Sunahsepha 1-Ashram Poem by Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon

This series of poems 'SUNAHSEPHA' is dedicated to my friend and great poet Susan Williams.Her support and continued appreciation prompted to pen them.A story from the great epic 'Raamayanam'. The story of Sunahsepha appears in Srimad Valmiki Raamayanam, Balakanda, Sarga 61 and 62.Aashram- residence of sages in the ancient India. Usually, they were housed in the forests or on the forest-borders. These places were not part of any of the innumerable country-states that existed, and the sages were not subjects of any of these countries.Brahmarshi: The epitome of sagehood. Brahma+Rishi- Rishi (sanskrit) means sage. Higher echelons of sagehood are attained by continued rigorous penance, quest for knowledge. There are two versions what Brahma here refers to- Brahmana, the highest caste/form of human being or Brahma, the Creator, who confers such titles to sages.Jyeshta- Elder brother.Vedas: The four ancient Indian scriptures of knowledge- Sama Veda, Wrig Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda.The Vedanga (Sanskrit: 'limbs of the Veda') are six auxiliary disciplines in Hinduism that developed in ancient times, and has been connected with the study of the Vedas.They are- Shiksha: This auxiliary discipline has focused on the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, accent, quantity, stress, melody and rules of euphonic combination of words during a Vedic recitation. Chhandas: This auxiliary discipline has focused on the poetic meters, including those based on fixed number of syllables per verse, and those based on fixed number of morae per verse. Vyakarana: grammar and linguistic analysis.This auxiliary discipline has focused on the rules of grammar and linguistic analysis to establish the exact form of words and sentences to properly express ideas. Nirukta: etymology, explanation of words, particularly those that are archaic and have ancient uses with unclear meaning.This auxiliary discipline has focused on linguistic analysis to help establish the proper meaning of the words, given the context they are used in. Kalpa: ritual instructions. This field focuses on standardizing procedures for Vedic rituals, rites of passage rituals associated with major life events such as birth, wedding and death in family, as well as discussing the personal conduct and proper duties of an individual in different stages of his life. Jyotisha: Auspicious time for rituals, astrology and astronomy. This auxiliary Vedic discipline focussed on time keeping.Puraana: There are eighteen puraanas like Vishnu Puraana, Siva puraana etc.