can goats thrive under a king who is a fox?

can goats thrive under a king who is a fox?

We know that Rama had to undertake a life in the forest for fourteen years, to honour the words of his father..

Even for the exalted being that Rama was, life in the forest was quite challenging..

During his stay in the forest, Rama was lucky to get in touch with Jataayu, an elderly and noble eagle, who was a close friend of Dasaratha.

For an affectionate person like Jatayu, Rama, his friend's son was just like his own son..

So Jatayu was always available at a short distance from where Rama Lakshmana and Sita lived.

Ravana the demon king of Lanka,

intent of wreaking vengeance for the defeat and destruction of Khara, Dhooshana and Thrishiraa, the henchmen of Ravana in the Deccan area

and also the immolation of Shoorpanakha at the hands of Lakshmana,

played a deception on Rama and Lakshmana

and drew them away from the hut occupied by leaving Sita unptected and unguarded for a short while ,

Taking advantage of their absence, managed to abduct Sita away to Lanka..

While Ravana was trying to carry away Sita forcibly, in his Pushpaka the airborne chariot,

the elderly eagle soared high in the sky and accosted Ravana in a bid to protect Sita.

There was a lot of heated verbal exchange, and the following slokam is intorduced by Valmiki and a comment made by Jatayu to Ravana.

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goats and their king fox

स्वामिना प्रतिकूलेन प्रजास्तीक्ष्णेन रावण।

रक्ष्यमाणा न वर्धन्ते मेष गोमायुनi यथi॥

वाल्मीकिरामायणम् आरण्यकण्डम् ४१-----१४

svāminā pratikūlena prajāstīkṣṇena rāvaṇa|

rakṣyamāṇā na vardhante meṣa gomāyuna yatha||

vālmīkirāmāyaṇam āraṇyakaṇḍam 41-----14

സ്വാമിനാ പ്രതികുലെന പ്രജാസ്തീക്ഷ്‌ണെന രാവണ

രക്ഷ്യമാണാ ന വര്ധ്ന്തേ മേഷ ഗോമായുനാ യഥാ

this is an advise from the wizened bird gransire Jatayu to the arrogant Ravana, who is in the process of abducting Devi Sita

But it can easily form the part of the preamble to any civilized constitution

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with a ruler who cares nothing for the welfare of his subject but remains very stern and cruel to them, the population of the country dwindles as if the subjects are goats and sheep and the ruler is a fox.

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the contemporary significance of this sloka needs no elaboration.

If our rulers just glance through such great texts,like Ramayana,

even if it from a secular viewpoint,

the earth would definitely become a better abode for all of us..

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Jatayu could not hold on to his resistance against the cruel and mighty Ravana,

and all he could do was to report the sad news to Rama and Lakshmana when they returned

The story goes on that Rama and Lakshmana, after heroic pursuits befitting their status and glory, defeated Ravana and regained Sita.