I Will Write It On The Paper

“Those men who will again see Rama along with Sita, accompanied by the mighty-armed Lakshmana, returning home will be successful.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 72.38)

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सिद्धार्थास्ते नरा राममागतं सह सीतया
लक्ष्मणं च महाबाहुं द्रक्ष्यन्ति पुनरागतम्

siddhārthāste narā rāmamāgataṃ saha sītayā
lakṣmaṇaṃ ca mahābāhuṃ drakṣyanti punarāgatam

It was a long trip. Hours of driving. Bumper to bumper traffic the entire journey. Yelling and screaming from the back of the car. For some reason, you are the one charged with doing practically everything. You have to operate the vehicle. You have to choose the appropriate intervals for stopping, for finding the ideal place with clean facilities and food to eat. You have to both load and unload the luggage.

On top of it all, you cannot listen to any music while driving. The other occupants, you see, use their volume of verbal disagreement to influence your behavior. Rather than listen to their complaining for five hours, you simply put up with the silence. Alas, if only there could be silence. The passengers decide to eat nonstop. You cannot stand the sound of their chewing with the mouth open. They are making a mess in the rear seating area. It is a mess that you will have to later clean up. The responsibilities continue to mount with every passing minute. All the while, they remind you that you do nothing around the house, that you lie around and sleep from morning until night. Ah, if that were only true.

You finally make it home. Of course, you immediately unload the vehicle, after making several trips to and from. You should be exhausted, but the excitement of finally being on your own powers you through the remaining part of the day. Just as you prepare to get to work on what you have been thinking about for so long, there is a knock on the office door.

Your child wants to know if you are going to make the pasta that they repeatedly asked for. Of course, you have not had time to visit the supermarket. You are just now returning home, after all. There is barely anything in the refrigerator. How can the request possibly be met? In the nicest way, you reply that the pasta will have to be made later.

The child then smiles. They offer some assurance. They say, “I will write it on the paper, so you will not forget.” This is an endearing sentiment considering that they are still in the process of learning to write sentences. The note they produce will surely be one to keep, to look back fondly upon later in life.

The end to this bemusing tale of the exhausted family man highlights the importance of the written word. There is the phrase in Latin, “littera scripta manet”. This means that the written word remains. On the negative side, if we angrily and irrationally speak ill of someone, if that sentiment should happen to be shared in writing, such as through a social media app that has worldwide distribution, then those words can later come back to haunt us. While we have since moved on, while we never really believed those sentiments, they can be revisited at any time. Others will view us negatively based on our visible, though momentary, lack of intelligence.

On the positive side, the child writes down the promise to serve as a reminder. We can pass along important information to others through the written word. This especially becomes important when there is a lack of direct contact. If I did not hear the original words, if I was absent during the initial transfer of information, the written word can pass along what I missed. It bridges the gap. If the messenger can be trusted, if there is authority established through endorsement from proper channels and good conduct following a code of morality, then it is like the gap completely vanishes.

We have the example from the Ramayana of a mother passing along important information to her son. These were the last words spoken by the father. Just prior to departing this world, in a tragic manner, in a time of great sadness, the father revealed just who would meet the high standard of siddhartha. Just who would have their artha, or interest, reach siddha, or success.

Kaikeyi heard the message. She did not necessarily write it down on paper, but it was retained in memory. Kaikeyi was the youngest wife to Dasharatha. She was one of the queens in Ayodhya. She passed along the message to her son, Bharata. That son was not around at the time of the father’s departure. He heard of these last words through the mother.

Those who would see Shri Rama return to Ayodhya would be siddhartha. Rama would be accompanied by His wife, Sita Devi, and His younger brother, Lakshmana. This meant that although Bharata had to endure the tragic passing of his father, which was due to the heartbreak of separation from Rama, that son of Kaikeyi still had an opportunity for siddhartha. That perfection of interest was still available to Him.

The Ramayana reveals that Rama is actually Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Rama is like a complete expansion of Vishnu, while the three younger brothers are like partial expansions. Vishnu is all-pervading. He is omnipresent through His many purusha expansions. He is the Supersoul to the individual soul. He is always close by. This is one way to understand the absolute nature of God.

Another way is to consider that the declaration from Dasharatha applies to all individuals. Whether we were around many thousands of years ago in Ayodhya or not. Whether we are related to that royal family or living in the currently degraded age known as Kali. Whether we are high in stature and repute or living in relative obscurity. Whether we have committed stacks of Sanskrit books to memory or can barely recall a shloka or two from Bhagavad-gita. We all have the chance to relive the return of Rama and family to Ayodhya. We can worship in that remembrance. We can worship in separation, which is also like bridging the gap in distance. That gap was only in consciousness the entire time.

In Closing:

Like having association the same,
Through written word to remain.

Telling highest truth where,
Such that others made aware.

By the mother originally heard,
Passing to son that final word.

That blessed sight of that trio known,
Sita, Rama, and Lakshmana finally home.