RATNAKAR (A ROBBER AND MURDERER)
FATHER OF RATNAKAR
MOTHER OF RATNAKAR
WIFE OF RATNAKAR
SON OF RATNAKARNARADA: Ratnakar, what are you doing? Don’t you see that I am singing to the Lord Vishnu? I am invoking him. I am chanting his name.
RATNAKAR: Vishnu? Who is Vishnu? There is only one person on earth and that is I, Ratnakar. I have killed hundreds of people, and I have cut off one thumb from each person. When I have one thousand thumbs, I shall make a garland of them and wear it around my neck. Nobody can save you from me.
NARADA: No? Don’t you know that I have spiritual power, occult power? I can easily free myself from you. So don’t threaten me.
RATNAKAR: Ha! Spiritual power, occult power! I shall kill you right now! (He is about to stab Narada with his dagger.)
NARADA: Wait a minute! What do you want? Do you want money?
RATNAKAR: Yes.
NARADA: How much do you want?
RATNAKAR: Whatever you have.
NARADA: I can give you whatever I have, and again, with my occult power I can give you double what I have. Look, I have a hundred-rupee coin. Can you see?
RATNAKAR: Yes.
NARADA: Now search me. Search all my garments. There is no money.
(Ratnakar searches him thoroughly.)
NARADA: Now just close your eyes.
(Ratnakar closes his eyes. From nowhere Narada takes another hundred rupees.)
NARADA: Look, Ratnakar, what I can give you.
RATNAKAR (amazed): Where did this money come from? I searched you thoroughly.
NARADA: Ratnakar, Ratnakar, no matter what amount you want I will be able to give it to you, and I will give you. But before that I want to ask you something.
RATNAKAR: What?
NARADA: You know that what you are doing is absolutely wrong. You are acting like an animal, killing people and taking away their money. Now don’t you think that you will be held responsible for all this in your life after death? Don’t you know that you will be condemned to hell and punished severely? Why do you do this kind of thing? You alone, you and nobody else, will suffer for all these horrible deeds.
RATNAKAR: What do you mean, I alone? I do it because I still have a sense of responsibility. I have two old parents; I have a wife, a beautiful wife, and a beautiful son, I have to think of all of them. I am responsible for my parents, for they are invalids. I am responsible for my wife, who is helpless without me. And my son is only a little boy, so I have to think of him. It is for all of them that I do it.
NARADA: And do you think that they will also take responsibility for you when you get punishment in your after-life? When you die, you will be the one to be punished for this karma in the other world, Ratnakar.
RATNAKAR: If I am punished I am sure they will share my karma with me, since I am doing all this for them. I have no other way to make money. This is the only way I can support my family.
NARADA: All right, this may be the only way, but I tell you, these people will never take responsibility for you.
RATNAKAR: Why not? They should! It is only fair, if I am doing it for them. Today, if anything happens to me, my parents will perish. My wife and son will probably die, too. I am sure they will all be willing to share my punishment in the after-life since it is I who am maintaining them in this life.
NARADA: All right, Ratnakar. Let us see. You feel that your parents, your wife and your son will take responsibility for your undivine actions because you are feeding them, you are clothing them, you are taking care of them by doing all this. Go home and ask them. If they agree, then I shall give you any amount of money you want, and double the amount. I tell you, Ratnakar, they have a claim on your earnings but have nothing to do with your sins. This hard fact will give you a rude shock and then you will take to holy living. I want you to go home and see. I will wait here.
RATNAKAR: You are a holy man. You won’t break your promise?
NARADA: I won’t break my promise. I am doing this out of my compassion for you. I can easily leave this place with my occult force — as easily as I brought the money I showed you. Right now I can use my occult power and chase you away from here with my light.
RATNAKAR: Oh yes? Show me, show me!
(Narada opens his third eye, and immediately Ratnakar starts trembling.)
RATNAKAR: Stop, stop! The volcanic fire from your third eye is burning me to ashes. I am going. I am going to see my family and I will bring you the news. They will take responsibility for me.
NARADA: Go and see.RATNAKAR (to his parents): Mother, Father, I have been working hard for you.
FATHER: Yes, my son, you are working very hard and we are pleased with you.
RATNAKAR: They say that killing people is bad, robbing is bad. I have been killing, robbing, doing many, many things, only to support you and the rest of my family. Now, O Father, O Mother, tell me. I am your dearest son. Will you not take responsibility for my actions when I die, when I am punished by the law of karma in the other world?
BOTH PARENTS: Son, why should we accept the responsibility? When you were a young boy we brought you up, we fed you. We looked after you and we did not ask you to take responsibility for our actions. At that time it was our duty. Now you are grown up, mature, and now it is your duty to feed us, to take responsibility for us.
(Ratnakar is taken aback. He goes to his wife.)
RATNAKAR: Now, darling, will you not accept responsibility for me? You say that I am dearer to you than your life. I have done so many wrong things. Every day I harass people, I torture people, I kill people and take their money. What for? Only to feed you and to feed my family. I am sure you will take some of the responsibilities in my next life, in the other world, when I am punished. I am sure you will also share the burden.
WIFE: Me? Why should I be held responsible? I am your wife, but it is your responsibility. Did you ever hear of a wife going out to make money for her husband? It is the duty of the husband to make money and feed the wife. Are you a fool? I thought you had some sense. People will laugh at you if you ever say that I have to take the responsibility for supporting myself. It is your duty to support me. So why should I be held responsible when it is your duty?
(Sadly Ratnakar goes to his son.)
RATNAKAR: My child, will you not take responsibility for what I am doing? I am torturing people, strangling people and killing people. What for? Only to support you, your mother and my parents.
SON: Father, I am only a child. I do not know how to work. I am unable to support myself. You take care of me. For that I am grateful. But how can I be responsible for what you are doing? I am not doing a thing; I am helpless. When I grow up I will be responsible for you — to feed you and support you. I will take care of my grandparents and my mother. But now, Father, I cannot be responsible for you. It is you who have to take responsibility.
RATNAKAR (giving a smart slap to his son): You ungrateful creature! (He kicks his wife.) You ungrateful creature! (He strikes his parents.) You ungrateful parents! I have nothing on earth to hold on to.NARADA: So, you have come here to take your money? Take as much as you want. Why are you so sad? Tell me, what is the news? What is your news?
RATNAKAR: My news is that I have given up my family. I will not be responsible for them since they do not feel responsible for me. They are a bunch of ungrateful creatures: my son, my wife, my parents. I do not want them. I do not need them. Right here, tell me what I should do. I will listen to you.
NARADA: My only advice to you is this: repeat only one name — Rama, Rama, Rama. He will forgive you. He will give you salvation. And it is you who will immortalise him on earth. He will take human incarnation and you will write his biography. Long, long before he is born, before he comes into this earthly existence, you will write his biography. You will tell about his immortal life, his life of dedication, his life of glory, his life of fulfilment. All this you will write down in his biography, From now on repeat his name: Rama, Rama, Rama. Just repeat it and let me hear.
RATNAKAR: Mara, Mara, Mara.
NARADA: Can’t you say his name?
RATNAKAR: I can’t.
NARADA: Rama, Rama. See what you have done? You cannot repeat his sacred name because you have done thousands of terrible things. Thousands of times you have acted like an animal. You are so impure, you are so mercilessly caught by the hostile forces that you have become like a real asura. Now you cannot even repeat Rama’s name. You can only say Mara, which is “Rama” said the other way around. All right, then, say Mara. Repeat Mara and in a few years’ time you will be able to say Rama properly. Rama is the heart. Even if you cannot properly pronounce his name, he won’t mind. With a soulful heart if you pray every day, repeating the name Mara, Rama will come to your rescue. He will forgive you, he will liberate you. It is to you that he will give the glory of immortalising him here on earth. You will write his biography, you will reveal him and manifest him. You will be the harbinger of his coming. When he comes down into the world and operates on the physical plane, you will see that the biography which you have written about him will immortalise you. He has chosen you to immortalise him, Ratnakar. And the day you start writing his biography, Lord Rama will enter into you and change your name. When you start writing his biography your new name will be Valmiki the Sage. Valmiki will be your real name. “When the power of love replaces the love of power, man will have a new name: God.” With your love of power you wanted to destroy the world, but with your power of love you will liberate the world. You will be a messenger of truth, a messenger of fulfilment.
(Narada blesses Ratnakar and departs.)QUEEN KAIKEYI, QUEEN KAUSALYA, QUEEN SUMITRA (WIVES OF KING DASHARATHA)
RAMA (SON OF KAUSALYA AND DASHARATHA)
KING DASHARATHA (KING OF AYODHYA)
LAKSHMANA (FIRST SON OF SUMITRA AND DASHARATHA)
SITA (WIFE OF RAMA)
BHARATA (SON OF KAIKEYI AND DASHARATHA)
SHATRUGHNA (SECOND SON OF SUMITRA AND DASHARATHA)
VASHISHTHA (A SAGE)
OFFICERS IN BHARATA’S ARMYMANTHARA: O Queen, do you know? Do you know what will happen tomorrow?
KAIKEYI: No, I do not know. Please tell me.
MANTHARA: Tomorrow Rama is going to be the yubaraj. He is going to become the crown prince.
KAIKEYI: Oh! How delighted I am to hear that! You are the first person to give me that happy news. Take this necklace from me. (She hands the necklace to her maidservant.)
MANTHARA (throws away the necklace): O Queen I never thought that you were such a fool. I thought that God had given you some real wisdom. Don’t you realise that when Rama becomes the ruler he will be all devotion to his own mother, Kausalya, and not to you? You will have no place here then. Your own son Bharata, will be like a servant. Now he and Rama are like two friends, two brothers. But the day Rama becomes King, Bharata will be nowhere.
KAIKEYI: No, don’t say such things. My Bharata and Kausalya’s Rama are inseparable brothers. I am so happy that my Rama, who loves me more than he loves his own mother, who serves me more than he serves his own mother, is going to be the ruler of this vast kingdom. O Manthara, the news that you have given me has made my life extremely happy. You don’t know how much joy I am getting now. My Rama, my own Rama will become the King.
MANTHARA: O Queen, just wait and see. Kausalya’s life of joy and victory will begin tomorrow. Your life of frustration and destruction will begin tomorrow.
KAIKEYI: Manthara, stop! Enough of your evil tongue. I am the Queen. I know what is best for me, best for my life. King Dasharatha has three Queens: Kausalya, Sumitra and I. But you know Dasharatha loves me most. He would not do anything which would eventually make me sad.
MANTHARA: Yes, I know he loves you most. But when Rama becomes the crown prince, instead of your son, your suffering will know no bounds. This is not my curse; it is just a bare fact. Rama will banish your son from the kingdom and he will treat you as you are treating me, your maidservant. Today you are the Queen, the most beloved Queen of Dasharatha; tomorrow you will become a maidservant like me in the service of Rama.
KAIKEYI: My love for my Rama is boundless. He is the embodiment of Truth and Light. In him I see the message of Divine Perfection. To be his maidservant is to be the great instrument of God. I am prepared to be his maidservant or whatever he wants me to be when he becomes the ruler of Ayodhya.
MANTHARA: O Queen, still there is time. Don’t act like a fool. You are still the most beloved wife of Dasharatha. Have you forgotten that he once promised you that he would fulfil your desires, no matter what they were? When he was ill, you served him, you nursed him and you cured him. Because of your dedicated service he offered you two divine boons. You told him that when the time came you would ask him. Now the time has come. Do you remember how many times you have been unkind to Kausalya? When she becomes the mother of King Rama, don’t you think she will pay you back?
KAIKEYI: That is true. I scolded her and insulted her many times, just because I knew I was the favourite wife of King Dasharatha. But Kausalya’s heart is big. She is full of love and compassion. When her son becomes King she will not pay me back in my own coin. She will forgive me. As a matter of fact, she has already forgiven me.
MANTHARA: Wait, just wait. It is only a matter of a few hours until tomorrow, and then your sorrow begins, your suffering begins. The night of excruciating pangs begins for you, O Queen!
KAIKEYI: I am fully prepared. Whatever is going to happen will happen for my own good. My Rama will not do anything wrong to me. Kausalya will never do anything to humiliate me. Both of them are great in heart and soul.
MANTHARA: You must know that it is not for my sake that I am asking you to ask the King for the boons. My only interest in life is your joy. My life on earth is only to please you, only to make you happy. Now here is my humble suggestion. Go to the King and ask him for your two boons. Then, when he agrees to give them, ask first that Rama be exiled for fourteen years. And for the second boon, ask that your son, Bharata, be made the crown prince.
KAIKEYI (shocked): I? I should ask Dasharatha for these boons?
MANTHARA: Yes, Rama has to go into the forest for fourteen years and your son Bharata has to be installed on the throne. Only then will you be happy, I tell you.
KAIKEYI: Shame, shame, unutterable shame on you, Manthara! Your advice is poison, nothing else! Leave this place immediately, before I kick you out!
MANTHARA (leaving): O Queen, tomorrow you will see!
(Exit Manthara. Kaikeyi sits down and rests her chin on her hands. She is thinking.)
KAIKEYI (to herself): Perhaps she is right...KAIKEYI: Rama, my darling, I have something important to discuss with your father. Will you leave us for a moment? I shall call you back when our discussion is over.
RAMA: Certainly, Mother, certainly.
(Exit Rama. Kaikeyi’s expression immediately changes to one of bitter distress.)
DASHARATHA: Kaikeyi, why is it that you are so distressed all of a sudden? Please tell me what is wrong with you. Are you feeling unwell? All the physicians of the world are at my disposal. Has anybody done anything wrong to you? If so, I assure you that he will be put to death. I have never seen you unhappy. Your sorrow is piercing the very depths of my soul.
KAIKEYI: My King, it is easy for you to talk about your love for me, but I know you are not sincere. You try to please me daily with empty flattery and falsehoods. But do you have even an iota of love for me? No, it is all deception.
DASHARATHA (shocked): Kaikeyi! I can’t believe my ears! Is this really you? Tell me when I have ever deceived you.
KAIKEYI: You have never deceived me?
DASHARATHA: Never! Never have I deceived you and never will I deceive you. You are my favourite Queen. I am all love, all sacrifice for you.
KAIKEYI: Then prove it.
DASHARATHA: I am at your disposal.
KAIKEYI: Send Rama into exile in the forest for fourteen years and make my son Bharata the crown prince tomorrow.
DASHARATHA (collapses, stunned): Ohhh. Kaikeyi, to hear this from you! Tomorrow was to have been the happiest day of my life, and today you are giving me such a cruel blow. In one blow you have taken away all my joy, all my happiness, the very life from my heart.
KAIKEYI: I have only made a legitimate claim. Don’t forget that you made a promise to me once. You granted me two boons. When you were practically dying, I nursed you back to health. You were so pleased with me that you granted me two boons, and I told you that when the time came I would ask for them. Now the time has come. Keep your promise if you are a man of truth. If not, the world will soon have a different opinion of you.
DASHARATHA: Kaikeyi, I am more dead than alive. You ruined my kingdom, you have killed me. I shall keep my promise, but do me at least one favour.
KAIKEYI: What do you want me to do?
DASHARATHA: Very simple. On my behalf you tell Rama that he has to go into the forest. On my behalf you tell your son Bharata that he will be the crown prince tomorrow. That’s easy enough. (He faints.)
KAIKEYI (calls aloud): Rama! Rama!
(Enter Rama.)
RAMA: Mother, is anything wrong with you?
KAIKEYI: Nothing is wrong, Rama. This very day you have to retire into the forest for fourteen years of exile. My son Bharata will be the King, and not you. Your father has promised.
(Seeing that his father is lying unconscious, Rama runs out and returns with Lakshmana, Kausalya, Sumitra and Sita.)
RAMA (to Kaikeyi): Mother, I shall obey your command. You want me to go into the forest for fourteen years. You want my dearest brother, Bharata, to be the ruler. I am fully prepared to keep my father’s promise to you. I am glad it is I who will have the opportunity to prove to the world that my father knows how to keep his promise.
(Lakshmana, Kausalya, Sumitra and Sita burst into tears.)
LAKSHMANA: Impossible! Brother, you cannot go into the forest! You cannot leave us!
SITA: My Lord, you cannot go! The world wants you, and not Bharata.
KAUSALYA: Rama, my darling son, don’t go!
RAMA: I know, Mother, that you will miss me. I shall also miss you, I shall miss my wife Sita and I shall miss my brother Lakshmana. I shall also miss my brother Bharata and my brother Shatrughna. I shall miss all my family. But Mother, my suffering and your suffering have no meaning in my life. Only the fulfilment of my father’s promise has real value for me. The world must know that my father Dasharatha has kept his promise. There is nothing so great as to keep one’s promise. I want the world to be proud of my father’s promise, my father’s sacrifice. Mother, Sita, Lakshmana, Mother Kaikeyi, Mother Sumitra — I am leaving. It is only a matter of fourteen fleeting years. Then I shall be back with you again. Now my joy is in fulfilling my father’s promise. Fourteen years from now my joy will be in living with my dear ones.
SITA: Lord, you cannot go without me.
LAKSHMANA: Rama, you cannot go without me.
RAMA: Sita, do you want to go with me into the forest? You will suffer much. How can I bear your suffering? A woman like you, who has been brought up with such care, love, affection and adoration, and all the comforts of wealth, cannot live in the forest. You must not think of going with me,
SITA: My Lord, without you my life has no meaning. To live with you in hell would give me greater joy than to live without you in Heaven. To be with you is to be in the highest plane of Delight. Wherever you are, I must be with you. I cannot remain without you. To be at your feet is my constant and eternal goal.
LAKSHMANA: Brother, to live without you is to live in ignorance, bondage and hell. I am not such a fool. This brother of yours will be your eternally devoted and dedicated slave. You are fulfilling Father’s promise. Now you must also fulfil my wish and Sita’s wish.
KAUSALYA: Rama, my son, take them with you. I shall remain here to look after your father. I love you more than I love my own life, but your aged father now needs my care. I do not know whether he will recover from this shock or not. But for the remaining days, the remaining hours, I want to serve him.
RAMA: Mother, you are doing absolutely the right thing. Father needs your care. He needs you badly. After fourteen years we three will come back. Mother Kaikeyi, please tell Bharata that I give him all my love, all my joy and all my blessings. Let him rule the kingdom in his own way. I am sure he will rule well. And Mother Kaikeyi, my only request to you, my last request to you, is that you will treat my mother Kausalya well.
SUMITRA: Rama, my son, you are the embodiment of truth, light and forgiveness. My heart breaks into pieces to see you and my Lakshmana leaving. But my other son, Shatrughna, is with Bharata now at his maternal uncle’s home. Shatrughna will remain here. He is fond of Bharata, he is all for Bharata as Lakshmana is all for you. I shall stay here and look after your mother. I am also a Queen, but from today she will be my dearest sister. In every way I shall try to make her happy. That is my promise. That is my promise to you, my son Rama.
KAIKEYI: Rama, I know that from today the world will hate me. I will be an object of contempt.
RAMA: No, Mother, the world will not hate you. But even if the world hates you I will love you. You have given me the opportunity to keep my father’s promise, and my mother Kausalya has given me the capacity to keep his promise. Her sacrificing heart-power has given me the capacity to keep my father’s promise. Your demanding vital-power has given me the opportunity to fulfil my father’s promise. I am equally grateful to you both.BHARATA: Shatrughna, brother, go and bring that filthy animal Manthara. Bring that hunchbacked creature here. I shall set it all right. Bring her here.
(Shatrughna goes out and returns dragging Manthara. Bharata violently and ferociously grabs her by the ear, pulls her hair and gives her a violent kick.)
BHARATA: You, you are the culprit! You are the one who inspired my mother, who instigated my mother to send Rama into exile for fourteen years. My dearest Rama, the light of my heart!
(Manthara falls to the ground unconscious.)
BHARATA (turning to Kaikeyi, nearly in tears): Mother, are you a human being? Have I to call you Mother? You have acted like an animal. Do you think that you have made me happy? I shall treat you ruthlessly. Every day I will make your life miserable! (Pauses.) No, no. You are forgiven. Rama’s heart of forgiveness, his heart of compassion has forgiven you. He will be sorry if I treat you this way. But I tell you, I am Rama’s brother Bharata, and not your son! My mother is Kausalya, and not you, you ingrate, you impostor! I am leaving for the forest. I will bring my brother back. It is he who will rule the kingdom. I am not only his brother, I am his devoted slave. I will not come back unless and until I have brought the brother of my heart and soul, Rama, back to Ayodhya, to his kingdom.
(Exit Bharata.)LAKSHMANA: Look! Look, Rama! Brother Bharata’s army! Bharata is invading us. Perhaps he thinks that when you go back after fourteen years you may create trouble for him. He wants to prevent any future trouble. Look at that ungrateful creature! Like mother, like son. It is his mother, Kaikeyi, who has sent you here to this life of hardship and humiliation. Now her son is coming to destroy you with his army. What else can you expect from your Bharata? After all, he is the son of Kaikeyi.
RAMA: Lakshmana, my brother, don’t be so rash. How do you know that he is coming to kill me? He may be coming to take me back to the kingdom.
LAKSHMANA (laughing): Brother, you are not only the embodiment of truth but also the embodiment of innocence. If he wanted to take you back he would come alone. Why has he to bring his huge army? O Brother, sometimes your innocence amazes me.
(Enter Bharata followed by officers. He prostrates himself before Rama and weeps bitterly.)
BHARATA: Brother, I am here at your feet. This army is yours. Come back! The kingdom awaits your arrival. I have not accepted my mother’s foul offering to me. I have not fulfilled her foul wish. We have lost our father. Your physical absence has sent him into the other world.
(Lakshmana, Sita and Rama burst into tears.)
LAKSHMANA: Father is no more?
BHARATA: No more. He is in the world beyond. My mother Kaikeyi has ruined us all. Only your presence, Brother Rama, can bring happiness back to my life, and to our kingdom.
RAMA: Brother Bharata, it is you who have to rule the kingdom. That was Father’s wish.
BHARATA: No, never! It was the wish of my cruel, brutal mother, Kaikeyi. I won’t listen to you, Brother. You must come back with me. I will be your perfect slave. You are the legitimate ruler of Ayodhya, not I. Lord, come back with me, or let me stay with you here to serve you. I shall also lead an ascetic life.
RAMA: Beloved Brother Bharata, I have embraced asceticism to obey my father and my mother Kaikeyi.
BHARATA: Kaikeyi is inhuman! She is not your mother. She is God’s worst mistake; she is man’s worst curse. Never will I call her Mother. She has ruined our family. She has done something terribly wrong to you. I do not approve of our father’s action.
RAMA: Who are you to approve or disapprove of our father? It is my bounden duty to obey him.
BHARATA: If it is your bounden duty to listen to our father, then it is my bounden duty to serve you here. I am not going back. I will not go back to the kingdom. (Speaking to officers and to everyone present.) My brother Rama shows no pity for me; he gives no consideration to my prayer. I shall lie down and fast unto death.
RAMA: Brother Bharata, this is not the way you should behave. You are a King, and you must face the world. You have to face the present situation with your manliness. It is I who am asking you to go back and rule the kingdom. If you wish to serve me, then you can serve me best in this way. The ocean may dry up, the sun may lose all its brilliance, but I will not be false to my father’s divine promise. I shall remain in exile for fourteen years.
BHARATA: Nor can I be false to my promise. I am going to stay with you.
RAMA: Then you are disobeying me, your elder brother.
BHARATA: I am not disobeying you. I cannot live without you, that’s all. You are my Lord; you are my God. I can’t live without my Lord and God.
(Enter Vashistha.)
VASHISTHA: With my occult vision I have come to know what is happening here. O Rama, O Bharata, I can solve your problem.
RAMA AND BHARATA: Please, please, O Sage Vashistha, solve our problem.
VASHISTHA: Bharata, do not sit on Rama’s throne. But go and be his agent. You rule on his behalf.
BHARATA: O Sage, that will not satisfy me. If he will allow me to keep his wooden sandals to represent him on the throne, then I shall go back. But I shall not go back to Ayodhya. No, I shall live in the village of Nandini which is on the outskirts of Ayodhya. From there I shall carry out Rama’s orders. Brother Rama, every day I shall place your sandals on my head and on my heart before I speak to anyone. It is your sandals that will represent you on the throne and give me my authority. You are the King. I am your deputy. I shall look after your kingdom as your deputy. If you should fail to return to Ayodhya on the first day of the fifteenth year, the appointed day, you will not see your brother Bharata alive. I shall consign this body to flames, while uttering your sacred name.
RAMA (embraces his brother): Brother, I assure you of my return. I shall keep my promise. I make one last request to you. Do not torture our mother Kaikeyi. Ignorance has covered her life. Let us both forgive her. Through our forgiveness her inner illumination will take place.
(Rama gives Bharata the wooden sandals from his feet.)
BHARATA (places the pair of wooden sandals on his heart): This is the symbol of my loyalty to you, Rama, my brother, my father, my All. (Embraces Lakshmana and touches the feet of Sita.) Mother Sita, I shall do everything for you and for my brothers Rama and Lakshmana. As an anxious mother waits for her son’s arrival after a long journey, as a dying man cries for a new life, I shall wait for your arrival and cry for your return.SITA (WIFE OF RAMA)
LAKSHMANA (HALF-BROTHER OF RAMA)
MARICHA (THE DEER)
RAVANA (KING OF THE DEMONS)RAMA: Sita, they say that flowers are beautiful, but I wish to say that you are infinitely more beautiful than any flower. The beauty of all the flowers put together is no match for your beauty.
SITA: Do you really think so, Rama? It is so kind of you to say it.
RAMA: They say that flowers have fragrance, but I wish to say that the fragrance of all the flowers put together cannot equal the fragrance of your heart.
SITA: O Lord, you are seeing me with your eye of unconditional appreciation, and not with the eye of a critic.
RAMA: My life should be at least a life of appreciation for you. Your life is a life of constant sacrifice for me. But my sincerity speaks, Sita. You are infinitely more beautiful, infinitely more fragrant than all the flowers of the world put together.
SITA: If I have a heart of gratitude, then that heart is for you, only for you, my Lord. Oh, look! Look at that beautiful deer! I have never seen such a beautiful deer! Never! It is so strikingly beautiful!
RAMA: Yes, it is extremely beautiful.
SITA: Look how charming it is, nibbling the grass. How soulfully it gambols and frisks. Look! It is multicoloured, and it has lustrous spots. I need this deer, Rama. I want it to be my deer.
RAMA: Is there anything that I will not do to please you, my Sita? I shall bring you the deer.
LAKSHMANA: Brother, don’t go. That is the demon Maricha playing a trick. He can assume any form, and he has taken the form of this animal. He is deceiving us. That is not a real deer.
SITA: I don’t believe you, Lakshmana. That is a real deer. I can see its beauty. I can feel the innocence of the animal. Rama, my Lord, chase it and catch it alive. If you can do that I will be so grateful to you.
RAMA: Lakshmana, I am off. Look after Sita.
(Rama chases the deer.)RAMA: Ah! One moment the deer is near, and the next moment it is quite far. This moment I am about to catch it, and the next moment it is beyond my reach. This is indeed a mysterious animal. I have been running after it for a long time. Now I am tired, exhausted. Sita wanted me to bring back this deer alive if possible. But I find it is not possible to catch it. Well, I shall shoot the deer with my bow, but I shall not kill it. I shall wound it and then take it home to Sita. She will nurse and cure the animal.
(Rama aims his unfailing arrow at the deer. The deer falls down.)
DEER (in Rama’s voice): Ah Sita, Ah Lakshmana! Ahhh Sita, Ahhh Lakshmana.SITA: Listen, Lakshmana! Your brother is in danger! He is crying, “Ah Sita, Ah Lakshmana.” He needs you! Go to him!
LAKSHMANA: Mother Sita, I cannot obey. My brother asked me to look after you. If I leave you alone here he will be extremely displeased with me. I assure you, my brother can never be in danger. There is nobody who can defeat him in fighting. He is all-powerful. I am sure that Maricha is playing a trick on us.
SITA (angrily): Lakshmana, you have come into the forest, and you are making everybody feel that you are my husband’s greatest friend, his dearest brother. But you are a rogue, a rogue. Rama is in terrible danger, I feel it. And you don’t want to leave me. Why? You have some immoral interest in me. If your brother dies, you are hoping to have me, you brute!
(Lakshmana covers his ears with his hands.)
LAKSHMANA: O Mother, be calm, please. Do not speak such awful words. Nobody in the world is like Rama. His life is quite safe. The voice that we have heard can never be the voice of my brother. It is a trick of that demon Maricha. Rama has posted me to look after you here. How can I disobey him?
SITA: Yes, Maricha is imitating Rama’s voice and you are imitating Rama’s character, his heart of wisdom and illumination. You rogue! You impostor! You fool! You have all darkness, all filth, all ignorance in your mind and in your heart! Leave me alone! You can’t obey me even when your brother is dying? I know, I know what your secret intention is. I tell you, your dark dream will never be fulfilled. Go! You have your wife, Urmila. Why did she not come with us? Then she could have been with her husband. Why are you bothering me? Who has asked you to come here? Before I let you touch me, I shall throw myself into the River Godavari.
LAKSHMANA: Mother, I shall have to disobey my brother, then, in order to obey you. I am disobeying my brother to please you. Please be alert. I am marking a ring for you. Please do not go outside the boundary of this ring. This ring is the ring of protection.
SITA: Protection? I do not need your protection. You go and protect your brother. He needs your protection. He is dying, and here you are wasting time, delaying, so when you go there you will see that he is no more. Well, no harm. If he is gone I shall join him in the other world. This life of mine is not to be with you. You brute, you unthinkable creature, deceiving the whole world by pretending to be devoted, faithful, unconditionally surrendered to your brother!
(Lakshmana, shedding tears, draws a ring.)
LAKSHMANA: Mother, I go.
(Exit Lakshmana.)SITA: O Saint, my husband is in danger. I have scolded his brother mercilessly, and he has at last gone to help him. He did not want to listen to me. He thought that I would be in danger here. But I am perfectly safe. Now a saint has come to console me. O Saint, tell me what I can do for you.
RAVANA: I am hungry, Mother, I am hungry.
SITA: I shall give you food.
RAVANA: Mother, what is this? This circle?
SITA: Oh, Lakshmana made this circle for me. He said that I must not go outside it. He said that if I go outside this circle I will be in danger.
RAVANA: Mother, you know that you are not in danger here. I am a saint. I have come here just to console you. I feel sure that your husband will come back safe. He is a great hero. Now Lakshmana is with him. Even if he is in danger, he will come back, Mother.
SITA: I shall bring food for you.
(Sita goes outside the circle and immediately Ravana grabs her, puts her on his shoulder and runs. Sita begins to scream.)SITA: You tempted me! You deceived me! You have now paved the way for your destruction! When Rama and Lakshmana come back and don’t see me, they will search for me and discover what you have done. Today’s crime marks the beginning of your death.
RAVANA: Threaten as much as you want to. Do you know that the sun subdues its scorching rays the moment I face it? The rivers suspend their flow the moment I stand in front of them. The forest foliage ceases to wave the moment I glance at it. Before me, your Rama is smaller than a puny insect.
SITA: You wretch, you rogue, you brute! What else can I expect from a rakshasa? Death is the only punishment you deserve, you braggart, and you will get it very soon. In your destruction the world will have a new life, a life of aspiration and perfection.RAMA: Lakshmana, are you here? Who is looking after Sita?
LAKSHMANA (falls at the feet of Rama): Brother, what could I do? She forced me to come here. I told her repeatedly that you were not in danger, that Maricha was imitating your voice, but she would not believe me. She insulted me so badly, she scolded me so badly. You can’t imagine the words she used. She literally forced me to come to you. The last thing she said was that she would throw herself into the River Godavari if I did not come to save you, so I came.
RAMA: Lakshmana, you did the right thing.
LAKSHMANA: I have listened to her and not to you, Brother. Now we may not see our dearest Sita again.
RAMA: I also fear the same.
LAKSHMANA: How hard it is to please two masters. I wanted to please you, I wanted to do everything for you. But when she insulted and scolded me and finally alarmed me by saying she would throw herself into the River Godavari, I was helpless. I came. Now let us hurry back to her.LAKSHMANA: Brother, I knew it. I knew it.
RAMA: I don’t blame you, my dearest Lakshmana. But now we have to find Sita. Life without Sita is meaningless for me.
LAKSHMANA: Rama, life without you is meaningless for me. Now what can we do?
RAMA: Let us search for our Sita. Sita, Sita, no matter where you are, this heart of love is for you, only for you.
LAKSHMANA: Sita, Sita, no matter where you are, Mother Sita, this heart of adoration, Supreme Adoration, is for you.BHARATA, LAKSHMANA (HALF-BROTHERS OF RAMA)
URMILA (WIFE OF LAKSHMANA)
SITA (WIFE OF RAMA)
OTHER MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY
A LARGE CROWD OF PEOPLEBHARATA: Rama, you have come back. You have kept your promise. If you had not kept your promise, if you had broken your pledge, you would not have seen me here on earth in the land of the living. (Touches Rama’s feet.) Here is your kingdom, Brother. Now, as before, I shall be your loving brother and slave. I submit totally to your will.
RAMA: Bharata, you have shown your heart’s magnanimity and your soul’s nobility. You could have easily kept this kingdom for yourself. You were the King, in accordance with Father’s wish.
BHARATA (interrupting): No, never! Father’s wish was that you would be King, not I. You fulfilled Father’s promise to my undivine, hostile mother. Her undivine desire compelled you to suffer much. It doomed you to fourteen years of misery, and I suffered as well. Now the darkest night is over; it is all day. The light of joy, the light of progress and achievement has dawned at last. O Rama, you have come to fulfil Father’s dream. Father’s lofty hopes for you will now be manifested in this kingdom on earth.
(The members of the royal family are all around. Urmila, the wife of Lakshmana, bows down to Rama and Sita, and then to her husband. While touching Lakshmana’s feet, she sheds tears.)
LAKSHMANA: Urmila, why do you weep? I have come back to you. Today should be a day of enormous joy.
URMILA: My Lord, I am not weeping tears of sorrow. I am shedding tears of joy. Your body left me, but not your soul. Your soul stayed inside my heart. Now I have your body and soul together with me again.
(Urmila sings.)
```
Nayane nayane gopane gopaneshayane swapane madhu jagarane
jibaner dole maraner koletaba prema-lila amar bhubane
``````
(In secrecy supreme I see You.You live in my eyes,
In my sleep, in my dreams,In my sweet wakefulness.
In the stupendous mirth of life,In the abysmal lap of death,
You I behold.Your love-play is my world.)
```URMILA: If you had remained here at the palace you would have done your human duty to me. But your soul wanted you to do your divine duty, which was to serve your dearest brother, Rama. He is all Divinity. He is the incarnation of dharma. You left me to be of service to him. You have come back again only to be of service to him. But your presence gives me enormous joy. I shall have you around me. I shall be with you. When it is a matter of serving, the Divine comes first and foremost. You did the right thing. You are doing the right thing. And in your sacrifice my glory looms large. In your feeling of oneness with the divine Rama, my oneness with the divine Rama shines.
RAMA: Urmila, your silence when we left for the forest was deeply appreciated and admired by me. You sacrificed your husband in silence. Your life of silent sacrifice has touched the very depths of my heart. Your sacrifice springs from your divine wisdom. Your soul-stirring philosophy is absolutely correct. The Divine comes first, and not the human. I see your life of oneness with your husband, your life of inner wisdom. You are all for the cause of my divine manifestation on earth. Urmila, feel my heart’s enormous delight and my soul’s transcendental pride.KING: Hanuman, I have heard much about your strength and your sacrifice. It was you who discovered Sita in Lanka. It was you who took Rama’s message to Sita and Sita’s message to Rama. It was you who enabled Rama to conquer and kill Ravana. Without you Rama could not have won the victory.
HANUMAN: O King, I don’t want you to utter falsehoods. Rama is God. It was most kind of him to appoint me as his messenger. It was most kind of him to ask me to fight for him. But Rama did not need my help. Rama does not need anybody’s help. He could easily have conquered Ravana himself. He can protect himself. He is all power. He can conquer the whole world at his sweet will.
KING: I deeply admire your heart’s nobility.
HANUMAN: I shall also deeply admire you when you speak the truth. It is Rama who can do everything. Rama is all-powerful.
KING: Yes, your Rama is all-powerful. He is everything. Are you happy now?
HANUMAN: Yes, I am happy. I am happy. When you say this, I become happy.
KING: I have a gift for you, Hanuman, a most precious gift.
HANUMAN: Thank you.
KING (holds out a pendant): I wish to place it around your neck myself. I am pleased with your strength, proud of your love for Rama and proud of your sacrifice.
HANUMAN: O King, my sacrifice for whom? If you say, “For Rama,” I shall not accept your gift. I shall return it immediately. I made no sacrifice for Rama. His very existence on earth is the supreme sacrifice for me and for earth.
KING (places pendant around Hanuman’s neck): This pendant looks wonderful on you. I am so happy to see you wearing it.
HANUMAN: It certainly does. I deeply thank you for this necklace.
(Hanuman starts fondling the locket. Finally he takes the necklace off and starts to break open the locket.)
KING: Hanuman, what are you doing? You are a fool! That is such a precious locket! Can’t you see the diamonds on it?
HANUMAN: But I want to see what is inside it. (Breaks it open.) Ah, nothing! (Throws it away.)
KING: What a fool! What am I going to do with such a fool? You have no sense! Why did you break the locket? Why did you throw it away?
HANUMAN: I wanted to see if there was a picture of Rama inside, but there was no picture. I did not see anything of Rama inside the locket. So why do I need it? I only need the things that have Rama in them. Without Rama I do not exist. No matter how expensive, how valuable your locket is to you, it is of no value to me. With Rama, everything is most precious to me. Without Rama, everything is useless to me.
(Hanuman sings.)
```
Tumi shudhu bandhu amartumi amar pran
baul haye desh bideshegahi jena bhalobese
jiban bhare tomar jaya gantumi shudhu bandhu amar
tumiy amar pran```
```(You are my only Friend,
You are my Life.Like a divine mendicant, from
one country to anotherMay I sing a song of You
With all my love.May I sing the Song of
Your Victory all my life.)```
HANUMAN: King, since you do not care for Rama, I cannot waste one minute more of my precious time here. Good-bye.(Exit Hanuman.)
KING: Hanuman’s strength is unparalleled, but his blind and stupid faith in Rama is also unparalleled. In God’s creation, it seems perfection will never dawn.SITA (WIFE OF RAMA)
LAKSHMANA (HALF-BROTHER OF RAMA)
A LARGE AUDIENCERAMA: Sita, my heart is overflowing with joy to see you again. But, Sita, to me dharma, Divine Justice, is more important than my concern for you. You have stayed at the wicked Ravana’s palace for several months. I am sure he has cast his lustful gaze on you. I am sure you are impure. My subjects will misunderstand me if I accept you now. Therefore, I am compelled to disown you. You must leave. You may go wherever you want to. Even if you want to have somebody else as the partner of your life, I will have no objection.
(Sita’s tears become tears of grief.)
SITA: You speak like an ordinary human being, Rama. I thought that you were great, really great, but now I think that you are worse than any human being on earth. Can’t you see with your occult vision whether or not I have lived an impure life at Ravana’s palace? He tempted me with his wealth. He tried to force me to be his, but my inner strength protected and saved me. I wanted only you, and I still want only you, but now you discard me like a filthy rag. I am prepared to leave you, but before I leave, I wish to prove to you that I am Purity itself. I shall consign my body to fire and you will see what happens to me. (To Lakshmana) Lakshmana, with all your heart’s magnanimity you have helped me millions of times. You have listened to me millions of times. You have always considered me as your mother. Listen then to one final request. Please light a blazing fire for me. This is my last request, my last prayer to you.
LAKSHMANA: Mother, not a prayer, not a request, but a fatal command. Rama, what am I going to do now?
RAMA: You have always pleased her. Now please her this time, too.
SITA: I know that fire is the cosmic Reality and Rama is the cosmic Reality. If I come out of fire unburned, then the world will know that I was pure — Purity itself. And if I do not come out of the fire, then I will enter into the cosmic Reality, which is my Rama.SITA: O Fire God, my husband Rama has every right to test me, and I have every right to prove to him that I was pure, I am pure and I forever shall remain pure. If I fail in this test, I shall go to my Divine Rama in Heaven. If I pass, I shall remain with my human Rama here on earth.
(Site walks slowly, steadily through the leaping flames and comes back to Rama. The all-consuming fire could do nothing to her. Her whole face is aglow. Rama receives Sita with all his love.)
RAMA: My Sita, the fire ordeal is over. The world now knows that you are Purity itself. You had the heart to prove yourself to my subjects. One part of my being wanted to please my subjects at your expense, with your sacrifice. It felt that the whole object of my stay on earth was to please them. Another part, which is divine, knew well that you were pure and felt that this was doing an injustice to you. But you and I are one. You have proved it. With your sacrifice you have shown your greatness before my subjects, and since we are one, you have made me great, also. What you have done for me and what we are doing for my subjects is right.
SITA: My Lord, you are right. You are always right. This existence of mine is only to please you, to prove to the world that I am only for you and that the illumination of the world depends only on your compassionate wisdom.
(Sita sings.)
```
Saphal habe swapan amar saphal habesamarpaner atma-hutir mahotsabe
tomar hasi tomar banshibijay ketan amar chetan
amar bhabe nachbe janiamar bhabe
``````
(My dream will be fulfilledIn the great festival of my surrender’s
consecration-fire.Your Smile, Your Flute,
Your Banner, Your Consciousness-Light,In my world shall dance,
I know, I know.) ```MAN: Ah, I have found someone who is also suffering from the rain. I thought that I would find nobody here. I came for the ferry, but no boatman is willing to carry me across to the other shore. All are afraid of this storm.
HANUMAN: I am not afraid of the storm. I am just thinking of my Lord Rama.
MAN: Hanuman! I have heard much about you. What has Rama ever done for you?
HANUMAN: Be quiet. What has Rama not done for me? Is there anything that he has not done for me? Or is there anything that he will not do for me? He has done everything and he will do everything for me. I have done hardly anything for him.
MAN: You have done so many things for him, Hanuman.
HANUMAN: True, but I still feel that I can please him much more than I have already pleased him.
MAN: O Hanuman, you are the incarnation of humility.
HANUMAN: I am the incarnation of sincerity. But if you say I am the incarnation of humility, I don’t accept that. I want to be the incarnation of humility. How I wish I could do something really great for my Rama! It seems the rain will never stop. But I shall go to the other side,
(Hanuman starts walking on the water.)
MAN: Hanuman, Hanuman!
HANUMAN (coming back): What is wrong with you?
MAN: I want to go with you.
HANUMAN: You want to go with me? Then come along.
MAN: But I am afraid.
HANUMAN: Don’t be afraid. Do you have a pencil?
MAN: Yes.
HANUMAN: And a piece of paper?
MAN: Yes.
HANUMAN: Now close your eyes.
(The man closes his eyes. Hanuman writes on the piece of paper, folds it and gives it to him. He starts to open it.)
HANUMAN: No, hold it. Don’t open it. I am going with you to the other side. But don’t open this paper. If you open it and see what I have written, then you will not be able to walk on the water. You will sink.
MAN: No, no, I will never open it.
HANUMAN: Then come along.
(They begin walking together.)
MAN: O Hanuman, I do not know what you have written on this paper. It has such magic in it. I never imagined in all my life that I would be able to walk on water! You can do everything, Hanuman. You have all capacity. For me to walk on water without your help would have been simply impossible.
HANUMAN: Everything is possible by Rama’s grace.
MAN: Where is Rama here?
HANUMAN: Rama is everywhere.
MAN: Hanuman, I am really curious to see what you have written there.
HANUMAN: Don’t open it. If you open it you will sink.
MAN: If you are beside me, it is impossible for me to sink. You will help me. I'll open it. (He opens the paper and looks at it. Inside is written the word “Rama”.)
MAN: “Rama!” it says. (Laughing.) Again Rama, even here!
(The man immediately sinks.)
MAN: O Hanuman, save me, save me!
HANUMAN: No. You sneer at my Rama, you ridicule my Rama. I won’t save you. He who mocks my Rama, he who criticises my Rama, can never have my compassion. I repeatedly asked you not to open it. You disobeyed me, and then, what is worse, you sneered at my Rama. This is your punishment. I have no love for you. If someone does not care for my Rama, I in turn do not care for that person. Sink! Let your life end. For me, a life without Rama is a life of misery. I want you also to feel that a life without Rama is of no use; it is simply a life of destruction. In fact, you shall learn that a life without Rama is meaningless, useless, impossible. A life with Rama is a life of constant achievement, constant glory, constant bliss.MINISTERS AND PRIESTS
A MAN OF VERY LOW CASTE
VASHISHTHA (PRECEPTOR OF RAMA)
MOTHER OF HANUMAN
HANUMAN (A GREAT DEVOTEE OF RAMA)EVERYONE NEARBY: Get up! Get up!
A MINISTER: How dare you sit on this seat? This is Vashishtha’s seat. He is the preceptor, the Guru of King Rama.
(Enter Vashishtha.)
VASHISHTHA: Why is this man sitting on my seat? (To the man.) How dare you sit there? I shall kill you! Rama, if you are a true disciple of mine, you must kill this rascal.
(Rama gets his bow and arrow. The man runs for his life.)
VASHISHTHA: Rama, you have to kill this rogue, this infidel! I can give you only three chances at most. If you fail in your first attempt, you can try two more times. And if you fail in your third attempt to kill him, I will think you are a useless archer.
RAMA: You know I have killed Ravana, the King of the Demons. Is there anyone I cannot kill on the first attempt, O Vashishtha, O peerless Sage? I assure you, either I shall kill that fellow where I find him, or I shall bring him here.
VASHISHTHA: No, Rama, I don’t want you to bring him here. Just kill him wherever you find him. God knows where he is by now.
RAMA: With your blessing let me leave.
(Vashishtha blesses Rama. Exit Rama.)RAMA: Ah, I see he is entering into my Hanuman’s house. The rogue is caught! He does not know that the house belongs to Hanuman, my dearest devotee. (Shouts) Hanuman! Hanuman!
(Enter Hanuman’s mother.)
HANUMAN’S MOTHER: O Rama, you have come. I am so grateful to you. Your presence has sanctified my home. O Rama, please wait for a few minutes. Hanuman will be coming immediately. He is getting ready to see you.
(Exit Hanuman’s mother. Enter Hanuman with folded hands.)
HANUMAN: Please tell me what I can do for you, my Lord.
RAMA: Hanuman, where has he gone? Where is that rascal? Bring him out! He has insulted my Guru, Vashishtha. He sat on Vashishtha’s seat. Vashishtha wants me to kill him. I have to fulfil Vashishtha’s desire. Bring him out and I shall kill him.
HANUMAN: O Rama, I am sorry but I cannot bring him out.
RAMA: I can’t believe my ears! Is this you, Hanuman, my dearest disciple? I was under the impression that you were ready to give your life for me at any moment.
HANUMAN: That is true. I will give my life for you. But this is not my life. It is somebody else’s life.
RAMA: That means you won’t listen to me, to my request, my demand, my command?
HANUMAN: I am sorry. Forgive me. My mother has given him shelter. Janani janmabhumishcha swargadapi gariyasi. “Mother and Mother Earth are superior to Heaven itself.”
RAMA: But I am your Lord. Am I not superior to everything in your life?
HANUMAN: That is true, but how am I going to break my mother’s promise?
RAMA: If you want to fulfil your mother’s promise, then you are no longer my dearest disciple. I must come first in your life, Hanuman.
HANUMAN: Yes, you do come first in my life. I have to break my mother’s promise. I am prepared. To please you is to please God. Rama, how are you going to kill this man?
RAMA: I am going to kill him with my arrows. Vashishtha has allowed me three attempts. He made me promise to try three times and then give up. But it will be a real disgrace if I cannot kill a human being in three attempts.
HANUMAN: Please wait here. I shall bring the culprit right to you.
(Exit Hanuman.)
RAMA (to himself): I knew. The moment I saw the culprit entering into Hanuman’s house, I knew it was his end. He could not escape me. The human emotions created some problem for my Hanuman; that is why he took his mother’s side. But the divine in him is so strong, so powerful, that it has to come forward, and it did come forward. That is why he is bringing the culprit to me.
(Hanuman brings the culprit before Rama.)
HANUMAN: He is ready, Rama. You can satisfy yourself now.
(Rama aims at the culprit and shoots. The arrow drops without piercing his heart. Rama is wonder-struck.)
RAMA: What? How can this be? I killed Ravana, the most powerful demon on earth, and now my arrow fails. Let me try a second time. (The same thing happens the second time.) Only one more chance is left! Let me make my third attempt. (The same thing happens the third time.)
HANUMAN: Lord, you have to keep your promise now. You have three times tried to kill him, and three times you have failed. Now you can’t try any more.
RAMA: No, I can’t. I won’t. But Hanuman, tell me: how could all this happen? I am the King of Kings, and my arrow fails today so miserably for the first time.
HANUMAN: I shall tell you the secret. I told the man to begin repeating in silence, the moment you drew back your bow, “Victory to Lord Rama.” And the second time you drew it back, I asked him to repeat, “Victory to the consort of Sita.” The third time, “Victory to Dasharatha’s eldest son.” So each time he prayed for your victory. Now if someone sincerely prays for your own victory, how can you kill that person? Your soul’s divinity was pleased with him because he was praying for your victory. It was your vital and your mind that wanted to kill him. Naturally your soul’s will shall always conquer the will of your vital and mind. You are the Lord of the gods. He prayed to you for your victory. Naturally your soul gave him protection, even though your mind and vital were begging for his destruction. The power of your soul is infinitely greater than the power of your vital desire.
RAMA: My dearest disciple, I accept my defeat with deepest joy and blessingful pride. I accept my defeat by you, my dearest devotee. You have taught me a lesson. My soul’s will shall always conquer my vital and mental craving. I have failed in my outer attempt. But my body’s failure is my soul’s success. The success of my soul over my body is infinitely more meaningful and fruitful than my outer success.
HANUMAN: This knowledge that I have offered to you was granted to me by you. Is there anything I have that has not come from you? My knowledge, my power, everything that I have, everything that I am, has all come from you. In order to glorify me, in order to immortalise me, you are acting like my student. But I know that I am your eternal student. I know you are my eternal teacher.
(Hanuman sings.)
```
Janar age tomai ami henechhipabar age tomai ami jenechhi
debar age tomai ami peyechhitaito tomai mor amire sanpechhi
``````
(Before I knew You, I struck You.Before I received You, I knew You.
Before I gave myself to You,I received You.
Therefore to You I have offered,sacrificed and surrendered
my ego-reality’s existence.) ```LAKSHMANA (HALF-BROTHER OF RAMA)
YAMARAJ (THE KING OF DEATH)
DURVASHA (A SAGE)
PRIME MINISTER
MINISTERS AND ELDERSRAMA: Lakshmana, my dearest brother, you are my joy, you are my pride. The world admires me, adores me, but I know why I have become great, how I have become great and who has made me great. It is all because of you, my Lakshmana.
LAKSHMANA: O Rama, you are my eldest brother, but I have always considered you to be my father. To be with you, to be of service to you, is to live with the highest Goal.
(Lakshmana sings.)
```
Amar bhuban tomar charan lagiamar jiban tomar swapan lagi
ogo asimer nirabataogo dyuloker amarata
eso eso eso e hiya rayechhe jagi```
```(My world is for Your Feet.
My life is for Your Dream.O silence of Infinity,
O immortality of Heaven,Come, come, come.
This heart remains awake.)```
(Enter Yamaraj in the guise of a holy man.)YAMARAJ: Rama, I would like to have a private interview with you. I have to discuss something most important with you, something most urgent, and during our conversation I do not want anyone else to be present, only you and me.
RAMA: That can easily be done. I shall certainly do it, venerable Sir.
(Lakshmana is about to leave.)
YAMARAJ: Please wait. (Lakshmana waits.) O Rama, give me your promise that whoever enters, whoever comes here during our conversation, will be put to death.
RAMA: Yes, I devotedly agree to your proposal. Lakshmana, my dearest brother, do not allow anybody to enter into this room. Keep a rigid watch, and no matter who it is, do not allow anyone to intrude on our private talk.
LAKSHMANA (with folded hands): Rama, I am at your supreme command.
(Exit Lakshmana.)
YAMARAJ: Rama, I am Yamaraj, the King of Death. I have been sent to you by Brahma, the Eternal Creator. He has asked me to tell you that your play on earth is done. You have fought very hard to establish the kingdom of dharma on earth, and you have succeeded. Now your time is up. You are needed in Heaven.
RAMA: I am happy to hear that my time has at last come. My Sita is no longer with me. Just to please the world I tortured her heart. I cared more for the world than for my dearest wife. Now she has left her body, cast off her mortal sheath, just to please me. I was such a rascal, such a wretched fellow. Now I shall meet her in the other world. I am so happy to go with you.
(Enter hurriedly Lakshmana.)
LAKSHMANA: Rama, Rama, my brother, the Sage Durvasha has come and he wants to see you immediately. I told him you were occupied and not available. He got furious and told me that in the twinkling of an eye he would destroy your whole family and your whole kingdom. I don’t want him to destroy our family or our beloved Kingdom of Ayodhya. I know that nobody is allowed to come in here during your conversation, but I felt that I must sacrifice my life. It is better to die at the hands of my dearest brother Rama than to die at the hands of Durvasha.
YAMARAJ: Rama, we have not finished our conversation, and your brother has entered. That means he must die.
RAMA: It is true. It is true. Lakshmana, go and bring Durvasha here. In the meantime we will finish our conversation.
(Exit Lakshmana.)
YAMARAJ: So, are you ready? Soon you will be called away. Are you ready?
RAMA: Yes, I am fully prepared.
YAMARAJ: And what about your brother? He has violated your injunction.
RAMA: Yes.
YAMARAJ: And he will be put to death?
RAMA: He will.
YAMARAJ: I know you will keep your promise. May God bless you!
(Exit Yamaraj. Enter Lakshmana and Durvasha.)
RAMA (folding his hands): O Sage, O Sage of the highest magnitude, forgive me, forgive me. I was having a most important private conversation with a guest, and that is why I could not see you immediately. Please forgive me. Now, please tell me how I can serve you. I am at your service.
DURVASHA: Rama, I am extremely hungry. I have not eaten for a long, long time. But today I want to eat your food. I don’t want to eat anything else — only the food that is prepared for you.
RAMA: I am so proud that a great sage like you, Durvasha, wants to eat my food. Lakshmana, go and bring my food.
(Lakshmana goes and comes back with food. Durvasha eats with great satisfaction. When he is finished, he turns to Rama.)
DURVASHA: Rama, I bless you with all my heart and soul. You have satisfied my outer hunger, and I shall fulfil your inner hunger. Very soon you will be with your beloved Sita in the other world.RAMA: What am I going to do? I have to keep my promise. Lakshmana is dearer than my life, but a promise is a promise.
LAKSHMANA: Rama, do not feel sorry. Do not weep. You have to keep your promise. You must kill me according to your promise. I will be happy to be killed by you. There can be no greater joy than to be punished by you. There can be no better death than to be killed by you.
PRIME MINISTER: O Rama, since it was your promise that you would put to death any intruder, I wish you to banish your brother from the kingdom. This punishment is equivalent to killing him.
RAMA: For me to live without my brother Lakshmana is also my death. To be away from him, not to see him around me, is my worst death.
LAKSHMANA (bowing): Brother, Father, you are my All. I want the world to see that you are the Incarnation of Truth. You have established the kingdom of dharma. Your promise and your life can never be separated. They are one and inseparable. I am now leaving the palace. I will go and meditate on the bank of the Sarayu, and when the time comes I shall jump into the river and give up my life.
RAMA: O joy of my heart, O love of my heart, O power of my heart, you are leaving me. You are embracing death. Because of your constant sacrifice, this world knows me. And in the other world, I will also be known because of your sacrifice. I will be adored and worshipped. O brother of my heart and soul, O brother of eternity, you have followed me everywhere; wherever I have gone you have followed me like my own shadow. When Father sent me into exile, when I had to bring Sita back from Ravana, you followed me. But now, O Lakshmana, I shall follow you. I shall follow your life-breath. You go and reserve my place in the other world, in the world of the Beyond. I am coming.
(Lakshmana bows to his brother and begins to leave. Rama sings.)
```
Deshe deshe cha bandhabahtantu desha na pashyami
yatra bratha sahodara```
RAMA: In all countries there are wives, in all countries there are friends, but I shall not find a brother like Lakshmana anywhere in this world.From:Sri Chinmoy,My Rama is my All, Sky Publishers, New York, 1973
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/ram