Thursday, August 04, 2011

Our country is really blessed.. Where else can we see a Bharatha... leave alone Rama?

वयसः पतमानस्य स्रोतसो वाऽनिवर्तिनः।
आत्मा सुखे नियोक्तव्यः सुखभाजः प्रजाः स्मृताः॥ १०५-३१
श्रीमद्वाल्मीकिरामायणे अयोध्याकाण्डे
vayasaḥ patamānasya srotaso vā'nivartinaḥ|
ātmā sukhe niyoktavyaḥ sukhabhājaḥ prajāḥ smṛtāḥ|| 105-31
śrīmadvālmīkirāmāyaṇe ayodhyākāṇḍe


The King of Kings Ramachandra was bound by the promise of his father Dasaratha and proceeded to the forest for a life of penury for fourteen years.  Lakshmana and Sitadevi accompanied Him.  The cause of this estranged life was the ambition nurtured by Rama's stepmother and Bharatha's mother Kaikeyi that Bharatha should become the heir apparent.  Bharatha was away at his uncle's place when this happened.  The unfortunate incident broke the heart of king Dasaratha and culminated in his sad demise. Bharatha was summoned back and on learning about the twin calmity of loss of his father and the virtual banishment of his beloved elder brother Rama, the young prince broke down and after performing the last rites of his father  proceeded to Panchavati, where Rama was staying in exile.  He was followed by the whole population of Ayodhya.  Bhartha's entreaty with Rama was that He should come back to Ayodhya and assume the reins of the country.  But the virtuous Rama could not agree to this proposal. Alive or dead the order their father and the king was to be obeyed in full.. it was the dharma of the sons and the subject.  While persuading his beloved younger brother to return to Ayodhya and rule the kingdom, this piece of advice is given by Rama to Bharatha
" The advancing age and the water flowing in a stream can never be reversed.  So one should engage himself in actions which are for  eternal blessedness, because human beings are sent to earth with the specific mission of earning such blessedness."
If  the same statement is paraphrased and the ided of Khalil Gibran is borrowed, it may sound like
 "eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow you may die"..
This idea has its value in its proper place.  But the sukha meant by Rama is not exactly the reckless worldly pleasure which can only lead to avarice and decadence.  We are on a visit to this earth to do good for others and to  be happy about it and earn enough virtue in the process to attain eternal happiness in communion with the supreme self.


Now Bharatha had no choice.  His father's directions were reinforced by the orders of his own elder brother Rama. But Bharatha could not think of a life of pleasure when three persons dearest to him were languishing in the forest. So he took over the sandals of Rama, and anointed the padukas(the sandals) as the King, and leading similar life as a person living in forest, staying in Nandigrama, Bharatha performed  the duties of the king in the name of Rama for fourteen years.
Our country is really blessed.. Where else can we see a Bharatha... leave alone Rama?
--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life  is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु।
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu|

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