Sri Ram Navami : Why do we bow down to Sri Rama?

By Shashi Narasimhiah

14 April 2019 would be Ram Navami. Both epics – Ramayana and Mahabharata are tales of suffering and tragedy. At the end of it all, in both epics, everyone loses what they had (or wanted) and leaves the reader sad and with many questions. Why is the Epic of Ramayana important to us? Why do we revere Sri Rama and Sita Mata and why do we celebrate Sri Ram Navami?

The life of Sri Rama was a series of challenges and disasters. Even as he was to be coronated he loses the Kingdom – what is rightfully his, lives in the forest as a hermit practicing celibacy immediately after his swayamvar, then his wife is abducted and to get her back fights an unintended brutal war, after he becomes a king, suffers uncharitable comments about his very dear wife from his own subjects due to which he leaves her in the forest while she was pregnant to never see her again, unknowingly ends up in a battle with his own children, the wife gives up her life and finally he decides to give up his own life by way of walking away into the river Sarayu. From Sita Mata’s point of view, the story is even worse. Even while in the bridal finery, she decides to go to the forest with her husband, spends the time there in celibacy, held as a hostage, faces the humiliation of an agni-pareeksha to prove her purity, has to deliver her son and raise the twin sons in the middle of a forest, witnesses a war between her own husband and sons and finally gives up her own life to go back to the Mother Earth.

Ramayana might have occurred some 5000 years ago, the life of Sri Rama as also the lives of other main characters of Ramayana such as Sita Mata, Lakshmana, Anjaneya Swamy remain an answer to the many dilemmas and questions of today:

What do we see in Sri Rama that we find fit to bow down to?

It is not what happened to Sri Rama that is significant; it is how he conducted himself during the series of disasters that makes him worthy of worship. It is the grace with which he accepted everything that came his way and the balance with which he conducted himself that is noteworthy. Never once was he seen angry, upset or cursing someone for all that he had to go through. Therefore those of us seeking grace, liberation, balance and internal tranquillity regardless of what the situation around us is – look up to Sri Rama. External situations are always subject to constant change which often is not to our advantage/favour. We take Sri Rama as an example for his phenomenal wisdom while living a life of many disasters. Never once he wavered from the fundamentals of life he set up for himself, single-mindedly concentrated on his duties and responsibilities. Therefore Sri Rama is not worshipped as a king for the success he achieved in life but for the grace and balance with which he conducted himself while facing failures and disasters. Sri Rama teaches us that – wisdom, balance and internal tranquillity is indeed of the highest value in one’s life. When nothing happens your way are you still a beautiful person? It is that “freedom” Sri Rama achieved from the external factors that we Hindus call liberation or Mukti – what we bow down to.

Ladies, what kind of a husband do you want?

To put things in perspective, Sri Rama along with his brother walked all the way to Sri Lanka from the northern part of India, overcame logistical challenges along the way, waged a fierce war and burnt down an entire city in order to be able to get back his wife. He could easily have let go of Sita Mata and carried on with his life. But that was not his way. He fulfilled his duty as a husband no matter what.

And Men, what kind of a wife do you want?

When Anjaneya Swamy met Sita Mata under the Ashoka tree he was perfectly capable of lifting her and carrying her to Sri Rama. So what prevented him from doing that? Sita Mata had other ideas. She understood that it was her husband’s honour which was at stake, therefore she said – let Sri Rama liberate her for the sake of his own honour and no one else.

What kind of love do we want?

Both Anjaneya Swamy and Valmiki wrote Ramayana. On reading Anjaneya Swamy’s Ramayana Valmiki started crying because he thought Anjaneya Swamy’s Ramayana was so good that after reading that no one will read his. On hearing this, Anjaneya Swamy simply tore up his work and said – you need your Ramayana more than I need mine. You wrote it so that the world remembers Valmiki where as I wrote Ramayana so that I remember Ram. Valmiki’s Ramayana was a product of ambition, Anjaneya Swamy’s was a work of pure love and affection.

Why did Sri Rama ask his wife Sita Mata to undergo an agni pareeksha and then send her to the forest?

Sri Rama was the king that his subjects wanted him to be. The British might stake claim for introduction of Democracy some 400 years back, but the elements of democracy can be seen here in Ram Rajya. Sri Rama is not a king because he wants to be one, but because his subjects want him to be one. When there were allegations on the queen of the land, he had to put her through the test to ensure that his subjects are satisfied that they have the queen they wanted. He sends his pregnant wife away to the forest – for exactly the same reason. How Sri Rama behaved and how he conducted was on show since the moral direction of an entire nation depended on the moral behaviour of their king and queen and even a hint of a blemish would not be acceptable. He sets up himself as an example of the highest moral standard regardless of what happens to him and his family. That is indeed the kind of political leaders we need now!! No matter what, for the well-being of their land would they do what is needed regardless of what happens to them? Even as recently as our own independence movement, Mahatma Gandhi went about referring to Ram Rajya and his last words are believed to be Hey Ram. When an extreme drama was happening in his own life, Sri Rama continued to discharge his duties of being a king with such balance, efficiency and poise that after 5000 years we consider Ram Rajya to be an example of an ideal administration!!

What did Lakshmana say when Sri Rama asked his brother whether he can recognise any of the jewellery thrown by Sita Mata from the Pushpaka Vimana while being abducted?

Lakshmana said that the only part of his sister-in-law’s body he had seen was her feet and the only piece of jewellery he can recognise is her toe rings!! In the recent times too, many men never looked eye to eye at a woman they are communicating with, they always looked at her feet as a mark of respect to the person and her status.

Shabari offered half eaten berries:

Lakshmana was disgusted that Shabari was offering half eaten fruits. But Sri Rama had a different take on it. He says Shabari is offering fruits to two strange and hungry people and bites into each only to ensure that they are sweet enough to be offered to them – pure love is what I saw. Lakshmana what did you see that made you angry?

The story of the squirrel:

When Sugriva chuckled that Sri Rama is giving too much value to the little pest, Sri Rama said this – From your point of view the contribution of the squirrel may not be much but from his point of view his contribution is immense. In your grand scheme of things he may not matter, but in his grand scheme of things he surely does. I see the world from his point of view and see how unconditional his commitment and love is. Unless we do this how can we expand and be inclusive?

Learning from Ravana:

When Lakshmana is sent by Sri Rama he stood towering over Ravana and said – as a victor we have the right to your knowledge and if you have any honour, pass on your knowledge before you die and got nothing from Ravana, who just turned his face away

Sri Rama discarded his weapons, sat at the feet of Ravana joined his palms, saluted him, addressed him as the noble one, son of Vishrava and Kaikesi, devotee of  Shiva, stated that for mutilating Ravana’s sister he has been punished, for Ravana abducting Sri Ram’s wife Ravana has been punished, so there are no debts among them. But “I seek from you your knowledge that you wish to leave behind as your legacy”.

Happy Sri Ram Navami to all.

(Acknowledgement: Sadhguru, Devdutt Pattanaik, Amish Tripathi and Rajaji).