The Ramayana Contradictions

[Jodhaa]

Originally Posted by ShivaFan

Namaste dear Jodhaa

It is your love for Mother Sita that plays the sense of the heart, and because of this love I believe you would not have been among those who in Ram's Raj could have had paradise complete but it was our foolish nature that drove Mother Sita back into the embrace of Mother Bhumi Earth.

Originally Posted by ShivaFan

It was the conceit of those such as myself who think we know more about character and contridiction than God. The blessed of Ram's Kingdom could not hold their tongues from gossip, they falsely accused Sita Devi of being unchaste. This is our nature, we are taught the truth but then apply the truth to compare one against another out of self vanity and not out of human progress towards the divine.

I am as guilty as the next.

I blame ourselves, and I never blame Lord Rama. Ram has taught us many lessons, think of this as one more lesson of The Perfect Man who went into the jungle leaving His Father beloved, that sacrifice, and we could have demanded He stay.

But He went. And I am not one who beleves that the truth of Her banishment is a later interpolation. We did this to Sita, deep in our psyche which still needs to grow. Ram loved and loves Sita. She came from the Earth, She returned to Her Mother and not death. She is always with us, and always with Ram. She could have been our Queen forever, but we are fools. But Ram does not want us to stay here. As wonderful and perfect was His Raj, we have another place to go. So Ram does not want us to idle our time. There are many, far shores still to go.

Om Namah Sivaya

Thank you for your explanation, Shivafan,

I have taken everyone's responses to these questions and spent a lot of time meditating on them, as well as asking God for understanding. What you say now is a very eloquent way of putting the conclusion I have come to about Rama. Whether the last book of the Ramayana is a later addition or not, is not important. I realize now that there are important lessons for us to learn from it. I now feel content because I have an answer to these questions that erases me doubt. It is wonderful because there was a terrible argument going on inside my mind:

"Rama is such a perfect example of character, heroism, devotion and courage!"

"But he is a scoundrel for abandoning Sita!"

I now know that the truth is the first thought with a small addition, "He was as perfect a man as his people allowed him to be. He (and Sita) sacrificed their life together in order to appease the (however ill-advised and unenlightened) needs to their people."


An enormous thank you to ALL who have contributed. I know it is a sensitive subject, but appreciate your patience. And you should know that it is not in vain. I have learned much!

[dogra]

Here we have Shabri peisode which goes to heart of the matter:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabari

Rama went only to Shabari's ashram because of her sincere devotion.[5] On seeing Rama, Shabari became ecstatic and said, "There were so many exalted yogis waiting for Your darshan, but You came to this unworthy devotee (...) This clearly shows that You will neither see whether a devotee lives in a palace or humble hut, whether he is erudite or ignorant (...) neither see caste nor color. You will only see the true bhakti (...) I do not have anything to offer other than my heart, but here are some berry fruits. May it please you, my Lord." Saying so, Shabari offered the fruits she had meticulously collected to Rama. When Rama was tasting them, Lakshmana raised the concern that Shabari had already tasted them and therefore unworthy of eating. To this Rama said that of the many types of food he had tasted, "nothing could equal these berry fruits, offered with such devotion. You taste them, then alone will you know. Whomsoever offers a fruit, leaf, flower or some water with love, I partake it with great joy." Lakshmana also had a great experience tasting the fruits. Pleased with Shabari's devotion, Rama blesses her with His vision and grants her . Shabri also tells Sri Rama to take help from Sugriva and where to find him. The Ramayan says that Shabri was a very bright and knowledgible saint. Moksha (liberation).[5]