Ramakatha Rasavahini - Part 1

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section you chew, the sweetness is unaffected and uniform. The stream of Rama's

Story meanders through many a curve and twist; nevertheless, the sweetness of

Karuna (tenderness, pity, compassion) persists without diminution throughout

the narrative. The stream turns and flows through sadness, wonder, ridicule,

awe, terror, love, despair and dialectics, but the main undercurrent is the

love of Dharma (Righteousness, Morality) and the Karuna (Compassion) it

fosters. The nectar in the story of Rama is as the 'Sarayu river' that moves

silently by the city of

Style'">Ayodhya, where Rama was born and where he ruled. The Sarayu has its

source in the Himalayan Manasa-Sarovar, as this Story is born in the

Manasa-Sarovar (the Lake of the Mind)! The Rama stream bears the sweetness of

Karuna; the stream of Lakshmana (his brother and devoted companion) has the

sweetness of Devotion, (Bhakthi); as the Sarayu river joins the Ganga (Ganges)

and the waters commingle, so

too, the streams of tender compassion and devotion (the stories of Rama and

Lakshmana) commingle in the Ramayana. Karuna and Prema make up, between them,

the composite picture of the glory of Rama; that picture fulfils the heart's

dearest yearning for every Indian; to attain it is the aim of every spiritual

striving. The effort of the individual is but half the pursuit; the

other half consists in the Grace of God. Man fulfils himself by self-effort as

well as Divine Blessings; the fulfilment takes him across the dark ocean of

dualities, on to the Immanent and Transcendent

One. (Chapter 1 To Be Continued..) SaiRam.