THE SECRET OF RAMAVATAR

                                                           

“ Parithranaya sadhunam vinasayacha dushkrutham

Dharma samsthapa narthaya sambhavami yuge yuge”

Whenever there is decay for Dharma or righteousness and the rise of adharma  I take avatar to protect Sadhus and destroy the evil” tells the Lord to Arjuna in the Bhagavadgita!The avatars of ‘Matsya  and Kurma, the Fish and the Turtle, took place in the Krutha yuga and Lord Vishnu brought back the Vedas by killing the demons. Later He endured the weight of the Mandara mountain and distributed ‘amruta’ to Devas deceiving the asuras! He killed Hiranya kasipu as Narasimha when his atrocities became unbearable. In all these situations, the Devas ran to the Lord to save them from the agony!  But sometimes  the Lord creates situations when he is cursed so that he can come down to earth and protect the sadhus  and save them !

       The Ramayana starts with the first sloka of sage Valmiki who curses the hunter for shooting the male krouncha bird while romancing with the female! Sad at what the hunter had done the sage curses him to suffer long separation from his spouse! Later it is found that it was Lord Vishnu who wanted to be cursed sothat he can take avatar as Rama!  There is another instance when Lord Vishnu invited a curse on himself and which was kept as a closely guarded secret! Uttara Ramayana mentions it. Soon after his return to Ayodhya, Sri Rama thanked all his supporters. including  Vibhishana and Hanuman and gave them presents. Then he sat down for work and duties as the king of the country. He wanted to know what the common people thought about his reign. He directed Lakshmana to get firsthand information from them. Besides the praise and appreciation, he expected if any negative remarks were made about him and his rule! A person, Bhadra, while appreciating how Rama killed Ravana and all other aspects of his rule, said that people were unhappy over his bringing Sita back after such a long stay in Lanka! Ravana had abducted Sita seating her on his lap! Rama has set a bad example to his people! What will happen if people follow the example of the King?

          Bhadra’s words fell like a bolt from the blue on Ramas ears! He was stunned and shocked at the opinion of the public! He knew that Sita was spotless as she came out of fire unscathed!  But how to convince the public of her purity and innocence? Sita was pregnant at that time and desired to  visit  ashrams near the Ganga  amidst sylvan surroundings! Sri Rama  decided  immediately to send Sita to the ashram of Valmiki on the other side of the river. He called his brothers, narrated what had happened and directed Lakshnana to escort Sita to Valmiki’s ashram the very next day  The brothers were all shocked. Lakshmana  reluctantly  agreed  and left Sita at the ashram. Though Sita was aghast at Sri Rama’s decision, as an ideal wife, she obeyed the order of her husband.

            Leaving sita at the Valmiki ashram, Lakshmana was moved to tears! He blamed his fate for carrying out the order of Sri Rama! He told Sumantra, who drove them to the ashram, how sad and dejected he was!  Sumantra  pacified  Lakshmana and said that things would happen according to destiny. He revealed to Lakshmana, a closely guarded secret, the conversation between Dasaratha and the great sage Durvasa at the ashram of the renowned sage Vasishta where he went to see his Guru. After receiving the sage Durvasa with great respect and honor, Dasaratha wanted to know from him  the future of his dynasty, and family. He also wanted to know the longevity of Sri Rama, the number of his children and how long they would live!

              Sage Durvasa recalled an incident that happened long back. During the terrible war between  Devas and asuras, the latter fled and took shelter  with the wife of sage Bhrugu. They lived under her care fearlessly. Lord Vishnu who noticed this grew angry and beheaded her with his Sudarsana Chakra! Enraged at this and shocked, Bhrugu  cursed  the Lord to take birth on earth and suffer a long separation from his wife! Later he felt remorse for cursing the Lord and performed penance. Lord Vishnu was pleased and took the curse on  himself! Sage Durvasa told Dasaratha that Lord Vishnu has taken avatar as his son Sri Rama! He would rule Ayodhya for eleven thousand years and suffer separation from his wife for long! His brothers would prosper!Sri Rama would perform many Aswamedha Yagas! Sita shall bear two sons but they will not be born in Ayodhya! Sri Rama shall perform the coronation of his children!

              Lakshmana  was amazed at the details of Sumantra’s narration. He was pacified thinking that everything would happen according to destiny! It was the will of God to be cursed so that he could come down to earth to establish Dharma and destroy EVIL!