Ram, Lakshman, and Sita - what do they symbolise?

Question

Ram is said to be the symbol of Self-knowledge, right? We must always remember this — we’re studying the Ramayana, and it’s a long journey. Ram represents Self-knowledge, and Ravana represents ego. Then what does Lakshman represent? Lakshman represents thought power, the power of discrimination within us. When we become established in our true Self, a certain quality naturally develops within — the awareness that I myself am the creator of all my thoughts. But right now, when we’re not established in Self-knowledge, we never think like that. Whenever something happens, we keep blaming others — “Because of him, I did this wrong thing.” We never realize that the thought to act came from within us — I myself created that thought. So Lakshman symbolizes the power of thought, the constant inner awareness that recognizes every idea arising within.

Now, a person established in Self-knowledge always has this thought power awake — it never sleeps. Remember, when we read the story of Nishad Raj and Guru, we saw that Lakshman never sleeps; the text even says he remained awake all night. Why is it said he doesn’t sleep? Because when we are established in our real nature, our Self, our thought power stays awake every moment — it never dozes off. The moment any impurity or distortion arises in the mind, this awakened thought power immediately catches it.

Then the question comes: if Maricha represents moh (delusion), couldn’t Lakshman—our thought power—have destroyed him? Why didn’t thought power (Lakshman) go instead of Ram to kill Maricha?

Answer

Because thought power (vichar-shakti) is a quality, not the doer. When we are established in Self-knowledge, the “I” that acts is the consciousness itself — not the body. Whatever is to be done, that conscious “I” (the Self) does it. Whether good or bad, it is I, the awareness, that acts. But our current sense of “I” is tied to the body. When we say, “I eat,” immediately a picture of the body appears — that “I” is the body.

The Self-knowledge of Ram means seeing oneself not as the body but as consciousness, as the Self, and remaining in that awareness. So whatever is done, is done by Ram—that conscious awareness.

Now, Lakshman (thought power) said, “This seems deceptive. This deer is false; it isn’t real.” That means our inner discriminating thought recognized the deceit, saw that something was wrong. So why didn’t Lakshman destroy it then and there? Because before the intellect could act, Sita—our thinking—was already captivated. Our pure thought had already fallen into moh. She had already said, “I want that deer. It’s so beautiful!” and gone on describing its golden color, its graceful movements.

So by the time thought power (Lakshman) recognized the deceit, our thinking (Sita) had already become entangled. The mind was already enchanted by the illusion, and that is why the intellect could not act.