Namaste,
My relatives were visiting with us until about a week ago and we had several discussions about Sanatana Dharma, India, and the connections thereof etc.
During one of the conversations, the notion of "illogical" or rather, unsavory events of the MahABhAratA and the RAmAyanA came up.
For example, the slaying of Vali (some say "Bali") at the hands of RAmA when Vali had not crossed RAmA.
--> What was the justification for this?
Another example, perhaps the most egregious, is RAmA asking Lakshmana to abandon SItA in the forest when she is pregnant.
--> What was the justification for this?
I tried arguing in favor of RAmA with the following:
1.) We cannot judge and analyze the events of another yugA from this present yugA. It is analogous to analyzing a dream, or rather the events in a dream, in the waking state.
2.) What RAmA did was in the best interest of EVERYONE, and is thus known as Maryada Purushottaman, and so was in accordance with Dharma.
My relative claimed that since RAmA had said, "Aham mANuSam maNye", he was not a fully realized being and thus acted as any other righteous king would have in those days in Bharat (India).
Yet, RAmA is an avatArA of ViSnU and so how can we say he was not "realized"?
Is this actually corroborated in Yoga VasiSTa where RAmA is the siSyA of VasiSTa and is told (by VasiSTa) that he has not yet realized the "infinite consciousness of the Supreme". Yet, he was around 16 years of age when studying with VasiSTa. So, was he fully aware later on?
So, the question is, how does one "explain" or justify these seemingly unsavory incidents in the RAmAyanA? Was Sri RAmA fully realized as Sri Krishna was (especially since Krishna was a pUrna Avatar)?
There are several other incidents in the RAmAyanA that we can discuss as the thread progresses.
I would like to discuss similar events in the MahAbhAratA in another thread.
*Please note, I am not denigrating the RAmAyanA or Sri RAmA in anyway; this should be obvious but I wanted to make it absolutely unequivocal.
I want to better understand the explanations for these events from the real Hindu perspective. What do our AcharyAs say about this? What do the current saints say about this? What do you all say about this?
Please discuss freely but respectfully.
Namaskar.
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