Shiva Dhanush that broke!

INCIDENTS FROM RAMAYANA AS INTERPRETED BY’ WALKILEAKS’

  

(Fictitious, but plausible interpretations of well-known incidents in Ramayana, concocted by me)

‘Wikileaks’ unearthing the secret correspondences of governments is hot news now-a-days.

Here is an imaginary ‘Walkileaks’- a fore-runner of present day Wikileaks. Walkileaks is a collection of secret documents and messages from kings and queens of Ramayana and Mahabharata period transmitted in the format of written, verbal and thought medium,. These had been leaked out by Wakileaks, but the decency of that era prevented them from being published lest they tarnish the fair names of our revered heroes of that time... Based on the segment recently decoded, an incident of Ramayana not recorded by Valmiki or others is given below. The accuracy or authenticity is not guaranteed. These may not offend any religious or sectarian sentiments, but enjoyed for their plausibility

Now the story:  WHY SHIVA DHANUSH  BROKE ?

Shiva Dhanush:

Vishwakarma, the celestial craftsman forged out three Bows for the Three Gods:  1) Vijaya Dhanush for Vishnu, Shiva Dhanush for Shiva, and Gaandeeva for Brahma. After their use, they passed them on to other lower gods or very famous humans. Thus Vijaya Dhanush was inherited by Parasurama . Shiva dhanush was inherited by Janaka’s fore fathers.  Gandeeva was inherited by Agni and then given to Arjuna.   

Janaka is worried about finding a match for Jaanaki (Seeta). He wants to find a strong and well educated person as a groom. So he declares that whoever lifts and strings the Heavenly Bow –Shiva Dhanush, (lying in a corner of his stores for centuries being un-used but  worshipped daily with Dhoopa and Deepa), would win the hand of Jaanaki. It was only after his giving wide publicity that he realizes that the specifications for the groom were not drawn by his Home minister correctly. He should have specified ineligibility clause also, to prevent undesirable persons from contesting.

On the appointed day, a large number of aspirants are assembled to try their hand to win Seeta, among them is the demon,  Ravana. also. A large crowd of sages and commoners have gathered to watch the grand spectacle of ‘Swayamvara’, Sage Vishwamitra is  taking Rama and Laxmana,the two sons of Dasharatha,back to Ayodhya after completion of their work of protecting his Yagnya. On way, he has stopped over at Mithila to entertain the two boys with the sight of groom-selection. (Swayam-vara) of Seeta.

Seeta almost faints when she sees Ravana, a strong but grotesque person with ten heads among the contenders. Janaka also does not relish the possibility of having Ravana as his son-in-law, and is praying that somehow Ravana should fail. He heaves a sigh of relief when Ravana lifted the bow and pulled the string hard but it slipped from his grip and the bow hit him in the chin sending him reeling. Since all who had responded had failed, the groom-selection is about to be called off.

It is then that Vishwamitra asks Rama to go and have a look at the Celestial Bow. Rama rose from the crowd and walked to the Shiva Dhanush. Seeta sitting in the Zanana saw Rama and it was ‘Love at First Sight’!

Then you know all that happened, Vishwamitra introduced Rama to Janaka, as the son of Dasharatha, Rama bowed in reverence to the Bow, and lifted it, and while attempting to string it, the Bow broke into two with a shattering sound. Everybody stood up to praise Rama for his superhuman strength and skill. Janaka was overjoyed to have Rama, an accomplished and eligible boy from a famous Royal family as his son-in-law. So,’ all was well that ended well’, and then you know the famous ‘ Seetha Kalyanam’ as described by Valmiki and its grandeur, sung over and over again by all “Seeta kalyanam  .. Vaibhogamay”!.

It was after the marriage that Janaka started thinking how and why the famous Shiva Dhanush broke into pieces rendering itself useless.  He ordered for a secret inquiry into the incident by his Scientific Adviser. The report came in 3 months. The summery of the report (which ran into several volumes,) is given below.   Quote.

“After microscopic examination of fracture and also the history of the Bow, the Inquiry committee gave a unanimous report. It traced the past history of the various wars and battles where the Bow was used. During the Great War between Lord Shiva and the demon Thripurasura, the demon threw  an axe at Shiva. Shiva dodged it but the axe hit the Bow in the middle and left a big dent. Since the Bow was functional, neither Shiva nor any body bothered about it. But there was a minor crack and a Zone of Stress Concentration (commonly known as ZSC) at the place of dent. Subsequently, every time the Bow was used and the string pulled, a little stress was added. Further, as the Bow was bent and then suddenly released. reversal of stress took place and’ Fatigue’ set in. This helped the dormant crack to develop slowly. Since it was still below the threshold limit, it had not attained criticality. After a long time of disuse while it was lying in the corner of Janaka’s store, When it was brought out during Seeta Swayamvara ,for the demonstration of strength by the competitors, the stress began accumulating. When Ravana bent it for stringing, he over stressed it then from the compression state the Bow sprang back when the string slipped from the grip of Ravana causing a sudden reversal of stress. The crack had gathered momentum, yet holding. When Sri Rama lifted it and bent it for stringing, it was the proverbial ‘ last straw on the camel’s back’ All the minor cracks rushed together And all-in-a-sudden, the Mighty Shiva Dhanus broke unexpectedly and with terrible bang, shaking the earth!

Conclusion:

This was a typical case of crack formation, stress concentration and Fatigue failure, aggravated by ageing, ultimately resulting in unexpected and sudden failure.”

When this report reached the hand of Janaka, he was at a loss to decide whether to publicize it or shelve it. He thought it may harm the good image of his son-in-law.

 

   **On second thought, he felt, the breaking of Shiva Dhanush might have been willed by Lord Shiva himself!

Ravana was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. But as all the Devas complained that he was a Loka Kantaka (menace to the world), Lord Vishnu had come down to earth as Rama, to fight with Ravana and kill him. On stringing the Shiva Dhanush and winning the hand of Seeta, Janaka would have     naturally gifted the celestial Bow to his son-in-law. And the Shiva Dhanush would have been used against Ravana, a devotee of Shiva, which would cause Him embarrassment!  So it was better if the Bow broke at the hand of Rama, rendering it use-less.! Thus, Lord Shiva might have willed it to break after serving the purpose of Seeta marrying Rama.**

 So he decided that the report be shelved and the case closed.

Now Walkileaks have come out with this report which is logical and plausible, they have also hastened to emphasize that it meant no disrespect to Rama as he did not depend on this Shivadhanush incident to prove his strength. The breaking of Bow and Sita’s marriage to Rama were all predestined!    

** This is an after-thought added on 20/08/2014!)