“For the welfare of the demigods, the cows, the brahmanas, the earth, and the devotees, the merciful Rama does wonderful activities while in the body of a human. Hearing of those deeds releases one from the net of material existence.” (Dohavali, 123)

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भगत भूमि भूसुर सुरभि सुर हित लागि कृपाल।
करत चरित धरि मनुज तनु सुनत मिटहिं जगजाल ॥

bhagata bhūmi bhūsura surabhi sura hita lāgi kṛpāla।
karata carita dhari manuja tanu sunata miṭahiṃ jagajāla ॥

It is a strange concept to ponder. God is the Almighty. He is the Supreme Divine Being. Even if a person does not believe, if they are a staunch atheist, they at least acknowledge the theory. They understand that people worship someone who is supposed to be above everything.

A human being is flawed. To err is human. The Vedas list four principal defects. There is the tendency to cheat. There are mistakes made. The senses are imperfect. And it is easy to be fooled by illusion, such as with the visual of the body. That body is always changing, at every second, but we get tricked into thinking we can maintain everything permanently.

देहिनो ऽस्मिन् यथा देहे
कौमारं यौवनं जरा
तथा देहान्तर-प्राप्तिर्
धीरस् तत्र न मुह्यति

dehino ‘smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.13)

God is obviously different from human beings. He must be above birth and death. He must not have any flaws. The name Achyuta is therefore appropriate. His features cannot be properly measured. Therefore, Adhokshaja also applies to Him.

How, then, could He appear as a human being? This was the visual. No one can deny the truth. Shri Rama took birth as the son of King Dasharatha. According to Goswami Tulsidas, this travel, from high to low, was for the welfare of certain groups of people. It was an act of mercy, kripa.

1. The demigods

These are the administrators of the material world. They are sura by quality and by bodily classification. They are the good guys, when thinking in the simplest terms. They align with the Supreme Lord. They are associated with dharma and punya.

As they live within the material world, the demigods are not absolute in their authority. They cannot wield influence at the highest possible level. This means that sometimes there will be trouble. The demigods will run out of tricks. Their bag becomes empty. They don’t know what to do. They have nowhere else to turn; they go to Vaikuntha.

2. The cows

Cows are dear to the Supreme Lord. They should be dear to everyone. The cow is a mother, after all. It produces milk at the sight of the children. Milk is thus a byproduct of love. No lust involved. No exploitation. No elaborate scheme to rule the world or suppress other groups of influence.

3. The brahmanas

The brahmanas and cows go hand-in-hand. A brahmana by proper qualification has realization of Brahman, which is the spiritual energy. Since they understand that the purpose to the human birth is self-realization, they tend to live in a renounced way.

They may maintain cows, offered to them in charity, to fulfill the needs of eating and creating a general atmosphere of auspiciousness. As the brahmanas are interested in spiritual welfare, they require protection against injury; kshatriyas fulfill this obligation.

4. The earth

She is actually a goddess. Known as Bhumi Devi, we understand that she is incredibly forgiving. She tolerates so much botheration against her surface. There are earthquakes from time to time, but the earth does not bend completely.

5. The devotees

This covers the full range of living beings. Any person who aligns with the Supreme Lord in thought, word, and deed is a devotee. They do not have to necessarily belong to a specific class. They could be a laborer or a dependent, like a child or adult female. Since they are always connected to God, they are never lost to Him.

यो मां पश्यति सर्वत्र
सर्वं च मयि पश्यति
तस्याहं न प्रणश्यामि
स च मे न प्रणश्यति

yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra
sarvaṁ ca mayi paśyati
tasyāhaṁ na praṇaśyāmi
sa ca me na praṇaśyati

“For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 6.30)

When there is a rise of the sinful population, when adharma gains influence, the above-mentioned groups suffer. They might be persecuted directly or they are so afraid to be vocal in their allegiance that they assume disguises or remain anonymous in silence.

The Supreme Lord appears in the human form to help them. His activities, charita, are glorious. They provide direct protection at the time of implementation. The suras who were previously harassed by the asuras get to rest easy. They know that Rama will protect them, in the manner that He guarded the yajna of Vishvamitra Muni.

दैवी ह्य् एषा गुण-मयी
मम माया दुरत्यया
माम् एव ये प्रपद्यन्ते
मायाम् एतां तरन्ति ते

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te

“This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.14)

After the fact, when Rama has returned to the spiritual world, those activities continue to be glorious. Simply hearing of them is enough to break free of the material world, which is like a vast net. To cross over the ocean of birth and death is almost impossible, but upon receiving the favor of Hari there is no issue.

In Closing:

For suras and brahmanas coming,
Hari as human becoming.

In that vesha to show,
But devotees the truth to know.

That always to stand tall,
Rama as protector to call.

Of deeds glorious forever to last,
Triumph over widest net cast.

Categories: dohavali 121-160, the five

Tags: hare krishna, hinduism, poem, poems, poetry, shri rama