It was October 1918. Baba knew that he has become quite old and wanted to meet his familiar devotees and the places where he begged his food. He asked me and Shama to accompany him on his rounds. Our first visit was Kulkarni physician, who after his wife’s death had become a dedicated devotee of Sai Baba. Baba enquired his welfare and blessed him.
Right from the beginning, Kulkarni Physician was dead against Sai Baba and plotted many times to harm Sai Baba. Only when he lost his eyesight in a freak accident, his wife Parvati took him to Baba and requested to restore his eyesight so that he can at least have his darshan. Baba told her that he would give back his eyesight only in exchange for her life. Parvati wanted to die a ‘Sumangali’ and Baba consented and gave her a final vision of ‘Vishwaroopa’. From that moment onwards, Kulkarni physician became a staunch devotee of Sai Baba and spent his remaining years of life in total devotion to Sai Baba.
When I remarked to Sai Baba about the earlier life of Kulkarni physician, Baba remarked that even Ravana’s mother Nikasha became a staunch Rama Bhakta. By then Dasganu Maharaj was approaching us, and Baba directed him to tell us the story of how Ravana’s mother became a devotee of Rama.
Dasganu Maharaj took us to Chavadi and narrated the interesting story from Ramayana.
When they brought Ravana’s body home to the palace from the battlefield, a great wail went up in the women’s quarters. In the commotion, nobody noticed that Nikasha, the old queen, slipped out of the palace and began to make her way to the hills outside the city.
“Halt!” A troop of Vanara soldiers suddenly blocked Nikasha’s path. “Who are you and where are you running away to? Come with us to Rama,” they said and marched Nikasha off to the battlefield where Rama and Lakshmana sat with Ravana’s brother Vibhishana.
“Mother! What are you doing here?” exclaimed Vibhishana and went forward to bring her to Rama.
Lakshmana looked at Nikasha in surprise. Dropping his voice, he said to Rama, “Look at this old woman. She has lost her sons and grandsons, but she’s running away because she wants to live longer even now. ”
“Lakshmana, be respectful. Let us hear what she has to say,” said Rama. The brothers stood up to receive Nikasha. Rama looked at Nikasha silently. She was of medium height and slender build. Her silky white hair was elegantly arranged, and her clothes were in muted good taste. She had beautiful cheekbones and delicate hands and feet. So, this was Ravana’s mother. Rama could not relate this proud, slim woman to bull-like Ravana and outsized Kumbhakarna. And then he looked at Nikasha’s eyes. They burned black with an inner fire.
“Queen Mother, I apologize for my soldiers. Please do not be afraid. You are perfectly safe and so are your daughters-in-law and palace women. I entrust you to Vibhishana’s care,” said Rama gently.
Nikasha looked back at him and inclined her head regally.
“Queen Mother, what made you leave the palace and set off on your own?” asked Rama.
Nikasha hesitated at first but found her voice. “Rama, I marvel at you. Your wife stayed loyal to you despite every threat and every temptation. I wanted to live longer to see what else you would do. ”
Lakshmana could not help a snort of disbelief, but Rama flung up his hand to stop him. “Mother, we will stay in touch. Please return to the palace now and live peacefully in Vibhishana’s care. ”
Nikasha almost hated herself for admiring Rama. But she could not deny that. Rama was the better person. Nikasha’s grief was made worse by shame that she had failed to bring up Ravana correctly.
Mindful of Rama’s words, Vibhishana entrusted the palace women’s quarters to Nikasha’s care. Queen Mother held morning meetings every day with her daughters-in-law. She gave each one a project to undertake for the welfare of Lanka’s battered subjects. She made field trips to the countryside so that Vibhishana could take appropriate action where needed.
Unknown to anyone, she dedicated everything she did to Rama. This gave her charitable work an inner focus and a sense of reparation for the havoc wreaked by Ravana on his people. Years rolled by and Nikasha lived for the times when messengers would come to Lanka bearing greetings, news and gifts from faraway Ayodhya.
One day the shattering news arrived that Rama had taken jalasamadhi, death by drowning, in the river Sarayu. Nikasha went very quiet when told of it by a weeping Vibhishana. “O Rama, my life came out of its darkness because of you,” she mourned. “I have no wish to live now. Who will cure me of the grief of your death?”
Nikasha resolutely passed her remaining years in engagement, not seclusion, chanting Rama’s name daily. In this quiet way, she made peace with her existence and lived a life of dignity and service until she too died one day, taking Rama’s name with her last breath. Abridged from Learning from Loss Lessons from our Gurus
We thanked Sai Baba and Dasganu Maharaj for an interesting story from Ramayana.
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