Thread by @PankajSaxena84

1. Rama is a hero so universal, there is seldom any other figure, in Indic culture or outside it which can rival his popularity and universality.

Why is this so?

Because he is both the greatest of heroes and the commonest of men, at the same time.

#RamNavmi

2. He is a very different hero than most others. He is full of talent, courage and chivalry but chooses to use it very wisely..

3. Events are rarely in his control. (I know as a Vishnu avatar, he orchestrates it all at the highest level, but he also respects his human avatara and goes along with the story).

4. He goes to the jungle with his brother because his guru Vishwamitra asked his father to do so and his father agreed. He marries Sita, once again, because his Guru takes him to a Swayamvara. He goes to exile because his mother Kaikeyi desires so.

5. He is accompanied by both Sita and Lakshmana because they desire to do so. Sita is advised by Rama to stay back, but she does not listen to him and comes along to the jungle. So does Lakshmana. Then Shurpankha comes, is humiliated and Ravana kidnaps Sita.

6. He has to suffer for what he did not initiate. He advises Sita against desiring the golden deer. But to no avail. He then advises Lakshmana to not leave Sita alone. He is once again not listened to. And then Sita does not listen to Lakshmana either and is kidnapped.

7. From here onwards too, things just happen to him. Good and bad. The friendship with Hanuman. The involvement with Bali and Sugriva. Agni Pariksha too is not his choice. And then Sita declines to stay with him. Once again things happen which were not in his control.

8. What kind of a hero is that? One would think. He abides by rules all his life. And yet it seems there is seldom anything under his control.

9. The story of Krishna is that of an all powerful being. He makes things happen. He elopes with princesses. He invades kingdoms with designs and kills demons. He makes diplomatic alliances and political enmities. He has everything under his control. Rama is not the same.

10. He is driven by the events that happen to him, on which he has no control and yet he has to bear their consequences. But perhaps that is the point of the story of Rama.

11. What do you do when you have nothing under control? What is the course of action when bad things just happen to you? What do you do when it seems that life is just a cruel joke played on you by prarabdha or fate?

12. This is where Rama becomes a hero. That’s where also his divinity shows the best. You can never control what happens to you. The Universe functions with its own logic and rhythm. What you can control is how you respond to it. This is what Rama teaches us.

13. He always walks the path of Dharma even when things seem very bad. Even when everything seems to be going bad.

14. Often even the course of action that one has to take has already been decided by the turn of events. When Shurpankha decides to visit the camp of Rama and Lakshmana; when Ravana kidnaps Sita, Rama has no other course of action left, but to attack Ravana and get back his wife.

15. Walking the path of Dharma here becomes even subtler. In times when things are so bad even the course of action is decided for you, a mental resolve to do the right thing, to take the right attitude, is all what is left for you to do. And this is what Rama does.

16. This is what Rama exemplifies.

17. It is easy to walk the path of Dharma when things are good and going your way. It is in the times of adversity that following the path of Dharma becomes hard. It is in these times, that we remember Rama and his choices which never wavered away from Dharma.

18. But Rama is dear to us for more than one reason. He is an Avatara, yes. He is Maryada Purushottam, yes. He always walks the path of dharma, yes. He is Divinity, Knowledge, Jnana itself, yes. But at the same time, he is also a human being.

19. His story is one of the most human of stories. And it is a deeply personal story.

20. Ramayana is many things and gives us so many lessons, reflecting almost every aspect of life. But is also the story of one man and his travails. The path of Dharma and the way of Moksha is taught through this story. But it is the story of one man nevertheless.

21. The Mahabharata has too many important characters; too many stories criss-crossing each other. The canvas is just too big. The story, trying to encompass everything is too big.

22. The Ramayana on the other hand is an extremely simple and deeply personal story. It is one man’s quest to follow his father’s wishes and care about his love, his wife Sita, on one hand and stay true on the path of dharma in general, on the other.

23. All his life, all Rama ever wanted was a simple life, where he could follow his father’s wishes and rule like a perfect king is supposed to rule. Things do not turn his way and he has to go to the jungle. There, he lives an extremely simple life.

24. But he is all the happier for it, because he has caring brother and his loving wife with him. But then even Sita is snatched from him. And Rama breaks down! He breaks down just like any man would, who is deeply in love with his wife.

25. It is heart-rending to read the passages where Rama wails uncontrollably when Sita is taken from him. He asks the leaves, he asks the trees: “Where is my Sita?”

26. And, as if Valmiki just wanted to break stereotypes, it is Lakshmana, who lectures Rama on composure, on the transitory nature of beings and things. And then, Rama is consoled and gets on with the quest, to get his wife back.

27. Yes, he performs the role of a model son, of a model king, or a model brother, of a model husband. He absolves many on his journey to the South. He takes many decisions on the side of Dharma during this journey.

28. But most of Ramayana is story of a man who just wanted to get his wife back! It is that simple! And that beautiful.

29. And this is not the only thing which makes the common man identify with him. There are many episodes in the Ramayana which makes it everyone’s story.

30. When Rama is exiled from Ayodhya and he leaves it, he feels pain at leaving the land of his birth, the land which he was meant to rule, and the land which he never quite intended to leave. He was a simple man of simple tastes. He never wanted to leave his birthplace.

31. But the destiny had other plans for him. Being Maryada Purushottam, he does not wish away or avoids his destiny or the role of duty and Dharma that is expected of him, but he also feels the pain of leaving the simple and the familiar life behind, like any man would!

32. His pain at leaving Ayodhya, his birthplace, the place with which he was most familiar with, is one of the dearest moments for me in the entire epic.

33. And it is this sheer simplicity of the story of Rama that makes him such a hero that he is.

34. He is an avatara; the greatest of kings and the greatest of men; and yet, at the same time, he is also the commonest of men, who is not shy to cry, when his love is snatched away from him. It is this relatability with everyone that makes him such a hero that he is.

35. He is the ideal of everyone. He is what every man does and should aspire to become. And yet at the same time, he is also the man, with whom anyone can easily identify with.

36. Rama tells what to do when you have nothing under your control. Rama tells you to not shy away from your humanity and yet aim for the highest goal in life; self-realization, at the same time.

37. I know of no other story, which manages to accomplish so much in such a simple way. That is why, Ramayana, the story of Rama, is the greatest story ever told.

38. Rama is always present. In our minds, in our psyche, in our subconscious. Rama is the archetype that is present in all of us. We just have to invoke him. Today is such a day. Shubha Ram Navmi to all of you.

39. Artwork credit: Bijay Biswal. What a beautiful painting it is.