Ramakatha Rasavahini - Part 1

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What is the real meaning of this amazing association of scholars (who have

renounced all attachments and desires, who have realized that the world is a

shadow and a snare, and that the One is the only Reality) with kings and rulers

playing subordinate roles and counseling them when asked? Those revered elders

will not, I know, engage themselves in any activity without sufficient and

proper reasons. Their behavior will ever be pure and unsullied. But, this makes

my doubt unsolvable. Please enlighten me". Suka laughed at the

question. He replied, "You have asked a fine question, no doubt. Listen! The

great

sages and holy scholars will always be eager to share with their fellowmen the

truth they have grasped, the sanctifying experience they have won, the

elevating deed they have been privileged to perform, and the Divine Grace they

have been chosen to receive; they seek nearness to those who are in charge of

administration, those who are adepts in ruling over peoples, with the intention

to use them as instruments for establishing and ensuring peace and prosperity on

earth; they implant high ideals in their minds, and holy ways of fulfilling

them; they prompt the performance of righteous actions, in accordance with just

laws. The monarchs too invite and welcome the sages, seek out the scholars and

plead with them to be in their courts, so that they can learn from them the art

of government and act according to their counsel. The monarch was the master and

guardian of the people; so, they spent their days with him for the estimable

purpose of realizing, through him, the

yearning of their hearts: "Lokaassamasthaah Sukhino Bhavanthu - May all the

Worlds be happy". They were eager to see happiness and peace spread over the

world. Therefore, they tried to equip the kings with all the virtues, fill them

with all the moral codes of discipline, arm them with all branches of learning,

so that they may rule the realm efficiently, wisely and with beneficial

consequences to themselves and their subjects. There were other

reasons, too. Listen! Knowing that the Granter of Joy to humanity, the Mentor

of human morals, the

Leader of the Solar line, the Dweller in the Heaven of Eternal Bliss, will take

birth in a royal line, Sages who had the foresight to anticipate events, gained

entry into the durbars of rulers so that they may experience the bliss of

contact with the Incarnation, when It happens. They feared they may not get

such access later, that they may miss the Bliss they could well garner. So,

they profited by their vision of the future and established themselves in the

royal capital, in the thick of the community, longing for the Advent.

"To this venerable group belonged Vasistha, Vismamitra, Garga, Agasthya and

other sages (rishis). They had no wants; they were monarchs of renunciation;

they sought nothing from any one. They were ever content. They appeared in the

audience halls of the emperors of those days, not for polemics and the pomp of

punditry or for collecting the costly gifts offered to such disputants and

guests, or for decorating themselves with the burdensome title those patrons

confer on the persons they prefer. They craved rather for the Darsan (Bliss of

the Vision) of the Lord and for a chance to uphold Dharma (Righteousness) in

human affairs; they had no other objective". "The kings too in

those

days were immersed in thoughts divine! They approached the hermits and sages in

their retreats in order to discover from them the means of making their

subjects happy and content; often they invited them to their palaces and

consulted them about ways and means of good government. Those were days when

there were sages with no attachment to self, and scholars with no craving for

power; such were the men who tendered advice to the kings. As a consequence,

there was no lack of food and clothing, of housing or good health, for the

people of the realm. All days were festival days; all doors were decorated with

green festoons. The ruler felt that his most sacred duty was the fostering of

his people's welfare. The subjects too felt that the ruler was the heart of the

body politic. They had full faith that he was as precious as their own hearts;

they valued him as such; they revered him and paid him the homage of

gratitude". Suka explained the role of the sages in the royal

courts in this clear downright manner before the large gathering that was

sitting around him. Have you noticed this? Whatever is done by the great,

whichever company they choose, they will ever be on the path of righteousness,

on the path of the Divine; their acts will promote the welfare of the entire

world! So, when the Ramayana or other narratives of the Divine are recited or

read, attention must be fixed on the majesty and mystery of God, on the Truth

and

Straightforwardness that are inherent in them, and on the practice of those

qualities in daily life. No importance should be attached to extraneous

matters; the means and manner of the execution of one's duty is the paramount

lesson to be learnt. (Chapter 1 To Be Continued..) SaiRam.