ARUNDHATI vasishta (deceased)

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About ARUNDHATI vasishta

Arundhati (Sanskrit: अरुन्धती, IAST: Arundhatī) is the wife of the sage Vashishta, one of the seven sages (Saptarshi) who are identified with the Ursa Major. She is identified with the morning star and also with the starAlcor which forms a double star with Mizar (identified as Vashista) in Ursa Major. Arundhati, though the wife of one of the seven seers, is accorded the same status as the seven seers and is worshipped with them as such.[1]In the Vedic and Puranic literature, she is regarded as the epitome of chastity, conjugal bliss and wifely devotion.[1][2] In post-Puranic epic poems in Sanskrit and Hindi, she has been described as “chaste and revered” and with a character that is “unblemished, inspiring and worthy of imitation”.[3][4] In the Hindu culture, there are several beliefs, practices and traditions centred around Arundhati including a ritual in the marriage ceremony after the Saptapadi, a fast, a belief about imminent death, and a maxim.

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ARUNDHATI vasishta's Timeline

Ayodhya, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

Dasaratha ruled the kingdom from Ayodhya. He was a vedavit, scholar of vedas, loved by his subjects and so valiant that Devendra sought his help in fighting against the asuras. He was athiratha, capable of fighting with 10000 rathis, warriors in chariots. Since he had all people in his control by his good qualities he is called rajarshi.He was equal to Kubera and Indra in riches and power. Thus Valmiki describes Dasaratha. 'Thaam pureem cha mahaathejaa raajaa dasaratho mahaan shashaasa shamithaamithrah nakshathraaneeva chandramaah. ' He was as pleasing to all as the moon is to the stars.
Dasaratha, besides his eight ministers , also had sages like Vasishta and Vamadeva to advise him and lived his life accrding to dharma, thus qualifying himself to become the father of Rama , the embodiment of dharma. Dasaratha had everything but one, that is a progeny. He consulted the sages and his ministers and decided to do Asvamedha yaga and the sages and brahmins blessed him that he will get sons through the sacrifice, 'sarvathaa praapsyase puthraan , you will get sons' because a man is not called putravaan having only one son, 'ekaputrah na putravaan.'
Dasaratha made arrangements for horse sacrifice, asvamedha, which was, in those days, a grand affair and only chakravarthis could afford to do it. A horse well decorated and laden with riches is sent to all countries with an army and whoever reveres it are supposed to accept the sovereignty of its owner and those who resist its course are conquered. When the preparations were in progress Sumanthra , who was the charioteer and the minister of Dasaratha, told him to call Rsysrnga and make him conduct the sacrifice. Sumanthra said he had known this from the sages who were told by Sanatkumara that Dasaratha will be getting sons through this act.
Rsyasrnga was a munikumara , the son of Vibhaandaka whom his father brought up with care without any sensual desire touching him. Hence he was a pure soul. The king of Anga, whose land was suffering with draught, was told to bring Rsyasrnga whose padasparsa will bring rain.. He sent young girls to entice him in his father's absence and he was brought to Angadesa and there was abundant rain. The king gave his daughter Shantha to him in marriage.
Hearing about Rsyasringa Dasaratha went himself to Angadesa and requested Rsyasringa to come to Ayodhya. It is said that Shantha was actually the daughter of Dasaratha and was given in adoption to Romapaada, king of Angadesa..Rsyasringa accepted the invitation and came to Ayodhya. Dasaratha performed the Asvamedha yaga with all the rshis and brahmanas and asked Rsyasrnga to perform putrakameshtiyaga for him to get sons and Rsyasrnga agreed..
The devas who assembled ready to receive the havirbhaga of the sacrifice to be performed, entreated Brahma to do something to destroy Ravana who was tormenting the world and devas , arrogant with the power of his boons from Brahma that he will be indestructible by devas , gandharvas, yakshas, dhaanavaas and raakshasaaas. Brahma reassured them that he never included human beings in his boon and that fact should be utilised now
In the meanwhile the Lord Narayana Himself came there in anticipation of their prayer in His earnestness in dushtanigraha and sishata paripalana.Govindarajar comments beautifully the sloka that mentions the arrival of the Lord which we will see later, along with the lovely verse from Kamban about the same.

Valmiki Ramayana - Bala Kanda in Prose Sarga 16

Vishnu agrees to incarnate as human and selects Dasharatha as his father. And when Dasharatha is performing the Vedic ritual called putrakaameSTi a deity called praajaapatya purusha arises from the sacrificial fire to give a golden vessel of divine dessert to Dasharatha for distribution among his queens to beget progeny. The three queens on consuming that dessert conceive their children.


Later when the Omnipresent Narayana is thus nominated by best gods, and though he knows the outcome, he gently spoke these words to gods in this way.
The name Vishnu indicates his all pervading Omnipresence in all beings, sessile or mobile: vyaapitvaat sarva bhuuteSu vishnuH iti abhidhiiyate. This is one of his thousand names, called Vishnu sahasra naama , each name elucidating his attributes.
"What is the idea to eliminate that demon's chief Ravana, oh, gods, adopting which strategy I will have to eliminate that thorn in the side of sages?" Thus Vishnu asked the gods.
Asked thus all the gods said to that sempiternal Vishnu, "on assuming a human form, eliminate Ravana in a war. Oh, destroyer of enemies, he that Ravana undertook a vehement ascesis for a long period, thereby the creator of worlds and the first born one Brahma, felt gladsome of his ascesis. Satisfied with his ascesis Brahma gave boon to that demon that he shall have no fear for his life from many kinds of beings, excepting humans, because that demon indeed slighted humans earlier at the time of bestowing boon.
"Thus, on getting boon from the Forefather Brahma he has become arrogant and torturing the three worlds, and he is even abducting women. As such, oh, enemy destroyer Vishnu, his elimination is envisaged through humans alone." So said gods to Vishnu.
On hearing that speech of gods said that way, he that kind-hearted Vishnu then chose Dasharatha as his father in human world.
During that time the great resplendent king and an enemy subduer Dasharatha is performing putrakaameSTi ritual, desiring progeny as he is sonless.
On taking a decision Vishnu took leave of Forefather Brahma, and vanished while he is still being extolled by gods and sages.
Then, from Fire of Altar Dasharatha's ritual there emerged a greatly vigorous and energetic Divine Being with an unparalleled resplendence, called yajna puruSa. He is clad in black and red garments and his face is red and his voice resembled the drumbeat. His moustache and hairdo are soft like that of a lion's mane. And he is endowed with auspicious features and decorated with divine ornaments, in height he is like a mountain peak, and in valiance he is like an imperious tiger.
That great ritual being personally brought a big golden vessel carrying it with both of his hands as if he would personally handle his own wife, which vessel is made from the molten gold and covered with a silver lid, and which appeared to be crafted out of a divine illusion, since it is dazzling like sun and glowing like the tongues of flame, and that vessel is full with the divine dessert.
That divine person on observing king Dasharatha said these words "oh, king, you may know me as the being sent by Prajapati." There after, king Dasharatha greeted that divine being with palms adjoining and said in reply, "oh, god, welcome to you, and what shall I do for you?"
Then again, that divine being sent by Prajapati said these words, "oh, king, now you have obtained this dessert in golden vessel as you have propitiated gods.
"Oh, tigerly king, take this dessert prepared by divinities, this is a blessed dessert that enriches progeny and health. Oh, king, let this be consumed" saying so he further said, "for which purpose you have performed this ritual that childbearing will be fructified in your wives by bearing sons, hence give this among your eligible wives." So said the divine being to Dasharatha.
Agreeing to that the king wholeheartedly took that god-given golden vessel full with divine food. With high ecstasy Dasharatha revered that Ritual Being, the Prajapati Purusha or yaj~na purusha , an astonishing and delightful being in his appearance, and performed circumambulations around him.
On obtaining that dessert prepared by gods then Dasharatha is highly gladdened like a pauper obtaining unforeseen wealth.
On completing his work of giving the golden vessel with dessert then that divine being who is astonishing by his form and highly glowing by his physique, disappeared then and there itself.
Lit up with beams of happiness Dasharatha's palace chambers shone forth like the autumnal sky brightened with moonbeams. Then Dasharatha on entering palace chambers spoke this to queen Kausalya, "Receive this dessert to beget your son."
This divine dessert is meant for the 'eligible' queens, as informed the Ritual Being and also in order to maintain the divinity of Ram's birth. In the context of seed and field, the field has no equal importance to the seed biija kshetra nyaya . Hence the seed is divine in the form of dessert and fields are therefore shall 'be eligible' for the seedling. As such the First Queen and Empress Kausalya is being addressed firstly, and given firstly.
The king then gave half of the dessert to queen Kausalya, and he gave half of the half, i.e., one fourth to queen Sumitra. And to Kaikeyi he gave half of the remaining half, i.e., one eight of the dessert, with a desire to beget sons. Then thinking for a while gave the remaining, i.e., one-eighth portion again to queen Sumitra. Thus, the king distributed the dessert to his wives differently.
This is a much-discussed distribution by the traditionalists. Adhyatma Ramayana, a treatise that postulates god-hood to Rama, gives a well-constructed argument about these shares of dessert and the resultant births of the four brothers, viz., Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrughna, in accordance with these shares. In its simplest terms and as contained in these verses, queen Kausalya got half of the dessert as an Empress, paTTa mahiSi. Sumitra gets one-fourth in the first round and after a rethink by Dasharatha, she gets another one-eighth portion. Kaikeyi gets only a one-eighth quantity. Thus, Kausalya gives birth to Rama, Sumitra to Lakshmana and Shatrughna, and Kaikeyi to Bharata. The quantum of apportionment of the dessert does not make Rama all-powerful or Bharata the least. Since the Absolute is indivisible into parts, the dessert that is divided is not to be taken as the divided Absolute, but a kind of medium through which the incarnation is made possible.
There is another declination enquiring whether the incarnation of Rama is full or partial, puurNa avatara or artha avatara... Rama is Vishnu Himself while Bharata and Shatrughna are his disc and conch-shell, while Lakshmana is the thousand headed snake aadi sesha on whose coils Vishnu reclines. The whole dessert is divine and parts of it do not signify and inter-divided god-hoods. Hence, the apportionment of the desert is done in order to keep up the hierarchy of the queen-hoods and their status. Throughout this magnum opus Rama never said that he is god or an incarnate of god, but called himself, nimitta maatra a casual relation to the course of events. Should Rama be the incarnation of the Almighty Himself, he has little or no necessity to incarnate the weaponry along with him. They are at his beck and call at any time. Thus, Rama is neither a half nor one-fourth incarnation of the Absolute nor a dividend of the whole, but an incarnate of the virtuously ideal personality of Vishnu, maryaada purushottama Rama.
Incidental to this apportionment of the dessert, the aspect of eldest son is also studied. Rama is the first-born and thus the eldest. This is because the dessert is given to queen Kausalya in the first instance, and half of the whole vessel. She immediately consumed to lionise her share and as an Empress. Sumitra waited a while till apportionment is complete. Kaikeyi got her portion but waited till her elder sister Sumitra completes her drink. In the meanwhile Dasharatha thought a while, as said in the verse, and gave Sumitra another one-eighth part. Sumitra then consumed her two parts. Later Kaikeyi drinks her dividend.
On getting the dessert all of those best ladies of the king, whose hearts are exuberant with happiness, deemed it as a reward. Then on consuming dessert those best ladies of the king whose resplendence then vied with that Fire and Sun became pregnant after some time.
A synecdochic expression to indicate that Sun and Fire, the enliveners of living beings, pratyaksha naraayaNa are there in those wombs and their resplendence is shining out of mothers bodies.
Then on seeing his queens with confirmed pregnancies Dasharatha regained his lost heart for sons, and he is gladdened like Vishnu, who will always be gladsome when worshipped by gods, namely Indra and others, as well as by the assemblages of great souls, sages.

Ayodhya, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

The Ramayana has seven long sections called kandas. The first section, the Bala-Kanda (pages 2-19), tells of Prince Rama's birth, his youthful adventures, and his marriage to the Princess Sita. Bala refers to "childhood" or "early" events.
Valmiki Ramayana, as the name indicates, was written by sage Valmiki. It is called Aadhikavya because it was the first work in the form of Kavya. Before Valmiki's time even though sloka form existed there was no epic poem as such. In fact the lakshana, definition and characteristics ofkavya given by vyasa later, was based only on Ramayana
The circumstance connected with the composing of Ramayana by Valmiki is interesting. The story goes that it was Sage Narada who told Valmiki about Rama. It was also Narada who was instrumental in the transformation of Valmiki into a sage from a hunter. .
Valmiki once asked Narada, who came to see him in his asram, 'NARADHAM PARIPAPRACHCHA VALMIKIRMUNIPUNGAVAM,' that who among men possessed the best qualities and also most valiant .'KONVASMIN SAAMPRADHAAM LOKE GUNAVAAN KASCHA VIRYAVAAN?'
Here the word used for asking is 'paripaprachcha' which means 'to ask' with genuine interest with full faith in the guru. In Gita Krishna tells Arjuna, 'thadvidhdhi pranipaathena pariprasnena sevaya,know the truth by repeated asking with faith and humility.'
Valmiki lists the qualities of the man he is seeking as gunavan, virtuous, viryavan, powerful, dharmajna, knower of dharma, krthajna, knows how to show gratitude,satyavaakyah, truthful in word, dhrdavrathah, firm in resolve, chaarithrena yukthah, righteous,sarvabhootheshu hithah, benefactor of all beings, vidvan, learned, samarthah, skilful in applying his reasoning, aathmavan, selfcontrolled, jithkrodhah, conquered anger, dhyuthiman, lustrous,anasooyakah, one who never finds fault with others and finally who is the most formidable as a foe whom even devas will fear 'kasya bhibhyathi devascha jaathroshasya samyuge.'
Narada replied relating him the story of Rama in short. The words of Narada here is known as samkshepa Ramayana reciting which, is supposed to give the same result as in reciting the whole Ramayana
Valmiki, when he was going to the Thamasa river, saw two krouncha birds happily chirping together and his heart was filled with joy on seeing them At that instant an arrow came and struck the male bird which fell down dead. This pained the sage and seeing the hunter who did this he said,
Maa nishaadha prathishtaam thvam aganmah ssaasvatheessamaah
yathkrounchmithunaadhekam avadheeh kaamamohitham
This means, 'Oh hunter, you will not get peace or rest forever since you have killed one of the twokrouncha birds who were in love.'
The next moment his heart was filled with remorse, being saathvik by nature, and he relented thinking that he had no right to curse the hunter. But to his surprise the words of the curse formed a sloka, the metre and rhythm of which surprised him. To Valmiki in meditation later, appeared Brahma and told him that the whole thing was the leela of the Lord. From his shoka of seeing the bird killed has sprung a sloka. And he said that Valmiki should relate the story of Rama in the same metre and rhythm and gave him the vision to see the events of the life of Rama as though it was happening in front of his eyes Valmiki repeated the sloka to fix his mind on its construction and composed Ramayana. Thus came the great epic Ramayana into being.
This sloka has been interpreted by the learned acharyas to be the mangalasloka of Ramayana itself. Maa nishaadha means the resort of Lakshmi, that is the Lord Vishnu. 'Maa,' the negative particle being removed and taken in the sense of Lakshmi as she is called 'maa', the words'maa prathishtaam thvam agamah ' becomes 'prathishtaam thvam agamah, you will be established in the hearts of all for saasvatheessamaah long time to come.'Yath krouncha mithunaadhekam avadheeh kaamamohitham' the gives the meaning, "As you have killed the lustful one of the couple, Ravana and Mandodhari.' The word krouncha also means Rakshasa. Thus the curse itself being the leela of the Lord, became a benediction. Such is the richness of the sanskrit language.
Valmiki composed the whole Ramayana, seeing with the divine vision given by Brahma everything that happened in the life of Rama and when he was contemplating as to whom should he teach this to spread it in the world, the boys Lava and Kusa came and prostrated before him. Valmiki considered their merirs and decided to teach them the epic. They were raajaputrou, princes, dharmajnou , knew dharma, yasasvinou, already gained reputation as well learned,bratharou, brothers and aasramavaasinou, resided there in the asrama and more than anything else svarasampannou, they possessed sweet and resonant voice.
In olden days all the learning were oral only and the students committed to memory what they have learnt by reciting them every day. The chanting of the Vedas required a good voice and pronunciation as the intonation is very important in veda because the wrong accent will change the entire meaning. The mantra ‘indrassatruh,’ pronounced by Tvashta who wanted to create a son to kill Indra by wrong accent made Indra the killer of vrthrasura instead of vice versa.
Then the merit of the kavya itself is extolled as ‘seethaayaah charitham mahat’ The word Ramayana means Rama is described by this work, Raamah ashayathe anena, but it is the great story of Seetha. Ramayana is called ‘sharanaagathi shaastra’ by Vaishnava Acharyas because it tells about the efficacy of surrendering to the Lord. Raama specifies in yudhdhakaanda that it is his vow to give surrender to anyone who takes refuge in him even once but he protected only those who surrendered like Kakasura and Vibheeshana. .But Seetha went one step ahead of him because she gave refuge even to those who oppressed her like the rakshasis in Ashokavana when Hanuman wanted to kill them after the war, saying the famous and oft quoted words, ‘na kaschitnaaparaadhyathi,’ “is there anyone who is faultless?” That is why the epic is called Seethaayaahcharitham mahat
Kusa and Lava sang the epic in the presence of the sages and went on singing in all places and reached Ayodhya. All who heard it were very much impressed not only with the richness of the kavya but also about the skill of the singers.
The slokas of Ramayana are sweet sounding and render themselves beautifully to music. The kavya is rich in sentiments, the navarasa. The singers were proficient in music as well as in expression, bhava. Besides they were handsome with their resemblance to their father Srirama. When they sang in front of Rama he praised them and took them to his yagasala and asked everybody to hear them.
Then starts the Ramayana as sung by Kusa and Lava

Ayodhya, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

Valmiki briefly mentions the greatness of .the line of Ikshvaku and says that the epic came into being through the grace of Brahma, and he is only making it known to the world as it contains the three purushaarthas, namely dharma, artha and kama, which subsequently lead to the fourth, Moksha. Valmiki then entreats the listener to hear it with sradhdha, faith and withoutasooya, cavil.
Every literary work must satisfy four requisites, namely, vishaya, subject matter, adhikari , to whom it is intended, prayojana, the fruit and sambandha , relevance. Vishaya has been indicated by ‘Ikshvaakoonaam idham theshaam raajnaam vamse mahaathmmanaam mahadhuthpannamaakhyaanam ramayanamithi srutham,.’ this Ramayana, the story of Rama , descendant of the line of Ikshvaku. Adhikariis the one with sradhdha and without asooya, Prayojana is the four purushaarthas and the sambandha is made specific by the above.
Then comes the description of the land of Kosala which is situated north of Ganga, on the banks of the river Sarayu. It was prosperous and fertile the residents of which were mudhitha. Happy and spheetha, rich. While Valmiki only hinted at the splendour of Kosala, Kamban has gone into raptures and dedicated a whole chapter for the description of Kosaladesa and its inhabitants. One of the most beautiful and oft quoted verse of Kamban about Kosala is,
’ thandalai mayilgal aada, thaamarai vilakkam thaanga,
kondalgal muzavin Enga, kuvlai kan viziththu nOkka,
thenthirai ezini kaatta, thembizi makarayaazin
vandugal inidhu paada, marudham veetrirukkum maadhaO.
’ The type of land was called Marudham, fertile agricultural region, which reigns supreme in Kosala. With plenty of rain one can always hear the thunder of the clouds sounding like the regal trumpet and drum, the peacocks are the court dancers, the lotuses are the carriers of lamps, while the singers are the bees, the kuvalai flowers are the audience and the curtain for the stage is provided by the waves of the Sarayu river. Only a vague description can be provided as the beauty of the poetry can be understood only when it is read in the original Tamil.
After just one sloka about Kosala Valmiki starts to describe the city of Ayodhya by three slokas. It was constructed by Manu, the father of Ikshvaku. The city covered the area of twelve yojanas long and three yojanas wide.( A yojana is approximately nine miles.) The streets of Ayodhya were highways, flanked by trees, strewn with flowers and the city was always cool with enough rains and watered otherwise. The city as described by Valmiki proves that in ancient India .city civilization was of a high standard. The houses were inlaid with precious stones and with barns full of food grains always filled with the sweet sound of musical instruments.
Valmiki describes the people of Ayodhya. They were laghuhasthaah, skilled and dexterous,vishaaradhaah, learned and strong, able to kill wild animals by arrows as well as by hand, ‘hanthaarah nishithaissastraih balaath baahu balairapi.’. But they were also noble and desisted from hitting by mere sound na sabdhavedhyam, even though they could, perhaps learnt their lesson by the experience of Dasaratha who killed a hermit’s son mistaking him to be an elephant by the sound and incurred the curse of his parents. There were no cowards, or orphans or loners in Ayodhya..
Ayodhya means yodhdhum na shakyaa, invincible. Valmiki indicates the invincibility of the city by saying ‘ dhurgagambheera parikhaam dhurgham anyaih dhuraasadhaam, surrounded by moats deep and difficult to cross over and hence inaccessible to others.
The description of the prosperity of the citizens of Ayodhya by Kamban is interesting. He says,
’kalvaar ilaamaipporul kaavalum illai; yaadhum
kolvaar ilaamaikkoduppaaargalum illai madho.
ellaarum ellaapperunchelvamum eidhalaale
illaarum illai ;udayaargalum illai maadho.
Since there were no robbers there was no police. Since there was no one to receive there were no givers. Since all were enjoying all riches there was no one who can be termed as poor nor as rich.