Rāma and Sītā might have spent only a few days in peace in the palace, when the lightning bolt of banishment to the forest strikes them. While the lightning bolt would have disturbed a mortal, Rāma, whose character embodies sthita-prajñatva is unperturbed.
As Sītā is lost in her thoughts, her sakhīs, who are excited about her svayaṃvara deck her up. They tell her that kings from around the country have come to win her hand; Sītā, who is reluctant to look at other men and doesn’t want to be looked at either, covers her face with a veil. She walks in the gait of a lovelorn haṃsa – Padma also depicts her movement through baddhā-cārī. Looking at her, people feel that even Lakṣmī, who is born out of samudra-mathana is not comparable to her beauty.
This opening sequence based on the verse rāmo nāma babhūva is akin to the narration of Saṅkṣepa-rāmāyaṇa that occurs in the first sarga of the original epic. Once the connoisseurs are familiar with the story, they can enjoy the details. It is like making a line drawing first and then filling it with colours to produce a beautiful work of art. Padma’s choice of the first verse provides the line drawing, which is extremely charming in itself!
Sītā-kalyāṇa
Padma then goes on to the line tau pituḥ vācā pañcavaṭi-vane viharataḥ to continue the story and in the process, she indicates how Rāma, Sītā, and Lakṣmaṇa were ferried across the River Gaṅgā – she uses a special movement of the feet while she rows (the invisible boat) with her hands; it gives the viewer the illusion of a real boat moving across the stage. The movement is also along the diagonal of the stage, giving us the three-dimensional feel. She even depicts the boat stopping with a mild jerk at the banks of the river and each getting off with different mannerisms.
The ekārtha presentation Rāmāya Tubhyaṃ Namaḥ by Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam has captured the imagination of three generations of audience and has touched the hearts of the lay and the learned alike. As typical to an ekārtha presentation, Padma presents several episodes and characters, and thereby, sketches the physical, emotional, and spiritual journey – ayana – of Rāma. In the Indian tradition, Rāma is held as one of the highest ideals of a son, brother, husband, friend, king, and lord.
Padma is widely recognized for her path-breaking reconstruction of the mārga-karaṇas. Her achievements as a researcher and performer of this universal language are comparable only to the combined efforts of Bhagavān Pāṇini (as well as Maharṣi Patañjali) and Amarasiṃha, the masters of Sanskrit grammar and thesaurus respectively. At an early stage in life, she realized that the sublime scheme of Bharata accommodates all beautiful movements, regardless of the barriers of space and time.
In the second act, the king of Nissantānagrāma by name Saṅgrāmavisara arrives there with his friend named Viśvāsaghātuka. Madanamañjarī, who realises that he was a rich man, speaks to him in a welcoming and pleasant manner; he, however, was a namesake king only. He had to borrow money to buy a dog; he had no means to even earn to repay the debt.
A brāhmaṇa named Mithyāśukla arrives there. The following verse describes his name –
brāhmaṇya-darpa-paripṛṣṭa-viriñci-śīlaḥ
śambhorapi vratavidhāvupahāsa-śīlaḥ|
We are never witnesses to the events of the past; it is therefore hard to write authentic history. Written history, regardless of its authenticity, is but a coarse inference based on the relics of yore. This problem is further aggravated in the case of Indian history, where tangible evidence that the modern mind expects is meagre, and the oral tradition, i.e., the unwritten history, rather reigns supreme. This is most evident in the historical documentation of art. Even here, sculpture, painting, and poetry enjoy greater benefits than music and dance.