Finally, it is

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Ramayana

Ramayana and Mahabharata are heart and soul of India. They are the two pillars of Indian culture. They both are written about Lord’s incarnation on earth. There might be few debates about them being only mythological and not real, but irrespective of that, they have affected people of India beyond any other book, incident, person or time.

I was one of those fortunate who had a chance to see these epics on television in my early childhood. I remember watching Shri Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana when I was in 1st standard and B.R. Chopra’s Mahabharata when I was in 4th standard. Because of this early age, all I could remember of Ramayana was the war between Shri Ram and Ravan. The jazz sounds playing and colorful rays coming out of arrow as it tries to pierce the enemy. Every time one of the two arrows will make other disappear and the warrior whose arrow is gone will get shock of his life!! Joking apart, I was obviously not grown enough to get the main rasa of Ramayana - Bhakti rasa.

Before 2-3 months, I was just searching for Morari Bapu’s online Ram Charit Manas satsang and I suddenly thought: “what if I get Ramayana online”. I just searched on Google and found that!! I was happy beyond words. Next 6 weeks were Ramayana weeks for me. Everyday after 7 P.M I used to watch 2-3 episodes of Ramayana. And I tell you, it was one of my best experiences in life.

Generally, we have a feeling that Mahabharata serial was made better than Ramayana in terms of technicality, content, artists, dialogs, story etc. Ramanand Sagar’s serials lack pace – they are too slow, lack technical superiority – improper dubbing, indoor shootings, primitive graphics etc. However, we must understand that Ramayana was made 3-4 years ahead of Mahabharata and it was the first of its kind so there has to be some limitations. Ramanand Sagar was more of a devotee than a technical director. The lack of pace might actually be intense devotional and pure emotional moments which need more time to get proper justice. Ramayana is obviously based on poem Ramayana by Muni Valmiki but main source is taken from Tulsidasji’s Ram Charit Manas. Ramayana by Valimiki is a neutral person’s account about Shri Ram while Ram Charit Manas is a devotee’s account of his God.

I was also a bit worried about the content. But what I found was pure Joy. Ramayana starts with Tulsidasji writing Ram Charit Manas and then he shows different devotees who has written Ramayana in different religion languages. Then starts the real story. Baal-kand is presented most beautifully. It shows “Thumak Chalat Ramachandra” song which is eternally dear to all Ram Bhaktas. In as early as the 3rd episode when all four brothers are at Guru Vashishtha aashram, Guruji teaches them about meditation, Kundalini, seven spiritual centers, Yoga and Maya. I was literally mad with joy when I saw it. Here are few excerpts of that.

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Shri Ram asks Guruji : “what is virtue and what is sin ?”
Guruji replies one of the most simplest but true answer: “To relieve pain of any being, to give happiness and Love, this is virtue and Dharma. And to cause pain to others is sin and against Dharma. Love is virtue and Hatred is sin.

Then Guruji talks about Soul. He says: “what is alive in us is Soul. All individual souls are like atoms of light flowing eternally on the stream of Time. In Truth, each individual soul on this infinite path journeys alone. Ram asks: “Where does it end”? Guruji says: “Soul’s salvation is the end. Man gets salvation when he is free of virtue and sin as both are binding chains. One is of iron and other is of gold. There is a symbolic scene of an energy point going into cluster of energy points and then again departs it, going to unknown.

Ram asks: “But he will act while he lives. The action may be sinful or virtuous. Then how shall he escape this bond of illusion?”

Guruji: “One has to act. But when action is devoid of desires for reward, then the being is freed from results of Karma.

Guru Vashishtha then shows them what is Real and what is Maya. He shows them that Atma is not bound to body and fruits of action and does an experiment with Ram. They both leave their “sthool sharir” and linger on “sukshma sharir”. Guruji says: “See, there is Vashisht who thinks he is a great seer, trying to dominate over his students with his learning. What he is doing is very noble. Still it can induce arrogance and ego. One should be very careful. In Real, we all are equal.

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And did I mention the songs? They are just wonderful. Be it the new tune of “ya kundendutushar haar dhavala” or the lorry by Gurumaa while all children are missing their mothers. Mother’s tenderness and care is shown very effectively. There is also a music class song by Gurumaa and Shiva shtotra by students.

This episode was more of Jyana Yoga. But next few episodes are full of Bhakti rasa. I am planning to continue this Ramayana series with many more memorable incidents and divine ecstasy that I found while watching it.

On the eve of Rama-navami and Hanuman Jayanti, this is a humble service on Prabhu's feet from a devotee of Shri Ram.

Jay Shri Ram !

P.S.: Watch Episode 3 on Google video.

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