Life is full of obstacles. Things not working when they should, objects of necessity breaking, responsibilities, and people asking for things are the nuisances of everyday life that never go away. After all, constant pressure and obstruction is the nature of material life, which is driven by the pursuit of perfection in the areas of sense gratification and lordship over possessions and other living entities. Since ultimate perfection in this endeavor will always fail, the end result is misery. Moreover, the state of discomfort is facilitated through obstacles and roadblocks in our path, each of which causes frustration and loss of rationale. Forced to live through such troubling situations, it’s nice to know that there have been others who faced similar troubles and were able to somehow get through them. One historical personality in particular had a herculean task in front of him, that of scouring the globe in search of a kidnapped princess. While he certainly met many obstacles along the way, he was able to brush them aside by relying on his strength, determination, and love for his supreme object of worship, Shri Rama. Following this heroic figure’s example, we too can become successful in the real objective of life, that of serving the Supreme Lord with every ounce of our heart, mind, and soul.
Why do errors come unannounced and at the worst times? To ere is human after all, so whoever is in charge of managing different components of the IT infrastructure is sure to make mistakes every now and then. The errors can be caused by honest mistakes, laziness, or a general lack of accountability and thinking. One person may decide that the network needs maintenance at a particular hour of the day, while another member of the IT staff is counting on the network being operational at that time to ensure that processing of a particular business component can occur. The lack of communication between the two parties will result in an error in processing at the most inopportune of times. This error then affects business functions, which then affects profits and the loss thereof.
What can we do to solve the problem? How do we actually achieve peace of mind? Can we ever remove the obstacles that come in our way? Luckily for us, one celebrated divine figure met more obstacles, each of which was great in its intensity and thwarting powers, than any man could ever dream of. His impediments were in relation to a much greater task, that of finding a missing princess. Yet through it all, this figure remained firm and resolute. He surely gave way to grief and lamentation from time to time, and indeed he feared failing, but in the end he always chose to forge ahead, because only through perseverance could there be a chance of ultimate success.
“O most intelligent Uddhava, the living entity, called jiva, is part and parcel of Me, but due to ignorance he has been suffering in material bondage since time immemorial. By knowledge, however, he can be liberated.” (Lord Krishna speaking to Uddhava, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 11.11.4)
To connect with Shri Rama, who can also be addressed as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one must take up bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. Since the original form of the original Divine Being is actually the source of all other forms, He is known as the source of Godhead. Other aspects of the divine can be reached through knowledge-acquiring activities, fruitive work, and mystic yoga. Yet none of these processes seeks to meet Bhagavan, or the Supreme Person. Therefore the pleasure that results from any activity that is devoid of bhakti is inferior to the pleasure felt by those who are in intimate association with Bhagavan.
“It is not possible for a chandala to tread heavily on an altar which is beautifully decorated and situated amongst a sacrificial fire, pots, and ladles, and sanctified by the mantras of the brahmanas. Similarly, I, being the religiously wedded wife of one who is Himself ever committed to dharma, am firm in my vows and thus, O lowest of the Rakshasas, it is not possible for me to ever be touched by you, who are a sinner.” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 56.18-19)
While Bhagavan is God’s original feature as the complete and most fortunate person, Brahman is the effulgence that emanates from His gigantic transcendental body. When the avataras of Godhead come to earth, it is seen that their bodies are similar in dimensional measurements and appearance to those of ordinary human beings. Generally, the incarnations, and the deity representations carved to match their auspicious bodily features, are known as the saguna forms of the Lord. Guna means a material quality, something which only individual souls can possess. The Supreme Lord never touches matter, so it can never be said that He comes under the control of gunas. Nevertheless, the term saguna is used to illustrate the fact that even during His time spent on earth, the Lord possesses transcendental qualities, those which are perceptible to the conditioned eye fooled by the illusory workings of nature. God has arms, legs, and a face, but the scope and function of these features cover the entire universe. Lord Rama gave the appearance of ordinary arms, but these transcendental body parts were capable of destroying thousands of attacking demons in a matter of minutes. Therefore there is no way to accurately describe the Lord’s features or to properly worship Him. Yet He is still kind enough to appear on earth in a transcendental form which can be worshiped and offered service to. When the Supreme Lord personally returns to His spiritual realm, or when He is not visually manifest before the surrendered soul, the deity serves the same function as an object of worship wholly capable of providing spiritual benedictions.
Sita is perfect in every respect. She is equally as divine a figure as Lord Rama. She is Rama’s wife for all of eternity; therefore she still exists to this day. She can surely be offered worship by the devotees. No one is kinder, no one is more dedicated to the pious, and no one is more loving than she is. Yet even with all of these wonderful characteristics, she had to suffer through the horrible ordeal of being kidnapped. A Rakshasa demon at the time was slowly ascending to power on earth. His name was Ravana and once he heard about Sita’s beauty, he had to have her. He set up a scheme where he was able to forcibly take her back to his island kingdom of Lanka. No one knew where Sita was, including Rama and Lakshmana, the Lord’s younger brother.
It should be noted that Hanuman did indeed meet obstacles in some of the areas mentioned by Sugriva. Hanuman’s journey to Lanka was a very long and arduous one, the events of which have been described in great detail in the Ramayana of Valmiki. Today, Hanuman is a celebrated figure because of his devotion to Rama. Different scenes from his trek to Lanka, including the famous leap across the ocean, are depicted in pictures and sculptures and thus remembered by the devotees. So in the above referenced statement, Sugriva isn’t mistaken when he says that there would be no obstacles to obstruct Hanuman. This speaks to the fact that an obstacle can only be classified as such if it is effective in thwarting one’s ultimate objective. Hanuman faced so many potential obstacles, some in the form of demons aided by boons granted by celestials, and others in the form of geographic limitations, but he was able to fight through them. In this way, nothing was able to impede Hanuman’s march towards success. There was no way he was going to go down without a fight.
