Slokam 2

Sage Viswamitra’s Siddashrama is under the siege of demonic forces.  The sage visits King Dasharatha and requests that he take  Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana to help vanquish the demons. Sri Rama and Sr Lakshmana were just in their late boyhood at that time.  The request of the sage is a testimony to their supreme valor and skills. King Dasharatha is shocked at first, but later concedes,  under the influence of both sage Viswamitra and sage Vasishta. 

Extract from Wikipedia

Siddhashrama (literally, the hermitage of the siddhas) is referred to in the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Puranas. In Valmiki's Ramayana it is said that Viswamitra has his hermitage in Siddhashrama and it was the erstwhile hermitage of Vishnu, when he appeared as the VamanaAvatar.^[1] He takes Rama and Lakshmana to Siddhashrama to exterminate the demons who are disturbing his religious sacrifices.^[2] In the Narada Purana (Purva,1.25), Siddhashrama is mentioned as the hermitage of sage Suta.^[3]

Siddhashrama (Siddhāśrama; Devanagari:सिद्धाश्रम), popularly called Gyangunj, is considered as a mystical hermitage, which according to a tradition, is located in a secret land deep in the Himalayas, where great yogis, sadhus, and sages who are siddhas live. This place is also revered as the mystical land of Shambhala by Tibetans. According to another tradition, the Siddhashrama is located in the Tibetan region, nearby Kailash parvat. Though any Sadhu, Sanyasi, Yeti, Monk and Yogi might have known 'Siddhashram' by any name or various cults might have used different worship or Sadhana methods according to their beliefs.

The context of this supernatural land has been mentioned in many ancient scriptures along with four Vedas. The Siddhashram is described as a divine place in spiritual journey. Thus it is also believed that while discharging their divine works in this universe the spiritually empowered Yogis remain in constant touch with Siddhashram and they visit it regularly.

Siddhashram is considered as the base of spiritual consciousness, heart of divinity and the mortification land of great Rishies. Siddhashram is equally scarce to human beings and all the visible and invisible creatures. Thus, the Siddhashram is assumed as a very scarce divine place. But it will be possible to get the divine power to enter this scarce and sacred place by doing hard works through Sadhana procedure and following Sadhana path.

Siddhashram is a secret and mystical land deep in the Himalayas, where great siddha yogis, sadhus, and sages live. Siddhashram is the ashram by our ancestors, saints, sages & Yogis of high order. It is referred to in many Indian epics, the Veda, Upanishads and Puranas including the Rigveda, the oldest scripture of human civilization.

Siddhashram is the society for the enlightened people or siddhas. The person, who reaches high level in sadhana can reach the mystical siddhashram with the blessings of the guru, who is the regular of this place.

This aashram lies near the Mansarovar lake and the Kailash. Siddha yogis and sanyasis are meditating in this place for thousands of years. Like many mystical places mentioned in different religions this place can't be seen with naked eyes, it's an experience and only through the path of meditation and spiritual awareness we can experience this place. Swami Vishuddhananda Paramahansa first talked of this place in public. He was taken there in His childhood by some adept and He did his sadhana in Gyanganj Ashram for long long years.

Many in Hinduism believe that Maharsih Vashishtha, Vishwamitra, Kanad, Pulastya, Atri, Mahayogi Gorakhnath, Srimad Shankaracharya, Bheesma, Kripacharya can be seen wandering there in physical form and also one can have the privilege of listening to their sermons. Many Siddha yogi, yoginis, Apsara (Angel), saints are found to be meditating in this place. The beautiful flowers in the garden, trees, birds, siddha-yoga lake, meditating saints and many other things of the place cannot be described in words.

The journey is long and Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana chant the slokams of Bala and Atibala to overcome fatigue.

Extract from; https://www.hindu-blog.com/2011/08/bala-and-athibala-mantra-in-ramayana.html

Bala and Atibala are two mantras mentioned in the Ramayana.  It is mentioned in the Balakanda of the Valmiki Ramayan. The mantras were given to Sri Ram and Lakshman by Vishwamitra Rishi while he was taking the two brothers to defend his yajna from Rakshasas (demons). It is believed that one who meditates on Bala and Atibala Mantras will not feel hunger, thirst and tiredness. No one will be able to defeat them in fights.

Although this mantra is mentioned in the Ramayana, it is not originally from the epic. The Bala and Atibala mantra is found in the Savitri Upanishad.

In Valmiki Ramayana the mantra is mentioned in the Balakanda – Sarga 22. But the mantra is not given in written format – it is mentioned that Sage Vishwamitra gave it to Sri Ram and Lakshman. The glory of it is also said in the chapter.

Although Bala and Atibala Mantra are two mantras – they are considered as one and are chanted together.

Apart from control over physical urges, knowledge, intelligence, beauty and oratory powers of a person will increase as a result of the chanting of the mantra.

The Rishi of this mantra is Virat Purush and the meter and Goddess is Gayathri

The Siddhashrama in our minds is always under attack by demons.  Our efforts at inducing tranquility and peace are always upset by demons.  Invoking the Paramathma in the forms Sri Rama, Lakshmana,  or any of His Avatars is the most powerful and probably the only way to fight these demons and drive them away.  We must be very clear as to who and what these demons of the mind are,  so that we can use our Bhakthi and devotion to specifically target these.  The entire gnana margam, has the objective of splitting our inner selves, dispassionately into component parts, so that we know which are the desirable aspects that need to be nurtured and which are the undesirable aspects that should be discarded.

The undesirable aspects should be targeted and destroyed.  We cannot do this ourselves.

As indicated in the slokam,  Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana chanted the Bala and Atibala slokams to overcome the fatigue of the journey to the ashram.  The implication is that ultimately,  our every aspect is an endowment from above.  We can only be aware of our problems.  We cannot solve them without divine intervention.

Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana kill the demoness, Tataka who is disrupting the yagnya at the ashram. 

Extract from Wikipedia

Taraka (ताड़का Tāṛakā) or Tadaka or Thataka was a demoness in the epic Ramayana. Along with her children, Maricha and Subahu, Taraka would harass and attack rishis performing yajnas in the forest. They were ultimately slain by Rama and Lakshmana on behest of their teacher, maharishi Vishwamitra.^[1][2]

Taraka was a Yaksha princess and daughter and only child of the Yaksha king Suketu, she was a beautiful princess that was wooed by and married Sunda, a Rakshas. She bore Sunda two sons, Subahu and Maricha.^[3]

When Rishi Agastya cursed both Suketu and Sunda to death, Tadaka took it upon herself (with her son, Subahu's, aid) to wreak vengeance on the sage. This earned them both the Rishi's anger. Agastya cursed Tadaka with the loss of her beautiful physique, and transformed both mother and son into hideous demonic creatures with a cruel, cannibalistic nature.^[4]

As revenge, Tadaka and Subahu attempted to harass as many rishis as they could, by destroying their Yagnas with rains of flesh and blood. Brahmarishi Vishwamitra was especially at the receiving end of Tadaka's harassment. Unable to cope with her mischief any longer, Vishwamitra finally approached Dasaratha, the King of Kosala, for help. The King obliged by sending two of his four sons, the 16-yr-olds, Rama and Lakshmana, to the forest, charging them to protect both Vishwamitra and his Yagna.

When Tadaka and Subahu both attempted to destroy yet another of Vishwamitra's yagnas, Rama warned them not do so. They responded by laughing at Rama, and deriding him as a 'mere boy'. The 'mere boy' retaliated by slaying both mother and son swiftly.

This act gained the young princes the blessings of not just Vishwamitra but also the blessings of all of the assembled sages in the yagnashala.

The slokam points out that Sage Viswamitra initiates Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana into the techniques for use of various missiles that can be used for the purpose.

May we,  like sage Viswamitra, invoke the Paramathma to come to our rescue by destroying the demons within us.