RAMAYANA FOR CHILDREN --CHAPTER 23
KAMASRAMA
At daybreak, Visvamitra roused the princes. They were lying asleep on their couch of grass.
A golden halo of radiance crowned the face of Rama. Visvamitra thought to himself, “I would give anything to know how Kausalya was blessed with the Lord of the Universe for a son!” Then he said aloud, “Rama the rosy dawn begins to creep over the Earth. The sun chases the fleeting Spirit of Darkness. You get up to rout the Sons of Darkness. The shade of night roll back from the face of the globe. I was blessed to see your sleeping glory. Yet I long to see you awakening to the light of the day. Discharge your rites laid down for the children of the Earth. For you are their ideal and example.”
At that the royal princes sprang from their rude couch. They had their bath in the holy river. Then they went through their daily round of duties. They recited the rare mantras. Then they reverently saluted their master. Then they were prepared to follow him.
They travelled a long way and saw before them the holy Ganga. They travelled further on to the place where Ganga mixes with the river Sarayu. There they came upon dwellings of saintly ascetics. The ascetics pursued stern austerities for thousands of years. The princes were possessed with curiosity. They wanted to know everything about it. They turned to their master and asked, “Holy Sir! To whom does this hemitage belong to? Who lives in it at present? We desire to know this!”
The sage lightly laughed at the seeming ignorance of Rama. He said, “With great pleasure, if you will give me your attention.”
“I the far past,” the sage said, “Mahadeva chose this spot to carry on a course of austerities. He had married Parvati. Once he had on his way to get her down to attend upon himself. At that time the Lord of Love took human shape. The wise ones called him Kama. In the evil hour he approached the Great God and drew Him away from his meditation. He roused in the Great God thoughts of love toward the Daughter of the Mouontain-king. At this, the Lord of Austerities opened upon him His Third Eye; ‘Hum’ cried the Great Lord. And a tongue of flame shot forth from the Third Eye. And kama was reduced to a heap of ashes. Thus the wrath of God Siva rendered the Lord of Love bodiless. Hence his name thereafter, Ananga, the Bodiless. The spot where he met his sad fate is known as the Angadesa.
“This is the holy hermitage of Lord Siva. And these sages or His disciples. They are devoted to virtue. They don’t know sin. We will rest here for the night. We will crose between these holy rivers tomorrow. Now let us finish the evening rites and then proceed to their dwelling.”
Meanwhile, those saints saw through their spiritual eye the coming of the holy ones. And they came forward to welcome the three to their forest home. They offered glad rites of hospitality to Visvamitra and the princes. And in their sweet company, the quick hours glided past unfelt. Thus the three spent the night in the holy ones’ dwelling.
{Dear Readers, apart from this blog I write stories and commentary on Bhagavat Gita. They are as follows:
raguramkarikalanandthetimemachin.blogspot.com
raguramkrishnabagavatgita.blogspot.com
myresourcefulaunt.blogspot.com
kaviriyinselvan.blogspot.com
Please strengthen my hands by visiting those sites too.}
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