Aranya Kanda
Analysis
The tradition is very elaborate. But what we need is to recognize the real truth hidden inside it. So many chapters have been filled with Ram’s lament, Ram’s anger—there’s such detailed description. After Sita’s abduction, we first looked at Ram’s lament last Sunday. Today we read about his anger. It’s astonishing to read—and also feels a bit odd. Why does it feel odd?
Can Ram lament? Can Ram get angry—feel wrath? Today we read how fiercely he flared up at everyone. Which Ram are we talking about? The one who, knowing and recognizing his true nature—the Self—has become established in it. Because to understand the essence of the story here, we must briefly understand Ram, Sita, and Lakshman. Only then will we grasp the deep point hidden within. So who is Ram?
Ram is the one who knows his real nature—the Self—and abides in it. Ram is the one who uses his body like an instrument. Ram is the one who drives the chariot of his body in the direction he chooses. We’re asking: what does “Ram” point toward? Based on the traits we keep seeing in the Ramayana, we understand: who is Ram?
Ram is the one who steers the chariot of his body toward his chosen goal; the one who becomes the maker and leader of his every thought; Ram is the one endowed with countless virtues; the one with a noble personality. In short, Ram is the one established in Self-knowledge. In other words, “Ram” here points to a person who is Self-abiding—what is such a person like?
If Ram is lamenting and angry, then who is Ram? We must know this first. Ram is the one with these qualities—in short, the person who is established in Self-knowledge.
Sita—meaning, the pure thinking of such a Self-abiding person—has been called his wife in the story. That “pure thinking,” the purity of thought itself, is Sita. In ancient literature the “wife” is a symbol of “Shakti”—power. Therefore Sita—the pure thought—is Ram’s greatest power. We usually hold a deep belief that Ram is God and Sita is his wife; we worship Ram–Sita. But what are “Ram” and “Sita”?
From the very beginning as we read the Ramayana, the hidden essence behind it is this: “Ram” points to a Self-abiding person, and “Sita” to that person’s power—the power of pure thinking. The Self-abiding person’s pure thinking is indeed his greatest strength. Why?
Because pure thought alone makes speech pure. If the thinking is pure, only then does speech become pure. If the thinking is pure, conduct too becomes pure. So from a Self-abiding person’s pure thought, both speech and conduct—behavior and action—are pure. So that’s “Who is Ram?” and “Who is Sita?”
Now, when one of our own inner defects rises up—our hidden impurities are all lying inside—and snatches away our purity, then it is natural for “Ram,” the Self-abiding person, to be pained. We must keep remembering: the Self-abiding person’s pure stream—his pure thinking—is his greatest power. If that very power is abducted from within, for whatever reason—for some inner defect, as we’ll see—then it’s natural for that Self-abiding person, that Ram, to be sorrowful. The story presents this as Ram’s lament; last Sunday we tried to understand why he laments—because the Self-abiding person’s pure thinking has been abducted.
Now today’s reading moves to Ram’s anger—his rage, fury—described at length. Through this anger, the story points to another deep truth. What is it?
If today’s episode had not been there, we could never have understood the deep hint hidden within it. Because this is an inner journey—the entire Ram-katha is the inner journey of the Self-abiding person: what happens inside, when, and how.
Through the story we can try to understand this inner journey: as the Self-abiding person walks the path, what difficulties arise, what troubles come, and how he faces them. This episode too signals a deep point: without the story we would miss it. Ram’s anger seems aimed at the whole of “nature.” We just read—at the river Mandakini, at the river Godavari: “Tell me, where is Sita?” Then at a mountain—Prasravana by name—he asks, “Where is my Sita?” He asks caves and caverns, “Where is my Sita?” So Ram’s anger appears to be toward all of nature—rivers, mountains, caves, birds, animals.
But this “nature” is not outer nature. Reading it, it seems “outside”: external rivers, mountains, deer, birds, beasts. In truth, this “nature” is not outside—it is our own nature within. What does “prakriti” (nature) mean?
It means this body. Yes—this body itself is called “prakriti.” We have three bodies: gross, subtle, causal—called nature. So Ram’s anger is not at outer nature. The deep point is: Ram is angry with his own nature—his gross, subtle, and causal bodies. We can also say: Ram’s anger is directed at the senses, at our own mind, our own intellect and insight, our own thoughts, feelings, and tendencies. So that entire elaborate description in one whole chapter signals this: when the Self-abiding person’s pure thinking is abducted by his own defect, it is natural for him to be angry. And at whom does he get angry?
He gets angry at his own nature—his own senses, his own mind, his own intellect—not at anything outside. The Self-abiding person—here called “Ram”—never blames or rages at some external person or thing. Blaming the outside—that’s what ordinary people do. When a barrier comes, we instantly say, “They’re wrong, that thing is wrong,” and we flare up at people and objects outside. But the Self-abiding person—“Ram”—never blames or rages outwardly. Why? Because he is turned inward. In any situation, he looks within. The inward-turned always look within, not outside.
So Ram—the Self-abiding person—always looks within. What’s described here is really a personification of the Self-abiding person’s own inner personality. Which chapter is this? The sixty-sixth. The wrath Ram shows there—at mountains, rivers, deer, and birds—is actually the personification of his own inner make-up. Otherwise how would we see or understand our own inner landscape?
Which “mountains” lie within? The story says “mountains”—Ram asks them. Inside the Self-abiding person stand high mountains of resolve, acceptance, and surrender. In symbolic language: those lofty resolves, that capacity to accept, that power to surrender—these are the mountains within. And there are rivers within him too—rivers of faith, service, compassion, kindness, and peace flowing through that personality. The story names two rivers—Mandakini and Godavari—to signal that when the Self-abiding person looks within, there are mountains of resolve, rivers of virtue, and within his personality fly the birds of noble thoughts. Inside are also caverns of knowledge—caves of insight. Ram searches even in caves—those are the inner caves of wisdom.
So all those “outer nature” elements are not outer at all—they’re the Self-abiding person’s own inner nature. When anger arises in such a person, it is anger toward his own nature. Why is he angry?
Because even with all those inner strengths present, his pure thinking has still been abducted. If within me there is contentment, love, compassion, kindness—so many virtues—yet my purity gets snatched away, that is a grave matter. Hence Ram is angry—with his own nature.
So his grief and his anger are described at length in the sixty-fourth canto. In this episode, the story signals: yes, there is Ram’s lament and anger for Sita. We may wonder, “Even an ordinary person might not rage or lament like this—how could Ram?” The message is: the description is correct. It is meant to show that when a Self-abiding person’s pure thought is abducted by his own defect, he does not blame the world—he questions his own nature: “With all of you virtues present, how was my purity stolen?” That’s why the anger that feels surprising is not surprising at all—it is natural. If we set aside “Ram” for a moment—if our own defect steals our purity, we too feel anger: “I’ve practiced for so long, stayed in satsang, listened to the good, read the good—and today I myself lost my purity!” An ordinary person feels this; the Self-abiding person surely will. So Ram’s lament and anger are natural—not odd.
That’s one side of the story. There’s a second important truth hidden here. A Self-abiding person does not remain sunk in grief or anger alone. He is also the maker and regulator of every one of his thoughts. In the Ram-katha this is portrayed as the character “Lakshman.” While Ram laments and flares up, suddenly across two chapters Lakshman appears and starts advising Ram. Really, we think Ram should advise Lakshman! But here Lakshman instructs Ram. What does this signal?
It signals that the Self-abiding person is the maker and governor of his thoughts—and that “maker-governor” is what the Ram-katha calls “Lakshman.” Lakshman is not just a person. When Ram was born, three other sons were also born—Lakshman, Shatrughna, and Bharat. The import is: the moment we stand in Self-knowledge—recognize “I am the conscious Self, not the body”—we become the makers of our thoughts. We see: “I myself am creating each thought within. No one else is doing it.” I, the conscious Self, create each thought, and I regulate them. That is Lakshman’s “appearance.”
So when Lakshman now counsels Ram, it signals that because the Self-abiding person is the creator-regulator of his thoughts, he swiftly receives inner direction: “Drop the grief; drop the anger. Don’t even keep blaming your nature. Do what? Investigate within: which element living inside me abducted my pure thinking—my Sita?”
Lakshman says, “Calm down, brother. Leave this anger. Now look for the solution.” The hint is: the Self-abiding person receives the directive from within—“Let go of grief and anger; now find what, inside me, carried off my purity.” As the story moves, the vulture Jatayu appears. This signals that when the Self-abiding person decides, “I will find which inner defect stole my purity,” then an old, inner force—called Jatayu—rises to guide him. We discussed “the elder force” earlier: a power in our own mind that longs to protect purity. When our pure thinking is threatened, this inner force wants to save it. That force lives within us; here it’s called the vulture-king Jatayu.
Once the Self-abiding person realizes that grief and anger won’t help and resolves to find the culprit, this inner “vulture-force” directs him precisely in time: “The culprit is nothing outside. In the deep mind your own body-identification (deh-abhiman) lies. That very body-pride, as a samskara, rises up and abducts your pure thinking.” Jatayu saying “Ravana went south with Sita” really means: your inner guide points you inward—no outer person or thing; deep in your mind lies body-identification. That samskara surfaces and steals your purity. So where must you work?
On your own body-identification. Track it down, approach it, and destroy it. Ram caring for the aged Jatayu—embracing him, asking him questions, all that long description—signals that our inner guiding force gives timely direction about what to do.
What’s the essence, then? We have one prime task: keep striving to be Self-abiding. And even after standing in Self-knowledge, the work isn’t over. Ram—though “Ram”—still had to wander the forest and do many things before the coronation came. The signal is: first, become established in Self-knowledge. Then many crises will come—not from outside, but from the Ravana of body-identification lying in the depths of our own subconscious. Therefore the chief work, after Self-knowledge, is to destroy that Ravana-like body-identification in the subconscious. Destruction will take time. Before that, the defects sent by that body-pride rise to the surface of the conscious mind and trouble even the Self-abiding person—bringing sorrow and difficulty—and abduct his pure thinking.
So: the Self-abiding person’s greatest power is pure thinking; and the thieves who abduct it are his own inner defects. As we grow in understanding, the habit of blaming the world drops away completely. These deep hints are given through the stories. Ram’s anger is not pointless. It may seem strange—“How can Ram lament or rage? Is he worse than an ordinary person?”—but the description is exactly right, meant to teach us something deeper.
That’s the essence hidden in today’s episode.