Miscellaneous - Religion   

Viswamitra’s role

Chennai: Viswamitra, the sage who was a king to start with, but realised that kingship cannot confer the benefits that tapas could, became a Rajarishi, and then later a Brahmarishi too, as a result of his penance. But for Viswamitra’s efforts, Dasaratha would not have sent Lord Rama to the forest.

The rest of the Ramayana hinges on Rama’s first visit to the forest as this leads to His marriage to Sita. The Paratva of Rama is shown to the world through Viswamitra. Although the other sages like Vasishta also knew this fact, they did not reveal it to the world.

Viswamitra says to Janaka that Rama is in Mithila to string the Siva dhanus. But what is implied, though not stated explicitly by Viswamitra, is the fact that the Pranava mantra is the bow, the Jivatma is the arrow and the target is the Parabrahma. And that Parabrahma is none other than Lord Narayana, who has appeared as Rama, said M.V. Anantapadmanabhachariar.

Viswamitra gave us the Gayatri mantra, and there is a close relationship between the Ramayana and the Gayatri mantra. There are 24 letters in the Gayatri, and 24,000 slokas in the Ramayana. There is one letter of the Gayatri for every 1,000 verses of the Ramayana. The first letter of the Gayatri is the same as the first letter of the first 1,000 Ramayana verses. The second letter of the Gayatri is the same as the first letter of the second 1,000 verses, and so on. The Gayatri mantra may, therefore, be considered the essence of the Ramayana. The object of veneration in the mantra is Narayana, and the hero of the Ramayana is Narayana too.

Rama, in the humility He displays before Viswamitra, shows what one’s conduct should be in the presence of an Acharya. Having killed Tataka, Rama asks Viswamitra humbly what the sage wants Him to do next. Viswamitra is so moved by Rama’s humility that he sheds copious tears. It is Viswamitra who takes Rama to Mithila, and brings about the marriage of Sita and Rama, and the sage leaves after this. By bringing about the marriage, he also shows the importance of the Divya-Dampati concept. Thus Viswamitra is the one who helps take the story of Rama forward to its natural conclusion.

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