Garuda’s Doubt
(3 Min Read)
Readers’ Response
After reading my blog – Rama: The
Perfect Man, a few readers were aggrieved that the numerous noble qualities
of Rama had been highlighted while omitting his ‘unfair’ treatment of the pure
and blameless Sita. In response to my second blog on Valmiki Ramayana – Sita’s
Anguish, a few readers observed that it was ‘unfair’ and even churlish to find
fault with Rama, Vishu-incarnate and Maryada Purushottam, based only on agni
pariksha, and not on his conduct in the entire epic story. Some readers further
counselled that God cannot be realised by entertaining doubt, but only through devotion
based on shraddha and total surrender (mAmekam sharAnam vraja, Bhagavat Gita).
I respect the comments of my readers, and
agree that humans with limited intelligence can never comprehend the mysterious
ways of God, especially when He is engaged in leela or playful sport. At the
risk of repetition, I reiterate that I had made no attempt whatsoever in my
blogs to ‘judge’ Rama; but merely shared my understanding of Valmiki Ramayana’s
specific text referred to in those blogs. I further concede that my
understanding may be incomplete, inadequate, and even entirely flawed. I hope
to learn more in the coming months and years.
Is ’doubt’ a sin?
Even Garuda, Vishnu’s personal mount,
and very knowledgeable about his Lord and Master, once suffered from doubt, and
got it resolved. Brahma, too, had entertained doubt, and was indulged by
Krishna to learn his lesson in due course. Neither Garuda nor Brahma was vilified
for nurturing and expressing doubt.
Our scriptures are not intolerant of
doubt, and do not frown upon questioning as the following stories illustrate.
Garuda and Kakabhusundi
In the Lanka war, Indrajit released
his special weapon which swiftly bound down and immobilised Rama with nagapasha.
Beseeched by Narada, Garuda, the devourer of snakes swiftly cut the knots and released
Rama. But Garuda was very dejected - उपजा हृदयँ प्रचंड
बिषादा।। [7-57-2] (Ramacaritamanasa by Gosvami
Tulasidasa).
He nurtured a doubt – how can Rama,
the incarnation of Vishnu, be bound down by a mere rakshasa’s weapon? Is Rama
really Vishnu?
सो अवतार सुनेउँ जग माहीं। देखेउँ सो प्रभाव कछु
नाहीं।। [7-57-4]
I have heard that Rama is Vishnu’s
avatar, but I do not see in him any of Vishnu’s wondrous prowess. Bothered by
this doubt, he went to Narada who sent him to Brahma who sent him to Siva who
sent him to Kakabhusundi, the wise crow who held regular discourses on
Ramacarita. Kakabhusundi’s satsang katha dispelled all doubts from Garuda’s
mind (gayau mor sandeha suneun sakala Raghupati carita).
(Image Credit: Wikicommons: Garuda at Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangapatana.)
Brahma doubts Krishna
In a similar story in Srimad Bhagavata
Purana, Brahma doubted the capabilities of Krishna, the Bala Gopala, and ran a
test to reassure himself. He stole all the calves of Gopa along with the gopala
boys, and kept them hostage in the nether world for a full year. Krishna was
not angry with Brahma, and did not call him a nitwit. He simply created an
exact replica for all the lives that Brahma held hostage, and no one including
the mothers of the missing children could unravel the maya or leela. Brahma’s
doubts were eventually dispelled.
God’s lack of self-knowledge
Even God Himself, during his human avatar,
may lack self-knowledge, as Valmiki Ramayana mentions in Yuddha Kanda, Sarga
105 .
Brahma and Rama
After Sita’s agni pariksha, Brahma accompanied
by all the major gods appears before Rama and gently chides him for abandoning
the pure and chaste Sita -
[5—8] “How can you, the creator of the
entire universe, the most ancient one, and foremost among those possessing supreme
knowledge, stand by and watch as Sita falls into the fire, eater of oblations?
How can you not realize that you are the foremost among the hosts of the gods?”
Rama says:
[9-10] “I think of myself only as a man,
Rama, the son of Dasaratha. May the Blessed Lord please tell me who I really
am, to whom I belong, and why I am here.”
Brahma reveals:
[24—28] “ … Sita is Laksmi; you are
the god Visnu. You are Krsna. You are Prajapati, the lord of creatures. It was
in order to slay Ravana that you entered a human body here.”
Note: Credit for quotes in this
section may be seen at ‘Acknowledgement’ below.
Ramacarita is unfathomable
Siva tells
Girija: Rama’s story is limitless and unfathomable. Even Shruti and Sharada
fail to narrate His entire story.
राम चरित सत कोटि अपारा। श्रुति सारदा न बरनै पारा।। [7-51-1]
How can a blogger hope to narrate Ramayana in one or more blogs?
***
Acknowledgements:
All the quotes under heading ‘Brahma and Rama’ are from –
The
Ramayana of Valmiki, The Complete English Translation of the Critical Edition, by Robert P. Goldman,
Sally J. Sutherland Goldman, Rosalind Lefeber, Sheldon I. Pollock, and Barend
A. van Nooten;
Yuddha Kanda, Sarga-105. The bracket
at beginning of the quote provides the shloka numbers.
This translation is available at the
following link:
2. Garuda and Kakabhusundi story:
***
Books by
the Author
P.K. Dash has published the
following books:
Short story collections:
Tell A Tale and Other Stories
Invisible Poet and Other Stories
The Mysterious Ladies and Other
Stories
Fiction
Kathapur Tales
Essays
Pink Diamond and Other Essays
Self-Help
How To Be an Author in 7 Days: A
Beginner’s Guide to Self- Publishing
Story books for children:
Cave of Joy: Anand Gufa
Two Tales, Three Tellers: A
Fairytale & A Fable
Poetry
RIVER SONG and Other Poems
Songs of Soil: Selected Poems of
an Unschooled Bard: Padma Shri Haladhar Nag
O Krishna, O Son! Yashoda’s Sublime Song of
Sorrow
***
Note: Print copies of these books,
except Pink Diamond and Other Essays, are available at amazon.in,
notionpress.com, and flipkart.com. Ebooks are available at Amazon Kindle.
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