Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

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

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

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

A yodhya was a beautiful flourishing city in the prosperous kingdom of Kosala; it was the capital of the kingdom. Emperor Manu founded this city, and there was none more beautiful. It had spiraling mansions, sprawling markets, and spruced-up gardens. The citizens of Ayodhya 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. Dasharatha, 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 Dasharatha as a father figure and were full of joy for their good fortune for having a person of such noble character as their emperor.

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 (purohits), Vasishta and Vamana. These priests led profoundly moral and spiritual lives and were always absorbed in Divine contemplation.

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

C oncerned about Dasharatha’s condition, one day, Minister Sumantra approached him and advised him to perform the Ashwamedha Yaga, a Vedic ritual worship to attain peace of mind. Ashwa (horse) represents restlessness, and Medha (intellect) represents the mind; so, Ashwamedha Yaga 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 (karma), and partakes in the fruits of unfulfilled desires, making the mind restless. King Romapada suggested that along with it, he undertake Putrakameshti Yaga, a sacrificial vedic ritual worship for having children. He further advised him to invite sage Rishyashrunga to officiate the yajna. Dasharatha, accompanied by Sumantra, went to the kingdom of Anga and invited Romapada and Rishyashrunga to Ayodhya to perform Putrakameshti Yaga.

W hile all this was happening on earth, the angels and other divine beings got together and went to Lord Narayana and pleaded for relief from the atrocities being committed by Ravana, the demon king of Lanka. They were worried by the boon that Brahma had granted Ravana and the assurance that he would not die at the hands of demons or divine beings. Brahma assuaged their concerns, saying that though he had granted the boon of protection to Ravana, he did not exempt his death from the hands of humans. Ravana, 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. Brahma assured the divine beings that Lord Narayana would take birth in human form and bring about the death of Ravana. There was, thus, a happy coincidence of events on the earthly plane and the heavenly plane.

I n response to the request of Dasharatha, Sage Rishyashrunga came to Ayodhya to officiate the Putrakameshti Yaga. Lord Narayana, pleased by the prayers of Dasharatha, appeared and granted him the boon that he would be blessed with children. He gave him a vessel of pudding (payasam) and asked him to distribute it to his wives, to be partaken by them. Emperor Dasharatha 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.

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

S umithra, the second queen, did not entertain any such wish. She was friendly with everyone and highly merited her name, “Sumithra” (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 Dasharatha, she approached Kausalya and Kaikeyi and told them about her plight. Since the queens were highly virtuous, they happily gave away part of their share to Sumithra.

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

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

T he four brothers were verily the embodiments of the four Vedas. What are these Vedas? Rig Veda is the embodiment of speech (vak) ; Yajur Veda is the embodiment of the mind (manas) ; Sama Veda is the embodiment of the life principle (prana) ; and Atharvana Veda is the embodiment of the intellect (buddhi). Thus, the four Vedas played about in the house of Dasharatha, represented as Rama, Lakshmana, Bharatha, and Shatrughna.

W e do not gain much if we continue to entertain the mistaken notion that Rama 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 Rama. In fact, Rama 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 Rama principle exists in everyone. Similarly, we should investigate the inner meaning of the word Dasharatha. Dasharatha (one who rides a chariot that can move in all ten directions) was not just an emperor of the kingdom of Kosala. 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.

T he four sons of Dasharatha also signify the four goals of life (Purusharthas) : righteousness (dharma), wealth (artha), desire (kama), and liberation (moksha). 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 (dharma) and wealth (artha). Wealth should be acquired in a righteous way. Similarly, every desire should be a sacred and righteous one. Sri Rama was the embodiment of dharma. That is why it is said, ‘Ramo Vigrahavan Dharmaha.’ We should enjoy life, basing ourselves firmly on the principles of dharma. Unfortunately, the four goals of life have been sadly neglected with utter disregard. Ravana sought wealth and gratification of desire, utterly violating the principle of dharma. Ravana was a scholar par excellence. He had mastered the 64 disciplines of knowledge, whereas Rama had mastered only 32 disciplines of knowledge. However, Rama put them into practice and thereby understood them, whereas Ravana failed to digest them. Indigestion on the part of Ravana arose in the form of desire (kama), which ultimately destroyed him. While Rama was the Embodiment of dharma, Ravana remained the embodiment of desire (kama). Thus, there arose a conflict between Righteousness and unrighteousness. Rama transformed Himself into the embodiment of Truth (sathya) since He followed the principle of dharma. Since Ravana violated dharma, he became the embodiment of untruth (asathya). 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. Sathya and dharma are verily the Embodiments of Divinity, and there is no God other than these two.

T he Rama principle is laden with many subtle secrets. The Ramayana is of exemplary excellence ethically, spiritually, and materially as well. The story of Rama 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.

O nly when we develop a strong personality can we conduct ourselves ideally in the family and in society. Rama 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 Rama Thathwa. Rama was the Embodiment of four cardinal principles: truth, righteousness, love, and peace.

R ama was an Embodiment of dharma, which is the basis for the entire Universe. A true human being is one who follows and practices the principle of dharma. To burn is the dharma of fire. Coolness is the dharma of ice. Fire is no fire without burning. Ice is no ice without coolness. Similarly, the dharma 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 dharma. Thus, a dharmic life is a divine life.

W e say the word dharma without understanding its true nature and majesty. Right action (dharma) is of various kinds: dharma of a householder, a celibate, a recluse, and a renunciate. But the dharma of the heart is the supreme dharma. This dharma of the heart is verily the dharma 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 Ramayana stands as a supreme testimony to it. The synthesis of humanity in divinity, and divinity in humanity, leads to Oneness or fullness (poornathva). It is said, ‘That is full, this is full, and from the fullness, fullness emerges’ (Poornamadham poornamidham, poornath poorna - mudatchyate). This fullness is humanness.

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

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

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

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

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 dharma and divinity. Humans alone have disregarded their human dharma, whereas birds and beasts firmly adhere to their respective dharmas. There is no need for the Avatar to descend amongst birds and beasts since dharma has not declined in them. Lord Krishna declared, Parithranaya sadhunam (I come down for the protection of the good). The Avatars hence come for the protection of the good.

T here is no use merely uttering Rama’s name. You must realize the Rama Principle first and foremost. The Rama Thathwa is Prema Thathwa (Principle of Love). We must emulate Rama 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.