Ramayana: a Divine Drama Actors in the Divine Play As Scripted by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
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Ramayana: A Divine Drama Actors in the Divine Play as scripted by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Volume III Compiled by Tumuluru Krishna Murty Edited by Desaraju Sri Sai Lakshmi © Tumuluru Krishna Murty ‘Anasuya’ C-66 Durgabai Deshmukh Colony Ahobil Mutt Road Hyderabad 500007 Ph: +91 (40) 2742 7083/ 8904 Typeset and formatted by: Desaraju Sri Sai Lakshmi Cover Designed by: Insty Print 2B, Ganesh Chandra Avenue Kolkata - 700013 Website: www.instyprint.in VOLUME III Na Karmana Na Prajaya Dhanena Thyagenaikena Amrutatthwamanasu (immortality is not attained through action, progeny or wealth. It is attained only by sacrifice). The bliss that you get out of sacrifice is eternal. That alone is the true wealth, and it can never diminish. In order to acquire such everlasting wealth, spend your time in the contemplation of God. Divinity pervades all that you see, hear and feel. Being in the constant company of such an all-pervasive Divinity, why should you worry and fear? Why fear when I am here? Never be afraid of anything; because God is in you, with you, above you, below you, around you. He follows you like shadow. Never forget Him. If you have faith, God will protect you wherever you are: in a forest or in the sky; in a city or a village; on a hill or in the middle of deep sea. All belong to Me and I belong to you all. Do not entertain any doubt or weakness. I am ready to give whatever you require. Be courageous. Why fear when I am here? Why should one fear when God has given such an assurance? If you follow Him, He will certainly bestow on you pure and unsullied bliss. - Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Why fear, When I Am Here TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME III LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 9 7. RAMA’S BROTHERS 11 7.1 LAKSHMANA 13 7.2 BHARATHA 99 7.3 SATRUGHNA 195 8. CONSORTS OF THE BROTHERS 221 8.1 SITA, THE EMBODIMENT OF PURITY 223 8.2 URMILA 301 8.3 MANDAVI 313 8.4 SRUTHAKEERTHI 319 9. SONS OF RAMA 325 9.1 LAVA AND KUSHA 327 INDEX 345 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE 1: BHARATHA TAKES THE SANDALS 99 FIGURE 2: RAMA MEETS BHARATHA 177 FIGURE 3: SITA 223 FIGURE 4: AGNI PAREEKSHA 277 7. RAMA’S BROTHERS We must train ourselves in such a way that we can do our own work and after that we must be ready to serve our parents. We should then plunge into the society and be prepared to serve the society. This service must come from within you in a free and voluntary manner. We should not prepare ourselves to do work for the sake of showing it to others. It is for the sake of prema and love that we should do work. We should be prepared to do work as a consequence of our realising the oneness of all mankind. If there is an individual who is suffering in a hospital without anyone to look after him and is without any friends, if any of you go to the hospital in those circumstances and talk to him sweetly, you will establish a close bond of affection between you both. This will make you a closer friend of his than even his own relatives. He will take your address and will want to write to you. This is the kind of heart to heart relationship which selfless service can establish. This comes spontaneously from the heart. Nobody can create this kind of attachment by other methods. - Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba 7.1 LAKSHMANA Man comes in to the world burdened with maya and its instrument, the mind. The mind expresses itself through attraction and repulsion, raga and dwesha (affection and hatred), towards the external world. Raga is rajasic (passionate) in its effect; it can be used for one’s uplift, as Narada used it to fix attention on the Lord. Dwesha is Tamasic (negativistic), as Durvasa expressed it in his dealings with Ambarisha and others. Without raga and dwesha, the mind cannot function at all. If these two are removed, there can be no mind and no maya, and you get fixed in jnana. Let raga and dwesha go and let Rama enter; then there will be no manas or maya (mind or illusion). - Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba LAKSHMANA Lakshmana was the brother and close companion of Rama and himself a hero in the famous epic Ramayana. In some Hindu traditions he is worshiped as an avatar of Shesha. The name may also be written as Lakshmana or Laxman. Lakshmana is the twin brother of Satrughna, born in Ayodhya to Sumitra, the second wife of Dasaratha, king of Kosala. Thus, Rama is the eldest, Bharatha is the second, Lakshmana is the third, and Satrughna is the youngest of the four brothers. Despite being the twin of Satrughna, Lakshmana is specially attached to Rama, and the duos are inseparable. When Rama marries Sita, Lakshmana married the younger sister of Sita named Urmila. - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia LAKSHMANA: Brother of Rama and son of Sumitra; represents intellect (Glossary of the Vahinis) 15 Ramayana: A Divine Drama – Vol. III BIRTH Dasaratha performed Puthrakameshti Yajna to get four sons. Lord Narayana Himself took birth as his son. Adisesha was born as Lakshmana. (SSS Vol.31 p.202) The third day after the birth of Rama, were born the twins- Chaitra, bright half eleventh day, Aslesha Star, Vriddhiyoga. (RKRV Part I p.42-43) Out of the part of the pudding given by Kausalya, Lakshmana was born to Sumitra. (SSB 1996 p.14) THE GURU AND THE PUPILS Name Vashishta gazed upon the twin children of Sumitra. the elder one, he felt, would be a hero, a stalwart fighter, and endowed with vast wealth. He knew that he would take delight in the service of God and His Consort, Lakshmi; that service would be for him like the very breath of life. So, he chose the name Lakshmana for him. (RKRV Part I p.46) Lakshmana would not be physically separate from Rama: Lakshmana is one who had good qualities by birth; and he so controlled his senses that he had acquired further good qualities. He was a person of good conduct and good thoughts and was 16 Lakshmana always ready to obey Rama’s orders. He was Sumitra’s1 son. From his very birth, during his childhood, he never knew separation from Rama. Lakshmana was such that during the first two days after his birth, he was not taking food and was crying for the sake of Rama. Sumitra, the mother and Dasaratha, the father, wanted to know what the reason for this incessant crying of Lakshmana was. Dasaratha and Sumitra were trying to give him various kinds of medical attention. They tried many tantras, mantras and yantras; but in spite of all that, Lakshmana’s crying did not diminish at all. When this news was conveyed to Vashishta2, the Guru, he thought for a moment and tried to understand the situation by his divine vision. He saw that the cause for this situation was the physical separation of Rama and Lakshmana, and he advised that they both be made to sleep in the same cradle. Thus, when Sumitra took Lakshmana to the mansion of Kausalya and put him in the same cradle where Rama was sleeping, Lakshmana 1 See Chapter, Sumitra - Curious thing – Sumitra not destined to mother her twins 2 Lakshmana as a child raised such a long and loud wailing, one night, that Sumitra feared that an evil spirit had possessed him. She hurried to Sage Vashishta and asked him to apply some vibhoothi (sacred ash) to the fore head of the child so that the spirit might leave. Vashishta knew why Lakshmana was weeping so pathetically. He said, "Take the child and put him next to Rama; he will stop wailing." Lakshmana could not bear even as a child a moment's separation from Rama. For each one, the place he needs most is the natural habitat. That is the reason why Lakshmana accompanied Rama, when Viswamitra led him into his hermitage. (SSS Vol.8 p.145) 17 Ramayana: A Divine Drama – Vol. III not only stopped crying, but also began to take food and began to enjoy the bliss of the company of Rama. To Lakshmana, separation from Rama was as distressing and troublesome as the joining with Rama was blissful. From that day, Lakshmana was following Rama as if he was Rama’s shadow. Lakshmana could not sleep for a moment when Rama was not present. Lakshmana would not eat if Rama was not present. Wherever he went, he was always following Rama, as if he was Rama’s shadow. Devotion to Rama was so intense in Lakshmana that he filled his heart with a feeling that everything that was present belonged in reality to Rama. (SSB 1977 p.40- 41) Pined the company and comradeship of Rama Lakshmana, Bharatha and Satrughna too learnt their lessons admirably well, but they pined for the company and comradeship of Rama so much that, as soon as Rama was out of sight, they lost interest in study and in their duties towards their teacher. As a result, they could not catch up with Rama. They were following him a session or two behind. Lakshmana dared tell his teacher once or twice that they had no need for any lessons or learning. They would be happy if they could but get the company of Rama! Rama was the very life of Lakshmana.