Golden Spotted Deer – Based on an episode of the epic Ramayana

The great philosopher Socrates taught his disciples never to accept anything without question. The question why has to be answered with the undeterred truth and requires great moral courage and an indomitable spirit of adventure to bring things to a logical conclusion, which can be unpleasant and invite backlash from the uninformed public, especially if religion is involved. May He grant me toughness! I sincerely apologize, in advance. The theme involves Sita, whom I respect most, Ram, the maryada purushottam, revered throughout India and Lakshman, the faithful brother, who sacrificed his family life, to protect his brother and his sister-in-law, in their long and tortuous journey. across the subcontinent, disregarding the threat of wild animals and asuras that dominated the desert. Let’s be extremely cautious!

All went well, until the fourteenth year of their picnic excursion, enjoying the splendor of virgin forests and emerald green hills. Then tragedy struck like in a Hollywood movie.

A beautiful golden deer appeared near the cabin, where the princely trio was camping. Her beauty and innocent eyes captivated the Princess. She just wanted to have it! They told him it was no ordinary animal; it was some evil being, with ulterior motives, sent to harm them. They had already incurred the wrath of Shoorpanaka (in the south it is Surpanakha) and killed his brothers who attacked them. They were expecting trouble.

But Sita will not listen to it. She wanted the golden stag. In the end, her husband relented. Entrusting the safety of his wife to his faithful brother, Ram went after the animal.

Oh help me Lakshman: I am in immediate danger: When Sita heard these cries, she urged Lakshman to go help Ram. When told that Ram is capable of defending himself and that this is a trick of the evil spirit who came in the guise of an animal, Sita became enraged, went wild, and accused Lakshman of having dirty motives to possess her after Ram fell. dead. That was the last straw! Lakshman left instantly, leaving Sita defenseless. A sanyasi (a hermit) enters asking for alms. Every Hindu respects and welcomes such people. Unsuspecting Sita comes out of the hut and is kidnapped by Ravana to avenge the mistreatment of her sister Shoorpanaka. The seed is sown for the epic Ram vs. Ravana War.

In this single episode, the poet Valmiki exhibits his superlative qualities regarding plot, characterization, and human psychology! We are interested in certain fundamental questions that arise from the whole sequence of events.

1) The first question is: why did Sita behave like a nine year old crying over a Barbie doll?

Sita is not an ordinary woman. She abandoned the pleasures of life in the palace and went with her husband naked into the woods. This shows her high moral standard and her extreme devotion to her beloved husband. During her passage through the forest, she must have come across hundreds of deer and they caressed them. Therefore, the sight of the golden deer should not have excited her. When she was told that it is not an ordinary deer, but an evil spirit disguised as a deer with definite motives for revenge, Sita should have been convinced. In fact, any obedient wife with any sense of responsibility would agree with her husband and forget about the deer. Why did Sita, of such a high standard and integrity of character, totally devoted to her husband, insist on the demand for her pet?

2) As a responsible husband, Ram should have convinced his wife of the futility of trying to capture the illusory deer. Why couldn’t he do this? When he was fully convinced that the deer is a mirage, he should have refused to budge. Why did he fail? He could have hit his wife for being so foolish and inflexible, why didn’t he?

3) When Lakshman left his wife and accompanied the princely couple, he had only one thing on his mind: the protection of his beloved brother and sister-in-law. He should have clearly told Sita that Ram is quite safe and there is nothing to worry about. If he could not tolerate Sita’s vulgar advances, he could have pretended to go but actually hid in the nearby bush. Why didn’t he do this?

4) Ravan was a very powerful and brave fighter. When they insulted his sister Soorpanaka and cut off her breasts and nose (did they have to do this to a woman?), he should have challenged the princes to fight and not sneak into the hut like a thief.

and stole Sita. His Mandodari wife had counseled Ravan against this heinous crime. He had better feelings for the lovely princess and was just waiting for an excuse?

The principle of unpredictability

Every human being is subject to an unreasonable and mysterious reaction at one time or another. It is difficult to cite examples from my own life, most of the time I have been carried away as if by a current, as if I had no will of my own. I recently started writing and I feel a little nervous. We weren’t bad when my father was separated from our ancestral home and wandered from place to place. When he finally built a house and settled down, he called him. Mother, a young widow and four of us children, all under the age of sixteen, were left in the lurch with practically no income. Why did he break up in the first instance? Napoleon Buonaparte was a great statesman. He has written a lot during his last days in prison on the island of St. Helena. It is worth reading even today. Why did he want to conquer the world? Hitler could have remained undefeated if he had not attacked the USSR. Why didn’t Kamsa put Vasudeva and Devaki in separate jail cells?

Every human being carries an invisible load, which I call spiritual baggage, consisting of the things they have seen and experienced, which is stored in their computer called their brain. It works even when you sleep. Poets and writers try to dissect it. Scientists are far from even guessing what happens there. We always blame one thing or another without understanding anything. This baggage vitiates our judgment at critical moments.

I am a firm believer in Him. My reason tells me that He is everywhere, it is not necessary to go to a temple. But I enjoy the trip to any temple. It’s very relaxing. My Christian friend might like it, if he’s a church. A Malayalam Muslim poet has written a beautiful hymn in praise of Sree Guruvayoorappan (there is a temple of the deity -Krishna in Delhi) which ends with a plea that at least in the next janam, he may have a chance to have a darshan of the deity of the temple. (If I have the power, I will allow all devotees free access to the temple as in gurudwaras)

To return to Sita.

You will have to answer a series of inconvenient questions. Why didn’t she resist as soon as she realized that he was not a sanyasi? Ravan had a curse. If he touched a woman against his wishes, he would perish. Without touching her, how could he drag her to the helicopter? (Pushpaka viman) Why didn’t he jump up and kill himself like any chaste schoolgirl might now? Why didn’t he rush to death as Medhaji would now? Finally, she ended her life when a remorseful Ram asked her to return to Ayodhya from the forest where she was unceremoniously dumped in hiding, simply because a worthless laundress made some disparaging remarks about her being in the custody of Ravan. Why didn’t she show the same spirit at that time?

RAM:

He never behaved like a gentleman. He hid and killed Bali when the latter was fighting Sugriv, his own brother. (What a curse on humanity! Brothers rarely stay friends: Ambani vs Ambani.) When the dying Bali confronted him with the question: Why did you kill me like a coward, Ram, instead of expressing sympathy for the dying hero (Bali was a remarkable fighter. He once humiliated Ravan by pinning him with his tail and dunking Ravan! Ravan again and again in the sea!) mistreated him from right to left: “Who are you to question me? Do you know that I belong to the Ikshuki race? You are just an ape. You illegally took your brother’s wife. You deserve to die”. A knight should be more courteous to a dying hero. Will George Bush use such words to a dying bin Laden?