Finding Shiva In The Ramayana

On  Shivaratri,  I  contemplate on the Ramayana. Yes,  Shiva, the easily pleased Ashutosh, who never calls, and never says no when called,  has a very large footprint in the tale of Rama, who  is  none other than Vishnu. The two who along with  Brahma are the Trinity that create, preserve and  destroy, and recreate the Universe in mysterious ways.

One of the (main) reasons that  the Ramayana is amazing, is that Vishnu, the Supreme God has been born as a human being, and  has to be taught all about being human, a good son, a good husband, and a great king.  It is a divine comedy, played here on earth by the gods, with the great rishis, joining in the conspiracy, playing their parts, and leading Rama on towards the real purpose of his avatara- to kill  Ravana and liberate the three worlds from his menace.

When Rama and his three brothers’ formal education is complete at the ashrama of Kulaguru VAsishta,  the great Rishi Vishwamitra arrives on the scene. He is Rama’s finishing school. Vishwamitra, who wants to  “borrow” Rama and his younger brother LAkshmana ostensibly to protect an important yaga he has undertaken to perform from desecration  by mischievous rakshasas  (the real purpose, of course is to transfer all the astras  needed for the slaying of Ravana later by Rama),  becomes their tour guide . And a teller of  stories about Shiva, about Vishnu himself, and Brahma and all the divine games the Trinity play.

The first stop is Kamashrama.  The spot where  the Sarayu and the Ganga rivers meet,  so idyllic that Shiva chose it do his tapasya in. It was here, Vishhwamitra tells Rama and LAkshmana, that Parvathi came everyday , doing her own tapasya to win Shiva as her husband. This is where, the Devas, reeling under the onslaught of Tarakasura across the three worlds, persuaded Kama to shoot his arrow of flowers at Shiva, and make him fall in love with Paravati. For it was only the son of Shiva and Parvati who could kill Tarakasura. Kama’s arrow hits its target, and Shiva , in great anger opens his Thrid Eye and glances at Kama, who is reduced to ashes. This hallowed place, Rama, is where  Kama became  formless, or Ananga. And this region is now known as the Anga Desha, Vishwamitra tells him.

Siddhashrama, the venue of Vishwamitra’s yaga, is the place hallowed by Vishnu himself.  Where  he had been born as Vamana, the son of KAshyapa and Aditi, and as the younger brother of Indra. As Vamana, he  got the Daitya King Bali to return the lordship of Swarga.  Though Rama does not know it, he is on his old stomping grounds!

Other stories follow.  The descent of Ganga on earth,  Shiva’s taming of the furious and wanton Ganga in his matted locks because  even the earth cannot withstand Ganga’s forceful descent. The story of  Shiva and Parvathi’s married life, and the Deva’s anxiety over the birth of their son. This time they fear that the three worlds will not be able to  bear the heat generated by the Divine Couple’s  union .  And finally Kartikeya is delivered through Agni and  Ganga.

Rama learns of the Samudra Manthana, the great churning, and the role of Vishnu (as  Kurma, the Turtle)  and of Shiva who  swallows the Halahala and holds it in his throat, and becomes NEelakanta.

At Mithila, Vishwamitra performs the final task entrusted to him many thousands of years ago -bringing Rama to Sita, who would play the key role  in the slaying of Ravana. A long time ago,  Devaraatha, the anscestor  of Janaka, was given  the great bow of Shiva. It was the bow  with which he had vowed o destroy all the devas after his  wife Sati had jumped into the fire at her father Daksha’s  yagna, and died.  . Shiva’s wrath threatened to reduce the three worlds to ashes, and the devas prayed for mercy. Shiva then  yielded and allowed the devas to leave the bow in the custody of the King of Mithila, where it would only bend to the will, of the man fit to be the husband of Sita.

Though Rama doesn’t know it ( or does he simply play at not knowing, for that is what his avatara demands) he and Shiva are in this together, as they have always been, in other Yugas, in other avataras. Shiva’s boons to Ravana , chiefly the famed sword known as Chandrahasa ensure that  there is a formidable enemy (whose many virtues are outweighed by his one fatal flaw)  gets a grand, honorable death,  veeramarana, for anyone slain in battle  is assured a place in swarga.   The very name Ravana is a gift from Shiva, in honor of Dashagriva’s roar of agony as Shiva crushed his hands under the Mount Kailasa,  which he want to carry off to Lanka!  Shiva was also in thrall of  Ravana’s  prowess at the Veeena, which  the latter had created using his own nerves as the strings, and  played beautifully.  When Hanuman comes to Lanka,  a rattled Ravana recalls  Nandi’s curse  –  the sighting of a monkey in Lanka marks the beginning of the end of Ravana. He also wonders if the gods had enlisted the help  of Banasura, another devotee of Shiva who had boons  from the Three-Eyed One. When Banasura who had a thousand arms, played the mrudangam with all his arms,  an ecstatic Shiva was known to dance the Thandava. Much latter in Dwapara Yuga,  Banasura causes a confrontation between Shiva and Krishna who is none other than Vishnu, as narrated in the story of Usha Parinayam – the marriage of Usha, Banasura’s daughter and Krishna’s grandson Aniruddha.

During his vanavasa too Shiva is never far away.  The final spot chosen by Rama, as suggested by the great Rishi Agasthya, to finish his 14-year stay in the forest is Panchavati,  a beautiful spot in the midst of hills and forest, where the Godavari flows. Godavari is the Ganga, which  Shiva brought to the South, in order to please his devotee, Rishi GAutama, who wanted to rid himself of  the sin of  gau-hatya, by bringing the GAnga to his ashrama. Shiva not only  caused the Ganga to flow eternally as the Godavari, he also made his home there as Triambakeshwara.  It was from here that  Ravana took Sita. Here Rama too has left his footprint. The Bhadrachala hills, is the home of the shrine of Rama, who appears here as the four-armed Vishnu, holding the Chakra and the Shankha along with his bow. And accompanied by Sita and Lakshmana. There is no Hanuman here, as  he had not appeared in the story at that point!.

In our age, the great composer Bhadrachala Ramadasu, has  sung,  “ Taraka Mantramu korina dorikenu, dhanyuda naithini, O ranna..”  in  ecstasy. For having received the  mantra that  guarantees moksha. This Taraka Mantra is  the name of Rama. It is believed that  when a person  goesto Kashi to attain Moksha,  Shiva whispers the name of Rama in  his ears,, and  ensures that the soul  crosses over from this world to the higher world  (taarana – crossing )

In  Vishnu Sahasranamam,  To Parvathi’s question, “Which is the one name that is equal to reciting the thousand names of Vishnu”, Shiva  replies,  “ Sri Rama Rama Ramethi  …” .  Reciting the name of Rama alone is enough  to acquire the punya of  reciting all the thousand names.

 

In Kishkindha KAnda, and the Sundara KAnda, since Hanuman is considered to be a manifestation of Shiva,  it can be said that  Shiva and Vishnu become inseparable and together they preserve, protect and destroy, which too is but a part of preserving and protecting the Universe!

When the war ends, and Ravana has been slain,  Rama worships Shiva to make wash away the sin of Brahma-hatya, since Ravana was a brahmin.

My friend Ani’s guruji, Sharavana Baba, whom I met once a couple of years ago, told me  that I have a deep spiritual connection to Shiva. Since I  have been obsessing over the Ramayana a great deal for some time,  I wondered how it could be.  Now I know.

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