Deriving from our Scriptures

So I was listening to some bhajans based out of Ramayana Came across these, felt like sharing

1. उतराई में मुदरी दीनी,

केवट ने यह विनती कीनी,

उतराई ईनहीं लुंगा राम |

पतितपावन सीताराम ||

तुम आये, हम घाट उतारे,

हम आयेंगे घाट तुम्हारे,

तब तुम पार लगाओ राम ।

When Prabhu Shree Ram crossed the river on Kevat's boat he offered him his wedding ring as he did not have money to pay him. Kevat falls into Prabhu's feet and says he won't be able to bear the burden of taking fees from Lord himself.

He then asks Prabhu Shree Ram that when he will arrive at his ghat (Vaikunth in the afterlife) Prabhu must take him to the other side.

Note that the writer saved the ring here so that it can be used by Hanuman ji at Ashok Vatika to win the trust of mata Sita.

2. अंगद चल लंका में आया.

सभा बीच में पाँव जमाया,

बाली पुत्र महा बल धाम

पतितपावन सीताराम ||

रावण पाँव हटाने आया,

अंगद ने फिर पांव उठाया,

क्षमा करे तुझको श्री राम |

पतितपावन सीताराम ||

When Vanar Sena had reached Lanka, Prabhu Shree Ram again gave an opportunity to Ravan to surrender. He sent Angad to Ravan's court.

Angad placed his foot at the court centre and challenged everyone if they lift his leg from that place, the Ram Sena will immediately back off and Mata Sita will be kept in Ravan's custody forever.

This shows Angad's confidence in himself and Lord Ram, which many of us lack.

When no one was able to achieve the feat, Ravan out of anger took the initiative himself. As soon as he bent, Angad immediately took his feet away and said "If you want to fall into someone's feet, do it in front of Prabhu Ram"

Keep in mind that both Angad and Ravan were powerful enough. Ravan had once lifted Kailash Parvat where lord Shiva himself was sitting, while Angad was the son of Bali who took a round of earth while capturing Ravana in his underarms.

But Ravan was equivalent of his father to Angad as they both were friends. And no son will allow his father to touch his feet.

But the way Angad wanted it to be interpreted was different. Hence whenever someone says a thing it might not mean what they wanted it to be interpreted as or how you interpret. Hence always keep a track of your words and thoughts!

3. When Laxman ji and Parshuram ji were having an argument, seeing that the situation was going out of control, Prabhu Ram had to step in. The poet describes this with a beautiful metaphor:

लखन उतर आहुति सरिस भृगुबर कोपु कृसानु।

बढ़त देखि जल सम बचन बोले रघुकुलभानु ।।

Mahakavi Tulsidas compares Parshuram ji's anger to Hawan Kund and Laxman's words to oblations. Prabhu Shree Ram's calm words are here compared to Pure water which can extinguishes the fire of anger of Lord Parshuram

Another reference I got from some religious texts.

शान्ताकारं भुजगशयनं पद्मनाभं सुरेशं

This is a part of shloka used for praying or praising lord Vishnu. In our religious texts there are a lot of instances of symbolism.

So lord Vishnu is portrayed as sitting in क्षीर सागर (ocean of milk). Lakshmi (portraying wealth) is near his feet giving him massage. This depicts the enormous wealth lord Vishnu has. Another example that he main temple inside Tirupati has no lights. It shows that it has so much gold that the shimmer of gold is enough to lighten the surroundings.

Having so much wealth still he has a shaant akar (noble/calm figure). He has a bed on sheshanaag (symbolising death as snakes are known to be a cause of large number of deaths). So he has death above and below his head still he is shaant akar.

Padnabham means whose belly has lotus. Lotus symbolising the flower which grows in mud and water still doesn't let a drop touch itself. Depicting समता or surroundings cannot change you. Also lotus is the seat of lord Brahma who is known the creator. Possessing all this still he is shaant akar.

And last but not the least. सुरों के भी ईश which means lord of the Gods.

A few days ago I came across a much less in practice concept of worship. Most of us worship god in the form of their figures, images etc.

But the शुद्ध धर्म concept believes in the qualities rather than the shape. I have seen various forms of worship and can confirm that we think less about the qualities of our gods and more about their physical beings. But if one thinks logically, even our parents would be more happy if we adopt their good habits rather than just touching their feet day and night.

An example can be taken about lord Shiv. Shiv means कल्याण, (yeah that explains the meaning of Shivam as कल्याणकारी). The sacrifices lord Shiv made are known to us all. Such as drinking poison during Amrit Manthan.

But we know less about what the figure of lord Shiv truly depicts. We have seen his throat bluish due to poison in paintings. But there is a smile always on the face instead of anger as depicted in some other godly figures. Also he has the moon on his head and River Ganga coming out from his hairs.

Both the moon and river Ganga are a sign of purity, peace and calmness. We on our daily basis romanticise the moon that it's so peaceful to look at. The exact same reason is why it is there at lord Shiv's head.

Summing up this shows that lord Shiv portrays peace and calmness. We should understand the signs and qualities which our ancient texts want to show us, rather than believing blindly!

Mahakavi Suryakant Tripathi Nirala in his outstanding poem described "Shri Ram ki Shakti Pooja". The scene starts with a battlefield. Ravana through years of Tap had achieved various powers. One of the prominent ones was "Devi Shakti" which was responsible for deviating all of the lord Ram's arrows. Everything was engulfed in that Devi Shakti circle. Lord Ram became anxious because of this.

He started worrying about Mata Sita and the thought of defeat started occupying his mind. That is when wise bear Jamwant came with another of his suggestions. He suggested lord Ram to worship Shakti (Maa durga). A decision was made to dedicate 108 lotuses to Maa Durga.

While the process was going on Devi decided to take a test. She lands on the battlefield and hides 1 of the lotuses. Now Lord Ram is in a fix on how to get 1 more lotus after dedicating the rest 107. That's when the thought strikes his mind that he is known as "Rajeev Lochan" i.e. the one with Lotus eyes. He immediately decides to put one of his eyes to sacrifice and points his arrow towards it. Maa Durga herself comes to stop him and grants him the way to overcome the circle.

This is again an appreciation of how our scriptures connect the dots. Raghuvansh is known for their "Pran Jaye par vachan na jaye" ideology.

Deciding to worship some god/goddess is in itself swearing. And once a decision is made Lord Ram had to fulfil it. Hence he was willing to sacrifice one of his eyes for the same.

श्री राम राम रामेति, रमे रामे मनोरमे । सहस्रनाम तत्तुल्यं, श्री राम-नाम वरानने ।

The name "Rama" is equivalent to thousand names of Vishnu and therefore it is good to chant this "Rama" mantra every day even if it is not possible to recite the entire Vishnu Sahasranamam.

सुनु दसमुख खद्योत प्रकासा। कबहुँ कि नलिनी करइ बिकासा ॥ अस मन समुझ कहति जानकी। खल सुधि नहिं रघुबीर बान की ॥

When ravan comes to threaten mata Sita in Ashok vatika, he says that you don't know about me. I am the conqueror of three worlds. I have more wealth than anybody else ever to exist. I have defeated the gods and the navagrahas. And you think that your vanvasi, with not even a slipper can beat me?

Mata replies that, do you think (look at the metaphors in these lines), it is possible for a lotus to bloom with the light of a firefly. She compares his flex to a firefly and the eternal power of lord ram to that of the sun. Mata sita says "khal sudhi nahi tujhe raghubir ban ki" saying that he doesn't know the power of lord ram's arrows. Here's the easter egg. While she is saying this. Lord Hanuman is watching all this from a tree above her. And guess what? Another name for Lord Hanuman is ramban (Ram's arrow).

And then this ram baan goes on to show the power. That's how easter eggs were dropped a few times, thousands of years ago.

Also the story further talks about Hanuman not burning Vibhishan's house. Common myth is that he told him the way to sita mata. That might possibly be one of the reasons but the good reason was the supply/investment. Whole Lanka contributed oil to destroy just one ram doot, except vibhishan. So the unbiased Hanuman didn't cross the line and since no investment was done from Vibhishan's side, he didn't receive the profit/loss.

Another thing to notice was that here also the whole lanka couldn't defeat an ambassador of ram. So Ram is said to have defeated the whole lanka not once but twice.

Here goes another interpretation

This time not from the scriptures but from a personal experience. This might sound like what we have already heard a lot of times and that's exactly why I am penning it down. The things we listen to are because of a purpose.

There is a reason why Ramayana is more prevalent than Mahabharat. There is always a reason for things happening. And it is for good.

Nonetheless this is what I found out in my recent trip to Mathura and Vrindavan. Shri Krishna was born in a jail and carried by Vasudev to Gokul. When we visit the birth place of Shri Krishna, it's quite a pleasant experience and the darshan is very easily accessible. The place is known as Shri Krishna Janmbhoomi (for obvious reasons). But that's just one side of the story.

When we visit Vrindavan, the most famous temple is called the Banke Bihari Mandir. And never in my life have I seen such an uncontrolled crowd. People are literally willing to crush each other and then it's just a pity that at a place of worship we see such misery. People are literally crying and getting lost as well.

Same goes for Radha Rani. She was born in Raval, a very small village near Gokul. The temple there is so humble that you can stay inside it for hours and nobody will push you out. There were only 10 people when I visited there. But Radha Rani's place of importance is Barsane, where she grew up and the temple has a similar crowd (if not more) to Banke Bihari Mandir.

Gist of this?

Your birth place, or family doesn't matter. Your deeds matter, your place of work, the place where you establish yourself matters. If we go by pure logic of bhakti, no place would be more pious than the birthplaces of gods. But still they are having a humble crowd turning up. But the world recognises the places where Shri Krishna ruled from and the places where Radha Rani grew up, breaking the old stereotypes. When I realised this I was like, niceeee. Alot of people who talk with me have heard me saying "Ishwar ka kaam hai path pradarshit karna, uspar chalna aapka."

This symbolism was quite a realisation moment for me and thought it would add to my set of writing. Remember your birth doesn't matter. What you do in life, whether you strive for excellence or whether you just want to go with the gifted part depends on you. My take on this;

Excellence; everything worth doing is worth overdoing :)