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(māsapārāyaṇa, dūsarā viśrāma)Pause no. 2 for a 30-day recitation of Ram Charit Manasøı0. ‚ÃË¥ ‚◊ÈÁ¤Ê ⁄UÉÊÈ’Ë⁄U ¬ ̋÷Ê™§ – ÷ÿ ’‚ Á‚fl ‚Ÿ ∑§Ëã„U ŒÈ⁄UÊ™§H 1H
caupā’ī.
satīṁ samujhi raghubīra prabhā'ū. bhaya basa siva sana kīnha durā'ū. 1.
Realising the truth about the greatness of Lord Ram^1 , the brave warrior in the race of
king Raghu, Sati was so awed and scared that she hid from Shiva the reality of what
had happened (or, what mischief she was upto in order to test the truth of Shiva’s
assertions pertaining to Lord Ram and the latter’s greatness)^2. (1)
[Note—^1 Refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, Chaupai line no. 3 that precedes Doha
no. 54 where we read that Lord Ram has decided to reveal his astounding mystical
powers to Sati when he found that she was feeling miserable.
What was the reason for Sati feeling so miserable? Well, she had realised her
mistakes though it was too late to make amends now. She admits her error when she
says—“I have not listened to what Shiva told me, and have cast the shadow of my
stupidity and ignorance upon Lord Ram. Now, what and how shall I answer Shiva
when I go back to him?” Refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, Chaupai line nos. 1-2
that precede Doha no. 54.(^2) So we see that Sati was completely confounded and dazed. On the one hand she
had committed a grave sin by disbelieving and disobeying her husband, a sin that
itself demanded stern punishment, and on the other hand her head was still reeling
from the effects of the frightening experience she had had a little while ago when she
saw out-of-world visions of countless images of Lord Ram and Sita being served by
countless gods, goddesses, sages and others that surrounded her from all sides.
To make matters worse for her, she had, in her stupidity, taken the form of Sita,
another person’s wife, and this was sure to annoy her own husband Shiva because this
was against all norms of good conduct and ethics. She had tried to cheat Lord Ram
though her husband Lord Shiva had clearly told her that Ram is the Lord whom he
worships—refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, Chaupai line no. 8 that precedes
Doha no. 51.
With this big baggage of stupid, stubborn, unethical, impertinent and irreverential
behaviour, what more can be expected from Sati other than she being scared out of
her wits so much that she was afraid to tell the truth. She tried to hide her follies and
mischief by taking recourse to falsehood, thereby compounding her miseries further,
instead of abating them.
What was the effect of all this tumult on Sati? Well, the answer is found below in
verse nos. 2-3 where we read that she hides her actions and tells Shiva a lie.]