Rama Katha Rasa Vahini - Post 43

SWAMI REVEALS A SECRET IN RAMA'S STORY

Dear All,

When I read this particular conversation between Rama and Sita  around 2 decades before, it had such an impact in me and seated in Kulwant hall, when ever I had chance to get Swami's Darshan, tears used to roll down cheeks and it used to be so overwhelming, connecting this conversation and its essence ( written by none other than Swami) and the Mystical existence of Swami !!!

Here is what Swami writes, which perhaps may not be found in any other version of Ramayana. 

"Rama sent Lakshmana to collect tubers and fruits for the day. And, noting that the proper hour had come, he told Sita thus: "Companion! You know all. Both of us are aware why we have come on earth, and what our task is. That task is now calling us; we have to enter upon it, in right earnest now. Your nature and characteristics are noble and holy beyond measure. 

We both have assumed these human bodies, through rites associated with the Fire Principle. My body arose from the Offering brought out of the flames of the sacrificial Fire by the God Agni Himself. You rose from the earth that was furrowed by the sacred plough in order to consecrate it for a Fire-Altar, where a Yajna had to be performed.  

Our bodies are born in fire and are being sustained

by the warmth of fire. Therefore, Sita, deposit all your Divine attributes and splendour in Fire, and act as an ordinary human being hereafter. I too shall move and act as an ordinary human being, and exhibit sorrow and anxiety on your account, the pangs of separation and the pain of loneliness. The world would keep in mind only these modes of behaviour, and take us as human. They will accept them as worldly conduct and natural reaction. Remember that the smallest act of ours has to be an ideal for the householders of the world. We have to hold forth models in the relationship between the husband and the wife; they have to be quite in consonance with the principles of Truth and Righteousness. Our activities have to be in conformity with the guidelines laid down in the Sastras, the spiritual texts. We have to shape our lives, in an exemplary manner, so that common men can be inspired thereby and prompted to follow the ideals elaborated therein. We have to enact this drama until the final consummation, namely, the destruction of Ravana and the Rakshasas.

"Therefore place your Divine Splendour in the keeping of the God of Fire, Agni, and move about as an ordinary woman caught in the coils of illusion, Maya. For, there can be no effect without a cause. We must consummate the effect, namely, the destruction of Ravana and the Rakshasa brood. 

So, we must manipulate a cause to justify it or bring it about. Ravana has a basic fault in his structure, namely, his lustful passion. We have to highlight it before the world. So, we have to so prepare such a situation that it would appear as if he kidnaps you in a fit of passion. The world has to realize that his 'dedication and devotion to God' are not of the highest order, for, of what use is that sense of surrender if it is tarnished by the craving for sensual pleasure and immoral yearning? Activities and behaviour emanating from a consciousness that is not pure are tarnished; the devotion to God that is polluted by lust is as foul as dirt - these truths have to be emphasized now, for the benefit of mankind.

"It is also imperative to announce for the benefit of mankind that any spiritual sadhana or asceticism, or religious rite or ritual undertaken with the intention of gaining super human powers are paltry and pernicious. We have to hold forth

Ravana as a warning to mankind that however many divine rites and acts one may do, if one does not give up one's demonic passions and impulses, they add up to only one result: rendering them unholy and sterile.

"Over and above all this, Sita, there is one overwhelming consideration we have to place before ourselves. There is a curse that has been pronounced on Ravana and he has also been assured of a means by which he could end its consequence. We have to see that the means is fulfilled. The beginning of his end has arrived. Today or tomorrow, we have to be separated from each other. Of course, we are inseparable entities and nothing can keep us apart. Yet, we have to pretend that it has happened, in order to render the make-believe effective. Go now, and deposit your Divine Form in the keeping of Agni (Fire). It is time for Lakshmana to return with the fruits and tubers. And, Ravana is ready with his perverted intelligence.

"I have to inform you of another secret too. You have to

perform your part in the destruction of the Rakshasas. Though you might be apparently under the surveillance of Ravana, since your Power is immanent in Fire, you will have to burn Lanka to ashes emerging from the Fire where your Self is dormant from now on. Lanka has to be turned to ashes, not by Fire, but, by you as Fire. And, Rama has to kill Ravana; that is the Divine Will. This truth has to be proclaimed. This mystery is to be kept from Lakshmana also. He is our instrument in this endeavor. When this task is accomplished and we have to re-enter Ayodhya, I shall accept you again from the Fire where you reside. That act too I will transform into a lesson for the world. The drama starts now," Rama said. Both Sita and Rama decided on their plan of action and awaited the unfoldment of Ravana's strategy.

From that moment, every act and behaviour of Sita and Rama, the pangs of separation, the gasps of anxiety, the sighs of pain, the groans of grief - were gestures and reactions in the drama decided upon. They were not genuine at all. For, how can Sita and Rama ever be separated? Through their conduct, they only willed to reach mankind some valuable lessons.

Love.

Rama Katha Rasa Vahini - Post 42

RAMA'S TEACHINGS - BHAKTI AND JNANA

"O Lakshmana! You must know that the Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra (Siva)) are but the reflections of the one Brahman in each of the three strands or attributes - Sathwa, Rajas and Thamas. The Rajas attribute is personified as Brahma, the Sathwa aspect as Vishnu and the Thamas aspect is known as Rudra or Siva or Iswara. 

The entire Cosmos, including the world is the manifestation of the One Brahman through one or other, or some combination or other of these three attributes. So, the wise man will go beyond and beneath these three strands and seek the Origin in the One. He alone deserves the name monk or Vairagi - for he has no raga or likes and dislikes". 

Sometimes, Rama had Sita and Lakshmana near Him and explained to them that so long as the Individual Jivi does not understand aright the affinities it has to Maya and to the Supreme Brahman, it can never liberate itself and merge in the Supreme; it has to remain a particularized Individual only, bound by the coils of illusion to the limits of name and form. 

But, Rama said, the instant the Individual discovers and knows that It is but the image of the Supreme, and that the distinction between the Supreme and Itself has no basis in Truth, Maya will disappear, like fog before the risen sun. This is the genuine Atmajnan, for, the Supreme is Param-atma and the Individual is the same Param-atma seen as an Image in the Body-with-name-and-form, the Upadhi.

"Act in accordance with the rules of conduct laid down for the status you have risen to and the call that has come to you (swadharma); you derive detachment thereby. Practice Yoga or the Search for Union with the Supreme; you derive Jnana thereby. This Jnana is the very last step in spiritual progress. It leads to Consummation. 

Adoring the Supreme with the greatest possible Love is called Bhakthi, Devotion. I shower Grace on such a one; Bhakthi will grant him full prosperity. Bhakthi emanates from the heart, spontaneously. It does not depend on extraneous things or persons. 

Bhakthi can confer Jnana too on the person who has dedicated Himself to the Supreme. The joy that Bhakthi endows on a man is unique and immeasurable. How does a person first decide to walk on the path of Bhakthi? It all begins with the compassion of some one good and godly sage or realized soul. This path leads men quickly to Me." 

Listening to such discourses, Sita and Lakshmana forgot where they were and under what conditions. Rama too seemed unaware of all that happened in the enthusiasm with which He dilated on the attractions of the spiritual path. They spent long periods in introspection and exploration of inner delight. 

Love.

Rama Katha Rasa Vahini - Post 41

RAMA'S TEACHINGS - WHAT IS MAYA

Often, He called Lakshmana to His side and told him, "Brother! Having come for this holy task, how can I stay on at Ayodhya? How can I enact the further chapters of the Ramayana from there? 

This is the purpose for which I have come. The fostering and protection of the good and the godly, the destruction of the wrong and evil that threaten the peace and welfare of the

world, the promotion of righteous behavior and activities ... these will proceed from now on". Thus, He informed his brother about what he had resolved upon and about the intent and meaning of His Incarnation as Man on earth. 

Off and on, he raised Lakshmana to the role of a vehicle for spreading his teachings, intended for the uplift of humanity and instructed him on the ideals of morality and progress. "Lakshmana!", he said once, "Affection for the body, attachment towards possessions of any kind, egoism that breeds the conflict of 'You' and 'I', the bonds that grow between the individual and his wife, children and property - all these are the consequences of the Primal Illusion, Maya. 

That Illusion is basic, mysterious, and wondrous. Maya establishes her domain over all beings and things, all species of living creatures. The ten indriyas (five senses of perception and five senses of action) have each its presiding deity and Maya perceives the objective world and derives pleasure therefrom, through their instrumentality. Every item and particle of such pleasure is Maya-produced and therefore illusory, evanescent and superficial. 

"Maya has two forms: One type is called Vidyamaya and the other Avidyamaya. The Maya named Avidya is very vicious; she causes boundless misery. Those drawn by it will sink into the depths of flux, the eternal tangle of joy and grief. The Maya known as Vidya has created the Cosmos, under the prompting of the Lord. 

For, she has no innate force of her own. Only while in the Presence of the Lord can she create the three-stranded Cosmos (Prapancha). (The three strands are Sathwa, Rajas and Thamas, each of which separately or in some kind of combination is characteristic of beings: Sathwa meaning the equal balanced temper, Rajas the sanguinary or the emotional, active temper, and Thamas, the ignorant, inert temper)

"The truly wise, the Jnani, who has realized the Reality, is the Person who has given up the rights and obligations of caste and society, of age and status and lives in the constant awareness that all this is Brahman. He has understood that there is no manifoldness or diversity here; it is all One. (Sarvam khalu idam Brahma; Na iha naanaa asthi kinchana). He knows that the entire Cosmos is constituted of the same Brahman, that there can be no second entity apart from Brahman.

Love.