sōraṭhā.
lāga na ura upadēsu jadapi kahē'u sivam̐ bāra bahu.
bōlē bihasi mahēsu harimāyā balu jāni jiyam̐. 51.
Though Lord Shiva repeatedly told her the reality of Lord Ram, his wise words had
no effect upon Sati whose heart did not accept the reasoning. She remained stubborn
in her disbelief. [Sati wasn’t convinced about what her husband had said.]^1
Understanding in his heart about the stupendous power and the immense
influence that Lord Hari’s (Lord Vishnu’s) Maya (delusion-creating powers) can have
upon a person’s wisdom^2 (thereby totally eclipsing it, and hence making him or her
susceptible to falling an easy prey to delusions and ignorance), Lord Mahesh (“the
Great God”, Lord Shiva) smiled wryly and said^3 —(Sortha/Doha no. 51)
[Note—^1 A similar situation has arisen elsewhere in the narration of Ram Charit
Manas when we read that the great sage Narad, who is supposed to be a great devotee
of Lord Vishnu and above passions and worldly emotions, too had not paid attention
to Lord Shiva’s advice to him—refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, Doha no. 127.
The context in Narad’s case was that once he had been so deeply submerged in
mediating upon Lord Vishnu that Kamdeo (cupid), the god of passions, could not
detract the sage inspite of his best efforts to do so. This achievement filled Narad with
a sense of pride, and he went to Lord Shiva to boast of his achievement. It was then
that the Lord told him that whatever he had said before him was alright, but he should
not go and repeat his boast before Lord Vishnu as the latter is sure to punish him.
Narad did not take this advice in the correct light, and thought that Shiva wishes to
keep him quiet so that his stunning feat remains obscure so that the world would
belief that Kamdeo was defeated by Shiva alone as narrated in Ram Charit Manas,
Baal Kand, from Doha no. 83—to Chaupai line no. 3 that precedes Doha no. 88.
As in our present case of Sati suffering due to her disobeying Shiva, Narad too
had to suffer horrible ignominy when Lord Vishnu turned him into an ugly faced
monkey—refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, Chaupai line no. 7 that precedes
Doha no. 133; and Chaupai line no. 8 that precedes Doha no. 134.
(^2) The power of Maya is extremely strong. It has held under its spell even the wisest
and the most learned, and deluded them so much as to portray that they were utterly
stupid and ingnorant.
It is averred in Ram Charit Manas, Uttar Kand, Chaupai line no. 1 that precedes
Doha no. 72 that Maya is so powerful that it makes the world dance to its tune—this
is the proclamation of the saint-crow Kaagbhusund.
Refer also to Ram Charit Manas, Uttar Kand—(i) Doha no. 41; (ii) Chaupai line
nos. 4-6 that precedes Doha no. 59; (iii) Chaupai line no. 7 that precedes Doha no. 71;
(iv) Chaupai line nos. 3-7 that precede Doha no. 116.
The Atharva Veda’s Pashupat Brahm Upanishad, Uttar Kanda/Canto 2, verse no.
9-10 describe the effects of Maya, verse nos. 15-18 the relationship between Maya
and the Atma, and verse nos. 33, 44-45 the fact that Maya is a voluntary creation of
the Atma as well as of Brahm.
Sage Veda Vyas’ Adhyatma Ramayan, in its Lanka Kanda, canto 14, verse no.
28-29 describes the relationship between Maya and Brahm.
(^3) Refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, Chaupai line no. 8 that precedes Doha no.
132 where we read that Lord Vishnu had smiled at the ignorance and delusions that
engulfed the wise sage Narad as a result of the influence of Maya of the Lord.
Lord Ram’s Maya is so great and powerful that it had provoked even Sati, the
otherwise truthful consort of Shiva, to “tell a lie”—refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal
Kand, Chaupai line no. 5 that precedes Doha no. 56.]