Sri Rama was a unique avatara purusha who always regarded himself as a mortal. Beloved of his people, adored by his teachers and admired by the rishis, he was still humble and courteous. He walked great distances, always at a humble two steps behind Sage Vishwamitra, listening carefully to every word he uttered, obeying implicitly all his instructions. On the eve of his coronation as Yuvaraj, he meekly accepted Queen Kaikeyi's diktat that he should leave Ayodhya and go to live in the forest for fourteen years. When Sita was carried away by Ravana, he became practically inconsolable, losing all interest in life. How did the all-powerful Maha Vishnu allow himself to be thus constrained, thus limited by ordinary human circumstances?
The answer given by many commentators to this question is simple but profound; Sri Rama was an incarnation of the Lord who came to demonstrate to the world how an ideal human being should walk the way of dharma.
As a son, as a disciple, as a warrior and a ruler, Rama never ever once swerved from the path of righteousness. Through the toughest conditions and circumstances, he adhered to his swadharma, and never once ‘used’ his divinity to assert his will. As a human being, he set the highest standards of conduct and upheld the greatest values and ideals in every sphere of activity; he was a devoted son; a loyal friend; a man who knew how to nurture his friendship and familial relationships; he was compassion personified for the weak and the oppressed; he knew his own ability and strength as a warrior very well and was ruthless in punishing and rooting out the forces of evil which had turned the tapovanas of his land into abodes of fear and terror. He was a prince of great prowess and valour; he was courtesy incarnate to rishis, elders and the common people whom he met; armed with his bow Kodhnada, he was virtually invincible!
Historical he is: but to many of us, he was God incarnate; the seventh avatara of Vishnu: and he is one of the most loved, most admired of Hindu gods. He is also thought of as being an ideal man, an ideal hero, an ideal son and ideal ruler — the Maryada Purushottama — the perfect Man or Lord of Virtue — of the Hindu dharma.
(March 30 is Rama Navami)
Dada J P Vaswani is a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader
