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Sita And Sharanagathi

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by jayasala42, Apr 1, 2020.

  1. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

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    Born and brought up in Srirangam, we had opportunity to listen to the great upanyasams and lectures on Ramayana, Vaishnavism and Sharanagathi thathvam, the essence of vaishnavism.

    Lord Rama is well known as 'Sharanagatha vathsalan'-one who protects the person who surrenders to him.Sita matha never falls short of him.Here is a story in Ramayana.

    After the slaying of Ravana, Hanuman meets Sita and seeks her permission to kill the Rakshasis in the Asoka Vana who hurt and abused Sita earlier. Sita convinces Hanuman not to do so through a story.

    The Tiger, Bear and Hunter
    A hunter during his rounds in the forest accosted unfortunately a ferocious tiger, who is not known for kindness or nonviolence! Obviously, the tiger badly needed its dinner and was determined to make a mince-meat of the hunter. The man ran in fright, and the only thought he had then was to somehow survive! He ran and ran, almost falling dead by fatigue. As luck (for him) would have it, he found a huge tree and started climbing.
    The tiger was not to be left behind and the hunter barely managed to climb finding a big branch as refuge. The tiger, no doubt ,was very disappointed in missing its prey by a hair's breath-so to say! It persisted and did not leave the tree. Watchful, hungry and angry, it came round and round the tree-fretting, fuming and cursing. It threatened the man, vowing to get him the moment he came down. The hunter ,exhausted that he was, clung to the branches . Soon, he heard a kind(but gruff) voice imploring him to rest without fear. There it was, a big Bear seated comfortably on the branch. He was scared to his bones but the bear assured him that he was its guest and have no fear!
    Very soon, the hunter was sound asleep on the fur-body of his bear-host! The tiger, waiting on the ground, seized this as its moment of triumph and pleaded with the bear: ''My dear friend, don’t you realise that we are both animals. The human being is our common enemy and hunts us relentlessly. It's but fair that we join together and get rid of this menace! All that you need to do is to push him down. I'll take care of the rest. He's my dinner, you are my friend and, in future too, you need not fear from me! Please understand, be wise and give the sleeping man to me!''

    But the bear said: “My dear friend, you are wrong. It's not Dharma to refuse a life who had sought refuge in you, Whoever he might be. Even an enemy cannot be abandoned if he surrenders to you. I cannot oblige you. It's best you leave us in peace and search for some other prey! The tiger was angry and muttered ''You fool, you fool'' but continued its vigil on the ground.

    Time passed and the man woke up rested and free from fear that gripped him earlier. The bear was tired too and started to sleep while the man kept awake. The tiger, persistent in its attempts to get the better of the two, found now a new opportunity. It called the man and implored: “My dear friend, I'm no enemy of yours nor a friend of bear. All I need is my dinner. If you provide me that, I shall go home and you are free too.” The man was surprised and asked how he can help tiger! The clever tiger said:

    ''All you need to do is to give a slight nudge to the sleeping bear. I shall have him for my dinner. After all, he is your enemy too, in a bad mood! Better protect yourself and push him down. The ungrateful hunter indeed did so in a selfish manner but the alert bear caught another branch and perched itself safely from the tiger! The tiger -true to the adage ''Never say die'' -now turned to the bear and pleaded again; Did I not warn how ungrateful human beings are? At least now, listen to me, teach the man a lesson by pushing him down!''

    The bear refused, saying that you don’t do things that are wrong, just because others do such things. You stick to what you know as Dharma, come what may! Thus admonished and tired of waiting, the tiger at last had to leave without his prey! Thus a man was saved by a bear who stood by Dharma..
    While Rama protected those who surrendered to him, Sita excelled him in offering protection to those who harmed her.

    jayasala42
     
    Srama, sindmani, Viswamitra and 3 others like this.
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  2. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Smt. Jayasala:

    What a timing this is to publish this story from Ramayana. The price that the human race is paying now is the virus that has been friendly to the animals, man has been eating for years. Hopefully, the human race learns the lesson and remain healthy for the rest of their lives by understanding our immune system has lesser capabilities than some of the animals.
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2020

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