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.