Hinduism is said not to be a belief but a way of life. Hinduism doesn’t have one single holy book, or one person who started it; or not even one holy place to revere. The set of beliefs practiced by Hindus are diverse. This attitude of Hinduism or Sanatan Dharma as it is also called reflects at many places and times. These days, I am reading ‘Ramayana’ by C. Rajgopalachari who gives wonderful descriptions of the tales fitted to the modern times. He mainly uses descriptions from Valmiki, as well as brings comparative portions from Tulasi Ramcharitmanas and Tamil poet Kamban.
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When Ram is exiled to forest, King Dashrath dies in grief of Ram’s departure. When prince Bharat returns to Ayodhya and comes to know about all the wrong doings, he becomes wrecked. But in those difficult times, Bharat is quick to make a resolve clinging to Dharma – he decides to go to the forest and persuade Shri Ram to return back to the throne.
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From the time he arrives in Ayodhya, Bharat is suspected. Even Kaushalya, Ram’s mother suspects him. Then the hunter-king Guha suspects him when he goes seeking way to reach Ram. Even Rishi Bharadwaj suspects him and asks if he intends to do any harm to exiled prince Ram. Grieved each time he is suspected, Bharat often sheds tears and explains that all he wished was to do service to the rightful king Ram and he had no wish for any kingdom.
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When Bharat arrives and touches Ram’s feet, this is how C.R. describes what Shri Ram saw:
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Raama saw before him lying on the ground Bharata with hands clasped in supplication, with matted locks and in garments of bark. With grief and fasting, his body had grown lean and he was tanned with fatigue and exposure. Raama embraced him and kissed him on the forehead.
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(Chap 27, ‘The brothers meet’, Ramayana, C.R., P168)
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While reading the narrative involving Ram’s exile and Bharat’s return to Ayodhya, I was so touched that tears continuously flowed out of my eyes. I can’t say even an iota of that divine spark reflected in my heart, but surely I was ‘affected’. At another place in the book, C. Rajgopalachari tells first about Bharat’s virtues and also about benefits of reading sacred texts like Ramayana.
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The story of Bharata in the Ramayana portraying a character of unrivalled purity and sublime selflessness is something more than an episode and stands out by itself even in that noble epic, as holy shrines do on the banks of the Ganga. It uplifts the heart and gives one a glimpse of the heights to which human nature can rise when cleaned by love and devotion.
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Jnaana and bhakti will automatically grow by a contemplation of the personality of Bharata. In order to recreate the scene and the person in his own mind the reader must bring into play his reverent imagination.
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We bring with us into this world as our inborn gift some wisdom and reverence. This gift is always in us and though sometimes obscured by prejudice or passion, it keeps alive the divine in man which prevents him from reeling back into the beast.
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(Chap 26, ‘Bharata suspected’, Ramayana, C.R., P157)
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The character of Bharat showed us how high our human nature can arise when cleaned by selfless love and devotion. No one needs to preach us to practice these right values – we can only see it in the behaviour of Bharat’s character in Ramayana. No doubt, even without any special formal religious education, most Hindu kids grow up with the right values and moral traits in them, just by reading or listening to texts like Ramayana. Such is the glory of Ramayana.
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- Rahul
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