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Shree Ramakatha in Mumbai - a divine experience

Shree Raghaveshwara Bharathi Swamiji

What a joyous occasion it was – to see Guruji, to hear Him and to experience the bliss of soaking in Shree Rama’s name! It was as if for those five days, one only breathed the divine name of Shree Rama and dwelt in Him.

The occasion which made us rise from the mundane world was none other than the Ramakatha Pravachans given by Gokarna Mandaladeeshwara Srimad Jagadguru Shankaracharya Shree Shree RaghaveshwaraBharati Mahaswamiji of Shree Ramachandrapura Matha, Karnataka. The pravachans, based on the Valmiki Ramayana, were interwoven with songs, bhajans, sketches and a ‘roopaka’ – skit, at the end of the day’s pravachans. The Ramakatha started each day with a small Puja being offered to Shree Sita Ramachandra with Lakshmana, Marutinandana Hanuman and to Valmiki Ramayana itself. Thereafter, verses describing Shree Rama’s parivaar and Valmiki’s work would be rendered by Shri Shripad Bhat and Smt. Premalata Divakar. After this, Guruji would begin the pravachan.

This Ramakatha described the past lives of Ravana and Kumbakarna. According to Guruji, if one has to understand the Ramayana, one should understand Ravana first. And to understand his character, it is essential to take a look into the previous lives of Ravana (Prishthabhoomi). Ravana and Kumbakarna were Jay and Vijay in their first life and Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha in their subsequent life. Jay and Vijay were born to Devahuti and Kardama. Kardama was the son of Brahma and was very righteous and learned. Devahuti was a beauty beyond compare and was equally virtuous. This pious couple had 3 children - Jay, Vijay and Kapila (an incarnation of Narayana himself). Jay and Vijay themselves lead such virtuous lives, that they would get Narayan Darshan every day. Their brotherly love was an example to all. They were like two bodies and one soul.

Roopaka
Once they were invited to conduct a Yagna by Raja Marutta wherein Jay became the authority to supervise the yagna and Vijay was the person performing the rituals. Their sincere and faultless work was appreciated so much that they received much praise and gifts for it. But the younger brother Vijay seemed to get a little more wealth than the elder brother. This created a rift in the brothers for the first time and it reached a climax when the two brothers cursed each other to become an elephant and a crocodile respectively (as depicted in the Skand Purana). On coming to their senses they pray to Lord Vishnu who assures them that He would grant them Mukti in their next life as animals (refer to Gajendra Moksha).

When their life as an animal came to an end, they became the Dwarpalakas of Saptamadwara of Vaikunth Lok (7th door, which is the last door to see Hari), the Loka of Shree Hari. But since they were not yet devoid of the flaws in their character, they incurred the wrath of the Sanath Kumars when both of them arrogantly stopped the Sanath Kumars from entering the innermost chambers of Shree Hari. Once again Narayana in His compassionate form blessed them and gave them the choice of 7 lives as a Narayan Bhakth or 3 lives as Asuras who will hate the Lord. Jay and Vijay choose the latter as they wanted to come back to Vaikuntha as early as possible, and were born first as Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaaksha respectively and then as Ravana and Kumbakarna, and finally as Shishupala and Dantavakra.
Roopaka
Guruji, in His discourse brought out some major points that we need to imbibe in our everyday life.

* Worship SHREEPATI … let the goal of our life be Shreepati and not ‘Shree’ ie. we should aim for bhakti and surrender to Narayana and not to Lakshmi or wealth. Wherever Narayana is, there Lakshmi Mata too loves to live.
* We should not let ego and greed come in the way of brotherly love and affection. If ego and greed appears, then the family will break up.
* Bhakti towards Lord Vishnu should be like steering wheel and not spare wheel. When we continuously worship Him, when need be He will take care of us.
* When “I” is there then “Hari” will not be there.
* The mistakes that we do in life are of 3 kinds – those that are done only with our thought, those that are done with mind (thought) and speech and those that are done with thought, speech and action. Of this the last is the worst.
* We should never speak rudely or with arrogance, especially to holy people and saints. Our speech should be tempered with sweet words and patience. Else we shall end up hurting others and ruin our own selves in the process.
* Be alert to the sound of unexpected wealth, arrogance, ego in our lives. Let it not ruin your bhakti for the Lord.
Jai Jai Ramakatha
* Our actions in this life verily determine how our next lives will be. So make proper choices and do good.
* Narayana is truly Bhakta-Vatsal. He never forsakes His devotees and always helps them walk on the right path. Even as Narasimha, He puts Hiranyakashipu on His laps and gives him mukti from this life. This shows the Lord’s Vatsalya Bhaav.
* To the question as to why the Lord could not have advised and corrected Jay and Vijay in Vaikuntha itself, instead of giving them lives as Asuras, Guruji answered that if it were not for this ‘Lila’, 5 avataaras of MahaVishnu would not have appeared on this earth – Varaha, Narsimha, Vamana, Rama and Krishna. Secondly, as Rama and Krishna, the Lord gave Moksha to not just Jay and Vijay but also to crores of His Bhaktas, from that day to the present day.
Guruji’s discourse used lots of ‘drushtanta’ or examples which are practical and close to our present life, which helps us in correcting ourselves, throughout our life.

During the discourse, soul stirring bhajans were sung by Shripadji, Premalata ji and Satyajit ji (a singer and devotee from Kolkata). Shri Neernahalli brought the scenes to life through his sketches on the topic being covered by Pujya Guruji. The highlight of every evening would be the small skit, done in Yakshagana style, by Korgi and Ashok’s team of artistes from Karnataka. The wonderful stage decorations took everyone’s breath away and the ending song on Ramakatha would always bring everyone to their feet dancing and clapping, singing the name of the Lord. The Ramakatha would end each day with ‘aartis’ being done to Sita Ramachandra, Hanuman and the Granth.
Guruji has promised us that He would come to South Mumbai in November for a Ramakatha and to Dombivali in February for the next Ramakatha there. Every Ramakatha is an occasion to cherish and participate in. We should thank Guruji heartily for fulfilling His two-fold aim of saving the Indian breed of cows and of saving Dharma through Ramakatha.

Jai Jai Mata, Jai Gou-mata! Jai Jai Ramakatha, Jai Shree Ramakatha!

 

Author : Rati Hegde

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