Rama, The Ideal Hero

21 May 2002, Summer Course 2002, Prasanthi Nilayam

Published English.

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The one whose heart is laden with compassion, The one whose words are marked by truth, The one whose time is spent in performing beneficial deeds for the welfare of others, Such ones are not affected by influence of the age of .

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Today, the power of affects everybody without any distinction. Realising that would pass away in a few minutes, many sages, scholars, and noble men came to and asked him, "O ! You performed many good deeds as well as evil deeds. What is it the most memorable thing that you have discovered in your life?"

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replied, "Sirs! Don't delay the noble acts you want to perform at any time. Put into action whatever noble thoughts and feelings that arise in your heart instantaneously. Procrastination is the thief of time. It is dangerous to delay. At one time, I thought of connecting the earth and heaven with a ladder. I wished to turn the saline water surrounding into sweet water. I wished to bring comfort and solace to the residents of Hell. Though I decided to do these things, I delayed acting. Thereafter, I could never succeed in doing them. Translate into action whatever good resolve emanates in your minds. We waste our time in postponing the good deeds. We should be ever ready to put into action all the good thoughts that arise in the mind."

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This is the noble advice that gave to the people who came to him at the fag end of his life. Since he delayed the performance of good deeds, it brought disaster to him.

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While and were moving in the forest in search of , they accosted a strange person who had his face in his stomach. Seeing his form, they concluded that this person was a demon. and went to the demon and asked him, "Who are you? You don't have any head. How do you live? Why don't you have a neck, like other people have?"

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The strange creature answered, "O sir! My name is . I have hands that can extend to ten miles. They can grasp any prey that I desire to eat. I fill my stomach without moving much. Who are you? Why have you entered this dense and terrible forest? You seem to be tender beings. You look like princes. To which kingdom do you belong?"

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, who always spoke the truth, replied, "We have come here in obedience to the command of our father. I suffer from the pangs of separation from my wife. Someone has kidnapped her. Please tell us where she is and what happened to her."

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told , "O sir! First burn me to ashes. I will then give you all the information you need."

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answered , "He is , my elder brother."

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said, "O ! Your is in . She is a lady of great chastity. Whoever dares touch her will be burned to ashes. Very soon you will see in and will go back to . My words never fail. May you enjoy comfort and solace immediately."

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After saying these words, vanished.

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and were brothers, who ruled over their kingdoms. They were men of great valour and courage. decided to deprive of his kingdom. wanted to put to many troubles and banish him from the kingdom. befriended , , and other warriors. rendered all help required to search for . He rallied his forces and reached the shores of the sea.

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They then encountered the problem as to who would cross the sea and go to . The veterans said that they did not have enough strength to cross over. No one came forward to cross the ocean. volunteered to do so and accomplish 's mission. He was ever ready to do any work for the Lord.

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In the meanwhile let us find out about . was a very strong and powerful king, but he was wicked and indulged in evil deeds. Once, fought against a powerful demon . He killed him in the fight and hurled his dead body. The body fell on the Mountain, where the sage was doing penance. The blood dripping from the body of the demon fell on sage and disturbed him. Enraged, he cursed that whoever killed would have his head broken into a thousand pieces if ever he set foot on that mountain.

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picked up a quarrel with , his own brother, and banished him from the kingdom. started living on the Mountain for he felt that would not be able to touch him if he went to due to sage 's curse. Hence, , accompanied by and other well wishers, settled on the Mountain. He was contemplating on the ways and means of defeating .

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One day, and noticed two handsome persons walking at a distance in the forest. He wondered who they were. He thought that they might have come for hunting. He sent to find out about the two brothers.

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disguised himself as a and met and . 's speech was soft and gentle. He introduced himself as a Minister of and volunteered to carry them on his shoulders and take them to .

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There ensued a beautiful conversation between and . understood from the conversation that was unjust towards . had appropriated the kingdom of and driven him out of the kingdom. He accused of criminal conduct. had never indulged in any such crime. was in need of a friend who was stronger than . He wanted to test whether was stronger than . He wanted to enlist the help of only if he proved himself to be stronger than .

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So, said to , " , my brother is of great power and strength. He has also many virtues. I want to find out whether you are stronger than my brother." When nodded his ascent, he further said to him, "Once my brother shot an arrow through the trees. It pierced five trees in a row and emerged out of them. It is very difficult to charge an arrow through a tree because it is made of hardwood. Shoot an arrow and let it pierce through at least four trees."

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smiled and discharged the arrow. The arrow pierced a number of trees. was deeply impressed by the strength of . He sought the help of to defeat . He also promised to help in searching for . asked to call his brother for a fight but cautioned him that that the fight should take place ten miles away from .

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requested to do this because the rules of exile prohibited him from entering into cities and villages. These rules compelled him to confine himself only to the forests. Hence, he wanted to call out of his kingdom so that he would be able to help .

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As advised by , roared and called for a fight.

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was the faithful wife of . She wanted to restrain him from entering into a fight with . She pleaded with him by holding his hands; "You should not go for a fight now. I have heard that befriended some powerful princes to help him. Don't be in haste. It is dangerous to be hasty. The wise ones pause and ponder before doing any work. Haste can make waste. It can be dangerous too."

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spoke these words to and took him back. She was a chaste wife who had many virtues. She was highly intelligent and virtuous.

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However, when persisted in his challenge, came out running to fight. fought valiantly, but slowly gained an upper hand. He then beat black and blue.

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felt disappointed that had not come to his rescue. He expressed his disappointment to . explained to him that he could not distinguish the two brothers, since they looked alike. talked to him sweetly and consoled him. He also infused courage into him and assured him that he would kill in the next fight. But he asked to have a garland around his neck so that He would be able to distinguish him from . He asked to gather flowers in the forest and string them into a garland. put the garland on and challenged for a fight for the second time.

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A fierce fight ensued between the two brothers. , hiding behind a tree, shot an arrow at and brought him down. Though fell down, there was still life left in him. went to and said to him, " You have sinned against your brother , you have appropriated his wife. That is a sin because a brother's wife is like one's mother. You appropriated his kingdom, banished him, and appropriated his wife. You blamed him for crimes that he had not committed. Since he surrendered to Me, I promised him that I would help him".

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said to him, "O ! You have come into the forest to keep up the word of your father. But you have interfered between my brother and me. It is unjust on your path to kill a person hiding behind a tree".

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replied, "O ! What you have said is correct. I no longer live in . I am like a hunter moving in the forest. I am in exile, and you belong to the race of animals. A hunter kills an animal hiding behind a tree. He never goes face to face with an animal to kill it. So I had to kill you hiding behind a tree".

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listened to him and further said, ", you are of great power and strength, you could have come face to face to fight with me".

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replied to him, ", I know the boon that was bestowed on you. You have a boon that whoever fights you face to face, half of his strength will enter into you. I know this secret".

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entered into long argumentation with , but convinced him of his folly. Finally, called out to and said, "O ! My life is ebbing away. Make a promise to me that you will make my son, , the crown-prince of ". agreed to this and fulfilled the promise that He gave to . He crowned as the king and as the crown prince.

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There are three clashes amongst brothers mentioned in the .

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(1) the clash between and (2) the clash between and , and (3) the 'clash' between and .

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protested against the evil actions of his brother and incurred his anger. When banished , he sought refuge at 's feet. He helped against . crowned him as the King of after killing . sought the help of to kill ; he then became the King of .

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In the first two cases, one brother became the king by standing against his own other brother. But the 'clash' between and was of a different kind! Neither of the brothers wanted to become king of ! told , ", you are the eldest and only you have the right to become the king."

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But protested, " I will not step into , since I want to respect the promise given to my father. You have to rule over the kingdom, since it is mother's wish". Thus, refused to yield to the request of and rule over the Kingdom. Both brothers wanted to convince the other to rule over . At last, sage came out with the solution that should take care of , keeping 's sandals on the throne, till came to after fourteen years of exile. Both brothers had to accept 's solution.

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adhered to truth at all times, "". For him observance of truth was the highest . He clung to tenaciously and believed that truth would be triumphant at the end. was steadfast in his observance of (truth) and .

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At last, the battle between and started. had respect for , though he was his enemy. He even praised the virtues of . He knew that was under the curse given to and . Though killed , he forgave him.

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had to act by public opinion also. Since some people had doubts about the chastity of , He had to make undergo the ordeal of fire. had to make undergo the ordeal of fire to respect the public opinion. The fire god said to , " is pure and flawless."

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acted justly at every step. The was a drama in which was the (director). He was also a (actor). The people also had their parts to play in the drama. performed his role excellently. The has survived the test of time. It has survived even though thousands of years have passed. was dear to everybody. He was an ideal that mankind needs to emulate.

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The people of were fascinated by the appearance of . They went into ecstasy watching the conduct and beauty of . They thought that and made an excellent match. They sang songs inviting people to see the marriage of and . One such song goes like this:

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Come all of you to see 's marriage; Let all of us go together to see 's marriage. Many a people have come to see 's marriage. The ladies have rich jewellery; they have put on Garlands of pearls and diamonds. They are beautified with ornaments studded with precious stones. will tie the sacred to today. They make a fine match! It appears as though they are made for each other. has made grand arrangements for marriage. He has called sage and other sages. People have come in great numbers to rejoice at the marriage of and . We will earn merit if we see their marriage. is shining splendoursly and is resplendent. is a noble prince, who enquires the welfare of one and all. Come; let us go to see and 's marriage.

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People sang songs like this, rejoicing at the marriage of and . The people of as well as of were greatly delighted. They rejoiced immensely.

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The is the history of . It is HIS-story. TIt is full of noble characters. The four brothers and their wives hold out great ideals for mankind. The mothers, , , and , were also great women. They were embodiments of virtue and good conduct. People blame , saying that she was responsible for the suffering of and . She was actually a divine instrument in the mission of . She was not the kind of lady who would be swayed away by the words of . She was instrumental in sending to the forest so that He could punish the wicked and protect the good. There are great subtleties and secrets in the . We will try to know them in the days to come.