Ramayana and right values

Thangam J. Prathapan

What man seeks in life is happiness. True happiness is gained only by virtuous living which means leading a life of Dharma and Dharmic living comprises of right values.

Hindu customs and traditions placed great importance on right values. Parents, teachers and elders instilled values such as, ‘respect your parents, teachers and elders, speak the truth, control your anger, be merciful to all living beings, do not covet other man’s property’ and many more in the young minds and the growing child learnt what he ought to do and what he ought not to do. Living by these values, the society was disciplined and the people led a happy life.

Do we live by these cherished values today? People nowadays value valuables more than values and seek them by any means, not realising that wealth may come and go, but values come to stay and grow, making life worth living.

Our great masters - Rishis, sages and forefathers have bequeathed us with an enormous wealth of Scriptures, Puranas, epics and countless precious spiritual as well as literary worked which value values most.

With their experience and realisation of the Truth, they impart to us the significance of divine values through situations, through incidents and through the characters they portray in their works. They have stood the test of times and are ever fresh to educate the present day society.

The Ramayana, with its characters, each unique, has much to offer us.

Lakshmana stands for service and sacrifice. As an affectionate brother, he casts aside his comfortable princely life and follows Rama and Sita into the forest, knowing well the hardships they have to endure. Never fretful, never remorse, always vigil, he keeps watch so that no harm comes to his brother and wife. He serves them both with steadfast faith and devotion.

True service is possible only when one’s body and mind are fitting channels.

Bharatha, an upright prince, vehemently condemns his manipulating mother for cunningly securing the throne to which Rama is the rightful heir. He refuses the crown and goes to the forest in search of Rama and pleads to him to return to Ayodhya and rule the kingdom.

In making this decision, Bharatha rises above his self-interest. He is utterly disheartened when he fails to persuade the brother. With a heavy heart, he returns with Rama’s pair of sandals, places them on the seat of the throne and rules the kingdom in the name of Rama for 14 years until his return.

During that long period of time, he led the life of an ascetic in the outskirts of the kingdom. What a great sacrifice for the love of a brother and the love of righteousness.

* Great things can never be achieved without sacrifice.

* Sacrifice the lower for a higher cause.

Sita is an ideal woman - a symbol of purity, devotion, humility and patience. Our Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda says, “Humility, love, tolerance, mercy etc. are the characteristic marks of Perfection.” Sita is undoubtedly a perfect woman. She is also a woman of fortitude, firmness and fearlessness. As a devout and loving wife, she accompanies Rama to the forest on her own choice.

Through tender physically, inwardly, she is very strong and is able to face any danger or calamity with great courage and patience. It is the purity of her heart that enables her to encounter with fortitude, the all powerful Ravana.

When Rama wants her to dive into the blazing fire, without any hesitation, she walks calmly into the engulfing flame and comes out with a flow - a million times purer than what she was in the eyes of the world. Suffering and pain do not deter her or diminish her noble qualities.

It is only when she is deluded and desires the golden deer that the misery starts in her life.

* When devoted to the higher, one is protected and can endure any calamity.

* If courageous, one can face the world fearlessly and meet challenges.

* Never act while in a state of delusion.

Hanuman is an embodiment strength and courage. He ventures to the Himalaya to find the Sanjeevani herb to safe Lakshmana.

Unable to locate the plant, he uproots and brings the whole hill itself. Emotionally, he is sweet tempered and finds and eternal place in the hearts of Rama, Sita and Lukshmana. He is a great scholar of scriptures and an eloquent speaker, too.

Hanuman’s intelligence and diplomatic skills is displayed when he mediates between Rama and Sugreeva and between Rama and Vibeeshana and also when he plays the role of a messenger from Rama to Sita. Economical with his words, yet he is able to convince and state explicitly what he wishes to convey. Hanuman treasures Rama in his heart.

Chanting the name of Rama he crosses the ocean to Lanka. Hanuman is the most dynamic personality in the Ramayana, having the head, the heart and the limbs. Yet, he is the most humble in service to Rama.

* Hanuman is an excellent role model to the youth today.

“Fearlessness, vigour, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, absence of hatred and fear, these, O descendent of Bharatha, belong to one born with divine qualities.”

- Bhagavad Gita

Rama, gifted with all the above qualities the Gita extols of, is the most virtuous in the Ramayana. He is the ideal in every respect.

Rama is to be crowned King of Ayodhya. On the eve of this happy occasion, Rama is summoned by Kaikeyi. He is informed of the father’s wish by which he has to spend the next fourteen years in the forest. An ideal son - he does not question, but most humbly and obediently leaves the palace.

He is an ideal brother who loves all his brothers dearly. Bharatha has a special place in his heart. His affection for Bharatha does not alter in any way even when he learns that Bharatha is to be crowned king of Ayodhya.

Rama is an ideal husband whose love for his wife is immeasurable; he goes after the golden deer to satisfy the desire of his loving wife and is a miserable sorrowing husband when Ravana abducts her.

When Sugreeva and Vibeeshana surrender unto Rama, he receives them with warmth and as a true friend assures them protection. Full of valour, he is a bitter enemy to an enemy. In the fierce battle, he destroys Ravana. He is an ideal ruler. He does not hesitate to expel his pregnant wife from the kingdom to an ashramam to uphold Dharma in his Rama Rajya.

Ravana’s sister, Soorpanahai falls madly in love with the handsome Rama. She disguises herself in the most beautiful enchanting forms and tries to entice him, but the most virtuous rama stands like a rock, unmoved.

His inner strength enables him to resist the temptation of a lustful woman. Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda says it is not difficult to control a man-eater as it is to control one’s own senses. Rama has a large heart to forgive and forget. When Vibeeshana declines to perform the last rites for his brother, Ravana, Rama offers to undertake the task.

Skilled in the art of management, he is able to command the army of innumerable restless monkeys in the war.

Bearing his righteous bow, rama plays all his roles perfectly.

* If one knows the art of managing his mind, he manage others.

* One who has the inner strength to control his senses can control the whole world.

* One has several roles to play; play them perfectly.

Our Guruji Tejomayananda believes that values should be lived and not talked about. He also says,

“Man is master of circumstances if he has the right thinking and the right values to back him. It is the right which is might.”