What various incidents mean in Ramayana?

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Golden Deer

Golden Deer – cause of suffering : Golden Deer is a form taken by Marichi – a rakshasa sent by Ravana. Ravana is the Lord of Golden Lanka with hundreds of concubines. He represents 5 geat weakenss like lust, greed , anger, power personified and Golden Lanka – the ultimate of enjoyment and abundance of material riches. It means and shows how people lose their dharma as they become lost in the run to accumulate the yellow metal – gold.

He has 10 heads doesn’t mean he has 10 physical heads. No – it is simply impossible to live like that. Imagine with one mouth, if we are driven by the lust for taste like crazy, how much more we would be physically glorifying enjoyment with 10 heads. 10 also represents our ten indriyas (sense organs which are considered 10 mouths through which we enjoy life). Even if you close mouth, through eyes and ears and other organs we live on. That’s what is Ravana.

Marichi is a rakshasa – a temptation sent by the epitome of vice to tempt Sita to want it. As long as soul is happy being with its lord it is safe, happy and peaceful. But knowing that golden deer doesn’t exist wanting it, Sita represents the soul wanting the things of this world sending her lord to get it – means we seek favours from God – the favours in the form of things of this world and send him away from ourselves. When he is gone, we are open to temptations by the Ravana – the temptations of the world and are held prisoner in Golden Lanka. The world is so beautiful with all the tinsel that it looks rich and full of prosperity when in actuality it is just greed and lust personified. But we are in the midst of abundance (gold) and yet suffering and that suffering is the consequence of our own stupidity.

Agni pariksha – If we want to go back to our husband – the Divine we need to prove our purity by giving ‘Agni Pariksha’. Understand it correctly here. We get tainted with karmic bondage or psychic impressions when we live in this world. And we need to put them in the fire – the fire of ‘Tapas’ – the severe penance. Penance and meditation is nothing but giving our ego related attitudes and the cause of all these desire as ‘ahuti’ (offering) in the fire. (clearly explained about different stages of sacrifice in reiki meet and explained about the final sacrifice where I even sacrifice the benefits and knowledge of sacrifice into the sacrificial fire). Then we come out of this fire as pure and can reclaim our |Divinity and that ‘self-realization’ or ‘moksham’ is nothing but ‘that vam asi’ That which is I am. It means I realize Brahman and become Him.

But moksham, does it stop everything?

No. Even if we have realized as long as we are in this world and operating through this body, we need to reap the effects of karma and that can come as ‘slander’ (here washerman doing that for Sita). Jesus was crucified, Paramahamsa called Madman, Meera characterless and even AdiShankaracharya had to face the brick-bats of his enemies. These people were purity personified and yet the world and people being what they were treated them badly because they could see only their own limitations and intentions in these people. How can you expect a man who is blind from birth to know that a rainbow with seven colours exist? He would call a person who says so a liar, a cheat. A thief would be suspicious of everyone he meets. You see what you are! How can a person who himself is full of fear, ingratitude and irresponsible give credit to others? How can he praise others? How can he not envy others?

Washerman was called Rajak. His name represents ‘Rajo guna’ and hence can’t see (sattva) Sita’s sattva guna and thereby calls her names. Even when the cause of our temptation or cause of our karma - ravana is dead, the washerman's character and his act says that we are driven by our nature. Even names of every character explaines their character and guna in these epics – Ramayana and Mahabharata.

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