Pañcappa Lake
Pañcappa is a sacred lake in the Daṇḍakāraṇya forest, in the south, near the āśrama of Agastya Maharshi. The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa tells how twelve divine women, five daughters of a gandharva king and seven daughters of nāga kings, were held captive in the waters of this lake until Bhagavān Rāma set them free.
Description and location
The lake lies in Daṇḍakāraṇya, near Agastya Maharshi’s āśrama. It is a place of natural beauty, visited by divine beings, the gandharvas and nāgas, who came to play and dance there. A water devī, Jaladevī, ruled its depths.
The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa places the lake only by its nearness to Agastya’s āśrama in Daṇḍakāraṇya.
The women held at the lake
A tapasvin muni (one who practises tapas) was doing hard meditation at the lakeside. Five gandharva daughters and seven nāga daughters came to the lake to play and dance. Their music and laughter broke his tapas. In his anger the muni ordered Jaladevī to hold the twelve women captive in her waters. When his tapas was complete, the muni went to svarga and left. The twelve women stayed imprisoned.
Their divine singing (gīta) and dancing (nṛtya) could still be heard near the surface of the lake, but no one could be seen.
Rāma sets the captives free
During Rāma-rājya, Bhagavān Rāma visited Agastya’s āśrama with Sītā. The party went on to the Pañcappa lake. That night they heard the unseen divine music. Rāma asked Agastya about it, and Agastya told him the whole history.
Rāma at once strung his bow. At that act Jaladevī released all twelve daughters and gave herself up to him.
What followed
The freeing of the women at Pañcappa led to twelve weddings. The grateful gandharva kings and nāga kings offered their daughters to Rāma’s sons. This began the great year of weddings in Ayodhyā told in sargas 6–7 of the Vivāha Khaṇḍa.
Sources
- Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Vivāha Khaṇḍa, Chapter 5