The Ramayana, truly, is a work that holds out ideals for every home and family. It clearly demonstrates what should be the ideal relationship between a father and a son, a husband and wife, between a brother and his sibling, and even between rulers and citizens. In every slice of this beautiful epic, there is a deep lesson very relevant for the current times.
Today, the world needs the message of the Ramayana. Why? Because children do not heed the words of their parents, and parents do not set worthy examples to their children. In the Divine epic of the Ramayana, there is a special and profound message, and that is: man must lead the life of a human being, and must seek oneness with the Divine. Rama’s teachings were Sathya (truth) & Dharma (Righteousness). Dharma is born out of Sathya. It is present in all & non-confined, “Dharayati iti Dharmaha”, that which sustains it is Dharma & only Sathya keeps it alive.
Man should harmonize the nature’s three qualities in him (satwa, rajas, tamas). In every human being, all the three natures – divine, human and demonic – are present. But most men today ignore their humanness and divinity and foster only their demonic nature. Man, in fact, should strive to manifest his divinity, and not display his weakness or demonic qualities.
I have culled out a few such important ideas that we must ponder over and practice them wholeheartedly to purify our lives. Hope you will find it appealing and revealing-
Episode 1 :
The enticement of maya (illusion), at times, is irresistible. In the forest, it so happened that Sita was attracted by the golden deer. She insisted Rama to get the golden deer for her. Sita had to lose the sacred company of her husband, and she was taken away to Lanka.The ill fate of illusions.
Message:It implies that when she gave up desire, Rama was near her. But the moment she was attracted by the desires, Rama clearly distanced from her & she suffered the cons of maya.
If you have worldly desires, then Rama will not be near you. You cling to God or to His maya.
Episode 2:
In the forest, when Rama, Sita and Lakshmana were walking, if we examine closely, we find that they are going forward in a single line, one behind the other. We can take our three fingers as the three members of the party. The first, the forefinger represents Ramachandra. As Rama is moving forward, behind Him is walking Sita followed by Lakshmana. Here Rama is the Paramatma (Supreme Self), Sita represents maya (illusion) and Lakshmana is typical of the jiva (individual self).
In this situation, when Lakshmana (Jiva), wants to have a look at Rama (Paramatma), Sita, in the form of maya, is standing between them. What should Lakshmana do in that situation? Should he be arrogant to Sita and ask her to move away? That cannot be. If he does that, then Rama would not tolerate it. He should pray to Sita, ‘Oh Mother, I want to have a vision of the Divine Paramatma. Please step aside for a moment and let me have a vision of the Paramatma.’ If, on the other hand, he begins to argue with maya and commands her to step aside, then he will not be able to look at Ramachandra or have a vision of the Divine.
Laxmana’s Message:Paramatmais always surrounded by maya. He wears maya as His body. Mayais part and parcel of Paramatma’s body. No one will agree to remove or cut away part of his own body. Regard Sita asmaya. Through her and by praying to her, one should be able to get a vision of Rama, the Paramatma.
In this context, Sita is responsible for our inability to realize the true form of Paramatma. To be able to understand Him also, Sita will be the reason. Man’s mind alone is responsible for his liberation and for his bondage. Here, the aspect ofmayais similar to the aspect of mind. Mind has got no special form of its own. It is our own illusion that takes the form of our mind.
Episode 3:
Ravana was ruling over a kingdom, and his capital city would compare well with heaven. But because of his bad qualities, he lost his own happiness, kingdom, and everything.
He knew several branches of knowledge but because he was not putting his learning into practice, he became worse than one who has no knowledge at all. He knew all the codes of conduct of a king, and was very intelligent, and yet he was behaving like a monkey. The bad qualities that were in him always propelled him to take wrong path which subjected him to many difficulties.
Ravana’s Life message : was all about misusing one’s knowledge to attachments & limitless desires , which are products of Ego. It is this demon which masks one’s divine intellect also, which needs to be defeated.
Episode 4:
Consequences of Jealousy – Kaikeyi, the queen and Manthara was her servant, her maid. But since the queen was subservient to her maid, a whole series of tragedies happened. Kaikeyi came from a famous Royal dynasty; she was the favourite consort of a famous emperor; she was the mother of a son, Bharatha, famous for his dutifulness and righteousness; she loved her stepson Rama as dearly as her life-breath; yet, despite her own virtue, learning and authority, since she gave ear to her attendant, Manthara, She landed in a situation where her beloved son came to despise her. Even their names (Kaikeyi and Manthara) have today stand obnoxious in the History.
Manthara is alive even today in the form of jealousy. There is none who can destroy this ‘Manthara’. We have to ignore this ‘Manthara’ and carry on with our duties.
Manthara’s Message :The lesson is: we should not allow the senses to over-rule us, If we do so, we invite the fate of Kaikeyi.
The function of the mind is to act as controller of the senses. The role of the senses is to serve the mind; the right relationship is for the servants to obey the master and for the master to rule over the servants. But when the master falls into the hands of his servants, he becomes the victim of all varieties of loss and grief. The Ramayana provides a fine illustration of this danger.
Episode 5:
The foremost lesson of the Ramayana is ‘readiness for sacrifice’. It is only through thyaga (renunciation / sacrifice) that one attains Yoga (oneness with Divinity). The Ramayana proclaims the ideal of sacrifice. Obeying the commands of His father, Rama went to the forest as an exile even renouncing his kingship.
Rama’s Message: We must always honor & respect the pledge given to our parents. Rama was prepared to face any ordeals and troubles in upholding this sacred principle.
Episode 6:
Sumitra’s two children, Lakshmana and Satrughna, arrived in the world crying as soon as they were born. They would not stop crying at all, while Rama and Bharatha were playing about with blissful smiles, in their cradles. The children of Sumitra puzzled everybody by their incessant crying. Sumitra tried, by resorting to methods to stop their wail but of no avail. Emperor Dasaratha consulted several physicians to cure the strange malady of Sumitra’s children; but nothing worked.
Sage Vasishta was the last resort consult . The eminent sage meditated for some time, and said, ‘Oh Mother, you need not administer any medicine to alleviate your children’s suffering. All you have to do is to place Lakshmana by the side of Rama, and Satrughna in the cradle of Bharatha. Rama and Lakshmana are of one amsha (essence), and so are Bharatha and Satrughna.
Message: The world may give temporary joy. But to enjoy eternal peace and bliss, we must always go back to the source. The fish can be at rest only in water and not in a golden bowl, for water is its life source. Similarly, the individual self is restless until it reaches the Absolute Self, which is its source.
This episode of Lakshmana and Satrughna crying until they were united with Rama and Bharatha respectively, illustrates the supreme truth that the individual being too can find happiness only in the union with the Eternal. It is the first great lesson that the Ramayana teaches us.
Episode 7:
Ravana approached Mareecha & said, ‘I want to kidnap Sita. Rama-Lakshmana are over there. Become a golden deer and divert their attention.’ Folding his palms, Mareecha told Ravana: ‘Oh King of Demons! You are having so much confidence in your physical power. Rama is not an ordinary man. I have experienced His powers. You have lost your senses. Do not embark on this enterprise. You can never achieve victory over Rama.
There is a saying: ‘When destruction is impending, one’s intelligence gets perverted.’ Ravana was in a rage. He said: ‘Mareecha, will you obey my command or shall I sever your head?’ Mareecha thought within himself: ‘When I become a golden deer Rama may kill me. If I go against Ravana, he will kill me. Death is certain either way. Instead of meeting with death at the hands of Ravana, it is better I die at the hands of Rama.’ Mareecha did not like to be killed by the wicked King Ravana. That is why Mareecha took the form of the golden deer.
Ravana’s Message :Desire and Greed can cause destruction.
Always center your faith on God and not on the worldly things. Discrimination will remain perfect as along as one remains in that faith boundary. And one will be guided by the conscience, which will always lead one properly.
Courtesy : Sai Discourse
sarigamapadanisa 