Shiva's colossal bow, the divine Shiva Dhanush
the Pinaka, ;gifted to my father by
sage Parashurama for sate -keeping
while he accomplished penance. Dhanurveda
says it came to Parashuram
from Lord Shiva. How could I have
known the sanctity, the reverence ? I didn't
understand, why a wave of something like
the tail-end of a sad dream swept through
my father whenever he saw it. Father
had a dream in him. It was pitiless.
Nothing worthy came at autonomy. Even the Shiva Dhanush.
Pain was his currency. But he had this
cheerful devotion, a guilelessness, and
an unabashed hopefulness, for me, his daughter Maithili.
That day when the withdrawn mountain peaks
became opaque silhouettes of
hunkering colossuses, father was brooding
deeper into the synesthesia of the
empirical, the geometric space, common
objects, plants, animals, images and oriented
them in to the material structure, I did
I did it, knowing not that I was
writing history. I just picked and placed
the Shiva Dhanush in place, while playing
with my sisters, and the dozens of
soldiers in-charge of lifting the giant bow
went berserk ! A girl lifting a thing
that three hundred soldiers would do together!!
A woman with such luminous strength! Such valor!!
Who knew what chaos, anarchy, atrocity was
in the offing? What true warrior was
taking birth from the homogenized denominator?
King Tanaka didn't reinforce patriarchal
values -"Whosoever wanted to marry my
daughter, had to do so only after lifting
the Shiva Dhanush from its place and
stringing it." The colossal bow was
the backdrop, the condition to my Swayamvar.
I ponder over idea of father's choice of a groom for me -how could the Swayamvar be interrogated thus? The choice of husband should be the woman's prerogative, not father's
preconditions of the physical strength of a man! Shouldn't love
be the agent to map the interplay of the future, text and context of a complete connubial? Does strength qualify one to win a woman's heart?
Even today, parents beget daughters with the hope of a son;
girls queue up paving way for a boy; and one day, the girls are married off to prospective grooms, whose stipulation could be
a decent job, an affluent family, a teetotaler, maybe, two horoscopes to be matched by a Pundit, and family's alliances. Marriage in the absence and isolation of love and desire happens!
Anyway, I was in love with you. Oh Rama! Maryada Purusottam, the Supreme Self, the Ultimate Reality, the Brahman of the Upanishads! You came back
from the hermitage of sage Vashishta.
Sage Vishwamitra had urged your father,
King Dasharatha to send you and
Lakshmana to safeguard his yajna from
the demons, and empowered you with
warfare secrets. You came to Mithila to my
Swayamvar, with Sage Vishwamitra to
lift, set and shoot the arrow from the Shiva-Dhanush
and win my heart! Your brothers
Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna married
Urmila, Shrutakirtini and Mandavi, my sisters.
Oh Rama! All of us embody
assorted facets of life. Rama for the soul,
Lakshmana for the will power, Shatrughna for reason,
Bharata for emotion, me, Janaki, for intellect of divine origin.
King Dasharatha form mortal disposition, his three queens
three gurus-- KaLisaliya stands for Sattva, which is
harmony, balance, spirit; Sumitra for Rajas, for
action, energy and change; Kaikeyi is Tomas, the
darkness, inertia and decadence. My Lord! If my
life was so full of the myriad elements of life,
then what went wrong ? Sita, pure as the
Madonna or the Lily, Janaka's dream-vision of splendor,
couldn't she defend the insignia of defeats?
I, Maithili, incarnations of Meera, Radha, Laxmi, Rupa, Satrupa,
Aseema, am caught in the endless helix of the
mortal adventure, seeking repetition of
the ancient, mythical, cyclic whirl. No doubt
I am speaking my words now, lying bereaved
on the lap of my mother,
Mother Earth; your memories are sinking
deep within the mind's courier. There a
bride burning, here a girl child is
doomed. Anon! a female foeticide there!
When I cannot see myself as different
from the concert of the entire womanhood
where is the room for fresh references of
my flamboyant wedding? I am woman, every woman,
the paramount sacrifice of the celebrated Asvamedha.
III
‘पिनाक’ विशाल दिव्य शिव-धनुष ,
जनक को मिला परशुराम से, जब वे हुए उनकी तपस्या से खुश
और मिला उन्हें वरदान, रखो तुम उसे सुरक्षित अपने पास ।
धनुर्वेद में उल्लेखित,भगवान शिव ने यह धनुष
परशुराम को दिया, उनके तप पर हो खुश
कैसे होता मुझे उसकी पवित्रता का ज्ञान ?
पता नहीं क्यों, कोई दु:स्वप्न
धुंधली रेखा बन उभरता मेरे पिता के नयन
जब भी वे करते इसके दर्शन ।
पिता का था एक दयनीय स्वप्न
स्वायत्तता-योग्य नहीं कुछ जीवन
शिव-धनुष भी नहीं कर पाया उन्हें प्रसन्न।
दुख-दर्द ही था उनका धन,
पर उनके पास था समर्पण,आशान्वित नयन
मैं यानि मैथिली कैसे बनूँ सुहागन ?
उस दिन, पहाड़ों के भीमाकार शिखर,
बने अपारदर्शी छाया-तस्वीर
पिता करने लगे गहन सोच-विचार।
अनुभवजनित उत्तेजना भरने लगी ज्यामितीय स्थान,
सामान्य वस्तु,पेड़-पौधें, जानवर, छवि और सामग्रिक संरचन,
मुझे नहीं पता, क्या मैं करने जा रही हूँ इतिहास-लेखन ?
खेल-खेल में शिव-धनुष उठाकर रखा मैंने दरवाजे के पास
एकत्रित हजारों लोगों को नहीं हुआ अपनी आँखों पर विश्वास,
क्या एक लड़की उठा सकती उसे, तीन सौ सैनिक उठा नहीं पाए जिसे?
मुंह से निकल पड़ा उनके, इतनी शक्तिशाली महिला! ऐसी वीर !
कौन जानता था कि अराजकता और अत्याचार
बाएँ मुंह फाड़े खड़ा था मेरी ओर ?
क्या किसी सच्चा योद्धा का हो रहा अवतरण ?
राजा जनक ने पितृसत्तात्मक मूल्यों का किया अवमूल्यन
"चाहेगा जो मेरी बेटी से विवाह, करेगा वह शिव-धनुष भग्न।”
वह विशाल धनुष बना, मेरे स्वयंवर का आधार
दूल्हे के पिता की पसंद पर मन ही मन करने लगी विचार ,
क्या उन्हें पसंद है मेरा यह स्वयंवर ?
पति की पसंद नारी के लिए महत्वपूर्ण
या पिता की शर्त- शारीरिक शक्ति की अपूर्व प्रदर्शन?
क्या ताकत ही महिला के लिए बिन्दु-आकर्षण ?
आज भी, बेटे की उम्मीद में करते माता-पिता बेटियों का विस्मरण;
लड़कियां करती लड़कों के लिए मार्ग-निर्धारण;
उनकी भावी दूल्हे से शादी हो जाती है एक दिन ।
जिनके पास हो अच्छी नौकरी, ऊंचा खानदान
भले ही, किया हो जन्म-कुंडली का गलत मिलान
आज भी बिना प्रेम, इच्छा के होते हैं विवाह सम्पन्न!
वैसे, मैं तुमसे प्यार करती थी, हे राम! मर्यादा पुरुषोत्तम,
उपनिषदों के ब्रह्म!
तुम हुआ आगमन, ऋषि वशिष्ठ के आश्रम ।
ऋषि विश्वामित्र ने तुम्हारे पिता से किया अनुनय-विनय
तुम्हें और लक्ष्मण को भेजने अरण्य
ताकि तुम समझ सको युद्ध के रहस्य।
तुम मिथिला आए मेरे स्वयंवर
ऋषि विश्वामित्र के साथ चलकर
शिव-धनुष-भंग कर बने मेरे वर !
तुम्हारे भाई लक्ष्मण, भरत और शत्रुघ्न
मेरी बहिनों उर्मिला, श्रुतकीर्ति और मांडवी को देखकर हुए प्रसन्न
हुआ उनके संग उनका पाणीग्रहण ।
हे राम! जीवन के मिश्रित पहलू हैं हम
इच्छा-शक्ति के लिए लक्ष्मण, आत्मा के लिए राम,
तर्क के लिए शत्रुघ्न, भाव-प्रवणता के लिए भरत और
दिव्य-बुद्धि के लिए मैं स्वयं ।
राजा दशरथ की तीन रानी, तीन गुण
कौशल्या सतोगुण की यानि सद्भाव, भावना, संतुलन
सुमित्रा रजोगुण की अर्थात् काम, ऊर्जा और परिवर्तन;
कैकेयी तमोगुण की, मतलब अंधकार, जड़ता और पतन ।
मेरे प्रभु! अगर मेरी जिंदगी असंख्य तत्वों से थी भरी,
तो फिर ऐसा क्यों ? सीता थी मैडोना या लिली की तरह खरी
जनक का स्वप्न-वैभव, क्या वह सकती थी हरा ?
मैं मैथिली- मीरा, राधा, लक्ष्मी, रूपा, सतरूपा, असीमा का अवतार
अंतहीन भंवर जाल में फंसती जाती नश्वर साहसिक पुनर्वार ,
निसंदेह,मैं मेरी माँ वसुधा के गोद में सोकर कह रही बार-बार ।
सम्पूर्ण स्मृतियाँ खंगालती मेरा मन
जहां देखती जलती दुल्हन, नष्ट-नारी, कन्या भ्रूण-दलन !
कैसे रखूँ अलग खुद को संपूर्ण नारीत्व के अनुसंधान-अभियान ?
मेरी भव्य-शादी को कौन कर रहा आज स्मरण ?
मैं महिला हूँ, हर महिला के अन्तर्मन
प्रतिष्ठित अश्वमेध का बन बलिदान ।
Unique presentation of pain of Sita. Her character is holding high position in the heart of those who could have felt her pain but the number of such person is not much because of patriarchal mindset. In my opinion you have done full justice to Sita. Ram does not deserve to be called MARYADA PURUSHOTTAM RAM because he did not have MARYADA , His low standard behavior and attitude towards Sita put him not more than an ordinary PURUSH because he did what an ordinary man does towards his wife. His character goes very low when he called /ordered Sita to give her test of chastity second time to accept her as his wife. Sita did not want to repeat the same thing which was done in Lanka amid the presence of all the public only die to the whim of Ram. She had known that Ram has no love for her. He had only pride and prejudice towards her. She felt that she is only an object in the hand of her husband. Instead of going with Ram she thought it better to let him go without her. And she went in the lap of mother Earth. She had come from the lap of mother Earth. Ram returned to Ayodhya by taking Lav and Kush as his sons.
ReplyDeleteHere the question arises on the character of Ram that he had suspected the chastity of Sita thinking that Sita remained in the forest for years and whether these sons are mine or not? But after death of Sita what made him to think that these sons are mine. What made him to think so?
Sita lived her life only for few years but as per Valmiki Ramayan Ram remained on thrown for thousands of years.
Any way I vow to you as a poet that you have brought down the realities of the character of Ram as an ordinary person not king not divine God. I think Valmiki portraited Ram 's real character while Tulsi Das put blanket on all the undivinely traits on the part of Ram.
In my opinion the name of Valmiki Ramayan should have been SITAYAN. and the name of Tulsi Das Ramcharitmanas should have been SITACHARITMANAS and he should have been written Lav Kush Kand also but he very cleverly try to hide the undivinely traits on the part of Ram. Again my thanks to you for such an Epic.