“Being under the control of passion and lust, Rama’s father, Maharaja Dasharatha, wanted to fulfill Kaikeyi’s cherished desire, thus he did not go through with Rama’s installation ceremony.” (Sita Devi speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 47.12)

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कामार्तस्तु महातेजाः पिता दशरथस्स्वयम्
कैकेय्याः प्रियकामार्थं तं रामं नाभ्यषेचयत्

kāmārtastu mahātejāḥ pitā daśarathassvayam
kaikeyyāḥ priyakāmārthaṃ taṃ rāmaṃ nābhyaṣecayat

There is the saying that when one door closes, another one opens. This is to give a reminder as to the reality of the situation, when something is no longer there. It could be that we have lost a job. We were there for quite a while. We were fond of the colleagues. We did good work. Our performance reviews always yielded the highest marks.

Abruptly, out of nowhere, without prior warning, the job is no more. Like yanking the carpet out from underneath, the employer decides to make sweeping layoffs. It is not our fault, they say. We have not slipped up, made a mistake, or brought the company disrepute. It is simply that our position is being eliminated. Every department had to make such sacrifices, in something resembling a Hunger Games lottery.

In this difficult time, we remember the truth about the door closing. This saying is also rooted in knowledge. If something bad had not happened in the past, we would not have found something better. We were stuck somewhere. We were settled, except that material nature lacks endurance, by its very constitution. Though it is an energy of eternal significance, it does not remain in the same state perpetually.

नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सतः
उभयोरपि दृष्टोऽन्तस्त्वनयोस्तत्त्वदर्शिभिः

nāsato vidyate bhāvo
nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ
ubhayor api dṛṣṭo ’ntas
tv anayos tattva-darśibhiḥ

“Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent there is no endurance, and of the existent there is no cessation. This seers have concluded by studying the nature of both.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.16)

The most obvious indications are life and death. It could be of the human being, but this also applies to the plants. The avocado we enjoy for lunch began as a seed. We know exactly the size and shape of that seed, as each avocado has the large pit inside. Somehow, this one seed knows the process for transforming into a much larger tree, which then yields fruit.

The birth process involves accepting elements of the material nature. Those elements were always there. They will not cease to exist in the future. It is simply that the collection shifts and transforms in such a way that we see them together in the form of a tree. When that tree ceases to be, when the vital life force from within departs, the same external elements begin to scatter. This is known as death.

There must be birth for the elements to gather together in that instance. There must be death for those elements to later disperse. This is one way to understand the principle of a door closing, which leads to another one opening. We can apply the same to the manifest lila of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In His avatara of Shri Rama, within the historical narrative there is the introduction of a conflict. If depicted in a theatrical production, it would be the scene that leads to a major act break. One door abruptly closes. Out of nowhere, the option is no longer there. Shri Rama will not be crowned as the next king. Though everyone is ready for the event to take place, though they are anticipating the joyous moment with happiness, the youngest queen in Ayodhya decides to strike. She will ask for a return on the favor owed to her by the king. She will ask for Rama to be banished from the kingdom.

The one door had to close in order for Rama to roam the forests. As later described by Sita Devi, the wife of Rama, King Dasharatha decided to fulfill the cherished desire of Kaikeyi. This is sort of a derogatory characterization, but it is understandable. Who would be happy to see their husband insulted in such a way? Who takes pleasure in the undeserved pain inflicted upon an innocent person?

But that cherished desire had to be met. It was the door that needed to close. There were other events which had to take place. Vishnu descended to earth as Rama for many reasons. Those reasons could not be satisfied unless Rama travelled from place to place. He especially needed to visit the area of Dandaka. He needed justification in the external sense, in alignment with dharma, for proceeding to Lanka to take out the wicked leader named Ravana, who was causing havoc throughout the world.

In our life experience, many doors may close. If we are devoted to the same Sita and Rama, then we might become something like the beloved child. Those things which we want, those directions we travel out of ignorance, those items we desperately pray for – Sita and Rama might keep us away, intentionally. Many doors will close in order for the door to the spiritual world to remain open.

खेलत बालक ब्याल सँग मेलत पावक हाथ
तुलसी सिसु पितु मातु ज्यों राखत सिय रघुनाथ

khelata bālaka byāla sa~ga melata pāvaka hātha
tulasī sisu pitu mātu jyoṃ rākhata siya raghunātha

“In the way that parents intervene when the children play with a snake or put a hand in fire, Sita and Rama are like the mother and father who protect Tulsidas in the manner of a small child.” (Dohavali, 147)

In Closing:

Who the reason knows?
For why that door to close.

After desire strongly chasing,
But circumstances now erasing.

The opportunity no more,
Left hankering for sure.

But by Sita-Rama kept afar,
The proper door left ajar.

Categories: cherished desire of kaikeyi

Tags: dailyprompt, hare krishna, life, poem, poems, poetry, ramayana