Ramayana vignettes: The exalted experiences of self-sacrifice

When you think of Ramayana, the first thing that strikes me is Adhyatma Ramayana, written by Thunchath Ezhuthachan, which I studied in the high school. Since of yore, Adhyatma Ramayana has been hailed and read out with devotion in Hindu homes. This is read with keen interest even in our times as the wisdom of this epic transcends time.

Ramayana actually gives out a message to protect dharma and to sacrifice wealth and pleasure. At a time when the world – its institutions and ideologies, and more above all its individuals – is animated by a feverish desire to conquer everything in sight, here is an ideology that speaks of selfless sacrifice to preserve the world order.

The Ramayana is littered with the painful but exalted experiences of self sacrifice. Rama sacrificed his kingdom, suffered even deeper losses and lived in exile during the best years of his life, all to honour the word of his father, King Dasharatha. The self-abnegation of Rama stands apart and gives valuable lesson even in this era. Lakshman’s sacrifice is even greater. He leaves his young wife and accompanies his brother to the forest.

The life-altering adventures they have during their exile reveal to us how vigilant one should be against the forces of evil. We are surrounded by diabolic forces that appear before us in myriad forms, even in guises that seem transcendent and divine. These can be overcome only by deep religious beliefs and spiritual experiences.

Rama could have killed Ravana instantly as he was unarmed. Instead, Rama asked him to come the next day, fully armed and ready. At a time when the reigning ideology is the elimination of the weak and the voiceless, this Ramayana month challenges us to pick up the gauntlet of self-denial. Let us first erase the self and vow to protect the meek and the unarmed.

(Fr Bovas Mathew is  executive director of Malankara Social Service Society/As told to Cynthia Chandran)