An avatar is a special descent answering a collective prayer of a larger group of people. It can be in a community, a religion, a group of people speaking a language, a country or the whole world at large. When a large group of people collectively and intensively wish for some change to happen, an avatar is born. It is something like a special task force in the police. When a particular person has been troubling villages and causing a lot of disturbance in the day-to-day life of the community and the Government is not able to handle it with the regular posse of police, a commando-trained officer is deputed to the region along with a big team to assist him. He takes up office, accomplishes the task and then winds up to resume his normal routine work in his parent department.
In the same way, the destruction of Tataka was the beginning of the actions that were in store answering the prayers of the people of his father Dasaratha’s kingdom. The sage Vishwamitra peacefully completed the Vedic sacrifices he had vowed to do, free of the disturbance of the ogress and her tribe.The two young lads, hardly 16 years of age, are now going to an undisclosed destination with the sage himself to accomplish a task that they know not what. They were sent off by the other Rishis of the ashrama with lots of gifts, and the teacher and the student-brothers proceeded on their way to Mithila, the place where King Janaka lived.
Even until today, in marriages the father gives away her daughter in marriage to the bridegroom chanting this mantra, ‘Iyam Sita Mama Suta Sahadharma Charini’—this is Sita, my daughter. She will walk with you in your life assisting you in all the righteous actions that you do. It all started with this famous marriage that is going to take place in a short while from now.
As Rama and Lakshmana are walking bravely and gallantly by the sides of the sage Vishwamitra, all the women of Mithila drop their work and run to see these two youngsters. In Kamba Ramayanam, this is most beautifully described. One who sees the shoulder of Rama is seeing nothing else but the shoulder. Some other who has seen his forehead is caught with the forehead alone, unable to take his eyes off it.
The greatness of the avatara or a special descent is brought in these verses, describing the handsomeness of the personality and the grace of the gait in movement. It was this moment that Sita too looked at him and Sri Rama also saw her. It was a moment of trance when their eyes met in a steady and unshakeable gaze.The author is Sevak, Chinmaya Mission, Tiruchi; brni.sharanyachaitanya@gmail.com
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