Digest Number 1176

[Guest guest]

> Rama is the Indweller in every Body. He is the Atma-Rama, the Rama (Source

> of Bliss) in every individual. His blessings upsurging from that inner

> Spring can confer Peace and Bliss. He is the very embodiment of Dharma of

> all the Codes of Morality that hold mankind together in Love and Unity.

> The Ramayana, the Rama story, teaches two lessons: the value of detachment

> and the need to become aware of the Divine in every being. Faith in God

> and detachment from objective pursuits are the keys for human liberation.

> Give up sense-objects; you gain Rama. Sita gave up the luxuries of Ayodhya

> and so, she could be with Rama, in the period of 'exile'. When she cast

> longing eyes on the golden deer and craved for it, she lost the Presence

> of Rama. Renunciation leads to joy; attachment brings about grief. Be in

> the world, but, not of it. The brothers, comrades, companions and

> collaborators of Rama are each of them examples of persons saturated with

> Dharma. Dasaratha is the representative of the merely physical, with the

> ten senses. The three Gunas - Sathwa, Rajas and Thamas - are the three

> Queens. The Four Goals of Life - the Purusharthas - are the four Sons.

> Lakshmana is the Intellect; Sugriva is Viveka or Discrimination. Vali is

> Despair. Hanuman is the embodiment of Courage. The Bridge is built over

> the Ocean of Delusion. The three Rakshasa chiefs are personifications of

> the Rajasic (Ravana), Thamasic (Kumbhakarna) [see also Srimad Bhagavatam,

> C7:1, verse 44] and the Sathwic qualities (Vibhishana). Sita is

> Brahmajnana or the Awareness of the Universal Absolute, which the

> Individual must acquire and regain undergoing travails in the crucible of

> Life. Make your heart pure and strong, contemplating the grandeur of the

> Ramayana. Be established in the faith that Rama is the Reality of your

> existence.'

>

 

This barrage of Mayavada could be analyzed in great detail but I'll just

make a few points.

 

Rama is much more than stated herein. He is the Supreme Personality of

Godhead.

 

"Give up sense-objects; you gain Rama." Incorrect. The Supreme Personality

of Godhead is attained by bhakti only, not by mere abnegation.

 

The allegorical presentations (e.g. of Sita as brahma-jnana) as presented

herein lend to the supposition that Ramayana is ultimately mythical and

symbolic only, and that Rama and others have no factual existence.

 

Without clear delineation of authentic sambandha-jnana, statements such as

"Rama is the Reality of your existence" are most likely to be misconstrued

in an impersonalistic manner by the average deluded conditioned soul.

 

Mayavada is most insidious when presented as quasi-bhakti, as herein.