Search:
Bhakti List Archives

Re: Rama's treatment of Sita

From the Bhakti List Archives

Mani Varadarajan • January 17, 1996 


On Jan 17,  8:49pm, Shashikanth Hosur wrote:
> But In his talks Ramana Maharshi says that the actions of person who has
> realised his self may seem ordinary but he beyond them.

This discussion is purely in the context of Rama as
a the embodiment of dharma.  As such, we are taught
to look to Rama's behavior as a guide. To say that
his behavior is ``beyond our understanding'' is a copout.

> I think it is also valid to raise the question that is
> it correct for draupadi to marry five brothers?

This is not the question that was raised.  The morality
of polyandry from an absolute standpoint is not the question
Lakshmi asked.  Rather, it is whether it is not misogynistic
for the epic to judge Draupadi as a loose woman because she
married five husbands, despite the fact that she was forced
into such a wedding.  And whether it was proper to judge
her in that way considering men were allowed to marry as
many times as they wished.

The dharma that is outlined in the Mahabharata and Ramayana
is never as clear as our elders and acharyas make it seem.

Mani