“Having heard all these words said to Me, I promised to give full protection to the rishis of Dandaka-aranya, O daughter of Janaka.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya-kanda, 10.16)

Download as podcast episode (right click and save)

मया चैतद्वचश्श्रुत्वा कार्त्स्न्येन परिपालनम्
ऋषीणां दण्डकारण्ये संश्रुतं जनकात्मजे

mayā caitadvacaśśrutvā kārtsnyena paripālanam
ṛṣīṇāṃ daṇḍakāraṇye saṃśrutaṃ janakātmaje

“If you believe in God, if you reconcile that the amazing aspects of nature run like a perfectly configured machine, without deviation, and without external maintenance, then it makes sense for that grand coordinator to appear and disappear at His will. Based on His schedule, on parameters that He establishes, He can roam this world in any manifestation of His choosing. It is the vyakta to the avyakta. It is a way for others to envision Divinity, though they will never completely understand. This is because the Divine is adhokshaja. The features, gunas, are transcendental, divyam. Those features are impossible to accurately measure.

“With the case of the avatara known as Rama, one of the external justifications is persecution. Not necessarily of an entire community of individuals, but of a certain class living in a certain area. These are the sages, identified by the Sanskrit word ‘sadhu.’ Giving protection for the sadhu class is one of the justifications for the appearance of the avatara provided in Bhagavad-gita. God protects the sadhu, who is the saint. This is the general case, and for the appearance of Rama the protection was badly needed.

परित्राणाय साधूनां
विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्
धर्म-संस्थापनार्थाय
सम्भवामि युगे युगे

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ
vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām
dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya
sambhavāmi yuge yuge

“In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.8)

“Why did Rama have to stand there, holding bow and arrow, like a bodyguard? Well, the saintly people in that case were being harassed. Was there proper justification? Were the saints in a prohibited area? Had they crossed over a visible boundary? Were they violating any laws? Just the opposite, in fact. They were living as peacefully and as innocently as you can imagine. They were in remote areas. They were in the wilderness. They had left human society behind. This was to increase the potency of the spiritual practices. The areas they took refuge in were known as tapo-vana. These are forests conducive to tapasya, which is austerity and penance.

“In that harmless setting, in the most innocent of endeavors, they were being attacked by wicked characters. The attacks took place without prior warning. The physical violence occurred during the nighttime. The perpetrators waited specifically for when formal religious observances, yajnas, were about to complete. Like when you are about to place the last piece on top of a tower, when you are nearing completion of a puzzle, when you have finally completed a difficult task, another group rushes in to spoil everything.

“These were Rakshasas by species and by nature. They would attack to kill. They would then eat the flesh of the victims. Saintly people were being eaten away. They asked Rama for help. Rama vowed to protect them. The particulars of the situation aside, I want to know why someone would ever dream of doing such a thing. How do you attack innocent people? Why would you take pleasure in that? The sages were not bothering anybody. No one was harmed during the yajnas. This is the worst kind of vandalism, if you ask me. Just why would someone ever behave in such a way? Did they have no shame? I am having a difficult time understanding.”

These questions can only be asked by someone who is not fully experienced with the world around them. We say this because it is seen that the general tendency is for the powerful to exploit the innocent. The wicked take pleasure in destroying the happiness of the peaceful, of the quiet, of those who are not bothering anyone else.

Take, for example, the fraudulent directives of the public health officials from a few years back. The purpose was to divide people, to pit the envious against the non-envious. No sane person was actually upset that others were walking around, breathing without obstruction, and living just fine in the absence of poison injections. Those supposed medical treatments were rushed to market, with thousands of side effects buried under a mountain of administrative paperwork. The people who refused, who carried on like they previously did, were called the worst names. They were vilified. They were mocked. In many cases, they lost their jobs. Friends and family no longer spoke to them.

The real crime was living without fear. The innocent had to therefore be persecuted. In the historical texts originating in India, we hear of many beautiful objects of worship, housed in establishments that existed at some point in time. Those places are no longer standing because the envious came and demolished the structures. No one was being hurt through such worship. There was no reason to interfere. But being found guilty of the false crime of following a prohibited religion, the people of the time had to flee. Many did not make it. They tried their best to secure the deities, but many times those were demolished, as well.

Rama appeared for the protection of the sadhus, who were being persecuted by the shape-shifting Rakshasas from Lanka, but prior to that was the story of the five-year old Daitya prince named Prahlada. He was persecuted for speaking, for detailing the many places where the presence of Divinity can be found. Unashamed and unafraid, Prahlada became the victim of attacks from adults. These attacks were intended to be lethal in nature. Fortunately, that was a special case. The attacks did not work. Prahlada was protected by an invisible force, who ultimately revealed Himself in the amazing avatara of Narasimha.

विष्णुः शस्त्रेषु युष्मासु मयि चासौ यथा स्थितः
दैतेयास् तेन सत्येन मा क्रामन्त्व् आयुधानि वः

viṣṇuḥ śastreṣu yuṣmāsu mayi cāsau yathā sthitaḥ
daiteyās tena satyena mā krāmantv āyudhāni vaḥ

“O Daityas, just as Vishnu is in those weapons and also situated in me, so by that truth your weapons will not be able to overcome me.”  (Prahlada Maharaja, Vishnu Purana, 1.17.33)

In one sense, the wicked cannot be blamed. They know no other way. They are envious by nature. They take pleasure in the pain of others because they are miserable themselves. They may have everything going for them, otherwise. Fame, fortune, wealth, prominence, and influence. These are not enough. They get triggered by seeing the peaceful nature of others, who value good qualities and pious living over anything else. The devotees are the swans and the demons are the crows. Some saintly people are so kind that they try their best to convert the crows into swans. It is a difficult task, but the potential for success is there. In this dreaded age of Kali, the holy name is the only hope. Goswami Tulsidas compares that name to the very Narahari who protected Prahlada.

राम नाम नर केसरी कनककसिपु कलिकाल
जापक जन प्रहलाद जिमि पालिहि दलि सुरसाल

rāma nāma nara kesarī kanakakasipu kalikāla
jāpaka jana prahalāda jimi pālihi dali surasāla

“Shri Rama’s holy name is like Narasimhadeva to the Hiranyakashipu-like Kali Yuga. For those who chant the holy name, the Lord offers them all protections and crushes their tormentors, just as He did for Prahlada Maharaja.“ (Dohavali, 26)

In Closing:

Repeated instigation to make,
Since pleasure from pain to take.

Not well enough to leave alone,
Ways of the asura known.

But saints protection giving,
For in dreaded Kali’s age living.

That like Narahari from column to appear,
Holy names for interference to clear.

Categories: questions

Tags: dailyprompt, god, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, ramayana, religion