RAMAYANA AND MAHABHARATA – GUIDELINES FOR ART OF LIVING WITH PEACE – By N.S.Venkataraman
Counter productive and wasteful views have been expressed by some critics ,expressing doubts as to whether the events mentioned in the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata could have really taken place or they were only stories written by talented writers and poets with imaginative capability. Such views have been expressed from time to time over the years by a small section of people. However, billions of people around the world have rejected such views . It is totally unnecessary to question whether the events described in Ramayana and Mahabharata were factual or mere stories.
Essence of Rmayana and Mahabharata :
The essence of Ramayana and Mahabharata are the guidelines that they lay down , as to how people should lead quality life with high value systems and without yielding to negative thoughts such as falsehoods , vengeance and deceit. With several case studies , the epics emphasise firmly that good will prevail over evil and truth would always triumph.
These concepts pronounced in Ramayana and Mahabharata are also stated in the Hindu religious scriptures namely Vedas and Upanishads. The phrase “Satyameva Jayate,” meaning “Truth alone triumphs,” is mentioned in the Mundaka Upanishad. This Upanishad is an ancient Sanskrit Vedic text embedded within the Atharva Veda.
Ramayana and Mahbharata elegantly explains this phrase by describing the sayings and actions of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna , who are depicted as incarnation of God .
Concept of God :
Hindu scriptures including the Yajurveda and Upanishads, describe God as formless. Specifically, the Yajurveda states “He has no image” and the Svetasvatara Upanishad says “There is no likeness of Him”. The concept of Brahman, ( God ) , is also understood as formless, with the Rig Veda describing God as the source of all existence, including all forms of creation.
For individuals , there is need to have focus while offering prayers to God and the devotes emotionally and spiritually realise Lord Rama and Lord Krishna as the incarnation of God and offer prayers to them in temples and within oneself , as many Hindu philosophical schools stress that God (Brahman) is within all beings.
The idol worship which is central aspect in the Hindu prayer mode pave way for focusing the mind of devotees during prayer to God, to make progress towards realisation of God within.
Recently, renovated Balarama temple in Ayodhya is visited by millions of devotees , as they realise God in the idol of Lord Balarama.
Death event :
Death is natural and inevitable event and every one have to be conscious of death possibility all through the life.
Generally, people are reluctant to accept that death may happen to them soon. When dear and near ones pass away, there is a moment of introspection on the event of death but soon ,the onlookers reconcile themselves to the thought that for them , the death event would not happen anytime soon.
This thought process of humans have been mentioned in Mahabharata . In the Mahabharata, during the period of hardship in the forest, Yiudhishtra was asked by Yaksha ( a celestial being ) about the greatest wonder in the world. Yudhishtira replied that most surprising thing is how people believe as if they are eternal, despite the constant presence of death.
After death what ? :
Then, the question arises after death what?
Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi, one of the deep thinkers and great exponents of Hindu philosophy said that there is a way to find answer to the question on what after death . Either one has to resort to self introspection ( atma vichara in Sanskrit ) or total surrender to God without questioning.
In this context, Bhagawat Gita says that few out of millions of people can only realise the self and presence of God within by introspection.
In Mundako Upanishad , there is a famous passage which highlights the fact that atman ( soul – individual’s real self ) cannot be known merely by lengthy explanation of the scriptures nor is it known by the intellect, not even by profound scholarship.
During introspection, when the mind comes to end of its resources and stands confused before the unanswerable question on what after death, then , it will be realised that total surrender to God is the only way to realise the God within and get the feeling of eternal bliss, ,which is the ultimate state.
Ramayana and Mahabharata narrates several events to explain that the only path is to totally surrender oneself to God and in the process ,discover the God within.
Path to art of living :
Reflecting the essence of Hindu religious scriptures ,Ramayana and Mahabharata provides ways and means for the art of living with mental peace.
Ramayana and Mahabharata clearly lay stress about the need to pull away the mental thoughts in individuals to higher values, by understanding the futility of material world and material desires, which are often accompanied by feelings of jealousy, greed and violence.
These great epics enunciate that adherence to truth and total surrender to God is the only way to lead life of mental peace and harmony , which obviously indicates that detachment , enmity towards none and compassion for all is needed , as one leads active life .
This is the principle of Sanatana dharma, the much respected and venerated concept in Hindu scriptures.
Eternal epics :
Ramayana and Mahabharata will always remain as the epics for all time to come , providing the ultimate guidelines for the art of living with peace in the world .
Any query whether Ramayana and Mahabharata are real events is absolutely unnecessary and wasteful thought process.
