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TIIE V ALM DCI RAMAYANA AND ITS IMPACT ON PURANIC YERSIONS 247

by Nfirada:

wrnm? ^ Hw^ti ga i

w rłsą u

(Agni. 5.1)

In concluding ihe Rarfia story, the Agni. says:

(mwTjmcwwti, i

n    u

[Agni. 11.13)

Nrsiihha Purina (an Upa purSna) in Chs. 47-52 follows VR closcly in narrating the story of Rama. The story comes in the sequence of Avatiras aftcr ParaSurSma. Thcre is no fire-ordeal of Sita therein but god Sańkara bowed to Rama, showed him Da&aralha again, certilled the purity of Sita and disappearcd.

(331W fi) SSffartT nśl ^3T: TfrpIT ^frt I

(Nrsithha. 52.119A)

Tirlha YalrS Section : Ancient Tourists Guide to Sacred Places

II is however in the field of Tirlha Yatri sections that Puranas used

•

the visil of Rama to thcir specific Tirlha by way of its glorifications. Rama was by then established as a full-fledgcd Avalira of Visnu. It was due to the imporlance of the particular Tirlha that Rama visitcd it. They did not care to chcck it up with VR whclher Rama had visited the place at all. If VR of this Kalpa docs not mcntion it, he must have visited it in some othcr Kalpa. They did not mind if their imaginary altcralions damaged the rcputation of some good person. Even an act of disobedience or an occurrence of an evil motive in a normally great man is shown to have been purified by eiTicacy of that Tirlha. Such cases are, however, exceptional.

For example : Laksmana is an ideał younger brother according to V8lmlki. He never looked up to the face of Sita. When he was called upon for the identilication of Slta’s omaments shown by SugrTva to Rama, Laksmana confesscd that he could identify the anklcts as he used to bow the feet of Sita:

(VR, IV. 6.22 B, 23A)

But the author of the N3gara Khanda of the Skanda P. (SKP) wanted to glorify the powerful (should I say pcmicious) eDicacy of Balamandana Tirtha. So he inventcd a story, presuming that Rama visited that part of the country and Balamandana Tirtha during the period of vanavśsa.