The very mention of Guha brings up images of a humble boatman, who was immortalized by his love and devotion to Rama, but is he just a boat man. Lets see how Valmiki presents him
Lets see how Valmiki presents him.
http://www.valmikiramayan.net/ayodhya/sarga52/ayodhya_52_frame.htm
sa tu raamasya vachanam nishamya pratigR^ihya cha |
sthapatistuurNamaahuya sachivaanidamabraviit || 2-52-5
Hearing the command of Rama, Guha quickly received it, invited his ministers and spoke to them as follows:
asya vaahanasamyuktaam karNagraahavatiim shubhaam |
suprataaraam dR^iDhaam tiirkhe shiigram naavamupaahara || 2-52-6
Let a beautiful boat that is solidly constructed, sails well and a helmsman in it, be brought to the bank to carry this hero across!
tam nishamya samaadesham guhaamaatyagaNo mahaan |
upohya ruchiraam naavam guhaaya pratyavedayat || 2-52-7
Hearing that command, the chief minister of King Guha brought a charming boat to the bank and reported the matter to Guha.
apramattaH bale koshe durge jana pade tathaa |
bhavethaa guha raajyam hi duraarakSatamam matam || 2-52-72
Oh, Guha! Remain vigilant in defense, finance, internal security and public relations, for a kingdom is the most difficult one to be protected!
tataH tam samanuj~naaya guham ikSvaaku nandanaH |
jagaama tuurNam avyagraH sabhaaryaH saha lakSmaNaH || 2-52-73
Then Rama, who was a delight to Ikshvaku dynasty, bade farewell to Guha and departed quickly, remaining undistracted, along with his consort and together with Lakshmana.
anuj~naaya sumantram ca sabalam caiva tam guham |
aasthaaya naavam raamaH tu codayaam aasa naavikaan || 2-52-80
Bidding farewell to Guha with his army of men and Sumantra, Rama sat on the boat and directed the boatmen to move on.
Ok, now switching back to Kamban’s tamil version, lets see his portrayal of the same scene.
http://www.tamilkalanjiyam.com/literatures/kambar/ramayanam/gugappadalam.html
Paal udai mozhiyaalum, pagalavan anaiyaanum,
seludai nedu heer sinthinar, vilayaada,
thooludai nimir kolin thuzhuvida, ezhu naavaai,
kaaludai nedujendin, sendrathu kadithu amaa!
சேலுடை நெடு கிர் சிந்தினர் , விளையாட ,
தோலுடை நிமிர் கோளின் துழுவிட , எழு நாவாய் ,
காலுடை நெடுஜெண்டின் , சென்றது கடித்து அமா !
She whose language is as milk, and he who is radiant like the sun,
played in the waters of the ganges rich in fish,
as he used the long pole to pilot the ship forward,
and it sped like a many legged crab…!
So, now comes the twist in the tale. The next few verses talk of Guha wanting to stay with Rama and Rama in his emotional outpour says the famous words – with you we become Five – meaning, he takes Guha as his own brother !! So, in kamban’s version Guha crosses the river with them. Another interesting thing to note, is the mention of the many legged crab – it could be that there were many who manned the oars of the boat as well, but the sculptor chose to ignore them to focus on just the key players
So, in Kamban’s version Guha does row the boat and this is the scene that we are looking at in the sculpture – the key aspect being the pole used to propel the ship.
The story we are going to see today is that of Ahalya.
Crux of the plot :Brahma creates a beautiful woman. Indra lusts on her and wants to marry her, he doesn’t succeed and she ends up as the wife of a great sage – Gautama muni. But that doesn’t stop him from trying and finally, he tries deceit, by taking the form of her husband and tries to seduce her. The problem is, Ahalya did see through his disguise, but…
Let’s, see what the Sanskrit version of Valmiki got to say about this episode.
muni veSam sahasraakSam vij~naaya raghuna.ndana |
matim cakaara durmedhaa deva raaja kutuuhalaat
“Oh, Rama, the legatee of Raghu, though knowing him as the Thousand-eyed Indra in the guise of her husband Gautama, she is inclined to have intercourse ill-advisedly, only to satisfy the impassion of the King of Gods
Her thinking is: ‘This is none but Indra in the guise of my husband, for my husband never asks me like this nor he violates times… I heard that Indra is seeking me for a long time… and when King of Gods expresses such a desire, it cannot be refused… let him have it…
mama ruupam samaasthaaya kR^itavaan asi dur.hmate |
akartavyam idam yasmaat viphalaH tvam bhaviSyati ||
‘Oh, dirty-minded Indra, taking hold of my form you have effectuated this unacceptable deed, whereby you shall become infecund.’ Thus, Gautama cursed Indra
tathaa shaptvaa ca vai shakram bhaaryaam api ca shaptavaan |
iha varSa sahasraaNi bahuuni nivaSisyasi || 1-48-29
vaayu bhakSaa niraahaaraa tapyantii bhasma shaayinii |
adR^ishyaa sarva bhuutaanaam aashrame asmin vaSisyasi ||
On cursing Indra thus the sage cursed even his wife saying, ‘you shall tarry here for many thousands of years to come without food and consuming air alone, and unseen by all beings you shall live on in this hermitage while contritely recumbent in dust.
yadaa tu etat vanam ghoram raamo dasharatha aatmajaH |
aagamiSyati durdharSaH tadaa puutaa bhaviSyas
‘When that unassailable son of Dasharatha, namely Rama, arrives at this squalid forest, for it will be henceforth rendered so along with you, then you will be purified.
tasya aatithyena dur.hvR^itte lobha moha vivarjitaa |
mat sakaashe mudaa yuktaa svam vapuH dhaarayiSyasi
‘On your welcoming Rama, oh, ill-behaved woman, you will be divested of your greed and craze in which you lingered so far, and then you will assume your own body and then you can be in my proximity, rejoicingly.’ Thus, Sage Gautama cursed his wife Ahalya
The operative phrases which we need to see here is the actual curse : ‘unseen by all beings’ ,’contritely recumbent in dust’, you will assume your own body
No where is there any mention of her turning into stone !!
Now, lets see the tamil version of kamban, we have already seen the story enough,we go to the operative verses – the actual curse.
“vilai magal anaiya neeyum, kal iyal aathi” endraan. karungal aai, marunga veezhvaal.
Meaning, for your acts, you are condemned to become like a stone.
Great saints are blessed with infinite wisdom and love, and so he went on to tell her, when she will be relieved of her curse.
“pizhaithu porutthal endrum periyavar kadane, anbaal
azhaltharung kadavul annaai! mudivu itharkku aruluga!” enna
thazaithu vandu imirum thann thaath dasarathan enbaan,
kazal – thugal kathuva, intha kal uruvath tavirthi “
As Ahalya fell, she asks thus of her husband : its the duty of great souls, to forgive, you became like the lord who burnt with his third eye and by his smile ( reference to the tripurantaka panel !!), now do tell me how this curse will end. To which Gomathi rishi, says, you will stay thus till the one with the radiant garland comes, he Dasaratha Rama will resurrect you, when the dust of his blessed feet fall on you, your stone form will go, and you will become yourself again.Was this Kamban’s extrapolation or was the legend prevalent much before?We note a beautiful reference to the curse clearly mentioning that she was turned to stone from the Sangam work Paripadal
Verse 19 of paripAdal, by nappaNNanAr is on Lord Murugan and describes the pilgrimage of devotees from Madurai to that ancient shrine, Thirupparam-kundram. The poet goes on to describe the various activities of the devotees on the way to the temple. A few devotees get into an art gallery on the way and gather around different paintings displayed there and discuss spiritedly among themselves, about what is portrayed in the paintings. A particular painting has the image of a cat, a woman, a sage in rage and a rock. The devotees comment, ‘indhiran pUsai’ ;This cat is Indra. ‘ivaL agaligai,’ This is Ahalyä. ‘ivan sendra kavudhaman,’ This sage is Gautama, who was away (at that time). ‘sinan uRa, kal uru ondriya padi idhu,’ And this rock is (nothing but) Ahalyä transformed by the curse of the sage. This painting shows how she was transformed into a rock
mai vannathu arakki poril, mazhai vannathu annale! un
kai vannam anguk kanden, kaal vannam inguk kanden.”
oh, cloud colored one, i saw your hands work when you fought the black ( eye liner) colored demoness, but here i see you foot work !!
This is a clear pointer that Ahalya was resurrected when Rama’s toe hit the rockWas valmiki unclear in the actual wording of the curse, did he mean that she be turned to stone as well. But one thing is clear, that she was turned to stone was part of tamil folkore as early as in the late sangam period as evidenced by the Paripadal verse.
Here it would be of interest to see what Kamban says about this episode. He make Manthara give a third and more powerful reason for preventing Rama
from ascending the throne. She says,
`Kaadhal un perum kaNavanai anji akkanivaay seethai thandhai un thaadhaiyai theRugilan
Iraaman maatulan avan nundhaikku vaazhvu ini uNdO?’
That is, she reminded Kaikeyi about the enmity between Janaka and her father and if Rama became the king Janaka would be more powerful as the father in law of the king. Then where is the protection for her father, she said. As it is the nature of women to have a soft her for their
parents, Kaikeyi was completely changed.
Kamban expresses the act of Manthara and the transformation of Kaikeyi in emphatic terms. He describes Manthara as `
innal sei iraavaNan izhaittha theemai pOl tunna arumkodumankkooni.’ She was as wicked as the actions of Ravana and capable of harming all the three worlds.’ moonRu ulaginukkum oru idukkaN moottuvaaL `
Kaikeyi who at first said ,’ enakku nallaiyum allay nee; en magan bharatan thanakku nallaiyum allay,’ meaning, ” you are neither my well-wisher nor of my son Bharata, ” later changed so as to say, ” enai uvandhanai; iniyai en maganukkum, you are dear to me and my son. ”
Kamban explains the effect of the counsel of Manthara as `theeya mandharai ivvurai seppalum dhEvi thooya chindhaiyum thirindhadhu
..’ The pure heart of Kaikeyi was changed and the reason for this, says Kamban was not mere words of Manthara but due to the plotting of the devas , the promise to them by the Lord and the penance of the pious.’ Soozhcchiyin imaiyor maayaiyum , avar petRa nalvaram uNmaiyaalum aaya andhaNar
iyaTRiya arum thavtthaalum.’
Thus Kaikeyi mistook the words of Manthara, which was going to bring disaster for her,
as something of great value ‘anarTham arTharoopeNa graahithaa
,’ and became uncontrollable, like a filly which has lost its way, `kiSoreevotpaTham gathaa,’ says Valmiki.
She even praised Manthara for her looks and said that she alone was beautiful and promised to decorate her with ornaments once Bhartha became the king, which showed that Kaikeyi completely lost her reason being deluded by the magic of Manthara.
Then she cast off all ornaments and rich clothes and lay down on the ground swearing that if the king did not grant her wish she would give up her life. It was in this state Dasratha found her when he came to tell her the good news of the coronation of Rama, naively thinking that she would be pleased to hear it.
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