“Those fourteen thousand Rakshasas of frightening deeds were eliminated by that one man, a foot-soldier, who was Rama.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 26.35)

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चतुर्दश सहस्राणि रक्षसां भीमकर्मणाम्
हतान्येकेन रामेण मानुषेण पदातिना

caturdaśa sahasrāṇi rakṣasāṃ bhīmakarmaṇām
hatānyekena rāmeṇa mānuṣeṇa padātinā

1. Four against one

“Really? You need all four of your friends together? Are you guys connected in some way? Is there some magical circle of force that only activates if every piece is tapped in? That makes no sense, but we saw that recently, on a worldwide scale, with newly discovered medical treatment. There was so much force and pressure applied to others. I didn’t realize that the new medication only works if every person takes it.”

2. Ten against one

“Four is not enough for you, I guess. Ten against one? That is crazy. Do you expect to witness one of these scenes from the movies? I hope you realize that those are carefully choreographed. If ten people actually attacked a single person, it would not be a contest. The force is overwhelming.”

3. Fourteen against one

“Ten is not enough for you. Need to add four more? Is that some lucky number for you? This will be a one-sided affair. I think you could even take turns, like with one of those tag-team matches in professional wrestling.”

4. Fourteen thousand against one

“I believe this is known as a stampede. One person is stuck in the middle of a crowd. That crowd of individuals frantically travels in one direction. This is usually the result of an emergency of some sorts. A barrier comes down, say within a stadium hosting a concert. In a well-known public building the police actually open the gates on purpose, so as to entrap the protesting citizens who will have no choice but to enter. Go with the flow takes on a different meaning when you have no choice but to travel in a certain direction. The force of that many people is too much to overcome.”

…

The above are different ways to understand the scene one time in the Dandaka forest during the manifest lila of Shri Rama, who is an avatara of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. From the Vedic understanding we learn that God can be described as both nirguna and saguna. He is nirguna in the sense that there are not any attributes which can limit Him.

For instance, if someone is a female based on their gunas, they are not a male. If someone is tall, they are not short. If someone is heavy, they are not light. These are specific gunas, and the respective qualities might be good or bad, favorable or unfavorable, depending on the circumstance.

God is always good. He is always auspicious. The concepts of good and bad are an illusion created by Him. The pair is incorporated within the illusory energy known as maya. Rama is the controller of maya. He is nirguna because there is no illusion to His existence.

हरि माया कृत दोष गुन बिनु हरि भजन न जाहिं
भजिअ राम सब काम तजि अस बिचारि मन माहिं

hari māyā kṛta doṣa guna binu hari bhajana na jāhiṃ
bhajia rāma saba kāma taji asa bicāri mana māhiṃ

“Good and bad, which are part of the illusion created by Hari, cannot be removed without worshiping Hari. Keeping this in mind, worship Rama and renounce all desires.” (Dohavali, 127)

We can say that Rama is also saguna. This does not violate the first principle. He is saguna in the sense of showing distinguishable features. For instance, we know that Rama is a person distinct from others. He is an individual with a specific visual. In the above referenced verse, He is referred to as a man, manusha.

This one incident provides a clear contrast. On the one side you have Rakshasa demons of amazing might. Their deeds are frightening reaching the level of herculean. These Rakshasas are described as bhima-karma. Since they are of the Rakshasa species, they can change shapes at will. They have something like special abilities, which they tend to use for evil.

In this particular scene, there are not four Rakshasas. There are not ten. There are not even fourteen. Take the fourteen and multiply it by one thousand. Fourteen-thousand Rakshasas descended upon the eldest son of King Dasharatha. The pretense was a supposed insult against the woman named Shurpanakha. She previously tried to attack Rama’s wife, Sita Devi, and there was some retaliation resulting from that aggression.

The Rakshasas responded with practically all of their might. They were expert in black magic and large in force. On the other side, we have the single person, the man named Rama. There was no changing shape. There was no deception. There was simply a coat of armor and expert marksmanship in firing arrows from an illustrious bow.

It is said in this shloka that Rama was on foot. He was fighting all by Himself, with no one to help Him. The winner was Rama. The fourteen-thousand were defeated. As the less intelligent will try to rationalize the reality by falsely attributing the feat to mythology, there is a detailed description of exactly how Rama emerged victorious.

Moreover, to the wise, to the intelligent class, while such a feat is to be celebrated for eternity, there is not much to be surprised over. Goswami Tulsidas describes that the same Rama carries the bow known as time. The different arrows released from that bow are different units of time. The arrows destroy the entire collective of the population of the universe. That number in the path of the flight of the arrows is far greater than fourteen-thousand.

लव निमेष परमानु जुग बरस कलप सर चंड
भजसि न मम तेहि राम कहँ कालु जासु कोदंड

lava nimeṣa paramānu juga barasa kalapa sara caṃḍa
bhajasi na mama tehi rāma kaha~ kālu jāsu kodaṃḍa

“Mind, why are you not worshiping Shri Rama, whose bow is like time, with weapons of arrows representing the different units of time, such as paramanu, lava, nimesha, barasa, yuga, and kalpa?” (Dohavali, 130)

To the devoted souls, those weapons are auspicious in nature. They annihilate the miscreants and protect the saintly class, the sadhus. While time is a dreaded enemy for the materialist suffering through the illusion of maya, that same time is auspicious in creating renewing opportunities for remembering the one who is expert at fighting against enemies dreadful in their deeds and antagonistic to dharma at heart.

In Closing:

Antagonistic at heart,
From dharma to depart.

So vile as to attack in course,
With fourteen thousand force.

Against a single man standing,
On foot with only bow commanding.

But to that one victory easily came,
Known in glory with Rama the name.

Categories: fourteen thousand, the bow of time, the four

Tags: dailyprompt, poem, poems, poetry, ramayana, shri rama