Morals in Ramayana

MORALS IN RAMAYANA

From Sri Velukkudi Krishnan Swami’s Upanyasam in New Jersey, 2008 

Introduction:
Rama avataram is anushtana pradhana avataram. In Ramayana, Bhagawan Sri Rama has shown as the proper way to lead our lives. The entire epic of Ramayana contains six books known as kandas. Each of the kandas teaches us one particular moral. We must follow these morals to lead a proper life according to the wishes of Bhagawan.

Bala Kanda: 

The moral of Bala Kanda is obedience. Bhagawan incarnated as Sri Rama in Treta Yuga because obedience was waning in society. Youngsters stopped listening to the elders. It is important to obey elders when they try to lead us on the path of dharma. The only time we can choose to disobey our elders is if their advice is against the dharmashastras and would make us commit adharma.

It is important to listen to our parents and acharya. There is no temple more important than our mother and the words our father are the best manthras in life.

In Bala Kanda, when sage Vishwamitra requested for Rama’s help and asked King Dasaratha to send Sri Rama with him, king Dasaratha refuses. He suggests that he would come in stead of sri rama in order to help sage Vishwamitra. King Dasaratha politely refused to send Sri Rama with sage Vishwamitra. Sage Vashishta then advices king Dasaratha to send Sri Rama with sage Vishwamitra. The moment the king heard the words of his acharyan sage Vashishta, he agreed to send Sri Rama along with Lakshmana without further arguments. Similarly Sri Rama agreed to accompany the sage without arguing with his father.

In Tatakavana, sage Vishwamitra asks Rama to kill the demoness Tataka. Sri Rama asked the sage if it was okay to kill a woman. Immediately He regretted asking this question for He had been asked to obey the sage by His father. Sage Vishwamitra wanted Sri Rama to kill Tataka to save humanity. For the sake of protecting the people it was dharmam to kill Tataka. After duly apologizing to sage Vishwamitra, Sri Rama killed Tataka.

Ayodhya Kanda: 

In Ayodhya Kanda, Bhagawan teaches us to accept pain and pleasure with equal outlook. In life pain and pleasure, profit and loss come in cycles. Noone is continuously happy forever. If we are happy today we know that tomorrow something might happen to make us feel sad. Sri Rama was happy when King Dasaratha told Him that He was to be crowned as the next king. The day of the coronation ceremony, early in the morning, His stepmother Kaikeyi told Sri Rama to go live in the forest. She told Him that Bharata would be crowned as the next king. Sri Rama did not feel sad or angry when He heard Kaikeyi’s words. In fact He was happier. He accepted both profit and loss equally. He was happy when He was told that He would inherit the kingdom but He was happier when He was told that He wouldn’t inherit the kingdom. 

Bhagawan preached the same concept in Bhagawat geetha when He instructed everyone to have equal outlook towards profit-loss and pain-pleasure.

Aranya Kanda: 

In Aranya Kanda Bhagawan shows us the value of Sat Sangam. He shows that it is important to stay close to Bhagawathas and learn about Bhagawat Vishayams. Sri Rama wandered through Dandakaranya seeking the company of the sages. He has showed us that we must listen to the same Bhagawatha repeatedly as well as listen to other Bhagawathas.

We can find true joy only through Sat Sangam.

Kishkinda Kandam: 

Bhagawan has showed us that we must not discriminate amongst Bhagawathas. Sri Rama accepted Sugreeva as His friend. He did not discriminate against Sugreeva because he was a vanara. Throughout Ramayana Bhagawan has displayed His quality of Sauseelyam by treating His Bhagawathas equally. He accepted the hunter Guha as his friend , accepted the vanara king Sugreeva and finally He accepted Vibhishana the brother of the sinner Ravana. He treated His friends the same way He treated His brothers. To Him, Bharata, Shatrugana, Lakshmana, Guha, Sugreeva and Vibhishana were all equal.

We must follow Sri Rama’s example and treat all Bhagawatas equally with respect irrespective of their financial status, societal status, caste, family back ground etc.

Sundara Kanda: 

The central figure in Sundara Kanda is Hanuman. He is an acharya. He is mighty, strong and intelligent but above all he is humble. He never credits himself to have found Sita. When he was unable to find Sita in Sri Lanka he felt that he had committed a sin by thinking that he would be able to locate her. He prays to Sita to reveal herself to him. He realised that we cannot find Perumaal or Piratti; it is their grace towards us which makes us reach them. Perumaal and Piratti have to reveal themselves to us for us to be able to reach them. Our efforts don’t reach us to their divine feet but it is their grace which makes it possible.

Humility and realising that we depend on the divine grace of Perumaal and Piratti are important qualities of a Bhagawata.

Yudha Kanda: 

This kanda is about forgiving our enemies. Bhagawan instructs Vibhishana to perform the last rites for Ravana. When Vibhishana refuses, Bhagawan teaches him that we can only hate someone when they are alive. We must forgive a person and let go of our hate when that person dies. The esoteric meaning of this incident is that Ravana thought that he was independent when he was alive. He didn’t realise that he depended on Bhagawan. Sri Rama was willing to protect even Ravana but Ravana did not want Bhagawan’s protection. After death, Ravana’s atma is freed from his body and no longer stops Bhagawan from protecting him.

The moral to take from this kandam is that we must love all and wish good things even to our enemies. Everyone is dear to Bhagawan and is under His protection.