Rama - The Purushottam

Rama – An Ideal Man?

Before going to answer other questions of comment on post dated:5^th march 2015, let me clarify that this is not a question related to Tretayuga. It’s a question related , applicable and sought answer in every yuga.  And this question of Rama not being right in doubting Sita etc has been asked and will be asked till the end of creation. And I for one see it as a very good sign. Because when a person asks, it means he or she is not blindly following rituals and traditions and is questioning the validity of morals of even the highest Ideal of Vedantic Philosophy – i.e.,Rama. Rama is “Purushottam” – the ultimate Ideal for a man, who has been the ideal son, brother, husband and king too! He is the only character who did justice to all the roles that he had to play in his life (explanation will come later. These questions come from a confused mind and this confusion is good – haan, kabhi kabhi daagh achche hote hai. Because, this confusion says you are trying to find the order. This type of chaos sets the ball rolling towards order – order of understanding higher Ideals and desire to raise to higher realms. Good! 

And there is nothing as Hinduism actually – it’s actually Sanatana Dharma – the eternal Dharma and that it is never dying inspite of influx of so many eternal power and bloodshed only because of one of its great principle. Only Sanatana Dharma gives both its believer and non-believer right to question about the morality of even Gods and Incarnations. Because, blind belief is no belief. 

In a village because of severe famine, it was decided that they should do a ‘yagna’ (fire sacrifice) en masse that would please rain god and as a result there would be heavy rains after performing the Yagna. Everyone contributed inspite of acute poverty and on the appointed day were going enthusiastically towards the ‘yagnasala’ – place where the sacrifice was to be performed. A six year old came carrying an umbrella. When asked he said “to protect myself from the rain that’s to come after the sacrifice”. Everyone laughed and said “how innocent are you to think it would rain after this yagna”. “Is it not why we are performing this yagna?” he asked surprised.

We like those villagers are always sincerely following various rituals prescribed by the religion that we follow, but we miss the soul of all these acts – faith. Because, we blindly believe. Inshort, we doubt our belief too! We trust our doubt and doubt our trust! To correct this wrong way of thinking it’s right to question and seek answers.

Before going into answering the question we need to look into the era of Rama. In those days along with political science, warfare techniques and social etiquettes that were required to be taught to Prince and Princesses, they were also inevitably taught ‘Dharma’ – the right way and right conduct in life. Duties of a king were also part of this ‘Dharma Philosophy’. And we all know that Rama was and is called “Dharma Incarnate”. I’ll only highlight few of the points or Laws of Dharma. 1. Its the duty of children to obey their parents and Gurus under all circumstances. Remember neither Sita nor Rama questioned their parent’s or Guru’s (respectively) decision to get both of them married to each other.

Imagine the scene in today’s context. In a certain case, father didn’t want his son to marry a girl because as per her horoscope, it was not good for her f-i-l. The boy asked his father “would you not die if I marry some other girl?”

I am not justifying horoscope or father’s fear. I am just stating a contrast situation.

…..contd….

Rama Navami

 

Rama Navami

For next time on wards, read this post on Ugadi and use it to chart out Rama Navami - the 9 day celebration of Rama's birth starting from Ugadi to the ninth day which is celebrated as Rama Navami.....

Those who can chant 108 times Hanuman Chalisa. You need not sit continuously for that. You can chant for say 15mts (5 times) and then go to work, then take 1/2 an hr break, chant then continue with your daily chores etc.....Just complete 108 times (even if spread through out the day!!)

Those who can't can select the number of times they are comfortable to do the same chanting........select the number which is not easy for you to perform. Greater the number, greater is the sense of achievement at the end of the day. Even if you are not able to complete you still would have done more than what you thought you are capable of doing. Feel good about that! Know you are capable of much more than what you think you are capable of!

Those who don't know hanuman chalisa, chant either "Sree rama ramethi...." at least 10 malas......

those who can't do that too, chant "Rama, Rama, Rama.." as many malas as you can.......

easy doers will do one mala and think they have done a lot.....

smart ones will take up 3 malas......

one who do japa reg. will take up 10malas effortlessly......

the one who want to challenge themselves will take up 24 malas......

24 malas - one mala per hour of the day...this way you can have your own no. representing something for you.......

do 2-3 points before/after doing set number of malas each time....that way your hands on too would be over along with the no. of malas..........

also suggested read : https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=rama+an+ideal+man 

https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=ramayana

https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=sita

https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=hanuman 

there are many more posts apart from these too on Rama.....do feel to go through them in leisure on a later day and come back with your understanding, feedback etc.

Your questions have been answered in these posts and yet.........the same questions are asked. Either you are not reading right or i am not writing right.......

How to get Ram Rajya?

…contd….

Well, if you want Ramrajya back then –

a)      Start respecting woman, regardless of her dress, profession, life-style and choices. Ram did not kill ‘Thataki’ (female demon) because she was a woman. Only when Sage Vishwamitra explained that she was killing innocent rishis and their families and it was duty of noble men to protect rishis did Rama kill her.

b)      He did not call his stepmother names like ‘-----‘ etc. he did not say ‘cheap woman, you enticed my father with your looks and how dare you want me to go to forest now.”

He respected her as much as he respected his mother. He himself was a ‘one woman man’ yet did not judge his father or his step-mother’s character because of their choice. He respected their right to lead their life their way and respected their choice still maintaining his principles. To understand that Ideal and to live that is being Rama Bhaktha.

c)      Stop torturing women in the name of dowry and stop killing girl child and wanting only male child.

d)     Start respecting your wife and be a one woman man before asking her to be like Sita, Savithri. Set an example of great character to others to follow. You can’t force someone to be good or moral. Be an example. Stop abusing women in your house and society. Stand for them, protect them and respect them if you really are a ‘true Hindu’.

e)      Read Vedas and Upanishads and work on you character as they claim that only thing worth working for is ‘enlightenment’. Become a rishi. Practice renunciation. People will flock to you. People will follow your foot steps automatically. Bring out the Divine within you. Meditate. Do penance. Work on your character. Others character will change automatically if you become pure from within.

f)       Stop working on breaking pubs and forcing people from taking to western customs and life-styles. The more something is forced on, the more people will revolt against it. If you are really interested in spreading ‘Sanatana Dharma’, then revive all the temples in remote places which are in ruins. Pay the priests good salary and let the ceremonies be performed regularly. Make arrangements for the same. Educate the masses. Work on these aspects. Revive the masses economically, socially and culturally. Be constructive in the fulfillment of your desire – not destructive. Not by force but by education only can real transformation happen. This way Ramayan teaches us to deal with various aspects of life and its situations the right way. Even if you forget that it is story of Lord Vishnu’s Incarnation – i.e., Rama and read it just as a life of an ordinary man who rose to pedestal of ‘Perfect Man’ or ‘Godhood’ by simply following ‘Dharma’. He never compromised on principles however much he had to suffer for the same. 

   Every character throws light on how to raise above the situations, how to use testing situations as an excuse to make penance and bring forth our divinity to the fore. Ramayan through its characters shows us how we can slip and given in to temptations and how they affect our lives. It’s a moral story so poetically told.

 ..contd....

Me, My Guru - Ramayana and Rama - Indian Mythology

Contd.....

The main or sole agenda of Rama’s life was to kill ‘the pinnacle of asuric power – Ravana’. Ravana by way of his boon was not killable by any God, demi-God, Gandharvas, Yakshas – in short any celestial being. He didn’t mention ‘human and animal form’ when seeking boon of ‘immunity from death’ from the Creator – Brahma.

By way of his boon, he became unconquerable and arrogance drove him to molest and rape any women to whom he took fancy. So when all the Gods approached Lord Vishnu to protect them from Ravana he promised to take birth as a human and kill him. To assist him, all celestial beings procreated from monkeys and bears and made ready an army of very powerful and intelligent monkeys and bears. Because he was born a human he had to conduct himself as one. Ravana did not mention ‘human’ because those days humans were not that able of character and strength. So, they were not thought of as worthy rivals. To prove that ‘belief’ wrong and to

show to the world how high a human being can raise was the second agenda of his birth. That’s why he didn’t complete his Avatar immediately after Ravana’s death. He lived on to rule in just way for 11,000 years to show and set an example of how a man can create a wonder land called ‘Rama Rajya’ – which was free of disease, calamities, poverty, theft, untimely death and vices in character. He set an example of an Ideal which can be achieved by anyone. All that he did to reach the pinnacle of ‘human possibility’ was to live by ‘Dharma’. Anyone who lived by ‘Dharma’ – in word, thought and deed automatically rose to that height. But, as he lived and behaved as a human, he was also governed by human law of karma. He was faced with choices that you and I face on daily basis. He made choices and he faced the consequences. That’s what his life proves. However high your Ideal and intentions, however noble be your thoughts, however selfless be your life and acts, yet every act is tainted with some negative to it. Your highest good intention also

can give you brick-bats from every corner. Just because you are right doesn’t mean you’ll be understood by all, respected and loved by all. No. Even when you are ‘Right’ you could’ve failed in someone’s eyes. You could be held wrong by some one who has other priorities. But the question is not about pleasing all. The question is ‘Did you do what was needed of you with complete honesty and to the best of your ability, even if it pained you a lot?”

If yes, you are right. If no, even if you are happy doing what you wanted to do, you would still have ‘wronged as per Dharma’.

contd..... 

related reads : http://kantipadam.blogspot.in/search?q=what+various+incidents+mean+in+ramayana

Me, My Guru - On Ramayan and Rama - Indian Mythology

Contd.....

Other factor that influenced the decision was Dharma. Dharma of this land clearly states that a man (or an individual) should sacrifice his personal benefits for his family, that of family for the community, that of community to the state, that of state to Nation and that of a Nation to the World.

Always remember that all that Rama did was follow the ‘Dharma’ to the T and he became an Ideal worth looking up to and worth aspiring to be for all ages to come!

Arguments against him are:

1. He left his wife as he was selfish and was attached to the crown.

This is fundamentally wrong as already negated by his act of ‘renouncing the crown’ without a murmur to keep up his father’s word.

2. He was a bad husband and didn’t love his wife.

Wrong again as seen throughout Aranyakanda and Sundarakanda (the Chapters of Ramayan). All that one gets to read is, how he was crazy for Sita. How he loved her company and he kept stating again and again “In your company and Lakshmana as my companion, I am so happy in this forest leading this life that I don’t miss the riches of Ayodhya at all!”

After Sita’s abduction, he searches like a mad man cursing his fate, his inability to protect her and fears her inability to bear his separation. He keeps worrying about her well-being. He sees her in climbers and flowers.

He talks to plants and animals asking for her whereabouts. He even decides more than once to end his life. ‘Virahavedana’ is so beautifully explained that one cannot help not crying with him sharing his pain.

Even when he gets back to Ayodhya, he is seen rushing to Sita and longs her company at slightest pretext. He fulfills her every wish and knows no joy other than seeing her smile and be happy.

                                                          (Rama returns to Ayodhya in Pushpak vimana)
Contd....