Chapter 8: Background stories

Sri Lanka was built on top of a mountain called Tri-kuta Giri. ThisTri-kuta was a piece of rock that broke from Mount Meru. Long ago,there was some discussion between two Gandharvas. One Gandharvasaid, "Vasuki is such a powerful strong snake, that when the Lordtook incarnation as Matsya, he used Vasuki as a rope to tie the hornof that fish to the boat where Maharaja Satyavrata and thesapta-rishis were travelling. In the dissolution water, this boatwas kept safe due to Vasuki binding Matsya and the boat." The otherGandharva said, "Maybe he is strong, but do you think he could be asstrong as Vayu, Varuna or Agni?" The other said, "He must bestronger than them, otherwise why did the Lord select Vasuki?" Whilethey were discussing in this way, Vayu, the god of air, who ispresent everywhere, he couldn't tolerate this discussion. Hepersonally came in front of them and asked them, "What is thisuseless discussion?" "Who are you?" they enquired. "I am Vayu," hereplied. "Is there anyone as strong as me? Why do you even discussthese things? Don't you know that I am everywhere and I am listeningto these things?" One Gandharva said, "Well, I have seen Vasuki. Iwas the last one to creep into the water at that time. I've seen howstrong he is." Vayu said, "Bring that Vasuki, and we can test."Then Vasuki was brought, and he challenged Vayu. "What do you mean?I am so strong! Every time the Lord selects me, so there must besome reason." Vayu said, "Then we can test our strength." Vasukisaid, "I will coil around the Meru three times, and you blow and seeif you can open my coils." But they never consulted Mount Meruwhether they could do it. Around Mount Meru were so many insects andcreatures. All the planetary systems were going around it. Vasukiwent on there, and Meru did not mind. So many snakes were on therealready. But he didn't know there was going to be some sports.Vasuki coiled around Meru three times and started getting tighter andtighter. And then Vayu started blowing against Mount Meru in fullforce. Mount Meru started moving back and forth, because Vayu wasusing all his strength, and Vasuki was not going to give up. So itwas not just Vasuki, but Vayu had to work on both, the strength ofMount Meru and the strength of Vasuki. And then Mount Meru startedcomplaining and screaming. "What is this? There are three partiesinvolved in this, but I was never consulted. Why am I being giventrouble like this? I am going to turn upside down and createtrouble. All the planetary systems will fall." Brahma heard allthis, and he appeared on the scene, telling Vayu and Vasuki, "Youhave your kind of strength, and he has his kind of strength. In yourkind of strength, you are the most strong. And in his strength,blowing, that you cannot do. So in that way he is strong." WhenVasuki uncoiled after the sports, one rock was broken from MountMeru, and it fell in the salt ocean. This rock had three peaks, soit was known as Tri-kuta. It was on the salty ocean for a long time.And then Visvakarma, for the purpose of making a nice palace for thepastimes of the demigods, he made this Sri Lanka city on top ofTri-kuta mountain. Later, Kuvera, the cousin brother of Ravana, tookover this place. He also got an appointment as the treasurer of thedemigods, so they didn't mind him using it. Kuvera was there for along time. When Ravana, Vibhisana, Kumbhakarna and Surpanakha wentthere for performing austerities, Ravana's mother Kaikashi becamevery envious that Kuvera was sitting on this wonderful Sri Lankacity, so she told Ravana, "Why don't you perform some austerities sothat you can get a benediction and kick him out of this place."Kaikashi was the wife of Vishravas, and Vishravas had another wifethrough whom Kuvera was born. These were co-wives, and they wererivals. Kaikashi was inciting Ravana, "You must perform sometapasya, some great austerities." Ravana performed austerities,Kumbhakarna performed austerities, Vibhisan a performed austerities,and Surpanakha also performed austerities as well as Khara andDusana. Each one was born with 1 hour 45 minutes difference betweenthem. Ravana, then Kumbhakarna, then Vibhisana, then Surpanakha,then Khara and Dusana. So they were all in Himalayas performingausterities. When Brahma appeared before Ravana, he asked for allkinds of greedy benedictions, and he got them. Kumbhakarna wasthinking to ask for a benediction by which he will live forever.The word in Sanskrit is "nitya-tvam." nitya means eternal andnitya-tvam means eternity. "I want eternity." But somehow thematerial nature tricked Kumbhakarna. The word Devatta, the power ofspeech came in his tongue, and tilted his tongue. Instead ofnitya-tvam, he asked for "nidra-tvam." Nidra means "sleep", so heasked for sleep. Brahma said, "Tadastu, you can have it."Kumbhakarna said, "What? No! I wanted to live forever, not sleep!Please stop this benediction!" Brahma said, "No, I have given youthis benediction, I cannot take it back." He begged, "This is notfair! It is a trick of the demigods! I did so much austerity, andnow I am simply going to sleep. This is not proper! Why would aperson ever perform austerities so that he can just sleep forever,and then die at the end?" So Brahma felt very compassionate. "Allright, Kumbhakarna, you sleep for six months. And then you get up,and you eat for six months." So Kumbhakarna went to sleep. At theend of the sixth month, waking him up was very difficult. They hadto bring a huge army. The army would march on his body. Elephantsand camels would walk over him, and they would play bugles and putfire on his chest. Still he would be snoring and wouldn't get up.After all the army marched past shooting astras and creating a lotof noise, then slowly he will feel some pain somewhere and then hegot up. When he got up he would smash half of the army. He was ahuge big figure. As soon as he got up he would ask, "Where isfood?" He hadn't eaten for such a long time, so he eats for sixmonths. This is what he did before he went back to sleep again.While he ate, his education was done. Pandits would sit on bothsides and read books to him. He would be simultaneously eating andlistening to the shastras. In this way, he also became an expertarcher. He got other benedictions also. He was a great yogi, andwhile sleeping he would come out of his body in his subtle body, andhe would travel around and find out everything. One body was asleep,but in his sukshma-sharira, Kumbhakarna visited Kailash, performedausterities and got astras from Lord Siva. Only his gross bodycouldn't be seen. Vibhisana was also praying, and when Brahma came,he said, "Give me devotion to the Supreme Lord." Ravana said, "Ohno! One more in the family. First Prahlad, and now him! What areyou doing? Brahma is here, so get something worthwhile. But no,`devotion to the Supreme Lord.' What will you do with this? Youhave become a demon!" For the demons, a devotee is a demon. "Youare not against Hari, you want to worship Him." That was Vibhisana'sbenediction. And Surpanakha got a benediction for changing her form.Whatever form she wanted she could take. That was how she was tryingto attract Laksmana and Ramacandra. She became a beautiful girl, andshe was saying, "Ramacandra, I'm so attracted by you." Ramacandrasaid, "Yes, anyone will be attracted by me. The only problem is thatmy wife is here. If she was not here, I wouldn't mind. But look atmy brother! He is also married, but his wife is not here. You checkwith him." Laksmana said, "How is it possible? When my elderbrother is in front of me, how can I do it? You go to my elderbrother, he is just joking with you." So she went back toRamacandra, and said, "Your younger brother is not interested inthese things. You are the older one, why aren't you interested?" Hereplied, "Yes I am the elder, but the point is that my wife is verywild. If she ever finds out that I am talking to you, I don't knowwhat will happen. He is fre vidual separate from his wife. Go tohim." She went to him, but Laksmana said, "Yes his wife is wild, butshe is not here now. You should be utilizing this opportunity. Yougo try with him, and if that doesn't work you just come back to me."So she went back to Ramacandra, saying, "See? Your wife is not herenow." Ramacandra said, "Yes, my wife is not here, but this brotheris very political. When she comes back, he will tell her. So youfirst go to him, and if he is happy then he won't tell." So she ranback to Laksmana. By that time Sita came. Surpanakha said, "Allthis trouble is because of you!" And she ran and picked Sita up. Assoon as she did that, Laksmana came with his sword, and cut off thetips of her nose, ears and breasts, and the original Rakshasi formcame out. She was crying, and then she disappeared into the sky.Then Khara and Dusana came with 14,000 able fighters from the demondynasty. Ramacandra finished all of them with one arrow. Janasthanwas a very strategical point. Janasthan was the last point in themainland. If anyone could conquer the soldiers in Janasthan, thenthey could dare to cross the ocean and come to Sri Lanka. Ravana wasso happy because Janasthan was there, and Khara, Dusana andSurpanakha were just exploiting the area, eating rishis every day.He was so happy. "Who can come to Sri Lanka?" But then, thisso-called human being, Ramacandra, he told Laksmana, "Don't evenmove. I will do it." He killed 14,000 demon soldiers, and Khara andDusana were destroyed. When the news reached Ravana, he wasthinking, "No this is not true. It cannot be true. How can a humanbeing kill 14,000 demons?" Always Ravana was thinking, "No, it's nottrue. It's not true." But it was true. Everything he heard seemedto him to be like it was not true. When he went to Marica and said,"Please go and become a deer," Marica said, "What? Become a deerand do what? What can a deer do to Rama? I still remember how hepushed me right acr oss the mainland and threw me into the saltyocean with only a blade of grass. That is why I became a babaji,not for searching after the Absolute Truth. In fear of the blade ofgrass I became a babaji, an ascetic. Don't drive me in front ofRamacandra again." Ravana said, "If you don't go, I will kill you."Marica was thinking, "Ravana will kill me anyway. Ravana or Rama,but it's better to die in the hands of Rama. Why die in the handsof this demon?" So Marica said, "I will go." Ravana said, "Ahh! Ialways knew you had great affection for me." "No, I don't have anyaffection for you." "Then why do you want to go?" Ravana asked."Well who wants to die in your hands?" Marica said. "I would ratherdie in the hands of Rama. And I know I will die, so I am going."Ravana made the biggest mistake in his life by kidnapping Sita.Ravana was a great scholar and pandit. He was known as Shastra-jna.He knew all shastras, in all the Vedas he was expert. Nobody atthat time had the expert pronunciation of Ravana. Even in thedemigod's assembly sometimes when they held sacrifices, they wouldbring Ravana for chanting verses. If someone is chanting Sanskritverses, that does not necessarily mean he is a great devotee.Demons are also chanting Sanskrit verses. Vedais ca sarvair ahameva vedyah. Ravana read all the Vedas, yet due to his lust he couldnot even accept that another man's wife should not be taken.Ravana's lust was exemplary. Once he was performing a firesacrifice, and Agni appeared there with his wife, in spite of Brahmatelling him not to go there, this Ravana was a trouble-maker. Agnisaid, "Look at his chanting, so perfect. Such wonderfulinstallation of fire, so I must go there personally." Brahma said,"All right go, but don't take your wife." So then Agni said, "Howis it Vedic that one goes without his wife? If I go without her Iwill only be 50%. I must go with my wife." Brahma said, "Well, ifthat is written in your head, what can I say? You go." So Ravanawas circumambulating the fire with folded hands chanting mantras, andthen Agni came. "Ravana! I am here." Ravana looked around. Notonly was he there, but Agni's wife, Swaha, was also there. Shelooked so beautiful, as beautiful as fire. She is actually the flameof the fire. When Ravana looked at her, he immediately lifted herand flew away in the middle of his yajna, before completing it. Thepriests were shouting, "Ravana! At least do the purnahoti!" "Whatpurnahoti?" Ravana replied. "Woman is more important." So Agni wasshouting, "Please, please Ravana, give me my wife back! I'll giveyou anyone, but don't take my wife." Every husband thinks like this,"If my wife goes, how will I eat?" The wife is supposed to be thesaha-dharmani, one who helps the husband in his religious practices.After Ramacandra had said, "I will finish all the demons inDandakaranya," Sitadevi was looking so worried that Ramacandra askedher, "How come you are so unhappy after your husband made such awonderful promise, and flowers fell from the heavens?" She said,"You took the vanaprastha life to live in the forest for fourteenyears, as an ascetic. Only for defending me did You say you werecarrying your bow and arrows. You have come here, and now, insteadof living as an ascetic, You are beating on Your shoulders, sayingYou will kill the demons. That is one point. Another point is thata king of noble quality should not become the enemy of someone unlessthat person has given him some trouble. The demons have given you notrouble. They are eating rishis, but they are not troubling you.And if rishis are being eaten then it is the responsibility ofBharata, he is the king. You are not the king, and You said that youdid not want to be, so you are breaking your word." Women give verytechnical arguments, but sometimes they are totally useless. Atleast in this case they were. Sitadevi was saying this, but thenanother time when Gautama Rishi's wife gave her cosmetics which werein two big heavy baskets , she asked Laksmana, "Can you please carrythis for me?" Laksmana said, "But mataji, we are in the forest. Weare supposed to be wearing tree bark. Only because Dasaratha beggeddid you get some silk saris, and I am already carrying one basketfull of silk saris. We have to climb mountains, cross rivers, I haveto carry sword, shield, bows and arrows, an axe, and now cosmetics?What for?" Anasuya, Gautama's wife, was no ordinary woman. She hadheavenly cosmetics. You only had to put this make up on once everyfive or six days. You can take bath, do anything. Laksmana wascomplaining, "These cosmetics will smell for ten kilometres distance.It is dangerous. We are moving in the forest, and ten miles aroundwe are propagating that we are here. It is unsafe. A tiger, a lionor even some demon may come." Actually these cosmetics were sodangerous that she had so many problems. Even demigods wereattracted to her. "But I won't use them," Sita argued. "Then whatis the use of carrying them?" Laksmana said. This is alsotraditional for women to carry things that they never use. PoorLaksmana left his wife in Ayodhya, and he had to carry thesecosmetics for fourteen years. Even when they crossed the ocean hehad to carry it. She said, "When I am back in Ayodhya I will useit." When she was sitting in the Ashoka-vana, she was lamenting,"What did I do? I said such bad words to Laksmana who was carryingall that weight for me. He was even carrying all those uselesscosmetics on his shoulder. I criticized him, `You want to enjoy me,that is why you are not going'. Why did I say that? Now I amsuffering because of it." In this way Mother Sita was lamenting. Soback to the original story. Ravana knew all these mantras, but whywas he a demon? Being the son of Vishravas, he is a Brahmin, not aksatriya. He is the grandson of Brahma, and a very learned pandit.Still he is a demon. What makes him a demon? He does not acceptthat the Supreme Lord is the enjoyer, the Supreme Lord is thecontroller and the Supreme Lord is the friend. Bho ktarama yajnatapasam sarva loka mahesvaram / suhrdam sarva-bhutanam jnatva mamsantim rcchati. So Ravana lost his shanti, he had no peace. Why?Because he was not accepting the Supreme Lord's sovereignty. Ravanawas thinking, "Why not me? I am the lord." That is why he calledhimself, "Trilokeshvara Ravana." This means "the controller of thethree worlds." That was his ambition, even while he couldn'tcontrol a common cold. But still he was Trilokeshvara. In anycase, Ravana got so many curses. He was cursed that a monkey wouldburn his city down. Another curse was that monkeys will spit on hisface. When a monkey spits on his face, the tenth day after that hewould die. He would be killed by human beings who were surroundedby monkeys. This was all predicted, but the foolish Ravana with histen brains couldn't accept this, because of lust. Ravana did notcarry his ten heads all the time. If he lost one head, anotherwould come. And if he lost that head, the previous one will comeback again, because his life point was somewhere else, not in theneck or the chest. This was one trick of the demons. They wouldkeep their life point somewhere else. It may be in a bird, a lizardor a lotus flower, and from here they extend their power. If youkilled him, slashed him or did anything to him, he wouldn't diebecause his life was somewhere else. So these heads were comingwhenever one was removed, and these ten heads possessed ten kinds ofintelligence. This was the benediction he got from Brahma. Onehead was expert in politics, one in Vedic dharma, one inadministration, one in how to enjoy, another in travelling plans,etc. In this way when he was going to take Sita, he consulted allthe ten heads. Nine heads refused, "Don't kidnap Sita." Only hisown head refused to listen to that instruction. So many powerfulthings he had, but by exploiting the property of the Supreme Lord,Ravana met his death. Once he even challenged Narada Muni. Naradawas flying, and Ravana saw him. He called out, "Hey! Come here."Narada Muni thought, "Why should I be of any trouble? Let me gothere." Ravana said, "You teach me the meaning of om, right now."Narada said, "No. Meaning of Om is not to be taught to people likeyou. I won't teach." Ravana said, "Why not? I am a disciple, andyou are a guru. You must teach me." This started in Treta-yuga, thedisciples telling their guru what to do. So then Narada said, "Thisis not for this age, Ravana. You please wait." Ravana said, "No!Do you know who I am? I am Trilokeshvara Ravana. Here is my sword!"He had a sword called Candrahasa. This sword was so wonderful, thatyou can just tell the sword, "You go and kill him." It will chaseyou through the fourteen planetary systems, kill you and then return.Such a missile he had. Candrahasa can go through steel, throughbrass, even through illusion. Suppose a person creates an illusionby magic, Candrahasa would go through the illusion and kill thatperson. This is the sword he used when fighting with Airavata, thewhite elephant. So Narada said, "You are showing me some sword, andyou think you are going to frighten me into teaching you the Vedas?This is not the principle for learning Vedas. What kind of knowledgewill you get from me? That knowledge will become useless, so I willnot teach you." Ravana said, "All right Narada, get ready." "I amalways ready," Narada said. "What do you mean? Get ready now!" Sohe took the Candrahasa sword and slashed Narada. It went rightthrough him, but nothing happened. Narada was standing theresmiling. Ravana got so angry. "I am going to finish you!" hescreamed and took his trident which emits fire, which is only used byLord Siva and which is more powerful than the Brahmastra. It wentright into him, but Narada was still standing there chanting, "Hari!Hari!" Ravana took all his astras and weapons at his command andthrew everything at Narada, who was catching them and giving themback, "Don't lose his weapons aside, touched Narada's feet, and gavehim a seat. "Please tell me," he inquired. "How come you are notkilled?" Narada said, "This is a benediction from the Supreme Lord,that I have got a spiritual body. You don't understand this. Onceupon a time you also had one, but you lost it because of somemistake. Don't waste time trying to kill me, because I won't die."Ravana said, "That's what I want also! Can you teach me the trick?"Narada said, "Very simple, just accept Visnu as the Supreme Lord.Surrender to him." Ravana's face screwed up. "Oh! Aaargh! Againthat Visnu! I don't want to listen to this name! Get out of mypalace, you and your transcendental body. All bogus!" So thenNarada Muni said, "But Ravana, you have unnecessarily used your angeron me, so this will not go in vain. A monkey will spit on your face,and the tenth day after that you will die, although you are thinkingyou are so powerful." Narada Muni cursed him. Actually it was abenediction. All curses by Narada are benedictions. Because of thatcurse that he would get spat on by Sugriva, he got the arrow of Ramain his chest. Sometimes when a Vaisnava is agitated, that is alsoauspicious. But we have to be a demon to agitate a Vaisnava. If weare not a demon, and he becomes agitated, he may not curse us but thematerial nature will take action. In any case, Hanuman thought, "Letme go and find Sita."