Lessons of the Ramayana
The following excerpts from Baba’s speeches highlight how an Avatar’s [Rama’s] life is the message. Rama embodied dharma, the right path. Rama kept and upheld dharma by His adherence to truth, the given word, and compassion.
The Vedas, Shastras, Itihasas, Puranas, and other [Hindu] scriptural texts have failed in their attempts to define the Divine; they could only describe the Divine by saying, “Not this”, “Not this.” God transcends human intelli-gence, imagination, language, and thought. Hence, the Divine is as inscrutable today, as it was yesterday, and as it will be in the future. No assertion can be made that it [the Divine] is this or thus or such. That is why the ancient sages declared that It could only be experienced; and, as such, It cannot be described. Those who presume to speak and write about the nature and characteristics of the Divine only reveal their inexperience of the Supreme.
Once, when Lord Rama was on His sojourn in the Dandaka forest, the sages, untainted by ego and cognizant of their limitations, eagerly approached Him and told Him of their plight caused by negative elements. They showed Him the bones of ascetics killed by the rakshasas [evil aggressors/demons], and told Him sad tales of their agony. Rama was moved by their woes. He realized that it was His Ava-taric [Divine] mission that had brought Him amidst the recluses. He solemnly declared that He would destroy the vile brood of demo-ns.
Sita [Rama’s wife] could not quietly look on; she was a woman of extraordinary acumen. She ent-reated Rama to desist, and told him that it was not proper to destroy someone against whom one personally had no cause for hatred. Rama, however, replied that He and His word can never be parted; there can be no Himalayas without snow, no sea without waves, and no moon without moonlight. With that, He entered upon His mission of ‘protection of the good and destruction of the evil–minded.’
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Once [Lord] Rama visited the ashram of Sage Agastya [a well-known seer] and enquired about an appropriate place to build a cottage. Agastya knew that some preliminaries have to be gone through in order to consummate the destruction of Ravana and his horde of demons. So, he [Agastya] indicated a place about 16 miles from the ashram so that Rama could orchestrate a series of events leading to the destruction of Ravana. These included the appearance of Maricha [Ravana’s uncle] as the golden deer that enticed Sita; Rama’s pursuit of the deer; and Ravana’s heinous abduction of Sita—an act which diminished his chance of survival. He [Agastya] also offered Rama certain valuable divine weapons like the Varuna bow that had been saved for such a sacred purpose.
Rama prepared himself for the coming events by allowing Maricha to escape unhurt from the hermitage of Viswamitra. As he defended the hermitage from the antics of Maricha and his evil compatriots, He [Rama] killed his [Maricha’s] mother (Tataka) and his brother (Subahu); but, He permitted Maricha to live another day. Maricha tried to dissuade Ravana from the nefarious plan he had designed to kidnap Sita from the custody of Rama. Ravana, however, interpreted his unwillingness as a sign of cowardice on the part of Maricha.
Meantime, Ravana’s sister, Surpanakha, taunted Ravana for failing to make the very beautiful Sita his own. Motivated by lust, Ravana yet again sought the help of Maricha who was engaged in austerities in a mountain cave. Maricha had the rare skill of changing his form into an animal, bird, or other humans. Maricha refused to take part in this vile scheme.
Incensed at this refusal, Ravana angrily drew his sword to cut off Maricha’s head. Maricha declared that Rama was the very embodiment of dharma [righteousness] and, hence, death at the hands of Rama was to be welcomed far more than death at the hands of his wicked nephew. So he went along with the plot and converted himself into a gold-spotted deer, which attracted Sita’s curiosity. Rama went in pursuit of the deer, and when at last he shot the fatal arrow, Maricha cried out as instructed by Ravana to fool Sita. Maricha shouted, “Ah! Sita,” “Ah! Lakshmana,” as if Rama was calling out for help in extreme distress.
Hearing these cries, Sita compelled Lakshmana to leave her and rescue Rama. Ravana planned to entice Sita to come out of the sacred circle that guarded her and to carry her off in his chariot by sheer force. When Maricha was allowed to escape with his life, instead of being killed at the hermitage of Viswamitra, no one but Rama knew what role he had to play later in the drama of the Avatar. This is the way of all Avatars; their ways are inscrutable to people who do not know the entire story.
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Rama shines forth in the Ramayana as the ideal for all roles in society. When Ravana was killed on the battlefield, Rama called upon the slain king’s brother, the sole survivor in the family, to perform his obsequies. Vibhi-shana [Ravana’s brother] was not pleased at this command; he felt that as a vile, vicious individual, Ravana did not deserve to receive the last rites. But, Rama insisted that there must be an end to all hatred and contempt when the target dies. He pointed out that it was wrong to carry passions and prejudices beyond the grave.
Rama is described as a person of few words and one who always greeted others with a smile, and who accosted them even before they saluted Him. He taught that restraint in speech can develop divine strength in man and cultivate his memory besides preserving his honor and fair name. A talkative person will be looked down upon by society; his nervous stability will decline; he will also make enemies as a result of his loose and wild comments on men and matters.
Today’s youth have to learn the lesson of limited speech from Rama. Speak little, speak soft, and speak sweet. There is yet another virtue in Rama that can be emulated by the youth. Rama showed reverence to elders under all circumstances. He followed the injunctions of the Upanishads [Hindu scriptures] in this matter.
Once, when the two princely brothers Rama and Lakshmana were called into [their father] [King] Dasaratha’s court to meet Vishwamitra [another illustrious sage], they saw [their mother] Queen Kaushalya, Dasaratha, and Vasishta, the royal preceptor, present there. Rama immediately prostrated first before his mother (matru devo bhava—mother is God), his father (pitru devo bhava—father is God), Vasishta (acharya deva bhava—teacher is God) and Vishwamitra (atithi devo bhava—guest is God), in the sequence prescribed in the Upanishads.
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Rama diligently adhered to his father’s words all His life. Even as the yaga [spiritual Vedic ceremony] for which Vishwamitra had sought the help of Rama and Lakshmana was successfully concluded, the ascetic invited the royal brothers to accompany him to the kingdom of Mithila. Lakshmana hesitated. He said that their father, King Dasaratha, had specifically sent them to guard the yaga from demonic beings, and that they have to return to Ayodhya without fur-ther delay. Rama, however, pointed out that Dasa-ratha had asked them to follow Vishwamitra and do as he bade them. In short, Rama was unwilling to deviate from that order.
We have to note another virtue of Rama. Dasaratha had not directly asked Rama to go into exile in the forest. He was too overcome to utter those words. He was drawn into this predicament against his will. Earlier, Dasaratha had granted his younger wife Kaikeyi (Bharata’s mother) two wishes of her choice in return for her critical help during a battle. At the time of Rama’s coronation, she decided to ask for those two boons. Overcome by her desire to see her son as king, she asked that Bharata be crowned instead of Rama, and that Rama be exiled to the forest for 14 years. It was indeed Kaikeyi who informed Rama that his father had granted her the two requests. Unable to convey the harsh events, Dasaratha listened in agony to her account of what had happened. For Rama, the exile was an opportunity to comply with his father’s wishes, which he did with abso-lute sincerity and joyous self-satisfaction.
Sita was equally eager to abide by Dasaratha’s wishes. To that end, she persuaded Rama to take her with him into exile. She happily gave up her palace, regalia, maids, jewels, apparel, and other luxuries and comforts. Instead, she wore barks from trees, slept on grass, and lived on roots and tubers. She renounced a comfortable life to be with her Lord Rama. But, alas, she succumbed to poor judgment when she saw the charming golden deer grazing near the hermitage. She was so overcome by a desire to own, foster, and caress it that she would not pay heed to wiser counsels, even from Rama Himself. Consequently, she lost the company of the Lord [Rama] and was plunged in grief. Craving for worldly and sensual pleasures distances the Divine. You can-not have Rama and kama [greed] at the same time.
The Ramayana is a lasting structure of dharma built on the foundation of sathya [truth]. We praise Rama for His adherence to truth. But we forget that the Raghu dynasty [Rama’s lineage] itself was noted for its unwavering observance of the moral code, especially truth. Dasa-ratha adhered to truth and his promises even though this resulted in his own death—caused by separation from Rama. Likewise, Rama embraced truth. When Rama gave His word to Sugriva [the king of monkeys] that He would slay his brother Vali and restore his wife back to him, Vali questioned the dharma of killing him on the sly. Rama told him that he only carried out his promise. He had promis-ed that he would make Sugriva secure on his throne.
So too, Rama had promised Vibhishana [Ravana’s brother] that He [Rama] would crown him the emperor of Lanka, and He fulfilled that promise. As an exile in the forest, He wore apparel made from barks as prescribed for recluses, and He never deviated from the code laid down for ascetics and forest dwellers. Although Sugriva begged Rama to visit his capital city at least once, Rama declined it to honor his father’s unspoken com-mand to live as an exile. He did not enter any town dur-ing the 14 years, nor did he partake in any meal other than the produce of the forests.
Vibhishana prayed that He should Himself crown him, but, Rama sent Lakshmana instead as there was still one more day left for the exile to end. His sense of duty, His gratitude for the goods He received from others, His compassion toward even those who inflicted injury on Him—these are fine examples for humanity to follow. He is called drdha-vrata in the Ramayana—a word that means: one who holds fast to the rules and limitations of the vows he has accepted.
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, June 1977
