Concordance with Self is Dharma: Rama-Gita, Part II

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Namaste all

 

RAMA-GITA (Part-2)

 

Your Self versus yourself

 

So the next day when they assembled for a second discussion on the main

point which Bharata brought up, it was Bharata who had to bring in new

points of view. But when Bharata seemed to be insistent on his proposal to

Rama that somehow Rama should decide to return to Ayodhya, finally Rama

decided to give him a sermon on the philosophical implications of Bharata's

proposal. It is at these times of crisis, says Rama, that Dharma goes

through its greatest test. What is the Dharma at this point, even from the

point of view of Bharata? It does not depend on a debate about whether the

father did right or wrong in banishing Rama to the forest. The ultimate

question for Bharata is: Am I being concordant with the Dharma of the Self

in insisting that Rama should disregard the father's promise? What is

ultimate? Is it the temporary benefit to the ruler and the ruled of Ayodhya

or is it the more fundamental values of each man's evolution towards the

ultimate Supreme? Does the individual self have a freedom to argue from a

point of view other than that of the Infinite Self embodied in it? Why are

you grieving, says Rama to Bharata, over inessential things - while your

greatest obligation in life, namely to be in concordance with the Supreme

Self, is the summum bonum of all Dharmas? Do you think everything depends on

you? What right do you have to assume that but for such and such

circumstances the kingdom will fall to pieces? There is a power more

supreme than all of us, who takes care of each movement in the finite

universe and nothing can make any one of us indispensable. So take it in the

stride, says Rama.

 

Lessons from the leaves of life

 

The actual sermonising passage of Rama's advice to Bharata goes like this.

The individual person thinks he is the doer; but there is a more powerful

force than he, who pulls him hither and thither. Our possessions, wealth,

etc. are all bound to perish. Every rise has a fall. Every union has a

separation in the end. Life ends in Death. Fruits when they ripen have to

fall down. So also a human being, the moment he is born, has no other fear

except death. Day and night alternate in sequence; but never does the lost

night or the lost day come again. Man does not realise, when he counts days

after days in the calendar, that his life is being eaten away every day. The

only thing that man has to worry about in this transient world is the Self.

Any other worry is itself a passing phase. Death is constantly keeping us

companion as if to devour us any moment. Wrinkles show up on one's face,

hair greys, and the spine bends; but man does not take these as indications

of his steady march to death. Every sunrise or sunset is being admired by

man with joy. But he cannot be sure of watching the next sunrise. Just as

logs of wood gather together in a roaring flood of waters so also human

beings get into companionship, not knowing where they have come from nor

where they are heading towards. This is the same with kith and kin, uncles

and nephews, brothers and sisters, wives and husbands. The only right

message that we get from the rest of the world is from those who have seen

the way before us. We have to go their way. So in considering whether

Dasaratha, the father, was fair to his sons or not, it is not the question

of the individual son that matters but it is the question whether he was

upholding the traditional Dharma or not -the Dharma that had been upheld by

every one of the Ikshvaku dynasty. What did his ancestors do? They went by

the Dharma of which the most prominent was the maintenance of Truth at all

times and under all circumstances. From that standpoint, Dasaratha did very

well indeed. So Bharata had no right to argue from any other standpoint -

either that of Rama's or Bhrata's or that of the land of Ayodhya and its

people.

 

Dharma here and now

 

Rama's sermon to Bharata, in addition to his contribution by giving an inner

meaning to the Hindu ethics, has a fundamental message to the entire

humanity. Of course, it is nothing new. It has been very often emphasized in

all the Hindu scriptures, particularly in the purANas. But it has never been

so forcefully brought outas in this message. The circumstances have never

been more dramatic than in this case. Instead of simply declaring that

Bharata cannot be obliged, since Rama had already decided to obey his

father's command, whatever the consequences may be, Rama chose to make the

issue of 'death on the wings' as the motivation to spiritualise our entire

approach to life, at all times. It is the Ultimate Goal that sets the tone.

The Ultimate Goal being the release from the cycle of births and deaths,

anything that brings us back to this ephemeral world of action and reaction

is not the suprememost Dharma.

 

One is reminded of Bhartrhari's verse. Time is running, life may end any

time, therefore do your Dharma immediately. Each day and night is taking

away our lives but we are not aware even of the passage of Time because of

our deep involvement in the weight of our businesses; we do not get a jolt

of fear even after watching, almost daily, the inescapable sequence of

birth, old age, diversity, misfortune, disaster, failure and final death; we

are just overdrunk with the delusion of attachment which is our own making.

It is therefore necessary to work for spiritual elevation well before the

body gets weak and unhealthy, well before old age overtakes us, well before

the limbs lose their power, well before one's life is exhausted. To wait

and postpone spiritual activity is like starting to dig a well for water

when the house is already burning! Rama's words to Bharata shall live 'as

long as there are mountains and rivers on earth' - to quote from the

concluding verses of the Valmiki Ramayana. In fact, even more, as the Son of

God declares (Mathew 24:35) : 'Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but My

words shall not pass away'.

 

PraNAms to all advaitins

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