Fortunately, this year, we have ‘International Women’s day’ (8th March) and ‘Sri Rama Navami’ (26-27th March) falling in the same english month, that enables us to praise the greatness of the ideal man and woman, Rama and Sita of this great country, mother Bharat. Puranas say ‘Ramo Vigrahavaan Dharma’—Rama is Dharma incarnate! Whereas Agni says, “Sita is purer than fire”! What else is needed for us, the bharatians to praise and follow these noble souls, Rama and Sita ?
Srirama moved with everyone with love, respect and kindness. At the same time, whenever his individual interests were to be sacrificed in the interest of the larger collective, like family, nation and world, he willingly chose a difficult life for himself. That is why Srirama continues to be embedded in the hearts of all people of this nation, keeping aside the caste, community and religion we belong to. In the same way about Sita, Swami Vivekananda said, “Mark my words: Sita has gone into the very vitals of our race. She is there in the blood of every Hindu man and woman; we are all children of Sita”. It is well known to this world about every Indian mother’s sacrifice! Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that Rama and Sita are the ideals before us. Then, what is that we have to learn from both of them?
Feeling of Oneness
Though Rama has taken birth as a human being, he did not exhibit himself anywhere as avatar. He saw everything as his brothers, sisters and friends. The Nishada king Guha, the monkey Sugreeva, the Rakshasa Vibeeshana and so many others were seen as his brothers itself. In fact, he has done final rites for the bird Jatayu (who fought with Ravana to rescue Sita) by treating Jatayu as his father’s brother. When Sita was kidnapped by Ravana, there are lot of verses in Ramayana that tells about the sorrow of Rama, and how he talks to the nature and feels the loss of Sita. He wanted to show to the world that the entire existence is interconnected, interrelated and interdependent and all is One.
As Rama is dharma incarnate, this feeling of oneness stands first in following Rama. This feeling will be achieved, when we behave with others as we would like others to behave with us; i.e when we do not like others to cheat us, hurt us, humiliate us, ignore us, then, we too should not lie, hurt, humiliate or ignore others; When we want others to speak to us kindly, respectfully, truthfully, then, we should also be kind, respectful, truthful, considerate and helpful to others. Because, what we do to others is actually, what we do to ourselves and in real sense it comes back to us at some point of time.
As we are talking about Oneness, there is no gender difference. In fact, the ‘Ultimate’ is called as ‘Parasakti’. Saptashati says that all women are embodiment of Jagatjanani, the mother of the world. As Sita is also seen as mother itself in India, we can see in most of the places that we call women as ‘Sitamma’, ‘Sitabai’ etc.. Swami Vivekananda says : “Now, the ideal woman in India is the mother, the mother first, and the mother last. The word woman calls up to the mind of the Hindu, motherhood; and God is called Mother”.
In Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna says that the Divine is manifested in all women through the seven qualities which are called Saptashakti : i.e, Keerthi, Sri (Wealth), Vaak (Communicate), Smriti (Memory), Medhaa (Intelligence), Dhriti (Tenacity) and Kshaama (Forgiveness). As a mother to all of us, these Saptashaktis and the primary virtues of Sita like courage, penance, self-control, focused devotion etc. are not only admirable, but are also worthy of imitation by all of humanity in this world.
Performing our duty as per Dharma
As we all know, all the legitimate aspirations of man are classified in to four Purusharthas, Dharma, Artha, Kaama and Moksha. Here, Artha and Kaama are natural in all living beings. Artha is not only making money. It stands for all those material well-beings and body security needs, and all those means of enjoyment for fulfilment of our desires. Kaama stands for all types of legitimate desires such as one should get a good job, have name and fame, should be a respected teacher, should score good marks, should be a good parent, etc.
Animals become quiet after satisfying their basic hunger and other needs but man wants to accumulate wealth for the next coming generations. So, our Rishis revealed that Artha and Kaama are natural aspirations and requirements of life but the basis of it has to be Dharma, the righteous living (though it is untranslatable). If we follow Dharma while striving for Artha and Kaama, we would become worthy of striving for Moksha (Becoming one with Ultimate) in due course. Thus, Dharma becomes the primary Purushaartha.
Rama as Dharma incarnate, thus performed his duty as a son, by obeying his father and taking up Vanavasa for 14 years. He performed his duty as a husband by fighting with Ravana, killing him and saving Sita. At the same time, he performed his duty after coronation as a king, by sending the same pregnant wife away to the forest from palace. Because, as a king he wanted his people to be guided and inspired to move on the right path. He wanted to stop the gossips and maintain the morality of the society.
In general, without understanding what is Dharma, there is a political drama and wrong interpretation against Rama by saying that, “Just because that Shurpanaka expressed her love to Rama, how can he cut her nose, even without considering her as a woman?”. The fact was that, when Rama rejected Shurpanaka’s proposal to marry her, she got wild, became aggressive and threatened him by saying that she will attack Sita and kill her. At that time only, Rama instructed Lakshmana to punish her by cutting Shurpanaka’s nose and ears as it was his Dharmic duty to protect his wife. Again, after killing Ravana, Sita did Agni pravesh on her own to prove the world her purity. In fact, Rama did not ask her to prove anything as he knew that she is purer than purity.
In the same way, adharmic persons like Ravana is praised some times by saying that, “See, Ravana had great consideration for women that he did not force himself on Sita”. The fact is : Ravana had a curse already that if he forces himself on any woman without concurrence, his head will be broken in to pieces. So, let us understand what Krishna said to Arjuna also here: “To treat one with dhaarmik rules, who does not follow Dharma, is Adharma.”
Coming to Sita on performing her duties, first of all, she took up Vanavasa along with Rama. In fact, she says to everybody that she is Rama’s Sahadharmini and she has got equal share in performing Rama’s duties as per Dharma. Again, after coronation of Rama, when she was sent to forest with her children in womb, she did not see any injustice in the decision of Sri Rama. Sita said to Lakshmana, “Let Rama do the duty of a king. I will do my duty as a mother.” She asked Lakshmana to inform Rama, not to get angry with the people of Ayodhya and to take care of them and love them as his own brothers. Thus she has done her duty as a mother to the people of her Kingdom and her sons Lava & Kusha. After fulfilling her duties as wife, as queen and as mother, after proper upbringing of Lava and Kusha and handing them over to Sri Rama, she gave up everything to attain Moksha, the ultimate purushartha. She prayed to Mother Earth to take her back.
A person has to understand that he is part of the family, the society and the whole creation. Therefore, he has a duty towards the family, the society, nation and nature and has to contribute for its development whether he believes in the “All pervasive truth” or not. That is, he has to practice Dharma in performing his duties for the fulfillment of Artha and Kaama and if need be, he has to sacrifice his self-interest.
Sacrifice of the smaller identity in the interest of the Bigger collective
When performing our duty if there is a clash of interest say for example between the duty towards family and the duty towards nation, or clash of interest between personal well-being and the well-being of the family, then what should be done? When Rama was unjustly asked to go to forest, there was a clash of interest : Rama’s individual advancement was at cross purposes with the family values and oneness of the family. Sri Rama did not think of his personal interest and went to the forest to keep the family intact. Otherwise, the whole family would have been shattered. In order to keep the family together, in order to keep the mind of the family members together, with due respect to the entire family, Rama took the decision to go to the forest.
In the same way, family’s larger identity is society. Society’s larger form is the nation. When there is a clash between the interests of two identities or two forms, the interest of the bigger identity—Samashti—has to be chosen. In fact, it is Vishesh Dharma where, in a difficult situation a smaller entity is sacrificed for the higher entity, even if the smaller entity is put to difficulty and has to sacrifice its interests and comforts as Sri Rama had done.
So, whenever one is faced with difficulty that is, what is to be done and what is not to be done, then life of Rama and Sita will guide us : See whether there is feeling of oneness, Aatmiyata, concern for others, whether the ordained duty is being fulfilled, whether the decision is taken in the interest of the larger identity—that is, the extended form of oneself and not for a smaller identity—and whether some sacrifice—cheerfully giving up, cheerfully undergoing sufferings—is involved in it. Both Rama and Sita have touched our lives so deeply because they were historical personalities who sacrificed their personal and family life for the sake of the society. Sri Rama and Sita are worshipped inseparably because the divinity is fully manifested in them.
Swami Vivekananda said, “It is not possible for a bird to fly on only one wing”. So, if the nation has to progress, both – men and women - have to contribute to it. Let both men and women, make this nation, Viksit Bharat, by following these two ideal persons Rama and Sita.
Ref : “Indian Culture – Challenges and Potentialities” by Nivedita Raghunath Bhide
Jai Shree Ram
A.P.Sundar
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