Yuva Bharati / March 2018 / 45them to be gods except that there is divinity
in them as it is in everybody. All the divine
beings are barred from doing any damage
to these two demons. Therefore, Sri
Valmiki presents Sri Rama only as a man.
Psychologically too, if Ravana thinks or
believes Rama to be a god, his confidence
level waxes on account of the boon
protecting him from the onslaught of
gods. If he is to think of Rama only as a
man, his faith wanes away, since he has not
obtained insulation against him as a boon.
Throughout the epic, Rama has been
portrayed only as a man because it is a
necessity. If it is otherwise, the very theme
would be tampered with and it would be
untrue that Ravana is vulnerable only in
the hands of a human person.
Like a prodigy, Rama has proved to be
extraordinary. Everywhere, throughout
the story he is only a man. He is born like
anybody else; brought up like a normal
child. He has studied like a good disciple.
He is obedient to parents, teachers and the
righteous elders. Like an ordinary person
he has wept for his wife who is stolen
away by a villain. Like a normal person of
possessiveness, he uses harsh words when
Sita from Ashokavana returns to rejoin
him after Ravana’s death. All his life, he
has struggled and strained himself to be
a righteous person. To be exemplary, it is
very strenuous and he has put up with all
that strain.
Gods are capable of doing miracles. They
display certain traits and deeds which are
beyond the ken of mortals. Not a single
miracle is shown by Sri Rama in the epic.
Superhuman abilities such as lifting a huge
mountain on a small finger or making the
dead alive are never shown by him. If
Ravana is strong, Vali is stronger and Rama
is the strongest. That is all. Like an ordinary
mortal, Sri Rama tries to safeguard himself
by killing Vali.
Like any ordinary person, he has his
strengths and weaknesses. He submits
to human emotions. He tries his best to
be an ideal administrator, ideal son, ideal
husband, ideal friend and ideal brother.
In short, he tries to be an exemplary
human being. But now and then the
human weaknesses engulf him and he is
overwhelmed. Like an ordinary mortal,
he worships gods for blessings and recites
AdityaHrudyam to win the battle while
fighting against Ravana.
There is no need to attribute divinity to Sri
Rama. Nor it is necessary to defend every
action of his as a divine activity.
He has been human and wants to remain
human. We can admire him most, if only
we enter into his heart of humanism and
remain there as a spectator to the human
feelings. Very often, there is a clash between
sentiment and righteous ideal which he has
been striving to reach. Rama is a mirror of
human heart and head seeking righteous
perfection.
From the story point of view, he should
remain human to kill Ravana. From
Sadhana point of view also, if he is seen
as a god, we keep him on a high pedestal
and simply worship him. We will never try
to learn anything from him. Nor do we try
to emulate him. We want him to be him
a man, an exemplary man. We enjoy the
beauty of the epic if we see him as a man.