"sitOpadEsam": War and Disarmament

[Guest guest]

Dear friends in Kuwait,

 

Here is a profoundly moving passage from the 'Aranya-kAnda' of

Srimadh Valmiki Ramayana which clearly sets out the 'dharma' of War

and Disarmament. It contains a sterling lesson for the whole world --

especially today, even at this very moment -- when we are all

teetering on the verge of a War that shall soon envelop us.

 

You will be surprised to know that in this passage it is not the

paragons of "dharma" such as Rama, Vasishta or Bharata who propound

the ethics of War. The "dharma" of War and of Disarmament is, wonder

of wonders, pronounced by none other than a lady -- none other than

our demure but irrepressible Sita-pirAtti. It would also surprise you

to note that in this passage Sita delivers a splendid oration on

'dharma' to none other than Rama Himself! This passage in the

'Aranya-kAnda" contains such a lofty message of 'dharma' it could

easily rank, in my humble opinion, alongside the "Gita". Verily, we

may say, this passage from the 'Aranya-kAnda' is "sitOpadEsam".

 

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As Rama, Sita and Lakshmana travelled across the dense forests of

DandakAranya, they rested for a few days in the hermitage of the

rshi-s Sarabhanga and Sutikshana. Taking the opportunity of Rama's

brief stay in their "ashram", the rshi recounted to the couple the

untold grief and oppression they were suffering continually at the

hands of the 'rakshasa' gangs that terrorized the forest-lands and

hermitages of the rshi-s. The rshi-s narrated their pathetic

condition and fervently appealed to Lord Rama to rid the forests of

all evil (what today we would probably describe as "the Axis of

Evil") and wipe out the whole race of terrorists called "rAskhasas".

Lord Rama and Lakshmana assured the hapless "rshi-s" that

Dandakaranya would be rid of these agents of evil. "Leave it to me.

We are resolved to exterminate these rAkshasA-s", said Rama.

 

Rama, Sita and Lakshmana then prepared to take leave of the hermitage

and the rshi-s. On this occasion, just as they were about to depart,

it was Sita-pirAtti who hastened to fetch the great bow and arrows of

Lord Rama. Rama was a little surprised by this act of Sita as it was

not her wont to fetch his deadly arsenals for him. As he took the

menacing weapons from Sita's hands, Rama glanced at her face and

quickly noticed the rather intense and meaningful look she gave him.

In the mute but eloquent ways through which good spouses sometimes

choose to communicate with each other, Rama knew that Sita was

silently meaning to convey something very important to him… but was

unwilling to do so in the presence of their hosts, the venerable

'rshi-s'. The couple bid farewell to Sage Sutikshana and continued on

their journey through Dandakaranya.

 

After walking some distance without a word along the way, Sita

eventually broke the silence and began to speak a trifle vehemently

to her husband:

 

"snEhAccha bahumAnAccha smArayE tvAm na sikshayE

na kathanchana sA kAryA gruhItadhanushA tvayA (III.9.24)

 

"streechA-palAdEta-dudAhrutam mE dharma cha vaktum tava ka: samartha

vichArya buddhayA tu sahAnujEna yadrOchatE tatkuru mA chirENa

 

(III.9.33)

 

"My Lord, I am not teaching you anything, I only remind you of what

you already know. Unfortunately in life some circumstances occur and

drive fruitful thoughts away from the mind. They go away to the

corner of your mind and it is necessary to bring them to the

forefront. I am doing that service. That is all I remind you, and I

am not teaching you.

 

"I submit this thought of mine to you. You may accept it or you may

reject it. Consult with your brother and then between the two of you,

decide the matter as seems to you both best. Being a woman and having

my mind constantly fixed on the duties of human tenderness and love,

I thought I should press this matter upon your attention".

 

(translation by Rt.Hon'ble Srinivasa Sastry "Lectures on the

Ramayana"-- circa 1944)

 

So prefacing her thoughts, Sita then launched into a magnificent

peroration which in the original Valmiki Ramayana appears as verses

9, 2-6, 9-10, 14-15 of the "Aranya kAndam", the translation of which

is dealt with most eloquently by the "silver-tongued orator"

Sri.Srinivasa Sastry.

 

Sita tells Rama:

 

"My Lord, there are three transgressions to which a man is liable

even when he makes a slight departure from 'dharma'. Lying or

uttering a falsehood is an important transgression. The other two are

even worse. One is violating the wife of another man. The other is

adopting force or resorting to violence towards a person without

proper provocation i.e. without a genuine cause.

 

"Falsehood you, My Lord, would never utter, I know that for certain.

You have never done so in the past and you won't do so in future. And

no impropriety with another man's wife, certainly. (High-class

testimony from a wife indeed!). These two evils will never approach

you. But the third one, my Lord, the making of war or molesting

another person without provocation, is an evil which seems to have

approached you now. These rshi-s have told you that they are

suffering from the depredations of 'rakshAsa-s' (terrorists belonging

to an "axis of evil": Khara, Ravana and Indrajith) and have sought

your protection, and you have extended forthwith your protection to

them. But I ask you, What business is it of yours? It looks to me, my

Lord, that now both you and your brother, have taken license freely

into your hands and with these great weapons of yours, both of you

will now go into the forest and begin launching your offensive

against every 'rAkshasa' in sight! This is wrong, it is not

'dharma'."

 

*****************************

 

At this point in the Ramayana, Sita makes bold to even narrate a

parable -- a morality tale -- to drive home her point to Rama! It is

recounted in Stanzas 19-22 of the "Aranya-kAnda".

 

"Once upon a time there lived a rshi who undertook severe 'tapa" --

penance -- and soon, as you know, the gods like Indra became

extremely jealous of him. Indra, in the disguise of a hunter, one day

came up to the rshi and handed him a magnificent but lethal sword and

said, "Sir, please keep this sword in your custody for a while until

I come back. I won't be long.". After Indra left, and the sword fell

into his possession, life began to change dramatically for the rshi.

 

(Like Mary and her little lamb), wherever the rshi went he took the

great sword along with him. Even when he went into the forest to

pluck fruits and herbs for his ascetic's meal, the rshi carried the

sword with him to make sure that it was safe in his custody. The sage

could never take his eyes off the magnificent, shining sword.

Gradually, the rshi began to even admire the weapon -- feeling its

cold, sharp edge, its brilliant steel and lethal looks. Feeling the

savage metal with tenderly with his fingers, the rshi thought to

himself "What dire execution this will do if it were in a brave man's

hands".

 

Thus, slowly but surely, the man who had always had 'tapas' on his

mind began to find his mind wandering often into a weird fascination

over the sword. After a while, fascination turned into preoccupation…

and at last preoccupation turned into perverse obsession. "Tapa" and

"dharma" took a back seat and gradually, the rshi's pure mind began

to transmogrify into something sinister and cruel. His mind instead

of being filled with tender and pure thoughts became filled with

images and fantasies of gore, violence, savagery, blood and

ruthlessness. Wherever the rshi now turned to in the forests he saw

nothing but evil, violence and blood --- all being images associated

with the sword that the cunning Indra had left behind with the rshi,

with the sole and malicious intent of destroying the sage's 'tapas'….

 

Having lost all power of his 'tapas' … the rshi thus soon fell into

perdition! In the first place, the sage had never wanted the weapon

at all, poor fellow! The thing was left with him for safe-keeping,

but by constant association with the weapon, by its mere proximity,

the man fell from the eminence of innocence to the depth of cruelty

and paved the way to his own damnation.

 

*************************

 

After recounting the above story, Sita continued exhorting Rama:

 

"My lord, let not your assurance of protection to these rshis of

Dandakaranya, let not your taking up arms on their behalf against the

rAkshAsas, let not your constant preoccupation with the war that you

must wage on their behalf turn you into the rshi whom Indra turned

into a demon! Beware that when a 'kshatriya', trained to fight, finds

his weapons within reach all the time and ever ready to strike, or

when 'agni' constantly finds fuel nearby, then there is always danger

near at hand, for both the 'agni' and the 'kshatriya' are easily

provoked to an exhibition of their strength.

 

"This, my Lord, seems to me to be wrong. You are transgressing

'dharma'. Lest you forget, permit me to remind you that you have come

here into these forests primarily to lead the life similar to that of

a 'yati' or 'muni'. Remember, you are not a 'kshatriya' who is back

at home in Ayodhya ruling over a kingdom. You and Lakshmana did not

bring yourself here into the forests to turn yourself into a two-man

army for the rshis nor to serve them like hired, contract-killers ---

nor act as if your were self-appointed roving vigilantes of

DandakAranya!"

 

******************************

 

At this point in his lecture which was being delivered way back in

1944, the Rt'Hon'ble Srinivasa Sastry added a very insightful

commentary on Sita's story and its illuminating message on the

'dharma' of War and the disarmament of evil. I reproduce it below in

full since it is so admirably topical and so very apt for the

circumstances under which we here in Kuwait find ourselves in. Sita's

story also delivers an apt lesson for the whole world -- a lesson

that made eminent sense at end of the Second World War in 1944 just

as exactly as it makes sense today on the eve of the First War of the

21st century to begin in a few days:

 

"Now it seems to me", said Sri Srinivasa Sastry, "that we must

recognize there is truth in it (in what Sita told Lord Rama in the

"Aranya-kAnda")… The sight of anything harsh hardens Man's feelings.

Familiarity with cruel deeds, or even the entertainment of cruel

thoughts changes our nature. That is why, ladies and gentlemen, I am

disposed to disbelieve utterly, wholly and unreservedly, the

protestations that are now being made on behalf of nations that are

about to be victorious in this terrific war (Sastry was talking of

the WW-II, but his words would perfectly fit the Iraq-War today).

They think that the defeated nations should be disarmed and prevented

from being mischievous for generations to come. They call them the

aggressive nations (they call them "axis of evil" now). The

aggressive nations must be deprived of their armaments, but those

nations which are victorious and describe themselves as peace-loving

nations ought to have at their disposal enough forces at any time to

crush the insurgent-nations (today referred to as "rogue-nations").

Now look at that! The whole thing is utterly unscientific, to divide

nations of the world into war-like and peace loving. Most nations

that have come up and built up some kind of prosperity for themselves

have been war-like and warlike with a vengeance. How long ago was

Britain peace loving, or Russia? (Today we should ask the same

question of America). All these countries have enormous forces at

their disposal and cannot remain in peace. The very possession of

these forces will drive them into war. There is no mistaking this at

all. The division into warlike and peace loving nations is wrong.

Self-righteous nations describe themselves in that way in order that

they may justify their intention to remain armed and to keep other

nations disarmed! The proper thing is for no nation to be armed, and

to give the necessary weapons into the hands of an international

power. A discussion of that problem will take me far (from the

purpose of these lectures). But I want to tell you this, that this

story of Sita is a pointer. Although we may safely build this

proposition, that any nation that is armed to the teeth may be peace

loving for some time, for 5 or 10 years, or it may be so perhaps for

even one whole generation, you cannot guarantee that the next

generation or their children's children will also remain peace

loving. Such a state of things is foreign to human nature, foreign

certainly to well-armed human nature."

 

******************************

 

The Ramayana tells us that possession of evil weapons is inherently

wrong no matter in whose hands they are in -- whether a rshi or a

rAkshasa. And as Sita deftly points it out to Rama, it is not

'dharma' for even God Almighty to use His mighty weapons (of

mass-destruction) without provocation and just cause!

 

The time perhaps has arrived when the world should be looking to

disarm those very nations that seek to keep their own weapons intact

on the pretext they are needed to disarm other "rogue-nations" in the

name of, and for the sake of peace! As the Rt Hon'ble Srinivasa

Sastry rightly said, "Although we may safely build this proposition,

that any nation that is armed to the teeth, may be peace loving for

some time, for 5 or 10 years, or it may be for one generation, you

cannot guarantee that the next generation or their children's

children will also remain peace loving. Such a state of things is

foreign to human nature, foreign certainly to well-armed human

nature."

 

Rama was easily 'disarmed' in the Valmiki Ramayana by Sita's soft but

wise words of counsel. But who will disarm the United States of

America -- the 'rshi' with the sword who has gone out of control?

 

Regards,

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

 

 

 

 

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