The Four Brothers
In the following excerpt of a discourse by Sathya Sai Baba on Ramanavami in 1980, Bhagavan compares the four brothers of the epic Ramayana to the four Vedas and to the four purusharthas (the primal goals) of man.
Rama is a name that is sweeter than all the sweet things in nature imbibed alone or together. It can never cloy on the tongue or mind. It has vast, mysterious, and mystic potentialities to elevate man. So, one must endeavor to keep the mind ever dwelling on it. The story of Rama—the Ramayana—is but another version of the Vedas [ancient sacred Hindu text]. In fact, it is said that the Vedas incarnated as the Ramayana in order to help in the destruction of evil and the revival of righteous living, tasks that the Lord took upon Himself during His incarnation as Rama.
In fact, from the point of view, Rama and His three brothers are the four Vedas in human form. The Yajur Veda lays down the rights and duties of man, the dharma [righteousness] that ensures peace and prosperity for him, both here and hereafter. So, it is represented by Rama Himself, for He put on the vesture of manhood in order to establish and exemplify dharma. “Ramo vigrahavaan dharmah” is how the Ramayana described Him—“Rama, the embodied dharma.”
Mankind should follow Rama’s life
The Rg Veda enshrines mantras or potent formulae. It elucidates them and elaborates their meanings. These mantras have the mantra ‘Rama’ as their crown. Brother Lakshmana, who repeated it, recited it, and relied on it for everything in life and beyond is, indeed, the embodiment of the Rg Veda. He teaches mankind that the Rama mantra confers on man the constant presence of the Lord. The same Veda contains songs in praise of creation and the creator, and through adoration sublimated in song the Lord yields grace.
Bharata whose every thought, word, and deed was an act of thanksgiving, a paean of praise dedicated to Rama, was the Sama Veda itself. Then, we have the Atharvana Veda, which is a collection of medical and ritual details, of charms and protective amulets to overcome internal and external foes. Shatrughna, whose very name means ‘the destroyer of foes’ is therefore appropriately the avatar of the Atharvana Veda. This Veda enables man to conquer evil habits, attitudes, and tendencies, so that he can listen to the voice of God and gladly translate the words into daily life. Shatrughna demonstrated by his humility, loyalty, and devotion how he had won victory over his ego, greed, and anger.
Very often the mistake is committed of forgetting that Rama came to lay down the norms of life, and that His life has to be observed and followed by mankind. He is the ideal man, with qualities and virtues that every man can learn so as to elevate himself. Mere worship, empty adoration is not what the avatar expects. Rama endured trouble, disappointment, and distress like any man, in order to prove that joy is but an interval between sorrows; that grief is a challenge, a test, a lesson. He demonstrated the ideal relationship between son and father, husband and wife, brother and brother, friend and friend, ally and enemy, and even man and beast.
The Ramayana also teaches that as a consequence of the individual’s accumulated karma [action], children of the same mother may have opposing characters and careers. The waters of a pond breed leeches as well as lotuses. Vali and Sugriva were brothers! So were Ravana and Vibhishana!
Four brothers represent purusharthas
From another point of view, Rama and the brothers can be understood as models of the four primal goals of man—the purusharthas. Of these, Rama was dharma (righteousness); Lakshmana was artha (prosperity); Bharata was kama (fulfillment of desires) and Shatrughna was moksha (liberation). These four are the progeny of every human being, Dasaratha (ten-chariot leader)—man having five sense organs of perception and five senses of action—ruling over Ayodhya (the heart wherein God resides), the city that is impregnable. These four goals have to be reduced to two pairs—dharma-artha and kama-moksha: man must struggle to attain prosperity only through righteous ways. The prosperity should be used to achieve and maintain dharma.
This is the reason why Lakshmana follows in the footsteps of Rama. He served as the right hand of Rama and for the sake of Rama, Lakshmana bore all travails and agonies with a smile on his lips. When the demon Kabandha had both Rama and Lakshmana in his deadly clasp, Lakshmana offered to stay in those arms, pleading with Rama to escape and live. This is the reason why, when Lakshmana fell unconscious on the battlefield and could not be revived, Rama lamented, “Perhaps I may get another Sita if this Sita passes away, but O Lakshmana, I can nowhere get another brother like you.”
Rama’s expression of fraternal love
Rama also shared with Bharata the love that Lakshmana poured on Him so profusely. He told Bharata, who prayed to Him with tears in his eyes, to return to Ayodhya as its ruler, “No. Father has ordered Me to rule over the forests, helping the anchorites and hermits and saving them from the inroads of demonic hordes. He has willed that you should rule over the Kingdom of Ayodhya. Let us both be loyal to him.” That was the expression of His fraternal love.
The next pair of purusharthas is kama and moksha; the only desire worth entertaining and pursuing is the desire for liberation. Bharata had it and Shatrughna shared it.
After the long pilgrimage to the shrines and holy spots of Bharat, Rama had a few years, until the age of 14, of apparent introspection and solitude. He disliked food and regal apparel. He was not interested in materials and men. He waved His fingers and palms for no clear reason; He wrote on the air only He knew what. He laughed without reason. In short, His actions and movements were exactly the same as when I was in my early teens.
Vasishta attempted to bring His mind back to normalcy, but that was only a stage that all avatars are in, before they enter upon the task for which they have come down. Those years, the Avatar was designing His master plan. At the end of that period, the sage Viswamitra arrived at the palace, asking Dasaratha to send Rama (and the inseparable Lakshmana) with him to save the hermits from the demonic gangs who desecrated Vedic rites. The plan started unfolding.
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 14
