Episode 41 – Forest Life

This week, we’re back into the Ramayana.

We’ve done about 7 episodes of the Ramayana so far. If you haven’t heard them before, I do recommend you check them out. If not here’s a summary.

Ram was the oldest son of Dasharath, the King of Ayodhya. He was meant to succeed him. And everything was going according to plan, until Kaikeyi, one of Dasharath’s queens stepped in and changed all the plans. She wanted her own son Bharath to rule instead, so she cashed in on a couple of unconditional promises that Dasharath had given her. Ram was sent into exile for 14 years. Ram, his wife Sita and brother Laxman left Ayodhya. All this while, Bharat wasnt even around. He had no idea all this was happening.

This was sort of like pulling the goalkeeper off of the football field when their substitute wasnt even at the stadium! The spectators loudly booed the decision. Quite rightly so. That didnt have any effect on Kaikeyi however.

The spectators wanted to walk off with Ram but Ram implored them to stay and finish the game and cheer on his substitute. He did promise to return. In just 14 years.

That’s where we pickup the story today.


Having said tearful goodbyes to the people of Ayodhya, the trio of Ram, Laxman and Sita headed south, and a day or two later officially exited the kingdom of Ayodhya. Passport control and Emigration checks were a lot easier than they are these days. Which is to say, those just did not exist. But there was an official from court to record their departure.

The three of them stood just outside the borders of their home, looking at the dark forest that lay ahead. Laxman asked “do you think there are asurs in the forest?”

“I’m sure there are” said Ram. “And Rakshas and beasts”.

“Asurs!” cried Laxman

“Rakshas” cried Sita

“And Beasts, Oh My!” exclaimed the court official behind them.

Ram and Laxman had been in a forest before. See “Episode 16 – Six…teen flags”. But they had less to fear then. Because they had been accompanied by Vishwamitra, the world’s friend who also ironically had the power to destroy it. 

Laxman was understandably nervous. He had not particularly enjoyed the last trip, what with the whole battle with the invisible shapeshifting demon who threw boulders at them.

He asked “Why don’t we just pitch camp here?”
Ram pulled out his copy of the contract he’d signed with Kaikeyi and muttered “…hmmm… whereas party of the first part……hmmm…..burden of proof….. Okay got it. Here it is, we have to be in a forest no less than a hundred miles from the Ayodhya border.

So the trio had to walk on, entering unfamiliar territory. This first forest was quite uneventful actually. But on the other side they came upon the river Ganga. It was in full flow. There was no way they could swim across. As they looked around, a chap came along. It isnt normal to run into a random stranger and find out they are the local King, but this guy was exactly that. It was Guha, a King or a chief of his local tribe. When he found out who they were, he was more than happy to commission a boat to get Ram, Laxman and Sita safely across. And he did it for free.

They walked along the Ganga and finally came upon a hill, called Chitrakoota. There were lots of fruit trees here and the landscape was full of wildflowers. There were little streams, a few waterfalls. A very pleasant place to set up camp. They were far enough from Ayodhya that they built a hut and lived by the banks of the River Mandakini.

All was well for many days and weeks, until one day in the distance there was something. It seemed like a whole army was coming there.

Laxman looked through a telescope. “It’s Bharat!” he screamed. “He’s here with an army. Bharath’s going to attack us! But…but wait. Something’s not right”

As the huge army got closer and Bharath and Shatrughna stepped off of their elephants it became clear why. Bharath wasn’t wearing battle armor, or fatigues. He was wearing rags! Just like Ram and Laxman and Sita.

The brothers did not look happy. Bharath quickly explained why he was here. Dasharath had died. He’d passed away crying out for Ram, just like Shravan’s parents had said he would.
“Wait, did you know about that?” asked Ram

“No” said Bharath sorrowfully, “I’ve only just caught up now to Episode 24 of Narad Muni’s podcast. If I’d known before I could have spoken to Kaikeyi about it and stopped her”

“Don’t you call her “Mummy” anymore?” asked Laxman

“I’ve disowned her,” Bharath replied.

Sita chimed in “But Bharath, if you and Shatrughna are here and father is no more, Queen mother Kaikeyi is no longer a Queen and no longer a mother, who’s minding the shop?”

“Sumantra is, for the moment. But don’t worry he’s not power hungry. Besides, I’ve set up a sunset clause. I’ve been taught well” he said nodding towards Ram. 

“It took a while to find you three though. Luckily I ran into a King who insisted on giving the entire army a ride across the river Ganga. With just one boat it’s taking a while”

“You mean it took a while?” asked Ram

“No. I think the 51st battalion is being transported across as we speak. They’ll join us here, unless we make the substitution quick, and then the others wont even have to cross!”

“What substitution are you talking about?” asked Ram

“Us, of course!” replied Bharat. “Didnt you wonder why I’m wearing rags like you? I’m your substitute. The moment I found out everything that had happened, I knew I couldn’t rule Ayodhya. The job is yours alone”

“Little brother, I’m afraid the rules are clear” replied Ram “you can’t substitute back in someone who’s been substituted out”

“But I’d be substituting you in exile, you wouldn’t be substituting me on the throne!”

“No, the contract and the laws are very clear. More importantly I made a promise to Dasharath and Kaikeyi. I cannot back out now”

They discussed this topic a lot more. Meanwhile the 52nd archers and 53rd infantry had  finished crossing the Ganga. Finally Bharat and Ram reached an agreement. Bharath would not sit on the throne. He would rule in Ram’s name only. Kinda like how the British civil service claims to execute orders on behalf of her majesty, the Queen. Bharat would do that. He’d administer on Ram’s behalf. And at the end of 14 years, Ram would return and be given the throne, that he occupied in absentia.

To seal the deal, Bharat took away Ram’s one good pair of shoes. Oh well, Laxman could help make another pair.

If Bharat was keen on placing Rama’s shoes on to the throne he could have offered an exchange rather than merely taking away what Ram did have. A pretty sight it was – Bharat with well shod feet is carrying Rama’s shoes on his head towards Ayodhya while a barefoot Ram patiently waited for Laxman to source an appropriate raw material and to shape it for his feet.

“Hey! Brother!” Laxman said, “Did you know your left foot is 8 mm shorter than the right one but is wider by 1.8 mm toe-joints?”

Bharath would put the shoes on the throne as a symbol of whom the kingdom really belonged to. 

“Do please wash them first!” Sita had reminded. Ram cant sit on a dirty throne, even if that’s 14 years away”

The one thing Ram couldn’t talk Bharat out of was his diet. Bharat insisted on eating fruits and nuts, which is about all that was available near Ram’s hut in Chitrakoot.

Reluctantly Bharat, Shatrughna and the entire army walked away, back to Ayodhya.

After they had left, Ram couldn’t bear to remain in Chitrakoot. The place would always remind him of his emotions when he heard that Dasharath died. He had to escape from all of that. Besides he’d heard of another place. Panchavati. He explained it to Laxman and Sita, who both agreed to try it out.

That’s all for now

Notes

Chitrakoot, just like Ayodhya, is a real place in India. Though the place does look a lot different from Ram’s time.
Here’s a picture. And some drone footage of Chitrakoot falls

The previous 7 Ramayan episodes are all linked here. Do check them out if you haven’t already.
Episode 6 – Fish Highwayman
Episode 7 – Kingdom by Horse
Episode 15 – Rishi vs Rishi: Un-Civil War
Episode 16 – Six….teen flags
Episode 24 – Promises made, hearts broken
Episode 25 – Up, Up, and Away
Episode 30 – Banished

That’s all for this week. 

Next Time

In the next mini-episode we’ll meet a demon. He was actually Vishnu’s son, before he went rogue. Besides doing regular conquering stuff, he kidnapped 16000 women and stole the earrings of a goddess.

I’ll see you next week!