The Ocean being spread over a distance of 100 yojanas, Lord Sri Rama, now accompanied with the army of the vanaras comes to set up his camp on its shores. Usually anything that is fact or fiction will be seen by each and everyone according to their own individual views. In this world, we cannot say this is the right way or something else as the wrong way. The way things are being looked at is varied in its perception. Usually we find that when the travelers come on the train from a distant place and alight at their destination, some travelers will take their own luggage with them and some would engage a porter. We can see this in two different ways. One is that, the traveler being a rich man, could have wished that he can employ a porter to carry his things but in reality, he doesn't do so, why because he is such a person that he will do all his own work himself.
He would himself wash his own clothes and he will carry his own luggage and that can be said of his character even. Another person who having traveled on the same train with his belongings will bring them on his own but will think like this. He would think that "In this station there are so many porters whose livelihood solely depends on the expectation that the alighting travelers will ask them to carry their luggage and pay them money". So, for this type of a traveler, although there is a desire to do their own work themselves yet they feel that they need to give the porters at the station a livelihood and an opportunity to give them some money.
So it is the behaviour whic determines which traveler is right and which is wrong. In one instance, one does his own work and doesn't depend on the other, whilst we see that in the other instance the traveler is also doing the right thing. Each thing is varied but the way it is seen is only different. The most important thing to identify here is "WHAT IS THE INTENTION WITH WHICH ONE IS DOING THE WORK". What is the intention - is most important thing to consider here. His thoughts must be good and that is the most important thing. We can keep saying so and for each thing like this but there are several views. In the world, people who have achieved tremendous fame will usually write their biographies or they will be interviewed by press people. They will let you know how they came up in their lives and what steps they took to achieve their success. If we read their biographies, we see that each one would have taken different steps altogether to achieve their success. Each would have done this in their own unique thing in a unique way.
But when they advise others they will only dictate their own ways only. Say, if they have done a business and become rich with that, they will say you to do the same business, reason being that is what they are good at. Similarly with what education they achieved success, they would recommend the same. "You learn music, learn dance, learn sastras, study scriptures, do research, go abroad" - usually these are the things people who advise these would have done them in their lives too. That is not wrong, because that is what they know for sure has worked in their lives. Because they have achieved success in this route, the others would also achieve the same success.
You study alone, do not study with others. Others will say combined study will be good, likewise there are several angles, several dimensions to any one thing. Like that on the shores of the ocean, Lord Sri Rama, which has camped with this army of vAnaras is thinking how he will be able to cross the 100 yOjanas. With the cool wind blowing over him, with lakshmana by this side, he tells lakshmana that the cool wind blowing over his face is very calm and peaceful and makes him happy. Izhaiazhwar says to his brother that usually the breeze from the sea has this effect, poets will always say there are 3 things that one will never get bored with.
What are they?
An elephant will be seen with admiration by both young and old alike. How many times one sees an elephant, he will never get bored with this. Everyone will love to see an elephant. Its walk, the way it swings its trunk and the way the ears swing about are what the poets will usually never tire of admiring in an elephant. Likewise the moon in the sky - one will never tire of looking at it. Sitting under the moon and eating food, looking at the moon and admiring it, speaking about it is something that everyone will be so fond of. The poets never tire of writing about the moon in their poetry ever. In the morning, the sun would have created a lot of heat, the moon coming up in the night reduces the heat with its rays of amrutha. Thats why when we speak about the face of the bhagavan, Lord Sri Krishna, we say that the face is equivalent to that of the moon. Because whomsover meditates upon the moon, the rays of the moon bring about the peace in their faces. Even to a small child, when they are feeding them, they will show the moon whilst feeding them. The third one which no one will ever tire of is the ocean.
Even if we see the ocean several times in our lives, we will never get tired of looking at it. That is why Lord Sri Rama tells lakshmana about the effect of the sea breeze. Because when Lord Sri Rama camped on the shores of the ocean he felt the proximity of Lanka as his expectation increased as he could just cross over and see Sita devi. Just like one who had gone on a trip to KasHi or BadrinatH, when the train comes to Arakkonam station itself, he starts to feel as if he is back home. Our home town has come!. Likewise Lord Sri Rama feels that he has come close to SrI Lanka, having crossed the ocean and closer to seeing piratti (Sita devi) at Ashoka park. The breeze coming from across the seas unobstructed by anything in between, one of the reason why one needs to perform meditation on the ocean shores is this, another being atop a mountain or hill where there is no obstruction. We see that the Yoga devathas will usually be installed on the shores of the sea or atop a mountain. In Sholinghur, we can see Yoga Narasimhar or Yoga Anjaneyar. Likewise if we go to Tiruvidandhai we see Varaha moorthy.
In a room if there are about ten people sitting closely and performing DhyAna is not recommended. Why because, the thoughts are coming out of each of us and spreading around similar to the way the air from our breath spreads out. When a bill rings the sound waves comes and hits the ears and we hear the sound. Likewise each and everyone of our thoughts originates from one and spreads out to hit the others and travels around just like the waves. Mind readers who possess the talent of being able to read the minds of others can simply write down our thoughts and give it back to us. The thoughts of the person performing DhyAna will be like going to the temple, the need to be humble, the need to be good, not to do bad things, thoughts such as these will be white in colour. The urge to do this and that and be able to achieve this or that will usually be red in colour. Therefore each thought has a varnam or colour. The wish to always sleep and not be able to do anything, fear and such thoughts will be black in colour. That is why its said that the "tAmasa" gunam will be black in colour, "rajas" gunam will be red in colour, "sAttvIka" gunam will be white in colour.
Let us say 10 people are sitting in a room in DhyAna, as one while striving earnestly to control his thoughts now finds that several streams of thoughts from his fellow companions come and hit him from either sides. He feels he is trying to control his thoughts but unable to do so as several other thoughts from his nearby companions are attacking him. But when we go to the sea and sit there a vast expanse of water before us which is unobstructed with no houses, buildings, even the birds flying high above up in the sky, there will be calmness and no disturbance. When there is no one, where is the possibility of the others thoughts striking us itself. That is the reason why the Yoga devathas are placed on the shores of the sea. Similarly atop a hill or a mountain, there is very less movement of people and as we go higher up from the earth, the presence of beings is less and likewise the effect of the other beings are not felt.
Even in the Srimad Bhagavatham, Dhruva, when he performed tapasya went to the forest. Jatabharatha went to an ashram situated in the GaNdaki River near Nepal called pulahAshramam. In those days when one wishes to perform tapas, he will go to the forest. In Ramayanam, Sage Valmiki when he starts the epic, mention is made of the shore of the River Tamasa. Similar to Sholinghur, situated at a very great height is the Badri Kshetra in the Himalayas. The greatness of the Badri Kshetram is that it is the kshetram for performing tapas, thats why Naranarayanan (Badri Narayana), sakshath bhagavan himself is performing tapas there. Its a kshetram for tapas.
In Srimad Bhagavatham, ekAdasa skandam, Uddhava comes to know that the bhagavan is about to leave the earth and bhagavan himself says his avatar is going to be over. Uddhava laments that he failed to do yogAbhyasam just like Bhishma or Sharabhangar did. If he had performed the yama-niyamAsana-ashtAngayoga, when the time came for the bhagavan to leave for Vaikuntam, he himself could have also gone to vaikuntam sitting in padmasana. Uddhava thinks that being in the presence of the bhagavan all the time, now that the time has come for the end of the avatar of the bhagavan, he starts to worry. Uddhava cannot dream of a world without the bhagavan. Bhagavan looks at Uddhava and asks him to go to Badrikashrama - "IkshayA alakananda" - go to alakananda, a river by the name of alakananda - IkshayA - just see it with your eyes thats enough. That itself is punyam, gives calmness to the mind. But for Uddhava where is the papam, its only for ordinary mortals like us. Uddhava performing dhyanam there and meditating upon the leelais of the bhagavan and basking in the anandam we see that in the bhagavatham.
Therefore tapas is always best performed atop a hill, on the shore of the sea. Likewise we see that three things that we will never get tired of - sea, moon and the elephant. Sri Rama therefore says to izhaiAzhwar that the sea breeze is cool because it is the air breathed upon by pirAtti, having touched pirAtti is giving him the coolness as it touches his body. That is why this is giving such a calmness to his mind. Then we see how great is the bhAvam of Sri Ramachandra prabhu.
Sitting thus on the sea shore, the Lord Sri Rama thinks about how to cross over the sea.
== Subham ==
