Aranya Kanda
Analysis
Let’s first do a little recap. Previously, we have been reading one story after another — all about different sages and their hermitages. Why has there been such a long sequence describing these sages and their ashrams? Why is it being repeated again and again in every story?
It is so that this truth settles deeply within us — that when Lord Rama visits the hermitage of a sage, what does it really signify?
Here, “Rama” represents a person who has recognized his true Self — his real nature. When such a person turns inward, the first thing he encounters is his own mind.
You see, the mind exists within everyone — in you, in me, in all of us. But an ordinary person never really looks into it to see what is going on inside. There are good thoughts and bad thoughts moving within, yet we don’t look inward. Who looks within the mind?
The story tells us — it is only the one who has recognized his true Self who can do that. We are all still trying to recognize our true Self, our spiritual nature, but we haven’t yet realized that “I am a conscious being, the soul, and this body is merely my instrument.”
The day this realization settles deeply in our awareness — that I am the conscious Self, and the body is my tool through which all actions happen — that day it can be said that we have begun to live in our true nature. The one who recognizes this is what the story calls Rama.
So, “Rama” means one who has realized his true Self. Only such a person has the power to look into the depths of his own mind.
When Rama first visited the hermitage of Nishadraj, it signified that when a person recognizes his true Self, his mind becomes servant-like, humble, and devoted.
Then, as Rama moves forward, he sees that his mind has become action-oriented — that is, ready to live what it knows. This is very important because in life, we often see that people say they will act, but they don’t actually do it. They promise, but don’t perform.
The person who abides in the Self, whose awareness has awakened, his mind naturally becomes action-based. This was explained through the story of Bharadvaja.
Such a person’s mind unites knowledge, action, and devotion — they no longer remain separate. The mind becomes one-pointed. Through the story of Atri, we understood that one who abides in the Self becomes desireless. The ordinary mind is tangled in endless desires, but the awakened one’s mind becomes free of craving — selfless.
Then we came to Sharabhanga Muni’s story, and after that to Sutikshna Muni’s hermitage. Rama’s visit there meant that the person established in the Self now has a steady and meditative mind, focused and calm in its goal.
Now we move further to the story of Sage Mandakarni. What deeper truth is this story trying to convey?
When a person who has known the Self looks even deeper within his mind, he finds a new dimension — the story describes this as the “positive” or “constructive mind”, symbolized by Sage Mandakarni.
The word Mandakarni itself carries meaning. It is made up of two parts — Manda (from Mandan) and Karni. There are two tendencies of the mind — one is khandan (that which criticizes or negates), and the other is mandan (that which appreciates, integrates, beautifies).
Most people’s minds are khandan-prone — always finding faults, breaking things apart. But the mandan-prone mind — the constructive or positive mind — sees harmony, builds, and unites.
So, Mandakarni represents the positive, creative mind. When a person realizes his true Self, his mind becomes constructive — it does not destroy or divide; it integrates and creates.
And what does he see then, when he looks within? He sees that this constructive mind is filled with the waters of love — a lake of divine love.
The story says that Sage Mandakarni lived in a lake, and that five Apsaras resided there. This imagery conveys that the constructive mind is immersed in the waters of love, or in other words, the lake of purity, knowledge, or bliss.
The five Apsaras living in that lake represent the five subtle senses — not the physical senses like the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin that we can see — but their inner, subtle powers.
Our physical eyes, for instance, are only windows for seeing. The real power of seeing lies behind them — that is the subtle sense. The same is true for hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching. Each physical sense is merely a doorway; behind it lies a subtle energy that actually perceives.
These subtle senses carry impressions and experiences to the mind. So, the five Apsaras — the five subtle sensory powers — dwell within the lake of love, where the constructive mind resides.
The story says that the five Apsaras became the wives of Sage Mandakarni. Here, “wives” symbolize powers — shakti. So the five subtle sensory powers are the five energies that support and serve the positive mind. Through them, the mind receives all experiences.
In the scriptures, these subtle sensory powers are called the tanmatras —
Shabda (sound) for hearing,
Sparsha (touch) for feeling,
Rupa (form) for seeing,
Rasa (taste) for tasting, and
Gandha (smell) for smelling.
These are the five Apsaras — the five tanmatras — that are united with the positive mind.
So, the story conveys that when a person realizes his true Self, his mind becomes constructive, filled with love and purity, and harmonized with these five subtle powers.
Our ordinary minds are filled with anger, attachment, and negativity — but the awakened mind no longer dwells in destruction or division. It rests in integration and harmony.
Then there is another symbol in the story — the sage Dharmabhrit, who explains this secret. “Dharmabhrit” means one who upholds dharma, or one who helps every element in the body remain in its natural, rightful state.
He represents the inner awareness that knows — each part of me, each sense, each thought, is performing according to its own true nature.
When we live in the awareness of the Self, everything within us behaves in its natural, harmonious way — the mind acts positively, in its true dharma. But when we live only in body-consciousness, the same mind turns negative, destructive, divisive.
That is why the story uses the word Dharmabhrit — to indicate that awareness within which holds everything in its natural law and right order.
This, in essence, is the message hidden in the story of Sage Mandakarni.