A few links between the characters of Ramayana and Mahabharata

I love reading the stories of Purana. Besides their religious taste, the characters are all of different flavors even when they are viewed as purely human. Ramayana was written in Tretayug and Mahabharata in Dwapar. I'd point out to some interesting facts to be more specific, certain characters from Ramayana, who were reborn in Mahabharata as different characters. I'd list the character in Ramayana as (a) and their reincarnation in Mahabharata under (b):

 

1. (a) Shri Rama (Ramayana): He was the king of Ayodhya in Ramayana and the slayer of the demon Ravana. Rama is considered to be one of the ten incarnations or avatars of Lord Vishnu. His motivation to be born in the earth (Martya) was to free it from the evil demons (asuras).

 

(b) Shri Krishna (Mahabharata): Shri Krishna was the king of Dwaraka in Mahabharata.  He is also  considered to be one of the ten incarnations or avatars of Lord Vishnu. He was actually Shri Rama reborn in Dwapar yug. Shri Krishna quotes:

 

"Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya

Glanirva Bhavathi Bharatha,

Abhyuthanam Adharmaysya

Tadatmanam Srijami Aham'.

Bhagavad Gita (Chapter IV-7)

 

"Whenever there is decay

of righteousness O! Bharatha

And a rise of unrighteousness

then I manifest Myself!"

 

 

He performs a similar role here slaying many demons like Kamsa, Shishupal, Dantbakra. He plays a major role in the success of the Pandavas in the battle of Kurukshetra.

 

 

2. (a) Ravana and Kumbhakarna (Ramayana): Ravana was the main demon character in Ramayana who carries off Rama’s wife Seeta to seek revenge for Surpanakha, his sister. Kumbhakarna is his younger sibling, who stands by him. Both of them are subsequently slain by Lord Rama in the battle that followed. But all was not bad of Ravana. In fact he was a very lerned Brahmin who was extremely talented. He had a full grasp of the Vedas, besides being an excellent musician who played Rudra Veena. He was a very powerful archer as well.

 

(b) Shishupal and Dantbakra (Mahabharata): Shishupal was the king of Chhedi in Mahabharata. He was born with a pair of extra hands. It was said, that Shishupal would be freed of those extra limbs when his slayer baby sits him. Incidentally it happened to be a young Sri Krishna. Shri Krishna vowed to forgive 100 sins of Shishupal before slaying him. Shishupal grew up to be an arrogant king who demeaned Shri Krishna at every opportunity. Ultimately he was beheaded by the Lord by the Sudarshan Chakra (the disc). Dantbakra, his sibling, met with the same fate.

 

The story goes on like this: Both these pairs of characters were actually incarnations of Jay and Vijay, the two guards od Swarga (Heaven). They were cursed to be born as demons for three births when they didn’t allow a few sages to enter Heaven. They would be freed from the curse when Lord Vishnu in His different avatars, would slay them. In their first birth, they were Hiranyakashipu, and Hirannakshya. Hiranyakashipu was slain by Lord Vishnu in the Narashima (Man-lion) avatar, while Hirannakshya was slain by the Varaha (Boar) avatar. In their second birth, they were born as Ravana and Kumbhakarna to be slain by the Rama avatar of Vishnu. In their third birth, they were born as Shishupala and Dantbakra and were slain by the Krishna avatar of Lord Vishnu.

 

3. (a) Kaikeyi (Ramayana): Kaikeyi was the second wife of Kind Dasharatha, the father of Shri Rama. In the pursuit of making her own son Bharat, the king of Ayodhya, she forced Dasharatha to send Rama to an exile of 14 years. Dasharatha died broken hearted and Kaikeyi faced a curse, which she underwent in her rebirth.

 

(b) Devki (Mahabharata): Kaikeyi was reborn in Mahabharata in Dwapar yug as Devki. Here because of her curse, incidentally she had to stay away from her son Krishna for 14 years (the period of Rama’s exile), before he return to free her after slaying Kamsa.

 

 

4. (a) Kaushalya (Ramayana): Kaushalya was the eldest wife of King Dasharatha and the mother of Shri Rama. She was a very caring mother and equally loved all her step sons. She was heartbroken when her son was sent away from her for 14 years. But Lord Rama promised to be with her even in their next incarnation.

 

(b) Yashoda (Mahabharata): Kaushalya was reborn as Yashoda in Mahabharata. She became the fostering mother of Shri Krishna who lived His first 14 years of life with her. He kept His promise in this way.

 

5. (a) Lakshman (Ramayana): Lakshman was a half-brother of Shri Rama who was always by His side. He forced himself into exile along with Shri Rama. He helped Him to recover Seeta from Ravana.

 

(b) Balarama (Mahabhatara): It’s believed that Balarama is a reincarnation of Lakshman. Balarama was the half-brother of Shri Krishna and was His best friend.

 

6. (a) Baali (Ramayana): Baali was the powerful king of apes and ruled Kishkindhya. He had a boon to get half of the strength of his adversary and hence was undefeatable. He had a misunderstanding with his sibling Sugriva, and drove him out of the kingdom. Sugriva took refuge in Shri Rama. Shri Rama killed Baali from behind, while he was engaged in a combat with Sugriva.

 

(b) Jara (Mahabharata): Shri Rama had committed a crime by killing Baali from behind. He even offered Baali life. But Baali had by then understood his sins, and chose to die in the hands of God. Shri Rama promised Baali, that he would have a chance to seek revenge. Baali was born as an archer and hunter Jara in Dwapar yug. Jara lived on shooting birds in the forest. Shri Krishna was resting in the forest when Jara, thinking His beautiful feet to be a bird, shot at them. Shri Krishna left the world, thus keeping His promise to get slain by Baali in his next incarnation.

 

7. Hanuman (Ramayana and Mahabharata): This was a character which appeared in both the epics. Hanuman was an ape and a very faithful servant of Shri Rama. He took a big part in Ramayana helping Shri Rama to recover Seeta from Ravana. Hanuman lived a very long life to spread the message of Shri Rama in this world. In Dwapar yug, Shri Krishna eventually meets his disciple after keeping him waiting for long. It’s also said, Hanuman was present in Arjun’s banner during the war of Kurukshetra. He helped Arjun in the battle after asked to by his Master Shri Krishna.

 

8. Jambubant (Ramayana and Mahabharata): Jambubant was bear who helped Shri Rama in his war with Ravana. He was also a disciple who, like Hanuman lived a long life on earth to spread His message. Shri Krishna also met Jambuban in Mahabhatata (Dwapar yug).

 

9. (a) Seeta (Ramayana): Seeta was the wife of Shri Rama who was carried away by Ravana in Ramayana. She is considered as an ideal woman, who gave everything for her husband.

 

(b) Rukmani (Mahabharata): Rukmani was the incarnation of Seeta in Mahabharata. Rukmani had a much happier life than Seeta in Ramayana. This was perhaps the result of her sacrifices in Treta yug.

 

That is all for now.  I’d continue writing on this topics.

Mathew's Paradise

Mathew’s paradise

Abhijit Roy

One can see the two bulging rocks from here. In the east they come out of the sea as if two huge grandpa tortoises are resting forever with their smooth oval shaped brown black backs enjoying the sun. On one of them, the Vivekananda temple – quiet and serene and on the other – the tall sky kissing statue of the great Tamil poet stands still. The green sea all around flows past these two rocks to jump on the shore from the east relentlessly. There is no cession. The water of two seas and one ocean meet here. The mild breeze carries in their lap the wave after waves to spread it over the land with white spray of water beads of sparkling stars. They drench the sand, bring with them colorful stones, dead shells and fishes, broken claws of crabs, some weeds and what not hopes of precious future. One such priceless gift of the sea could send Mathew’s world into paradise. A paradise indeed – a small house in the picturesque fishing village at the juncture of the sea and land. He will place a painting of mother Merry holding the new born Jesus in her lap on the entrance door. Every one who visits him would see it first. Why not? It will be the grace of the Lord to be gifted by such a priceless article as a precious stone or a pearl may be? More Mathew thinks about it more he gets convinced. He goes to the Church every Sunday morning to attend the mass. He kneels down, chants each word of the prayer, listens to the priest piously and donates as much as he can. Would not the Lord listen to his small prayer?

Mathew has a secret wish. Sophia who lives beyond the sunset point in the west has hypnotized him. The beauty of Sophia is overwhelming to Mathew. She is only twenty, curved out of a black Mahogany with beautiful eyes which attract him the most. She lives with her parents. Mathew knows that there are many interested in her. But Sophia has talked to him fondly, smiles every now and then, looks at him quizzically to pin him down thunder struck.

Standing in the knee-deep water near the shore overlooking the Vivekananda rock Mathew is now engaged in scanning keenly the gravels and sand which he digs out from under the water with a small spade. Each wave is bringing new treasures and Mathew all drenched expertly places whatever he can grab with his spade on a strainer made of bamboo. He has a special technique to shake and rock the strainer full with the sandy gravels to strain off the undesired and then picks up what he thinks are the precious bounty the sea has offered him. He will then put the objects in his mouth with some magical movements of his fingers like a magician. The objects disappear in the hollow of his mouth. Yes, inside his mouth rests so many things! He wonders how could he keep them there for hours without spilling even when talks? He smiles silently to himself and remembers his father who taught him this very special trick. His father as if he was a magician himself demonstrated many times to make Mathew learn standing here in the waves to deposit coins and other precious articles in the mouth. Mathew was a kid then, who holding his father’s hand would not let him go to the sea without taking Mathew along. He remembers his father’s caution to be careful to deal with the bulge in his mouth and not allowing them to slip into his throat.

Indeed Mathew collects among other things the shining coins of rupees five, two, and one or still lower denominations flowing over to his feet by riding the chariots of waves from the east Vivekananda rocks to the west – the tip of the last land where he stands. Devotees throw them from the motored launch plying for a visit to the rocks. This the devotees do to earn some punnayam but it serves pretty well for Mathew.

At the end of the day he collects a handsome amount of money each day with some valuable stones, small pearls – bits and pieces. Mathew hands over much of the money to his mother to support the family. His father is no more so he has additional responsibility to look after his mother. Mathew is now a grown up responsible man. He saves some for the future, for his Sophia. He can listen to the drip drop heart beats of himself every time he thinks of her.

Some curious tourists some times come slowly down to the spot where Mathew is busy straining. They often ask many questions and some go even further to request him to divulge the trick of holding the coins inside the mouth as if they will stay back at this far away place if they could master the trick! Mathew laughs as he knows just by watching it will result nothing – it needs painstaking practice for years together to achieve the perfection. However, at times he satisfies the curiosity particularly to the touring kids and ladies to make them happy.

Happy he is! Sophia at last has agreed to marry him. He has been trying to persuade her for last couple of months to marry him and that he could not wait any longer .He has announced all about the affair to his mother who is visibly happy to accept Sophia as her daughter in law. Sophia has already won his mother’s affection during her short visits to Mathew’s house. Mathew also has announced this good fortune to some of his friends. They demanded immediate celebrations.

Mathew has collected some genuine pearls before. He had them examined by the expert jewelers. He has heard of pink pearls from his father and others. He knows how precious they are and rare. He prays to his lord for the gift of one such pearl from the sea. He has a secret wish to present a pink pearl to Sophia. They will go together on one full moon night to the furthest rock of the sunset point. He will then ask her to close her eyes. Sure Sophia will refuse to do so. She knows what Mathew will do to her when she closes her eyes. Mathew smiles inwardly – this time is different he thinks. He could imagine the immense surprise and delight of disbelief in the huge eyes and face of Sophia. He prays hard each day and believes that his prayer will be granted soon.

During the day Mathew relentlessly searches the sea bed with his strainer and spade. While in the dark deep night he ventures out to the ocean with his friends in small wooden boats (dinghy) in clusters dragging the large heavy nets to trap the shoal of fish. The lights on the boats appear to be tiny dots in a straight line from the shore out in the dark roaring water. Mathew has no fear for the sea. The time elapses fast in the thoughts of Sophia.

As the day of marriage nears Mathew spends more time in the knee deep water, frantically searches the strainer in his hands. His mouth gets filled with coins and pieces of other precious stones. Some of his friends tell him not to spend so much of time in water and get exhausted. Mathew could not listen to them. He has a secret wish to fulfill! The on lookers some times bend upon him to see his treasures which he hides expertly. He has seen some greedy eyes on him. They might try to snatch if they get a chance. Mathew wakes up from his dreams and gets cautious to see a small round shaped marble like pink glistening ball. Mathew immediately puts it inside his mouth and all on a sudden he jumps out of water and runs. He runs towards the sunset point crossing the beach and the roads. But suspecting something extraordinary, the onlookers fast follow him too. The crowd gathers in multiple. Their roar baffles the sound of ceaseless waves. Faster, Mathew runs faster. He looks back to see a springing bunch of people on him. He chuckles. His legs give in finally! Mathew gasped and falls kicking his fist up to the heaven. The cool sea water laps his feet as he lies still in the beach.

Mathew did not know how long he lay in the beach. He opened his eyes to see his mother’s smiling face. His head placed on her laps. He felt the warmth of a gentle palm stroking him. Surely it was Sophia’s. He glazed at her. His eyes suggested defeat: he could not get her the most beautiful gift he longed for! But her eyes reflected love and happiness: to her, he was the most beautiful gift she ever thought of!