On
Chaitra Sukla Navami (the ninth day of the
bright half of Chaitra) 'Sree Ramanavami' is celebrated. In this
Sree Chitrabhanu Nama Samvatsara on 21st
April 2002 we celebrate this
auspicious day. Sree Rama was born on this day and years later
on the same day Rama married Sita. 'Sree Sitarama Kalyana Mahotsav'
(wedding) is performed in the abode Sitarama Temple,
Bhadrachalam, Khammam District, Andhra Pradesh with great tradition
and Bhakti. On behalf of Andhra Pradesh Government, Chief
Minister with his wife visits the Kalyana Mahotsav and offers
Silk Clothes and Pearls as Talambralu
(auspicious) to the God and Goddess. The whole of this celebration is telecasted
live in Doordarshan.
"Wherever four Hindus live, Rama and Sita will
be there" so said Swami Vivekananda, one of the foremost harbingers
of modern national renaissance of Bharat. The reverse also is
equally true - wherever Rama and Sita live, the people there will
remain and live as Hindus.
Every hill and rivulet of
Bharat bears the imprint of the holy feet of Rama and Sita. Sri Rama
reigns supreme to this day in the hearts of our people, cutting
across all barriers of province, language, caste or sect. Even the
tribes living in isolated valleys and jungles have names like
Mitti-Ram and Patthar-Ram. In some other tribes, every name carries
the proud suffix of Ram, such as Lutthu Ram, Jagadev Ram, etc. In
many northern parts of Bharat mutual greetings take the form of Jay
Ramjee Ki.
Sri Rama has become so much
identified with all the good and great and virile qualities of
heroic manhood that expressions such as 'Us me Ram nahi hai' (there
is no Rama in him) - meaning that a person has lost all manliness
and worth - have become common usage. And when a Hindu quits the
world stage, he is bid God-speed in his onward journey with Ramanama
satya hai or Raghupati Raghava raja Ram, patita paavana Sita Ram. In
fact, the latter couplet has become the nation's bhajan par
excellence.
Sri Rama's story, Ramayana,
has been sung and resung in all the languages and dialects of
Bharat. The tradition of writing epics centering round the saga of
Rama's achievements started by Valmiki in Sanskrit and was
continued by Tulsidas in Hindi, by Kamban in Tamil, by Ramanujan in
Malayalam, by Krittivasa in Bengali and Madhav Kambali in Assamia
and in fact, in almost every Bharatiya language. The tradition is
being continued up to the present day. The Ramayana Darshanam of
K.V. Puttappa, the national literary award of Bharat by the Jnana
Peeth. The enchanting Geet Ramayana composed in Marathi by G.D.
Madgulkar and set to tune by Sudhir Phadke is now thrilling the
hearts of millions in Maharashtra.
The various tribal groups
too have sung the story of Ramayana in their dialects. Sri Rama,
Lakshmana and Janaki mirror the ideals for millions of tribal boys
and girls. The Khamati tribe in Arunachal Pradesh, which is
Buddhist, depicts Ramayana as the story narrated by Buddha to his
first disciple, Ananda, and carries the universal message of Buddha.
How deeply significant that every group and sect even in distant and
far-flung parts of Bharatavarsha should have found a radiant
reflection of its own ideals in the form of Sri Rama!
The comparison of Sri
Rama's fortitude to Himalayas and the grace and grandeur of his
personality to the ocean - 'Samudra iva gaambheerye, dhairye cha
Himavaan iva' - portrays how inseparably his personality has been
blended into the entire national entity of Bharat.
Where in lay the secret of
this unique greatness in Rama's personality? He is called
Maryaada-Purushottama - the great one who never deviated from the
norms set by Dharma. In the eyes of the Hindu, the touchstone of
human excellence is Dharma. Devotion to Dharma came first in Rama's
life and considerations of his personal joys and sorrows came last.
It was his supreme commitment to putra-dharma (duty of a son) that
made Rama smilingly depart to the forest for fourteen years at the
bidding of his father. And this he did on the very day he was to be
anointed as the future emperor of Bharat. He would not budge from
the path of Dharma - righteousness - even when his own preceptor,
his parents, his brothers and the whole body of his subjects tried
to dissuade him. He upheld the supremacy of Dharma in every one of
his human relationships and hence became an ideal son, an ideal
brother, an ideal husband, an ideal disciple, an ideal friend, an
ideal kind and even an ideal foe.
The one and supreme concern
of Sri Rama's life was the welfare of his subjects. He would forsake
everything else to uphold his kingly duties - the Rajadharma. The
night previous to his scheduled coronation, when Rama and Sita were
alone in a happy mood in view of the next day's joyous occasion,
Sita asked Rama, "What is that thing which hold dearest to your
heart?" Rama fell serious for a moment and said, "Dear Sita, you
know I love you most dearly, but I love the subjects of Ayodhya more
and if their welfare demands, I would not hesitate to sacrifice even
you!" The following couplet conveying this idea is cited
often:
Sneham dayaam cha soukhyam cha yadi vaa
Jaanakimapi| Aaraadhanaaya lokasya munchate
naasti me vyathaa||
And Sri Rama did live up to
his words. When he felt that the call of his royal duties -
Rajadharma - demanded the forsaking of Sita, he wavered not in
carrying it out. The most crucial test came when Lakshmana violated
the orders of Rama and admitted Durvasa to Rama's presence with a
view to averting the destruction of Ayodhya by Durvasa's curse. Rama
stuck to the law of the land and awarded death penalty to Lakshmana
- one whom he loved dearer than his own life. It was with such a
fiery faith that Rama followed the dictates of Dharma.
To such a one, how could
power and pelf hold any fascination? When Bharata came to him in the
forest and implored him to return to Ayodhya and become the emperor,
Sri Rama firmly refused. Here was enacted a scene unparalleled in
the annals of world history - each of the two brothers trying to
out-argue the other to make him accept the emperorship of a great
and mighty kingdom.
Sri Rama's role as one of
the first and foremost national unifiers of Bharat is also unique
and extraordinary. He embraced Guha, the forest King and ate in his
house without the least hesitation. No sense of high or low ever
touched his all-embracing love of his people. He even enjoyed a
fruit tasted and offered with devotion by Shabari, a tribal lady in
the far south.
The Vanaras or the
forest-dwellers too felt that Rama was their own. He endeared
himself to them so intimately that they became, in fact, his chief
allies against Ravana. All over Bharatavarsha, the dear, little
squirrel with its three brown stripes bespeaks the devotion to Sri
Rama even among the animal world. Along with the Vanaras, a solitary
squirrel had played his humble part in carrying sand for the
construction of bridge to Lanka and Sri Rama's caressing of the
little one on the back had left those indelible stripes for all
future generations.
Sri Rama's intense
adoration for the motherland has been immortalized by a legendary
couplet which is playing on the lips of millions even to this day:
Janani janmabhoomischa swargaadapi
garreyasi (the mother and the motherland are to me greater than
the heavens themselves).
The story of Rama is not
that of a single towering personality dwarfing all others. The other
characters like Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata and Hanuman too shine in
their own greatness. All of them are so closely interwoven with Sri
Rama's life and achievements that it is well-nigh impossible to
think of any one without the other. In fact, the most popular
picture of Sri Rama, i.e., of Sri Rama Pattabhisheka includes Sita,
Hanuman and all his brothers. And in the bringing out of the
greatness of all these partners of his life-drama, Rama's
instinctive recognition of their merit and virtues played no mean
part. He would always be the first to openly appreciate the unique
and noble traits in others' character. Even for Kaikeyi, who was
responsible for his banishment to forest, Rama had only words of
kindness. And as for Ravana, the abductor of his wife, Rama's
unstinted praise of his erudition and prowess at once lifts the
story of Ramayana to heights unsurpassed in the annals of human
history.
No wonder, the story of Sri
Rama has crossed the boundaries of Bharat and inspired by many a
distant people, their culture and literature. Indonesia - with
Muslims forming 80% of her population - continues to adore Rama and
Sita as her great cultural standard-bearers, and Ramayana as her
national epic par excellence. Indonesia also prides herself in
having the biggest drama stage in the world - with Ramayana as its
chief attraction. And the credit goes to that country for
celebrating the very first grand World Ramayana Festival some years
ago.
The birthday of Sri Rama,
indeed, signifies an event worth of remembrance by every one,
whatever his country or race or religion, who cherishes the time
honored sublime values of human culture and civilization.
