Episode Seven - Distraction and Truth

Welcome to the seventh episode of The Journey of Rama. If this is your first encounter with The Journey, please read Episode One first.

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On with Episode Seven!

The princes grew as all children grow, slowly and much too fast. The four babies charmed everyone in the palace, and although it might not be fair to say so aloud, Rama was the principal charmer. Everything about him, from his piercing eyes to his glistening toenails, was a delight to all who beheld him. The marks on the soles of his feet were extraordinary – Dasharatha noticed that one resembled a lightning bolt, another a flag, and more patterns became clear every few days.

As the four infants played together in the nursery, it was apparent that Rama was the chief. Even as babies, Lakshman, Bharat, and Shatrugna would follow Rama’s lead as they crawled around the room, playing with toys and babbling nonsense words to each other. As they became toddlers, his leadership grew more pronounced. He never demanded or showed a difficult temper. He would smile and point, and the brothers would do his bidding.

One evening, after bathing her son and singing him a lullaby, Queen Kausalya placed Rama in his crib and watched him fall asleep. She then washed, performed purification for herself, and went to her worship room to make a food offering to the Lord. She said her prayers and placed a silver tray of various sweets at the foot of the deity’s image. Then the Queen went to fetch more clarified butter to fill the lamps.

Upon her return to the altar, she saw little Rama sitting on the platform and eating the sweets she had offered. She hurried to the nursery, and there was Rama, asleep in his crib. Kausalya ran back to the temple and saw baby Rama there, crumbs on his fingers and face. “All right,” she whispered, “what sort of illusion is this?”

As he had once before, Lord Vishnu revealed himself to his mother, this time in his dazzling infinite form. She saw in Him the Universe: suns, planets, comets, and all manner of celestial bodies. She saw aspects of God that had previously only been ideas in her mind. In that moment, the Queen understood time, knowledge, and the principles of action and nature. All things were clear yet terrifyingly overwhelming. Kausalya fell at the Lord’s feet with tears in her eyes, asking Him what was true and what was a dream. “Why is it necessary for you to create this Maya, this illusory world? Are you real in this form, or is my baby real? What have I just seen, and why do you show it to me?”

“Mother,” the Lord began, “think not of reality and illusion but of truth and distraction. In one sense, there is nothing real but God because all else is transitory, having a beginning and end. In another sense, everything is real, having form and substance, yet it all serves to distract from the reality of God. I am your son; I am also your Lord. I show you all this because of my love for you. Maya exists only to distract, to give form and substance to that which is temporary. Maya allows individual souls to believe that they are individual and separate from each other. I have chosen to be here as Rama, as part of my own Maya, to be raised and loved by you, to restore balance to the world, and to set an example.”

Seeing that Kausalya could barely contain what he had revealed to her, the Lord assumed baby form again. Realizing that once again, the Sustainer of the Universe was her own child, the Queen trembled. “Mother,” baby Rama said, “do not reveal this truth to anyone.”

Kausalya responded, “Please, Lord, see that your Maya no longer enchants me.”

The child giggled and crawled out of the worship room.

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