Itihasapuranas provide a deep and vast insight into not just the human dimensions of life, but also to subtle, esoteric aspects of our spiritual dimension. While most of the information we can grasp easily is simple and ready for our consumption, there are layers which require interpretation and guidance. Some of them come from piecing them like pieces of a super giant jigsaw puzzle.
One such concept is the idea of deception. It is a very simple playbook if one were to look at the Mahabharata. We find two types of deceptions – adharmic and dharmic. Examples of adharmic deception will include how Duryodhana poisoned Bhima, tried to kill the Pandavas using the Lakshagraha or switched Shakuni as the dice roller instead of himself. Dharmic deception would include how the Pandavas had to spend the one year of agyatavasa as incognito. The motives and actions would determine the nature of deception.
Deception would be the idea of painting a falsity as real. It may be usually with others, whereas unknowingly we may be deceiving ourselves. It may be easier to recognize one person deceiving another, but self deception is deep rooted in our ignorance at many levels. Unless there is a deep GunaKarma transformation, even accidental exposure to truth brings no change. As there are many layers to this idea of deception, we will resort to select cases from the Valmiki Ramayana to translate them into lessons for our personal growth and inner re-engineering. A key aspect to understanding Ramayana is, it is not only multi-layered and esoteric, but also hides a lot of allegorical insights. We will look past the literal incident to gather this sapience, as our primary intent is to apply this in our personal lives and profit from this perceptiveness. This is not a mysterious unraveling of the Ramayana, but aligning it to a spiritual dimension, so we can advance one more step in that direction.
Kaikeyi’s betrayal: A spouse is closest one’s self. Despite ranking high on Dasaratha’s fondness, right after Rama, driven by Tamas and selfishness, Kaikeyi sought two self-serving boons.
Practical spiritual insights for us: This is a huge lesson in Tamas. When one is in its grip, which can happen to anyone, the actions are driven by pure selfishness and the idea of self is highly limited to “I”, “Me” and “Myself”. The same was true for Dasaratha as his idea was centered around Rama, HIS son and HIS affections for HIM. This ultimately cost his life. Is it wrong to look for selfish interests, one may ponder?
This is where Shastras and Upanishads shed their wisdom. The real deception is in our understanding that we are the body, the wealth, the relationships, the status, our dreams, aspirations and/or ideas. What is the wisdom through the eyes of the realized? We are Atman and this nature of the Atman gets deceptively misplaced and misunderstood. The best and simplest words that demystify these false notions is the discussion between Yajnavalkya and his wife Maitreyi in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
न वा अरे पत्युः कामाय पतिः प्रियो भवति, आत्मनस्तु कामाय पतिः प्रियो भवति । न वा अरे जायायै कामाय जाया प्रिया भवति, आत्मनस्तु कामाय जाया प्रिया भवति । na vā are patyuḥ kāmāya patiḥ priyo bhavati, ātmanastu kāmāya patiḥ priyo bhavati | na vā are jāyāyai kāmāya jāyā priyā bhavati, ātmanastu kāmāya jāyā priyā bhavati | (Br. Up. 2-4-5)
It is not for the sake of the husband, my dear, that he is loved, but for one’s own sake that he is loved. It is not for the sake of the wife, my dear, that she is loved, but for one’s own sake that she is loved.
Clear message – Know thy real self.
Asuras hiding in nearby jungles: Asuras like Tataka, Mareecha, Subahu lurking always nearby. The dark forces are always infested by various powerful creatures, ready for a fatal strike. The jungle itself is the deception.
Practical spiritual insights for us: The jungle represents the world of sense and object interactions. These interactions spark the rising of primordial desires which take over the ordinary person by sheer force and numbers. The story of deception runs more along the lines of Ilvala and Vatapi, who were terminated by Agastya Maharishi. As we ingest these objects with reckless abandon, they in turn wreck us from within. For the sages who try to tame the asuras like Vishwamitra, there is a lot of deceptive attack. Bringing Viveka and Vairagya as Rama-Lakshmana is the only way to frontally take down the attack on our senses and the attraction of the sense objects. Just like Tataka kicked up a dust storm after her limbs were chopped, these forces are more powerful than what meets the eye. These temptations are much closer to us, hidden in the jungle of sense objects, waiting to pounce on us, though they are far away from Ravana.
Shurpanaka: Even though a chance encounter, this asuric woman unleashed her evil attack on Sita to trying to eliminate them using Khara-Dhushana and eventually Ravana, only to satisfy her revenge of not getting to enjoy either Rama or Lakshmana.
Practical spiritual insights for us: She represents the activated Tamasic Vasanas. When there was no encounter, there is still the lurking danger, but once activated these tamasic vasanas turn into a very deadly one. The driver is always extreme selfishness that powers extremes of anger, greed, jealousy and delusion. The initial plot is filled with juicy false attractions. If resisted, the fangs come out. These do not die without a trace, as they activate deeper reserves. Every sadaka knows that there is the danger of this lurking residual vasana.
This tamas doesn’t rest with a defeat. It stirs up powerful Khara and Dhushana. It knows exactly how to animate a reckless mind, intoxicated by sense addiction, as in Ravana. Tamas tries to enjoy the entire Parabrahman for itself, as ahamkari, “I”. It is akin to Ramakrishna’s parable of a salt doll wanting to fathom the ocean to measure its depth. Tamas cannot stand the reflection of Brahman. So it turns to destroy it. Just like the logical Sanatana Dharma reveals the limitations of egotistical people. So they convert it to HINDUPHOBIA or convert themselves to another cult to spew even more bigotry. Shurpanka wanted to destroy what she couldn’t achieve.
Mareecha, the deceptive deer: The most classic deception of Mareecha luring Rama away and eventually Lakshmana.
Practical spiritual insights for us: When the Jiva (Sita) gets attached to a false idea in the world, even if is a well established deception, it promotes the desertion of Viveka and Vairagya, to wander aimlessly chasing the phantasm. The defenses of the Jiva (Viveka-Vairagya) get weaker due to the shifting of the weight of the Jiva in favor of the illusory deception. This Kama vasana, want of some sensory object, when misplaced, will always lead the Jiva into misery, sooner or later.
Interestingly, with Viveka gone, the same sense objects that caused trepidation in the Jiva as samsaric bondage, suddenly starts appealing back. In normal life, we see even sannyasis getting back to grihastha life or ending with huge ashrams for pomp and glory. The call of the sense objects is intense and irresistible to any Jiva without Rama, the Viveka.
There is an interesting aspect on Mareecha, who never finishes his evolution, unlike Sugriva. The distraction of sense objects for Vishwamitra yagna was merely banished, it came to attack indirectly the defenseless rishis. It tried to evolve under the threat of Rama baana, but a powerful distracted mind, running in ancient channels of vasana redeploys these ancient patterns. Moved by the Jiva’s quest for this sense object, a reluctant Viveka goes chasing a phantom ideal. Before perishing these vasanas merely appeal to the Jiva with illusory distractions to throw it off the track.
Sita trick to send away Lakshmana: There is a tense moment when Sita deliberately sends Lakshmana away with caustic words.
Practical spiritual insights for us: Sita is a divine incarnate moving the story plot for a definite purpose of the destruction of Ravana and his cohorts. But for us, losing Viveka and Vairagya, the Jiva is extremely vulnerable.
A Jiva that has got distracted with the sense object is destined for this end result. If it happened to a disciplined Jiva, Sita, due to singular object, one can’t shudder enough to think about us, launching in endless quests in the pursuit of sensory objects coupled with very strong emotions, leaving behind strong Vasanas.
Deceptive Sannyasi, Ravana: In the absence of Viveka-Vairagya, the Jiva is very vulnerable to the raw forces of the mind. The Jiva is literally carried away by this unruly mind, that is a strong fortress for the evil, not easy to figure out or uproot.
Practical spiritual insights for us: Exposing ourselves to the raw forces of the senses and sense objects, their expressions are amplified through a mind ravaged by vasanas and kama modifications become very hard to confront. This deception is like the calm before a hurricane that spawns so many twisters. The Jiva with even a singular mental leak towards the externalized world is highly vulnerable, let alone normal people like us, who are voluntarily burying ourselves with so many desires.
Ravana demonstrated the trickery. Tamas simulates a state that trascends the three gunas, just like ashes simulate ashes covering the hidden dangerous embers of Vasanas. The undefended Jiva cannot discern these two states. Every spiritual sadhaka has to face this conundrum, which is why a Guru is crucial, someone who has already had that experience and kind enough to share it with us, so we can be spared of the danger.
Hanuman meets Rama: Hanuman is determined to know everything about Rama Lakshmana without revealing much. His culture and education shines brightly, but as the case of any Bhakta in front of Bhagawan, there are no secrets.
Practical spiritual insights for us: Just like Hanuman spilled all his secrets in front of Rama, any connection with Brahman is going to straighten us and put us deep rooted in Satya and in the path of Dharma. That is why we study Jnanis and great Bhaktas, who may not even be formally educated in shastras, like Sabhari, but due to this wondrous connection with Parabrahman, their actions are aligned with the Supreme and Dharma of the highest order exudes through every step.
Dead Rama: Ravana uses his trump card, Indrajit, as soon as war erupts. Indrajit uses illusion to pin down Rama Lakshmana using Naaga arrows. It appears as certain death, as there is no human way to unlock this fate. Ravana uses this pause as certain victory. He sends Sita along with Trijata and other rakshasis to witness Rama’s certain death, so she might changer her attitude towards him. A shocked Sita is consoled by Trijata who gives definite logical reasons why Rama Lakshmana are alive. Garuda appears mysteriously to liberate from the naaga bondage.
Practical spiritual insights for us: In a spiritual journey, which is everyone’s life, however adharmic it may be, we all come to this cross road. All our human efforts are exhausted at some point and there seems no hope for the Jiva. Some sanity in the form of having faith in Guru’s words, Shastras console us like Trijata. It is impossible to exist without this consolation as certain destruction and deception exists all around.
Indrajit was able to pin Rama Lakshmana but cannot defeat them. In the same way our spiritual practices, our own real nature of SatChitAnanada gets shrouded in extreme darkness. It appears we have lost our way and our mission. It appears the dark forces are invincible. Just like Garuda’s sudden appearance revealed a subtle divine connection that exists at all times, we can always count on this unexpected spiritual help as divine forces are constantly looking for deserving (all of us) places to contribute their energy. The only question is, are we ready like Rama Lakshmana to receive this surge? The bondage of Rama Lakshmana was actually weak and impotent in front of their energies, but as Garuda provided the divine boost, so shall we too. The imperishability of Atman and extreme kindness of Paramatman to assist us in every possible way in this upward journey are the real secrets hidden in this episode of deception.
Dead Sita: After many leaders on Ravana’s side perished, Indrajit wanted to buy some time by executing a decoy Sita in front of Hanuman, the lone warrior who could identify her positively, thus completing the psychological assault on Rama Lakshmana. Indrajit’s plan was to complete his spiritual project at Nikumbhila, so he can unleash his invincibility. Vibhishana spills the secret and seeks Lakshmana be sent out immediately to destroy Indrajit.
Practical spiritual insights for us: When we lose sight of the very purpose of our existence, we crumble down and there is no recourse. It happens when we lose our beloved or all our wealth or anything we love intensely. But as we can open our mind to listen to the voice of rationale, like Vibhishana established in Dharma, we realize that all we got caught was an elaborate net of darkness and deception.
No Jiva can ever run out of the ultimate motive, know its real self, despite losing all its apparent aspirations or possessions. If we flip the script and see Rama as the aspiring Jiva and Sita as the Moksha Devi, the Jiva is befuddled and frustrated as Moksha eludes it completely. There is still lots of Purushartha to be exerted. Remembering that Moksha is of the imperishable state and not that of a temporary aspiration, is the key.
The adage says the darkest period is just before the dawn is true even in our spiritual journey. Without periodic inputs from Dharma like we see from Trijata, Vibhishana, we cannot cross over this immense forest of darkness filled with deception at every turn. Every Jiva must be sensitive to not only receive, but also apply these subtle inputs. Deceptions in Ramayana are truly a window into the depths of wisdom in it. It has practical applications to every Jiva and nothing is more detrimental than us rejecting the wisdom and thinking it as a fictitious story. Ramayana gives us not just Dharmic insights for every person live, but very powerful subtle awareness to the traps in our spiritual path and how to overcome them.
ॐ तत् सत
