Sl. No. 2 - Lecture - (How to maintain dharma while remaining in the family?)

Dhaka - East Bengal Brahmomandir
Saturday, 21st Agrahayan 1292 Bengali Calender [1886 A.D.]

Rama was exiled to the forest; Bharat came to Ayodhya from Nandigram. On arriving he came to know of his father’s death. Bharat became overwhelmed with grief. Kaikei thought that Bharat would be very happy to get the kingdom for himself. But that did not happen. Bharat started crying intensely and on hearing everything from Kaushalya, informed her of his mental condition. Courtiers like Vashistha requested him to take over the kingdom. But Bharat stubbornly declined the offer. He set to move towards Chitrakoot to meet Shree Rama, taking along Kaushalya and some of the family members with him. Shree Rama’s friend Guhak Chandal came to know that Bharat was coming with a full fledged army. He became suspicious. He got together his entire Nishad army, imbued them with enthusiasm and suggested to them, ‘’Look, Bharat is coming to destroy my friend Rama, therefore defeat him in war and save my friend.” Just as Guhak was preparing for war, an old man said, “Oh Guhak, why are you acting like an unwise person? First of all you should examine as to why Bharat is doing this, Bharat is the brother of the one who is your friend. Therefore there is just no point in fighting with him uselessly.” Appreciating the logic of this old man’s words, Guhak went to Bharat. Vashistha told Bharat that Shree Rama’s friend Guhak had come. Immediately, from that distance itself, Bharat stepped down from the chariot and proceeded towards Guhak, offered salutations and looked at Guhak with love, in the way he used to look at Rama. Bharat cried intensely and expressed sorrow by saying, “My master has suffered so much.” He asked Guhak, “Tell me all about where Rama was staying with you; where did he sit, by which route did he go away?” Bharat prostrated at the spots that had Rama’s foot prints and cried out loudly calling Rama’s name. Guhak then realised that Bharat was searching for Rama with only good intentions. Bharat crossed the Ganga and proceeded on foot. He was requested by all to ride a vehicle. But he said, ‘How can I go in a vehicle when my Master, the king of kings has gone on foot’. Guhak saw all good signs. Gradually the soldiers too crossed and Bharat moved on foot.

Tulsidas has nicely explained this matter. Until a man enters the worldly life he remains very pure. He has never committed any misdeed, never mixed with evil company, and has considered dharma to be most important. Gradually as he enters the worldly life, his evil counsel comes in and obstructs, saying, “I will never allow you to make dharma the king; you have to make worldliness the king.” Then the man, under the influence of evil counsel, throws away dharma and makes worldliness the king. The real seeker of dharma ignores the suggestion of the evil counsel and says. “I myself shall never be the king, my Master alone has to be the king, I shall never hand over the kingdom to worldiness in his place.” Thus when a man goes out in search of dharma, finds a pious devotee even if he may be a chandal* and still considers him venerable, then steps out of his chariot and prostrates before him. The pious devotee becomes worried thinking, “People of the world are going to destroy dharma. Possibly they are going to drive out dharma on seeing the deception and glamour of the world coming with full preparations to rule without resistance.” He then prepares to oppose the worldly person so that he may not destroy dharma. But there are religious people even among the worldly ones, and even if that person is a king surrounded by all luxuries like servants, horses and chariots, still, even if he has to go to a chandal in search of his dharma, he steps down from his chariot and wails passionately saying, “Where is my master, where does he stay, where did he stay?” Then that pious person believes that there are religious people even among the householders and that the person who is God’s servant is loveable, irrespective of his status; be he a king, a renunciate, a gentleman or a chandal, because he is a pious person. He alone is the best who has love only for God. If he is offered the throne of a kingdom, he says, “I never want to be a king without my Master, I shall rather live by begging, still I will name him my king and stay as his servant.” A devotee of such a degree who does not want to become a king or a rich man, feels happy to serve Him, gets real happiness in His pleasure.

Tulsidas has shown in Ramayana that it is possible for a householder to be religious. A devotee like Bharat relinquished everything for his Master. Son of Dasharath, the descendant of king Surya’s dynasty, owner of unparalleled wealth, abandoned everything. He alone can give up all these things, who has identified and known his own Master. He can enjoy nothing without Him. If he is told, “Be rich, be a big person, a king,” he will say, “No, I do not want to be any of these, my Master is the king, my real beauty and pleasure lies in his sitting on my throne, otherwise, where is my happiness?” Tulsidas has shown this picture through Bharat.

What did he do till such time that he could not bring back Rama–could not instal him on the throne? He dressed like his Master, ate as his Master did. To get the Almighty one has to build one’s own character like him. Bharat felt, “What pleasure do I have without my Master? There is no appreciation for my Master in my surroundings. What is there to make me happy? What is the meaning of food for me? You have driven away my Master. Do the same and drive me away in the same direction.” If the devotee finds that his Master is not really welcome in the house then he gets no happiness in anything. He says, “Why have you thrown him out? What happiness can I have without him?” He no longer feels cheerful, he is not happy anymore. He is apathetic as long as he fails to find the Master of his soul. Thus what is my happiness if I have not made my Master the king of my worldly life? Does the Supreme Lord exist only in the forest? How can I say that He exists in the forest, of one who does exist in every bone, in the entire body? It is to be seen if I have made Him the king in my worldly life. It has to be seen how I deal with Him. How can I say that I love my Master when he is not the king of my dominion, how can I peacefully sleep at all? Only if I can become like Bharat, can I claim that I love Him. Can I say this?

My Master, the God of the entire creation is being insulted—can I tolerate this? When our parents, olders are slandered, we fume with anger and when the supreme God, my Master is insulted, deprived of His kingdom, driven out, if all these do not cause distress to me then where is my love for Him?

All through history it has always been possible to maintain dharma while remaining in the family. Even now it is so. This body itself is the samsar.* It is pleasure only when I can make Him the king in this samsar. What can I say? Where is the beauty, where is the happiness if I find Him dishonoured? The way Ayodhya turned into a cheerless desert without Rama, samsar also becomes likewise without Him. Else, where is the glory of the Master? Leaving my Master aside I sit on the throne – my self interest, protection of my pleasure becomes most important, when I cannot bear with the slightest insult in protecting dharma; this represents the rule of the world—not His. The place where His rule prevails, there rules sacrifice. The place where I abandon my Lord for ensuring my pleasure, what do I do there? What is samsar? Turning away from the Supreme Lord is samsar. Samsar does not mean possession of wealth, wife children etc. Worship of self interest, abandoning God and dislike for Him is samsar. It is me who creates this samsar. If I have a genuine desire, then who on earth can overtake me? Even if I am the lowliest, mean, subhuman, chandal, still then a king of the world cannot stop me. “Oh Lord, let your wish be fulfilled, then only the samsar will be blessed with dharma. You are the king, you are the Master sitting on the throne of my heart.” No one can defeat a person who offers his kingdom to the master like this—no one can defeat even by utmost effort. The whole earthly forces put together cannot defeat him. The forces of the samsar are like games of shades, like dreams. As tigers seen in dreams have no real strength, so also is the strength of the world. Here ropes are mistaken for snakes—everything is but a screen of hoax. Once it becomes clear that all these are illusions, once the reality is understood, then the ruler of the entire creation becomes the winner.

Once I am able to install Him in my heart, only then the samsar becomes the winner; then samsar becomes synonymous with dharma. To see dharma in samsar is pleasing to the eye and heart. Blessed is that samsar where His worship takes place throughout the day with naamsamkeertan and prayer —that samsar is a happy one. He is the lucky one, whose samsar is like this. Samsar has to be conducted like this—not in thoughts or imagination. If we can wholeheartedly make Him the king, only then it is a samsar of dharma. My life is fruitful if I can see that my Master, the Supreme Lord is the king of my samsar. May our samsar be one of dharma. May His throne be installed in every family. Hail to my Master! Hail to the king! Hail to the king! Hail to the Master! Hail to the king! Hail to the king! Hail to the emperor! Hail to the emperor! You alone are victorious. You are blessed. We seek shelter under You.