Aranya Kand follows Shri Ram, Mata Sita and Lakshman into their forest life at Panchavati. The account moves through the episode of Shurpanakha to the appearance of the golden deer. Then comes the abduction of Mata Sita by Ravan. The forest narrative now centres on separation, and the events reveal how each person acts when faced with suffering and wrongdoing.
Jatayu fights Ravan and dies. His place in the story rests upon the service he offers in that moment of danger. Later, Shabari receives Shri Ram with hospitality. The kand thus brings together two forms of service: the struggle to protect Mata Sita and the welcome offered to Shri Ram.
The teaching is that devotion finds expression in action according to the need before us. Jatayu serves through his fight, while Shabari serves through her hospitality. Aranya Kand contains 46 dohas. Read these episodes with attention to the service each one offers.
In this kand
- InvocationInvocations
- Doha 1Jayanta’s mischief and punishment
- Doha 2Meeting with sage Atri and his hymn of praise to Śrī Rāma
- Doha 4Sītā’s meeting with Anasūyā (Atri’s wife) and the latter’s discourse on the duties of a devoted wife
- Doha 6bŚrī Rāma proceeds further and kills Virādha; the episode of the sage Śarabhaṅga
- Doha 9Śrī Rāma takes a vow to kill the demons
- Doha 9Sutīkṣṇa’s love and Śrī Rāma’s meeting with the sage Agastya; dialogue with Agastya; Śrī Rāma’s entry into the Daṇḍaka forest and His meeting with Jaṭāyu
- Doha 13Śrī Rāma takes up His abode at Pañcavaṭī; dialogue between Śrī Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa
- Doha 16The story of Śūrpaṇakhā; her approaching Khara, Dūṣaṇa and Triśirā for redress and their subsequent death at Śrī Rāma’s hands
- Doha 20bŚūrpaṇakhā approaches Rāvaṇa; Sītā enters into the fire leaving Her shadow behind
- Doha 22The episode of Mārīca and how he was killed in the form of a gold deer
- Doha 27Sītā’s abduction and Her wailing
- Doha 28The combat of Jaṭāyu with Rāvaṇa
- Doha 29bŚrī Rāma’s lament; His meeting with Jaṭāyu
- Doha 32Deliverance of Kabandha
- Doha 34Grace on Śabarī; description of the nine forms of Devotion and departure for the Pampā lake
- Doha 40Dialogue between the sage Nārada and Śrī Rāma
- Doha 44The glory of hearing the praises of Śrī Rāma and an exhortation to cultivate fellowship with saints and practise adoration
Contents
The seven kands
From the Gita Press, Gorakhpur edition. Buy the book