“Those fourteen thousand Rakshasas of frightening deeds were eliminated by that one man, a foot-soldier, who was Rama.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 26.35)

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चतुर्दश सहस्राणि रक्षसां भीमकर्मणाम्
हतान्येकेन रामेण मानुषेण पदातिना

caturdaśa sahasrāṇi rakṣasāṃ bhīmakarmaṇām
hatānyekena rāmeṇa mānuṣeṇa padātinā

It is the often heard tripe. It is the derogatory commentary from those unfamiliar with the timeless ways to what is more accurately known as sanatana-dharma. In one sense, they cannot be blamed. Imagery is powerful. It can leave a lasting impression on those who are not otherwise paying attention to the message.

The criticism of which we speak is that people of the Hindu faith, for lack of a better term, worship many gods. The presentation resembles the following:

“The Hindus have too many gods to count. My goodness! From the images, there is some similarity you can make out. The person with the head of the elephant. The one with snakes on their body and poison held in the throat. The monkey-god, who somehow holds a mountain in one of his hands. The beautiful woman seated on a lotus flower, with coins falling from her hands, which number four.

“Who knows how this tradition started? Who knows exactly why the worship branches out like breakout sessions in one of those conventions featuring a blue-ribbon panel? That is how it goes. I guess everyone is entitled to their way of religion.”

For people within that tradition, who understand that “Hindu” is not an accurate term by any means, a simple response can be that there is no worship of gods. There is worship of a single man. I worship the man, manusha, known as Shri Rama, who once famously roamed this earth during the period immortalized within the Sanskrit poem that is the Ramayana.

1. He is not a deva

We worship Rama because He is not a god. The Sanskrit term is deva. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada intentionally translates this word as “demigod.” The original Sanskrit does not carry the prefix. Rather, for the highest being of all, there is a word added to the beginning. The one who is free of the modes of nature, within the energy known as prakriti, is the deva deva. He is the god of the gods.

We otherwise respect the devas, but we do not worship them. This is because the deva is an elevated being still within the realm of birth and death. They may reside in the upper planetary system, which is known as heaven. They have amazing powers. They can grant amazing benedictions, provided there is sufficient supplication. You can characterize this relationship as worshiper and the worshiped, but it is more accurate to call it a business transaction. The boons offered are temporary in significance.

आ-ब्रह्म-भुवनाल् लोकाः
पुनर् आवर्तिनो ऽर्जुन
माम् उपेत्य तु कौन्तेय
पुनर् जन्म न विद्यते

ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ
punar āvartino ‘rjuna
mām upetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate

“From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.16)

Having accepted the highest understanding from the person who knows, the tattva-darshi, we are after something better. We know that the devas are amazing, but we are not interested in remaining in the land of birth and death.

अन्तवत्तु फलं तेषां तद्भवत्यल्पमेधसाम्
देवान्देवयजो यान्ति मद्भक्ता यान्ति मामपि

antavattu phalaṃ teṣāṃ tadbhavatyalpamedhasām
devāndevayajo yānti madbhaktā yānti māmapi

“Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.23)

2. He is not a Rakshasa

Opposite to the devas are the asuras and the Rakshasas. They are like the bad guys to the good guys. The struggle between good and bad dates back to the beginning of the creation and continues to this day. The devas are also known as suras. The word asura is a negation of sura. The asuras have bad qualities, though they may be powerful and carry great influence. As with bypassing worship of the devas, we are not interested in becoming an asura or a Rakshasa, even if they can change their shapes at will and instill terror in others. They may be of ghastly deeds, bhima-karma, but we are trying to rise above karma.

3. He is the exception to the armor of boons

We worship a man because He is an exception to the boons once offered to a famous Rakshasa. The ten-headed Ravana asked for immunity from all the powerful figures that he could think of. Since his austerity was great, since he worshiped in the appropriate manner resembling the business transaction, the deva he approached did not put up opposition. Whatever Ravana wanted, Ravana received.

The Rakshasa demon failed to mention the human species. Perhaps he assumed they would be easy to defeat. We worship the one man who appeared on earth to exploit this vulnerability. A single man could indeed rid the world of the horrors brought on by the wicked.

4. He can defend against fourteen thousand night-rangers

The one man we worship can fight against fourteen thousand Rakshasas at the same time. That species are also known as nishachara, since they roam the night. They do not fight fairly. They do not fight in a clean manner. How can even four men against one be considered fair? Four plus ten, then multiplied by one thousand – that is the force that the man we worship had to once face.

5. He is the source of causeless mercy

The man we worship did not have to appear in this world. He is not affected by the ups and downs of a material creation. He expands Himself to stay as my constant companion, in birth after birth. He is like the second bird situated on the tree. He simply observes, while I mistakenly try to enjoy. As a result, I am sometimes happy. I am sometimes miserable. I rise to a higher species, up to the category of deva. I fall to a lower species, down to the category of Rakshasa. But the other bird maintains His neutral position.

Except in the case of the bow-warrior named Rama. The Supreme Personality of Godhead descended to this world to play the role of an ordinary man. But His deeds were extraordinary. As a regular foot-soldier He once defeated all of the Rakshasas sent His way by the military leader named Khara. Rama would soon defeat Khara, as well.

We worship that man today and tomorrow. We hope to continue that worship in every future birth that we should happen to receive. He is our only object of worship, and so it cannot be said that we worship many gods. Everyone else is like His supporting cast, the entourage to receive credit for their role in the celebrated triumph of that best of the Raghu dynasty.

In Closing:

With everything we can,
To worship that man.

Today and tomorrow too,
The one staunchly defending who.

Against fourteen thousand sent,
The best fighters to Dandaka went.

While simply on feet standing,
Unimaginable prowess commanding.

Categories: fourteen thousand, the five

Tags: dailyprompt, poem, poems, poetry, ramayana, vishnu