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Doubts reg: Vali Vadham

From the Bhakti List Archives

M.K. Krishnaswamy • January 27, 2003 


Dear Rama Bhaktas,

At the risk of a charge of repetition, 
I would like to bring to your notice the following extracts 
which are relevant in the present context.

Singing the glories of Rama truly benefits us. 

Gandhiji derived great mental strength by chanting Sri Rama Mantra. He has said that this belief was inculcated in him by his nurse Rambha when he was a child. Nothing could take Gandhiji away from the rock of his faith in Truth, and Rama Nama was the line anchoring him unto it. Up early in the still very dark, early hours of the 25th, Bapu wrote to a friend in Gujarai: "no one can harm a person who is sustained by Ramanama. I believe firmly in this principle. It is by the grace of that God that I am able to remain calm even though there is conflagration all around. Had it not been for Rama Nama, I would have broken down by now. That is why I proclaim at the top of my voice that I dance as Rama wills. We are all in this world to do our duty. I believe that not a leaf moves without his command. Look at the pride of man: he thinks he does everything! But God is magnanimous and only laughs at man's ignorance. Now you will understand where I stand. " 

Gandhi's was not blind faith but a dynamic one and he proved its effectiveness in his own life. He proved also the famous (anonymous) Indian saying about the art of  weaving the cloth of our life: 'Weave in Faith; God will provide the thread', 

That is where the importance of Faith comes in as an aid in cultivating the spiritual mind. But it is very difficult task since we are always assailed by logical doubts which someone likened to the horns of a charging Rhino. Attempting to judge Rama with our present knowledge based on logic, perhaps, might never succeed. It is in this context that I am quoting below from C.Rajagopalachari's wise observations.

Dasan,
M.K. Krishnaswamy


Slaying of Vaali - Rajaji's comment: 

"All who are born must die. This is the law. I do not therefore grieve for my death. Still, your sin is great in killing me in this treacherous way."  Vaali, son of Indra, reproached Raama thus with his dying breath. And all this is fully set out by Vaalmeeki, the divine poet, as well as by Kamban.  Against this accusation, what defence could Raama offer?

Vaalmeeki has it that Raama gave some explanation with which Vaali was satisfied. But I am omitting all this as pointless and pray that the learned may forgive me. What I think is that an avataar is an avataar and that among the sorrows that the Lord and His consort had to endure in their earthly incarnation, this liability to have their actions weighed on the earthly scale is a part. 

Earlier, while narrating the Soorpanakha episode 
(where Lakshmana disfigures her face), Rajaji observes:

"Let those who find faults in Rama see faults.  
If these critics faultlessly pursue dharma 
and avoid in their own lives the flaws they discover in Rama, 
the bhaktas of Sri Rama will indeed welcome it with joy. 
If they exhibit the virtues of Rama 
and add to these more virtues and greater flawlessness, 
who can complain?" 
................................................. 
.................................................... 
Raama erred in running after the magic deer to please his wife. 
Consequent to this, difficulties and sorrows and conflicts of duty pursued him. 
If we keep in mind that when God takes a lower and limited form by His own ordinance, 
limitations follow and we should not be confused thereby. 
This is my humble view as against other explanations propounded by the pious." 

On Ramayana  
(Extracts from Ramayana by C. Rajagopalachari)

"The traditional orthodox view is that Vaalmeeki wrote the Ramayana during the life-time of Ramachandra.    Judging from normal experience, however, it would appear that the story of Rama had been in existence, though not as a written work, long before Valmeeki wrote his epic. It looks as though Valmeeki gave form to a story that had been handed down from generation to generation. That probably explains some of the difficult features in the story-e.g., the slaying of Vaali and Sita's exile under Rama's orders (in Uttara Ramayanam).

In Valmeeki's work, Rama is portrayed as a great and unique man, not as an incarnation of God. True, in some chapters there are references to him as an avataar of God, but in the body of the narrative, the Rama pictured by Sage Valmeeki is not God himself but a great prince endowed with divine qualities.

Bven during Valmeeki's days, the idea was prevalent, to some extent, that Rama was an avataar. Centuries later, Kamban and Tulsidaas sang the Ramaayana, and by that time it had come to be accepted that Sri Rama was an avataar of Vishnu. Rama and Krishna were synonyms for Vishnu: and Vishnu, in turn, meant Rama or Krishna. Temples had come into existence with ritual worship of Rama as God. In a situation like that, how could the later-poets portray Rama as a mere hero? Any such attempt would have failed. Kamban and Tulsidaas were devotees of the highest order. They were very different from historians and novelists. ............................................................ 
............................................................
Thus was the holy  Valmeeki-Ramayana born. The tale of the Lord and his consort born as mortals, experiencing human sorrow and establishing dharma on earth, was sung by the Rishi in words of matchless beauty. And Brahma's words have come true: 

"As long as the mountains stand and the rivers flow 
so long shall the Ramaayana be cherished among men 
and save them from sin."    





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