MONDAY MUSINGS SEASON 2 - EPISODE 297
20th January 2025
Talent Identification
Lord Ram chose Nala who was a talented architect for leading the project of constructing a bridge across the ocean to Lanka. Lord Ram is a great leader that he was able to identify right talent for the job.
As per Valmiki, the bridge was not built by magic or divine power but by using the strategy and guidance from Nala, strength of the mighty vanaras, various construction techniques, teamwork with a missionary zeal and leadership excellence of Lord Ram. I had the opportunity to go through the slokas in this context and it is very interesting to know all the above described in these slokas.
#ExcellenceInBridgeConstruction
As per Valmiki, Vanaras filled the bottom layer with huge trees then filled the second layer with huge boulders and the third layer with rocks. We shall see some sample slokas from the sargam 22 of yudha kandam to show that #RamSetu was not a figment of imagination.
ते सालैः च अश्व कर्णैः च धवैर् वंशैः च वानराः ||
कुटजैर् अर्जुनैस् तालैस् तिकलैस् तिमिशैर् अपि |
बिल्वकैः सप्तपर्णैश्च कर्णिकारैश्च पुष्पितैः || Valmiki Ramayan 6-22-55
चूतैः च अशोक वृक्षैः च सागरम् समपूरयन् |
The monkeys filled the ocean with all types of trees like Sala and Asvakarna, Dhava and bamboo, Kutaja, Arjuna, palmyra, Tilaka, Tinisa, Bilva, Saptaparna, Karnika, in blossom as also mango and Asoka.
हस्तिमात्रान् महाकायाः पाषाणांश्च महाबलाः || Valmiki Ramayan 6-22-58
पर्वतांश्च समुत्पाट्य यन्त्रैः परिवहन्ति च |
The huge, bodied monkeys with mighty strength uprooted elephant-sized rocks and mountains and transported them by mechanical contrivances.
Yantraha here means some sort of mechanical structures used to transport the rocks from the forests nearby to the shore. No further explanation of the yantra could be seen though.
प्रक्षिप्यमाणैर् अचलैः सहसा जलम् उद्धतम् || Valmiki Ramayan 6-22-59
समुत्पतितम् आकाशम् अपासर्पत् ततस् ततः |
The water, raised up due to sudden throwing of mountains in the sea, soured upward towards the sky and from there again, gushed back.
समुद्रम् क्षोभयामासुर्निपतन्तः समन्ततः ||
सूत्राण्यन्ये प्रगृह्णन्ति ह्यायतम् शतयोजनम् | 6-22-60
The rocks befalling on all sides perturbed the ocean. Some others drew up strings a hundred Yojanas long (in order to keep the rocks in a straight line).
Quality of teamwork could be inferred from this sloka. Able bodied monkeys were deployed for tough works such as carrying rocks and (probably not so strong vanaras) did other important jobs like measuring, fixing strings and guiding placement of the rocks, etc.
Trees and rocks were not just dumped in the sea to form the bridge. It is important to bind them so that they stay together. The technique used for binding is explained in this sloka.
वानरैः शतशस्तत्र रामस्यज्ञापुरःसरैः |
मेघाभैः पर्वताभश्च तृणैः काष्ठैर्बबन्धरे || Valmiki Ramayan 6-22-63
Some monkeys were holding poles for measurement and some others were collecting material. Hundreds of monkeys fastened parts of the bridge using reeds and logs. All of them worked enthusiastically led by the command of Ram.
Entire length of the bridge was constructed in 5 days. 14 yojanas on the first day, 20 yojanas on the second day, 21 yojanas on the third day, 22 yojanas on the fourth day and the balance 23 yojanas on the last day. The numbers given here are not just some random numbers. They total up to the distance from Rameswaram to Mannar and the productivity gradually increasing every day, probably because of the practice and expertise gained over the days. You can also notice an interesting point, the gain on the second day is steeper compared to the gain on other days corroborating ‘Law of diminishing returns.
पञ्चमेन तथा चाह्ना प्लवगैः क्षिप्रकारिभिः || Valmiki Ramayan 6-22-70
योजनानि त्रयोविंशत्सुवेलमधिकृत्य वै |
In that manner, on the fifth day, the monkeys working quickly constructed twenty-three yojanas of the bridge up to the other seashore.
Vanaras with Lord Rama walked on the floating stones and crossed the sea to reach Lanka. It is said that the bridge built under the direction of Nala remained above sea level until the storm erupted in 1480.
Five days is really a short time to complete construction of such a complex bridge. Bridge could be constructed in short time because of the competency of Nala, enthusiasm and power of the vanaras and more importantly the command and leadership of the most successful leader India ever had ie Lord Ram. How did Ram manage to earn the respect of his army? This comes in a later saragam of Yudha kand ie the saragam dealing with the wailing of Mandodari on the death of Ravana.
Sense of Purpose, Winner
Mandodari on hearing the news of the death of her husband Ravan could not believe that Ram with the help of his team of primitive monkeys could defeat invincible Ravan’s army. She understands and appreciates later that ‘sense of purpose’ made the difference. Ram could instill the ‘Sense of Purpose’ in his vanara sena whereas there was no ‘sense of purpose’ for Ravan’s army. Size and power did not matter in front of ‘sense of purpose’.
#PositiveNewsPage
Adapted from New Indian Express - https://www.newindianexpress.com/
‘Chachi Ki Rasoi’, a mobile kitchen run by a 52-year-old Bipin Devi feeds hundreds of impoverished residents in back-of-the-beyond villages of the tribal district of Sonbhadra.
“Even children have to retire for the day with an empty stomach. We were moved by their plight, and I requested my husband to start a support system for these villages,” says Bipin Devi, a glint of compassion in her eyes.
Kallu Yadav, Bipin Devi’s husband, runs a small grocery store in Rajpur village of Sonbhadra. The shop does well for the family of four, including their two sons.
A family van was converted into a mobile kitchen and Bipin started travelling from village to village distributing food – a modest plate of ‘daal’, ‘chawal’ and ‘sabzi’ (vegetable curry). “I get immense happiness from feeding people. I try to ensure that no one goes hungry. During the pandemic, when I saw people in the villages without work or food, I started this initiative, calling it Chachi’s Kitchen,” she says. Since then, they have been regularly feeding people for at least 20-25 days a month. They try to provide 80 to 100 people, every day if possible.
Bipin’s son Neeraj says the family spends around Rs 60,000 on running the kitchen, grocery and diesel costs, which is a substantial part of their monthly income. “Our situation is such that whatever we earn, we can only feed others and ourselves,” he says.
Neeraj has been watching his mother serve people since childhood. He takes the kitchen to several village panchayats in Sonbhadra – Tilhar, Kotwa, and Rajpur. The villagers, mostly tribal, are overjoyed as ‘Chachi’s Kitchen’ comes down the kutcha village road.
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Conceived, compiled and posted as a positive (only) weekly newsletter #MondayMusings in #LinkedIn every Monday by Jaganathan T (www.authorjaganathan.com).