sages of the time as Vashistha, Chyavan and Bharadwaj, because the demons attacked their hermitages and killed the sages and seers who lived there. It was then that the Gods, led by their king Indra, requested sage Agastya to somehow expose the demons. At this, the sage had scooped up the water of the ocean in a cup made by joining the two palms of his hands and had drunk the water of the ocean in one gulp so as to expose the demons. The Gods were then able to destroy them.

Some of the demons, however, managed to escape and hid themselves in then ether world. This is how the demon race survived then. However, when the ocean was completely dried up it created another problem for the world because countless marine creatures begin to suffer and die. Besides this, the ocean was the largest natural reservoir of water on earth. So the Gods requested sage Agastya to refill it. The sage replied that the water has been digested in his stomach, but he can oblige the Gods by reproducing the ocean in the form of urine. That is the reason, according to this legendary story of the Puranas, why the ocean is salty and sour - because it is the urine of sage Agastya.

This fact, that the ocean is sour and salty because it is the urine of sage Agastya. Sita explains to Lopaamudraa, the wife of sage Agastya, why Sri Rama had constructed the bridge in order to cross the ocean to reach Lanka. She explained that the Lord did not ask the sage to dry up the ocean once again by drinking its water because it would be unthinkable to ask the sage to drink his own urine. Even if the sage had actually drunk the water, the Lord would be heaped with the ignominy of being so selfish that he made a Brahmin drink his own urine so that his purpose is served. The Lord did not swim across the ocean because it would be insulting and extremely demeaning for the Lord to swim in urine, and it would also be improper for him to step across a Brahmin’s urine because it is to be regarded as holy as the urine of a cow.

 

Why was Garuda confused?

When Garuda had seen Lord Rama getting trapped by the snare of serpents in the battle-field of Lanka, he was utterly confused and overcome with mighty doubts about the reality of the Lord.

He wondered how can the Lord who is believed to be eternally free and beyond the mundane existence, who is eternally blissful and knowledge personified, be ever trapped by gross things of the world (such as getting ensnared by a long rope consisting of snakes, and after getting thus trapped feel anguished and worried so much so that he could not free himself and had to rely upon my help to set him free). He wondered - what is the cause of it; how come this happened; why did the Lord get trapped, and why couldn’t he free himself and called out to me to help him?

During the thick of battle at Lanka, Meghanada, the son of Ravana, became extremely angry and put to use all the magical tricks of battle he knew about. He went into the sky and shot a mysterious weapon at Lord Rama. This weapon immediately transformed into long serpents, and they wrapped themselves around the body of the Lord. Now it must be remembered, as has been clarified earlier also, that Lord Rama did not want to divulge his true identity as the almighty Supreme Being because that would have alerted the demons and they would have either surrendered before the Lord or fled somewhere to hide. In this eventuality, the very purpose of the Lord coming down all the way from heaven to earth and then traversing on foot such a long distance and undertaking such an arduous journey from Ayodhya to Lanka would have been made null and void. Hence, though the Lord could have easily broken free from this snare of snakes, he desisted from doing so.

Meanwhile, the celestial sage Narada sent Garuda to free the Lord by eating the snakes. It is believed that since that time, the snakes are terrified of Garuda. However, Garuda was confused and overcome by doubt because he knew the might of his Lord Vishnu that he was invincible, and no power in creation could ever overcome him. So if Lord Rama was indeed Lord Vishnu as he had heard and was made to believe, Garuda wondered how come ordinary snakes tied him down, and how come he could not free himself?

This incidence weighed heavily on the mind of Garuda and by-and-by led him to the hermitage of sage Kaagbhusund where everything was explained to him. So his confusions and doubts about the divine reality of Lord Rama were removed.

 

Story of River Sarayu

Once, King Dasratha of Ayodhya paid his obeisance to the holy river Sarayu by composing a eight-verse hymn in her honour. The deity representing this river was pleased, and she revealed herself. Then the great king told her that as far as he knew, his Guru, sage Vashistha, had brought the river during the era of King Swayambhu Manu. But that is all he knew about the origin of the river. So he wanted to know more about it.

The patron deity of Sarayu answered the king and told him the story behind the advent of this holy river on earth. It is this: In the beginning of creation when Brahma, the Creator, himself was born on the top of a lotus flower that emerged from the navel of the Supreme Being known as Viraat Purusha, he was inspired to do Tapa (penance and austerity) to empower him to initiate the process of creation. Lord Vishnu, the Viraat Purusha, was so pleased by Brahma’s Tapa that tears of joy flowed down his eyes. When Brahma saw these tears of blessing, he immediately collected them in his Kamandalu (the wooden water-pot he carried). Brahma realized that this water (tears of Vishnu) is very rare, and since it was shed personally by the Lord it is to be revered and worshipped as a direct blessing of the Lord. So Brahma created a lake by employing the creative powers of his mind for safekeeping of this holy and sanctified water. Since this lake was the result of Brahma’s mind, and also perhaps because this ‘lake’ symbolized the emotion of love and devotion for Lord Vishnu that he had in his heart, the lake was called ‘Mansarovar’- the lake (“sarovar”) having its origin in the‘Mana’ (mindandheart).

Brahma then poured the contents of the water-pot into it, and appointed a sage named Manjukesh to guard it.

Later on, the great King Ikshwaku, one of the forefathers of Lord Rama, requested his Guru sage Vashistha to bring this holy water for him. Vahistha prayed to Manjukesh and sought his permission to take the river to the plains where Ayodhya was located. The sage granted his permission and told Vashistha that first he must bathe in the lake, and then a stream of water would follow the direction he takes. Sage Vashistha took a holy dip in its water, and moved in the direction of Ayodhya which lay to the south. So a stream of water from the Mansarovar Lake followed him as he walked back to the kingdom of Ayodhya. This is how the river reached this holy city.

 

But why did this play of Ramayana happen? 

The answer is given by Lord Rama himself. He tells Sita, before she was abducted by Ravana, that he (Rama) had to perform a divine play in order to fulfill his mission for which he (Vishnu) had come down to earth. The aim was to plant Sita (who was Laxmi, the divine consort of Vishnu) in Lanka, the capital of the demon race, so that Lord Rama would find an excuse to go there and eliminate the cruel demons in their own fortress.

Why there? Because all the cruel and wildly sinful demons who needed to be eliminated would assemble at one single place, and then it would be easy and practical to destroy them.

But for that to happen, Lord Rama and Sita would have to act a part in a drama—and this part was that they would have to expertly behave like ordinary human beings so that the demons are misled and can be trapped! Otherwise, if they and their king Ravana realise who Lord Rama actually was, they will flee and escape somewhere to hide themselves. If this happens, the entire exercise of Vishnu coming to the earth and taking birth as a human prince known to the world as ‘Rama’ would be completely defeated.

   

Why Rama Katha is compared to a peacock?

The spiritual story of Lord Rama, known as the ‘Ram Katha’, gives peace and rest to those who are wise, sagacious and enlightened. It delights all those who hear it, making them happy and blissful. It neutralises the negative effects of all the spiritual taints associated with Kaliyuga.

For the serpent symbolising Kaliyuga, this Ram Katha is like a Peocock (which is an enemy of serpents as it eats them).

The divine story of Lord Rama is as beautiful as the peacock because on the one hand it is charming, sweet and pleasant to hear and delights the heart, and on the other hand it destroys a creature’s numerous fears and torments arising out of the evil nature of Kaliyuga just like the beautiful peacock that devours the poisonous snake.

Kaagbhusund straddled all the four divisions of the cycle of creation known as Sat Yug, Treta Yug, Dwapar Yug and Kali Yuga. The entire one cycle of creation is symbolically represented in one day of his life. This is how:-

The characteristics of the four Yugas are written in Ram Charit Manas, UttarKand, It says that 

• during Sat Yuga, the best way for spiritual evolvement and obtaining religious merit was to do Dhyan (meditation, reflection and contemplation); 
• in Treta Yuga, it was doing Yagya (fire sacrifice); 
• in Dwapar Yuga one was required to worship the holy feet of Lord Rama; and 
• in Kali Yuga the only way is to remember the Lord and repeat his holy name.

We find that Kaagbhusund did all these during the course of his day.