Verse 3

In plain words

33. The Avatāra of Śrī Rāma That Rāmacandra, who incarnated as the son of Kausalyā and Daśaratha in the city of Ayodhyā on the bank of the river Sarayū, married Sītā, daughter of King Janaka, lord of the city of Mithilā; and at last, by His father's command, He went to the forest together with His younger brother Lakṣmaṇa and with Sītā, dear to Him as His very life. There followed the ten-headed Rāvaṇa's abduction of Sītā; then, as He searched for Sītā, the slaying of Vāli with the help of Sugrīva, lord of the monkeys, and of Hanumān, the discovery of where Sītā was, the killing of Rāvaṇa, and the bringing of Sītā back to Ayodhyā. Of these deeds I shall relate a few of the principal episodes in detail — listen." Śrī Rāma Is Gentle by Nature I shall explain something of Śrī Rāmacandra's saumya. O King! When He walked along wearing green garments, girded in a yellow silk pītāmbara, a gold-adorned diadem upon His head, modestly looking at the ground, the heart would melt. O King! No one ever caught a moment when Śrī Rāmacandra raised His head and looked at others! His gaze was always the inward gaze; the outward gaze He never used. If anyone offered Śrī Rāmacandra anything at all, He would not take it in full, but for their satisfaction would break off only a portion, or —

touch it with His own hands and hand it back again to those very people. Even with His parents-in-law He did not carry Himself as a son-in-law, but behaved like a son. Near His wife's other sisters or near the maidservants He never so much as opened His mouth to speak; He never raised His eyes to look at them. All those older than Himself He regarded as mothers, equal to Kausalyā; those younger He thought of as younger sisters; and those of His own age He thought of as younger mothers. He was a keeper of the true word. Reasoning that if His father broke the word he had given, disgrace would fall upon the whole lineage, He set out to uphold His father's honour and His father's word: even though Daśaratha never told Him to go to the forest, He learned the facts from His stepmother Kaikā, and without a word in reply He renounced even the kingdom, the seat of authority, and set out for the forest. Between the word of His mouth and the deeds He did there was no difference whatever — so did Śrī Rāmacandra live. Śrī Rāma Is Tender to Those Who Take Refuge Śrī Rāmacandra had a heart melting with compassion; He was śaraṇāgata-vatsala. During the war between Rāma and Rāvaṇa, while the monkeys and the rākṣasas were fighting, some of Rāvaṇa's emissaries, unable to withstand the monkeys' onslaught, turned themselves into monkeys and joined the monkey troops. The monkeys found them out, tormented them in many ways and took them to Rāma. He drew them close and said: "O monkeys! Do not torment them. Whatever deceitful disguises they may have put on, they came to take refuge in me. So, whoever they may be, to protect those who have sought refuge is my dīkṣā. Let them go. As blessed as you are, who have taken refuge in me, so blessed are they too. As dear as you are to me, just so dear to me are they also." So He spoke; and even Vibhīṣaṇa, own brother of His enemy Rāvaṇa, He, as He would His own younger brother Lakṣmaṇa,

drew close and cherished him. "If a person says even once, 'I am yours,' then at any time at all, come what may, 'I shall protect him'" — so said Rāma. Śrī Rāma, the Holy Person Śrī Rāmacandra practised Dharma, taught it and established it. He protected the virtuous. He relieved the sorrows of devotees, brought them safe to the shore and made them blessed. For Śrī Rāmacandra there were no distinctions of high and low. He was expert in all the śāstras and had mastered the Vedas and śāstras. Having caused many ritual observances to be performed and turned the world into a land of Dharma, Śrī Rāmacandra is a holy person. He performed the Aśvamedha sacrifice and was honoured by all the ṛṣis. His compassion and Prema are beyond description. Jaṭāyu, a lowly bird of the vulture kind, He took into His lap and with His own hair wiped away the dust that covered it; and after that bird died, He performed its funeral rites Himself (as a son offers tarpaṇa for his father). Śrī Rāma, Avatāra of the Deity of Dharma In Rāma's very form, tenderness, goodness of character, beauty and Prema kept brimming over. With whatever Prema He drew close and cherished His younger brothers Bharata, Lakṣmaṇa and the others, with that same equal Prema He cherished the monkeys too. Rāma was, in very person, the Avatāra of the deity of Dharma. The sages too described Him as Dharma itself having taken on that form. In short, Śrī Rāmacandra's family can be called a guide for all ordinary householders in the world. That Rāmacandra who incarnated for the uplift of the world — how intimately He lived with His younger brothers! When Śrī Rāmacandra, all ready for His coronation, was being sent to the forest, all the people of Ayodhyā

wept bitterly. But with whatever joy He had set out, ready for the coronation, with that same joy He made Himself ready to go to the forest. What other proof than this is needed of the marks of the sthitaprajña? Śrī Rāma, Keeper of His Father's Word Holding that one's word matters more than life itself, He disregarded every hardship, however great, to uphold His father's word, and He accomplished it. Rāma's keeping of His father's word teaches Buddhi to all the children in the world; it teaches them that this is their duty. Holding that life is life only at her husband's side, that daughter of the Earth, who had never been touched by the sun, spent her days in the terrible forest with her husband. What purity of feeling she has awakened in the women of Bhārata! Thinking that the brother born with him comes first, and that a wife, who enters one's life midway, is not so important, Lakṣmaṇa left even Ūrmiḷā behind and went to the forest with Śrī Rāmacandra. Unable to go against his elder brother's word, Bharata came back to Ayodhyā with a heavy heart and lived out a forest-exile at a remove. Daśaratha Was Fixed on the Body; Rāma on the Ātma Now, the difference between the father, Daśaratha, and the son, Śrī Rāmacandra, is as great as the gulf between earth and sky! Daśaratha, to please his wife and wanting to satisfy her, was ready to face any hardship at all; in the end he sent even Rāma, the son he himself had begotten, into the dense forests. And Rāmacandra's case? Giving weight to the words of an ordinary washerman, He sent Sītā into the dense forests! In this matter of Dharma toward the people,

consider how much difference there is between father and son. O King! Daśaratha was fixed on the body; Rāma, on the Ātma! Ah! Śrī Rāmacandra's virtues cannot possibly be described. Mahārāja! Is there any puruṣārtha greater than contemplating such a Supreme Person? To cross over, it is enough to keep listening to the līlās of the Avatāras. All sins are extinguished." So saying, Śuka kept wiping away tears of joy. Meanwhile King Parīkṣit, his face blossoming, prayed: "Svāmī! If the virtues alone of Rāmacandra, the embodiment of all Dharma, give so much joy, how sweet must be the play, the songs and the words of that Śyāmasundara — who wholly took on a human form in play — joined as they are with mischievous pranks and yet full of inner meaning! Tell me of that Gopāla's līlās and His hosts of virtues, and let this remaining time of mine be dissolved in that dark-limbed Lord. Make this birth cross over to its goal."