Sri Rama Navami

Whenever Lord Krishna lila, Purushottam will come in any brahmanda, his eternal parents will be mother Yashoda and Nanda baba – it will never be changed. There are so many Vaikunthas, anywhere his pastimes, his birth pastimes are going on, in the same way, prema Purushottam Sachi Gaurhari – whenever he appears in this world, his mother will be Sachi Devi, father will be Jagannath Misra and his grandfather will be Nilambara Chakravarti – his eternal associates.Following the same statement, whenever the maryada purushottam Lord Ramachandra appears, his mother will always be Kaushalya, and his father will always be Maharaja Dasharatha. This will never change; it is eternal. God has countless forms and whenever his pastimes takes place in any universe, his eternal associates will always be present. This is the general rule.  Yesterday, we were discussing the reason for Lord Rama’s incarnation. Let’s now explore some points on why Lord Rama appeared in this world.  When Maharaja Dasharath was the crown prince, he once went hunting. A question may arise—being the father of God, was he a meat-eater? Why did he go hunting? The answer lies in the dharma of Kshatriyas. As warriors, they were required to develop their skills in archery and combat which included hunting, for them this was not considered a sin.  One night, while hunting in complete darkness, Maharaja Dasharatha heard a sound that seemed like a wild animal drinking water. Relying solely on his hearing, he shot an arrow, which struck and fatally wounded a young boy. The boy cried out, “Oh! Who are you, cruel-hearted person? Why did you shoot me? What offense have I committed? You have not just killed me; we are three—my blind father and mother depend on me, I had only come to fetch water for them.”  Hearing the human voice, Maharaja Dasharatha was shocked and rushed to the boy. Interestingly, modern science has only recently discovered the ability to target objects using sound but Maharaja Dasharath had already mastered this technique thousands of years ago. This is evidence of how advanced ancient Indian technology was compared to modern science which is still far behind.  The boy writhing in pain, pleaded, “Please remove the arrow; I cannot bear the pain.” As soon as Dasharath removed the arrow, the boy passed away. The king, devastated, carried the boy’s body and went to his parents hut. Upon hearing his footsteps the blind parents called out, “Shravan Kumar, my dear son, why are you late today? No matter, sometimes it happens. Give us water—we are very thirsty.”

Maharaja Dasharath was trembling, as he approached with the water, the blind father sensed something was wrong and demanded, “Who are you? You are not my son. Tell me the truth, or I will curse you!”  Terrified, Dasharath replied, “I am the killer of your son.”

In a trembling voice, the blind father asked, “What? Why did you kill my son? What wrong had he done to you?” Dasharath explained everything that had happened. The grieving father then said, “No! We can drink water only if it is given by our son’s hands—no one else. Look, we are dying now, lamenting for our son. But remember this—one day, you too will suffer in the same way! You will die in agony, grieving for your own son!”  With this curse, the blind sage and his wife gave up their lives.

Later, despite marrying 360 queens, Maharaja Dasharatha remained childless. However, the words of a realized saint—whether a curse or a blessing—never go in vain.When Maharaj Dashrath wanted to make Lord Ram the king of Ayodhya then what happened?  Prior to that, at last, he had married Queen Kaikeyi. One day, Maharaj Dasharath went to hunt and on the way back, it became a little dark, so he took shelter in his friend’s Kingdom, that friend was no other than the father of Kaikeyi Devi. The friend arranged Kaikeyi for serving Maharaj Dasharath. Kaikeyi served Maharaj Dasharath in a very nice way, she conquered the heart of Maharaj Dasharath, now when it was time for Maharaj Dasharath to come back to Ayodhya, he asked, “Oh my friend, Kaikeyi Naresh, if I beg something, can you give me the alms?” Hearing this, the King (Kaikeyi’s father) started laughing a bit and said, “Oh Maharaj, you are an Emperor already and I am a small king, what is it that I have, that I can give(donate) you?” Maharaj Dasharath replied, “Yes, what I am asking for donation, I don’t have that”. Kaikeyi’s father asked, “What is that?” Maharaj Dashrath said, “You have to donate your daughter, and you can marry your daughter with me.” Kaikeyi’s father exclaimed, “No way, no way, no way”. Maharaj Dashrath asked, “Why not, am I unqualified?”Kaikeyi’s Father replied, “No, you are the fittest candidate for my daughter, but I have one condition, only the son coming from the womb of my daughter shall be your successor as the King.”

Maharaj Dashrath laughed and said, “So be it”. He thought so far, it has been a long time, I have no son, if by the grace of Bhagwan, I get a son through Kaikeyi, he will be crowned as the king, automatically. So Maharaj Dasharath got married to Kaikeyi and came back to Ayodhya.

Now post that, Maharaj Dasharath went for fighting on behalf of the Demigods, against the demons. When the demigods could not do anything, they can take someone from this mundane world to fight against the demons on their behalf. Not only that, any discussion taking place within the demigods and if they aren’t able to arrive at a decision then also they take someone qualified enough from this world to resolve the discussion. Like Bhaktivinod Thakur (7th Goswami) went to the heavenly planet, because the demigods weren’t able to reconcile the shlok “Apichet Suduracharo”, so they took him. They thought this time in the mundane world, Bhaktivinod Thakur is the best, so they took him to the heavenly planet. In the same way, who will fight on behalf of the demigods, so they took Maharaj Dasharath and Kaikeyi went as Maharaj Dasharath’s charioteer. When the battle was going on at the climax stage the demon shot a missile and that missile broke the axle of Maharaj Dasharath’s chariot. Maharaj Dasharath was about to fall down, Kaikeyi quickly jumped down to hold onto the broken axle. The fight kept going on, Maharaj Dasharath kept the demons out and killed them and eventually won the battle. Coming out of the chariot he embraced Kaikeyi, and said, “Oh Kaikeyi, I am indebted to you eternally, only because of you, I won the battle, so you made me the winner and saved my life. If you hadn’t held the axle at that time, the demons would have killed me easily. So first you saved my life, and secondly made me victorious, you can ask 2 benedictions.”

Kaikeyi replied, “You are my husband and I am your wife, then why do you talk about giving me benediction.”Maharaj Dashrath said, “No you must have to take.” Then both smiled looking at each other and Kaikeyi said, “Okay, I am keeping this fixed deposit with you, when time will come, I will ask for it from you.”This fixed deposit policy had started in Treta Yuga, nowadays in banks there is a fixed deposit. This was discovered by Kaikeyi Devi, not in this mundane world by a western person.So what happened, when they both came back to Ayodhya, they both forgot about this incident. On the other hand, Bharat and Shatrughn were visiting Bharat’s maternal uncle like Ram and Lakshman are always together similarly Bharat and Shatrughn are always together. One day, Maharaj Dasharath with Kaushalya Devi went to their Gurudev (Vasishth Rishi) and Maharaj Dasharath said, “Gurudev, now I have got old and day by day I understand my energy is going down and my eldest son, Ram is qualified to be my successor as the King of Ayodhya. Each and every corner of Ayodhya, all inhabitants of Ayodhya, they like my eldest son, Ram, so much…..”Every corner of Ayodhya and all its inhabitants love my eldest son dearly. As a result, I wish to make him king. Then I can devote myself to bhajans (prayers).

(Consider how this is similar to a human being’s pastime – whose son is Bhagwan (Lord)? What need is there for bhajans? Even Maharaj Vasudev told Nand Baba that everyone should understand that this is just a human being’s pastime.)

“Oh, Gurudev, please choose a date.” Gurudev calculated the constellations and declared that tomorrow is the most auspicious day. If we don’t proceed tomorrow, we’ll have to wait another year. Immediately, Maharaj Dasharath sent out invitations as soon as possible but didn’t send them to Bharat and Shatrughan as they were far away. Maharaj said, “They are my own sons; they will come and attend the ceremony on their own. First, invite the others.” It was spring time in India and the Chaitra Mahotsav (spring festival) was in full swing. Kaikeyi was deeply immersed in meditation when Maharaj Dasharath and Kaushalya returned. Kaushalya immediately went to Kaikeyi to share the good news but Kaikeyi was so deeply absorbed in her meditation that she couldn’t be disturbed or informed.(If Kaushalya would tell Kaikeyi, the news might overwhelm her, and thereby prevent Lord Rama from fulfilling his destiny of going into exile.)

So, she returned without sharing the news. Later, Lord Rama and Sita Devi went to inform Kaikeyi Devi, to do pranam and seek her blessings but they couldn’t as she was deeply meditating. Unaware of the commotion in Ayodhya with people celebrating, dancing, and singing in every corner of Ayodhya, Kaikeyi remained oblivious. As evening approached, Kaikeyi’s maid, Manthara went to investigate the commotion and found people dancing and singing in celebration. When she asked what was happening, the person said, “You old women you know nothing, tomorrow Lord Rama will become king.” Manthara was surprised and asked if it was true. The person said, “Despite living in the royal palace you know nothing.” Manthara got offended and said, “Do you know who I am?” and threatened the person with her stick. The person retreated and Manthara returned to Kaikeyi angrily asking if she knew about Rama’s impending coronation. Kaikeyi offered Manthara her expensive necklace but Manthara threw the necklace on the floor calling Kaikeyi foolish. Kaikeyi explained that Rama is her son but Manthara angrily said, “Rama is your son? No, your son is Bharat.” Kaikeyi said, “Manthara, your thoughts are always tainted with malice.” and further added, “Rama is my first son, Bharat is my second, Laxman is my third and Shatrughan is my fourth. All of them are my sons.” Manthara sneered at Kaikeyi saying, “You’re still naive, like a little girl, you don’t know what’s going on. A conspiracy is unfolding against you. Why didn’t the king tell you anything? Kaushalya and Sumitra didn’t inform you either. Tomorrow, Rama will be king, and Bharat will be his servant.” Kaikeyi rebuked Manthara, saying, “You have a wicked mind! Rama loves Bharat like his own life and soul; he would never do such a thing.” Manthara said, “Tomorrow, Kaushalya will be the Raj Mata and you will be her maid”. Kaikeyi said “You have a wicked mind Kaushalya treats me like her own daughter”. Manthara retorted, “What do you know about the material world? When someone gains power they become arrogant.” Kaikeyi said, “What should I do now?” Mathara said, “Now listen carefully; there’s still one night between today and tomorrow, you can change everything. Remember when you accompanied Maharaj Dashrath to defeat the demons, acting on behalf of the demigods? He granted you two benedictions; now is the time to claim them.”Remember you’ve to give me 2 benediction now this is the time you can take both benediction.” “What shall I take in one benediction?”. Exchange of Rama, Bharat will be king, “And what’s second benediction?”, “Ram has go to exile for 14 years.”

King asked, “Why so ? Why Rama will go exile.”

Kaikeyi replied, “Well unless and until Rama will not go exile no one will care for Bharat.”

Yes this is the thing, when Lord Rama was small boy always Kaikeyi taking Rama in her palace so Rama is there, Maharaj Dasharath is there, Kaushalya, Sumitra all there always.

Kaikeyi did not allow to Kaushlya and Sumitra take Rama in their palace always, so everybody there. One day no one is there, Lord Rama sitting on the lap of mother Kaikeyi touching her chin, he said, “Mother, if I asked you something will you donate (fulfill)?” Kaikeyi said, “Yes my son if you ask my life I’ll give everything.” He said, “No mother look before your lip what I’m going to ask you is very easy to give up life here but what I’m going to ask, to maintain life will be too difficult.” She said, “No no my dear, what you like you can ask.” Again Rama told, “Mother you’re daughter-in-law to Raghu dynast (lord Ram’s forefather name was Raghu very influential king so called  dynasty, you are daughter-in-law of Raghu dynasty so the policy of Raghu dynasty:-

“Raghu kul riti sada chali ayi, pran jaye par vachan na jaye.”

To policy of Raghukul dynasty is that when you promise someone they have to always fulfill otherwise exchange their life here and Rama telling, “Mother look before your lip.” She said, “Yes what you want, you can ask.” Then lord Rama said, “Listen, when I will grow up my father will make me king.” Kaikeyi said, “yes, yes  then your father will hold my hand, he said, “Yes mother listen that when my father want to make me king, you have to ask two benediction.” She asked, “What?” Rama said, “Exchange of Rama, Bharat will be king and second benediction Rama has to take exile for 14 years.” Her head spinning no one is their and lord Rama, a small boy asking such things. Kaikeyi said, “Why are you asking this benediction?” then he told, “Mother you want my father to be a liar?”, she asked, “How can your father will be a liar?”, then Lord Rama told, “If you won’t make Bharat king, then my father will be a liar.” she asked, “How is it possible?” then Lord Rama told, “You remember when my father took shelter at night in your father’s kingdom and when your father asked to marry you with my father then your father, means my grandfather told the baby which will come from Kaikeyi will be king, you remember?”, she said, “Yes”, Rama told, “So if Bharat will not be king my father will be a liar you want your husband will be liar? So you have to think”, she replied “Okay and why you want to be in exile?” he said, “Mother do you know who am I? I am bhagavan Lord Rama did not have biological birth, like Lord Krishna and Lord Mahaprabhu he had birth, infront of Devaki and Vasudev in kansa jail.

“Bhaye prakat kripala, deen dayala Kaushalya hitkari”

He appears infront of Kaushalya in 16 yr teenager and then as a baby he became a small boy, same way, “mother you know I came.” , “Why?”,  “To deliver the saintly person, to protect them and killing demons. If I don’t go exile then I could not kill the demons how can I take away from earth so must have to go going there I’ll go everywhere and I kill them so I’ve to go mother only you can do this job no one else.”Kaikeyi said, “It is much more dangerous than picking poison and ending one’s life, but for your pleasure, I can do this.”   At that time, Rama was about to be crowned as king, but Kaikeyi asked for a benediction from Maharaja Dasharatha. She demanded, “Bharata will be king and Rama will be exiled.” Upon hearing this Maharaja Dasharatha fainted.  When Rama went into exile, Maharaja Dasharatha told Kaushalya, “I don’t want to stay here! Take me to my palace. Now I understand that my death is approaching. When I was a young crown prince, I killed a Brahman boy and his father cursed me—‘Just as I am dying in separation from my son, you too will die in separation from your son.’ Now, that curse is coming true. My time has come.”  Andha Muni was a devotee, a high-class Brahman. To fulfill his curse, Lord Rama appeared as the son of Maharaja Dasharatha. This is one of the causes of Lord Rama’s incarnation in this world. Lord Rama had to enter this world and it was all the work of Yogamaya. Yogamaya forced Maharaja Dasharatha to act in this way.  Similarly, when Mahaprabhu was a young boy swimming in the Ganges, the Brahmins were meditating. What was Mahaprabhu doing to them? He would take water in his mouth and spit it on their faces. While they were chanting the Gayatri mantra he would splash water with his feet and touch the Brahmins. How fortunate they were that the feet water of Svayam Bhagavan touched them and His mouth water also touched them! But the Brahmins could not understand.  The Brahmins cursed Him, saying, “Saṁsāra-sukha tomāra ha-uka vināśa – You shall be bereft of all material happiness!” But in reality, they were acting under the influence of Yogamaya. Without Yogamaya’s influence this would not have happened.

The Brahmins knew that if there was no king, chaos would arise. When Maharaja Parikshit was cursed by Rishi Shringi, Shamik Rishi’s son. Shamik Rishi rebuked him, saying, “Why did you curse the king? He is our protector! If there is no king there will be indiscipline and chaos!” It was all the role of Yogamaya. The Bhagavan has to manifest in this world so king Parikshit was cursed. Similarly, King Dasharatha was also subjected to Yogamaya’s arrangement. Through Yogamaya, the Lord performs His divine pastimes.  Another reason for the Lord’s incarnation is the suffering in this world. Somewhere, there is an earthquake; somewhere, a volcano; somewhere, a drought; somewhere, a flood. Once for a hundred years, there was no rain on earth.  There was a son of Brahma named Gautama, a highly qualified saint. He called all the rishis and kept them in his ashram, by the power of his bhajan, he protected, nourished, and fed them. After a hundred years, when the rains returned, the munis went back to their ashrams.  Gautama Rishi would perform austerities from time to time for the benefit of the whole world. Once, when he was engaged in deep austerity, the king of heaven, Indra, thought, “Oh! Perhaps Gautama wants to take my position in the heavenly planets. Somehow or other, I must make him angry!”The King of heavenly planet Indra thought, “Oh, maybe Gautama Rishi wants to take position in the heavenly planet, somehow or other I have to make him angry.” If somebody is angry then he loses his power. You can see that anyone who becomes angry,the more angry, the more power he loses. Indra thought, “I have to make him very angry.” What did he do? He talked to the Moon, “Oh Moon, at midnight you have to come down, now became Brahma muhurta. I want to break the chastity of Gautam’s wife, Ahalya devi.” King told, he has to follow, so he came with Moon, and Moon came down. In ancient times, there were no watches, they maintained time by seeing the movements of the Sun and at night time, the movements of the Moon and constellations. Even if you go 100 years back, there were no computers. The ship on the water – they are fixing their destination seeing the  constellations like the pole star and other stars, by this they are moving. Also, there is accurate with them.   So Moon came down like it became 4.30am. Gautam Rishi said, “Fie on me, fie on me! I slept so much today? Now it became Brahma muhurta, I am still sleeping?” He took his kamandal (water pot) and deer skin and went to the river side. When he went there, seeing the nature, it seems like midnight. He thought, “How come Moon came down?” Then he meditated, “Oh, wicked King, heavenly King Indra, he did all these conspiracies. Ok!” He became a little angry. When he wanted to enter the gate of his ashram, Moon was standing. He took his deer skin and used it to give a big slap to Moon. All the black spots on Moon – these are due to the beating by Gautam Rishi by his deer skin. One may say, ‘Oh, this is not…this, that, that.’ When they are develop enough, then they can understand.  Modern Science is so far behind than Indian Vedic Science. Vedic Science is so developed. Even nowadays Medical Science is improving so much. But Indian Medical Science is so developed, none can imagine also.

So what happened? I am giving one example of ancient Medical Science. When Das Goswami was doing bhajan at the banks of Radha Kunda, one day he had loose motion, stomach upset. At that time there were no Ayurvedic doctors there, only in Mathura. The Vrajavasis took one Ayurvedic doctor to check Das Goswami’s pulse. The Ayurvedic doctor checked and said, “This Bengali Baba took so much rice, so he could not digest, still the rice is there in his stomach.” The Vrajavasis became angry, “Madman!” This is their language. “Baba only takes one palmful of buttermilk, nothing else. You are telling that Bengali Baba has taken so much rice?” They were using slang language and abusing the Ayurvedic doctor so much but he did not become angry. If you have doubt, rule it out. The doctor said, “Ask your Baba.” The Vrajavasis asked, “Baba, what is this Ayurvedic doctor telling? You have taken so much rice?” Das Goswami said, “Yes.” The Vrajavasis asked, “How come? You never go anywhere, only taking one palmful of buttermilk.” Then Das Goswami told, “Listen, yesterday I was doing manasi seva. By this manasi seva, I cooked so many preparations for the Divine Couple and I cooked sweet rice, and so many nuts, so many things I gave. After that, I offered and Radhika fed it to Krsna by her own hand. Krsna was telling, “Oh, who cooked this sweet rice? It is so tasty.” Radhika told, “One of my maidservants.” Krsna said, “Oh, call her.” Das Goswami, was chanting Harinam, entered in trance. “This new Manjari – she cooked this sweet rice.” Krsna said, “Oh, you are such an expert cook. So Krsna gave her to taste and said, “Look how tasty it is.” So Krsna gave the sweet rice to Rati Manjari ( Das goswami) to taste, then Radhika told, “You! You are my maidservant. Why did you take Mahaprasad from this black fellow? He is internally black, externally black. You are my Manjari, you have to take from My hand.”