श्री राम जय राम जय जय राम॥
Shri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram॥
The Ramayan is a story about the life of Lord Ram.
King Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya, had three wives and four sons. Ram was the eldest. His mother was Queen Kaushalya. Bharat was the second eldest and he was the son of Queen Kaikeyi. Then there were the twins Laxman and Shatrughna who were the sons of Queen Sumitra.
They all lived very happily until it was nearly time for Ram to be crowned king. Queen Kaikeyi wanted her son Bharat to be the king. Kaikeyi was King Dasharatha’s favourite queen and so was given the most importance. However, she feared that if Ram became king, Queen Kaushalya would become more important and more powerful than her. This was distressing Queen Kaikeyi.
She had a loyal maid called Manthara. One day Manthara seeing her queen very sad and quiet asked her, “Why, my queen, are you so dispirited? What is it that is bothering you?”
Queen Kaikeyi was relieved to find someone to share her woes with. Knowing that her faithful maid Manthara would never reveal to anyone what was shared with her, the queen sighed and said, “I am downhearted because once Ram is crowned king, my son and I will no longer have any importance here in Ayodhya. With her son on the throne, Kaushalya will be the most powerful of all the queens. Until now I have been the most favoured queen. With Ram as king everything will change. It will be Queen Kaushalya who will have the king’s ear. No-one will bother about me or my dear son Bharat. We will have to remain in the shadows of Ram and Kaushalya. I had always dreamed that my son Bharat would one day be king. But now, sadly, there is no chance of that happening.”
Manthara was a very shrewd woman and after a bit of thought she found the perfect solution for her beloved queen. She said, “Remember, dear queen, how you once saved the king’s life during a very difficult battle?”
Queen Kaikeyi immediately recalled the tough battle that her husband had fought against the strong asuras (demons). She had accompanied the king to battle. It had been such a difficult fight that King Dasharatha almost lost his life during the battle . A spoke from the king’s chariot wheel had broken and with the chariot immobile the enemy could have killed the king. Kaikeyi had instantly had put her finger in place of the spoke and driven the chariot. She had thus saved her husband’s life.”
“Yes.” The queen replied to Manthara,”How can I forget that terrible battle against the demon Sambhasura.”
“But,” said Manthara, “You seem to have forgotten that the king, because you saved his life and helped him win the battle, granted you three boons. You never did claim those boons from him. It is now time for you to do so. For the first boon ask that your son Bharat be made king. For the second wish ask that Ram be banished to the forest. And for your last boon ask that Ram remain exiled in the forest for fourteen years. This way Bharat, your son, will become king. In fourteen years Bharat would have established himself on the throne. Thereafter the people will no longer clamour for Ram to be their king. And most important you will remain as the favourite queen. The most powerful too.”
Queen Kaikeyi was delighted to find a solution to her dilemma. Quickly she went to the king and demanded that he grant her her three boons. King Dasharatha having no idea of what she would ask said, “My queen please tell me what you wish. I will be happy to grant whatever your heart desires.”
Immediately the queen asked that her son Bharat be made king. This came as a shock to the old king. However it was when Queen Kaikeyi asked that Ram be banished for fourteen years to the forest that King Dasharatha’s heart broke. He wept and collapsed with sadness. But a king must keep his promise. Determined to uphold his father’s promise, Ram willingly and happily accepted Queen Kaikeyi’s bidding.
When Ram left for the forest his wife Sita and his brother Laxman accompanied him. The three of them lived happily in the forest in a small hut, enjoying the beautiful flora and fauna all around. They ate the ripe fruits and berries that were plentiful in the forest and drank the fresh, clean water of the flowing rivers. They lived a simple life delighting in small pleasures.
Then one day Sita saw a beautiful golden deer in the forest and begged Ram to catch and bring the deer back to her. Ram was reluctant to leave Sita. But as Sita continued to plead with him, to bring her the beautiful deer, Ram agreed to go and find the deer. He left his brother Laxman behind to protect Sita. After a while as Ram had not returned, Sita began to worry. Then she heard a voice calling 'Laxman' and she thought it was Ram calling out for help. Terrified that some harm had befallen Ram, she begged Laxman to go look for his brother. Laxman refused. He did not wish to disobey his elder brother. Sita was most distraught. She continued to beseech him to search for Ram. Seeing Sita so upset and disturbed Laxman finally agreed to go and look for Ram. But before he left he drew a magic circle around the hut and warned Sita not to step out of the circle. Knowing that Sita would be safe within the magic circle Laxman left in search of Ram.
Ram, Laxman and Sita were unaware that the attractive golden deer and the voice calling out 'Laxman' were all tricks of the evil King Ravana. These were all a part of his devious plan to abduct Sita. The minute both Ram and Laxman were away in the forest Ravana, disguised as an old hermit came to the hut asking for food and water. He coaxed Sita into stepping out of Laxman’s magic circle. As long she was within the circle Sita was safe and no-one could harm her. But once she stepped out it was easy for Ravana to drop his disguise, grab her and carry her away with him to to his kingdom -Lanka.
When they got back Ram and Laxman discovered to their horror that Sita was no longer in their hut. They soon found out from their many animal and bird friends in the forest that the evil King Ravana had taken her away with him to Lanka. So Ram and Laxman set off for Lanka determined to bring Sita back safely.
To get to Lanka Lord Ram and Laxman had to walk for many many miles. Then when they reached the southern most tip of the country all that lay ahead of them was the vast blue sea. To cross the expanse of water, Ram and his followers, the vanara (monkey) army needed to build a bridge.
The monkeys led by Lord Hanuman, who was Lord Ram’s most faithful devotee, began the work of building the bridge. The biggest and strongest monkeys were assigned the job of cutting out rocks from the mountain sides. Large boulders of rock would break off and roll down. The other monkeys would carry these boulders on their back all the way to the sea shore. The older monkeys would carry the heavier rock and the younger ones would carry the slightly smaller ones. They would drop these rocks into the sea to build the bridge that would take them across to Lanka.
The work was difficult and very tiring but the monkeys worked hard and without rest because they all loved Ram and Sita so very much. Now while they were working a little squirrel seeing them work so diligently was most impressed. He too loved Ram and wanted to help in some way. But he thought, “I’m too small and far too weak to carry these large rocks. I wish I was stronger. Then I could have helped too and then the bridge would have been made even quicker.”
The tiny squirrel was determined to help Ram. So he started thinking of ways he could help. His little brain started ticking away and he was in deep thought for a while. Then a brilliant idea struck him. “I can’t carry large rocks but there are plenty of pebbles and lots of sand too on the sea shore for me to carry. I can move very fast. I will run up and down quickly and drop pebbles and grains of sand into the sea. This way I will be helping in the construction of the bridge too.”
Then the little grey-brown squirrel chirping with joy rushed off to collect pebbles and sand. Picking them up, he would scamper off and drop them into the water. As he ran up and down his fluffy tail would be held high waving like a victory flag. The little squirrel was ecstatic that he too was now part of Lord Ram’s bridge construction squad.
As he was running up and down in a great hurry he accidentally ran between the legs of a monkey who was bent down with the weight of carrying a large boulder. The monkey nearly tripped over. Putting down the boulder he saw that it was the squirrel that had nearly made him fall. The monkey was most angry and he yelled, “What do you think you are doing, you pesky squirrel? I nearly fell and dropped this boulder because of you.”
The squirrel sat up on his little haunches, still holding the pebble tightly between the paws of his front legs. Then puffing up his chest with pride he answered, “I’m helping Lord Ram to build the bridge that will take him to Lanka to save mother Sita.”
The monkey could not believe what he had just heard. For a moment he looked down in amazement at the itty-bitty little fellow standing there at his feet. Then he began to laugh and laugh and laugh. He laughed so loudly that all the other monkeys gathered around to see what it was that was so funny.
The monkey then pointing at the little squirrel still squatting there with the pebble firmly between his paws said, “ Look at this one. He thinks he can build a bridge with the minuscule pebbles and grains of sand he carries in his hands.” Hearing this, all the other monkeys too began to laugh loudly and mock the poor little squirrel who was now feeling dejected and sad.
The sudden commotion and loud laughter caught Ram’s attention. He walked up to the group of monkeys to find out what was happening. When he saw the little squirrel with the pebble in his paws he was deeply moved. There were little tear drops falling from his large, blue-green eyes. It was obvious that he was hurt at being ridiculed by the monkeys.
Ram’s heart melted as he saw the little creature. He had watched the tiny squirrel running up and down relentlessly working with no breaks and showing no signs of fatigue. Ram was very pleased with the squirrel’s determination, loyalty and love. He called the squirrel to him. The squirrel put down the pebble and ran upto Lord Ram and touched his feet with his tiny soft paws. Then he sat up on his haunches and joined his paws together in prayer to the Lord. Ram bent down to bless him. As the squirrel’s back was so small Ram could not put his whole hand on him. The Lord could only use three of his fingers to bless the squirrel. As Lord Ram’s three fingers went from the top of the squirrel’s head down to its tail, three beautiful, bright, white stripes formed on the grey-brown squirrel’s back. This is how the squirrel got its stripes.
Much to the squirrel’s delight, after blessing him Ram said, “I am sorry that my army laughed at your efforts to help me. I am truly grateful and I thank you for all your help. You have made me so happy by joining in to assist us build this bridge. Please do carry on with the excellent work you are doing.”
Then turning to all the monkeys he said, “Remember no job is too small to do. You will see that this little squirrel’s help will be invaluable.”
And indeed the squirrel’s help was invaluable. The large rocks and boulders did make the bridge strong but there were small spaces between them. The force of the waves could send water rushing through these gaps loosening the rocks and causing the the bridge to collapse. But the tiny pebbles filled these gaps and the sand helped bind them in place. Without the pebbles and sand the sea might have displaced those mighty rocks. So the monkeys did need the squirrel’s help after all. Without the tiny pebbles and grains of sand the bridge would not have been secure enough to carry Lord Ram and his valiant vanara army across to Lanka.
The little squirrel's contribution to building the bridge that day so many thousands of years ago is invaluable to this day too. Sea and river sand is even today acclaimed as the best infill (fillers between rocks) wherever and whenever land is being reclaimed from the sea.
LIFE LESSONS
1. Remember that just because you are physically stronger, larger or older it does not mean that only what you do is most important. The work the squirrel did in building the bridge was as important as the work done by the monkeys.
2. Each one of us is different. We all have our own strengths and weaknesses. The squirrel was not as physically strong as the monkeys but he was very fast on his feet. While the monkeys could carry large rocks they walked slower. The squirrel could quickly do many more rounds than the monkeys.
3. No job is too small to be done. Never look down on any job. Remember it is all the people who do little things for us that allow us to be happy and help us carry on doing what we wish to do. It was the tiny pebbles and the fine grains of sand that helped the mighty rocks of the bridge stick together.
4. Success is in the smaller finer details. Never forget all the small details when you do your work. If it hadn’t been for the pebbles and sand the bridge might have collapsed.
5. Like the squirrel give as much as you can. It does not matter how small or large your contribution. All that matters is that it you gave your best and you gave with love.
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