Ramayanaparam -6 Two meanings of Maa Nishaada

One day Valmiki Maharshi was enjoying the beauty of nature on the banks of Thamasa river and he happened to see a pair of birds happily immersed in their love for each other. From no where a hunter came and killed the male bird. Valmiki was very sad and upset and this shoka or sadness came out in the form of the very first sloka or poem on the earth. ( Since the following verse was born of VaalmIki's grief -shoka-, it was called sloka, shokaarthasya pravrutto mae sloko bhavathu naanyatha or shoka: slokathvamaagatha:)

 

 

Maa nishaada prathishtaanthvamaagama: shashvatee: sama:

Yatcrounchamithunaadekamavadhee: kaamamohitham

 

By delivering this verse Valmiki became the Aadikavi

 

This sloka has two meanings:

 

1. Oh! hunter! (nishada), by which reason you killed one of the krauncha birds who were in great love, for the same reason, may you not attain glory for many long years!

 

Valmiki Maharshi did not even realize that in his sadness what he said became a poem. He was ashamed that by loosing his temper he had cursed the hunter with this sloka. Seeing Valmiki's grief Brahma Devan appeared and consoled him saying that it all happened according to his plan and Valmiki should not feel bad about it. Brahmadeva continued saying that the sloka was not a curse, instead it was a mangala slokam praising Sri Ramachandra. Then He asked Valmiki to think about another possible meaning for the slokam which cleared his mind.

 

Ma - Maha lakshmi or Shree; ni+sad (stay) = nishaad = nishaada ( like Shreenivaasa) = one in whom lakshmi stays is Maanishaada, the same meaning as Sreenivaasa. In this meaning krauncha mithuna refers to Ravana and his wife Mandodari. Then "prathishtaam aagamaa:" becomes the benediction or mangala praarthana. So the meaning of the sloka addressed to Lord Sreenivaasa becomes:

 

He! Maanishaadaa or Shreenivaasa! Attain glory for all time to come since you killed the evil one of the krouncha pair. Actually Rama saved the world and attained fame by killing Ravana.

 

Valmiki's grief turned into joy, the new meaning illuminated his creative power and he started writing Ramaayanam based on the story told by Narada Muni. Then it was a continuous flow of Saraswathi Prasaadam until he finished Lord Rama'a story! Jai Shree Ram!