Today is Jan 22, the auspicious day of the PranaPrathista of Baala Rama in Ayodhya temple. This article is dedicated to the lotus feet of Sri Rama with the intention that recalling his idealistic life, may we improve upon our standards. May Sri Rama be the guiding factor in our spiritual journey.
Life is a series of choices. To the layman it appears that one has either too many choices or no choice. But in reality there are only two choices – the superior path of Dharma which contains permissible Kama and the inferior path unbridled Kama. Kama results being mired in samsara, while Dharma leads to Moksha. In Dharma vs Desire – which is superior article, we find many equivalent words for the above – Shreyas and Preyas, Dharmacharya(Brahmacharya) and Kamacharya. Owing to the human nature and our vasanas, we keep switching between our choices. An Asuric personality may favor more Kama, while a saatvic personality will make more Dharmic choices. Yet we find the role model of perfection – Rama, the maryada purushottama, vigrahavan dharma. Time and again, he faces choices that are tough, yet follows only Dharma.
Dharma is eternal, Sanatana. Yet the understanding of it is not all pervading. Owing to individual’s unique background, each one of us have a limited understanding of Dharma. To many of us it may be merely obeying the laws of the society. To some it may be a deep seated philosophical insight into the workings and nature of the Universe. Irrespective of where we fall on the spectrum, we all begin with a certain level of Dharma understanding. By following our current understanding of Dharma, we get established in our understanding. As we observe Dharma to a greater extent, we end up with several cross roads, where Dharma of our understanding gets challenged or is not applicable under the special situations we encounter. Through resolving which of the dharma choices available is superior and by upholding it, our dharma understanding gets upheld. It also may have to be protected under special conditions, as there is constraint to its natural expression. Thus, Dharma is that which is upheld – dharayati iti dharmaha and that which supports – dhriyate iti dharmaha.
As we oscillate based on the tugs of Kama, vasanas, lured by ignorance and driven by our arrogance of Ahamkara, we find it extremely difficult in Kali Yuga to find good standards to emulate. As we look up, there is one shining eternal role model in the form of Sri Rama. It is not just one odd incident where he upholds Dharma, but at every single step of his life.
Rama’s ayana – Rama’s ayana is not merely the path Rama took, but the one we need to aspire to emulate. The path taken by Rama was arduous, always committed to the upholding of Dharma and to fight and protect it at all costs. That’s why as we study Ramayana, it is a constant reminder for us to look up and uphold higher standards. As we look into the different incidents in Rama’s life, study his actions and approach, we realize that it was no different than ours. We too face the nonstop choice between Dharma and Kama, between higher and lower Dharma, between being a docile follower of expounded Dharma or the one who fights to protect and uphold Dharma at all costs.
Dharmic crossroads in Tataka vada – Tataka represents evil that is enhanced by lots of powers. Vishwamitra prepares Rama’s mind by giving him the complete backstory of Tataka and her actions. Though Rama gives his word to eliminate her, there is a slight hesitation in his mind. He is seeing her as a feminine form and he doesn’t wish to terminate her. He merely wants to incapacitate her powers and mobility and fix her impudence. (न ह्येनामुत्सहे हन्तुं स्त्रीस्वभावेन रक्षिताम् | वीर्यं चास्या गतिं चापि हन्यतामिति मे मतिः || na hyenāmutsahe hantuṃ strīsvabhāvena rakṣitām | vīryaṃ cāsyā gatiṃ cāpi haniṣyāmīti me matiḥ || VR 1-26-12)
Only when Rama is reminded by Vishwamitra that he needs to uphold a higher Dharma of protecting the people, the cows and Brahmanas by bringing his attention to her evil actions, Rama is able to discern that he is at the cross roads of Dharma. He must choose actively on the side of the superior Dharma. (अलं ते घृणया राम पापैषा दुष्टचारिणी || यज्ञविघ्नकरी यक्षी पुरा वर्धेत मायया | te ghR^iNayaa alam Rama paapausha duSTachaariNii | yaj~navighnakarii yakShii puraa vardheta maayayaa || VR 1-26-21b, 22a).
Rama is caught between protecting/not hurting a woman and protecting others from her evil actions. He is asked to focus on her intentional malevolent behavior, her actions of pure paapa, a powerful force (yakshii) and worse yet, one who is incessantly the destroyer of Yagnas. When evaluating the actions of anyone, their Guna and more importantly Karma is the guiding factor and not their background.
Upholding Satya: Dasaratha, father of Rama, is in a bind by having granted two boons to Kaikeyi but also unable to stop her from cashing two painful grants. Rama is raised to be the next emperor and the coronation ceremony was announced to the joy of the Kingdom. He arrives early morning only to be informed of his father’s predicament. Yet, we learn how Rama demonstrates to us how to handle extreme reversals in life.
The reason why Rama was unaffected is very easy to understand. He upheld Dharma as more precious than all the wealth in the world. So it was not even a consideration to evaluate any other choice. Also, as a dutiful son, he took the responsibility of fulfilling the words of his father. Dasaratha’s Satya was the same for him, as it was not personality dependant. If the Raja was unable to uphold Satya, then it opened the doors for everyone to abandon it. Rama removes that excuse by donning his father’s words as his own situation to uphold Satya, even it cost him fourteen years of untold misery. Dharma upholding and protection supercedes personal comfort.
Cannot compromise Dharma – Satya and Dharma cannot be compromised. Bharata comes with the entire populace of Ayodhya to demonstrate that there was no father and his words were no longer binding, the will of the people was with him, Kaikeyi herself came to show her remorse and the Rishis were there to approve his return. Yet Rama is steadfast in upholding Dharma. Jaabali’s extreme naastikavada only brings anger to Rama, instead of convincing him. Compromises through intellectual arguments or twisting logic are easy to convince most of us, let alone endless desires. Rama is adamant that Dharma is not subjective or relative, but eternal. So, logical tinkering cannot twist Dharma out of shape.
Role models even for Rama – All the Kings of Ikshavaku, prior to Rama, were not only great custodians of Dharma, but also role models beyond comparison. They include Mandhata, Ambarisha, Harishchandra and Bhagiratha. While having the great responsibility to maintain the legacy standards of exemplar conduct, Rama merely looked at the Rishis living around. He would approach them all the time to listen and learn wisdom of Dharma from their feet. If there is one common action one can observe through the different sargas of Valmiki Ramayana, it is Rama’s learning and upholding of Rishis’ words.
This powerful example is true, even for us. Though we may see the complete destruction of Dharma due to Kali Yuga, we still have many role models, even if they are limited. They may not be perfect in every action, but we can take instances of better dharma adherence to inspire our own. This takes away the excuse that Rama was from bygone era and his actions may not be applicable as we cannot observe his level of high standards. But for our ideal spiritual progress, Rama’s ayana provides us ample scenarios to ponder and learn.
Dharma sankata in Vaali Vada – There is a lot of Dharmic subtleties in Vaali Vada (Read Part 1 and Part 2 for details). Interestingly, Vaali shoots a barrage of questions at Rama, strongly accusing and even mocking him. But Rama patiently takes time to educate Vaali, who thanks Rama for letting him get the punishment right away. The Woke Hindus of today are worse than the critics. To summarize, the complaint is why kill Vaali and why from hiding?
Vaali makes a series of arrogant mistakes ranging from rejecting Sugriva’s saranagati to usurping his brother’s wife, Ruma, as a his own. This was definitely punishable by death as Ruma should have been treated like a daughter, according to Dharma shastras. Then the question remains, why hit him concealed? Vaali was aware of Ravana kidnapping Sita and he was aware that the crime happened across his kingdom. But instead of stopping the evil Ravana, he thought of his past friendship treaty with Ravana and ignored the transgression. Bhagawan is the sole Phaladata. Rama gave the Phala for Vaali’s bad Karma immediately, but in the same manner Vaali concealed his idea of justice to Ravana’s misconduct.
To understand the dharmic subtleties of this episode, one must develop the same level of subtlety in our intellect through a gunakarma evolution. Else, we will be repeatedly repeating the same criticism like a broken record without any learning.
Compassion is key to foster dharma – Time and again we see many characters who are recipients of Rama’s compassion. But perhaps the one who shows the maximum remarkable evolution with that grace is Sugriva. When Rama seeks Sugriva, the latter remains a self doubting, fearful personality who is unable to even accept the borrowed strength from Rama. Rama takes Sugriva as a dharmic person from Kabandha’s words. Sugriva falls prey to his pent up Vasanas to immerse himself into a Kama fest instead of keeping up his words to send his search party for Sita.
Rama wants Lakshmana to serve a cautionary note, but warns Lakshmana that Sugriva is still his brother and friend. A Dharmic superior will have to cut some slack for the eager neophyte. Rama finds this situation again when Sugriva voices against Vibhishana saranagati along with the vanaras vociferously, citing him being the enemy’s brother with questionable intentions. Rama does some patient coaching of Sugriva, despite being stuck in a time crunch.
Rama is patient even to Suka and Charana, the spies of Ravana, who wanted to gather the strategic information of Rama’s forces. Instead of punishing, Rama asks Vibhishana to provide all the information and escort them free. Rama shows compassion by officially sending Angada as the ambassador, just in case Ravana lost the message of Hanuman, dismissing him as a spy. Rama’s compassion knows no bounds when he lets Ravana go back after his thorough disaster on his very first encounter.
Unless one grasps the basics of Dharma and are convinced to act on their own volition, neither will there be any constructive action or transmission of Dharma. This implies that children and next generation must be taught Dharma, instead of expecting them to pick it up through osmosis. Also the Adharmic forces must be countered in various ways to instill strength and message for the next generation. Dharmic people must aggressively reach out to the ones ignorant in understanding and assist them to grasp the basics.
Dharma is not colored by the background – Rama unconditionally accepts Vibhishana Saranagati. He declares that the one who seeks refuge at his feet, whether it is Vibhishana or Ravana himself, they are granted sanctuary immediately (आनय एनम् हरि श्रेष्ठ दत्तम् अस्य अभयम् मया || विभीषणो वा सुग्रीव यदि वा रावणः स्वयम् | aanaya evam harishreshhTha dattam asya abhayam mayaa | vibhiishhaNovaa sugriiva yadivaa raavaNaH svayam || VR 6-18-34). This demonstrates the extreme compassion, but also the declared policy and swadharma of Rama. We find the same grace to the tormentor of Sita, Kakasura. This implied that the one who was surrendering was genuine and not merely appealing to the ego to deceive one later. This was exactly the case when many invaders of ancient India were forgiven only to be later abused like in the case of Prithviraj and Muhammad Ghori.
Saranagati is not being randomly accepting of everyone, as we do not have the same intuition level of Bhagawan. Hence we must be compassionate, yet cautious. The yardstick to measure is the gunakarma and dharma adherence of the saranagata.
The larger lesson from Rama here is that Dharma has to be upheld. Anyone having difficulty in observing dharma must be protected. The challenge is in filtering in the genuine ones and discarding the stubborn negative minded fakes.
Swadharma – This is the individual’s expression of Dharma. While Dharma may manifest in different forms, it is best expressed by the individual through their swadharma. Rama stops his mother, Kausalya, who wants to renounce Ayodhya and come with him to the forest, by citing her dharma. He does try to stop Lakshmana but in vain. Lakshmana leaves his wife, Urmila, and goes with Rama. Out of love, Rama suggests Sita to stay, who vehemently opposed this idea. She was clear with her Swadharma. The idea of being with Rama was approached differently by different characters, yet the common thread is Swadharma.
The individual’s stage, situation in life coupled with their understanding gives rise to a unique expression, swadharma. Following this unique path, we not our exhaust our vasanas in a proper process but also get the most optimal path for our spiritual evolution. Rama demonstrates this varied dharma expression beautifully.
Secret of Sita’s Agnipariksha – Rama’s love for Sita is not a secret. His relentless search for months and building a setu across the seas is a testimonial by themselves. Yet there is more than it meets the eye of a casual Ramayana reader or a critic. Did Rama suspect Sita? Did he ask or cause her to jump in fire? If so, why? With only days available to return to Ayodhya, the bigger issue of Bharata and Kaikeyi being rejected by Dasaratha was hurting Rama. With an understanding Dharmapatni in Sita, he merely staged an anger to get the Deva’s atttention and especially Dasaratha. The very first words of Dasaratha to Sita was to forgive Rama and to understand his intentions. This is evident that Sita never harbors this topic in her heart again. - Study the details of Agnipariksha in depth.
Till date there are critics who complain without even studying Valmiki Ramayana and let alone ponder on the secrets and subtleties of this Agnipariksha episode. Rama and Sita underwent this trial by fire, the latter once and the former everyday since through our words. The reason was to aide Bharata, the parama bhagavata who was bearing the brunt of apavada for fourteen years. It is okay to take strong measures, even if misunderstood, to uphold Dharma.
Feel the heat – The biggest criticism on Rama is that he sent the fully pregnant Sita to the forest. While we forget to read that a day before only Sita expressed her desire to deliver in the forest, something she was used to. But the skin of the reason that was placed in front of Rama was that at least one confirmed person was questioning how Sita might have gone with Ravana willingly. As ludicrous as it sounds, this individual was beyond reason like the critics of Rama. This was giving rise to a dangerous situation with the possibility of gossip spreading like wild fire. We see this exact situation in Defending your reputation. There is no counter dote to the gossip of lies being spread. We are testimonial to this fact in the day of today’s social media. The only possibility Rama saw was that once the kingdom is set on fire by wagging tongues, he loses the power of words over his Kingdom. He cared not for the suzerainty but for the welfare of the people. Just like Shiva drank Halahala poison to protect the universe, Rama was at the crossroads of arguing against odds which will lead to a reluctant personal comfort for him and Sita or choose a tough pill where Sita will have hardships, but Rama will be carrying the burden forever.
Sometimes, the tougher choice to uphold Dharma may be infinitely harder, but for the person who feels the larger good of the society matters more than the personal comforts of the individual, the choice is easier as the individual is only the self.
Rama’s ayana shows that the higher path of Dharma is always the right choice, though it may never be easier. The path of Dharma results in Moksha. Ayodhyavasis not only expected their ruler, but also held on to very high standards. Thus, when Rama decided to go back to Vaikunta, all the Jivas in the domain of Ayodhya also got liberated. This is ample proof that Dharma results in Moksha.
Rama’s ayana is not merely to recount the ideals he stood for and lived by, but guideposts for each one of us to follow them. While we may be struggling to adhere to the mundane dharma of day today life, Rama’s ayana is a loud clarion call for each Jiva to push that envelope of dharma understanding. May we all take the consecration, the PranaPrathista of the Ayodhya temple to revive our inner connection and raise the bar of Dharma in our lives. That is the real purpose of this newly built temple. Jai Shri Ram!
ॐ तत् सत