The Week of Many Celebrations, and the Ever Present Rama

Thoughts & Reflections

By Dr R Neerunjun Gopee

A visitor from another planet – and this may happen within Elon Musk’s lifetime, as he is working seriously on sending people to Mars – who landed here last Sunday would probably have been surprised at how super-religious we are! Last Sunday was Ugadi, also the beginning of Navaratri which culminates in the celebration of the birth of Ram Bhagavan this coming Sunday. In between we had Eid on Tuesday last, and shortly we will also be celebrating Easter.

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A lady I know who has had little education but has a rich experience of life by virtue of having raised five good children and now busy with her four grandchildren, once remarked to me that our country is relatively more at peace than other countries which are torn by violence because we are genuinely pious people. Thus, we celebrate all religious occasions with equal and sometimes exuberant fervour, mutually sharing our joy and sincerely wishing each other. Therefore, our prayers are listened to and as a result we are divinely blessed. Who would gainsay the wisdom of a seasoned grandma?

As we go about our daily lives it would no doubt do great good to the country and to us all to do so in that spirit.

As far as Rama Navmi is concerned, as is well-known it celebrates the birth anniversary of Lord Rama in the city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, where a magnificent Ram Mandir now stands. The day is observed on the ninth day of the Shukla Paksha in the month of Chaitra (Hindu calendar), which this year falls on the Sunday 6th April.

As has been underlined by Dr Sarvapelli Radhakrishnan (late former Philosopher-President of India) in his introduction to his book on the Bhagavad Gita, in Hinduism what is of greater importance than the historicity of the personalities and characters and of the texts are the ideals that they symbolize and the messages that their lives convey. It is because they represent the realities of the human condition and that of the world which are grounded in the one eternal truth (Sanatana Dharma) of all that is, Brahman.

Ongoing during the week have been the Ram Kathas which have become an established custom in Mauritius. All over the island during this period leading to Ram Navmi, Ramayana Mandalis are present on the stage daily to chant Ram bhajans. The evening sessions are conducted by the purohits (‘priests’) and acharyas, who specialise in the narration of the Ramayana and the performance of the rituals for the occasion.

Some of them do talk briefly on the messages that the epic seeks to articulate. In addition, however, a slot is kept for pravachan or discourse, by someone who is either a scholar or a lay person who has studied the Ramayana, and who takes up a few themes and explains the messages contained therein, in particular their relevance to daily life. This has always been necessary but is becoming increasingly important in these times because of the degradation in values and morals which translates into a social landscape of family disharmony, civilian violence and crimes of all unimaginable sorts.

One of the most important messages is that we must keep doing good all the time, and one often hears these classic lines being rendered very beautifully:

Dusron ka dukhra dur karne wale, tera dukh dur karenge Rama Kiye Ja Bhalai ka kam, tera dukh dur karenge Rama…

‘If you remove the pain of another, Rama will remove your pain; keep doing good here on earth, and Rama will remove
your pain too’.

Such messages are universal, and that is why it is said that the Ramayana doesn’t belong only to the Hindus but is the heritage of all mankind.

Who does not feel good on doing good? For such a person, it comes automatically. Genuinely engaged as s/he is in such acts of goodness; such a person is not too concerned with what’s in it for him/her. S/he just goes on doing what has to be done, as a duty or kartavya, and lets others benefit from the acts. In spite of all the wrongs and ills we see around, fortunately there are more kind than bad people about, and hopefully their numbers will increase so that society moves forward in peace. All of us must have come across someone or the other who has realized that there are others who are worse off than him and then stops complaining and tries to see in what way he can be more useful to his fellow human beings.

It doesn’t matter whether we help out in small ways or in big ways, the important thing is to engage oneself. Some give their time, the most precious resource as we are reminded in many a forum. Others contribute their skills or help with funds. Like drops that go to make the ocean, the individual efforts add up to create that pool of goodwill and take forward the cause one is fighting for.

The result of an action or its fruit as it is referred to as phala or consequence, and in general is expected to be positive for a good action performed. It may also be seen by the performer of the action, when it is known as drishtaphala, or adrishtaphala when it is not immediately seen but manifests later.

But sometimes the result is not to our expectation, and that is where Rama Bhagavan comes in, because the teaching is that we must accept that as Bhagavan’s kripa or grace, otherwise we will feel disappointed and miserable. We thus learn to accept that we have no control over all the elements that come into producing the outcome of an action done in good faith and after putting in the necessary effort or prayetna.

What kripa implies is that instead of crying over our situation, which some call bad fate, we must overcome and rise up again to the challenge. And in so doing we perforce face the circumstances with new courage, and slowly but surely, we will find that it turns around. Think of a student who does not get the grades he was hoping for, and the tragedies that sometimes take place. A proper understanding of the concept of kripa could avoid such unfortunate incidents. And that is why both parents and their children should attend to such pravachans and listen carefully to what is being said. The messages therein are a powerful guide to sound and safe living.

One could multiply several-fold the examples of illustrations of various facets of life that the Ramayana contains, such as the impermanence of the human condition as shown by the story of King Pratapbhanu in the Balakanda part of the Ramayana, the importance of discipline to achieve success in one’s endeavour, the ideals of human relationships that make society harmonious and peaceful – and so on.

The profound spiritual insights, metaphysical truths, lessons, insights, and exemplary behaviour that we can learn from the Ramayana are eternally valid and always fresh.

Bhagavan Rama is eternally alive not only in the hearts of millions of people that are named after Him, but also in the stories that are still told to this day, in the plays and the songs and the dramas that are based on his biography not only in India but across the world wherever the Indian diaspora is present. His presence is very significant in the entire South Asia regions – in Thailand the kings are all named after him, dance ballets of his life are every day enacted by Muslim dancers and musicians in Indonesia and Buddhists in Cambodia, Laos and Tibet. There is a version of the Ramayana in every language of South Asia.

As Pandit Rami Sivan underlines, He changes people’s lives, gives them hope and comfort, higher ideals and transpersonal goals to strive for. They have His name on their lips in moments of pain and death. In other words, He is a source of great spiritual inspiration for moulding one’s life, conduct and character.

Jai Sri Rama.

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 4 April 2025