Wednesday 3 May 2017

Is Life Going Tough ? Then Read This ...


This article is not a fancy sugar-coat script to soothe your life convincing that everything will be okay.There are enough of such motivational quotes out in the vast net.

What I am going to do here is,let you visualize yourself in Lord Rama's shoes - and embark yourself in a virtual narrative story.The interesting point to note here is - I am going to negate the divine avatarhood nature of Shri Rama.All these years,much serials and speakers have narrated the Ithihasa ( history ) of Shri Rama as that of God incarnate,all smiley,joyful,free from human bondages,free from human suffering,ultimate,powerful and the One who always made situations into His favour.



Please note that I am not denying the divine nature of Shri Rama - He is definitely divine incarnate,who happened to establish dharma.But unlike other avatars of the divine like Shri Krishna,the role of Sri Rama was that of an ordinary mortal , or human being.He did not always magically demonstrate his enlightenment, godly powers,manipulate nature,changed the fate of others,or deviated destiny.He demonstrated righteousness ( dharma ) with all human capabilities,in whatever situation He was in.

Alright,enough of the prologue,let's start the journey. Now imagine yourself in Shri Rama's position.You do not have to be enlightened to do this.Just live through the character.



Shri Rama , was born as Ramachandra - into a royal patronage.He was the most favoured prince among his siblings.He attended the gurukula education system.Rama and His brother Lakshmana,were particularly trained by sage Vishwamitra - into various knowledge regarding mantras,sound 
tehnology,dharmic laws,weapons and the secrets to Sun Worship.Soon,these two brothers mastered these knowledge.Sage Vishwamitra particularly ventured into the science and secrets of the solar energy-  Sun Worship,through the Gayatri Mantra.Both siblings also spent their childhood destroying many demons who were terrorising Ayodhya.

A pretty cool childhood.





  


Throughout His childhood,Shri Rama was brought up to be a king,as it would be.He even broke the Pinaka Bow ( Mighty Bow of Rudra ) to win King Janaka's daughter, Sita Devi.At a young age,His father had him marry Sita Devi,who was only a child.



( Note that Ramayana occured more than 20 000 years back.The royal norms and cultures varied back in ancient times.Kings got their prince married off at a very young age.The maturity and lifespan of people also varied.It is unwise to make a direct comparison to today's lifestyle to the ancient. )



Soon came the coronation day where Rama was to be made the king.Unfortunately,several politically motivated events occurred which forced His father, Dasharatha to send Rama to exile for 14 years.Just imagine that - Rama got ready to be coronated at 7 am,and within moments He was made to leave to a forest with his newly married wife.No throne,no royal facilities,no family, literally nothing that He grew up with.

Without any ill-feeling,Rama obeyed His father's words and left to the forest.His brother Lakshama accompanied Him.These three youngsters now had to live in the forest.No Facebook or Whatsapp to send smileys and voice notes to the beloved ones.Totally isolated from the public.



Things did not go all fine within this exile years.Surphanaka,the sister of the King of the wealthy utopia - Lanka caught a glimpse of Rama and fell in love with Him.He politely declined her proposal as He was already married.Surphanaka then threatened and even attempted to harm his wife,Sita whom she felt jealous about. His brother,Lakshama,defended and cut Surphanaka's nose away.



Now,we can expect something big awaiting after a great Kingdom's princess got her nose cut ( literally ). Ravana,upon hearing his sister's narration about the incident,got interested by the beauty of Sita Devi.Using sly trickery,Ravana managed to kidnap Sita Devi in the absence of Shri Rama and Lakshamana.He also slayed Jatayu,the bird who tried rescuing Sita Devi.



Rama and Lakshamana reached at the site of this scenario only to realise missing Sita,and a dying bird.Jatayu explained as to how this humongous and wicked demoniac king kidnapped Sita Devi and flew away in an aircraft ( Ravana was a genius in engineering and aeronautics- his plane was called Pushpaka Vimana.Well,what is the point of genius in a demonic attribute ? ).



As if the exile was not enough, Rama had to lose his wife in a forest.And no idea of who Ravana was.No GPS.No CCTVs.Only a dying Jatayu and some jewelries of Sita Devi as evidence.



Rama still did not break and give-up.He might have underwent sorrow and grief.But even then,He did what He had to do , at His best.He started to gather an army of vanaras ( monkey-like humanoids ) to wage a war against Lanka.This was also when He got into contact with Hanuman and Sugreeva.




Waging a war against Lanka is no ordinary thing.Lanka during the Ramayana was an utopia - a land extremely rich in resources and wealth.Their  king,Ravana was no ordinary man.He was a genius in many fields.Any modern day terrorist would be put to shame by Ravana.He was an expert in astronomy,aircraft technology,magic, and even scriptures.He was giant-built.He was also an extremist in Shiva worship.He wore several grandiose jeweleries including a chain made up of 365 shiva lingas. 



Somehow,again,after a series of significant episodes :- such as Hanuman burning off Lanka and conveying messages between Sri Rama and Sita Devi , Sri Rama and his troops built a bridge to Lanka ( with floating rocks ) and destroyed Ravana.

The war was no ordinary.Many lives were lost.Shri Rama almost lost his brother Lakshmana.Terrorising astras ( ancient weapons empowered by mantras ) sent the lands to shiver.Sri Rama won the demon from what he learnt from His guru.No special army training or war tutorials.



Destiny did not let Him rest even then.After coming back to His Kingdom,Rama was put to more tests.His wife,Sita devi had to undergo agnipariksha ( a trial by fire ) to validate her chastity and purity.Rama could no longer play a single role of a husband.He was now again the ruler of Ayodhya.He had to play various roles according to dharma.


After several incidents, Rama had to send His then pregnant wife to exile,in order to maintain the stability of His kingdom,due to certain conflicts going about in the public.In the forest,Sita Devi gives birth to twins - Lava and Kusa,who grew up to be valiant heroes.Sita Devi brought her children up with stories of none other than the valiant Sri Rama - their father.



Meanwhile,Lord Rama was playing the role of an emperor.He was no ordinary king.This is proven by the fact that He conducted the Ashvamedha Yagya.This is a unique sacrifice or Yagya.The emperor lets his horse free for a year or so.Whichever land the horse ventures,it belongs to the emperor.The emperor wages a war with whoever who refuses to give his land conquered by the horse.This was an ancient practice of the emperors.



Eventually,Rama's horse conquered the lands owned by Lava And Kusha.Lava and Kusha,being Rama's children themselves,refused to give up their land.Hence,a war waged between Rama and His own children.The war was indeed intense.Lava and Kusha managed to defeat many of Rama's army and even Bharata ( His brother).They even tied up the mighty Hanuman.Alas,Rama Himself went to the battlefield.The battle was extremely intense that Rama was close to killing Lava and Kusha,until intervened by sage Valmiki.Only then does Rama realise that He had been fighting His own children all this while.Lava and Kusha were equally as shocked to realise that they had been fighting their own father-whom they idolised from childhood.



Things did not subside to a happy ever after ending even then.Several events occurred where finally,Sita Devi sorts of 'immolates' herself by submerging into the Earth ( pleading mother earth to swallow her ) . Lord Rama then walks into Sarayu River and disappears (the end of His avataric mission).



Rama,underwent severe turbulence and hardship.Yet He was always in a samadhic state ( equanimity ).He was not elated by joy nor depressed by sorrow.He acted according to dharma ( righteousness , duty ) at all times.He never had a what we would call a 'successful' marriage life.Nor did He experience a joyful fatherhood.

Today,Shri Rama is still being highly worshiped and revered.It is not that He saw much prosperity and success in His life.No.It is the state of godhood that He was always fixed in.

Hence,even today,we glorify Rama as the embodiment of dharma.The Atma is indeed Rama and therefore,Rama is always referred to as 'atma-rama'.We must understand the significance of Rama beyond the form.

 Shri Rama is perhaps the biggest motivation I can ever think of.The way He responds to life is simply tear-inducing.No matter what happens in life,never deviate from righteousness or break.

READ MORE :

(1) Real Pictures from Ramayana

9 comments:

  1. Thank you for the inspiration. How can a dark skinned female stay inspired?

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    1. Thank you for your reply. It would be nice if everyone has the same thought. May I please request a post on the effects of suicide? May I also ask why are some born with good looks, fair skin, an attractive appearance with a relatively easy life as compared to some(me) with an ugly appearance? Would it be wrong to attempt to change skin colour via whitening efforts which may not be the plan of god? Thank you sir.

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    2. the existence is so marvellous and all you look into is your skin.

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    3. :) True. However, living in a household surrounded by constant remarks on how ugly one looks can be taunting, especially being a female and believing that the demons once thought of as angels were actually disguised. It still is a hurtful situation I am praying to get out of. Thank you though for a reminder. Wish you were my friend right now so that I could cry on your shoulder and make my pain disappear.

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    4. Thank you friend:)

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    5. Meditate sincerely and religiously everyday, the glow of joy in your heart after meditation will manifest on the face.

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  2. Hi Sir. May I seek an advice on staying positive and non-jealous being in the same household as a fairer elder sibling who has charmed a crush of mine(who is younger then my elder sibling and has openly mentioned on being smitten by her) who lives in an opposite blk of our home? Despite multiple attempts to ignore the bugging thought, it never fades away.Sorry, I felt a little too negative and hope to eliminate before it gets the better of me.

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    1. please meditate to get of your worries and negativities in life, there is simply no better way!

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