Reflections on the Ramayana Chaupai. The law of attraction really does work! If we are put to the test and answer with the dharmic choice, helpers will be sent to us. They support us on our spiritual path, and enrich our lives in wonderful surprising ways.
Verse twenty four of the Ramayana Chaupai
Sitaji jab yah sun paayi, Rang mahal se neeche aayi
O after hearing this news, Sitaji came down from the colored palace quarters
Kaushalyaa ko kiyaa pranaam
O bowed down to mother Kaushalya
Ram Siya Ram Siya Ram A jai jai Ram
When princess Sita, whose life and love is Lord Rama, hears the tragic news she makes haste. She abandons all the royal treasures, pleasure, and pastimes of the colorful and delightful dwelling she was given as princess of the realm. This is more important than life itself! Her anchor in all of the three worlds (waking, dreaming, and deep sleep) is now being removed from the royal abode. She needs him more than her very breath! She arrives in her beloved and queen's presence, bowing to the queen mother devotedly before announcing her desperate plea.
Verse twenty five of the Ramayana Chaupai
Meri chook khshama kar deejo, Ban jaane ki aagyaa deejo
O my dearest, I seek your pardon give me permission to go to the forest
Sita ko samjhaate Raam
Ram tried to convince Sita
Ram Siya Ram Siya Ram A jai jai Ram
“Dearest Lord of my body, mind, and heart! Never say that you will leave me behind! Please take me with you during your exile!” Beautiful graceful Sita had been reduced to a groveling beggar. All the colorful and majestic beauty of her dress wilted like a flower to reveal a desperate fear never before know to any who had witnessed her humble majesty.
Verse twenty six of the Ramayana Chaupai
Meri sheekh Siyaa sun leejo, Sas sawasur ki sevaa keejo
O dearest Sita, please listen take care of your in-laws
Mujh ko bhi hogaa bishraam
it will also help me to feel at ease
Ram Siya Ram Siya Ram A jai jai Ram
“Dearest Vaidehi, my beautiful Sita. I pray you think well of what you ask. Though innocent and well meaning to follow the dharma of a wife, you are not at all accustomed to the hardships of forest life. Your tender feet that have only know silk slippers and well manicured lawns would be subject to harsh branches, thorns, and briers. You would be in constant danger, dwelling in a land of ferocious beast, craven demons, and unforgiving climate. Your food would no longer be choice royal cuisine, but fruits, roots, and nuts. Your house would no longer be the firm and beautifully adorned palace but that of sticks, leaves, and whatever might be put together for shelter.” Compassionate Lord Rama tries his best to impress upon the dearest daughter of King Janaka the reality of forest life and the incongruence it has with the lifestyle of a royal princess.
Verse twenty seven of the Ramayana Chaupai
Meraa dosh bataa prabhu deejo, sang mujhe seva mein leejo
O tell me what is wanting in me, O Lord that you cannot include me to serve Thee
Aardhaangini tumhaari Raam
I am your other half o Ram
Ram Siya Ram Siya Ram A jai jai Ram
“My Lord please do not abandon me! Tell me what I have done to offend you! But do not leave me! My life is service to you. Your happiness is my entire reason for being! Parting from you would leave me empty like a broken pot. I would no longer be fit for any place other than those hidden from the light of day. Fear of my ugliness would turn others away, and my fate would be infinitely worse than exile to the forest. Can you not see, my dearest Lord Rama? I belong with you always, without you I am miserably incomplete!” All reason for comfort, reputation, and social status had fled from the princess like so many petals blown away in the wind to reveal the naked stem of true devotion, ever rooted in the earth of love, loyalty, and selfless service.
What holds us in place? What is the reason for our being? Sita serves Rama. The purified intellect serves the soul. Without the soul, the intellect would be accosted by emotions and sensual experiences becoming ugly and not welcome in the light of day. It would hide in addictive behaviors of one form or another.
A sadhika, seeker of truth, will go to the forest, a place, or situation of difficulty, something that tests one's ability to remain at peace. In order to be refined in the furnace of the world and shine with the brightness of the soul, no longer rough dirty ore but brilliant like gold, there is no length that the truly committed will take.
Princess Sita shows this great devotion, this great knowing that without closeness to Rama, the immorally lustrous virtuous soul the intellect will be pulled in to the world of darkness. Then only misery will be the reward. Still the wise and ever luminous Lord Rama, our soul, the true Self, is compassionate, always reminding us that we have a choice. If we do not see the reward from austerity in the forest, he encourages us to stay where we are comfortable. He never asks us to torture our selves with a path that the mind is not willing to take.
Either way, Rama, the soul, loves that which arises from the soul, you, me, and all created things. We are always one, and, essentially, in a relationship of love. Can you handle the truth? Sometimes, I can not, and anger arises. This is when we know that we are better off resting at the palace. When we are ready, Rama gives us opportunity to follow him in the forest once again. We must plead like Sita with devotion, only desiring to be by our Lord's side. An innocent and naive perspective in some ways is needed to see the glorious reward in such an undertaking. Become like these little ones to enter the Kingdom of God.