“Of what use are wealth, comforts and pleasures, home, wives, and sons if one is not able to see Shri Rama?” (Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 48.7)

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किं नु तेषां गृहैः कार्यं किं दारै: किं धनेन वा
पुत्रैर्वा किं सुखैर्वापि ये न पश्यन्ति राघवम्

kiṃ nu teṣāṃ gṛhaiḥ kāryaṃ kiṃ dārai: kiṃ dhanena vā
putrairvā kiṃ sukhairvāpi ye na paśyanti rāghavam

“If I had to explain the science of self-realization to a newcomer, I think I know the approach to take. I have settled upon the teachings to highlight, even though the discipline itself is as vast as the timeline of existence. The subject at hand is infinite in His glories, gunas. He is ananta, which means that the connection to Him, in active participation, in use of the vibrancy associated with spirit, has the potential to continue forever.

“The approach I would take is to tell someone that we are not our body and that we are trying to break attachments to both the body and the bodily identification. We are spirit soul. We carry flawed conceptions of ‘I’ and ‘Mine.’ We should not be attached to the temporary. We should focus on that which has endurance. The Sanskrit equivalent is sat. This refers to both the eternal truth and those seeking out that truth. The recommendation is to associate with sat, sat-sanga, and give up the opposite, asat.

“You might wonder what are the principal objects of attachment. What is the most obvious asat for which we should have renunciation, tyaga? Parents. Children. Spouses. Friends. Extended family. Community. We should not be attached to these. Not that we should look negatively upon them, but we should maintain a healthy distance. We should keep our eyes on the prize, so to speak, which is liberation. We want to be liberated from the cycle of birth and death, such that we will no longer be vulnerable to misidentifications pertaining to accepting a temporary body. In true liberation, we never accept another material body.

“That is fine and good for introducing someone to sanatana-dharma, but how do you explain the scene in Ayodhya during the time of Shri Rama? He is the ananta to which we previously referred. He is the object of the attention to detail and duty in sanatana-dharma. At the same time, He is a person. He is an individual who roamed this earth. The people in Ayodhya were so attached to Him that it seemed like they lost interest in anything else.

“You have the father, King Dasharatha, leaving this world out of the pain of separation from Rama. You have the people themselves ready to abandon their homes in order to follow Rama into the forest. They will stay with Him for fourteen years, if necessary. You have the younger brother, Lakshmana, who openly declares his allegiance. Lakshmana will continue to serve Rama for one hundred years, even. There is no issue. Rama is everything to these wonderful people. Is that not an attachment, though? Is that not a negative? I thought liberated souls were supposed to be detached. Care to explain why some people can conveniently carve out an exception to the rule?”

परवानस्मि काकुत्स्थ त्वयि वर्षशतं स्थिते
स्वयं तु रुचिरे देशे क्रियतामिति मां वद

paravānasmi kākutstha tvayi varṣaśataṃ sthite
svayaṃ tu rucire deśe kriyatāmiti māṃ vada

“O Rama, for as long as You shall stand before me, even if it be for one hundred years, I will always remain Your servant. Therefore You should be the one to choose a beautiful and appropriate place for the cottage. After You have selected a spot, please then command me to start building.” (Lakshmana speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 15.7)

Indeed, the wives in Ayodhya once verbally ripped into their husbands over this issue. They were suffering from the pain of separation. They tried to follow Rama into the forest, but they lost track of His movements. In frustration and defeat, they had to return home. They could not understand how the husbands could carry forward. What use was everything in their home if the opportunity to see Rama was lost?

The truth is that there is always an exception. We have the laws of nature. We have the movements of the subtle body, which remind the individual of their past desires. The individual then gets to act on those desires, in a suitable playing field. They can continue in this way for lifetime after lifetime, such that liberation appears to be a myth or something which itself can never exist in truth.

“Situated on the vehicle given by material nature and reminded by the Supersoul within the heart, the living entity struggles all over the universe to fulfill his plans, thinking, ‘I am a brahmana,’ ‘I am a kshatriya,’ ‘I am an American,’ ‘I am an Indian,’ and so on. All these designations are of the same essence.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 4.29.62 Purport)

The behavior of the people of Ayodhya appears to contradict the teachings. Should they not have remained unaffected? It is just a body, after all. Someone suffers or enjoys based on their past work. Rama was suffering for someone else. He was essentially taking the fall for the desires of Kaikeyi, who was the youngest wife to Dasharatha. Rama accepted the burden. He assumed hardship for the sake of maintaining the good name of His father.

The people did not have to go along, though. If it was sinful to be attached to Rama, they were prepared to suffer the consequences. In the future, they would assume a nature based on their thoughts. The conceptions of life carry forward. In being so attached to Rama, they would take on a nature conducive to that attachment. This is indeed a way to skip over the rules and regulations. This is why the wise saints of the Vaishnava tradition recommend bhakti-yoga over any other method of self-realization. Be attached to the Supreme Lord and you will approach Him. He will carry you across the ocean of birth and death, welcoming you into the spiritual world.

ये तु सर्वाणि कर्माणि
मयि सन्न्यस्य मत्-पराः
अनन्येनैव योगेन
मां ध्यायन्त उपासते
तेषाम् अहं समुद्धर्ता
मृत्यु-संसार-सागरात्
भवामि न चिरात् पार्थ
मय्य् आवेशित-चेतसाम्

ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi
mayi sannyasya mat-parāḥ
ananyenaiva yogena
māṁ dhyāyanta upāsate
teṣām ahaṁ samuddhartā
mṛtyu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt
bhavāmi na cirāt pārtha
mayy āveśita-cetasām

“For one who worships Me, giving up all his activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, who has fixed his mind upon Me, O son of Pritha, for him I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 12.6-7)

In Closing:

Perhaps blemish in detection,
That conveniently an exception.

To rules of attachment where,
Like in wives of Ayodhya there.

That grief-stricken insults to heave,
After Rama their presence to leave.

The secret that best attachment of all,
Immediately as liberated to call.

Categories: questions

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