Dasaratha realized one day that he was growing old , that it was time for his retirement and  pass on his responsibilities as the king to his  eldest son Rama, who  was found as eminently suited . .He decided to enthrone Rama in consultation with his courtiers. Dasaratha told that Rama was embodiment of all qualities required of a ruler. He was compassionate, followed justice in all matters, courageous and considerate to everyone and keeping the welfare of his people at heart. He would be capable of guarding his kingdom from enemies and would be devoted to the welfare of the people. All who were present in the assembly welcomed the idea with   big applause .Dasaratha announced that his coronation ceremony would take place next day, being auspicious and ordered to make all arrangements. He sent for Rama. He watched his arrival from his balcony with sense of fulfillment. He told Rama about it. Rama replied with all humility that he would consider himself fortunate to fulfill his father’s wish. . He assured that he would be a just ruler. He was not seeing the crown as symbol of name, fame   and opulence. King Dasaratha, however had premonition that coronation would not take place as expected. His premonition came true. He gave detailed instructions to Rama to prepare himself for coronation on the next day. Rama vowed to carry  out his instructions faithfully. On the previous night, matters took a different and unexpected turn. And Dasaratha’s plan fizzled out . Kaikey’s maid servant  named Kooni (which means with ribs bent )  injected   poison in Kaikeyi’s mind  and instigated her to demand  coronation of her son Bharatha  , as fulfillment of  boons given to her by Das told that in his boyhood he  made  fun of her r ugly figure  as boyish prank and Kooni was avenging her feelings against Rama  by instigating Kaikeyi  to punish Rama with excile, quite apart from her devilish nature . This shows that how long one keeps one’s revengeful attitude. It is inimical to mental health to keep vengeance whether one has offended us or not. More often it is our false perception that we have been offended, due to our emotional disturbance that we try to be revengeful.
 Dasaratha loved Kaikeyi too much and could not bear her ill- will. She showed the signs of being upset.  On further enquiry, he came to know that she wanted her son Bharatha to be crowned   in place of Rama and banish Rama from the kingdom to spend 14 years in the forest leading an ascetic life.  . Dasaratha swoon he  tried to persuade Kaikeye to withdraw  her most  unreasonable demands .Dasaratha questioned her  in what way Rama troubled her   to award him  such inhuman punishment .  Dasaratha’s appeal fell on her deaf ears . She stood firm in her demands.    It was a night mare for king Dasaratha   on that night. Hectic preparations for the coronation were in full swing.The whole kingdom was getting spruced up for such a happy occasion. It was dawn; still they found no trace of Dasaratha. While Rama entered their chamber to receive blessings from Kaikeyi his step mother, he  could sense that something untoward had  happened . Dasaratha was motionless and speechless. Kaikeyi told Rama that she would tell him about what his father wanted him to do, as he was so much upset that he was unable to speak.   . Kaikeyi told him all about the promises Dasaratha made to her, that she wanted him not to enthrone Rama, instead enthrone his son Bharatha and that to banish Rama  to forest for 14 years . Kaikeyi wanted to remove Rama from becoming the king forever   . She thought that Rama would not return alive from the forest, as life in the forest could be fraught with danger. Though Rama was shocked to hear   the words of Kaikeye, he quickly reconciled to the situation. He told her that he was very hapy to follow his father’s commands and that he would be still happier to carry those out, if   the command had come directly from his father. Not having second thoughts, he prostrated before his father and told him politely that he considered as his rare privilege to obey and honor his words   and also to satisfy his step- mother Kaikeyi.  He addressed Kaikeyi as mother and told her that he had no interest for kingship, no attachment to royal pleasures and no distaste for leading a simple and hard life in the forest, as it would  only make him dutiful son  and also chasten his conduct .  Dasaratha and even the evil-minded Kaikeyi   were moved by those words.  It is to be seen that Rama had taken the words sportively, as an opportunity to honor his father’s promise   and safe guard his steadfastedness, even when it means   forsaking all princely pleasures and undergoing hardships inherent in forest life. Dsarath’s resoluteness is emphasized here, which is worthy of emulation. Rama’s strong sense of duty and devotion of the son towards his father is evident here, the quality, worth emulating. Rama while briefing his own mother Kausalya told that the command from his father to spend 14 years in the forests in the company of saints was for his spiritual upliftment . Here we find Rama showing highly positive attitude. Ordinary mortals would have seen Dsasaratha’s command as punishment. Similarly life in the forest would have seen as hard and risky and not as means for self- development and spiritual progress. The lesson we have to learn from the way, Rama  perceived the situation is that even in the so-called adversities ,  we should  see something to our advantage  If we perceive that way , we will  not be desperate , when we face adversities , on the other hand, we will see it as challenge and will develop  courage to face it and solve the problem .  Again, Rama, unlike the evil minded Kaikeyi did not feel that living in the forest could prove dangerous to his life. This shows sense of optimism on the part of Rama. What we have to learn from this is that whenever we face a situation, we should be optimistic and not pessimistic.
Kousalya, mother of Rama, being a lady of virtues, though shocked initially, good sense prevailed upon her. She told she would not mind if Rama was not made his successor, but could not bear   Rama’s separation.  .Rama reasoned with her. He told that her first duty was towards her husband, Dasaratha by helping to uphold steadfastness of his words, that his father’s command is for his good, that  frugal life in the forest would enrich his experience, as it happened when he went to hermitage of Viswamitra to protect  his religious rites from demons  and that the 14 years would pass off  in a flash . . No wife should run down her husband. On the other hand she should be proud of her husband, respect him and support him whenever the occasion demands .This is our Indian culture and tradition, compared to other cultures where wives dominate over their husbands.  We know how furious Parvathi was against her own father Daksha, when he mistreated her husband Lord Siva.  Ultimately Kousalya permitted him to go to forest and blessed him for his happy sojourn and safe return to Ayodyha, when Rama prostrated before her. The fact that Rama sought the blessings of his parents and all other elders shows how protective their blessings could be to ward of any risk and assure wellbeing. It shows that god wishes of noble people work wonders. Again, it clearly demonstrates Rama’s love and reverence towards his parents and his humility in general .In today’s individualistic society, we, particularly have to learn these qualities. The saying that more learned a person I, more humble he is . Humility leads to many other qualities like tolerance of differences, accommodation, appreciation of different cultures, receptivity of others views, desire for self-improvement, ability to remain calm without being stressed up and so on.
 we find  Rama’s life in the forest and subsequent development   such as  abduction of sita by Ravana  and killing of many demons including Ravana by Rama, enthronement of Vibishana  and so on are   fulfillment of  divine purposes They symbolize   victory of righteousness  over evils, which comes out as unique lesson  in Ramayana for the humanity to learn .
Kaikeyi loved Rama as her own son till such time her maid misguided her and till she invoked in her mind avariciousness and desire for pomp and glory. The people in the whole kingdom condemned the act of Kaikeyi.  This shows that we should be fair in all our actions, if we want to enjoy good will of the people. Though Kaikeyi at first  appeared to have succeeded in her plot of banishing Rama and sent him to excile , as we would see later she did not win in her plot as Bharatha  refused to be crowned as the king in place of his brother, Rama and that he accepted to rule the kindom only as Regent , till Rama returned after completing his trial .  . This shows that any plan with nefarious motives is bound to fail. .  The great saying  ‘satyameva jayathe ‘ or only truth will triumph ‘ holds good .Even people of virtues commit vices some times when they  are influenced by wicked people , unless they strong sense of integrity . Another value that comes out is that we should wait  with sufficient patience , for our good actions to bear fruits , as Rama had to wait patiently for 14 years to be crowned as king .It is seen that Rama did not seek kingship. It was the other way round , Kingship sought Rama .we need not chase pleasures  if we are pure in heart and act , pleasures whatever is legitimate would  automatically  come to us.  .If we put our efforts sincerely and rightly and, we need not go on knocking at the doors of results .  If we plant and nurture tree , it is bound to yield  fruit , no matter we want the fruits or not .It is also common sense that we cannot reap apple fruit from a mango tree , however hard we try .Efforts are always matched with the results .Once efforts are there  , their fruits  follow invariably and we need not strain our minds being apprehensive  about  the fruits of our actions. Aiming results before  putting required efforts is akin to putting horses behind the cart .Cart does not move forward even an inch , no matter how many horses we  put behind the cart .This is the synchrony between effort and the outcome of the effort . Full thrust in action is what required rather than dissipating one’s energy, by being preoccupied with apprehensions of what would be the outcome of one’s actions.
Dasaratha was chocked for words to tell Rama that Rama should leave for forest. Rama, to be away for such a long time   was unthinkable to Dasaratha, that again when every preparation was complete for his coronation on the next day. . At the same time he being a man of words could not deny Kaikeyi’s demands. He was torn between the horns of the dilemma. He was also not sure what would be his son’s reactions. It was Kaikeyi who revealed to Rama what message, Dasaratha had for his son.  We find people collapse, when they suddenly hear the death of their close relatives. There was no such effect on Rama.  We too should develop mental strength to hear even the worst.   Rama’s total acceptance of the situation and that again, viewing it as positive and encouraging gave him courage to accept the wishes of his father. In contrast, our tendency is to perceive any situation that presents before us as threatening to us, irrespective of whether it is an opportunity, neutral or threatening. Here is a case where any ordinary person would have perceived as affecting his interest, Rama saw the advantages that could accrue from forest life than the disadvantages associated with it. He saw brighter side rather than the darker side of a problem. It is our attitude towards outside situations. Something which a idler  sees as a problem , a hard working man would see it as opportunity .So if we see even apparently an intractable problem  if we feel we can,  ,the solution opens its door automatically .On the other hand  if we start with the feeling that ‘we cannot’ rather than ‘we can ‘ even minor problem might look gigantic  This optimistic attitude which   President Obama feels is the  national culture  and that  would change the destiny of the nation to  be the world leader  (  see the book : The Greatest Speeches of Barack Obama edited by Harrison &Gilbert ,Published by Jaico in 2009 ).Instead of brooding over the feeling that the problem could be difficult , if  we search within ourselves the capacities, we have or hidden within us  ,we will be  in  advantage . This is what Hanuman did when he faced the problem of crossing the ocean to reach the shores of Lanka. Though for a moment he  was apprehensive about the possibility of crossing over the  vast the ocean , he immediately realized  his potentials , which he had compressed with him  , deployed it and could cross over the ocean at ease Hanuman was not the person who tom- tommed his skills or a self assuming or pretentious person or  in the modern terminology what we call a snob. He displayed his skills when occasion demanded it. We too should be like that. We  should  not tom tom our greatness. What we should do is to prove our worth and skills when occasion demands and that will carry our name .In other words we should not be pretentious and should be man of proper actions, not merely man of empty words.
Keeping one’s words is one of the cardinal moral principles, which is spoken off highly in all our ancient texts of wisdom. Dasaratha reconciled to the situation and got Rama ready to leave for forest. Rama prostrated before his father, his mother and those of step mothers for their blessings for successfully completing his exile. Prostrating before scholars and elders for their blessings and good wishes is a typical age old Indian custom. Perhaps in no other country, we find this custom being followed. Good wishes from our benefactors are expected to carry us through difficulties and make our journey smooth .When we prostrate, we become humble. When the elders wish them well, they tend to be encouraged, inspired and motivated.     Humility as opposed to vanity helps to make good use of our personal resources. Of late this custom has almost vanished. Youngsters aping other individualistic culture show less and less respect towards scholarly people and elders,  as they feel   below their dignity to bow  before them .  They feel so because they   do not understand intrinsic and psychical value of the act of prostration. This practice is to be revived in modern times.
 It is to be noted that Rama not only, did not entertain any ill-will against his step mother Kaikeyi who brought him this fate, on the other hand, he respected her as her own mother and also as before. It shows that his magnanimity or broad mindedness. People become parochial in their attitudes based on caste, class, ethnic and other differences and develop prejudice and hatred. Here the lesson for us to learn is that we should not be revengeful   nor should we entertain ill- will   even towards those who harm us .This is very difficult unless one is generous and broad- minded. we often mistake others for the slightest reason  ,  nurture prejudice  and even  do harm to them  if we can , if we are displeased with them,  for which even if we ourselves are to be blamed.  Jesus Christ said ‘love your neighbor as yourself ‘   similar expression could be ‘love your enemies as your friends ‘Of course, it is not impossible to love our enemies, if we put sincere efforts. If we do that we would be nearing Gods. When we return love for hatred   , they return love.  though sometimes it might take some time.   . They would cease their animosity and most often return us their love. If on the other hand aggression is met with counter aggression and it can even lead to physical violence.

 (To be Continued)