Relevance Of Ramayana In The Present World
कूजंतं राम रामेति मधुरं मधुराक्षरम्। आरुह्य कविताशाखां वंदे वाल्मीकिकोकिलम्॥ रामरक्षा ३४॥ kuuja.ntaM raama raameti madhuraM madhuraaksharam.h | aaruhya kavitaashaakhaaM va.nde vaalmiikikokilam.h || rAmarakshA 34.. “My salutations to sage Valmiki one who, like a nightingale, climbs up to the branch of poetry and sings melodiously Rama Rama’”. वेद वेद्ये परे पुंसि जाते दशरथात्मजे । वेदःप्रचेतसादासीद् साक्षाद् रामायणात्मना ॥ veda vedye pare puMsi jaate dasharathaatmaje | vedaHprachetasaadaasiid saakShaad raamaayaNaatmanaa || “When the omni potent omniscient and the Omnipresent Almighty who can be known only through Veda, took birth as a son of Dasharatha, the most precious Veda has been rendered as Ramayana by the sage Prachetasa.(Valmiki).” Thus Ramayana, the hero of the Ramayana and the author of it are praised with devotion. But what is Ramayan? Is it merely a story that narrates the miraculous births of princes of Kosala kingdom? Their pompous marriage with the princesses of Mithila kingdom? Or is it as simple as any ordinary story of Kings where the jealousy among the Queens leads to the expulsion and punishment of the princes like Rama? Or is it just a story of the battle between two kings? All these answers are true but of course partially. Had Ramayana been a simple story that could hold the attention of the reader for some time and later he can keep the book aside and can go unaffected as he does with other stories, then Ramayana would have disappeared along with the tides of time long ago. But it is not so. There must be something special about this epic, the specialty that made it an ADIKAVYA, the specialty that kept it in vogue not only in India but all over the world, the specialty which made people say, यावत् स्थास्यन्ति गिरयः सरिताश्च महीतले । तावत् रामायणकथा लोकेषु प्रचरिष्यति॥ yaavat sthaasyanti girayaH saritashchamahiitale | taavat raamaayaNakathaa lokeShu prachariShyati || “As long as the mountains and rivers in the earth remain, so long will the story of Ramayana spread in the world.” Let us see what that specialty is. It is said, vedaH prabhu sammitaH”. That means Veda acts like a king. Veda is a multi faceted system that could provide knowledge, art, philosophy etc. It could provide everything that a society needs. It had the power of an all time king. So the way that Veda would guide the people is like how a king orders his subject. What did Veda order always? DharmaH.( Righteousness). But Veda was not available for all sections of the society. To impart the knowledge of Veda to everyone, in a simple language, Sage Vyasa re-organized the older form of Purana (which was in fact only one single purANa counting up to four lakh of slokas) in to 18 mahApurANas. Thus a Purana acts not like a king but becomes a friend of its reader. “ purANam mitra sammitam). As how a friend guides a person towards good things of life the Purana also guides the readers well in to right path of the life. As years passed by the Vedic substance came in to even more a simpler form. And that’s how an epic was born. And it was ‘Ramayanam’, Adikavyam, the first epic. kavyam kAntA sammitam, that means an epic is like one’s own beloved. As how one’s own sweet heart can guide, inspire, benefit, be soothing and entertain, the same way Kavyam(an epic) entertains and also leads its readers towards the path of enlightenment. Not only that, a kAvyam is near to the understanding of a common man. It deals directly with life. A kAvyam can come very near to the reader’s heart. Reader can see his own self in one or the other characters of a poem. The emotions which are very common in every one’s life like shR^i.ngAra, ,(romance ), hAsya ( humour) karuNA (sympathy), viira ( FIGHTING SPIRIT) are so wonderfully described in a kAvya that it holds the attention of the reader well. The reading of a Kavyam gives him great satisfaction and also leaves him with a new perspective of life. It creates a new space in his mind which can later be filled with good thoughts because it inspires him in such a way that he will be thinking of the characters like Rama, Lakshmana, Sugriva, Hanuman and naturally is motivated to live a life like them. That is how the dictum “kaavyam kaantaa sammitam” becomes more relevant for a kAvyam. Once sage Valmiki met Narada. He asked Narada “ O Respectable one, I’m curious to know if such human being has been born on this earth , one who is virtuous,( guNavAn) strong (vEryavAn) righteous (dhrmagnaH) truthful (satyavAkyo) Committed to his own dut( Drudha vrataha) having good character (chAritreNa cha ko yukthaH), having sympathy for all living beings( sarvabhUteshu ko hitaH) scholar (vidvAn) efficient in his actions (samarthaH) handsome( priyadarshanaha) having self respect (AtmavAn) , defeated the force of anger(jithakrodhaH) dyuthimAn(enthusiastic) having no jelousy(anasUyakaH). Narada replied “yes, such a human being is there. मुने वक्ष्याम्यहंबुध्वातैर्युक्तः श्रूयताम् नरः। इक्ष्वाकु वंश प्रभवो रामो नाम जनैश्श्रुतः॥ mune vakShyAmyahaMbudhvAtairyuktaH shrUyatAm naraH | ikShvAku va.nsha prabhavo rAmo nAma janaishshrutaH || ‘O Sage Valmiki, such a human being indeed is there. He was born in to Ikshvaju dynasty, he is called by the people dearly “ rAmaH”. ramyatE iti rAmaH, one who brings pleasure is calledrAmaH). As a valid proof to the statement given by him, Narada narrated the story of Rama. Valmiki recorded it as a beautiful epic poem, decorating it with good similies and metaphors with good diction and idioms. Here what the reader should observe is, Valmiki asked about a HUMAN BEING who possessed (approximately, as per the original kavya) 24 divine qualities which are not easily achievable, even if achieved not easily applicable as a way of life. But the story of Rama stood as an example to prove that a human being can certainly raise himself to have all noble qualities in him and even it is not surprising if such person becomes A GOD. Aspirations –disappointments, hopes-disillusionments, luxuries-adversity, success-failure, happiness-misery are like the waves of a same ocean. But who stands un perturbed from one’s own duty and achieves his ends like Rama, becomes a ROLE MODEL for others. And he will be remembered forever by all like Rama. This is the message Valmiki wanted to give to the world . So instead of making his book like any other Veda he came very close to the hearts of Readers and wrote RAMAYANA in simple language so that everyone understands it and enjoys it. Thus RAMAYANA is truly suitably called ADIKAVYAM. SWASTI. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZor0E5LoZ65ZG0GAfqyB405eMd8%2BgTYshxKukWUU96KL8w%40mail.gmail.com.
