Vedic Wisdom
Central Message of Itihasas
Itihasas over and above the myth part of it always had a telling and
profound central message to be conveyed.
In Ramayana
Ravana was no ordinary man- He was a devout and scholarly
Brahmin that too the son of Sage Pulastya; Ravana himself was a great Shiva
devotee and was loved by Shiva himself; and was blessed with all boons by
Lord Shiva.In fact on a fight for right between Ravana and Nandi (the ever
companion of Shiva) Shiva sided with Ravana.
But Ravana committed the cardinal mistake of falling for lust and
had to be quelled. And for this Lord Vishnu had to come himself as Lord
Rama.
Even for Lord Rama it was not possible to just like that vanquish him
because he could not match the boons earned by Ravana. So to first get fit to
meet Ravana; Rama had to undergo several ordeals including vanavasa and
wait for Ravana to commit the unpardonable sin.
In Mahabharata
Though Duryodhana had many things in his favour- strictly speaking
he was a victim rather than the culprit in respect of his claim for kingdom -
lost the game only because as Lord Krishna says, he was having the dirt of
bad thoughts.
So the moral of the story is that you can earn all powers from nature.
But if your mind is polluted all your other good things will get buried.
Morals of Itihasas
In addition to a central message the Itihasas also convey several
Morals.
In Ramayana
1)Effects of Karma:
The great moral of Ramayana is that you can’t avoid the consequences
of Karma – past deeds. The story in essence is a struggle between good and
evil. But it is not just linear. There are many many layers of karma involved
which are interwoven. Also there are many dilemmas to be faced. In fact the
gap between good and evil is not as clear as we might have thought.
Therefore as we move along the story, we are tested emotionally and
intellectually.
2)Freedom vs. Duty:
Another major moral of Ramayana is the giving up of freedom for the
sake of one’s duty or honor. The Sanskrit word “duty” means dharma which
has no equivalent word in English. Roughly translated it means, ‘ the core
purpose of life.’ In sanatana dharma this manifests as a set of principles
governing the behaviour; a set of the obligations to be performed- to the
nature, to the parents and dependents.
In Mahabharatha
The moral of Mahabharatha was very well summed up by Veda Vyasa
himself as the finale of Mahabharata which is amazingly and gloriously
impressive.Rishi Vyasa concludes:
‘Dharma is eternal; but life, its joys and sorrow are not. Do not give
away the eternal for the temporal values of life.’ And dharma is ‘Do not do to
others what you do not wish to be done to yourself by others; and do wish
for others What you wish, desire and long for yourself ‘.
This article is a snippet from the Book Vedic Wisdom, Authored by Pandit Sri Rama Sharma. Vedic Wisdom is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.
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