Lord Rama shows the way

Lord Rama shows the way

February 2024

Lord Rama  Shows The Way 

Jarna Kantaria finds Lord Rama in her heart after reading the Ramayana and following the valuable  lesson of accepting the inevitable, taught by Him through example 

I had never admired Lord Rama the way  

I admired and prayed to Shri Krishna. I  would feel He never did justice to the love  of Maa Sita. Just going by what a mere dhobi  had to say about Maa Sita, Rama sent her to  the forest near Sage Valmiki’s ashram. Despite  knowing deep within that she was pure and  so was her love for him, Maa Sita was treated  unfairly. My heart went out to Maa Sita and  could never feel what it is to be a Rama. 

Of late, I started reading the original  Ramayana, bringing in the realisation that  there was purity in the thoughts of Lord Rama.  There is so much there for us to learn through  every incident that happened with Him and the  way He responded to it. 

Lord Rama’s exile 

Lord Rama was moments away from being  coronated as the king of Ayodhya. Preparations  for the coronation were almost done, and all the  citizens were filled with joy to have Rama as  their king. 

However, Queen Kaikeyi’s maid Manthara,  with her cunning words, convinced her that  the throne belonged to her son Bharata and not  Rama, persuading her to send Rama in exile for  14 years so that Bharata could rule the kingdom  without any hindrance. King Dasharatha,  

on listening to the demands of Kaikeyi, was  shattered, and lost his calm demeanour,  thinking in horror of a life without his beloved  Rama. 

Rama was then called to the palace of Kaikeyi  in haste. Rama mentioned to Maa Sita that  possibly His beloved mother wanted to bless  him before he got coronated and proceeded to  meet her with calm, poise, and enthusiasm. 

As he reached the palace, seeing his father  Dasharatha filled with rage and tears, Rama  asked him the reason for his sadness. Kaikeyi  broke the silence and reminded Rama of the  two boons that she was bestowed with and that  she wanted to receive them at that moment:  one, by having Bharata coronated as the king,  and second, by sending Rama in exile for 14  years. 

Lord Rama simply responded by saying, “So  be it. If my father has made a promise to you,  then it must be fulfilled. Praan jaye par vachan  na jaye [A promise should be kept at all costs].” 

Lord Rama’s response 

The series of events and the response of Lord  Rama moved me to tears of love and veneration  as I contemplated what He must have gone  through to accept an exile on the biggest day  of his life, not have any ill-will towards Kaikeyi  (despite her being the reason for his exile),  and maintain the same calm composure as He  walked to the palace of Maa Kausalya, passing  

through the crowd comprising the exuberant  citizens of Ayodhya.  

The one who was supposed to be blessed  with all the abundance, within minutes, was  bestowed with a life in the forest. And yet, He  just accepted it all. In that moment, He did not  lose his centeredness and accepted his fate. No  emotional drama, no lamenting, no anger—just  purity of thoughts and actions. 

He had faith that Ayodhya as well as his loving  mother would be taken care of by Bharata. He  calmly made Maa Kausalya realise that it was her  duty to be with her husband, to take care of him,  and not go with Him to the forest. He blessed all  the Brahmins with cows, gold, and all that He  owned before leaving for Dandakaranya Forest. 

Realisation 

What a powerful example Lord Rama has set  for us through his life—to accept what is. He  realised that nothing could be done about the  situation and accepted it, knowing it would be  unreasonable to cause unnecessary noise and  suffering for Himself.  

Oftentimes, when life throws challenges at us,  we go through unnecessary emotional drama  until, finally, we realise the futility of it all and  start accepting the inevitability of the situation.  

The day I came to this realisation, I decided to  stay centred and hold on to the Rama within me.

Jarna Kantaria, is a software engineer, a book sniffer, a writer and a seek er who loves deciphering myth, mythology and anything in between.