Raama the ideal

April 1981, Golden Jubilee Hall, Lal Bagh, Bengaluru

Professor Kasturi's English.

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Embodiments of the Universal ! Man has in him the capacity to grow into a pure Divine personality. But, due to ignorance and waywardness, he has become stunted. He has chained himself to low ideals and so, he has fallen into fear and grief. The exhort man to awaken and become master of himself. "" - they warn. Man is overcome by the sleep of ignorance. He has to be aroused and taught by elders who know the precious heritage he is losing. The sleep is caused by the or attachments - -to the mate, to the children and to riches. Of course, a person must have enough to lead a simple life. But, wealth accumulated beyond reasonable levels intoxicates the self and breeds evil desires and habits. Wealth has to be held in trust for activities that are beneficial, for promoting righteous living and for fulfilling one's duties to Society.

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Renunciation is the real India has been very fortunate. It has had seers and sages throughout the centuries who have held forth the value of high ideals. It has had the example of of Godhead. The emphasis has all along been on the that is the core of every being - a teaching that can confer courage, contentment, peace and harmony. It is indeed pathetic to see people following the vagaries of the mind and courting disaster, instead of using the intellect to discriminate between the transient and the permanent.

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The mind should be checked by the intellect. Or else, evil resolutions will result in sorrow. Resolve on good actions and reap joy. Of course, if one can desist from desires and the tendency to pursue them, one can have unshaken peace. If the mind is let loose and given the mastery, man is driven from one inequity to another- He loses his self-respect. He sets at naught law and justice, rules of conduct and regulations of social behaviour. His life becomes a frantic rush from place to place and object to object. Detachment alone can give happiness. (renunciation) is the real . Three evil qualities have to be renounced before man can rise to his real role. Anger which smothers wisdom (), lust which pollutes the deed () and greed, which destroys one's love () for God and man. The touchstone which pronounces an act as meritorious is 'renunciation'. If an act is self-directed, if it helps to inflate the ego, it is a sin.

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Story of is cream of the What India needs most today is neither a new creed nor a new ism, neither a new society, nor a new ideal but men and women who adore and follow pure feelings and motives, persons who renounce anger, lust and greed. The story of embodies this vital message. It is the cream of the , a veritable Ocean of Milk. has named each section of the epic, , a name which means a length of sugarcane. However crooked the cane may be, every slice is as sweet as every, other. Similarly whatever the situation depicted or motion delineated, whether coronation or exile, victory or defeat, heroism or dispiritedness, love or hate, joy or grief, the epic is equally sweet and charming.

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There are two predominant or streams of feeling or mood in the story, the stream of compassion () as and the stream of Love () as . It is the mergence of the two that evokes (bliss).. is the very nature () of . He is Himself, though has not explicitly declared it anywhere. He refers to as equal in valour to , but not as Himself. It is only through the mouths of 's own sons that the mystery is revealed. means: (effulgence) ga (manifestation) van (he who is capable) - He who has the power to manifest (Effulgence) - the Divine , the . He is also - He from whom this Created Universe has emerged and He who is intent on fostering it. All who adore as manifesting and protecting the Universe and projecting the Cosmic Effulgence and Intelligence are entitled to be known as . But, most seekers are but part-time devotees to-day. They are not (always in union with the Lord) They are in the morning, (epicures.) at noon and (sick patients) at night!

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has set the standard for everyone enlightens every seeker in the spiritual field, since he put into daily practice all that he deemed right. So, He sets the standard for every member of the household, of the society, of the nation and of the human race. He went into exile to maintain the highest ideal of a ruler responsive to the reaction of his subjects. The former holds forth the duty of (respecting the command of the father) and the latter, the regal duty of (respecting the wishes of the ruled). The root is: the 'word', of the parent, of the people. The fruit is , liberation. For liberation is the ultimate goal, the inevitable destiny. The bud has as its inevitable goal, through the emerging fruit and the mature fruit to become the sweet ripe fruit. These three stages do follow each other. That is the reason why the lay down (the bud), which becomes (the flower)and (the fruit) in - sections. illustrated in His own life this process of the onward evolution of the soul into its Awareness.

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was the embodiment of steady adherence to and . Only those who are saturated in can dive into that glory. He is the grand ideal, upon whom you can contemplate. By doing so, you can imbibe and develop his virtues, slowly and silently. A tree grows silently for years before it yields fruits. It does not produce them on the spot or in an instant. The coconut palm, the mango tree, the jack tree are of this type. Their gifts are plenty and full of nourishment. There are plants that yield few fruits pretty quickly and die soon after. The fame of divine personalities grows with every word they speak and every deed they condescend to enact. 's glory shines brilliantly even after all these centuries. It will shine as resplendently for ages to come. means He who pleases. Nothing pleases man more than his , which is an eternal unfailing source of joy. One must prefer the awareness of the and the bliss that the awareness confers, to all other minor momentary joys. The says, "" - "By renunciation alone can the Bliss of Immortality be won".