Raghuvamsam -3 (E)
Raghuvamsam-III
(Written by:Santhipriya)
Birth of Raghu -
War with Indira
Like clouds slowly moving, next few months passed in peace and Sudakshina
conceived, soon to give birth to a
pleasing offspring much to the delight of the King. Joy drums cheered, dancers twinkling feet
echoed through palace halls. Benevolent
in mind and heart, Dilipa left no
stones unturned in rewards delighting all hearts in the kingdom. Ceremonial
rituals completed, the King baptized the newly born as Raghu.
Raghu grew noble and generous. Like stream sucking ocean water,
learning of all sorts he acquired and fully trained in entire sacred and kingly
lore. When age of wedding attained, like
Daksha’s daughters married to Moon, Raghu too was happily wedded to a
noble Princess. Even before Dilipa
devolved the Kingdom on his son, the saintly sage Vashishta advised that he perform
Ashwametha Yahya (Horse sacrifice) to safeguard the cares and honour of the
kingdom.
As Ashwametha Yahya commenced, the safety of the Yahya horse
was thrust on Raghu. When the ceremony commenced, jealous of Dilipa performing the Yahya, which if allowed would take away his fame, Indira, the
King of Heaven by his mystic power stole
the horse well guarded by Raghu. When the ritual with all but last one of the horses
were completed and the one last guarded
by Raghu when called for the completion of Yahya, it was not
to be seen for stolen by the heavenly lord. Amazed Raghu realized he has
been mesmerized and cheated by some unknown. Hearing
the cries of alarm from perplexed Raghu, sage Vashishta’s Divine Cow Nandini
rushed down from Heaven to lend her help to Raghu, son of Dilipa, who once
her servant guard. Aware of the scene, she offered her urine to Raghu to wash his face to lift the veil of
secrecy, which when Raghu complied in unflinching faith, the veil was lifted to
show before his eyes the King of Heaven Indira driving off the
reluctant reed to his place. Raghu immediately challenged Indira with a
loud voice .
Raghu thundered ‘King
of Heaven, always foremost to accept the sacred rites, how should you impede the Yahya stealing
away my Sire, the last one needed for the rite to conclude, the one under my custody?
King of Heaven, Your act betray the act
of an noble guardian. You shall be
condemned by nature for this treacherous act of stealing a sacrificial Sire. O, highest lord of Heaven, be considerate to unshackle
the Sire and and allow heaven’s bliss befall on my father, lest you shall remain
a sinner for ever’
In stark amaze at the boldness of Raghu, Indira restrained his
chariot to reply ‘Oh, Noble prince of Kshatriya Kingdom, you speak well, but
remember, when one seek to rob the fame of another, in all fairness he shall
impede the act of his foe at any cost, lest the fame fades away. Your father’s ceremony (meaning performing Ashwametha Yahya)
if allowed to conclude shall ruin my fame as Lord of lords, and thus me left
with nothing but to impede the Yahya'. Devendra continued
My son, listen further. Lord Vishnu
reign supreme as Purushothama, Lord Siva as Thrayambaka and I hold the title
Sadakrutha, lord of hundred sacrificial rites. When each one long to keep their fame and title
unblemished, expect me alone not to lose
it, and therefore I advise you to desist from the vain attempt to win back the
Sire which I am taking to save my title. Do not tread the path of Sage Sagara’s sons
who perished chasing sage Kapila. Still if you desire to pursue, pull out your stock and the choice then shall be nothing but war with me’.
Undaunted Raghu complied to call of war to
pull out his weapons. Both
were engaged on fierce battle when earth drank bloods from both as each inflicted
severe wounds on each other. Though stunned at the gory sight, Airavatha, Lord of elephants in Heaven, and carrier of Lord Indira
remained a mute spectator as
terrible arrows flying both ways rained
like thunder stinging each others like poisonous snakes. Difficult to predict
the winner was the situation when both Raghu and Indira fell to the ground, fully
exhausted.
Severely wounded Raghu proclaimed ‘Mighty lord,
Move further not. Unless I am vanquished,me valor in Ikshavaku dynasty, dare not place one
step further with my Sire. Either the sacred Sire be restored back to my pious father and he be allowed the
reward of the arduous rites, or my fierce weapons shall continue impeding your steps to go with my Sire. Oh, lord of lords, walk away with honour releasing a boon on oath that
my father beget the reward due by the ceremony and then I shall cease the fight and allow you go away.
When Raghu remained firm and unyielding to give up, the chief of heaven who lost the luster realized the futility of the
fight and finally yielded to release on oath the boon Raghu craved for to reward his father, Devendra had nothing else except to comply before departing to heaven. There at King’s Palace, when Raghu reached
with the last Sire needed for the
sacrifice, Dilipa received his heavily wounded son with joy and sobbed uncontrollably
in ecstasy and continued the Yahya till at the end mounted the
throne on Raghu. As years rolled, once aged
Dilipa desired to rest from earth and thus marched to heaven in peace.
The folks of Ayodhya in all fairness rejoiced on crowning of Raghu, barring Kings of neighbor states who felt
jealous of him. Fairness was Raghu’s rule who neither burnt, nor chilled selective
hearts, only good he chose, but never ill that wounded the hearts of folks. His sway reached far
ends in all directions. Cool rays of moon and heat of Sun were his natural
virtues. After ascending the throne Raghu
absorbed all aspects of lore, from dialectics to ethics like the great ocean that sucked each drops of
water to swell its body. His wide
expanded eyes lit up his face like the moon light and his sight was clear to swell the coffers from not only from those vanquished, but also no matter from
where they came from either small or big rulers that he bashed. All the frontier posts, the King safeguarded with
might and as the autumn dried and spring
sprang up, Raghu’s Chariots raised and elephants trumpeted across four corners on a career of universal conquest. The mighty army’s march with bearded warriors raised
clouds of dust as if earth and air collided uprooting the trees. He led his valiant host (army) like furious
Ganges flowing down from Heaven to earth from the braided hair of lord Siva and as he marched boundaries only continued to expand, immeasurable in length and breath.
Like the bees that
swarm the thickly round honeycombs, kingdoms from Bengal to Kalinga were smoked out. Even those
opposed his command beyond Mahindra Mountain were subdued one by one. Wings
clipped Kings were set free once they bowed like reeds and poured their wealth
under his feet. Raghu’s glory continued
to spread even in south when king after kings fell beyond river Kaveri under
the swiftly moving steeds of the King, and wherever he marched, mighty pillars
of victory were hoisted.
After plunging countries from Persia to Kashmir, the lawful
triumphant King returned home and performed Visvajit Yahya and lavishly feasted
and gifted the invitees and gathered guest who sought alms. Thus the wealth he
carefully accumulated from several corners of the land with his might melted soon
in his acts of philanthropy and coffer dried up as fast as it swelled ultimately
leaving nothing to gift except an earthen pot when Sage Kaustsa visited him
seeking alms.
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