Two Desired Factors In The Life Of The Ideal Man

“The man who reads and recites this narration of the Ramayana will be blessed with a long duration of life and after death will be welcomed and respectfully received in the heavenly region, along with sons, grandsons, and relatives.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kand, 1.99)

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एतदाख्यानमायुष्यं पठन्रामायणं नर:
सपुत्रपौत्रस्सगण: प्रेत्य स्वर्गे महीयते

etadākhyānamāyuṣyaṃ paṭhanrāmāyaṇaṃ nara:
saputrapautrassagaṇa: pretya svarge mahīyate

1. Hardship

“Listen, I am a sucker for those underdog stories. Where they had everything going against them. Where the childhood was anything but ideal. Where no one thought they had a chance at making it. The hardship they endured was so extreme that we can barely imagine tolerating the same today. I love seeing the power of the human spirit prevail, in overcoming the greatest obstacles.”

2. Responsibility

“Have you ever read these memoirs of famous people? I have noticed that none of them describe playing video games for hours on end during childhood. No one talks about how bored they were or how they had nothing to do. Instead, they had tremendous responsibility from a young age. The parents pushed them. The teachers were anything but lenient. I like hearing that. I want to see how people stay accountable when there are indeed a lot of people counting on them. If you ask me, children today do not have enough responsibility. We are so concerned with their feelings, but that concern is stunting their growth in handling real-world problems later in life.”

…

The teachings should be enough. The presence of the principles is sufficient to spark an interest. Every person contemplates. Every person thinks. To be is to have consciousness. The human being has the most consciousness, if running a comparative analysis. Even the drunkard, having fallen into an abyss of hopelessness and despair, considers a different way of life, if but only for a few moments.

If we have the science of self-realization, in the timeless tradition of Vedanta, which is the final word in the stacking tower of conclusions, then we should take an interest. We should swarm to the instruction like thrifty shoppers hungry for a bargain on that one day of the year at the retail outlet. We should devour the sound, listening attentively, and hearing from the tattva-darshi, as recommended in Bhagavad-gita.

तद् विद्धि प्रणिपातेन
परिप्रश्नेन सेवया
उपदेक्ष्यन्ति ते ज्ञानं
ज्ञानिनस् तत्त्व-दर्शिनः

tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.34)

Sadly, there isn’t much interest. The identity of the individual. The ever-changing covering and its mechanism for shift, in response to action. The influence of time and how there is one person standing above it all. These topics should interest us. Books discussing these topics should be the perennial bestsellers. They should be on the homepage of the internet retail outlet. Once a person learns to read and write, when they become literate in the language of choice, they should at least find one genuine book in this category and display it proudly on their bookshelf at home. Every guest subsequently visiting the home should notice that book and want to at least open it.

Aligning with the principle of causeless mercy, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is so kind that He does not limit the experience to philosophical discussion. Any person can gain an understanding of the same principles through hearing stories. Not mythological tales. Not make-believe, but the recounting of factual events, as they took place in the past and how they will unfold in the future.

Narada Muni gives the highest endorsement to the historical narrative known as the Ramayana. Just by hearing and reciting this work, in discussing it with others, in having a katha dedicated to Hari, we can find perfection both in this life and the next. There is everything to gain. This must mean that the subject matter caters to every crowd. This must mean that the story has appeal to the common person, from any period of time.

From the above review we see that if the ideal story should discuss the ideal man, then there are some factors that should attach to that man. In the Ramayana poem, the main character is Shri Rama. He is supposed to live up to the standard of the ideal man. Though He is a man, He is still Vishnu. Rama is still God, but in a supposedly human form. That one man once single-handedly defeated fourteen thousand attacking ogres of incredible deeds. Rama was a foot-soldier in that battle, while the Rakshasas could change shapes at will and disappear from vision whenever desired.

चतुर्दश सहस्राणि रक्षसां भीमकर्मणाम्
हतान्येकेन रामेण मानुषेण पदातिना

caturdaśa sahasrāṇi rakṣasāṃ bhīmakarmaṇām
hatānyekena rāmeṇa mānuṣeṇa padātinā

“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)

Rama undergoes tremendous hardship. His is a riches to rags story. The change is abrupt and unexpected. The way Rama deals with the change is more striking. It is as if nothing negative has occurred. The adversity is placed on a level equal to good fortune. It is as if Rama is a living embodiment of the principle described to Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita.

यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च य:
हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो य: स च मे प्रिय:

yasmān nodvijate loko
lokān nodvijate ca yaḥ
harṣāmarṣa-bhayodvegair
mukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ

“He for whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anxiety, who is steady in happiness and distress, is very dear to Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 12.15)

Hardship is a little easier to handle when there is no responsibility. The crying child in the waiting room at the doctor’s office creates an annoying sound. But at least I do not have to do anything about it. It is not my child, after all. The crying is not my problem. The hardship I experience in this case is minimal; it is not much to complain about.

But Rama endured the attacks against Him while trying to uphold righteousness. He wanted to give the best example of dharma, since others tend to follow the example set by a great man. There is no greater man than Rama, and so the pressure was always on.

यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जनः
स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते

yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas
tat tad evetaro janaḥ
sa yat pramāṇaṁ kurute
lokas tad anuvartate

“Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.21)

It is no wonder that someone as amazing as Shri Hanuman worships Rama. Hanuman continues to remember the husband of Sita on a regular basis. The association is there through the Ramayana, and from that connection we can reach the same destination as achieved from learning the philosophy of Vedanta.

In Closing:

If for wisdom to yearn,
Vedanta philosophy to learn.

But not everyone so inclined,
Offer for lectures declined.

The same from a story heard,
By Ramayana emotions stirred.

Hardship with responsibility coupled,
Rama never from the pressure buckled.