Role Of Kabandha In Maareecha

Even though he was unwilling to help Ravana in his pursuit of Seeta, he finally agreed to help him so that he may not die a miserable death at the hands of Ravana. Instead he could get the death from Rama’s arrows. Here, we see a transition in Maareecha. Even though the cause and effect are both pathos, the transcend in behaviour cannot be ignored. Kabandha (7) & Viraadha (8), both were a step ahead of Maareecha in terms of realisation. They both were Gandharvas and were cursed, due to which they involved in violent actions. But they both had engaged with Rama in enmity without any strong cause against him. It was just their curse and they both were aware of the consequences. Pathos, in the form of curse was the cause behind that enmity and

Even though Bharatha Muni’s words, “रौद्रस्यैव हि यत् कर्म स ज्ञेय: करुणो रस:” (14) have been ably interpreted by Abhinavagupta thus in his commentary : “परम्पराफलत्वेन रसान्तराक्षेपे रौद्र उदाहरणम् । रौद्रस्य यत्कर्म फलात्मकं वधादि, चकारात् तस्य यत्कर्म फलरूपं, स एव करुण: । एवकारेण अत्यन्तव्यवहितां परम्परां पराकरोति ।“. (15) But then, it is only stating that pathos is an effect of war and enmity. War and Enmity together form the sentiment Roudra or violence. Krodha or enmity is the Sthaayibhava, where as war is end product of it and together they form a sentiment known as Roudra (16). Both enmity and war surely end up in pathos. But as the great poet Bhavabhuti points out, all sentiments sprout out of pathos and finally end up in pathos (17), we may not be sure of other sentiments, but when it comes to violence we may be able to say that violence in the form of war and enmity arises out of pathos and ends in it as

They mostly tend to indulge in violent actions. Few of them may also turn into sadists. Even cannibalism is not far from persons belonging to this variety of behaviour. These are the ones usually found on the wrong side of the war. For them, death is most certain. Taataka, Subaahu, Ravana are some of the examples with whom we may correlate the terrorists, suicide bombers, jihadis of modern day. The Transcended are those who turn outrageous due to pathos. But, given an opportunity, they dig themselves up and find their true character. They can be confusing at times. Always unsure of anything. Maareecha was a fine example of such behaviour. And in persons with such behaviour lies all the seeds of hope of change, which can grow into a large tree one day and bear fruits of peace and harmony. These are the kinds of behaviour that need to be recognised early and nourished properly over a course of time under strict