Darbha Sayana Murthy Lord Sri Rama
After knowing about that his wife Sita was staying in Lanka, who was kidnapped by Ravana, Lord Rama decided to cross the sea with his Vanara army. Therefore Rama prayed to Lord Varuna, the God of Ocean, and patiently waited for a few days, by doing Yoga Nidra in the bed of Darbha grass, in order to get his support. But since Lord Varuna, didn’t appear before Rama even after his repeated requests, Rama became very angry with him, and hence he decided to invoke his divine weapons into the vast ocean.
After knowing about the powers of Lord Rama, Varuna appeared before Rama, sought apology to him for his mistake, and asked Rama to seek the help of the Vanaras, like Nala and Nila, in order to build a strong bridge in order to reach the Lanka Kingdom in time.
Since Rama took rest in the Darbha grass, he came to be known as “DARBHA SAYANA MOORTHY”, the one who takes shelter in the Darbha Grass Bed, and also known as “KARUNA MOORTHY”, the one who forgives the mistake of Lord Varuna, and also known as “ANANDA MOORTHY”, the one who gives immense happiness to his devotees.
Nala, was the son of the divine architect Vishwakarma, and hence he possessed good architectural skills similar to his father. Thus Rama utilised his help and also utilised the help of the other Vanaras, in order to complete his mission.
It took few days for Rama’s army to build the bridge. And after that, Rama’s army visited Lanka, battled war with Ravana, killed him, and thus freed Sita from the clutches of Ravana.
The Bridge which was built by Rama’s Vanara army was known as Rama Setu, and it was mentioned in Valmiki’s Ramayana, and this bridge connects Dhanushkodi, in Tamil Nadu, and the Mannar Island, in Sri Lanka.
Though Lord Rama is being popularly called by several names like Kothandarama, Kalyanarama, Sitarama, Ayodhya Rama, but the name, “DARBHA SAYANA RAMA MOORTHY”, is considered as most popular among all other names of Lord Rama, since the great Lord, patiently waited for a few days in the Darbha Grass Bed, by worshipping the ocean god Varuna. Among the various Avatars of Lord Vishnu, Rama Avatar is considered as the most auspicious one, since the great Srirama, never utilised his powers unnecessarily, and he lived like an ordinary man. And among all the mantras of the deities, Rama Mantra is considered to be a very sacred one, and it is believed that even Lord Shiva used to recite it regularly in his holy abode “MOUNT KAILASH”.
“OM SRI DARBHA SAYANA MOORTHY NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR