Divya Purusha - Sri Rama Part II

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to Dharma(righteousness) in daily practice, even from His infancy. He is

thepersonification of Dharma. There is no trace of Adharma on Him andis filled

with Prema for all beings; dwell on the Rama story and youwill find all the

agitations of your minds quietening in perfectcalm. When Thataki had to be

killed, He argued, hesitated anddesisted, until Viswamithra convinced him that

she had to beliberated from the curse by Rama's own arrow. This is the sign

ofHis karuna Ras (Compassion)Although by Sadhana, one can get grace of Lord

Rama, yet, if onedoes not understand and recognize the human qualities in Him,

onecannot comprehend the Divinity in Him either. It is very necessaryat the

present time, to look upon Rama as an ideal Human being whois an example for

all people rather than simply believe Him to be anincarnation of God. When we

cannot understand Rama as an idealexample of a human being, how are we to

understand him as God? Inevery family, the kind of relationship that should

exist betweenmother and son, between husband and wife, and between brothers,

wasamply demonstrated By Rama Chandra during His life

time.**********************************************************Rama is the

supreme exemplar of how people should conduct themselvesn in the world, how a

country should be governed, how the integrity and morality of a human being

should be protected. High-minded actions, ideal qualities and sacred thoughts

are basic foundations of character. Rama is the very embodiment of these three

qualities.This means that every human being should cultivate sacred

thoughts,right actions and good qualities. Rama demonstrated by His

words,thoughts and actions how such a life can be lived. Rama acted up tothe

ancient injunction, "Speak the Truth, Practice Righteousness".Eschewing harsh

words, Rama pleased everyone by His sweet speech. He

countered harsh speech from others with His calm composure, patience, sweetness

and smile. He never pried into the affairs of others, never took notice of

their faults, never indulged inridicule, and never caused any pain to others by

the way He spoke tothem. It is essential for everyone to follow the example set

byRama, cultivate his many noble qualities, and do righteous actions.People

should entertain sacred thoughts.For all the mighty deeds by Hanuman and great

help rendered by him,Rama asked him, `Hanuman, what reward can I give you?

Apart fromexpressing my gratitude to you, I cannot give you fittingrecompense.

The only way I can show My gratitude to you is thatwhenever you think of Me at

any time in your life, I shall appearbefore you." Rama was showing His

gratitude to Hanuman in this mannerIn Mithila, immediately after Rama broke

Shiva's bow, emperor Janakadeclared that he would offer Sita in marriage to

Rama.

Janakabrought Sita to the assembly hall. Rama, however, without anyhesitation,

but in pleasant and firm words, declared that He wouldnot agree to the wedding

without the approval of His parents. Ramasaid that He owed His body to His

parents and that He would abide bytheir wishes. He declared that till his

parents arrived in Mithila,He would not even set His eyes on Sita. "I will

consent to themarriage only after their approval" In this manner, Rama rejoiced

insetting an example to the world, of ideal conduct for all to followat all

times.Sita's aspect is symbolic of vignana (knowledge) and Pragnana(wisdom).

Sita is the embodiment of Shakthi. Viswamithra, whorealized and recognized this

sacred aspect of Sita, wanted Rama, theDivinity, to secure this aspect of Sita.

The story of Ramayanateaches us the confluence or the coming together of these

two Divineaspects. Such a confluence is for the prosperity of the

world. Allthe good qualities that are contained in Sita were described interms

of beautiful gems, diamonds, pearls and flowers. Ever one wasanxious to go and

see the marriage of Rama and Sita. They believedthat Rama would look after the

people with greater joy and bliss,and would give them all kinds of gifts and

benefits during themarriage. When we understand the meaning of the words that

have been used on that occasion, we realize that creation with all its beauty

and attractiveness was in the form of Sita, who was born out ofearth. The

beauty of creation is being described by Viswamithra inRamayana. The marriage

ceremony of Rama should not be regarded by us as a simple marriage where Rama

married Sita on His own, it should be regarded as a confluence of all the noble

qualities that are born with us, with the Divine spirit of Atma which is Rama.

We call it an auspicious moment, where the aspect of Jiva is brought together

with the aspect of

Paramathma.Till that merger took place, Viswamithra was keeping the Divineaspect

of Rama, a secret. Not only Viswamithra, but also all therishies kept it a

secret because they wanted the destruction ofRavana to come about with

certainty. If, even before the marriage ofSita and before the destruction of

Ravana, they had told everyonethat Rama was an incarnation of God, the marriage

of Sita would nothave taken place. Sita would not have been stolen and the death

ofRavana would not have come about. This is the reason why from thevery birth of

Rama, He was conducting Himself and appearing to thepeople as if He was an

ordinary person. At no place, at no momentand in no circumstances did Rama

proclaim that He was God in human form. The secret of the Divine is always like

this and is hiddenuntil the task, which God undertakes, is completed

successfully.When Rama went to the forest with Sita, one day he told

her:"Bhoojatha (one born out of earth), in this world there are nogreater

adorable deities than one's mother and father .When one hasnear to him a loving

mother, who cares for him continually andfosters his well-being without adoring

her as Divine, how can a mancontemplate on a being that is subtle and beyond

his dailyexperience? The Divine transcends all human understanding. How canthis

be recognized? People who cannot comprehend the hearts ofparents (who are close

to them) whose love they experience in dailylife, how can they comprehend the

Absolute, which the Upanishadsdeclare as beyond the reach of speech and mind?

Hence, theinjunction that the Mother and Father should be adored as Divine.

Itwas my foremost duty to carry out the will of my father".On one occasion

Kausalya, Rama's mother, Anjali, Hanuman's mother, and mother of Rishi Agasthya

were all sitting together and were conversing with each other. Here,

Hanuman's mother beganto ask if the others had recognized the power and strength

of her son. She said that her son had been able to cross in one leap, miles

andmiles of oceans. The mother of Rishi Agasthya said that whileHanuman jumped

over the ocean, her son had swallowed the entireocean in one gulp. Kausalya,

Rama's mother, said that Hanuman jumped over the ocean in one leap, and

Agasthya swallowed the ocean in one gulp and that both these things were done

by their constantly uttering the name of Rama. Such is the power in the name of

Rama.On Rama's return toAyodhya after his fourteen years of exile in theforests,

Kaika who felt penitent about the grevious wrong she haddone to Rama, approached

Him when He as alone and prayed, "My dear Rama, even though I knew about your

Divine Nature, I caused you a lot of unnecessary hardships, blinded by narrow

feelings of "I"and "Mine". Kindly give me some Upadesha (spiritual instruction)

othat I

may be absolved of the heinous sin committed against such anoble person like

yourself". Rama did not give any Upadesha butinstead gave her some hints

indirectly. This is the peculiarcharacteristic of all Avatars from time

immemorial. The best maximof helping others is, "Help them to help themselves"

Or "self helpis the best help". Therefore, Rama told Kaika, "Mother, Please

takebath in the holy Sarayu River, and come back for my Upadesha. Butwhile

bathing in the Sarayu, please observe what is going on alongthe riverside".

Kaika went to the river and returned to Rama afterher bath. Rama then asked

Kaika, Mother, what did you observe on the river banks?" Kaika replied that she

saw a flock of sheep and goats gazing on the green grass on the banks, bleating

"Mae, Mae", as usual every now and then. Then Rama promptly told her, "Mae,

Mae' was His Upadesha for her. He disclosed to her that the bleating of the

sheep and goats meant, `Who am I?

Who am I?. I man does not ask this question to himself, he is worse than a

sheep.The first pronouncement that Rama made on the occasion of thecoronation

is remarkable. He asked, "Who is primarily responsiblefor making today's

celebration possible? Hanuman! Hanuman was solely responsible for the

successful search of the whereabouts of Sita, and helped me regain her. Hence

at the outset, I express my deep gratitude to Hanuman"Rama then expressed his

gratitude to Jatayu, who sacrificed His lifein fighting against Ravana while he

was carrying Sita away. Next,Rama expressed His gratitude to Sugriva, who had

helped Him inorganizing the search for Sita and providing the hordes for

wagingthe war against Ravana. He next expressed His gratitude toVibhishana who

had come over to Him, despite the suspicions ofRama's companions, and who had

revealed to Rama many of the secrets of the enemy.Above all, there were huge

hordes of

monkeys, who had no directconnection with Rama or Sita, but have endured many

hardships andeven had laid down their lives for His sake. He expressed

Hisgratitude to all of them. In this manner, Rama expressed Hisgratitude to all

those who had helped Him in the epic Rama-Ravanabattle.After completing his

great epic, Valmiki was considering how to makeit known to the world and how to

sanctify the lives of people byspreading its message. Kusa and Lava, who could

sing melodiously and move the hearts of the listeners by their charming music

came toValmiki and offered their salutations to the sage. He toldthem,

:"Children! I have composed the Ramayana with a pure andunsullied heart through

arduous effort. You should proclaim to theworld this sacred story."Lava and Kusa

sang the story of Rama in a manner that moved thehearts of one and all - from

commoners to King Rama Himself. Ramaenjoyed the narration of His

story in song. He posed as if He didnot know His own story. In this context, the

human aspect of Ramashould be noted. He lived like a common man. That is the

secret ofthis phenomenon. Though Rama was Divine, He moved about like

anordinary man. Common men should live like Rama to manifest theirDivinity. It

is not enough to recognize the human aspects of Rama.People should also realize

the Divinity in everyone. "Ramayathi IthiRamah" (Rama is one who pleases).In

Chitrakuta, along with Bharatha, sage Vasishta too requested Rama to return to

Ayodhya. However, Rama did not yield to Bharatha's entreaties and, acting

according to Vasishta's directions, offered His sandals to Bharatha, and asked

Bharatha to perform thecoronation for His Sandals (Padhugas).You must recognize

the inner significance of this episode. Peoplegenerally regard the sandals as

objects to be despised. However,Rama taught a different lesson about them.

Rama treated the kingdom and sandals on par – "I don't want a crown. Enthrone my

sandals!"At one time Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita were moving in the forest. Itwas

thick and there was no wide road. Therefore, they could followonly a narrow

path. Rama was leading them, followed by Sita andLakshmana. We represent Rama

to God, Sita to Maya (Illusion) andLakshmana to Jiva. If Lakshmana or Jiva

wants to look at Rama, hehas only two ways. One is for Sita, to move away from

the middle andmake a little space for Lakshmana to have Darshan. The second

wayis, if Sita insists on staying where she was, Lakshmana was himselfto move a

little aside. To get Sita move away, he may have to pushher away or pray to Sita

in all humility and ask her to give him achance. The first would offend Rama.

The second method, Sita, inall her graciousness and kind heart will step aside.

Hence, if youget angry with Maya or push it aside, you will not

succeed in havingDarshan. The only way is to recognize Maya and pray in all

humilityasking for an opportunity to see God.Please Note: Here we can learn a

lesson for ourselves while goingfor Darshan of Swami at Prashanthi Nilayam or

Whitefield. Thevolunteers, or Seva Dals, may be considered as Maya. If they

arefirm while on their duty, and if we get angry with them, BhagavanBaba may

not like it and may even get angry with us. Swami may not look at us at all, if

we misbehave with seva Dals. Under thecircumstances, we have just to pray to

Bhagavan Himself, for verygood Darshan.)With Love & Regards,Bombay

Srinivasan,C-1, Silver Valley -2,Shivaji Nagar,Vakola, Santacruz

East,Mumbai-400055Tel: 022-26684021Cel: 093229 47473