A Lesser Known Story From The Ramayana
In Search of Sita, Lord Ramachandra, Lakshman,
Hanuman and the army of Vanaras reached Rameshwaram and now only
the vast expanse of the water was separating them from reaching Sri Lanka.
It was decided to build a bridge over the Vast
Sea.
But before that, it was considered necessary
to take the blessings of Bhagwan Shiva
In the true Sanathan Dharma tradition, Lord Ramachandra
desired to worship Bhagwan Shiva and seek his blessings to defeat Ravanaa and bring
back Sita Mata.
All the arrangements were made for the grand
Pooja but 1 hurdle came up.
A suitable Purohit (Priest) who would conduct the Yagna was missing and
everyone was in dilemma.
Only a Brahmin who had never missed his Puja
Schedule was allowed to perform this particular Yagna.
After discussing with Vibhishana, Lord Ramachandra concluded the best person to
do this great Yagna was none other than the Lanka King Ravana himself and sent
Hanuman to respectfully invite Raavan himself to do the Yaghnaa !!
The Vanaras, Lakshman and everyone around were shocked at this invite.
They wondered, how can Ravana accept an invite
by an enemy to conduct specifically meant to conquer and destroy him !
But Hanuman, being a loyal soldier implicitly
obeyed and flew to request to invite him.
True to his stature as a renowned scholar and
an ardent devotee of Bhagwan Shiv, Ravana immediately accepted the invitation.
It was considered a pride for any Purohit to
be a part of yagna for Lord Shiva
In
fact Ravanaa was overjoyed in heart and knew that his end was near and so was
the fact that they can attain the road to Vaikuntha-Loka with just one more
life away.
Ravana came to the Yagna site and after
inspecting all the arrangements turned to Lord Ramachandra and said
“ O Ayodhya Prince, while all satisfactory arrangements have
been done, but sadly no Yagna is complete without the presence of wife. Since
you do not have your wife with you, Yagna cannot be conducted”
Lord Ramachandra calmly smiled and said
“O Great Scholar, We have
invited to have a flawless Yagna and since you have identified the flaw, we
request you to provide a solution and solve the issue”
The entire assembly of Vanaras, Lakshman, Hanuman and others were filled with
curiosity to see Ravana’s reaction
Ravana said
All around were astounded and stood speechless
at the remarkable exchange of words of the two.
Ravana brought Sita Mata from Lanka to the
Yagna site and conducted the divine Yagna of Lord Shiva.
After the great Pooja, both the divine couple,
Lord Ramachandra and Sita Mata prostrated before the scholar Ravana. Seeing the
MADE FOR EACH OTHER COUPLE, Ravana blessed Lord Ramachandra
“LET VICTORY BE YOURS” !!!!
These words meant Ravana’s own destruction but
here the values of scholarly dharma surpassed everything.
The final formality of honoring the Purohit remained,
and Lord Ramachandra requested Ravana to suggest his fees.
Ravanaa, the king would not take any fees, not
even from Sri Ramachandra, as he was always at the giving, and not the
receiving end of fees or favors. But again, the Vedic pundit in him came to the
fore.
He said,
"Sri Ramachandra, knowing you very well, the only fees I
solicit is that you stand by me when my life departs".
And thus, it came to pass, that when Ravanaa
lay in his last moments Sri Ramachandra was near him. It only reveals that
ultimate comfort for everyone high or low is to have Divinity nearby at the
moment of death.
Offered at the Lotus Feet of Sri Nanjundeshwara Swamy,
Srikanth Matrubai
There are 300 versions of Ramayana in addition to
the one written by Valmiki.
This one is taken from Courtesy: The Awakening Times
Source: Veda Vyasa Ramachandrayana
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