Chapter summary
धर्मवर्मचरित्रम् Dharmavarma Caritram
The Story of Dharmavarma
**The revered Sadguru said:**
Upon the lovely banks, moist with the waters of the sacred Kaveri, amidst green lawns dark with groves of plantain, coconut, and sugarcane, lay the Chola country, everywhere filled with abundant rice paddies. There lived a renowned king named Dharmavarma, esteemed as the foremost among those who understood Dharma (v.1-2). He had built the city of Nichulapuri, where he dwelt with his people. Rich with assembly halls, grand courtyards, and royal roads, and always bustling with activity, Nichulapuri shone with a splendor akin to the capital of the gods (v.3).
This Chola king, who was also a friend of King Dasharatha, was once invited to witness the sacred Putrakameshti sacrifice. With great delight, he journeyed to Ayodhya (v.4). There, the great King Dharmavarma, pre-eminent among the devotees of Vishnu, beheld the wonderful Ranga Vimana and the divine Lord Rangesha (v.5). He gazed upon the charming Ranganatha, the Lord of Rama [Lakshmi], the cherished family deity of the Ikshvaku dynasty, worshipped by kings of kings (v.6). Then, King Dasharatha himself respectfully presented Govinda, the great Lord Ranganatha, to Dharmavarma (v.7).
**Dasharatha said:**
"O King, know that the Supreme Brahman is your very Self—without name or form, pure consciousness, unmanifest, consisting solely of consciousness, immutable, and imperishable (v.8). Seek to know that Supreme Being from which the entire universe is born, in which it always abides, and into which it ultimately dissolves (v.9). That is the supreme, imperishable reality, where all names and forms, even after dissolving, reappear just as they were before (v.10). Know that very Purusha, who, having withdrawn all the worlds, lies down, Himself imperishable, to be Ranganatha dwelling within the cave of the heart (v.11).
"This is the primordial, supreme Ranga Vimana, which arose from the Ocean of Milk. It is imperishable, was directly perceived by Brahma, and was established in Satyaloka (v.12). It was formerly given to Manu, and by him to Vaivasvata Manu. It was then established in Ayodhya and worshipped with profound devotion (v.13). Behold our family deity, worshipped with faith and devotion by all the kings of the Solar Dynasty, beginning with Ikshvaku (v.14). O King, through His worship, Ayodhya shines like the capital of the gods, blessed with eternal prosperity and eternal auspiciousness" (v.15).
**The revered Sadguru said:**
Beholding Lord Ranganayaka, thus revealed by Dasharatha, Dharmavarma too made a fervent plea (v.16).
**Dharmavarma said:**
"O King, you are my friend; you always wish for my welfare. O King, due to your affection for me, there is nothing you would not bestow (v.17). I know that begging is contrary to the dharma of a Kshatriya. Nevertheless, casting aside my shame, I beg you, O bull among kings (v.18). O Lord of Kosala, I am by nature a devotee of Vishnu. Upon seeing Ranganatha, I have become utterly captivated, there is no doubt (v.19). I cannot bear to endure separation from Ranganatha for even a single day. Give him to me; I shall worship this very family deity of yours (v.20). O Lord of the Earth, placing him there on the banks of the Kaveri, I wish to perform the worship of Ranganatha day after day" (v.21).
**Dasharatha said:**
"My kingdom may be given, my wealth may be given, everything may be given by me to you. But I will not give Rangesha, my beloved family deity (v.22). My wife may be given, my sons may be given, even my life may be given by me. But I will not give Rangesha, Achyuta, who is dearer to me than my own life" (v.23).
**The revered Sadguru said:**
Addressed thus by the Lord of Kosala, King Dharmavarma was suddenly overcome with shame, and then with extreme sorrow (v.24). He set out for his own country, and though he attained his own excellent kingdom, the king was unable to forget that Ranganatha (v.25). With his heart resolved to bring Ranganatha to his land, he performed intense penance on the bank of the Chandra Pushkarini (v.26). Meditating on Lord Narayana and chanting the twelve-syllable mantra, the king lived there, observing a perpetual fast (v.27).
Meanwhile, by worshipping that same Ranganatha with the Ashvamedha and Putrakameshti sacrifices, Dasharatha obtained the good fortune of sons (v.28). Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrughna—these were his sons. Born from a portion of Vishnu, they grew up as desired (v.29). Śrī Rāma, the eldest of them, whose valor was renowned in the world, the righteous one, indeed lived in the forest at his father's command (v.30). When his wife was carried away by a Rakshasa in his absence, the mighty one killed all the Rakshasas and regained his beloved (v.31). The ocean of compassion, having given the kingdom of Lanka to his devotee, the virtuous Vibhishana, then regained his own kingdom (v.32). The glorious Lord, the best of the Raghus, was coronated in Ayodhya and performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice, accompanied by his friends and brothers (v.33). To his devotee Vibhishana, he gave the great family treasure. What is there that the great-souled Raghava would not give to his own devotee? (v.34). Taking that divine Ranga Vimana, the night-walker [Rakshasa], Vibhishana, a devotee of Vishnu, set off through the sky (v.35).
Here ends the twenty-third chapter, entitled "The Story of Dharmavarma," in the Fourth Part of the Divyadesavaibhavam, composed by Śrī Kṛṣṇapremi Mahāprabhu.
Thus ends Chapter 23, named "Dharmavarma Caritram", in Caturtha Bhāge, in the Divya Deśa Vaibhavam, composed by Śrī Kṛṣṇapremi Mahāprabhu.
