Some Context and 16 Qualities of An Ideal Man

              As promised, I am starting the new blog on the lessons everyone can learn from the Ramayana – the story of Lord Rama. This is to mark the occasion of my most memorable trip to the U.S. where I landed on the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami. The blog will have posts, which are drawn from the verses of Ramayana. This will be a journey of learning to me as well as I will share what I learn from the sacred texts. I am no sage nor an authority to tell anything about Ramayana. I will just reproduce the content which is already available on this subject and dissipate in this medium. As mentioned, this will be a learning and enriching exercise to me and everyone.

            There are few reasons why we must turn to the ancient scriptures at this point of time. The world is going through very difficult times and we need a hope to cling to. There is covid which is rampant throughout and now a bloody war in the northern hemisphere. No one knows the reasons behind this suffering and gloom. There is no better use of time at this point than to learn about the story of Rama who is synonymous with the ocean of pleasure and beauty. The darshan of Rama brings pleasure to the eyes and listening to the story of Him restore dharma, peace and righteousness in the world. There is a need to learn about the beautiful story of Rama and many ideals to live by. It brings real pleasure and happiness to the people and can offset the ills which are rampant in the present world. I cannot process the turbulence in my inner and outer world, over the past few years, which I had shared in this medium and need a soothing avenue to turn towards.

            The story and ideals of Rama are the blind faith to the crores of Indians. The Indians are built on this faith and this exposition is the contribution of India to the world. I had taken a lot from the U.S. over the past many years and this is my little chance to give them back - the pearls of wisdom enshrined in Ramayana. I am making this little effort to bring awareness and with a hope that these will also be put into practice. The first step to change is awareness, second is internalizing it with consciousness, third is building our personality based on this consciousness, fourth is putting the learning into practice. These are the steps in building an idealistic personality, better individuals, better society and a better world.  There is no better ideal than Rama and let us learn his story, build his consciousness and put them into practice. Let us start on this note, the effort to build the awareness of Rama and his story. As mentioned, there is a need and relevance of these in the modern world to overcome the many problems of present times. This is the context to begin this exercise.

             The Ramayana is a Sanskrit epic from ancient India. It is one of the two itihasas – the other being Mahabharata. Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses divided into 7 kandas or books. The name ‘Ramayana’ - Rama and ayana means the ‘journey of Rama’. The historical epic is written by the sage Valmiki which is also known as ‘Adi kavya’ or original epic based on the story which has truly happened. The Epic is traditionally divided into several major kandas or books, that deal chronologically with the major events in the life of Rama—Bala Kaanda, Ayodhya Kaanda, Aranya Kaanda, Kishkindhaa Kaanda, Sundara Kaanda, Yuddha Kaanda, and Uttara Kaanda.

             The Ramayana starts with the search for an ideal person with 16 qualities. The sage Valmiki is struck with a question to sage Narada, “Is there any man in this world who is virtuous, pious, ever truthful and tenacious? Is there anyone who wishes well of all living creatures and who is also a hero and a scholar? Such a man should be free from jealousy and be a man of invincible valor. He should be the most handsome among mankind. If there is such a man, please let me know.” It was during this time that Valmiki queried Narada if he knew someone who is currently alive and has all the 16 virtuous qualities that a man can possess. The 16 qualities being:

Gunavan = endowed with all good principles and qualities

Viryavan = very powerful

Dharmajnaḥ = aware of the righteousness and dharmas

Krtajnaḥ = who is filled with gratitude

Satya vakyo = truthful in his statements

Dhrudha vrataḥ = self-determined in his vow

Charitrena ca ko yuktaḥ = good-conduct

Sarva bhutesu ko hitah = benefactor of all living beings

Vidvan = learned and expert man

Samarthah = competent

priya darsanah = uniquely good-looking and charming

Atmavan = self-restrained

Jita krodho = one who has controlled his anger

Dyutiman = is endowed with splendour

Anasuyakaḥ = who is free from envy

Kasya bibhyati devah ca jata rosasya samyuge = whom even the gods fear, when provoked to war

             In response to the question, if there is a person with these 16 qualities, Narada muni describes the ideal person – Lord Ramachandra who has these 16 qualities and more than 60 additional qualities in a series of verses. This is the Sankshepa Ramayana or a short version of Ramayana as revealed by Rishi Narada. The first ‘sarga’ or canto of Ramayana written by Valmiki contains one hundred shlokas. These contain a concise account of the Ramayana narrated by Narada. Valmiki converts 32 shlokas narrated by Narada into 24000 shlokas detailed epic. This is the beginning of Ramayana – to know about the ideal person - Ramachandra who is possessor of good qualities and what follows is how he lives by them and exhibits those qualities in several turns of his life journey. As a learning from this post, let us contemplate on these 16 qualities, bring into consciousness, put into practice and build our personality. Let us learn many additional qualities as well in the next post, the life story of Ramachandra subsequently and know what it offers for all of us.