An alternative ending?

During the lockdown, old shows have been broadcast on Doordarshan! This has brought all of us back to our childhood in some ways!

One of them has been the Hindu epic Ramayana, the story of Sri Rama and Mata Sita.  The Ramayana (as composed by Goswami Tulsidas in the form of Ramcharitmanasa) ended a few days ago and has been followed by the Uttar Ramayana, representing Uttara Kanda, the last chapter of Ramayana. Herein, the story continues following the return of Rama and Sita from the 14 year vanavasa. It follows the story subsequent to Sri Rama's coronation as the king of Ayodhya. As Sri Rama's reign begins, a dark episode occurs, which is surely one of the most challenging and challenged parts of  the Ramayana, the banishment of Mata Sita! Presumably, this happened because a part of the public thought that Mata Sita could not be their queen as she had spent a year as a 'captive' of the demon king Ravana, and was thus impure! It is another story that her chastity was unquestionable! We all know what happened then - Sri Rama, putting his 'duty' as a king before his obligations to his wife, decided that Mata Sita could not stay in the palace as a queen anymore due to the 'complaints' of a section of the praja of Ayodhya.

I always struggled to reconcile the image of Sri Rama with this episode. Of course, he prioritised his rajdharma. But what about Mata Sita? And what about Sri Rama himself? I found my 'answer' to this when Uttara Ramayana was being telecast. To understand this, we need to appreciate the values held sacred by the prevailing culture that is demonstrated by Ramayana. The Vedic culture of the time considered all relationships and all positions as opportunities for sacred service - to God and to all his children. When Sri Rama heard the accusations being leveled against his consort, this situation constituted an ethical crisis. To resolve an ethical crisis, one needs profound wisdom to recognize the higher 'moral' principle and adjust the lower 'moral' principle accordingly. So, through this incident, Sri Rama, who was God incarnate playing the role of maryadapurshottam, an ideal human being, who was here (in addition to getting rid of the adharma that the demons were spreading) to teach us how to wisely resolve ethical crises. As an ideal husband, he was duty-bound to protect his wife. But as the ideal king, he was also duty-bound to exemplify and teach his citizens, whom he loved like his own children, the path to spiritual advancement. Ordinarily, people are very attached materially to spouse, children, house, wealth - that is very natural. So, the king is duty-bound to demonstrate to his citizens the principle of detachment so that they become inspired toward detachment and thus make spiritual advancement. That’s why Lord Rama considered his duty as an ideal king more important than as the ideal husband and so sacrificed his love for his wife for the sake of his love for his children (citizens). But he didn’t abandon his duty as a husband (even if it might be perceived otherwise) - he thoughtfully did that duty by transferring Sita from his direct care in the palace to his indirect care in the ashram of Maharishi Valmiki. Mata Sita, understanding the heart of the Lord, gracefully accepted her part in his sacrifice. I managed to reconcile my image of Sri Rama as the maryadapurshottam with what transpired here, which could have been seen as grave injustice against females (of course we know what happened in the Dwapar yuga when Sri Krishna, another incarnation of Bhagwan Vishnu, married 16000 women after rescuing them from the captivity of Narkasura - so here he showed us another great virtue, that of compassion). 

Eventually, she gave birth to two rajkumaras - Lava and Kusha. They had no idea of their identity and lived happily in Maharishi Valmiki's ashram. He taught them everything, and as he knew they were Kshatriyas - this included learning how to use weapons effectively. He also provided them many divyastras. He also composed the Ramayana and taught them music so that it could be presented as a song.

Time passed and subsequent to the Ashwamedha yagya when the sacred horse entered the ashram boundary and was 'captured' by Lava and Kusha, they managed to defeat the royal army of Ayodhya and also all of their uncles, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughana. Finally, Sri Rama had to come himself and Guru Valmiki intervened before they could exchange 'fire'. Devi Sita came to know about this and it was then revealed that Sri Rama was their father. They were then asked by Valmikiji to go to Ayodhya and sing the story of Mata Sita with the intention of 'converting' the hearts of the people and again establishing her place as their queen.

When Sri Rama heard about what was happening and how the two munikumaras had enchanted the entire city, he invited them to his rajasabha. There, they sang the entire Ramayana and in the end, revealed that they were no one but the sons of Sri Rama. Everyone had tears in their eyes (especially after hearing what Devi Sita had to go through). I also could not stop my eyes from getting wet! When the next episode of the Uttar Ramayana (the last one) began, I expected that they will be warmly welcomed by Sri Rama and finally get the love that they had missed out on. But what did he say? He asked them for pramaan, proof that they were his children! They responded, somewhat incredulously, that their gurudev never lies. If he said this, then it must be true (and they had of course been told by Mata Sita). That was not acceptable though! When Rajmata Kaushalya asked Sri Rama about this, he again brought up his rajdharma as the paramount dharma that he needs to follow.

I could not watch anymore and left the room. How could these innocent children be subject to this? What about other dharmas? Why did no one say anything? Hanumanji could have interjected - with the eyes of his ananya bhakti, he had clearly seen that these children were sons of Sri Rama and Mata Sita. Why did Maharishi Vashishta stay silent?

I know what happened eventually - Mata Sita was asked to prove her chastity to bury this matter once and for all. She could not take it anymore and decided to request bhudevi to open her bosom and she went inside. Sri Rama and Mata Sita were separated for ever, in this incarnation (of course they are eternal companions). Lava and Kusha lost their mother.

I, however, have still not been able to reconcile this end to the Ramayana in my mind! May be, if I think about it, I will eventually understand what is the real message. But, today, I want to think about an alternative ending - where Mata Sita gets accepted by the people of Ayodhya as their queen again, and she rules, together with Sri Rama for a number of years, as their maharani. She gets sufficient compensation for her sufferings and her place is restored. Lava and Kusha have a happy childhood after all. Is that much to ask for?