MA NISHADA - MARICHA - THE GOLDEN DEER

 

 

 

 

MA NISHADA  -  MARICHA - THE GOLDEN DEER  

Ram, Laxman and Sita in exile reached near river Godavari and settled in a place enclosed by rocks not so far from the forest.  This place gave Ram and Laxman a chance of spotting the intruders from a distance. They kept vigil round the clock sitting on the rocks and guarded Sita. 

 

A hut was built here for Sita.  Once again the forest looked beautiful with its flowers and fruits.  The rivers and mountains had stories to tell.  There was enough food and there was no point foraging.  

 

However, the boredom descended and the trio wondered how to spend the day.   There were no hermits around this place to chat with, and all the stars in the night sky were familiar.

 

Ram and Laxman wondered whether the animals and trees experience boredom.  'Let's create some board games to fill the time so that we don't think about boredom, ' said Sita.  Having said this, Sita saw a deer, shining like gold.  It had two heads and long antlers.   The deer was Maricha, a shape-shifting rakshasa.  As it jumped about, its hooves destroyed the patch of grass that Sita loved and with its antlers it ripped out the flower-laden vine that Sita particularly liked.

 

'Let me catch him for you, Sita.  Alive, it will make a great pet.  Dead, its skin will make a lovely mat for you,' said Ram.  She was spellbound by the creature. She wanted to possess it.  And Ram saw this in her eyes.  For the first time in all these years, she longed for something.  I will fetch it for you, promised Ram. 

 

 

'May be this buck leads a herd, said Sita, her eyes twinkling with the prospect of seeing hundreds of golden deer. 

 

'The golden deer do not exist.  This is unnatural,' warned Laxman.  

 

'Or just unique, undiscovered.' said Sita, eager to believe this creature was real enough to be caught, tamed and possessed.

Ram set out for the woods to catch the deer.  Sita did not stop Ram.  

 

 

 

 

'Stay by her side, Laxman, while  I hunt this deer down,' said Ram before running after the golden deer.

 

The sun had barely risen when Ram chased the deer and disappeared.  In the afternoon not sighting Ram,  Sita became restless.   "He does not take this long.  What has happened to him."  Sita pressed the alarm button.  

 

'The deer is no ordinary deer if it runs so fast and eludes Ram.' said Laxman.

 

Then, mid-afternoon, they heard a cry: 'Save me, Laxman.  Save me Sita. I am dying.'  Sita was fasting after Ram's departure, not even had a sip of water.  Once again they heard the voice.

 

'Go to him, Laxman.  There is trouble,' said Sita.

 

'No, said Laxman,  I will not leave your side.'

 

'But, Ram needs help.'

 

'I will obey him and not leave your side.'

 

What's wrong with you.  Do you want him to die?'.   

 

Laxman flinched at these words. 'Something is amiss.  This is a trick.  This forest is full of Rakshasas, who can mimic anyone's voice. I don't think Ram is in trouble.'  It must be the wind.  Without eating food or not drinking water, we are tired and listening such voices or hallucinations, opined Laxman.  

Sita was agitated and furious.  'You don't want to reach out to save Ram. Do you want him to die.  Do You? In the jungle, when the dominant male dies, the next one claims his mate.  Is that what you want?.

 

Laxman was dumbstruck.  He could not believe his ears.  A noble sister-in-law, in her panic uttered these words to him to obey her and stooped down to vulgar.  Was she so frightened?  Did she not trust Ram?  Not wanting to get the things worst, Laxman decided to go in search of Ram.

 

But before he left, he drawn seven lines around the Sita's hut. This is the Laxman-Rekha.   I imbue it with the power of hymns I have learned from Vashishta and Vishwamitra.  Any man who tries to cross this line will burst into flames instantly.  Sita, stay within this line.  Inside is Ayodhya and you are Ram's wife.  Outside is the jungle, you are a woman for the taking.  

These lines spit fire each time Ravana tries to cross them.

 

Inside the lines she was safe and outside she was vulnerable.

 

I am not stretching any further and end it with the Golden Deer's role in abduction of  Sita by Ravan. 

 

Ma Nishada -- Stop the rakshas - The rakshas, Maricha - a servant of Ravana  in the disguise of Golden Deer separated Ram from Sita.

 

While Ram was chasing the Golden Deer and Laxman left in search  of Ram, Ravana enters Sita's hut disguised as a sage and ask for food.  He spread a mat made of animal skin and sat outside the Laxman-rekha  requesting Sita to serve the food.  Sita was in a dilemma thinking about Laxman's advise and leaving a sage without serving food which is an insult to the hospitality of Raghu clan.  The moment she crossed the line drawn by Laxman, Ravana took custody of Sita and abducted her.

 

Maricha was an innocent victim of Ram and Ravana war.  He represents the common servant who is sacrificed in the fight of the masters.

Maricha was instrumental in the abduction of Sita by Ravana.

 

Finally Ram won the war and liberated Sita from Ravan's captivity. 

 

The golden deer marks the end of happiness.  The next time  Ram and Sita meet is after the war, when issues of fidelity and social propriety  strain their relationship.

 

The custom of  a widowed sister-in-law becoming the wife of younger brother-in-law is common in many communities across India, especially in the north-west and the Gangetic plains.  It remains an ambiguous relationship, one of caretaker and the child when the husband is alive and one of the dependent and support when the husband is dead.  The sexual tension between the two is alluded to in many folk songs.

  

Valmiki seeing a pair of love birds on the tree branch and one of them getting killed by an arrow of a hunter wanted to stop him from doing this dastardly act shouting 'Ma Nishada' narrated in this sad shloka. 

 

 

 

Of the several interpretations, one says that the hunter is the demon Ravana, who separated the loving couple, Ram and Sita.

 

This is the first shloka of Valmiki Ramayana.