RAMAYANA: STORY OF RSAYASRNGA (Part 2)

The next morning, the deer delivered a baby. It had a human form, but with deer horns. This was Rsayasrnga. So this deer ran to the ashrama of Vibondaka and started crying. Vibondaka saw this and thought, "Why are these things happening to me? Some lady wants a son, and now a deer is crying in my ashrama." So Vibondaka asked the deer, "What is wrong? Who is giving you trouble?" The deer started walking away and Vibondaka followed. The deer brought him to where Rsayasrnga was, and Vibondaka saw this shining young baby with deer horns. He thought, "Oh, this is my son. If nobody wants him, then I will take care of him." Then Vibondaka thought, "Now I know why I was sent here, for some reason. Kashyapa did not conceive me for nothing. I am supposed to conceive this son, and God knows what he is going to conceive." So Vibondaka brought him to the ashrama and gave him milk. He taught him Vedas and Upanishads and philosophy. There was no woman in that forest, which was yojanas-wide. There were not even any tigresses, only tigers. So Rsayasrnga had no idea of women.

He grew up, and for everything, he was depending on his father. He would ask his father, "Father, can I take this book and read it?" And if his father said yes, then he would do it. He would ask, "Father, should I brush my teeth?" And if the father said yes, he would brush his teeth. He was so dependent on his father. He would always walk everywhere holding his father's hand. In this way, Rsayasrnga grew up to be the most innocent person in the creation. Lord Ramacandra had to appear, and if he was to appear then the yajna-Purusha has to give the khir, and if that khir is to come, then the yajna has to be performed by someone who has never seen a woman. Lord Ramacandra's advent was not that easy. This whole story is already in Visnu Purana. In this way Rsayasrnga was growing up, never hearing of any woman. Dasaratha, when his daughter was born to Kausalya, he was thinking, "What shall I do with this daughter?"

Then one day, from Angadesha, the country of Anga, Dasaratha's friend Romapada (which means "hairy feet") was hankering for a child too. He had some sons, but he had no daughter. This is the material world. He has daughters, he is hankering for a son. And he who has sons is hankering for a daughter. And he who has no children, they are hoping for children, and those who have children are thinking "How to get rid of them," and they send them to Gurukula. So Romapada came to Dasaratha and said, "You are my very good friend, and you have no sons. You always think, `What is the use of a daughter?' And I want a daughter, so why don't you give her to me?" And Dasaratha said, "All right, you can have her." So he gave Shanti in adoption to the king of Angadesha known as Romapada. Romapada brought Shanti to his kingdom. And whether it was the girl's misfortune or the king's misfortune, the second day was the day the rainy season was supposed to start but there was no rain. The whole rainy season went by and there was no rain. The second rainy season also went by with no rain. A big famine came about. So the king went to the astrologer and asked him, "Why is there famine in my kingdom? Is it due to this daughter? Everyone is saying it is due to her." They found out that during some yajna that had been performed by Romapada, he had cheated a Brahmin.

He first promised him, "I will give you this much amount of diamonds," but while he was counting the diamonds to be given as Dakshina, he found one diamond which was very valuable, and he thought, "What is the Brahmin going to do with this?" So he took it out, and put a bigger diamond in its place, which was less valuable. When he gave the bag of diamonds to the Brahmin, the Brahmin touched the bag and said, "You cheated me! You removed one of these diamonds and put a bigger diamond to cheat me." It was inside the bag, and the king was thinking, "How does he know this?" The Brahmin said, "I am a Brahmin, so I know this. You are cheating, so all the Brahmins will leave this country." So he formed a big union and all the Brahmins walked out of the country. No more Brahmins means no more yajna, and it was Treta-yuga, so no yajna means no food. The king was wondering what to do, so slowly from here and there he collected some Brahmins from other countries, and he brought them on immigration, so they couldn't stay long. These Brahmins were coming and going, and in this way, he was running his kingdom. Now famine had come due to this curse, and the fact that all the Brahmins had left his country. So the astrologer said, "So to solve this problem, you have to bring all the Brahmins back." Romapada said, "But these Brahmins have formed a union. They won't come back." "They will come back if you bring one person here." Romapada asked, "Who is that?" "There is one rishi. He has never seen a woman. And he doesn't even know what is a woman.

That person must come, and he must marry your daughter. If that rishi stays in your kingdom, then the Brahmins will not stay anywhere else. They will come here because he is such a learned person. To see him, they will come. And after they come, they will stay." So now he had to get this Rsayasrnga, and he was thinking "How to get him?" So he asked to his ministers, and they said, "Rsayasrnga is not an easy object, his father is Vibondaka. If Vibondaka gets angry he will burn the universe to ashes. If you try to get his son he will get angry, and then there is no necessity of yajna or rain, because the whole universe will be burnt, and you will also be burnt." "So what to do?" Romapada asked. "You have to use some trick," his ministers replied. Then they advised him, "You must go and consult the society girls, the famous prostitutes of the country." So then Romapada made an announcement, "Special interview with the prostitutes of the country." They all came, and they were thinking it had something to do with dance or music, or something like that. But when they heard that they had to bring Rsayasrnga, then they ran away because everybody knew this person.

However, one lady came up, and she said, "For the benefit of my country, I will sacrifice myself. I will try; if he comes, that's good. Then the kingdom will be happy. If he doesn't come, only a prostitute will be killed. What's the problem? I don't care, I will go." Romapada asked, "What do want in return?" "I don't want anything, let the country be happy." "What help do you need?" Romapada asked. "Your treasury, whenever I go, must open. And if I want anything from any department, they must say yes, because you must know I am sacrificing my life." So the king gave her a special green card. Anywhere she goes, anything she wants she would get. She made a boat that was four miles long and two miles wide. On top of the boat, she made an ashrama. This boat was totally covered with trees and bushes, flower gardens, lakes, and deer. All kinds of things she put in there. And thousands of people were rowing the boat, but you couldn't see anything, it was all covered by bushes. There were pathways, small mountains, and waterfalls, and everything was created. It looked like an island, but it was moving. No one knew what it was. They all thought it was the Gandharvas who have come. It was a special ashrama, no men. Only women were there. No tigers, only tigresses. It was filled up with women. They all had rudrakshas, tulasi-malas, and jasmine flowers tied up in their hair, and they were all praying, doing meditation, and chanting mantras. This boat was floating so nicely down the river, and somehow they got it into Madhya Pradesh. So as they reached Vibondaka's ashrama, Vibondaka went out to help a sage who had gotten stuck in the mouth of an elephant. He was calling, "Save me! Save me!" And no one heard him, only Vibondaka. So he told Rsayasrnga, "You must perform the yajna three times daily. Don't worry about cleaning the ashrama, because it's too big for you. Just perform the yajna till I get back." When Vibondaka left, the demigods made arrangements and got him involved in so many other things so that Rsayasrnga was left by himself. Rsayasrnga went to the river to take water for the yajna, and he saw this moving ashrama. He'd never been anywhere, but he'd studied a lot of shastra, and he'd never heard of anything like this before. And whenever the description came of women, Vibondaka would never explain it.