Ramayana, in today’s times, holds very little relevance and I’ll explain that afterwards. Ramayana reminds me of two things . Two unusual things – Mahatama Gandhi and the BJP.
The father of the nation died dreaming of an ideal state – the Ram Raj where all sections of society would be given the same privileges. And where all religions would be tolerant. But do we have the India he dreamed of? Of course not. We have all the examples that we need – gujarat riots, maharashtra riots, orissa riots, babri masjid, malegaon, train blasts – if one is outside the house then one is not sure to return. And do I believe my eyes and my ears when a major political party like the BJP supports hindu extremist organizations like the RSS, VHP and the Bajrangdal. And when the same party promises a Ram Raj to us.
Ram and the Ramayana have merely been reduced to literature which is why in the beginning I said that Ramayana holds little relevance today. But that sounds pessimistic, right?
You see its so easy to be an optimist and to have sophisticated intellect and discuss high sounding matters while sitting in the comfort of our homes. To be an optimist is a great virtue but at the same time one must remain realistic too. Like Sri Ram himself who was optimistic of winning his wife back but at the same time he did not go empty hands to fight the great king Ravana.
So let’s be practical. Ramayana is of little importance in today’s times but this is the very reason that we must strive to follow it. We only give importance to something when we lack it. It is high time that we realize the fact that we so much lack the Rama values and let it be the motivation to study Valmiki’s Ramayana.