had decided that now his death was near, but it is good to die while serving his
Lord (Ravana) on the one hand, and seeing Lord Ram at close quarters as the
Lord pursues him from behind. ‘Serving his lord’ may have a different
meaning here—it may not mean ‘serving Ravana’ but ‘serving Lord Ram’,
because the mission of the Lord was to eliminate Ravana whose cruelty was
unbearable for the world, and this would be possible only when a war is
waged where Ravana is killed. For this war to be waged, it was necessary that
a reason is created, and Sita’s abduction by Ravana was to be that ‘reason’. So
in effect, Marich was serving Lord Ram and helping the Lord in his divine
mission. Refer: Ram Charit Manas, Aranya Kand, from Chaupai line no. 1 that
precedes Doha no. 25—to Doha no. 26.]Ã’ •Ê¬Ÿ ¬ ̋÷Ê©U Á’SÃÊ⁄UÊ – ÁŸ¡ ’‚ ∑§Ëã„U ‚∑§‹ ‚¢‚Ê⁄UÊH 5H
taba āpana prabhā'u bistārā. nija basa kīnha sakala sansārā. 5.
Then, to successfully accomplish his mission, Kaamdeo expanded his influence in
world^ so much so that he brought the entire world under his magical spell. (5)
[Note—The way Kaamdeo spread his tentacles in the world and sucked even the wise
and the dispassionate in the whirlpool of passions and lust have been graphically
described in Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, from Chaupai line no. 5 that precedes
Doha no. 84—to Doha no. 85.
Hitherto the influence of passion, lust and desire to enjoy the world and its
material sense objects was limited to worldly men and women who had no interest in
spiritual matters or worried for the welfare of their souls. Ascetics, hermits and other
holy men were exempt from such temptations. But the mischief of Kaamdeo
entangled them all in its knotty web of delusions leading to passions, lust, yearnings
and other forms of worldly attachments.
This answers a very important but rarely asked question: why did Shiva burn
Kaamdeo to death (as narrated in Chaupai line no. 5 that precedes Doha no. 87)? On
the face of it, the apparent and obvious answer is: because Kaamdeo disturbed Shiva
in his meditation (refer: Chaupai line nos. 3-4 that precedes Doha no. 87).
But when we delve deeper into this episode we deduce that Shiva was angry
because Kaamdeo was forcing creatures of the whole world to relinquish the path of
Dharma (righteousness, auspiciousness, probity, propriety, nobility and modesty) and
move towards the path of gross indulgences and a life of immoderation. The whole
edifice of Dharma was crumbling under the evil eye of Kaamdeo. Even those who
were respected by the society and regarded as holy men became pervert and morally
corrupt. The grand virtue of ‘Vivek’ (meaning wisdom, and the ability to determine
what is righteous and noble and what is not) took the greatest beating; it vanished
from society when passions, lust, desires and indulgences became dominant features.
The same people who had hitherto paid respect to such virtues as dispassion and
detachment not began to loathe them and became excessively indulgent and
promiscuous. The degeneration and degradation of society reached its pinnacle when
Kaamdeo took hold of the people’s Mana (mind and heart). Refer: Ram Charit
Manas, Baal Kand, from Chaupai line no. 6 that precedes Doha no. 84—to Doha no.
85.
Being the senior-most God and the most enlightened one, this outrageous
development was unacceptable to Shiva. Had Kaamdeo limited his mischief to Shiva
alone and would not have encircled the rest of the world in its lusty tentacles, Shiva
would not have become so angry with him so as to completely eliminate him. Shiva
had other ways of punishing Kaamdeo if his nuisance was limited to the Lord, but