Of Shri Ram and being human....

Of Shri Ram and being human….

Memories of my visit to Panchavati in Nashik as a child  are hazy. All I can remember was entering a cave and coming out of it. I have visited Nashik so often thereafter, more specifically for work but never got the opportunity again, to go to any of the divine places connected with Lord Ram.
My sister on her recent visit to Mumbai expressed a desire to visit Panchavati and other holy places connected with Ram, Lakshman and Sita's stay in Nashik. Mythology fascinates me, more so when my sister narrates beautiful anecdotes in her melodious voice.
Apparently,  this was the most joyful phase during Lord Ram's vanvaas, period of exile. Ram, Sita and Lakshman were the happiest here.
Lord Ram, is Maryaada Purushottam, the most balanced human being, because he stood by dharma at all times.
Imagine the trauma he must have undergone when he was exiled by his own father. Yet he unflinchingly followed the dharma of being a dutiful son by going into exile. Like the Pandavas in Mahabharata or any other Kshatriya, he could have easily waged a war for his rights but he chose to follow the dharma of  being an obedient son first. He always led by being an example to others in every situation.
My indignation of him having left Sita also got nullified when my sister explained to me that he had taken that stand as a King and not as an individual. His foremost duty is a king was to satisfy every citizen even at the cost of his own happiness.
So my journey of discovery of Ram's stay in exile at Nashik began on a different note. We first went to the Ram Kund, the Sacred stream. It has special connotations since Lord Ram is said to have take a dip here. During the Kumbh it is overflowing with devotees as several people take a dip here. It is also a place for performing the Hindu rituals after death by the karta of the family. We sprinkled the holy water of Godavari over ourselves, visited a few temples like the Suryanarayan temple, Kapileshwar temple, one of the oldest temples in Nashik. It is perhaps the only temple without the Nandi.
Legends say that Lord Ram blackened his face to fight the demons and so Ram's idol at Kala Ram temple is black. Built in the 18th century, the entrance of the Kalaram temple has a shrine dedicated to Lord Hanuman. A group of persons there, were engrossed in singing praises to Lord Ram. Serenity in the air and Bhakti in my heart , we entered the main shrine. My eyes were struck by the beauty of the idols, as if experiencing the adage of black is beautiful.
Years ago this temple adopted a positive outlook when it was opened to all due to the efforts of the revered Dr. Babasaheb Anbedkar. Tears streaming down my face I was absorbing the vibes of positivity as I suddenly remembered my mother having told me about the beauty of this place.
I was more than eager now to go to Panchavati, Sita Gufa where Goddess Sita had to hide for 24 hours when Ram and Lakshman fought the raakshasas.
The meanderings of the war with Ravana began at Nashik.
Smitten by Ram's beauty , Soorpanakha made all efforts to win him over but in vain. He is said to have told her that he was , "ek patnivrata" faithful to his wife, Sita. When Soorpanakha insisted he told her that Lakshman was equally handsome and she could try and persuade him. Lakshmana also refused to marry her Soorpanakha. Lakshman known to be short-tempered was irititated by her behaviour and cut off her nose which gave the city its name of Nashik.
Spurned by Ram and Lakshman, rejected and hurt she sought help from her brothers Khara-Dushan to fight Ram and Lakshman. 14000 soldiers are said to have attacked Lord Ram but he overcame them singlehandedly.
Ultimately she sought help from Ravana, but knowing her brother would not help only to avenge her, she enticed him with Sita's beauty and aroused Ravana 's baser instincts. He therefore agreed to come on the conquest which led to Sita being kidnapped.
The Pachavati is an important part of Ramayana as the banyan trees there are a witness to this glorious past.
Sita Gufa was great fun to enter, the narrow, curvaceous path, which we had to enter by bending and crawling sent us back to our childhood. The idols of Lord Ram, Sita and Lakshman here too invoked pure Bhakti.
From the Sita Gufa , we went see to the Godavari and Tapovan which has the world's only temple dedicated to Lakshman.
Lord Ram was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu but he never revealed his true self.
In the words of Swami Vivekananda he was the embodiment of trurth and reality, the ideal son, husband, king. His wisdom, compassion, righteousness, truthfulness, sacrifice, comitedness are exemplary and could also be our greatest learning. In his human avataar, Ram epitomised the perfect human.
As for us, we are human too, just like Ram and so  perhaps like what Stephen Hawking has said, "We are very, very small, but we are profoundly capable of very, very big things"