ROBBER TO RISHI

Shri Rama Jaya

श्री राम जय:

Victory to Rama

Today we live in an era called Kali Yug. This story is from many thousands of year ago in Treta Yug. A son was born to Sage Prachetasa and he named the child Ratnakara. One day the little boy in an adventurous mood wandered off, away from his home. Before he realised it, he had strayed far from his cottage. Soon he was deep in the dark forest. As it was almost dusk the sun was slowly slipping away. Though the young child tried to trace his way back home he kept going deeper and deeper into the jungle. As the moon began to rise, a hunter who was returning home saw the little boy. As the child was unable to tell the hunter much about his family or the location of his home, the hunter decided to take the boy home with him.

He fed Ratnakara and gave him a place to sleep. The boy was a happy and cheerful child and the hunter who was unable to trace Ratnakara’s family decided to adopt him into his own family. He loved and cared for Ratnakara. As he was a hunter, he began to teach the young boy to hunt too. Surprisingly Ratnakara showed an excellent aptitude for hunting and became a skilled and excellent hunter.

A few years later Ratnakara married a beautiful girl. They were very happy and Ratnakara earned enough money to take care of his wife and himself. Soon they had a child and they lived well. Ratnakara was able to earn enough to care for the three of them. However, as the years went on Ratnakara had more and more children. It was becoming increasingly difficult for him to earn enough to feed and clothe his large family.

Unfortunately, Ratnakara decided to take the easy route to making money. He started to rob people. Being an adept hunter he was strong and powerful. Having lived in the forest for most of his life he was very familiar with the myriad routes within the forest. He could escape from view quickly and get back home. He had all the attributes necessary to overpower his victims, rob them and return home before his victims could even begin to chase him.

Ratnakara would leave home early every dawn. It would still be fairly dark as the sun would not have risen fully. All day he would wander through the jungle looking for unsuspecting travellers. Then, whenever travellers passed he would make a dash for them and threaten to kill them with his weapons. The frightened travelers would shake with fear and hand over all their valuables to the terrifying dacoit in order to save their lives. Those who dared to put up a fight he would, with no hesitation, kill. Then Ratnakara would gather all their gold coins, their jewellery and anything else of value that they carried. Once he had collected all that he could from his victims he would, without wasting a moment, zigzag his way through the woods and head home with his loot. In this manner Ratnakara had more than enough wealth to look after his large family.

In the years that followed Ratnakara became the most dreaded dacoit of the area. Everyone in the villages surrounding the forest were wary of venturing into the woods. He was so fearsome that even the animals would take cover and birds would fly quickly back to the tree tops when they knew he was approaching.

It so happened that one day the great and pious sage Narada was passing through the forest. As was his habit Ratnakara pounced down from his perch on a tree right onto to the holy sage. Sage Narada had very little of value with him, as he was a hermit but what he always carried with him was his veena. Sage Narada is renowned for his astute intelligence. On being attacked by the vicious robber, he did not panic. What he did was indeed something very surprising. He began pulling at the strings of his veena and started singing hymns in praise of the Lord. This startled Ratnakara. The bhajan in praise of the Lord soothed the robber. Looking at the sage he was mesmerised by the tranquility he saw in the great sage’s eyes. Almost magically the cruelty and greed in his mind melted away.

The wise Narada observing the change in Ratnakara took the opportunity to ask Ratnakara a question. Narada asked the vicious robber, “You are the most dreaded robber in this neighbourhood. Why do you rob innocent travellers? What harm have they done you that you to attack them in this ruthless manner?

Seeing the simple garb of the sage and the tiny potla (cloth bag) he carried, Ratnakara knew he was not going to get anything of value from this hermit. Besides he had already robbed several others that day. In fact he had collected more than enough for several days. So he decided to amuse himself by talking to the wandering hermit. Answering the sage he said, “I am the earning member of my family. I have a large family. I am by profession a hunter. But as a hunter I was unable to feed and clothe my family. Now that I am a robber I can very easily provide for my family. Today they are all happy, have all that they want and we are well off.”

Sage Narada then shrewdly asked, “Since you have taken to robbery to provide for your family and they have willingly shared your wealth, do you think they would also willingly share a portion of the sins you have committed?”

Ratnakara with a smirk on his face confidently replies, “Of course I am sure they will share in the sins I’m incurring. They know that I rob only to provide for them, indulge them and give them everything they desire.”

Hearing this Sage Narada said, “To be certain, why don’t you check with them? Go home and ask your family whether they will share the sins just as they share the loot you bring home.”

Ratnakara was so certain that his family would share his sins that he laughed and said to Sage Narada, “Sage, if you wait here for just a short while, I will come back to you with their answer. But I am sure they will be happy to share the load of my sins. After all they know the dangers and hardships I put myself through to earn for them.”

Sage Narada nodded and assured Ratnakara that he would await his return.

Ratnakara rushed off home. There he found his children happy at play. His wife was sitting outside in the patio weaving a floral garland of jasmine flowers for her hair. As they saw him the children rushed off to wash their hands and his wife went into the kitchen to lay out the extravagant meal that had been prepared for their dinner. There were an assortment of meats from Ratnakara’s recent catches, plenty of vegetables, aromatic rice and an especially delicious kheer (pudding). The family was accustomed to good food and nice clothing. They sat down to a hearty meal.

Once they had completed their food Ratnakara asked them, “Did you enjoy the meal?”

In unison the children and his wife replied, “Oh yes. We certainly did. It was delicious.”

Ratnakara then asked, “Do I provide all of you with everything that your hearts desire?”

The children shouted out, “You are the best father in the world. There is nothing that we want that you have not instantly procured for us.”

His wife echoed the children’s sentiments saying, “You are not just the best father but also the very best husband. I have never wanted for anything.”

Moving his eyes to look at each one of them Ratnakara questioned, “Do you know that all the money I get to buy the comforts you desire I get by robbing people?”

His wife was the first to answer, “I know this but I also know that you were compelled to do this to care for us, your family.”

The children nodded in agreement and added, “Father it is because you love us that you do what you do.”

Ratnakara looked pleased. He was relived to know that they were aware that he stole only for them. Smiling at them he said, “Yes I did turn to robbery to support you, my beloved family but you also know that robbing people is a sin and I have, in the course of several years, been accumulating a lot of sins.”

His wife and children looked at him with a touch of concern on their faces but no-one said a word.

So Ratnakara continued, “ You all agree that I have taken to robbery only to ensure your needs and requirements are met. You also know that it is by threatening, stealing and even killing travelers that I have amassed this wealth that you all enjoy. You seem to be aware that in doing these wicked deeds I have incurred a lot of sins. Therefore, I am sure that as you have been willing to partake in the benefits of my bad deeds you will be equally willing to share with me a portion of the sins that I have incurred.”

Ratnakara was sure that his children would rush to him and hug him and reassure him that they would certainly take a share of his sins. But instead they looked away from him and slowly, sidled out of the room.

Turning to his wife he pleadingly looked at her hoping that at least she would help him bear the burden of sin. But instead she turned to him and coldly said, “We never asked you to steal. It was a choice you made. It is your duty as the head of the household to provide for us. But how you choose to earn the money for your family is your decision. Since we never made the decision, why should we bear the consequences of your decision?”

“But,” said a shocked Ratnakara, “You enjoyed the many things I purchased for you with the stolen money and not once did you dissuade me from profiting from the misfortunes of others?”

“Who am I to dissuade you?” asked his wife. “My duty was to look after the home and children. How you earned money was no concern of mine. So I will certainly not bear the burden of even a fraction of the sins you have committed. The children too are blameless and refuse to take any of the load of the sins that you carry.”

Having said her piece she walked out in a huff - most indignant that her husband could even think of asking her to share his sins!

A crestfallen and sad Ratnakara went slowly back to meet Sage Narada. His head hanging low and his voice almost inaudible, he said, “Great sage, my family who I love and for whose comfort and well-being I took to robbery, have firmly stated that they want no part of my sins. They say that as they were incurred by me I must bear them on my own.”

The wise Narada had always known that no-one would take on the burden of another person’s sins. Seeing the mighty and fierce robber reduced to a dejected, depressed and grieving man, Sage Narada felt sorry for him. He knew that Ratnakara was now wishing he could undo all the wrong deeds he had done. He looked at the robber with kindness and forgiveness in his eyes.

Looking directly into Sage Narada’s eyes for the second time, Ratnakara felt a glimmer of hope. He felt that his absolution was possible. He fell at the hermits feet and begged of him, “Please, holy sage tell me how can I repent for my sins? What should I do to atone for all the wrongs I have done?”

Narada said to him, “Chant the name of the Lord Rama. All you have to do is repeat ‘Rama Rama Rama’. Let the name of the Lord remain constantly on your lips and you will wash away all your sins.”

A relieved Ratnakara immediately tried to say “Rama” but for the incorrigible robber the word ‘Rama’ was impossible to say.

Sage Narada knew that Ratnakara could not enunciate the word Rama because wickedness had been so firmly embedded into his mind and heart. But the wise sage also knew that Ratnakara was sincerely repentant for all his wrong doings. He decided to help the robber. He said, “Ratnakara, as you can’t say Rama just chant the word Mara till I return to see you and you will be cleansed of your sins.”

Now Mara was a word Ratnakara was quite familiar with as it meant death. After all he has been responsible for killing many of his victims.

Ratnakara sat down on the ground, crossed his legs into the lotus position, shut his yes and began chanting, “Mara Mara Mara.”

He chanted with deep regret and remorse for his terrible actions.

As he continued to chant without even realising it he was in fact chanting the Lord’s name, “Rama”.

Ratnakara kept chanting without so much as a movement of any part of his body. He sat like this, absolutely still and chanted without stopping for several years. In fact he sat so still and immobile that ants began to build an ant hill on him. Soon his whole body from the tips of his toes to the top of his head was covered completely by the anthill.

As promised, one day, several years later’, Sage Narada returned to the spot where he had left Ratnakara. He saw the ant hill and knew that below it sat Ratnakara. He brushed off the anthill and saw Ratnakara in deep meditation. The sage blessed him and told him God was greatly pleased with his penance. Sage Narada gave the robber a new name - Valmiki, which means born of an anthill. Valmiki was no longer the robber who had been unable to pronounce the word Rama. He had been reborn as an entirely new person after his years of penance and prayer. So great was the transformation that Valmiki was blessed with the honour of Brahma Rishi - the highest of the rishis to attain enlightenment.

A dreaded robber became a revered saint.

Valmiki went on to build an ashram on the banks of the river Ganga. One day Narada visited Valmiki at his ashram. Valmiki was very happy to see the holy sage once again. The first time they had met Sage Narada had regaled the then robber by singing hymns in praise of the Lord. This time it was Valmiki who regaled Narada by narrating the story of Lord Rama.

That night when he slept Valmiki had a vision of Lord Brahma. Through the vision the lord instructed him to write the story of Rama - the Ramayana - in shlokas (verses). The very next morning Maharishi Valmiki began to pen the holy narrative of the life of Lord Rama.

The holy Ramayana by Valmiki is one of the most sacred and treasured text of Hindus. Maharishi Valmiki’s Ramayana consists of 24,000 shlokas and 48,000 lines. It is one of the oldest epics in world literature. It is an exquisite poem that narrates the story of Lord Rama, his life and his many adventures. It is a story of the victory of good over evil. It is a story that is heard and enjoyed in every home - be it a palace or a hovel. It is a story that brings comfort and provides solutions to all our problems. It is our heritage.

LIFE LESSONS

1. An easy option may not be the best option. Ratnakara took to stealing because he found it an easy way to make money. But it certainly wasn’t the right choice to make.

2. It is never too late to make amends. Like Ratnakara, if we have done something wrong we should apologise and see how we can redeem ourselves.

3. God forgives and blesses anyone who comes to him with sincerity and love - as Ratnakara did

4. If we want to change we can. We just have to be as determined as Ratnakara - from a dreaded robber he transformed into a divine rshi.