YOU CAN CHOOSE TO MAKE RAMAYANA A MANUAL FOR LIFE

For centuries, we have deployed Ayodhya, Ram Mandir, Ram Setu and Hanuman statues as political ammunition. Innumerable people have been slaughtered for either supporting the Ramayana and its artifacts or opposing them. Strangely, it was in Ayodhya almost 27 years ago, that I learned from a wandering minstrel that the Ramayana is really religion-neutral, community neutral, and a sort of manual for life.

Start with the principal character Rama. ‘Ra’ means ‘light’, ‘Ma’ means ‘within me’ or, ‘in my heart’. Rama was born to Dasharath and Koushalya. ‘Dasharath’ means ‘ten chariots ’, symbolising the five sense organs (Gnanendriya) and five organs of action (Karmendriya ). ‘Koushalya’ means ‘skill’. Only the skilled rider of the ten chariots can give birth to Rama. Rama was born in ‘Ayodhya’, ‘a place where no war can happen’.

The Ramayana is thus not just a story that probably occurred several centuries ago, it has a philosophical, practical spiritual significance and a deep truth in it. The ‘Ramayana’ is constantly happening in our own bodies every moment of our lives. When the ‘mind’ (Sita) is stolen or taken away by the ‘ego’ (Ravana), then the ‘soul’ (Rama) gets ‘restless’. For the ‘soul’ (Rama) to reach the ‘mind’ (Sita), it has to take the help of the ‘breath – the Prana’ (Hanuman) through being in ‘awareness’ (Laxmana). Together, they return to the stage of ‘Ayodhya’. (Inner Voice comprises contributions from our readers.) The views expressed are personal

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