The escape clause?

Fair dues warning: This is a spiritual post. Please leave if you are easily offended. 

Krishna demolishing Kansa

I heard a talk from a Hindu scholar recently. He was narrating the story of Krishna and the troubling times he was born into. Rather, the Protector of the Universe, Vishnu, manifested himself as Krishna to maintain law and order. Too many influential people were abusing their positions to create chaos, which needed to be curbed.

Krishna's immediate duty was to defeat Kansa, his uncle, a demonic King. Trouble started when Kansa married off his sister, Devaki, to Vasudeva. Deep inside, Kansa intended to usurp Vasudeva's land. At the wedding, a prophecy was heard that Devaki's eighth child would be the reason for Kansa's defeat. Kansa imprisoned the couple, and Devaki's seven children were all killed at birth. Why all the other births, too, not just the eighth? Somebody alerted Kansa that the seven siblings could rally behind the eighth to attack him.

When the eighth child was finally born on an auspicious star on a wet rainy night, the hypnotic illusion of Vishnu came into full force. With sleeping guards and extremely lax security, a child was born, taken out of prison, transported across River Ganga, swapped with another baby, a baby girl, born at the same time, and returned to Devaki's cell. The baby girl cried only when it arrived at its destination, alerting the guards. The palace was alerted, but by the time Kansa laid his hands on the baby, he knew he had been duped. Was the prophecy wrong? The eighth born turned out to be a girl! Kansa tried to smash the baby on the wall. Surprise, surprise. The baby girl turned out to be Goddess Kaali, who announced that Kansa’s assassin was safe on the other side of the river and that his days were numbered.

Kansa spent the rest of his days thinking of Krishna, turning every corner and looking for his assailant. Long story short, Kansa sent so many adversaries to finish off young Krishna, but in vain. When Kansa was finally killed, it is said he attained moksha (released from the curse of rebirth) because Krishna was always on his mind, thinking of Krishna day and night.

Ravana

The same thing is said to have happened to Ravana. After kidnapping Sita, keeping her captive, and wooing her, he was shocked when Hanuman arrived in his supposedly safe cocoon. Hanuman created a ruckus by burning Lanka. It was a warning to Ravana that the end was nay. Rama was coming sooner than he thought. Just like Kansa, Ravana went into alert mode. 

Despite being the sorcerer and the erudite person he was, the fear of Rama and the accompanying Vanara army sank in. Ravana shuddered. What carnage could the rest do if one representative could do such damage? Every minute that followed, he was compelled to think of Rama and only Rama. Again, Ravana was defeated but also attained moksha because Rama was always at the tip of his tongue and immersed deep in his thoughts. 

My feeble mind does not comprehend all these. These great tyrants, despite all their evil deeds, the pain and suffering they inflicted upon others, and the trail of destruction left behind, escaped the dreaded curse of reincarnation because they went on thinking and chanting the Lord's name. It is a rather lazy way of cutting the queue, surpassing all others who went the problematic way of collecting brownie points and spiralling through birth after birth to attain salvation. In my mind, katas (sermons) like these are the crossroads where itihasa (history), tattva (philosophy) and sciences morph into myths. The scriptures tell about Rama and Krishna's dates of birth indirectly through constellation positions, permitting accurate dating of certain events. This information can be fed through astronomical apps to verify the presence of such a constellation. Astronomical calculations had verified it to be correct. Their births probably happened. That is science. But I am not so sure about others. My blinkers are still on, and I may not be ready to receive the essence of the nectar of the Lord's divine wisdom. But I persevere...

(P.S. I had been under the impression that the law of karma works like Newton's Third Law of Motion. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. You reap what you sow. Perhaps this escape route to erase one's sins is reactionary to what the Catholic Church was preaching at that time in India. A sincere confession under the name of the Lord cleans the slate. Fearing losing their congregation to the order side where something else is offered to the Law of Karma, the stakeholders may have relented. Instead of uttering ‘Hail Mary’ thrice and absolving your sins, they offered the chanting of ‘Hari Krishna Hari Rama’ indefinitely.)

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It is not a bed time story!

Sampoorna Ramayanam (Complete Ramayana, Tamil;1956)
(சம்பூர்ண ராமாயணம்)


The epic of Ramayana has fascinated people for ages. It has been narrated for generations via oral traditions, print media, stage performances and the silver screen. As early as 1922, a silent film on Ramayana came out in cinemas. Before this 1956 Tamil version, Hindi and Telegu versions of Ramayana can be found. Many other editions since then, and now, at the time of cable TV, Ramayana has permeated into households regularly.

There are many versions of Ramayana. Valmiki wrote the earliest one. Even Hanuman was concurrently writing his view on the occurrences of the day. With time, it evolved to Buddhist, Jain and South East Asian adaptations. 

Valmiki's Ramayana is said to be the authentic text of Rama's life, but it ends with his coronation at the throne after his banishment to the jungles for 14 years and capturing Sita from Ravana. Other additions of vilification of Ravana as the classical evil bad guy and exile of a pregnant Sita after overhearing the murmur of a washerman remains folklore at best.  Scholars who analysed these Sanskrit scripts agree that these were written in a slightly less refined language.

Sivaji Ganesan had already established himself as a reputable artiste by then, but due to his spirited way of acting, he was naturally not cast as Rama. Lord Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, the pillar of stoicism was played by the sombre, perhaps apathetic NT Rama Rao who later went on to have a very successful career in politics. Maybe, his casting in divine roles made the general public see him in a different light.

The first part of the film was very slow moving with most of the storytelling done through songs. This was the old way of economising time, to give value for money. The actor cast as Kaikeyi, the second wife of King Dasaratha, played a convincing role as a jealous mother worried about her position after her biological son is sidelined for the throne. She transforms well from a loving stepmother to Rama to a witch after being influenced by her foster mother.

Generally, people do not name their daughters Kaikeyi as she is perceived as the earliest villain of Ramayana. If not for her, demanding for her boons from the King, the whole hullabaloo of Rama going to the woods and the fight with Lanka would not have arisen. Lately, there is a reinterpretation of Kaikeyi's role in the whole saga. Her character was vital in Rama's development into a figure than himself. His dharma was plentiful in the jungle. There were many boons and work to be done there; not cooped in Ayuthia and rule a kingdom. For good things to happen, we need a jolt on the status quo. King Dasaratha is described as a smothering father who arrested Rama's development!

A cursory knowledge of Ramayana is mandatory to appreciate this movie.

As expected Sivaji who assumes the role of Barathan is at ease to display a melodramatic portrayal of a very loving brother of hearing that his thoughtful brother had been dethroned and banished. He rejuvenates the later part of the show with his presence.

Unlike the sermons in temples where Ravana is portrayed as a ten-headed fiery hot asura, in this movie, he is shown as a very decent human monarch. He is learned and is kind to all his family members, the royal court staff and his subjects. It is his sister, Shurpanakha, who fanned the fire of fury. It is his love of his sister that clouded his judgment. He went ahead to kidnap Sita. This was atypical of him; a scholar of many arts and sciences kidnapping somebody else's wife.

The film illustrates the turmoil that he goes through as he takes stock of his situation on the eve of his defeat. He regrets the destruction of his kingdom, the pain caused and the dilemma of whether to conceit defeat or to end his life in shame. To fight was sure failure but to commit suicide was cowardice. Bhagavathi plays the role of Ravana.

The song 'Indru Poi Naalai Vaarai' (Go today, Come tomorrow) is rendered in the film by C. S. Jayaraman. Here, Bhagavathi, playing Ravana, is in a dilemma. It was a day before the final kill. Ravana, having lost his army, meets eye-to-eye with Rama. Instead of giving the coup de grace, Rama tells him to go and return to fight the next day. This song has become an immortal melody. Composed in 'Thilang' raaga, an import from Sufi music, this song was successfully adapted by Guru Nanak and his disciples who composed several hymns. It was extremely popular with musical geniuses like Ravishankar, Bhimsen Joshi, violin maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman and musicologist G. S. Mani. The great Carnatic musician D. K. Pattammal recorded a song, ‘Shanthi Nilava Vendum,’ in this raaga on the occasion of the shocking death of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.

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Two sides of the coin?

The Ramayana

R.K. Narayan (1972)

We all know the story of the Ramayana. The original epic poem contained 24,000 verses and 500 chapters, written by Valmiki in 4 BCE. It has many versions as it had been translated into many Indian languages and non-Indian languages. As the Hindu influence spread over the archipelago, Ramayana had been narrated in Thailand, Malaya. Indonesia and Burma. The version that was written by the Tamil poet, Kamban, is said to give plenty of weightage to Ravana's courts' proceedings and Sita's predicaments after the well-fought war against Lanka. 

The discourse that went on among the Asura brothers on the days before the Northerners' attack is worthy of mention. It tells us a lot of how civil servants or any member of an organisation would (‽ or should) react in a case of a moral dilemma. When Raavan summoned his brothers to help him out against attack from Rama's Army and his band of monkeys, each of them responded differently. 

Vibishana, the honourable one, totally disagreed on Raavan's action of kidnapping somebody's wife against all her cries and pleas and justifying his misdeeds as a tit-for-tat against violence against their sister. He did not want to condone any of his actions. Hence, he fled the scene and did not want anything to do with the defence of Lanka. But, he went on to volunteer information to the enemy which eventually caused Raavan's downfall. Is that right? It could a subject of protracted discussion.

Then, there was Kumbakarna, another brother who also did not approve of Raavan's kidnapping of a respectable woman. Because of the brother's previous help to him and the fact that 'blood is thicker than water', Kumbakarna decided to stay back and fight for his brother. To him, the familial bond was more important than judging the merit of Raavan's misdeeds.

On the other hand, Kuberan the sloth was oblivious to everything that was going on. He was in a deep slumber as he always was when all these was going on. Only when he was provoked at the climax when everything was going on, he charged headlong. By then it had a little bit too late. Does that not remind you of many around us who seem aloof of their surroundings. Only when things go pear-shaped, and things hit the fan, do they suddenly peel open their eyes to see.

Sita's Fire Ordeal
exoticindiaart.com

If you think Ramayana is all about the stoic Rama and his stance of facing all adversities like a good son and a good ruler, you are wrong. Sita had her fair chance of misfortunes. She thought she was getting married to be a queen, but turns of events eventually made her end up dressed in bark parchment to undergo exile in the forest for 14 years. As if that was not enough, Sita had to be kidnapped. Despite being faithful to the vows she made to the celestial bodies during the wedding, her chastity was suspected. Of all persons, it had to be Rama. She saw the change in him after the release from Lanka. Rama did all the search and fight not for love and affection but as a duty. Anyway, that is what is expected of a king-in-exile when his consort is abducted. And of all things, Sita had to prove her innocence via a fire ritual. For Rama, the people's perception was more important. Is this the Dharma that he talks about? Things were never the same after that. Her later self-imposed exile is a testimony of that.

People spent a lifetime trying to read and re-read the Ramayana to understand the wisdom imbibed in its poem. Narayan condenses the whole epic into a small, readable edition for the general public to peruse in any way they want; as a story, a philosophical discourse or a holy book.