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Source: thThe Hindu

(http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/07/10/stories/2002071000280800.htm)

 

Miscellaneous

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Religion

  

 

Dispassion must be cultivated

 

 

 

 

CHENNAI

JULY 10

 

.. Even the most evolved spiritual aspirant is tested time and again in worldly

life by the torments he undergoes as a result of his Karma of previous lives.

Every human experience in this sense must be taken as a lesson in spirituality.

A worldly person is swayed by the joys and sorrows he faces while one who is

spiritually inclined learns to accept them with equanimity of mind. Detachment

and discrimination must be consciously cultivated. It is a slow process and the

mind gets tempered with the vicissitudes of life. It is possible that even the

most balanced person can lose his discrimination when beset by sorrows. The

Ramayana gives insight into this aspect of human nature by the portrayal of Rama

lamenting over separation from Sita.

 

It is well known that Rama was the Lord incarnate as the epic opens with the

purpose of His manifestation as Dasaratha's son. Then why did He express His

grief in such a pitiable manner like an average person? The Ramacharitamanasa of

Tulasidasa conveys the significance of the Lord undergoing the same plight as

human beings in this incarnation in the form of a dialogue between Lord Siva and

Parvati. It says, "There are three evils most unfortunate of all lust,

anger and greed. In an instant they distract even the mind of hermits who are

the very repositories of wisdom... Sri Rama (says Lord Siva) is beyond the three

Gunas (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas). Though He is the Lord of the animate and

inanimate creation and the inner controller of all, He demonstrated the

miserable plight of the worldly to strengthen dispassion in the mind of the

wise."

 

In her discourse, Srimathi Jaya Srinivasan said there was a reversal of roles

between Rama and Lakshmana in this context. When Rama started lamenting reminded

of Sita in the vicinity of Lake Pampa beholding the season at its best and

nature revelling in it, Lakshmana gave Him wise counsel, "Have fortitude Rama.

Have recourse to blessed forbearance, which is Your normal state. Let the abject

mentality of despondency be given up. Men of endeavour do not get disheartened

when faced with duties. Casting aside grief, abandon such behaviour." Rama not

only heeded His younger brother's advice then but also acknowledged his filial

love, devotion and the moral support he had given during His exile. In the

battlefield when Lakshmana was wounded Rama declared that He got over

Dasaratha's demise because of his constant ministration and guidance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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