Passage 10

Tap any word for its meaning.

In plain words

Rāma… slew Vāli the mighty, Rāvaṇa rich in great power, and Paraśurāma, who was … with divine Ātma…, such strong men, heroes and warriors; …, this part of the story is called the Pūrva Rāmāyaṇa. The Rāma-tattva joined with the rasa of compassion, … they called the Uttara Rāmāyaṇa. The rasas are not the nine rasas. There are only two rasas. One is vīra…; … the other is the rasa of compassion. All the rest have dissolved into tastelessness. All the virtues have merged into compassion…. That is why Vālmīki said it. The Rāmāyaṇa is like sugarcane. In sugarcane there are …. It comes in many layers of husk. Even bent, its sweetness does not lessen. Though rākṣasas like Tāṭakī and Sū… came into the Rāmāyaṇa, Rāma's compassion does not change in the least. They went through so many …, losses, sorrows and griefs. However much they went through, that sweetness stays …. Vālmīki likened all good people to incense sticks. The nature of incense sticks …? They burn and burn away, and go on giving their fragrance to all. Not only that. He likens the Rāmāyaṇa… to a stick of sandalwood. The more one tikkē a stick of sandalwood, the more fragrance it gives; … it does not wear away. Even if you take an axe and strike a sandal tree, it gives fragrance to the axe as well; it does not hate …. In the same way, whoever harms the great, in whatever way, they … only fragrance.

The tattva of our heart itself is the Rāma-tattva. Our body itself is Daśaratha. Our guṇas themselves are Kausalyā, Sumitrā and Kaikeyī. Dharma, Artha, Kāma and Mokṣa themselves are Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata and Śatrughna. Only when these feelings … in the heart does it become fulfilled. We must worship Him not as Rāma, the son of Daśaratha, but as Ātmārāma. It is Ātmārāma who makes humanness fulfilled. Every human being has three debts…, so we must do good karma with this body. With the Manas we must think good thoughts. With the hands we must begin holy… karma. It is through these three alone that birth becomes fulfilled.

Embodiments of Prema! We must offer up the human body in the spirit of offering to God. Only then is Rāma… …tva transformed into the Rāma-tattva. Humanness is transformed into divinity. Man, man … the very form of God. We must recognise this truth. We must inquire … into the tattva of the spiritual Rāmāyaṇa, and not follow only the Rāmāyaṇa of the book. Vibhīṣaṇa, Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa, the three, are the sattva, rajo and tamo guṇas. What did Rāma do! Some critics say that … first sarambhyāḍu the sin of slaying a woman. They called it the sin of slaying a woman. No, no: the tamo guṇa he ….