Malada and Karūśa
This is the account of how Indra, the king of the devas, was freed from the pāpa (sin) of brahmahatyā, the slaying of a brāhmaṇa. It also tells how the lands called Malada and Karūśa got their names. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa gives it inside the Bāla Kāṇḍa as an upākhyāna (an account set within the main story). It is told while the history of the Tāṭakā forest is explained.
Indra’s pāpa after slaying Vṛtrāsura
Indra had slain the great asura Vṛtrāsura. Vṛtrāsura had the qualities of a brāhmaṇa, so Indra took on the pāpa of brahmahatyā. This pāpa clung to Indra. It dimmed his radiance, weakened his power to rule and lowered his standing among the devas. It was a heavy pāpa, and it had to be removed by ritual.
The pāpa is shared among four
Indra’s purification had several stages. The pāpa was divided and placed in different carriers in the world. One part went to the earth, one to water, one to trees, and one to women during their monthly period. Each of them took its share of the pāpa, and Indra promised each a vara (boon) in return.
The land is made sacred
The region between the Sarayū and the Gaṅgā is where Indra’s purifying rites were done. This gave the land a special holiness. The devas together removed (mālayante) the pāpa and the filth (malīmasatā) from Indra’s body in this region. From this act the land was named Malada, the land that received Indra’s mala (impurity) and was made holy by its removal. Another portion gave rise to the name Karūśa.
So the region received honour, not pollution. The devas celebrated Indra’s restored purity here, and the land became rich and blessed.
Tāṭakā ruins the land
Later this holy land was laid waste by the rākshasī Tāṭakā. She was a yakshī who came under Agastya’s śāpa (curse) and became a man-eating rākshasī. She settled in the region with her son Mārīca. Under her rule the land became a forest of fear. It was barren and dangerous, and no people lived there.
This is the Tāṭakā forest. Viśvāmitra led Rāma and Lakshmaṇa through it. In it Rāma slew Tāṭakā, and the land was restored to its true nature.
Sources
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapter 24 (Indra’s purification; Malada and Karūśa)
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapter 25 (the Tāṭakā forest and Rāma’s slaying of Tāṭakā)