good governance - raama's style - post 1

[Guest guest]

Dear sri vaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

 

We, Indians, many a times hear the proclamation by present day politicians that

they are going to re-invigorate 'kamaraj rule', 'nehru rule' etc. If that is

election time you hear such proclamations from almost all and sundry day in and

day out.

 

At times, we also hear tall claims of bringing back "raama raajyam"- perhaps the

person who claims so not really knowing what it is.

 

The father of the nation, Mahathma gandhi, also dreamt of giving "raama raajyam"

to India, once she is free from the tyranny of British rule. Whether it is

fulfilled or not, is NOT the subject for discussion now.

 

Then what exactly is the definition of "raama raajyam"? Or how did raama

administer his raajyam - the kingdom, is the topic for discussion and the

objective of this write up. Perhaps due to length restriction on posts in the

ists, and to keep the reader's interest alive, this topic has to be dealt in

installments.

 

Before we really go into raama raajyam, let us see the meaning of the word

'raaja' from the lexicon

 

raaja (noun) - a king, a sovereign, chief or the best of its kind, a prince.

 

raajan (noun in locative case) - government, guidance.

 

raaraajathi or raraajathi (verb) [from which the word raaja - noun has come] -

means -

to reign, be the king or chief, rule over, direct, govern, be illustrious,

resplendent, shine, glitter, illuminate, radiant etc.

 

This word 'govern' in english is a bit 'high sounding' and just on the face of

it, it is not lending a helping hand to come to grips in understanding it

directly.

 

As such when we look into the dictionary again, it says

"govern" - rule wih authority, conduct the policy either despotically or

constitutionally, sway, rule, influence, regulate, determine etc.

 

So a king or raajaa has to reign, be able to sway his people or subjects, rule

them, and influence them through his authority or by the constitution of his

land.

 

As the modern day management experts say - raajaa is a person, who 'leads by

example' and 'leads from the front'.

 

By going through the raamaayaNam, we find mention of 'raama saasanam' in two

places-

uththara kaaNdam - sargam 99 - slokam 11 to 14 [4slokams]

yudhDha kaaNdam - sargam 128 - slokams 96 to 106 [11 slokams].

 

If we read these 15 slOkams we are in for a surprise,

for - they do not describe

* how raamaa conducted his administration,

* detail his organisation structure,

* roles of each person,

* authority weilded by each etc

but they furnish the result of raamaa's governance like

* the subjects were very happy

* rains were timely,

* every body did their duty as per their right [kula dharmam or varNa aasrama

dharmam]

 

These 15 slokams also state raamaa ruled for 11000 years [dhasa varsha

sahasraaNi dhasa varsha sathaani]

 

The uththara kaaNdam slOkams are -

Evam sa kaala: sumahaan raajyasthhasya mahaathmana: |

DharmE prayathamaanasya vyatheeyaadh raaghavasya cha ||

Sreemadh vaalmeeki raamaayaNam uththara kaaNdam sargam 99 slOkam 11

 

rrkshavaanara rakshaamsi sthhithaa raamasya saasanE |

anuranjanthi raajaanO hi ahani ahani raaghavam ||

Sreemadh vaalmeeki raamaayaNam uththara kaaNdam sargam 99 slOkam 12

 

kaalE varshathi parjanya: suBhiksham vimalaa dhisa: |

hrushta pushta janaakeerNam puram jana padhaasthathhaa ||

Sreemadh vaalmeeki raamaayaNam uththara kaaNdam sargam 99 slOkam 13

 

na akaalE mriyathE kaschin na vyaaDhi: praaNinaam thathhaa |

na anarthhO vidhyathE kaschidh raama raajyam prasaasathi ||

Sreemadh vaalmeeki raamaayaNam uththara kaaNdam sargam 99 slOkam 14

 

Then what exactly is raama raajyam and where to get details of his style of

administration.

 

For this perhaps we may not be able to get a direct answer, but in the following

5 places.

1. The description of his father's kingdom, -dhasarathhaa's - contains the

organisation structure etc. [baala kaaNdam sargam 7].

 

2. A brief advice given to raama by father dhasaratha, just when raamaa is about

to be coronated also gives the insight of the nuances of dhasarathaa's style of

administration. [Ayodhyaa kaaNdam sargam 3].

 

3. A large share of the raama raajyam style of administration can be had in the

'kaschith sargam' [ayOdhya kaaNdam 100th sargam] where raamaa asks his junior

bharatha, 'are you doing this, are you doing this'. These questions indicate how

a kingdom is to be administered.

 

4. Surprisingly soorpanaka the demoness who got her nose and ears chopped by

lakshmaNa also asks/ advises her brother raavaNa, "hey, what a king you are, if

you do not do these, these are not adopted by you etc". Those slokaas also give

an insight into the style of administration prevalent then. [aaraNya kaaNdam 33

sargam].

 

5. LakshmaNa, when he rushes to sugreeva in anger, about the latter's lax

attitude in starting the search for his brother's wife, sees sugreeva, then the

discussion taking place there between lakshmana, hanumaan, and thaara, also

throws some light how a king should not behave [kishkindha kaaNdam 33rd sargam]

..

 

All these 5 places provide details of good governance. That also throws up how

sound management priciples are available in srimadh raamaayaNam if we look into.

These are most apt and readily adoptable by us even today after lapse of so many

years. So we need not ape west for "modern management doctrines" and practice

them with lot of difficulty for we are of a different cultural breed.

Let us continue in next post to see some of these details.

Dhasan

 

Vasudevan m.g.