 The legend of Lord Rama and Durga states about the worship of Lord Rama to triumph over Ravana, the king of Lanka. The Krttivasa Ramayana, a fifteenth century work in Bengali, displays some of the stories of Rama. An elaborate explanation has been given about the worship of Goddess Durga by Rama in order to conquer over Ravana, who had captured his wife Sita.
According to the text Lord Rama organised a yajna to please the goddess. He at first recited the prayer to Chandi and then organised a function with the performance of a play. The monkeys present there uttered the sound of victory and danced and sang in praise of the goddess. The yajna continued for the whole day until sunset. The adoration of the goddess continued. In the evening the 'bodhan' of the Goddess was held. Offerings were made to the goddess. Rama made an image of the deity of clay and performed arati. He also performed all the rituals prescribed in the Vedas. Soon the Sasthi and Saptami day ended with adoration of the deity followed by dancing and music. On the ninth day Lord Rama adored goddess Bhagavati with fruits and flowers. All the monkeys brought fruits and flowers to offer of the goddess. The puja was performed according to the Vedic rites. They brought flowers of Asoka (Jonesia asok), Gandharaja and various other species of forest flowers, besides lotuses and other flowers of Kadamba (Nuclea cadamba); parula, red lotuses with hundred petals, Mumuda (Rottlera tinctoria), Kalharas, Nala, leaves of amalaka, Parijata (coral tree), shoe flower (Hibiscus syriocia), golden jasmine dhaka tree (Butes frondosa), trumpet flower (Bignonia succvalens), Maulasri (Mimusops elengi), Hara singara (Nyctanthes arbor tristis), Karavira (the fragrant oleander), golden Champaka, Kakanda of a thousand petals, Atasi (Blue flower) Aparajita, Jhampaka, Dronapusa, Madhvi (Gaertnera racemosa), Chandani (Tubernaimontana coronaria), Tulasi (Holy basil), Champaka and Nagesvara; Kathamillika, Gulmehdi, Juhi (Jasminum suriculatum), Alsi (linseed), Dhataki (Woodfordia floribunda), Bhucampaka, Ketaki, Padmavaktra, and Krisnakali, Sona Juhi, Kurci, rose flowers and beautiful Krisna Chuda. These were placed at the feet of the goddess. Rama continued the worship and was assisted by his brother Lakshmana. Soon he developed a doubt that the deity was not pleased with her. He filled with grief related his mind to Vibhishana. The later suggested Rama to offer the deity a hundred and eight flowers of blue lotus to please her. The species of these flowers was not easily available. Vibhisana told Lord Hanuman that the flower was available at Devidaha on earth and it is located at a distance that can be covered in ten years. Hanuman thus, went in search of the flower and soon came back with hundred and eight lotus flowers.  With the concentrated mind Rama began reciting mantras and began offering blue lotuses at the feet of the goddess. Each of the lotuses had thousand petals. The Goddess in order to test the devotion of Rama played a trick. She took away one of the lotuses when he was busy praying. Slowly, the lord offered all the lotuses. At last to his astonishment he saw that one lotus was missing. He feared that his vow would be broken and he will not be able to defeat Ravana and rescue Sita. Depressed and dejected he thought of offering his one eye instead of the lotus. He was known as lotus eyed hence he thought of sacrificing his eye. He took out an arrow from the quiver and was about to take out one of his eyes when the goddess appeared in front of him.
Goddess Durga told Rama that by performing the 'Asamaya Bodha' he had adored the ten armed goddess and also performed all the rites. She was thus, pleased with him and his devotion and hence blessed him. This confirmed the victory of Lord Rama over Ravana. The lord filled with joy completed the puja of ninth day of the moon. After completing the puja on the tenth day he immersed the image of the goddess in water. Thereafter, he with his troops proceeded to Lanka to liberate Sita from the clutches of Ravana. By the blessings of the goddess he finally emerged victorious and was able to bring back Sita. (Last Updated on : 30-10-2015) |
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