Article sent from The Hindu on indiaserver.com

[Guest guest]

=============================================================

This article is emailed to you by Ram Chandran ( rchandran )

=============================================================

Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

Epics lay stress on control of senses

 

CHENNAI, MARCH 17. Possession of enormous wealth, acquisition of

knowledge, enjoying status and winning fame will all be a waste

if a person is devoid of character and integrity. Discipline is

of great merit as it is a well regulated life that ultimately

succeeds and where it fails, good or noble parentage will not

save a man. Learning can be considered worthless if one cannot

exercise self-control in conduct and behaviour. What is equally

important is that a man's thoughts, words and deeds should all be

alike. The warning about the consequences of falling victims to

temptations by not controlling our senses has been clearly

described in epics like the Ramayana, a classic that will

continue to serve till humanity survives, through Ravana.

Invincible though, as he was, his moral turpitude caused him

ruin. Rama, on the other hand, remained firm in His resolve to be

ever loyal to His wife, gave Ravana a last chance to go back to

his palace and come back hoping that even at the last hour, he

would give up his passion for another's spouse. Rama, the ideal

human being, remained committed to virtue, never to transgress

moral law under any circumstance. But more than Rama, the Divine

Mother, Sita, displayed greater magnanimity.

 

Parasara Bhattar explains how if the qualities of Rama and Sita

are kept on the two pans of a balance to find who among them is

more concerned about men, the latter would go down. This is

revealed when Anjaneya sought Her permission to deal with the

demons who had tortured Her when She was kept in captivity. The

embodiment of patience, forbearance and mercy replied: ``How can

I be vindictive and set you upon these women. They are but

helpless hirelings of Ravana, doing his bidding. They have no

more teeth now since Ravana is dead. An enlightened person never

hates a wrong-doer. Even an unkindly thought debases the mind.

Love and compassion are not wasted even on miscreants.''

 

In his lecture on the Ramayana quoting Valmiki and Kambar, Prof.

D. Gnanasundaram said the personality of Anjaneya and his role in

the epic have been a favourite topic with scholars and devotees.

He was a personification of strength, wisdom and self-control,

loyalty and devotion, dogged perseverance, endurance and

stupendous achievements. How faith in God made him face trials

and come out unscathed from ordeals and obstacles, carry out

incredible tasks, save all the chief characters of the divine

drama from virtual extinction and deliver messages of hope and

redemption to devotees caught in the trammels of worldly

existence are presented to posterity.

 

Copyrights: 2001 The Hindu & indiaserver.com, Inc.

 

Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly

prohibited without the consent of The Hindu & indiaserver.com, Inc.