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Dharma protects

CHENNAI : Dharma is the cornerstone of the Vedic tradition and it encompasses all aspects of human life. Thus a righteous way of life is not just for spiritual progress but also for leading a meaningful life in the world. The oft-quoted dictum that Dharma protects one who upholds it in the Yaksha prasna section of the Mahabharata as Yudhishthira's reply to the Yaksha's question highlights that it is the only armour that protects man and not worldly power and pelf, which are short-lived. Whatever position one may command in life nothing will accompany an individual when he leaves this world except the merit of his charity and Dharma, and his sins.

In his discourse, Sri B.Sundar Kumar said Kausalya's benediction of Rama when He took leave of her before going to the forest provided insight into the nuances of Dharma. She blessed Rama: "May that piety protect You on all sides — the piety which You scrupulously observe with love. May those too to whom You humbly bow at crossroads as well as in temples, my son, protect You along with eminent sages. May those mystic missiles that were imparted to You by the learned Viswamitra protect You who are ever illumined by Your excellences. Protected on all sides by the service You have rendered to Your father and mothers as well as by Your truthfulness, my mighty-armed son, may You live long."

She proceeded to invoke the deities, which preside over sacrifices as well as mountains, trees, bushes, large and deep pools of water, birds, reptiles and animals to offer Him protection in the forest. Kausalya then appealed to celestials, wind-gods along with eminent Rishis, the gods and the guardians of the spheres with Indra at their head and also the deities of the six seasons, and the scriptures to protect her son from dangers. And she went on in this manner summoning all Nature (both sentient and insentient) to be benevolent to Rama during His sojourn in the forest.

Was this an expression of a mother's anxiety about her son's welfare? It was more. This is a pointer to the holistic way of life they lived circumscribed by Dharma and unshakeable faith in its working. Rama's life proved that even animals favoured the righteous while Ravana's is a pointer to the truth that even one's sibling would desert the unrighteous.

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