22^nd of January 2024 is going to be a day written in golden letters in the history of Bharat in general & Sanatan Dharma in particular for on this day Shri Ram will return to His magnificent “worldly home” situated at the place of His birth. This has been possible because of a continuous & consistent struggle & sacrifices by the devotees for close to 500 years. It was an incessant struggle for centuries that took the shape of effort by individuals, collectives & mass movements & finally in the form of the adoption of legal recourse that eventually found its closure on 9^thNovember 2019 after the judgement delivered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. 

It is hard to believe that “Ram Lalla”, the “Maryada Purushottam” was denied his own “worldly home” for this long & that too in a land where He has continued to rule the hearts & minds of a vast civilisation for more than 8000 years. Shri Ram has always been present in the consciousness & subconsciousness of every Bhartiya, be she/he from north, east, west or south or from any caste, creed, culture, linguistic or religious denomination. Bhartiyas continue to revere Him as an embodiment of renunciation, fair play, model governance (Ram Rajya) & to top it all, an embodiment of “Maryada.” For Him renouncing the throne of Ayodhya & journey into the jungles (banwas), as per the wishes of His father, was as kosher & normal part of life as His coronation after His triumphant return to Ayodhya after defeating Ravan. He had no remorse at the loss of the throne, nor any delight on His coronation. Worldly attachments had no meaning for him. He was only attached to His Dharma – the path of righteousness. 

During His “banwas” He considered the journey through the challenging jungle pathways, mountains & plains, along with Shri Sita, His wife & younger brother Shri Lakshman, as normal as strolling through the paths of His garden in the Royal Palaces of Ayodhya. Like He didn’t resent the loss of the throne of Ayodhya, similarly he wasn’t upset because of the difficult & treacherous terrain & dangers posed by the ever present “rakshas” that He would encounter during His travels across the subcontinent. He faced the challenges of life, unperturbed under all circumstances & was thus called “Maryada Purushottam” – the most disciplined & greatest amongst men – by the Sanatan civilisation.

When Shri Ram along with His wife Shri Sita & younger brother Shri Lakshman had to leave Ayodhya for a 14 year “banwas” thousands of years ago, He must have felt the first pangs of losing His home, hearth & comforts. 

Shri Ram had just left Ayodhya & had crossed river Tamsa, Ganga, Triveni (Prayag) & Yamuna along the way when He met the great sage Valmiki. Rishi Valmiki was overwhelmed with emotions at the sight of someone whom he knew was “Divine Parmatama” & yet was carrying Himself as a simple wanderer in the forests. Rishi Valkmiki was a “trikaldarshi”, someone who had the spiritual power to sift through the past, present & the future. After bowing to the sage & paying respects to him Shri Ram narrated the reason of His sojourn into the forests. They conversed about “Dharma.” Eventually, like any commoner, Shri Ram asked Sage Valmiki to advise him as to where He should find an abode for Himself in the jungles. 

Sage Valmiki was pained & bewildered by the question. He wasn’t expecting this question from someone whom he knew was an “Avtar” of Shri Vishnu. He was aware that Shri Vishnu had chosen to be in a “panch tatva” body because of His own will to rid the earth of the negative forces. The Rishi went speechless in reverence & after gathering his composure He submitted to Shri Ram in great humility that this question has caused a “dharam sankat” for him. How could he show Him (Shri Ram) a place to live in, knowing fully well that He is living in every being & every nook & corner of the universe & thus there is no space devoid of Him. 

But the great Rishi Valmiki wouldn’t have allowed this opportunity to pass. He must have wanted the posterity in Bharat to remember that Parmatama has His own ways of making home amongst the populace & will choose a space of His own choice. So, where should Shri Ram live? Rishi Valmiki prays & suggests that He (Shri Ram) should find an abode in the hearts of the people who are devoid of anger, pride, attachment, greed & deception. He advises Him to find abode in the hearts of those who are not unnecessarily exuberant on attaining success or are cowed down by difficulties faced by them in the process of helping others. He advises Him to live in the hearts of those who consider fame, or infamy as the same when they are treading on the path of righteousness. He further prays that Shri Ram must live in the hearts of such people who treat other women, the “matra shakti” with the same respect & love as they would to their own mothers, sisters & daughters. 

Sage Valmiki tells Him further that He (Shri Ram) should live in the hearts of the people who are not envious of those who have prospered nor delighted at the discomfort of the others & live with those who love Him more than their lives & consider Him to be the companion, father, mother, guru & the master. Sage Valmiki advises Shri Ram to live in the hearts of the people who discard the bad qualities of their own & pick up the good ones that they may find in others & at the same time anchor their lives on ethical principles, employ good skills for a living & stick to “Maryada” during their sojourn on this earth. He further advises Shri Ram to live in the hearts of the people who abandon “Jaati-Patti”, fame, riches & comforts of the world for His sake.

However, Rishi Valmiki wasn’t unaware of the situational limitations of Bhagwan Shri Ram. He was omnipresent as the creator & One who energised the universe, but in human form He certainly deserved a place to live in. He advised Him to take abode in Chitrakoot, a beautiful place surrounded by mountains, forests, river, water bodies & where flora & fauna was in abundance. Shri Lakshman, the Rishis, the tribals & the forest dwellers of Chitrakoot erected two huts for the new guests. One for Shri Ram & Shri Sita & the other for Shri Lakshman. The huts were built lovingly & with great care out of the wood from the forest trees & covered with bark of the trees, leaves & grass. This was practically the first abode of Shri Ram, Shri Sita & Shri Lakshman in the forests, after they left Ayodhya. Goswami Tulsi Dass in Ramcharitamanas describes the beauty of these huts. Anyone conversant with Ramcharitamanas will realise that the huts built for Shri Ram, Shri Sita & Shri Lakshman in the forests of Chitrakoot was much better than the torn out & filthy tented accommodation in which “Ram Lalla” lived in recent times. 

Today the doings of Mir Baki & Babur have become a matter of the past. Ram Lalla, the Maryada Purushottam, is moving to the newly constructed temple at His birthplace in Ayodhya, but Manthra & Kekyi in multiple “avatars” are still there & leaving no stone unturned to vitiate the joyous & “Ram-maye” atmosphere prevailing in the nation. 

Khardushans &  Kaalnemis will also play their role.

Those who are not equivalent to a speck of a dust of the feet of Shri Ram & may not be remembered a day after they leave their positions of power or probably this earth are abusing Shri Ram, who continues to be the soul & body of Bharat for eons. He continues to stay in the collective memory of Bharat – undiminished & flourishing & He is one of the strings that binds together the multidimensional & multicultural Sanatan Dharma.

Herein lies the difficulty of being Shri Ram!

It is a different matter that whenever a Ram is born there always is a Ravan. However, when the time comes for renaissance, the Parmatama sends Shri Ram, accompanied by His “Ansh” in the form of Sita, Lakshman, Bharat & Shatrughan. Urmila, Mandavi, Shrutkeerti, though less spoken about, but without them Ramayan wouldn’t have been complete. Parmatama, without fail brings in assistance from the likes of Hanuman, Sugreev, Vibhishan, Angad, Jamvant for a good cause & even such small creatures like a pair of squirrels who participated in construction of the Ramsetu connecting Bharat to Sri Lanka.

Shri Ram ensured through his exemplary conduct throughout His life that He had a corpus of good wishes & sincere prayers for Him that came handy in times of adversities. Nishad Raj Guh, Jatayu, Sampath, Matta Shabari, Matta Ahilya & several other saints, tribals & forest dwellers created a wave of goodwill for the good cause of Shri Ram & eventually all the positive forces joined together to defeat the mighty Ravan. 

While the negativity continues to raise its head in some pockets in the country let’s hope & pray, on the occasion of “Pranprathishta” of the temple in Ayodhya, that the positive forces shaping up in the country continue to prevail & firm up so that Ram Rajya becomes a reality in Bharat.