Rama Katha Rasa Vahini - Post 24

Dear All,

Days roll by and the three princes are taught various skills, they  go around the entire kingdom, undertake various welfare actives for the general public.

After their return, Rama is found to be more silent, more withdrawn than the other 3 princes and it becomes a cause for concern for Dasaratha and others. 

So, that call their Acharya, Sage vasishta and request him to talk to Rama and find out the reason for his silence, his withdrawal from activities etc. 

Vasishta speaks to Rama lovingly about his well being, about the need for Rama to perform his role as son etc. 

Swami writes .......

"Rama sat smiling, listening to the Guru. When he had finished, he spoke calmly, "Master! You speak of mother; but, who exactly is 'mother'? Who exactly is 'son'? Why, what exactly is 'body'? And what is the 'Jivi' (the individual)? Is this objective world real? Or is the Supreme Soul real? This body is but the image of the Supreme Soul isn't it? 

The five elements that comprise the substance called 'body' are also the substance of the entire Universe. This Universe is but the concatenation of the five elements, isn't it? The elements persist, in spite of all permutations and combinations. They have also a deeper base. Without realizing this, if this created Universe is itself assumed to be real, and if one yields to the fascination of this falsehood, if the truth be discarded for the sake of the lie, what are we to say of such colossal ignorance ? What can the individual gain by ignoring the Eternal Absolute Real Reality, the Atma?"

When Vasishta observed Rama raising such profound philosophical problems, he noticed also a halo of bright rays of spiritual splendor that emanated and surrounded his face! He knew that the Light was an indication of Divinity, attempting to surge outwards! 

So, he wanted Rama himself to provide the answers to the questions that Rama put forward. And the replies and explanations Rama gave were verily the Voice of God. Vasishta could see this fact clearly. He bowed his head before him, mentally, for fear of being noticed. He said, "Son! I shall see you again in  the evening", and left the palace, without even meeting Dasaratha; he was so overcome by the illumination of the occasion. He fondled the children with a joyous sense of gratitude and love.

Dasaratha saw the princes after some time; he too saw the strange Glow of Divine Awareness shining in their countenances. He could not understand how, it happened and he awaited the arrival of Vasishta in the evening. No sooner did he enter the shrine than the children, the mothers and Dasaratha fell at his feet and sat in their places with palms folded in prayerful humility. 

All of a sudden, Rama surprised everyone by asking a series of questions: "The Jivi, the Deva, the Prakrthi (Soul, God, Nature) what is the inter-relation between these? Are these three, One? Or are they distinct entities? If One, how did it become three and for what purpose? What is the unifying principle underlying these? What benefit is gained by recognizing them as different, giving up the cognition of the Unity?" 

The parents were aghast at the profundity of these questions and the tender age of Rama. They became fully merged in that stream of instruction and inquiry, that showered precious axioms which shed light on the problems raised, as if Heaven answered the questions raised by Earth! 

They forgot that Rama was their own child; the hours of the night rolled by in the analysis and understanding of the great monastic wisdom".

Love.

PS-In fact, Yoga vasishta, a very advance treatise on Advaita vedanta, is all about the conversation between Vasishta and Rama!