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 II 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 II Aa Nanda baludee Ananda baludai tanavarini gurthimpa tarali vacche Aa Ramachandrude Ee Ramachandrudai tana bantulanu kanugonagavacche; Aa eesudee BalaSayeeshudai nedu tana gumputho aadukonagavacche: Aaa Mahavishnuve Ee Mahyee Vishnuvai Tana Aayudhamulu chee konagavacche Alla paramaatma yanu bommalatagadu Tanu jeevula rangasthalaana niliche Aadu Aaanati Eenati aaata juuchi Suntha varnichi kontha santhasamu ganudu. (Telugu poem) (Satyam Sivam Sundaram Part I -1976 p.2/3) Meaning: That Child of Nanda (Krishna) as ananda Bala ( (Blissful Child) To identify His people (gopas) has come That Ramachdra as This Ramachandra To identify His devotees has come That Isha as child Sai Eesa here To play with his companions has come That Great Vishnu as this Lord of Universe To arm Himself has come Paramatma, that puppet-show man Keeping the beings on the stage play His role Observing the past and present Praise His play a little and derive delight from it. Sri Rama is Sai Rama TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME II LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 9 6. STORY OF RAMA 11 6.1 THE STORY OF RAMA – AN INTRODUCTION 15 6.2 INITIAL YEARS 29 6.2.1 HIS BIRTH, NAME AND THE EFFICACY OF RAMASMARANA 31 6.2.2 RAMA, HIS BROTHERS AND THEIR CHILDHOOD 79 6.2.3 RAMA AS STUDENT – GURU AND PUPILS 103 6.3 DIVINE MASTERPLAN – DRAMATIC ACTS 125 6.3.1 PROTECTION OF THE YAJNA OF VISWAMITRA–THE MISSION COMMENCES 127 6.3.2 SWAYAMVARA – WINNING SITA - PRAKRITHI MARRIES PARAMATMA 149 6.3.3 TWO BOONS - ABDUCTION OF SITA AND SEARCH FOR SITA 187 6.3.4 HEROISM AND HEROIC WARRIOR – WAR BEGINS 269 6.4 RAMA’S REIGN - THE REIGN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS – RAMA RAJYAM 288 6.5 THE RAMA PRINCIPLE (RAMA THATHWA) - RAMA AVATARA - EXPERIENCING THE DIVINE 333 6.6 CHARACTERISTICS OF RAMA - STANDARDS SET FOR EVERYONE 364 6.7 PATHITHAPAAVANA - TEACHINGS AND ADVICE 400 6.8 COMPARISONS 435 INDEX 465 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE 1: LORD VIGNESWARA 73 FIGURE 2: VISWAMITRA IN AYODHYA; RAMA CONVINCES DASARATHA TO SEND THEM WITH VISWAMITRA 133 FIGURE 3: THATAKI VADH-RAMA KILLING DEMON THATAKI 145 FIGURE 4: SRI RAMA BREAKING THE BOW 161 FIGURE 5: SITA DESIRES THE GOLDEN DEER 241 FIGURE 6: RAMA VANQUISHING THE OCEAN 257 FIGURE 7: SRI RAMA'S CORONATION 299 6. STORY OF RAMA The Ramayana demonstrates to us how one should live in the world, in the society, and in the family. Rama provides the example of an ideal brother, ideal son, ideal husband and ideal ruler. The ideal of Rama is most relevant to the world, at a time when it is fraught with chaos and confusion. We live today in a world where misunderstanding is driving a wedge between husband and wife, father and son, teacher and student, rulers and citizens. The remedy for all this lies in following the ideal set by Rama. -Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba RAMA 6.1 THE STORY OF RAMA – AN INTRODUCTION THE STORY OF RAMA – AN INTRODUCTION aapadaam apahartaaram daataaram sarvasampadaam. lokaabhiRamam shriiRamam bhuuyo bhuuyo namaamyaham. .. "I bow again and again to Sri Rama who removes (all) obstacles and grants all wealth and pleases all. Any amount of narration of the greatness and nobility of the characters in the Ramayana will not suffice and do justice to the cause. The story of Ramayana cannot be fully described since it is “His Story”. The stories of Lord Vishnu are amazing, They purify the lives of the people in all the three worlds, They are like the sickles that cut the creepers of worldly bondage, They are like good friends who help you in times of need, 17 Ramayana: A Divine Drama – Vol. II They are like shelters for the sages and seers doing penance in the forest. (SSS Vol.38 p. 86) The story of Rama is as sacred as it is surprising. Although Vedas, Sastras, Ithihasas and Puranas have tried to describe the qualities of Narayana, they have only succeeded in saying that this is not God, that is not God, and so on; but they have never been able to pinpoint and state what God is and describe His attributes and qualities by positive statements. However great the person concerned may be, it is not possible for him to say that God is like this or like that. God is beyond all description in terms of words we know and use. Many poets and many speakers could talk about God, God’s leelas, God’s powers and God’s manifestations in their writings; but it was not possible for most of them to experience the true greatness of God. Till now, no one could find either an individual or a text, which has described truly the great form of God. To some extent, limited by their own beliefs, based upon their own faith, they can say God is like this. They can only point a finger as we point at the moon, which we can see only from a distance. Such a description is of limited validity, within the context of their own faith and their own belief. The ancient poets and the ancient rishis were all-knowing and so they were only talking about Paramatma in a very modest way and were describing parts of this glory. These great men had great powers, had great strength and were selfless people, and had divine qualities in them. Because of these qualities and 18 The Story of Rama – an introduction because they were all-knowing they tried to picture God in the world, to some limited extent. (SSB 1977 p.13) The name “Rama” is the essence of the Vedas; the Story of Rama is an Ocean of Milk, pure and potent. It can be asserted that no poem of equal grandeur and beauty has emerged from other languages or from other countries until this very day; but it has provided inspiration to the poetic imagination of every language and country. It is the greatest treasure inherited by his good fortune by every Indian. Rama is the guardian deity of the Hindus. The Name is borne by the bodies in which they dwell and the buildings in which those bodies dwell. It can safely be said that there is no Indian who has not imbibed the nectar of Ramakatha, the story of Rama. The Ramayana, the epic that deals with the story of the Rama Incarnation, is a sacred text that is reverently recited by people with all varieties of equipment, the scholar as well as the ignoramus, the millionaire as well as the pauper. The Name that the Ramayana glorifies cleanses all evil. It transforms the sinner; it reveals the Form that the Name represents, the Form that is as charming as the Name Itself. As the sea is the source of all the waters on earth, all beings are born from “Rama.” A sea sans water is unreal. A being sans “Rama” is without existence, now or ever. The azure Ocean and the Almighty Lord have much in common. 19 Ramayana: A Divine Drama – Vol. II The Ocean is the abode of the Almighty, as myth and legend proclaim; they describe Him as reclining on the Ocean of Milk. This is the reason behind the title given by Valmiki (son of Prachetas) the great poet who composed the epic, to each canto, Kanda. Kanda means water, an expanse of water. It also means “the sugarcane.” However crooked a cane may be whichever section you chew, the sweetness is unaffected and uniform. The stream of Rama’s Story meanders through many a curve and twist. Nevertheless, the sweetness of Karuna (tenderness, pity, compassion) persists without diminution throughout the narrative. The stream turns and flows through sadness, wonder, ridicule, awe, terror, love, despair and dialectics, but the main undercurrent is the love of Dharma (righteousness, morality) and the Karuna (compassion) it fosters. The nectar in the story of Rama is as the “Sarayu river” that moves silently by the city of Ayodhya, where Rama was born and where he ruled. The Sarayu has its source in the Himalayan Manasa-Sarovar, as this Story is born in the Manasa-Sarovar (the Lake of the Mind)! The Rama stream bears the sweetness of Karuna; the stream of Lakshmana (his brother and devoted companion) has the sweetness of Devotion, (Bhakthi); as the Sarayu river joins the Ganga (Ganges) and the waters commingle, so too, the streams of tender compassion and devotion (the stories of Rama and Lakshmana) commingle in the Ramayana. Karuna and Prema (love) make up, between them, the composite picture of the glory of Rama. That picture fulfils the heart’s dearest yearning for every Indian. To attain it is the aim of every spiritual striving. 20 The Story of Rama – an introduction The effort of the individual is but half the pursuit. The other half consists in the Grace of God. Man fulfils himself by self-effort as well as Divine Blessings. The fulfilment takes him across the dark ocean of dualities, onto the Immanent and Transcendent One. The Ramayana has to be read, not as a record of a human career, but as the narrative of the Advent and Activities of an Avatar (Incarnation of God).