Canto Nine / CHAPTER TEN

The Pastimes of the Supreme Lord, Rāmacandra

Lord Rāmacandra and His brothers, Lakshmana, Bharata and Śatrughna, are all vishnu-tattva, not jīva-tattva. The Supreme Personality of Godhead expands into many, many forms. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam. Although they are one and the same, vishnu-tattva has many forms and incarnations. As confirmed in the Brahma-samhitā (5.39), rāmādi-mūrtishu kalā-niyamena tishthan. The Lord is situated in many forms, such as Rāma, Lakshmana, Bharata and Śatrughna, and these forms may exist in any part of His creation. All these forms exist permanently, eternally, as individual Personalities of Godhead, and they resemble many candles, all equally powerful. Lord Rāmacandra, Lakshmana, Bharata and Śatrughna, who, being vishnu-tattva, are all equally powerful, became the sons of Mahārāja Daśaratha in response to prayers by the demigods.

Modern Rākshasas, posing as educationally advanced merely because they have doctorates, have tried to prove that Lord Rāmacandra is not the Supreme Personality of Godhead but an ordinary person. But those who are learned and spiritually advanced will never accept such notions; they will accept the descriptions of Lord Rāmacandra and His activities only as presented by tattva-darśīs, those who know the Absolute Truth. In Bhagavad-gītā (4.34) the Supreme Personality of Godhead advises:

“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.” Unless one is tattva-darśī, in complete knowledge of the Absolute Truth, one cannot describe the activities of the Personality of Godhead. Therefore although there are many so-called Rāmāyanas, or histories of Lord Rāmacandra’s activities, some of them are not actually authoritative. Sometimes Lord Rāmacandra’s activities are described in terms of one’s own imaginations, speculations or material sentiments. But the characteristics of Lord Rāmacandra should not be handled as something imaginary. While describing the history of Lord Rāmacandra, Śukadeva Gosvāmī told Mahārāja Parīkshit, “You have already heard about the activities of Lord Rāmacandra.” Apparently, therefore, five thousand years ago there were many Rāmāyanas, or histories of Lord Rāmacandra’s activities, and there are many still. But we must select only those books written by tattva-darśīs (jñāninas tattva-darśinah), not the books of so-called scholars who claim knowledge only on the basis of a doctorate. This is a warning by Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Rishibhis tattva-darśibhih. Although the Rāmāyana composed by Vālmīki is a huge literature, the same activities are summarized here by Śukadeva Gosvāmī in a few verses.

Mahārāja Daśaratha had three wives. One of them, Kaikeyī, served him very pleasingly, and he therefore wanted to give her a benediction. Kaikeyī, however, said that she would ask for the benediction when it was necessary. At the time of the coronation of Prince Rāmacandra, Kaikeyī requested her husband to enthrone her son Bharata and send Rāmacandra to the forest. Mahārāja Daśaratha, being bound by his promise, ordered Rāmacandra to go to the forest, according to the dictation of his beloved. And the Lord, as an obedient son, accepted the order immediately. He left everything without hesitation, just as a liberated soul or great yogī gives up his life without material attraction.

In this verse the words strī-sanginām gatim iti indicate that the condition of a person attached to women was shown by the Lord Himself. According to moral instructions, grihe nārīm vivarjayet: when one goes on a tour, one should not bring his wife. Formerly men used to travel without conveyances, but still, as far as possible, when one leaves home one should not take his wife with him, especially if one is in such a condition as Lord Rāmacandra when banished by the order of His father. Whether in the forest or at home, if one is attached to women this attachment is always troublesome, as shown by the Supreme Personality of Godhead by His personal example.

Of course, this is the material side of strī-sangī, but the situation of Lord Rāmacandra is spiritual, for He does not belong to the material world. Nārāyanah paro ’vyaktāt: Nārāyana is beyond the material creation. Because He is the creator of the material world, He is not subject to the conditions of the material world. The separation of Lord Rāmacandra from Sītā is spiritually understood as vipralambha, which is an activity of the hlādinī potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead belonging to the śringāra-rasa, the mellow of conjugal love in the spiritual world. In the spiritual world the Supreme Personality of Godhead has all the dealings of love, displaying the symptoms called sāttvika, sañcārī, vilāpa, mūrcchā and unmāda. Thus when Lord Rāmacandra was separated from Sītā, all these spiritual symptoms were manifested. The Lord is neither impersonal nor impotent. Rather, He is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, the eternal form of knowledge and bliss. Thus He has all the symptoms of spiritual bliss. Feeling separation from one’s beloved is also an item of spiritual bliss. As explained by Śrīla Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, rādhā-krishna-pranaya-vikritir hlādinī-śaktih: the dealings of love between Rādhā and Krishna are displayed as the pleasure potency of the Lord. The Lord is the original source of all pleasure, the reservoir of all pleasure. Lord Rāmacandra, therefore, manifested the truth both spiritually and materially. Materially those who are attached to women suffer, but spiritually when there are feelings of separation between the Lord and His pleasure potency the spiritual bliss of the Lord increases. This is further explained in Bhagavad-gītā (9.11):

One who does not know the spiritual potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead thinks of the Lord as an ordinary human being. But the Lord’s mind, intelligence and senses can never be affected by material conditions. This fact is further explained in the Skanda Purāna, as quoted by Madhvācārya:

It was actually impossible for Rāvana to take away Sītā. The form of Sītā taken by Rāvana was an illusory representation of mother Sītā — māyā-sītā. When Sītā was tested in the fire, this māyā-sītā was burnt, and the real Sītā came out of the fire.

A further understanding to be derived from this example is that a woman, however powerful she may be in the material world, must be given protection, for as soon as she is unprotected she will be exploited by Rākshasas like Rāvana. Here the words vaideha-rāja-duhitari indicate that before mother Sītā was married to Lord Rāmacandra she was protected by her father, Vaideha-rāja. And when she was married she was protected by her husband. Therefore the conclusion is that a woman should always be protected. According to the Vedic rule, there is no scope for a woman’s being independent (asamaksham), for a woman cannot protect herself independently.

When Rāvana kidnapped Sītā, he was obstructed on the way by Jatāyu, a large bird. But the powerful Rāvana defeated Jatāyu in the fight and cut his wing. When Rāmacandra was searching for Sītā, He found Jatāyu almost dead and was informed that Sītā has been carried off by Rāvana. When Jatāyu died, Lord Rāmacandra did the duty of a son by performing the funeral ceremony, and then He made friends with the monkeys to deliver Sītādevī.

The word jada-dhiyah refers to intelligence like that of an animal. A person with such intelligence cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Without being beaten, an animal cannot understand the purpose of a man. Similarly, those who are dull-minded cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but when punished severely by the modes of material nature, they begin to understand Him. A Hindi poet has said:

When one is distressed he goes to the church or temple to worship the Lord, but when opulent he forgets the Lord. Therefore, punishment by the Lord through material nature is necessary in human society, for without it men forget the supremacy of the Lord due to their dull, blunt intelligence.

It is said that a son and urine emanate from the same source — the genitals. When a son is a devotee or a great learned person, the seminal discharge for begetting a son is successful, but if the son is unqualified and brings no glory to his family, he is no better than urine. Here Rāvana is compared to urine because he was a cause of disturbances to the three worlds. Thus the ocean personified wanted him killed by Lord Rāmacandra.

One feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Rāmacandra is omnipotence. The Lord can act without regard to material impediments or inconveniences, but to prove that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and was not merely advertised as Godhead or elected by popular vote, He constructed a wonderful bridge over the ocean. Nowadays it has become fashionable to create some artificial God who performs no uncommon activities; a little magic will bewilder a foolish person into selecting an artificial God because he does not understand how powerful God is. Lord Rāmacandra, however, constructed a bridge over the water with stone by making the stone float. This is proof of God’s uncommonly wonderful power. Why should someone be accepted as God without displaying extraordinary potency by doing something never to be done by any common man? We accept Lord Rāmacandra as the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He constructed this bridge, and we accept Lord Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He lifted Govardhana Hill when He was only seven years old. We should not accept any rascal as God or an incarnation of God, for God displays special features in His various activities. Therefore, the Lord Himself says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9):

“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.” The activities of the Lord are not common; they are all transcendentally wonderful and not able to be performed by any other living being. The symptoms of the Lord’s activities are all mentioned in the śāstras, and after one understands them one can accept the Lord as He is.

Great mountain peaks covered with trees and plants were thrown into the sea by the monkey soldiers and began to float by the supreme will of the Lord. By the supreme will of the Lord, many great planets float weightlessly in space like swabs of cotton. If this is possible, why should great mountain peaks not be able to float on water? This is the omnipotence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He can do anything and everything He likes, because He is not under the control of the material nature; indeed, material nature is controlled by Him. Mayādhyakshena prakritih sūyate sacarācaram: only under His direction does prakriti, or material nature, work. Similar information is given in the Brahma-samhitā (5.52):

Describing how material nature works, the Brahma-samhitā says that the sun moves as desired by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Consequently, for Lord Rāmacandra to construct a bridge over the Indian Ocean with the help of monkey soldiers who threw great mountain peaks into the water is not at all wonderful; it is wonderful only in the sense that it has kept the name and fame of Lord Rāmacandra eternally celebrated.

The soldiers Lord Rāmacandra recruited in the jungle were all monkeys and did not have proper equipment with which to fight the soldiers of Rāvana, for Rāvana’s soldiers were equipped with weapons of modern warfare whereas the monkeys could only throw stones, mountain peaks and trees. It was only Lord Rāmacandra and Lakshmana who shot some arrows. But because the soldiers of Rāvana were condemned by the curse of mother Sītā, the monkeys were able to kill them simply by throwing stones and trees. There are two kinds of strength — daiva and purushākāra. Daiva refers to the strength achieved from the Transcendence, and purushākāra refers to the strength organized by one’s own intelligence and power. Transcendental power is always superior to the power of the materialist. Depending on the mercy of the Supreme Lord, one must fight one’s enemies even though one may not be equipped with modern weapons. Therefore Krishna instructed Arjuna, mām anusmara yudhya ca: “Think of Me and fight.” We should fight our enemy to the best of our ability, but for victory we must depend on the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Na ca daivāt param balam: no one can surpass the strength of the Transcendence. Rāvana was so sinful and shameless that he did not know what the result would be of kidnapping mother Sītā, the pleasure potency of Rāmacandra. This is the disqualification of the Rākshasas. Asatyam apratishtham te jagad āhur anīśvaram. The Rākshasas are unaware that the Supreme Lord is the ruler of the creation. They think that everything has come about by chance or accident and that there is no ruler, king or controller. Therefore the Rākshasas act independently, as they like, going even so far as to kidnap the goddess of fortune. This policy of Rāvana’s is extremely dangerous for the materialist; indeed, it brings ruin to the materialistic civilization. Nonetheless, because atheists are Rākshasas, they dare to do things that are most abominable, and thus they are punished without fail. Religion consists of the orders of the Supreme Lord, and one who carries out these orders is religious. One who fails to carry out the Lord’s orders is irreligious, and he is to be punished.

In Bhagavad-gītā (9.21) it is said, kshīne punye martya-lokam viśanti: “When the results of their pious activities are exhausted, those who have enjoyed in the heavenly planets fall again to earth.” The fruitive activities of this material world are such that whether one acts piously or impiously one must remain within the material world according to different conditions, for neither pious nor impious actions can relieve one from māyā’s clutches of repeated birth and death. Somehow or other, Rāvana was raised to an exalted position as the king of a great kingdom with all material opulences, but because of his sinful act of kidnapping mother Sītā, all the results of his pious activities were destroyed. If one offends an exalted personality, especially the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one certainly becomes most abominable; bereft of the results of pious activities, one must fall down like Rāvana and other demons. It is therefore advised that one transcend both pious and impious activities and remain in the pure state of freedom from all designations (sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam). When one is fixed in devotional service, he is above the material platform. On the material platform there are higher and lower positions, but when one is above the material platform he is always fixed in a spiritual position (sa gunān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate). Rāvana or those like him may be very powerful and opulent in this material world, but theirs is not a secure position, because, after all, they are bound by the results of their karma (karmanā daiva-netrena). We should not forget that we are completely dependent on the laws of nature.

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature.” (Bg. 3.27) One should not be proud of one’s exalted position and act like Rāvana, thinking oneself independent of material nature’s laws.

Rāvana’s wife Mandodarī and the other wives knew very well how cruel a person Rāvana was. The very word “Rāvana” means “one who causes crying for others.” Rāvana continuously caused trouble for others, but when his sinful activities culminated in giving trouble to Sītādevī, he was killed by Lord Rāmacandra.

Not only was mother Sītā powerful, but any woman who follows in the footsteps of mother Sītā can also become similarly powerful. There are many instances of this in the history of Vedic literature. Whenever we find a description of ideal chaste women, mother Sītā is among them. Mandodarī, the wife of Rāvana, was also very chaste. Similarly, Draupadī was one of five exalted chaste women. As a man must follow great personalities like Brahmā and Nārada, a woman must follow the path of such ideal women as Sītā, Mandodarī and Draupadī. By staying chaste and faithful to her husband, a woman enriches herself with supernatural power. It is a moral principle that one should not be influenced by lusty desires for another’s wife. Mātrivat para-dāreshu: an intelligent person must look upon another’s wife as being like his mother. This is a moral injunction from Cānakya-śloka (10).

“One who considers another’s wife as his mother, another’s possessions as a lump of dirt and treats all other living beings as he would himself, is considered to be learned.” Thus Rāvana was condemned not only by Lord Rāmacandra but even by his own wife, Mandodarī. Because she was a chaste woman, she knew the power of another chaste woman, especially such a wife as mother Sītādevī.

One who follows the path of Rāvana is condemned in two ways: his body is fit to be eaten by dogs and vultures, and the soul goes to hell. As stated by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gītā (16.19):

“Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, are cast by Me into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life.” Thus the destination of godless atheists such as Rāvana, Hiranyakaśipu, Kamsa and Dantavakra is a hellish condition of life. Mandodarī, the wife of Rāvana, could understand all this because she was a chaste woman. Although lamenting for the death of her husband, she knew what would happen to his body and soul, for although one cannot see directly with one’s material eyes, one can see with eyes of knowledge (paśyanti jñāna-cakshushah). In Vedic history there are many instances of how one becomes godless and is condemned by the laws of nature.

After giving up the body, one is transferred to another body, but sometimes, if one is too sinful, he is checked from transmigrating to another body, and thus he becomes a ghost. To save a diseased person from ghostly life, the funeral ceremony, or śrāddha ceremony, as prescribed in authorized śāstra, must be performed. Rāvana was killed by Lord Rāmacandra and was destined for hellish life, but by Lord Rāmacandra’s advice, Vibhīshana, Rāvana’s brother, performed all the duties prescribed in relation to the dead. Thus Lord Rāmacandra was kind to Rāvana even after Rāvana’s death.

People are very fond of the pattern of Rāma-rājya, and even today politicians sometimes form a party called Rāma-rājya, but unfortunately they have no obedience to Lord Rāma. It is sometimes said that people want the kingdom of God without God. Such an aspiration, however, is never to be fulfilled. Good government can exist when the relationship between the citizens and the government is like that exemplified by Lord Rāmacandra and His citizens. Lord Rāmacandra ruled His kingdom exactly as a father takes care of his children, and the citizens, being obliged to the good government of Lord Rāmacandra, accepted the Lord as their father. Thus the relationship between the citizens and the government should be exactly like that between father and son. When the sons in a family are well trained, they are obedient to the father and mother, and when the father is well qualified, he takes good care of the children. As indicated here by the words sva-dharma-niratā varnāśrama-gunān-vitāh, the people were good citizens because they accepted the institution of varna and āśrama, which arranges society in the varna divisions of brāhmana, kshatriya, vaiśya and śūdra and the āśrama divisions of brahmacarya, grihastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa. This is actual human civilization. People must be trained according to the different varnāśrama occupational duties. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (4.13), cātur-varnyam mayā srishtam guna-karma-vibhāgaśah: the four varnas must be established according to varying qualities and work. The first principle for good government is that it must institute this varnāśrama system. The purpose of varnāśrama is to enable people to become God conscious. Varnāśramācāravatā purushena parah pumān vishnur ārādhyate. The entire varnāśrama scheme is intended to enable people to become Vaishnavas. Vishnur asya devatā. When people worship Lord Vishnu as the Supreme Lord, they become Vaishnavas. Thus people should be trained to become Vaishnavas through the system of varna and āśrama, as they were during the reign of Lord Rāmacandra, when everyone was fully trained to follow the varnāśrama principles.

Simply enforcing laws and ordinances cannot make the citizens obedient and lawful. That is impossible. Throughout the entire world there are so many states, legislative assemblies and parliaments, but still the citizens are rogues and thieves. Good citizenship, therefore, cannot be enforced; the citizens must be trained. As there are schools and colleges to train students to become chemical engineers, lawyers or specialists in many other departments of knowledge, there must be schools and colleges to train students to become brāhmanas, kshatriyas, vaiśyas, śūdras, brahmacārīs, grihasthas, vānaprasthas and sannyāsīs. This will provide the preliminary condition for good citizenship (varnāśrama-gunān-vitāh). Generally speaking, if the king or president is a rājarshi, the relationship between the citizens and the chief executive will be clear, and there will be no possibility of disruption in the state, because the number of thieves and rogues will decrease. In Kali-yuga, however, because the varnāśrama system is neglected, people are generally thieves and rogues. In the system of democracy, such thieves and rogues naturally collect money from other thieves and rogues, and thus there is chaos in every government, and no one is happy. But here the example of good government is to be found in the reign of Lord Rāmacandra. If people follow this example, there will be good government all over the world.

Among the four yugas — Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali — the Kali-yuga is the worst, but if the process of varnāśrama-dharma is introduced, even in this Age of Kali, the situation of Satya-yuga can be invoked. The Hare Krishna movement, or Krishna consciousness movement, is meant for this purpose.

“My dear King, although Kali-yuga is full of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: simply by chanting the Hare Krishna mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.” (Bhāg. 12.3.51) If people take to this sankīrtana movement of chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Rāma, they will certainly be freed from the contamination of Kali-yuga, and the people of this age will be happy, as people were in Satya-yuga, the golden age. Anyone, anywhere, can easily take to this Hare Krishna movement; one need only chant the Hare Krishna mahā-mantra, observe the rules and regulations, and stay free from the contamination of sinful life. Even if one is sinful and cannot give up sinful life immediately, if he chants the Hare Krishna mahā-mantra with devotion and faith he will certainly be freed from all sinful activities, and his life will be successful. Param vijayate śrī-krishna-sankīrtanam. This is the blessing of Lord Rāmacandra, who has appeared in this Age of Kali as Lord Gaurasundara.

All these facilities existed because of Lord Rāmacandra’s presence as the king of the entire world. A similar situation could be introduced immediately, even in this age called Kali, the worst of all ages. It is said, kali-kāle nāma-rūpe krishna-avatāra: Krishna descends in this Kali-yuga in the form of His holy name — Hare Krishna, Hare Rāma. If we chant offenselessly, Rāma and Krishna are still present in this age. The kingdom of Rāma was immensely popular and beneficial, and the spreading of this Hare Krishna movement can immediately introduce a similar situation, even in this Kali-yuga.

Eka-patnī-vrata, accepting only one wife, was the glorious example set by Lord Rāmacandra. One should not accept more than one wife. In those days, of course, people did marry more than one wife. Even Lord Rāmacandra’s father accepted more wives than one. But Lord Rāmacandra, as an ideal king, accepted only one wife, mother Sītā. When mother Sītā was kidnapped by Rāvana and the Rākshasas, Lord Rāmacandra, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, could have married hundreds and thousands of Sītās, but to teach us how faithful He was to His wife, He fought with Rāvana and finally killed him. The Lord punished Rāvana and rescued His wife to instruct men to have only one wife. Lord Rāmacandra accepted only one wife and manifested sublime character, thus setting an example for householders. A householder should live according to the ideal of Lord Rāmacandra, who showed how to be a perfect person. Being a householder or living with a wife and children is never condemned, provided one lives according to the regulative principles of varnāśrama-dharma. Those who live in accordance with these principles, whether as householders, brahmacārīs or vānaprasthas, are all equally important.

As Lord Rāmacandra is the ideal husband (eka-patnī-vrata), mother Sītā is the ideal wife. Such a combination makes family life very happy. Yad yad ācarati śreshthas tat tad evetaro janah: whatever example a great man sets, common people follow. If the kings, the leaders, and the brāhmanas, the teachers, would set forth the examples we receive from Vedic literature, the entire world would be heaven; indeed, there would no longer be hellish conditions within this material world.