Ramayana's Message

रामयण तत्वम्

Dr. Ram Kosuru

Mahatma Gandhi has remarked that the message of Bhagvad-Geeta  (भगवद्गीता) could be interpreted as advice to overcome struggle between good and evil inside each individual.  Similarly, Ramayana could be interpreted as a metaphor for struggle for spiritual advancement within each individual.  The main characters of this story,  Dasarath, Lord Ram,  mother Seeta,  Ravana and Lord Hanuman represent different aspects of this struggle in the individual. 

Samkhya yoga as propounded by sage Kapila predates time of Bhagvad-Geeta.  According to this yoga, Purusha and Prakriti are two orginal entities and the three attributes Sattva, Rajas, Tamas combine in different ways in Prakriti. All humans (for that matter rocks, trees, animals) are combinations of these three attributes along with the five great elements: space, water, fire, wind, earth. In Shanti Parva of Mahabharata, there is explanation on how a tree contains all these elements for example.

Eknath Eswaran calls these  सत्व रजस् तमस् gunas (meta-attributes) in English as equilibrium (Sattva  सत्व ), energy (Rajasic रजस्  ), inertia (Tamas  तमस्). These are rough  transalations for the reader's understanding.

Story of Ramayana is well known and needs no repetition. The story could be seen as a metaphor for quest for spiritual progress: In this metaphor, King Dasaratha represents human embodiment (body), the rajasic guna (रजोगुण) is represented by Ravana (Ten-headed to indicate strength). Lord Ram represents the conditioned conciousness (जीवात्म) and mother Seeta represents the divine grace. The intellect and the mind combine is represented by Lord Hanuman and the Vanara army. The body (कोश) needs to undergo certain amount of purification for it to become aware of (जीवात्म). King Janaka represents the purified effect.

1.       Dasarath is king of Kosala कोशल with capital city of Ayodhya

a.        (दशरथ): Ten vehicles à Five ज्ञानेद्रिय (Organs of Knowledge) + Five कर्मेद्रिय  (Organs of Action)

b.      ज्ञानेद्रिय Eyes (Seeing), Ears (Hearing), Tongue (Tasting), Touch (Skin), Smell (Nose)

c.       कर्मेद्रिय are Hands, Legs, Speech, Organ of Generation, Organ of Defecation

d.      He is advised by ten ministers: Chief among them are Vasishta and Vamadeva. Other ministers are Akopa (negation of anger), Kasyapa; Sumantra (aide not a minister: one who gives advice after due consideration resulting in positive outcomes)

e.      Kosa (कोश) One meaning is body (Vessel, Bucket, Dictionary). Five kosas as explained in Upanishads

f.        अ +योद्य : योध् Struggle, Fight, War;  अ (Negation of suffix); य: the one that moves Body constantly craves for some thing that does not move (change); that is seeking that is beyond change. Another interpretation is that should not be fought against (अ +योद्य)

g.     In this analogy  Dasarath -as proxy for human embodiment- is full of desires. He had at least three wives; possibly had more; A King could marry from the three Varnas: In Balakanda of Ramayana, there is indication that these wives attended the Yagnas (Chapter 14; Slokam 35). A Kshatriya wife is called Mahisi (महिषी); A Vysya wife is called वावाता; A Sudra wife is called परिवृत्ति: we can interpret this as follows: He wanted to rule over many lands and accumulate wealth and be recipient of all services that others could provide. King Dasarath is a proxy for all of us just like Arjuna is a proxy in the Geeta setting. The three principal wives could be interpreted as well as that of gunas:

1. Kausalya (of Kosa: of body)

• Sumitra (friendly desire: that helps in spiritual progress)

          Kaikeyi : Rajasic nature; From Adi Parva of Mahabharatha, we have the following attribution  regarding kingdom of Kekeya: The five Asuras Ayahsiras, Ashvasira, Ayahshanku, Gaganmurdha and Vegavan are born in the dynasty of Kekaya.
         

h.      After a long time of enjoyment, Dasarath in order to go to heaven (or to a higher state of Spiritual evolution from that of purely physical enjoyment) has a child through यज्ञ who is named राम.

2.   Janaka (King of Videha kingdom with capital city of Mithila):

a.       देहः  दहति इव इति (the one that burns); Charvakaas held that the body is ultimate being: Sri Krishna mentions this in Bhagvad Geeta.

b.       विदेह : beyond body (opposite of Body); in Sanskrit वि is added prefix to indicate negation sometimes (or to convey some other opposite sense, for example, कर्म and विकर्म)

c.       Janaka is a Rajarsi  राजर्षि, spiritually advanced Philosopher king.

d.      वैदेहि: Janaka’s daughter found due to व्यवसायिक बुद्धि of Janaka indicated by word Seeta (Plough). The word Seeta also means camphor that swiftly lights under right conditions, most of the time it is cold or dormant: it is a propelling force that is only attained through grace. For our purposes, Videhi represents divine grace that is needed by one to realize truth. This is beyond physical body, mind and intellect.

e.      व्यवसायिक बुद्धि: In Bhagvad-Geeta second chapter we see that Yoga is skillful action (योगः कर्म सुकौशलम्). King Janaka has no concept of attachment to acquisition of wealth and the enjoyment there of. The following is  attributed to Janaka (chapter 276, Shanti Parva of Mahabharatha):

“I have kingdom, yet I have nothing. I live in great happiness. If all of Mithila be reduced to ashes, I would have lost nothing since it is not mine.”

मिथिलायां प्रदीत्पायां न मे दह्यति किंचन 

3.        राम: रा (To grant or give) म: Happiness; रम indicates rejoicing of truth that is beyond body and beyond physical desires this is indicated by marriage of Videhi with Lord Ram. Now mother Seeta chooses Lord Ram in this story (divine grace chooses a Sadhaka not other way around).  Swami Vivekananda says that knowledge is always there hidden by Samskaras or Vasanas. The spiritual evolution then implies removal of these vasanas. When the jeevatma (जीवात्म) makes spiritual advancement , it is challenged by these existing  propensities that are not extinguished. This challenge is assisted by Rajasic nature of the being. In the story, Lord Ram is sent on an exile for a long time. Thus individual is tested and to pass this test strong intellect is needed. As stated before, each individual is a combination of three gunas according to Samkhya Yoga: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamasic. The Sattva nature helps in the effort where as the other two propel one in other directions.

5.      रावण:  रणे रवीति  सः   (Ravana: The one who roars in battle characterizing rajas रजस्  ).  The root verb रु means cry. So does word  राव.  Rajasic nature is characterized by hunger and thirst. Uttarakandam  (Chapter 4, Slokam 9) says:

  प्रजापतिः पुरा सृष्ट्वा अपः सलिलसंभवः ।

       तासां गोपायने सत्वानसृजत्पद्मसंभवः   ॥

·         Creator who sprang from water first created water. To protect this water he created beings.

·         Those created beings then said

          किं कुर्म इति भाषन्तः क्षुत्पिपासाभयार्दि

“What do we do? we are tired by hunger and thirst”

Creator then says

               “यत्नेन रक्षध्वमिति मानवाः”

             Men, protect this (water) by your effort.

·         Some beings have said रक्षाम इति (shall protect this), some have said यक्षाम इति (shall worship this). Those who have said रक्षाम have become राक्षसा: and the rest have become यक्षा: “

Heti and Praheti are first among Rakshsas. Praheti is righteous being and goes for penances. Heti marries Bhaya (fear, who is sister of Kala, time) and populates Rakshsas. Hunger, Thirst, Fear thus characterizes these beings who are created to protect. Kekasi, Sumali’s daughter and mother of Ravana, comes from this lineage. She marries Visrava (who is Prajapati Pulastya’s son) and this union gives raise to Ravana. The union also gives raise to Vibhishana and Kumbhakarna. Vibhishina characterizes Sattva nature and Kumbhakarna characterizes Tamasic  nature in us.  Rajasic nature (Ravana) puts up a very strong fight seemingly impossible for जीवात्म to overcome.  Thus Vibhishina joins with Lord Ram while other two brothers and step-brothers such as Khara do not. Sattva nature is helpful to spiritual path.  The 16^th, 17^th and 18^th chapters of Bhagvad-Geeta contian several indications on how a person with preponderance of Sattva (or Rajasic or a tamasic) nature behaves.

Maya is Diti’s son and Mandodari is his daughter. Meghanath is thus born to Mandodari and Ravana; the son roars like a thunder and is a great warrior helping his father Ravana. Thus rajasic nature is combined with propensities of Daityas. In Uttrakandam there is recognition that Meghanath is as powerful as Ravana (Sages ask Lord Ram in amazement about killing of Meghanath saying how is this possible?). It is difficult to control rajasic nature. From the 3^rd chapter of Bhagvad-Geeta, we have Sri Krishna saying this thirst is like unquenchable fire (37, 38 slokams):

काम एव क्रोध एव रजोगुण  समुद्भवः (part of 37 slokam)

कामरुपेण कौन्तेय दुष्पुरेण अनलेन च (part of 38 slokam)

6.        Vanara Army: This army represents mind and intellect within us. Intellect is represented as a minister (Hanuman) to king of Monkeys, Sugriva. The army of monkeys represents the mind. Lord Hanuman served Sugriva. That is, most of the time intellect is under control of mind. Lord Hanuman could have defeated Vali and wrested the kingdom of Kishkinda from Vali.  But he did not know his own valor due to forgetfulness. Intellect is supposed to be the owner (from Shanti Parva)

a.      Now a slokam from Shanti Parva of Mahabharata chapter 254:  This  body is like a city and intellect is its owner. The mind helps by being its minister (thinks for intellect)

शरीरं पुरम् इति आहुः स्वामिनी बुद्धिरिष्यते ।
तत्वबुद्धेः शरीरस्थं  मनो नामअथचिन्तकम् ॥ 

b.      In the above 254^th chapter, senses are compared to citizens of the city and the senses work under direction of the mind.

                                इन्र्दियाणि मनः पौराः तदर्थं तु पराकृतिः


The chapter further adds due to the two gunas (Rajas and Tamas), intellect (and senses) come under domination of the mind. Intellect becomes feeble. Under influence of mind, senses lose their firmness.

तत्र बुद्धिः हि दुर्धर्षा मनः सामन्यम् अश्नुते
पौराश्चापि मनः त्रास्ताः तेषामपि चला स्थितिः

c.       Indra is internalized as controller of all senses (Indriyas).  Indra is lord of Indriyas.  Vali, the elder brother, was original king of monkeys; he was said to be a son of Indra and thus Vali could control his senses. It is said that no one can defeat Vali in direct battle. Now Ravana also controlled senses (he defeated Indra we are told in Ramayana). In Uttrakandam, we have a story that Vali defeated Ravana in a previous battle. Thus in theory Vali could have helped Lord Ram, but he is not on right path. There is no grace.

d.      The conditioned consciousness (जीवात्म) falsely identifies with mind. When Sugriva meets with Lord Ram, both of them face common predicaments: both lost their kingdoms and are in exile;  both lost their wives. When Lord Ram meets with Sugriva, this is what Sugriva says in Kishkinda Kanda, while Lord Hanuman (intellect) stays silent :

त्वं वयस्योऽसि हृद्यो मे ह्येकं दुःखं सुखं च नौ 

“Our happiness and misery are common. You are in my heart.”

   

Bhagavad-Geeta and Freedom (Samatvam) (गीता अनुसारेण समत्वं)

Ram Kosuru

Thomas Huxley, the English biologist, is reported to have said: “ Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not.” Instead, education has come to mean acquisition of skills to become a doctor, an engineer or a business person by going to a school and/or a university for a long time. But where do we acquire techniques of life on how to act? How to conduct ourselves during the everyday trials and tribulations? The Bhagavad-Geeta has much to say on this topic.

           Some people may have a misconception that the message and the teachings of the Bhagavad-Geeta are for the people who are retired from work or for those who are not actively pursuing a living interacting with the society with its prejudices and biases. On the one hand, the Bhagvad-Gita is the most complete and the most comprehensive statement on the spiritual evolution of beings. But, the Geeta also has a lot to say to ordinary human beings who are in the society struggling with everyday problems to the best of their abilities. 

           Mahatma Gandhi said that he could find answer to any major problem confronting him in the Bhagavad-Geeta. Sri Adi Sankara in his Bhajagovindam song says that even if a slight study of the Geeta results in no fear of death. Since death is the biggest change all of us face, surely the great acharya is implying that the Bhagvad-Gita helps us face changes in our daily lives with no fear!

    In the Samkhya Yoga, all beings are a combination of Prakriti- that is ever changing- and the Purusha - the seat of consciousness. The Gita talks about gunas (सत्व रजस् तमो गुणाः) (meta-attributes) of Prakriti:

1        Sattva  – Equilibrium

2        Rajas – Energy

3        Tamas – Inertia

          According to Sri Krishna, all actions are performed by the gunas of Prakriti. The food that we consume, the charities we perform, the work we undertake, the disciplines we undergo are driven by these meta-attributes. Every person has a combination of these attributes. If one has a preponderance of the sattvic nature, then one performs work focusing on the purpose of work without thinking about rewards. If one has the rajasic domination, then one performs work for the rewards it brings and/or for the sake of show. Thus the Gita says that motivation as well as attitude a person brings to the work is very important.

         When the warrior prince Arjuna asks why the man commits sin (Papa), Sri Krishna points to desire and anger that arise from the rajasic nature in us. These two forces arise due to attachment to sense objects. One’s anger makes one to lose discrimination. In fact, he says, as a fire that is covered by smoke, as a mirror that is covered by dust, as an embryo is that is covered in a mother’s womb, knowledge is hidden by unquenchable selfish desire that could be sattvic, rajasic, or tamasic in nature.

      To describe a person who has transcended the above attributes (Gunateeta गुणातीत), Krishna stresses equanimity (समत्वम् ): one who treats pleasure and pain, praise and blame similarly; one treats a piece of clay, a rock or gold in the same way; one treats kindness and hatred in the same way. This does not mean that person is passive or indifferent, however. Nor does it mean that all actions are to be avoided.

     The Isa Upanishad says give up and enjoy (त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा). Mahatma Gandhi emptied all his selfish desires and fought for a bigger purpose -for a people’s freedom- by employing these principles.  This is nothing but pure love the highest human aspiration. The Gita gives us the theory as well as provides several ways to achieve this. Sri Krishna says that selfless action performed in the spirit of service does not stain personality.

      Dr. Viktor Frankl- a psychiatrist and a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps- talked of his fellow inmates in the camps that exhibited remarkable selflessness by exercising an inner freedom that transcended the very grim external environment that denied food and other basic human dignities. The guards of these camps, however, could not take away the inner freedom of these inmates.  The Geeta asks us to exercise our freedom and this is possible when equanimity is pursued.

  "Some thinkers," Aristotle wrote "hold that it is by nature that people are good, others think it is by habit, and others think it is by instruction." For Aristotle it is the habits that reigned supreme. 

William James, the 19th century philosopher,  echoes Geeta when he says that  "All life  is a mass of habits - practical, emotional, and intellectual- systematically organized for our weal or woe and bearing irresistibly towards one's destiny.  But Geeta says that habits are not our destiny. The key insight being you have the freedom to change your habits by choosing how you respond and remake them.

     Sri Krishna compares the human being to a city of gates; the gates need to be controlled. Like a tortoise that withdraws its limbs in the presence of a danger, a human being should control his response to external stimuli both pleasant and unpleasant. The Lotus flower blooms in muddy waters but the petals do not touch water. Similarly, actions are to be performed with the sakshi bhava साक्षि भाव  (awareness of witness within). When these actions are performed with a sense of duty with the sakshi bhava, sages say, even when a person acts, he does not act. Otherwise even when a person appears inactive, he acts.

      A question may be asked: do we need to perform actions like a robot? A robot does not show any passion. Far from it, Sri Krishna says any such action is a yajna: work as worship. It is not easy to practice this. But Sri Krishna promises that through self-control and restraint, this is attainable; He says, “That which is like the poison in the beginning would turn to nectar at the end; that which is like nectar at the beginning would be the poison at the end.” 

     The Geeta says that it is possible to be a better human being by exercising the freedom to choose your response! This freedom can’t be taken from you without your consent.