Ram…Was, Is and Will be (Segment-1)

In this Bengal election, we must have heard the slogan, ‘Jai Shree Ram. Which described the importance of Ram, even today, and the most notable thing that_ how we could forget the politics over Ram mandir for almost two decades. On the occasion of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose birth anniversary, when Mamta Banerjee stood to speak, ‘Jai Shree Ram, sounds had come up and she refused to speak. That was something else, not the aim of this article to describe the politics over him, but his relevance of recent time besides politics, Ram is so important even after solving the temple issue.

Being an Indian we know about Ram and his importance for not only people but also politicians to make their presence of being his devotee. But what is the main character of his personality which brought him this stage of prestige? And  how he has been relevant all these centuries, decades and even years. From cinema to politics, from Ramand Sagar to Kunal Kohli, everyone wants to make him relevant in each decade. But what makes him ‘Ram’, that is important. Does that word Ram mean only a person who was being present in history or a mythological character or it is a concept that anyone can become ‘Ram’?

As we know about Valmiki Ramayan, where the story of Ram was written and after Valmiki, many regional translations and interpretations had been introduced by many saints and scholars. Today also many writers such as Amish Tripathi and Devdutt Patnaik are working on that way to deliver the wonderful and dramatic life of Ram according to today’s scenario. And their books became bestsellers, that’s the magic of Ram and his life, even modern generation wants to love him not as a God but as an idol or the hero, or maybe an ordinary person, who faced problems and overcame them. The cinematic image, who fought and got back his wife from Ravan, the man, who portrayed the villain in Ramayan.

When Ram’s stepmother Kaikayi wants him to exile for fourteen years and besides him, her son Bharat to be crowned as the king of Ayodhya. These are the boons, she got from Dashrath, who died because of the separation of his son. In the exile when Bharat, Ram’s stepbrother comes to take him back to Ayodhya, he refuses, and because of his father’s promise, he chooses to be living as an expat with his wife and younger brother for fourteen years. In their exile, when his wife demands the golden deer, he catches it, but that is the unholy plan and when he comes back, the wife is no more, Ravan kidnapped her to take revenge for his sister.

In the journey to find his wife, he meets monkeys, like Sugriv, Hanuman, Angat and Jambvant, etc. His brother gets injured because of ‘Shakti astr’, the weapon, used by Meghnad, the son of Ravan, even they both are kidnapped by Ahiravan, and both the times Hanuman saves them. And, when Ram kills Ravan, he says Lakshman to learn something from Ravan; however, he is a wise man and a great devotee of Shiva. When his wife comes back he wants to prove her purity and ‘Agnipariksha’ happens. He becomes the king and Sita the queen, but due to some allegations, his wife leaves him. During Ashmedh Yagn, his sons stand against him, yet he knows their identity again the unfortunate situation takes place, Sita refuses to come back and goes with her mother (Prithvi or earth) and lays to rest herself.

All incidents above are not favourable and great but still, Ram is an example for several people. Do you ever think why he is being worshipped and ideal? Let’s take an example, if anything happens to us that happened in Ram’s life, how would we react to it? Just think a moment. Sure, very few could make themselves calm as Ram could, but many of them might not be able to handle it. That’s the beauty of Ram’s stature as a king, husband, brother, and son. Many questions arise in my mind and yours too, if he had refused to obey his father’s given boons to his stepmother Kaikayi, then how would the story have been? Does he still ideal for all of us? The answer would be ‘No’. What makes him ‘Ram’, is his nature, his behaviour, and his actions.

When polygamy was at its peak, every king had many wives, even his father had three marriages. But he stood on his words till the last breath to follow monogamy, and loyal towards Sita. During Ashwmedh yagn, he almost killed his children, and after realizing the truth, he wasn’t accompanied further life by his wife. Many hard circumstances arrived but, the one thing, he had been intact entire his life, and that was his calmness. He hadn’t lost his control over him and got angry even in the worst, and didn’t lay down his ethics and moralities. Even many of us are unaware that he got troubles since his childhood. As we know, Dashrath loved Ram very much, but many years Ram had been neglected by his father. The main reason was the war of Karchhapa (the place somewhere in north India). During the birth of Ram, the war was going on between Dashrath and Ravan, and in that war, Dashrath was defeated by Ravan. That the reason Ram was inauspicious to Ayodhya, and Dashrath started blaming him for his defeat. Then things changed when Ram saved Dashrath’s life from the leopard during hunting; hence his view had changed for his son.

So, Ram had been unfortunate since his birth, but still, his entire life was the representation of peace and rightness. Always on the path of truth and obey the rules. This writing describes Ram and his life, and what we need to learn from him that’s up to us. These are not sufficient words to describe his life. What he did was learning aspects, but the question is_ how can we achieve that state? To follow Ram is another thing but to follow his way of living life is different from being a blind follower. That we will read soon; and how can we bring Ramhood within us?

To be continued…