Chapter 1 continued....
It also means 'the sugarcane'. However
crooked a cane may be, whichever section you chew, the sweetness is unaffected
and uniform. The stream of Rama's Story meanders through many a curve and
twist; nevertheless, the sweetness of Karuna (tenderness, pity, compassion)
persists without diminution throughout the narrative.
The stream turns and flows through sadness,
wonder, ridicule, awe, terror, love, despair and dialectics, but the main
undercurrent is the love of Dharma (Righteousness, Morality) and the Karuna
(Compassion) it fosters.
The nectar in the story of Rama is as the
'Sarayu river' that moves silently by the city of Ayodhya, where Rama was born
and where he ruled. The Sarayu has its source in the Himalayan Manasa-Sarovar,
as this Story is born in the Manasa-Sarovar (the Lake of the Mind)!
The Rama stream bears the sweetness of
Karuna; the stream of Lakshmana (his brother and devoted companion) has the
sweetness of Devotion, (Bhakthi); as the Sarayu River joins the Ganga (Ganges)
and the waters commingle, so too, the streams of tender compassion and devotion
(the stories of Rama and Lakshmana) commingle in the Ramayana. Karuna and Prema
make up, between them, the composite picture of the glory of Rama; that picture
fulfils the heart's dearest yearning for every Indian; to attain it is the aim
of every spiritual striving.
The effort of the individual is but half the
pursuit; the other half consists in the Grace of God. Man fulfills himself by
self-effort as well as Divine Blessings; the fulfillment takes him across the
dark ocean of dualities, on to the Immanent and Transcendent One.
The Ramayana has to be read, not as the
record or a human career, but as the narrative or the Advent and Activities of
an Avatar (Incarnation of God). Man must endeavor with determination to realize
through his own experience the ideals revealed in that narrative. God is
all-knowing, all-pervasive, all-powerful.
The words that He utters while embodied in
the Human form, the acts that He deigns to indulge in during his earthly
sojourn, these are inscrutable and extra-ordinarily significant. The precious
springs of His Message ease the Path or Deliverance for mankind. Do not look
upon Rama as a scion of the Solar Dynasty, or as the sovereign of the kingdom
of Ayodhya, or as the son of Emperor Dasaratha.
Those correlates are but accessory and
accidental. This error has become habitual to modern readers; they pay
attention only to the personal relationship and affiliations between the
characters of the story they read about; they do not delve into the values they
represent and demonstrate.
Continued...
Dear All,
While today's post is self explanatory and
Swami explains the background and the essence of Ramayana, one paragraph in
today's post spontaneously makes the author write a line or two
about its contents.
Swami writes, "The effort of the
individual is but half the pursuit; the other half consists in the Grace of
God. Man fulfills himself by self-effort as well as Divine Blessings; the
fulfillment takes him across the dark ocean of dualities, on to the Immanent
and Transcendent One."
Whether it is the path of Bhakti or Jnana,
after having reached the penultimate stage in the path, it is Lord who has to
hold the sadhaka / bhakta's hand and take him to the abode of Prashanti - the
eternal peace!
It is only when we lack in our efforts in Sadhana
that we lament and say, "Without the grace of God, how can I
progress in my sadhana, only He has to hold me and show me the way".
Once we have done our best in our
Sadhana, it is never that the Lord does not hold our hands and takes us to the
abode of supreme peace!!
Love.
