The Message of Lord Rama

20 May 1996, Summer Course 1996, Brindavan

Published English.

1

T he name is sweeter than sugar and the best honey. It is tastier than curd. As you go on repeating the name of , it tastes like nectar itself. Hence, O mind, repeat this beautiful name of every day. (Sanskrit Verse)

2

T he has been described as the story of , as a reflection of temperorhe ideal man. In fact, every human, in a way, is Himself when he embodies the ideals of . Hence, it is imperative on the part of every individual to introspect whether one is living the ideals of . The enshrines in itself the very essence of the (righteousness) of the individual, family, and society.

3

T hough thousands of years have passed since the story of was first written, the inner story of the continues to be enacted in every moment of our life.

4

A t the beginning of the , was swayed by the idea that was the ideal man. But during the course of his writing, he was overwhelmed by the feeling that was verily divine, and concluded, at the end of the epic, that was the Embodiment of Divinity. In comparison, began his writing of with the firm faith that was verily Lord Himself and concluded by emphasizing the fact that was the ideal man. , the author of , had the feeling that man is God and God is man ( is , and is ). The three great writers of the lent different dimensions to it, depending on their inner sacred perceptions. Each writer, who brought forth his version of the , added their own dimension in consonance with their own faith and temperament, reflecting the sacredness of ’s story. In today’s world, it is essential that the (Principle) should be cultivated by one and all.

5

The Glory of A yodhya was a beautiful flourishing city in the prosperous kingdom of ; it was the capital of the kingdom. Emperor founded this city, and there was none more beautiful. It had spiraling mansions, sprawling markets, and spruced-up gardens. The citizens of took delight in adding fresh beauty to the already beautiful city. The mansions were studded with pearls and precious stones and shone with great splendor. , the emperor, embodied in himself all noble ideals. The people, too, shared the noble virtues of their emperor. The emperor was pure, selfless, egoless and verily the embodiment of peace and love. He regarded the subjects of his kingdom as his own children and lavished great love and affection on them. The subjects of the kingdom, too, had intense faith in as a father figure and were full of joy for their good fortune for having a person of such noble character as their emperor.

6

D asharatha ruled over his kingdom, counseled by eight ministers. These ministers were of extraordinary mettle. They were masters of the scriptures and masters of their senses as well. They held the emperor’s command in high esteem and were prepared to lay down their lives and carry out his commands, for the sake of the king and kingdom. The emperor had two eminent priests (), and . These priests led profoundly moral and spiritual lives and were always absorbed in Divine contemplation.

7

T hough Emperor enjoyed every pleasure at his command, he remained unfulfilled because of the want of children. In due course of time, ’s queen , gave birth to a daughter named . There was another emperor who pined for children. He was Emperor , of the kingdom of . Since happened to be a friend of , gave away his daughter to for adoption. took extreme care of and reared her with love and affection. When came of age, gave her in marriage to a young sage named .

8

C oncerned about ’s condition, one day, Minister approached him and advised him to perform the , a Vedic ritual worship to attain peace of mind. (horse) represents restlessness, and (intellect) represents the mind; so, is performed to still the restless mind. The mind takes many extreme forms. Despite many cycles of birth, the nature of the mind does not change. The mind sows the seeds of desire, grows the trees of action (), and partakes in the fruits of unfulfilled desires, making the mind restless. King suggested that along with it, he undertake , a sacrificial vedic ritual worship for having children. He further advised him to invite sage to officiate the . , accompanied by , went to the kingdom of and invited and to to perform .

9

W hile all this was happening on earth, the angels and other divine beings got together and went to Lord and pleaded for relief from the atrocities being committed by , the demon king of . They were worried by the boon that had granted and the assurance that he would not die at the hands of demons or divine beings. assuaged their concerns, saying that though he had granted the boon of protection to , he did not exempt his death from the hands of humans. , who did not hold humans in high esteem and considered them as worms, never had an inkling that he would die at the hands of a human. assured the divine beings that Lord would take birth in human form and bring about the death of . There was, thus, a happy coincidence of events on the earthly plane and the heavenly plane.

10

’s Birth (The Divine Descent) I n response to the request of , Sage came to to officiate the . Lord , pleased by the prayers of , appeared and granted him the boon that he would be blessed with children. He gave him a vessel of pudding () and asked him to distribute it to his wives, to be partaken by them. Emperor won the grace of the Lord through his virtuous conduct and the moral and spiritual life he led. God’s Grace is proportional to man’s efforts.

11

E mperor distributed the pudding to the three queens equally, for he had equal love for them. and scholars have distorted the facts by saying that the pudding was distributed in unequal proportions. The three queens of , namely, , , and , lived in great harmony and adjustment. , the youngest queen, happily received the pudding. She first thought that her son would be crowned as the king of as per the promise that had given before marrying her. also happily received her share of the pudding. She thought that since she was the eldest queen, the son born to her would be crowned as the king of .

12

S umithra, the second queen, did not entertain any such wish. She was friendly with everyone and highly merited her name, “” (a good friend). She placed her share of pudding on the terrace wall and started drying her hair in the sun after her bath. While she was thus busy, an eagle swooped down and carried away the vessel containing the pudding. Frightened at the prospect of incurring the wrath of , she approached and and told them about her plight. Since the queens were highly virtuous, they happily gave away part of their share to .

13

O ut of the part of the pudding given by , was born to , whereas was born out of the portion of the pudding given by . Hence, it is no wonder that , born of ’s share, was deeply attached to , and was deeply attached to since he was born of the share of . served sincerely and faithfully until the end, whereas served to the last. would not live without , even for a moment, a feeling that was mutual.

14

S imilarly, would not live without and vice versa. When fainted on the battlefield, lamented, “Oh ! In this wide world, I may be able to obtain a wife like or a mother like . But I will never be able to get a brother like you.” Such was the supreme love of for .

15

The and the Four Goals of Life T he four brothers were verily the embodiments of the four . What are these ? is the embodiment of speech () ; is the embodiment of the mind () ; is the embodiment of the life principle () ; and is the embodiment of the intellect (). Thus, the four played about in the house of , represented as , , , and .

16

W e do not gain much if we continue to entertain the mistaken notion that is the Embodiment of Divinity and that He is beyond our reach. We should realize the fact that the Lord descended on the earth to demonstrate an ideal to mankind. Hence, every human being should mold himself according to the great example set by . In fact, lives in every human heart as the enchanting principle. The enchanting principle in the heart is the Self. There is none in this world in whom the Self is not present. Hence, the principle exists in everyone. Similarly, we should investigate the inner meaning of the word . (one who rides a chariot that can move in all ten directions) was not just an emperor of the kingdom of . He stands for the body, which is verily the chariot of the ten senses. The body is made up of the five organs of action and the five organs of perception.

17

T he four sons of also signify the four goals of life () : righteousness (), wealth (), desire (), and liberation (). These four goals of life give fulfillment to human life. No human can find fulfillment without these four. There is a close connection between righteousness () and wealth (). Wealth should be acquired in a righteous way. Similarly, every desire should be a sacred and righteous one. was the embodiment of . That is why it is said, ‘.’ We should enjoy life, basing ourselves firmly on the principles of . Unfortunately, the four goals of life have been sadly neglected with utter disregard. sought wealth and gratification of desire, utterly violating the principle of . was a scholar par excellence. He had mastered the 64 disciplines of knowledge, whereas had mastered only 32 disciplines of knowledge. However, put them into practice and thereby understood them, whereas failed to digest them. Indigestion on the part of arose in the form of desire (), which ultimately destroyed him. While was the Embodiment of , remained the embodiment of desire (). Thus, there arose a conflict between Righteousness and unrighteousness. transformed Himself into the embodiment of Truth () since He followed the principle of . Since violated , he became the embodiment of untruth (). There is an eternal warfare between righteousness and unrighteousness, truth and untruth. It is the duty of everyone to follow and practice the twin principles of truth and righteousness. and are verily the Embodiments of Divinity, and there is no God other than these two.

18

Live the T he principle is laden with many subtle secrets. The is of exemplary excellence ethically, spiritually, and materially as well. The story of teaches us how a man should live in the world and conduct himself in the family and society. It also teaches us how to retain one’s individuality and shape one’s personality.

19

O nly when we develop a strong personality can we conduct ourselves ideally in the family and in society. enshrined in Himself all these ideal qualities and shone as an ideal being. He also enshrined in Himself the principle of equanimity, unity, and bliss. This principle of bliss is latent in every human heart. Every human has a right to realize and enjoy this principle of bliss, which is the . was the Embodiment of four cardinal principles: truth, righteousness, love, and peace.

20

R ama was an Embodiment of , which is the basis for the entire Universe. A true human being is one who follows and practices the principle of . To burn is the of fire. Coolness is the of ice. Fire is no fire without burning. Ice is no ice without coolness. Similarly, the of man lies in performing actions with the body and following the commands of the heart. Every act performed with thought, word, and deed in harmony is an act of . Thus, a dharmic life is a divine life.

21

W e say the word without understanding its true nature and majesty. Right action () is of various kinds: of a householder, a celibate, a recluse, and a renunciate. But the of the heart is the supreme . This of the heart is verily the of life as well. This is what is also said as ‘the proper study of mankind is man.’ The unity of thought, word, and deed has to be achieved at any cost. The stands as a supreme testimony to it. The synthesis of humanity in divinity, and divinity in humanity, leads to Oneness or fullness (). It is said, ‘That is full, this is full, and from the fullness, fullness emerges’ (). This fullness is humanness.

22

M any people are ignorant of the inner significance of the story. I shall explain to you in due course the subtleties contained in the and the deep significance of words like , , , , , etc. You will have a full appreciation of the only after knowing the subtle truths contained in it.

23

T he principle of is the most sacred, sublime, and glorious. There is nothing in the world that cannot be achieved by cultivating the Principle. Though thousands of years have elapsed since the story of took place, the Principle is deeply imprinted in people’s hearts. The Principle is ever fresh, ever new, and embraces infinitude itself.

24

T he Principle is contained in the smallest of the small and the largest of the large. The Principle of is not just confined to name and form. It is a transcendental principle that transcends time itself. The Principle is eternally blooming, blossoming, and bursting forth. Students will understand the true nature of humanity by realizing the Principle.

25

W hen God descends in human form as an , we should not delude ourselves into thinking that the is a simple human form like us. His form may be human, but His majesty and magnificence are Infinite.

26

Why Does God Take Human Form? W e should not be deluded by the form and deceive ourselves thereby. God has to take the human form and change the lives of humans by His own example. The emancipation of humanity is possible only by taking the human form. It is only the human being who has descended to the depths of degradation by his utter disregard of his and divinity. Humans alone have disregarded their human , whereas birds and beasts firmly adhere to their respective . There is no need for the to descend amongst birds and beasts since has not declined in them. Lord declared, (I come down for the protection of the good). The hence come for the protection of the good.

27

T here is no use merely uttering ’s name. You must realize the Principle first and foremost. The is (Principle of Love). We must emulate and transform ourselves by following the path of Love. However deep and great our scholastic eminence may be, we cannot achieve anything without undergoing the transformation of the mind.