Chapter 15: Trigunas (Three virtues)

Synopsis in prose form :

This chapter is a dramatic event of how Lord Shiva appears,

disguised as a sage, at the hermitage of Sita. Actually He just wants to see the growing children of Sita and bless them.

Lav and Kush, in their playful age of less than five years, try to play pranks with the sage, whom they lovingly call as Baba, which is a respectful address to elders. They try to snatch his bag, but the sage does not allow them to do so as He says that it is full of His secret ornaments.

Then the Children ask Him to give His TRISHUL (trident). The

sage takes the opportunity to tell the Children that the trident represents the three important virtues of life

Viz. Shakti (Energy), Bhakti (Devotion) and Mukti (Salvation).

Towards the end of this episode, Lav and Kush, full of mischief, still try to snatch the bag of secret ornaments from the sage. The sage shows false anger, but when the children persist, He suddenly pulls out a dangerous cobra from his bag and ties it round His neck. Sita, who is standing inside her hermitage and observing the event from a distance, instantly recognises that this sage is none other than Lord Shiva, the Lord of the Himalayas, as Lord Shiva always wears the cobra as his ornament. The children, scared out of their wits by the hissing cobra, now run for shelter to their mother.

Lord Shiva then dances his famous ‘Tandava’ dance in which Shiva, known as the dancing Nataraja, balances the creative and destructive powers of the Universe. Even ghosts and animals of the forest seem to join the divine dance. Eventually, having blessed the children of Sita, Lord Shiva vanishes into the forests.

*Amrut’ means 'divine nectar' of immortality

Song 1 : Triguna (Three virtues)

Sita :

Da Dum,Da Dum, Da Dum ,

A mighty sage has come