Guest guest Posted April 4, 2002 Report Share Posted April 4, 2002 ============================================================= This article is emailed to you by Ram Chandran ( rchandran ) ============================================================= Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/04/05/stories/2002040500520800.htm) Miscellaneous - Religion Rama, blemishless incarnation of God CHENNAI APRIL 5. The entire gamut of religious literature, from the utterances in the Vedas down to modern commentaries, portrays God only as the repository of all auspicious qualities. Sixteen among His outstanding traits are vividly described in one of the epics. Sages and saints have adored His chief attribute of mercy. Therefore to say that He has committed mistakes while He stayed in the world to re-establish moral order when it temporarily decayed will be far from true. However some still argue that one of His acts of punishing a culprit from behind a cover is not correct. Though the episode, forming part of the Divine drama occurred centuries ago, still there is controversy over His decision, some holding the view that He was justified in doing so while others decry it. In one of his works, Vedanta Desika refers to the feeling among some that the Lord, as Rama, committed three mistakes of killing a woman though a demoness fit to be destroyed, of taking His steps back (contrary to ethics of warfare while taking on two wicked elements backed by a huge army) and thirdly when He struck Vaali hiding Himself behind a tree. Desika adds these impressions are borne out of ignorance. In his Ramayana discourse, Sri R. Madhavachariar mentioned how the Lord as a banished prince, showed His grief at the abduction of His spouse and how His brother comforted Him not to get demoralised. At the same time that He was God-incarnate could be guessed from His presence at the time of the giant bird, Jatayu, going to Heaven and Sabari, the aged maid in her preceptor's hermitage, being granted salvation. Again when Sugriva, with whom He forged friendship, desired that He should demonstrate His extraordinary prowess, Lord Rama threw the skeleton of a demon miles away with just a gentle kick of His foot and the arrow released by Him pierced the trunks of seven huge trees in succession. However in the Vaali episode, there are differences of opinion. Bhavabhoothi, the famed poet, Murari, his teacher, in his "Anarghraghavam", and several others have commented about the Lord's action. Since what Vaali raised were relevant questions, Rama gave fitting answers. When He concluded His arguments convincing him that what He had done was according to the code of conduct, Vaali realised that Rama was blemishless. Copyright: 1995 - 2002 The Hindu Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the consent of The Hindu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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