Ramayanaparam -22 Lakshmana and Indrajith

Ravana's son Indrajith was a mighty warrior with lot of powers and boons. He was invincible and had great physical strength. It was not an easy task for Lakshmana to kill Indrajit. First,  Lakshmna  was seriously injured, became unconscious and was about to die. As per Sushena's ( the physician of the monkeys) advice, Hanuman got Mruthasanjeevani from Dronagiri mountain in Himalaya and revived Lakshmana. Later in the battle, chanting the slokam below, Lakshmana used the invincible arrow Rama had given Him, against Indrajit:

 

Dharmaatma sathyasandhascha Raamo Daasharathiryadi

pourushe cha aprathidwanda: sharainam jahi Raavanim.

 

It is said that the arrow did not go forward until he started the word Aprathidwanda: in the second line. Let us go into the details. When he addressed raama as Dharmaathma, arrow did not respond. The reason for the lack of response is left for our imagination. Was it because Rama killed an unarmed woman like Tataka? Was "sthree vadham" adharma for a dharmishtan like Raama? Was it because he forgot Urmila when he gave permission to Lakshmana to accompany Him? Lakshmana When he addressed Raama as "sathyasandha" arrow still remained with Lakshmana. Was it because Rama did not keep the promise to kill B(v)ali at first sight? Was it becasue he killed Bali hiding behind a tree? When he invoked Raama  "Daasharathi", arrow still did not respond. Was it because he was born out of the divine paayasam from Puthrakaameshti yaagam and not from Dasharatha?

 

But, when he finally addressed Rama as "pourushe cha aprathidwanda:" the arrow flew from Lakshmana and cut off Indrajit's or Raavani's (Raavanaa's son) head. Was it because this name meaning " one who has unequalled manliness or courage" suited Rama the best?

 

If different interpreters of Raamaayanam had not explained the above reasons, we would just think that the arrow waited until Lakshmana finished addressing all the names of Rama. According to one interpreter, the characteristic explained by the last invocation is needed to kill Indrajit. If Indrajit were also a Dharmishtan, then the very first invocation would have worked. Indrajit did not have the qualities of dharmam or sathyam and only the unequalled manliness and courage derived from Rama through the arrow could kill him. May be sometimes the violent doctrine "tooth for a tooth and eye for an eye" only works with some people.

 

One thing is common in Hanuman's or Lakshmana's or anybody's victory in Raamaayana- Chanting of Raama naamam was the power behind all their victorious actions!  Maaricha's salvation, crossing of the ocean, killing of Indrajit are examples. So Raamaayana is advising us to chant Raama Naamam to fulfill all our needs, to erase all our sins and sorrows and to solve all our problems.