The Lord, epitome of ethical perfection

CHENNAI, JULY 12. The delineation of the different personalities in the Ramayana throws light on their character and the poets Valmiki and Kamban often resort to contrasting one with another to highlight human nature. Rama, the hero of the epic, is portrayed as the ideal human being by Valmiki and hence the depiction of His conduct in various situations guides human beings as to how they should behave in similar circumstances. Thus the Lord in His incarnation as Rama remains the eternal role model for us to attain His level of perfection. Rama is depicted as the personification of Dharma in this epic and every episode presents a different facet of His personality.

The meeting of Rama and Surpanakha as depicted in the epic gives insight into human nature. When the ogress arrived in Panchavati situated on the bank of the river, Godavari, where Rama was camping along with Sita and Lakshmana, she could not resist the urge to speak out her mind. Propriety would not have given room to a woman of her background to speak to one who was as high-born as Rama, but she threw caution to the winds and accosted Him and demanded to know His identity.

In her discourse, Smt. Jaya Srinivasan said a person of Rama's stature could have easily dismissed her but true to His honest nature, He introduced Himself to her. It would not have even occurred to Him to tell a lie under any circumstances, that too to a woman and the place also was in the vicinity of the dwelling of sages. He described His lineage and the reason for His stay in the forest. She in turn introduced herself with the words, ``Causing fear to all I haunt this forest alone. I have a brother, Ravana by name... The very mighty Kumbhakarna too, who is given to excessive sleep, is my brother. Vibhishana, my third brother, for his part is pious-minded; he has none of the qualities of an ogre. My other two brothers, Khara and Dushana, are well-known for their valour on the battlefield.'' Then without further preamble she came directly to the point and expressed her desire to marry Rama.

The Ramayana besides being an epic describing the life of the Lord when He incarnated in human form, has been hailed as the Adikavya depicting all the human emotions (Rasas), which are central to poetry and literature. The instances where humour is highlighted in it are few and this context happens to be one. Learning Surpanakha's intention, Rama, instead of rebuking her, smiled and told her that He was already married pointing to Sita and directed her to Lakshmana.

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