RAMAYANA FOR CHILDREN
AYODHYAKANADA
CHAPTER 21 PART SIX
Rama continued to talk. “A wife secures to her husband wealth. She helps him to achieve three Aims of Life. These are the means to attain the happiness born of Dharma. In other words, do your duty to the best of your ability. And you are master of the above means. Take my word for it. This is utter truth and beyond all doubts. There are Three Purusharthas. Time and energy should be applied to everything that leads to them. Engage yourself in that which will secure Dharma all the times. You should not seek wealth at any cost. The world hates such a person. We should not devote ourselves solely to the pursuit of pleasure. Let us decide what my duty is now. The king is my Guru. I learnt from him the art of War and the science of Polity. He is my monarch. I live in peace and happiness under his shadow. He is my father. He brought me into the world. I should respect his great age and ripe experience. If such a man commands me to do anything, I should implicitly obey. He knows the mysteries of Dharma. I always seek to do what my father says.
“He is my lord and of my mother too. He is the highest goal of her aspirations. He will lead his wife, my mother, to the worlds of the Blessed. He is ruling over this vast empire for long. He has ruled this kingdom more righteously than his predecessors. It is not just for my mother to come with me. You are not an ordinary woman. You are not helpless and friendless. You are not a widow needing protection. Mother, I go to the forest. I pray give me leave. Engage in auspicious rites. That will safely see us return to your side. King Yayati was banished from heaven. But he was unshaken in the path of Truth. Thus he was restored to heaven. I shall come back to you safely at the end of fourteen years. I will never sacrifice my fame for the sake of kingly rule and power. Our life on the earth is like a flash of lightning in the dark. I shall not stain my hands with the crime. I do not desire to be the lord of the earth.”
Thus Rama consoled his weeping mother. And he was resolved to go to the forests of Dandaka. He explained to Lakshmana the course of action he was to adopt. And Rama prepared himself to get his mother’s leave to depart. He was ready to go round his mother in salutation.
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