Divine Mother, abode of compassion

CHENNAI, SEPT. 11. Scriptural texts, like the Ramayana, are replete with worldly wisdom. Besides dealing with the main theme of spirituality they dilate on human conduct and ethics and hence help to handle matters of secular interest also successfully. This goes to reinforce the fact that spiritual life cannot be divorced from worldly life. The world is a stage for human beings to evolve towards the goal of God-realisation which will put an end to transmigration. Hanuman's role of an envoy depicted in the Sundara Kanda is illustrative of the epic's appeal at different levels.

Right from the moment Hanuman was chosen for the mission of locating Sita, kept in captivity by Ravana, he braced himself for the responsibility entrusted to him. There was no doubt that he was equal to the task and had the sagacity of mind to tackle the impediments on the way, but there was the nagging fear of what would happen in case he could not find Sita. The elaborate delineation in the epic as to how he overcame the hurdles that arose and succeeded ultimately is a lesson on how a person entrusted with a job must perform it with commitment. He searched all over Lanka and found Sita just when She had given up all hopes of Her rescue and had decided to give up Her life. Hanuman without arousing the suspicion of the ogresses guarding Her disclosed his identity by relating Rama's life and handing over His signet ring and instilled hope of Her rescue soon.

In his Harikatha, Kalyanapuram Sri R.Aravamudan said Sita also gave Hanuman Her ornament as a token of their meeting with the message that She would wait only a month. She also related the incident of Kakasura incurring the Lord's wrath, known only to Rama and Herself, for convincing Him of Her identity. The crow, Kakasura, had offended Sita while Rama was asleep and She had borne the humiliation and pain as She did not want to wake Him up. After He woke up Rama became greatly angered and discharged a blade of grass at the bird which became a missile with the potency of Brahmastra and pursued the bird which was actually Jayanta, Indra's son. The bird sought asylum from the sages and celestials in all the three worlds including its father and was turned down by all of them. It took refuge in Rama finally and was pardoned. An interesting insight given by commentators in this context is that though the crow committed a graver offence than Ravana it escaped with its life because the Divine Mother, who is the personification of compassion, was with the Lord when this incident happened.

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