www.saiwisdom.com The Sunday Talk Given by Prof. Anil Kumar Ramnavami (Part 2) March, 21 2010 OM OM OM Sai Ram With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan, Dear Brothers and Sisters, RAMAYANA THE MAHAKHYANA In the beginning of Ramayana, Valmiki clearly states, Oh people, go through this text Ramayana without prejudice, without bias. So let s not be prejudiced, let s not be biased as we read Ramayana. We should be unbiased, open and balanced as we read the holy scripture of Ramayana. If you already hold some established notions and your mind is pre-conditioned, you cannot enjoy this holy scripture. It is for this reason that this maharishi, Sage Valmiki, appeals to everybody, Listen to the story of Ramayana, unprejudiced, unbiased, and with an open mind. Valmiki calls Ramayana, Mahakhyana. Mahakhyana means a very, very great composition, a history, or a record. Why? This Ramayana is not only the story of Rama; it is the history of His whole family His father and His forefathers. Everybody in the whole family-tree is described. Rama belongs to a clan by the name of Ikshvaku. Many, many great people belonged to this pedigree; it is a family tree of great people. The first man of this clan was Prajapati, the greatest man. All the other people who followed were illustrious men of sacrifice. Therefore, Valmiki says it is mahakhyana, the historical record of the family of Lord Rama, full of men of sacrifice, illustrious character and exemplary nature; composed so that humanity will have the pleasure of 1
listening to this whole story. The quality of our life is improved by reading the holy scripture of Ramayana. Surprisingly, we find people asking some silly questions, doubting certain incidents, and bringing the epic down to the level of logic and reasoning. Logic and reasoning are only applicable to the world. While worldly things can be put within the frame of logic and reasoning, spirituality is illogical and irrational. It is love, not logic. Therefore, let us understand Ramayana from this viewpoint. This book was written thousands of years ago and yet we find that Valmiki asked himself all the questions we have today. We find in Ramayana the answers to our questions of today, and thus we conclude that the poet could imagine the doubts and questions of the coming generations. That s why Ramayana has survived, despite all sorts of criticism and comments. It has survived the test of time because the sage imagined the logical, scientific temper of modern man and efficiently addressed the questions and doubts he would have. THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF RAMAYANA I would like to draw your attention to three points of Ramayana. First, at the physical level, let s look at the narrative and meaning of the story. Ramayana is a very, very interesting story. Second, let us study the dharmic principles or ideals contained therein. And third, let us enjoy it as a beautiful composition of poetic excellence. Let us appreciate the poetry, the meter, the language, and the standards of excellence in composition and writing. Ramayana is also great from the point of view of literature. So Ramayana has three dimensions: the physical story, the ideals and lessons for humanity (then, now and forever), and finally as a masterpiece of literature. Valmiki is called maharishi, a sage. Here there are two words: maha and rishi. Maha means great or mighty while rishi is a sage. Maharishi is a great sage who can see the present, the future, and look back into the past; a rishi in the present, with the capacity to peep into the future and back into the past. Further Valmiki is a mahakavi. Kavi means poet. It also has another meaning: a doer or composer. That is to say, Valmiki is not only the writer of, but also a participant in, Ramayana. Sita stayed in his ashram for some time, and Valmiki taught the story of Ramayana to Lava and Kusa, the two sons of Sita. So Valmiki is not only the writer of the story, but also an actor in it. He has a role in the epic Ramayana that is simply marvellous. Now let us go into other details. RAMA AND SITA: MATTER AND ENERGY In Ramayana we have Rama and Sita. Rama is the Lord, while Sita is His consort, His wife. Now the doubt will come, Oh! God also chooses to get married, God also has a wife. When a human being is in full pain and agony because of family life, we don t want to spare God: Let Him also get into family life and suffer! That s our ignorant approach. But I tell you, they are not simply husband and wife. Rama and Sita should not be restricted merely to the physical. Physically, they are husband and wife; but spiritually, Rama is the spirit and Sita is matter. Rama is the Creator, while Sita is creation. Rama is Purusha or Divinity, while Sita is prakrithi or nature. 2
So Sita and Rama are a combination of matter and energy, positive and negative, conscience and consciousness, the individual soul and the cosmic soul, creation and the Creator. That s what Rama and Sita mean. Don t simply take them as husband and wife. They are something more. Valmiki is an excellent poet. Most of you go to movies. If we don t have time to go to a theatre, at least we watch movies on TV. Sometimes in movies, we find flashbacks to the hero s or heroine s childhood, showing incidents in the past. We think that is a modern technique. No, no, no! It was a technique followed by Valmiki. In Ramayana there are two parts: the first is called poorva bhaga, and the second uttara bhaga, the post part. In the first part there are interesting incidents: the killing of Ravana, the killing of Vali, how Parasurama was humiliated, the power of Ramachandra, the glory of Ramachandra, and the qualities of Rama. The flashback comes afterwards, in the second part. Uttara bhaga explains why Vali was killed and why Parasurama was humiliated. So the second part reveals and exposes the mystery behind the incidents of the first part. Now tell me, is Valmiki an outdated man? No! He s a modern director! If Valmiki were a movie director today, all the Oscars would be awarded to him! If there were ten Oscar awards, he would win all ten! He is an all-timer; even in the future nobody will be able to compete, and no one will ever equal him. That is the greatness of the epic Ramayana. THE THREE LADIES: THATAKI, AHALYA, AND SITA There are three ladies in the epic Ramayana. One is Thataki, the second is Ahalya, and the third is Sita. Thataki was killed by Rama. Viswamitra, the sage, had requested Rama s father, Dasaratha, to send Rama with him to protect yaga and yagna from the attacks by demons. So Rama and Lakshmana followed Viswamitra to the forest in order to protect yagnas and yagas. There Rama saw Thataki and killed her. Second, Rama and Lakshmana were following Viswamithra to Mithila. On their way, they spent some time at Gautama s hermitage. In that hermitage of Gautama, Rama stepped on a stone and that stone was transformed into the second woman, Ahalya. Then Rama and Lakshmana, along with Viswamitra, went to Mithila where Rama married to Sita, the third woman. Therefore, my friends, three women are there: Thataki, Ahalya, and Sita. Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba explains the roles of these three women in His own style. The first, Thataki, is a demon representing the thamasic quality, the animal quality, inertia. That animal quality in Thataki has to be killed; therefore Rama killed her. The second woman, Ahalya, unfortunately had deviated from the path of discipline. Therefore, Gautama her husband cursed her to be a stone. Later Gautama, her husband, out of pity said, Ahalya, don t worry, you may be in the form of a stone today because of my curse, which I cannot take back; but there will be a day when Rama will visit our ashram. He will step on this stone and you will come back to your normal feminine form. 3
Baba explains the transformation of Ahalya thus: Ahalya represents the rajasic qualities of desire and ambition, so Ahalya needs transformation not killing. Thataki, the thamasic quality, has to be killed. Ahalya, the rajasic quality, has to be transformed. The third female character, Sita, symbolises the sathwic quality, piousness, steadiness, calmness, and equanimity. These are Divine qualities. Rama accepted her. The acceptance of sathwic Sita, the transformation of rajasic Ahalya, and the annihilation of thamasic Thataki are the three feminine roles that we come across in the scripture Ramayana, so beautifully explained by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. THE HOLY WEDDING: SITA KALYANAM Then, wow! The holy wedding Sita Kalyana. Sri Ramnavami is the occasion of the holy wedding of Sita and Rama. There is a particular ritual associated with weddings where the bridegroom and bride sit face-to-face. They collect sacred rice mixed with turmeric, thalambralu, and put it on each others heads. This holy ritual is very interesting. Please watch how Baba spiritualises this. Rama is the son of Dasaratha, who is the emperor, not an ordinary man. Sita is the daughter of another emperor, King Janaka, again not an ordinary man. They don t have rice. Rice is for ordinary people. They are kings and emperors, the richest of people. So Janaka brought shining pearls. Sita collects pearls in her palms. How are the palms of Sita? The palms of Sita are the colour of red roses. The shining red colour of her palms is reflected in the pearls. She puts all the pearls on the head of Rama. Rama was wearing a white turban. When these white pearls were put on Rama s head, they shone bright white, radiant and effulgent like sunlight, because they reflected the white colour of His turban. When they poured pearls on each others heads, some fell on the ground. These pearls that fell on the ground looked black in colour because they were reflecting the colour of the earth. So now the pearls are of three colours. In the hands of Sita they are red, on the head of Rama they are white, while those that are on the ground are black. Swami explains it, so please follow me. The pearls on the head of Rama are white, bright, shining, effulgent, and radiant like sunlight. Why? Because of his sathwic character which is shuddha, pure. Sathwa is pure, unsullied, blemishless, unpolluted Divinity, Purusha, God Himself. Those pearls held in the palms of Mother Sita are red, meaning rajasic, full of desire. Sita represents nature, prakrithi. Prakrithi is rajasic, emotional. Purusha, Rama is transcendental, so those pearls close to God are white, whereas these pearls that are in the palms of the nature, prakrithi, are red, rajasic. And those pearls that fell on the ground are black, meaning forbidden, neither close to Purusha, God, nor prakrithi, nature. Therefore they are deserted and forsaken. Thamasic refers to lazy, careless people who have no respect for God, who misuse and abuse nature. Abusing nature is a thamasic quality. Therefore the pearls on the ground are black in colour, while the pearls held 4
in the palms of Sita are red in colour: making proper use of natural resources and nature, acting reverentially, respectfully, thankfully, gratefully, and worshipfully is closeness to prakrithi or Sita. And those pearls on the head of Rama are bright white because they are transcendental and beyond. When the whole thing is Divine, there is nothing other than the Divinity. That is how Swami explains the holy wedding, Sita Kalyana, which takes place on Sri Ramnavami, happening on 24 th March this year. THE THREE FRIENDS: JAMBAVAN, SUGRIVA, AND VIBHISHANA Rama had three friends. We have discussed the three ladies and now we come to the three friends. These examples are taken exclusively from the discourses of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba; I don t have any claim to originality. Who are these three friends? They are not ordinary people. They are all kings because Rama Himself is a king. So these three kings represent the three basic qualities of life. The first king is Jambavan, a close friend of Rama. He never had any desire; he never asked Ramachandra to grant him anything. He was totally selfless, totally desireless. He lived for Rama, thinking only of Him. Therefore, the first friend, Jambavan, is a friend of the sathwic type. The second friend is Sugriva, another king. He was crying because his wife was kidnapped by his own brother, Vali. His brother not only kidnapped his wife, but also drove him out of his kingdom. So Sugriva was separated from his family and lost his kingdom. Because of his friendship with Rama, he was able to get his wife and his kingdom back, and his desires were fulfilled. He is a rajasic friend. So Jambavan is a sathwic friend, a desireless friend, while Sugriva is a rajasic friend, an ambitious friend, full of desires. Then comes the third king, Vibhishana, a demon with all the demonic qualities, who kept the company of Ravana, who was his own brother. Because he surrendered to Rama, Rama accepted him as His friend. Vibhishana is a thamasic friend. So Rama had three friends: first, a sathwic friend, Jambavan; second, a rajasic friend, Sugriva; and third, a thamasic friend, Vibhishana. In this way, Rama represents the three characteristics and beyond. Please see this. Energy is present in light and in heat, but it is beyond both of them. Energy is both light and heat, and it is also beyond. Similarly, Rama is present in these three qualities, but He is also beyond them. That is what we have to understand. THE THREE ENEMIES: VALI, RAVANA, AND KUMBHAKARNA Now we come to the Rama s three enemies. First we dealt with the three ladies, next with the three friends, and now we come to the three enemies. Actually Rama Himself had no enemies; He was not inimical towards anybody. But He was treated as an enemy by others. Who were they? The first enemy is Vali, the brother of Sugriva. We can say Vali is a sathwic enemy. Even in enemies, there are sathwic people. How is Vali sathwic? He knew his mistake; he knew his sins. He accepted all his mistakes and sought pardon. He fell at the feet of Rama, accepting all the crimes he had committed, and he was granted pardon by Ramachandra. So Vali is a sathwic enemy. 5
The second one, Ravana, is a rajasic enemy. Why? He never accepted his mistake. He never sought pardon from Rama. On the contrary, he kept arguing that he was right. And what happened? He lost everything that belonged to him his kingdom, subjects, children, and family because he never accepted his guilt. He argued only in support of his actions. A rajasic man acts like that: he never admits that he is wrong. He never compromises, as he thinks he is always right. Such people face insult. They will be put to shame. So Ravana represents the rajasic enemy. Then we have the third enemy, Kumbhakarna, the thamasic enemy. How does a thamasic enemy behave? They view good things as bad, and bad things as good. All good things are portrayed as bad, and all bad things are portrayed as good. They are horrible creatures. Kumbhakarna is this thamasic enemy. PATITA PAVANA Rama had three types of friends: sathwic, rajasic, and thamasic. Likewise, He had three types of enemies. Then Rama came across three people whose lives He emancipated. They were downtrodden, neglected, poor people, leading low lives. Patita means downtrodden, pavana means emancipated. Rama is Patita Pavana, the one who emancipated those who were downtrodden, those who were leading low, mean lives. Again, they are of three types. Who are they? The first one is Vibhishana. He was leading the low, mean life of a demon; but when he joined Ramachandra, he was glorified. In the company of Ramachandra, he became very good. So he was the first one to be uplifted. Sabari was a lady leading a life of utter poverty. She was told by a saint named Matanga, Oh Sabari, don t worry. Rama is going to visit this ashram someday. So Sabari was waiting and waiting for the arrival of Rama, and then she was uplifted. We see in Vibhishana and Sabari the first category of sathwic patita the ones who were leading lives of utter neglect, lives which were so simple and poor. Guhudu Guha falls into the second or rajasic category. When Rama and Lakshmana were in the forest for the first time, they went in a boat belonging to a boatman called Guha. He helped Rama, Lakshmana, and Viswamitra cross from one bank of the river to the other. At that time, this boatman was committing heinous crimes and sinful deeds. Because of his closeness to Ramachandra, because he helped Him cross the river, Guha was uplifted. He is rajasic patita, the second class. The third one is the bird, Jatayu. When Ravana kidnapped Sita, this bird, Jatayu, came and fought with Ravana to save Sita from abduction. Jatayu sacrificed his life. And so Jatayu deserved to have his last rites performed by Rama Himself. Rama s own father, Dasaratha, didn t get that opportunity. What the father could not receive was granted to the bird, Jatayu that is to say, the blessing of Rama when his end approached. This bird is, after all, of the animal world, and represents the thamasic quality, thamasic patita. So there are three categories of patita. One is sathwic patita, the one who is downtrodden or utterly neglected, leading a life like Vibhishana, and who is then emancipated. The second is 6
rajasic patita, like Guha, and the third is thamasic patita, like Jatayu, as explained by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. CREATION IS A COMBINATION OF SATHWIC, THAMASIC, AND RAJASIC The father of Sri Ramachandra, Dasaratha, represents the human body with its ten senses: the five senses of action, karmendriyas, and the five senses of perception, jnanendriyas. Dasaratha, the human body, is a chariot with all these ten senses. That is what Baba has said. He has also given another meaning, which is really interesting. Dasaratha had three wives: Kousalya, Sumithra, and Kaikeyi. Kousalya represents the sathwic quality, Sumithra represents the rajasic quality, and Kaikeyi represents the thamasic quality. My friends, you see that I have been repeatedly mentioning these three qualities: rajasic, thamasic, and sathwic. Why? The whole world, all of creation, is a combination of these three. We should transcend these three to be Divine. We should go beyond these three to attain the Divine. THE TEN HEADS OF RAVANA Ravana had ten heads. What are those ten heads? Swami said six of the heads are shat sastras, six scriptures, and four of the heads represents the four Vedas. Ravana is a great scholar ten heads meaning, six MSc degrees and four PhD degrees! Ten degrees! Ravana, the greatest scholar can be given any number of noble prizes for his scholarship six MSc s and four PhD s, what more do you want? But what is the use? His weakness brought him to total ruin. Swami gives another explanation: that the ten heads represents arishadvargas, the six basic weaknesses of mankind. What are they? Kama desire, krodha anger, moha attachment, lobha greed, mada pride, and matsarya envy. (Of course, because of the advancement of Kali Yuga, six might have been increased to sixty today!) However, Ravana s ten heads represent the six arishadvarga and the four elements of manas, buddhi, chitta, and ahamkara. Manas mind, buddhi intellect, chitta emotion, sentiment, or feeling, and ahamkara ego. These are the ten heads of Ravana enough to invite one s own ruin. That is what Swami says. THE FOUR BROTHERS FOUR VEDAS Who are the four brothers? Rama, Lakshmana, Bharatha, and Satrugna. These four bothers represent the four Vedas. Rama is Yajur Veda. Swami s residence is Yajur Mandir. So Rama represents Yajur Veda, the dharma or code of life. Lakshmana represents Rig Veda. Rig Veda describes all the ways of performing sacred rituals and service. Bharatha represents Sama Veda. He was always singing the praise of God. He ruled the kingdom of Ayodhya in the absence of Rama. Shatrugna, the fourth brother, represents Atharva Veda, following the path of the brothers, enjoying peace within himself. Thus the four brothers represent Yajur Veda, Rig Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharva Veda. That is how Bhagavan Baba has explained it. RAMA AND OMKAR There are three sounds in Rama s name. The primal sound Omkar, which we chant early in the morning, is Aum. Omkar is also composed of three letters, aa, u, and, ma. Aa is Lakshmana, u is Bharatha, and ma is the last brother, Satrugna. Three-in-one is Rama 7
Omkara. Rama is Aum, with the three letters aa, u, and ma Lakshmana, Bharatha, and Satrugna. So when you say Rama, it is equal to the primal sound, Aum. Ratnakara, a robber, was able to become Maharishi Valmiki by repeating Om Rama. A sinner can become a saint by repeating God s name. Hanuman could become chiranjeevi, or immortal, because of the power of the name of Ramachandra. Rama s name has three letters, ra, aa, and ma. They represent three aspects. Ra is surya, aa is chandra, and ma is agni. Ra, aa, ma sun, moon, fire. What does the sun do? When the sun rises, darkness is dispelled. Ra, the sun, removes all the darkness of the ignorance; with ra ajnana is dispelled. Similarly, when I say Rama, the darkness of ignorance is dispelled. The second letter, aa, chandra, is the moon, so by repeating Rama s name it is as if I am cooled by the moon. I will be calm, quiet, and undisturbed. I will not be carried away by the agitations of desire. Aa, the moon makes you calm and quiet; it pacifies you. Agitation and desires will be quietened by the moon. And then what does ma, the fire, do? It burns. Ma, the fire, burns your sins. Papa is the sin and ma, the fire, burns your sins. Similarly, the utterance of the name of Rama will burn all our sins. So ra, aa, and ma represent the sun, the moon, and fire: one dispels darkness, one makes you calm, quiet, and undisturbed, and the third burns your sins. That is how Baba explains the name of Rama. DIVINE INTERPRETATION OF RAMA AND SITA Swami also explains the meaning of Rama and Sita together in a beautiful way: the individual, Rama, is in the company of Sita, the awareness of Divinity. This is a perfect, ideal combination. Rama-Sita or Sita-Rama represents the individual with awareness, the individual with Divinity. This beautiful couple represents the individual with awareness of consciousness. Unfortunately, Ravana kidnapped Sita so Rama was put to suffering. Rama was crying and moving through the wild forest in search of Sita. What does this mean? When the individual is separated from awareness, when Rama, the individual, is separated from Sita, awareness, what happens? He has to move in the agony of life, aranya, the forest. He has to spend His time in agony and misery because He is separated from Sita, the awareness of consciousness or Divinity. DIVINE INTERPRETATION OF SUGRIVA AND HANUMAN Then what happens? When you are in search of awareness, when you want to be aware of consciousness, your mind needs to cooperate. So Rama, representing the individual, along with Lakshmana, who represents the mind, moves through the forest of life. And in the forest He comes across two people: one with discrimination, Sugriva, and the other one, Vali, who is full of misconduct and disobedience. Rama kills Vali, thereby symbolically killing disobedience and misconduct, while He befriends Sugriva, who represents discrimination or viveka. Next, Rama receives the support of Hanuman, who undertakes the mission to cross the ocean in search of Sita. Hanuman represents utsaha, enthusiasm and zeal. With the help of viveka, 8
discrimination as symbolised by Sugriva, and enthusiasm, as symbolised by Hanuman, He is in search of Sita, wisdom or awareness. It is only by crossing this ocean of attachment, this sagara of samsara, that you can attain Sita, the anubhavajnana or experiential knowledge. At His coronation, Rama sits on the throne with Sita by His side what a beautiful combination this is, sitting on the throne of the human heart! A beautiful undercurrent of spirituality runs through all the narration and description of the holy epic Ramayana, composed by the great sage, Valmiki. PITRU VAKYA PARIPALANA Swami calls our attention to three important things here. One is deha, the body, the second mata, the word, and the third, manas, the mind. For what purpose is the body given? For service. Rama did this. Rama served His father by following his command. Pitru Vakya Paripalana. He followed the command of his father. Following the command of one s parents is the greatest service that one can do to them. Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba followed the command of His mother and father like Sri Ramachandra. That is deha. SWEET WORDS OF DIVINE Second, mata the word. How should the word be? Full of truth. Words should be sweet, and they should be limited too. Sri Ramachandra is known for His limited, sweet talk, for His words of truth. This is also the case with Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. His words are sweet, His talk is full of truth, and His talk is always with very few words. So we should be very attentive so as not to lose a single word. We should listen to every word carefully because to lose one word is to lose a precious gem, to lose it forever. One hundred percent attention and concentration to every word is important because all His words are gems. Third is manas, the mind. The mind should always be towards God. The mind should contemplate, ruminate over, ponder and reflect upon the leelas of God, the glory of God. Swami s mind is full of love and concern for humanity. Therefore, my friends, on this holy day of Sri Ramnavami, when I think of this holy scripture Ramayana as applied to the life of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, I find a beautiful combination. It is a perfect parallel of what we read from past times in action today. The life of Rama is relived today as Sai Rama. The philosophy of Rama that was lived in the past, is spoken and taught today. Like Krishna He teaches, like Rama He lives. Rama s life and Krishna s teachings are to be found beautifully combined in the life of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba! May Bhagavan bless you on this holy day of Sri Ramnavami. Let Him abide in you forever and ever. Let His idealism, His teachings, His compassion, His kindness, and His values direct our lives forever and ever. Sai Ram! Om... Om...Om Asato Maa Sadgamaya Tamaso Maa Jyotirgamaya Mrityormaa Amrithamgamaya 9
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Jai Bolo Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Babaji ki Jai! Jai Bolo Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Babaji ki Jai! Jai Bolo Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Babaji ki Jai! Copyright Prof. Anil Kumar Kamaraju - Puttaparthi All rights reserved. 10