Rama Katha Rasa Vahini - Post 5

On one occasion, Emperor Parikshith fell at the feet of the Sage Suka and asked for instruction on one point that was causing him dire doubt.

"Master! One riddle has been worrying me since long. I know that you can solve it for me and that no one else can. I have listened to the narratives of the lives of my forefathers, from the earliest, the great Manu, down to those of my grandfathers and father. I have studied these stories with care.

I observe that in the history of every one of these, there is mention of Sages (Rishis) attached to the monarch, some learned scholar-saints who are members of the court, attending durbars and sharing the business of government!

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, Viswamitra, 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 Darshan (Bliss of the Vision) of the Lord and for a chance to uphold Dharma (Righteousness) in human affairs; they had no other objective".

Continued……

Love.

Rama Katha Rasa Vahini - Post 4

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.

Rama Katha Rasa Vahini - Post 3

Chapter 1

Rama - Prince and Principle

The name 'Rama' is the essence of the Vedas; the Story of Rama is an ocean of Milk, pure and potent. It can be asserted that no poem of equal grandeur and beauty has emerged from other languages or from other countries until this very day; but it has provided inspiration to the poetic imagination of every language and country. It is the greatest treasure inherited by his good fortune by every Indian.

Rama is the guardian deity of the Hindus; the Name is borne by the bodies in which they dwell and the buildings in which those bodies dwell. It can safely be said that there is no Indian who has not imbibed the nectar of Ramakatha, the story of Rama.

The Ramayana, the epic that deals with the story of the Rama Incarnation, is a sacred text that is reverently recited by people with all varieties of equipment, the scholar as well as the ignoramus, the millionaire as well as the pauper. 

The Name that the Ramayana glorifies cleanses all evil; it transforms the sinner; it reveals the Form that the Name represents, the Form that is as charming as the Name itself.

As the sea is the source of all the waters on earth, all beings are born from 'Rama'. A sea sans [without] water is unreal; a being sans [without] 'Rama' is without existence, now or ever. The azure Ocean and the Almighty Lord have much in common.

The Ocean is the abode of the Almighty, as myth and legend proclaim; they describe Him as reclining on the Ocean of Milk. This is the reason behind the title given by Valmiki (son of Prachetas) the great poet who composed the epic, to each canto, Kanda. Kanda means water, an expanse of water.

Contd………..

Commentary by author (by the SAI in the Author)

In the previous post, Swami wrote on Rama thus:-

“Rama is the Indweller in every Body. He is the Atma-Rama, the Rama (Source of Bliss) in every individual. “In first chapter, He wrote, “As the sea is the source of all the waters on earth, all beings are born from 'Rama'. A sea sans [without] water is unreal; a being sans [without] 'Rama' is without existence, now or ever.”

Connecting the two sayings of Swami, what do we learn???

“Rama is the indweller in every body as Atma Rama.”

How the above truth is revealed wonderfully by SAI in the second statement???

A sea without water is unreal and non-existent. 100000 of waves or bubbles may exist in an ocean but they are all non-existent without water.

Howsoever vast an ocean may appear to be, if one takes out water from ocean, what is the identity of ocean???

Exactly in the same manner, the apparent physical existence of all human beings, of all the floras and the faunas, of this entire creation (if taken as ocean in the above example) is BUT PURE EXISTENCE, THE ATMA RAMA.

Love.