TRANSFORMATION OF THE SPIRITUALITY OF SRI RAM INTO RELEGIOUS EPIC OF HOLY RAMAYAN

[yogesh saxena]

TRANSFORMATION OF THE SPIRITUALITY OF SRI RAM INTO RELEGIOUS EPIC OF
HOLY RAMAYAN-Great lives spread an aura and fragrance which outlive
their mortal sojourn on earth. If one makes a closer study of what
distinguishes these men and keeps them apart from the rest, two
qualities stand out. The first is their concern for the good of
others. The second is a constant striving for perfection and
excellence with purity in personal and public life. Honour, dignity,
friendship and compassion are the traits of such worthy men. They know
intuitively that nothing worthwhile or enduring is ever achieved
without character and that, in the ultimate analysis, all worldly
possessions and achievements like authority, wealth and status are
mere wayside stops in the exciting journey of exploration of the
mortal dimensions of the human personality. Perception of impulse to
stimulate the message conveyed through holy Epic of Ramayana, I
remained stands still to get the meaning hidden between the lines. The
realization of the truth started entering into my mind by diplection
of the different character of the people living at the contemporary
period of Sat-Yug. There were the jealousy in the mind of step mother
Kaikei which given effect into the action by Mainthara and ultimately
the king Dashrath, who has pledged to accomplish two desires of his
youngest queen by the impulse of the emotion. He was compelled to
denounce the thrown to his dear worthy son Shri Ram and the other
vicious design uttered in the shape of boon to spare him from making
his descendent heir for kingdom but to send him to the exile. The
character of Shri Ram is not in the hatred, but to follow the great
tradition i.e. “let my Life be Sacrificed, but there may not be
unequivocal repudiation from promise”. It was not only attributable
for himself, but the desire of his father and step mother for giving
effect to the said promise to be carried out by accepting the offer of
exile for himself. The duty of the spouse in order to accomplish the
tradition of remaining shared during the good days and also to follow
the bad days in services of her husband also with the equal
enthusiasm. The dedication of the brother Laxman to follow his brother
during the period of the adversity and to protect his sister-in-law
during the absence of Shri Ram and to sleep on the earthly bed is the
first and foremost lesson conveyed through the holy epic of Ramayana.
The second lesson required to be learn by the different segmentation
of the society comprising of the layman in the contact of the ruler
from the public at large and reaction thereafter. The diplomatic
conversation of Nishad Khewat with Shri Ram by not allowing him to
enter in his boat till washing of his feet under the garb of alleged
fear psychosis of saving his boat from being converted into the human
beings conveys the message of sentimental affiliation and association
by the almighty power, which is not only omnipresent, but also
omniscient. Thereafter, eating the berries already tested by the women
namely Shabri, lowest community of a Dhanuk (Passi), having the
piggery business but instead of showing any dejection from accepting
such berry, the character of Shri Ram is displayed in eating them. The
most crucial part of lesson in the epic of Ramayana, when Mother Sita
was abducted by Ravan and she was crying for help from all such living
creatures including birds and animals, but no one listen, as the
abductor was none else than Ravan. It was a Jatayun, a vulture, eating
the flesh of dead animals, who dared to challenge the most powerful
ruler on earth fully knowing that he will not survive, but none else
came to save Mother Sita, or even to make efforts to save her except a
vulture.It is true that Shri Ram killed Bali from behind the trees but
when Bali asked him, as to why Shri Ram preferred to have the
friendship with his weaker brother Sugreev, who could not protect his
wife from Bali aggression, instead of having the friendship from the
stronger person namely the Bali who kept Ravana inside the Soldier pit
below his arm for six months, the reply of Shri Ram in support of the
righteous person, irrespective of his status is the second lesson
conveyed in Ramayana. When the fighting could not be avoided, then
instead of calling the army from Ajodhya, why Shri Ram preferred the
Army comprising of the monkey, bear and even the squirrel who built
the Ram Shetu to reach the golden kingdom of Ravan. Ravan was himself
Brahmin by caste but on account of his conduct of consuming liquor and
having the carnal desired of greed and lust, the entire quality of his
worship to lord Shiva was converted into the sin committed on this
earth. Thus the army of the petty animals or that of lowest
segmentation of the society was having the potential to defeat him.
Thus the third lesson conveyed in Ramayana is that it is not material
as to which caste an individual is born, but the quality of the life
and the perception of its ideology is supreme. The Fifth lesson
conveyed through epic Ramayana, as to why the golden Lanka was given
back to the brother Bhibhisan of Ravan, instead of having the
expansion of his kingdom and to return back to his native place after
completion of the period of exile of fourteen years. The Sixth lesson
is having the mixed reaction, one conveys the greatness of Shri Ram
while from another point of view people criticizes to Shri Ram for
denouncing mother Sita ji on the instigation of the washer man but as
the ruler of Ajodhya, the comfort of the king were immaterial instead
of his reputation to maintain the high tradition of the kingdom. Thus
ultimately the conclusion conveyed through the holy epic of Ramayana
is that of the attachment with the spirit of detachment and victory
over the vices, while association with lowest segmentation of society
for expansion of kingdom, which the society at present, especially the
so called Brahmins and swami ji in the luxurious ashrams, posing
themselves to be the protector of our Vedic Hindu Religion have
totally forgotten or they have given up these high traditions, only
for gaining more power, more money, more comfort and ultimately
started ruining the Hindu Tradition of sacrifices.