Unity – Within and Without (Ramayana Reflection 7)

The Ramayana features many intriguing group dynamics, among human groups, monkey groups, demon groups and even human-monkey groups. Divisive and cohesive forces are graphically evident in the group of monkeys that had gone south in search of Sita.

The search and the schism

The back-story is that Rama and Sugriva had formed an alliance: Rama would help Sugriva regain his wife and kingdom, and Sugriva would help Rama regain Sita, who had been abducted by the demon-king Ravana. Rama had done his part, and the now-enthroned monkey monarch Sugriva had started doing his part. He had organized his leading monkeys into four groups and instructed them to go in the four directions to search for Sita. The search parties were asked to return within a month with latecomers liable to severe punishment. Among the groups, the south-bound group was most likely to locate Sita – Ravana had been seen carrying her southwards. This group had as leaders three great monkey generals: Angada, Hanuman and Jambavan. Rama gave Hanuman a signet that he was to show to Sita on finding her; the signet would assure her that its bearer was an authorized messenger of Rama.

The south-bound group searched vigorously for over six weeks, braving many dangers, but couldn’t find any clue to Sita’s whereabouts. And amidst the consequent disappointment, concealed tensions within the group came to the fore. The group’s three leaders had different things to commend them: age, lineage and grace. By age, Jambavan was the senior-most and was accorded due deference. But his age had decreased his physical prowess. By lineage, Angada was a valiant prince, being the son of the previous monkey monarch, Vali. But he was young, impetuous and inexperienced. By grace, Hanuman had received from the gods many extraordinary powers. But those powers had made him, when he was still a mischievous child, into an innocent menace for forest sages. So, those sages had cursed him to forget his powers till he was reminded of them at a later, more opportune moment. Being thus forgetful, Hanuman hadn’t, till this point in the Ramayana, done anything extraordinarily heroic.

Their search for Sita having drawn a blank, the disheartened monkeys discussed their next strategy: Should they keep searching? Or should they return, report their failure and seek further orders? Their predicament triggered residual suspicions in Angada. He said that Sugriva would use their failure to find Sita and delay in returning as justification for executing them. Venting his suppressed anger, he said that such an excess wouldn’t be beyond one who had conspired to kill his own brother. Angada concluded that fasting to death in the forest would be better than returning only to be executed in disgrace in front of their loved ones.

On hearing Angada’s apprehension, the monkeys responded variously, discussing to and fro, till they split into two groups. One group agreed with Angada and resolved to fast to death. The other group sided with Hanuman, who underscored Sugriva’s fairness and assured that no one would be penalized for the delay.

• Seismic fault-lines in relationships
• Were Angada’s doubts about Sugriva justified? Yes and no. Sugriva had undoubtedly arranged for killing Vali. But he had done so not because he craved power, but because Vali had left him with no alternative. Vali had blown out of proportion an unfortunate misunderstanding with Sugriva. Without giving his brother any chance for clarifying things, Vali had driven him to the forest, stripping him of all royal status and taking his brother’s wife for himself. Worse still, Vali had chased Sugriva far and wide with murderous intent. He had given up only when Sugriva sought refuge near a hermitage that Vali couldn’t approach due to a sage’s curse. Sugriva had tried repeatedly to reconcile with Vali, but Vali had instead rebuffed, rebuked and threatened him. Seeing no other way to guarantee his life and regain his family, Sugriva had felt constrained to arrange for Vali’s death.
• Significantly, Vali had before his death reconciled with Sugriva, seeking his forgiveness and requesting him to treat Tara (Vali’s wife) and Angada kindly. Moreover, Vali had requested Tara and Angada to stay under Sugriva’s shelter and serve him as they had served Vali earlier. So the animosity between the two brothers had been fully dissolved before Vali’s death.
• Even after gaining the kingdom, Sugriva had shown no glee. Quite the opposite. Vali’s death had filled him with such deep remorse that he had desired to enter the funeral pyre with his brother’s corpse. He had been dissuaded only by the words of his well-wishers, Rama and Lakshmana, who had reminded him of, among other things, his duty to his citizens. After reluctantly ascending the throne, Sugriva had carefully honored his dying brother’s request by being consistently considerate towards Angada.
• Moreover, presently, Sugriva had sent them on a mission to serve Rama. And that virtuous prince would certainly not allow the unjust execution of anyone, leave alone the prince.
• Unfortunately, none of this reasoning could allay Angada’s suspicions, disheartened as he was at their unfruitful search. He chose unilaterally the extreme measure of suicidal self-mortification.
• It’s revealing that Angada’s suspicions came to the fore when their mission met with a reversal that bordered on failure. The mind often magnifies problems. The Bhagavad-gita (06.06) cautions that our mind is presently our enemy. One of the ways it acts inimically is by distorting our perception – sometimes it trivializes big problems and sometimes it magnifies small problems. Sometimes, when faced with one big problem, it becomes so pessimistic and paranoid as to imagine other problems to be bigger than what they are. Thus does the mind escalate minor relationship issues.
• Relationships are often so subtle and multi-level that some small tensions can exist even in the closest relationships. But the mind transforms these tensions into seismic fault-lines that, if unresolved, can give rise to a relationship-shattering quake.
• A predator turns benefactor
• Hanuman found himself in a delicate situation. Angada, the prince and heir, was leading the monkeys to mass suicide. Moreover, he was voicing serious accusations against the king. Still, Hanuman exhibited maturity in not going off the handle and counter-accusing Angada of treason. He understood that the prince’s words came from a hurting heart – he was still a youth, a bereaved son who had unexpectedly lost his father just a few months ago and who was now burdened by his failure in the leadership responsibility he had been entrusted. That he had even accepted such a responsibility was laudable.
• With gentle words and sound arguments, Hanuman tried to persuade Angada. But, despite his best efforts, he couldn’t make any headway.
• Often when we do the best we can, God helps us to do what we can’t. And his help may well come in the least expected ways – sometimes in ways that don’t look like help at all. For the arguing monkeys, divine help came in a scary form.
• While the monkeys’ talks had come to an impasse, suddenly a giant vulture emerged from a nearby cave. On beholding the monkeys sitting in a posture meant for fasting till death, he declared that he would soon feast on these monkeys.
• Angada saw this giant bird’s appearance as providence’s punishment for his failing to serve Rama’s purpose. Seeing this vulture reminded Angada of another vulture, Jatayu, who had died while trying in vain to stop Ravana from kidnapping Sita. The despondent prince mentioned to a neighboring monkey that in their service to Rama, they seemed fated to die unsuccessfully, as had the heroic Jatayu.
• On hearing the mention of Jatayu, the vulture froze. Recovering after a few moments, he asked about Jatayu, stating that he was Jatayu’s older brother, Sampati.
• Relieved and intrigued, Angada told the story of how Jatayu had attained martyrdom while trying to stop Ravana from abducting Sita. Sampati cried in agony and anger, lamenting that he hadn’t been able to protect Jatayu and couldn’t even avenge his death because he no longer had wings.
• Seeing that the monkeys were hearing sympathetically, he told how he had lost his wings. Long ago, the two bird-brothers had in their youthful impetuosity decided to fly till the sun. When the sun’s heat started scorching them, Sampati had shaded Jatayu with his wings. The heat had burnt his wings and he had fallen to the earth, wingless and separated from Jatayu. While he had been grieving, a sage named Chandrama had solaced him with timeless spiritual knowledge and assured him that his adversity would give him an opportunity to serve the Lord who would descend in future.
• As Sampati fell silent, Angada contemplated his words. It struck him that the far-flying Sampati might know the location of Ravana’s kingdom. When he asked Sampati, the vulture perked up, excitedly realized that his destined opportunity had arrived: The monkeys were servants of Rama. Further, by helping Rama’s servants in finding Ravana, he could contribute to the cause of avenging Jatayu.
• He told them that several months ago, he had seen a beautiful woman carried southward through the sky by Ravana. Informing the monkeys that despite his age he still had keen sight, he drew himself to his full height. Focusing his eyes across the ocean, he announced that Sita was there in Ravana’s kingdom, Lanka.
• The monkeys became elated. Their mutual differences forgotten, the two groups of monkeys jubilantly embraced and started planning their next move. Angada too put aside his suspicions. He had always wanted to serve Rama and hadn’t abandoned his devotion to Rama, even when doubts about Sugriva had overwhelmed him. Now that an avenue to succeed in his service to Rama had opened, he was able to push back his doubts about Sugriva.
• After this incident, Angada never succumbed to similar doubts about his uncle. In the climactic war, he fought faithfully under, heroically felling many dreadful demons. And the other monkeys too never mentioned Angada’s accusations. Leaving the past behind them, they worked unitedly and successfully in Rama’s service.
• A big problem solved through a bigger problem
• The specifics of this story may not seem relevant to us when we in our daily lives face divisive tensions. But if we look beyond the specifics of the narrative to generic patterns, we can discern four stages that may well resonate with our experience:

1. A group of strong individuals come together for a challenging cause.
2. A reversal aggravates underlying tensions, creating a schism.
3. A bigger problem appears, bringing the group together.
4. In working unitedly, the group tackles the bigger problem along with the original problem.

• The turning point for the monkeys was an incidental, distress-triggered reference to Jatayu. Significantly, their comparing themselves with Jatayu revealed that they were still committed to Rama. And that casual expression of their devotion turned out to be life-saving and mission-saving. Hearing Jatayu’s name, Sampati turned from predator to benefactor and told Sita’s whereabouts.
• Still, even that turning point had initially looked like a worsening point. Sampati hadn’t seemed god-sent; he had seemed like devil-sent, being bent on devouring the monkeys. But despite appearances, behind the scenes, things were moving by divine arrangement to assist them. And when they persevered, that assistance manifested.
• When we face problems while serving the Lord, we can’t know when and how a turning point may come. Even if things seem grim, we never lose till we lose hope. And even if we lose hope, our Lord doesn’t. He can work in the most inconceivable ways to give us hope and direction.
• While we work together, as we often need to for achieving anything big, differences of opinion are inevitable. Focusing on the cause that brings us together rather than the factors that push us apart is vital for the group’s success or even survival. If we can voluntarily maintain this focus, that is the best. But if we somehow lose focus, problems seem to balloon. They compel us to choose between correcting course by uniting around the common cause or being ripped apart by the problem and the consequent exacerbated divisive forces.
• The best common cause is the cause of devotion to God, for he is the well-wisher of everyone, as the Bhagavad-gita (05.29) states. And he engages his devotees as agents of his wisdom, helping them find their way through obstacles.
• Interactions and inner actions
• Successful teamwork rests on not just the interactions between individuals but also the inner actions within the individuals’ minds. This is seen from how Angada’s internal suspicion caused external dissension. Pertinently, devotion can unify us not only with others, but also with ourselves. That is, devotion can unite our present consciousness with our pure consciousness as spiritual beings, parts of God.
• We have a lower side that prods us towards shortsighted actions. And we have a higher side that inspires us towards nobler, farsighted actions that are truer to our essential nature and core values. Devotion activates and strengthens our higher side, gradually elevating and uniting our self-conception with our spiritual self.
• However, our lower side tends to minimize devotion, making us believe that worldly exigencies are far more important and urgent than any spiritual cause. And as such exigencies keep coming, one after another, they leave us spiritually disoriented and de-centered. Thus, we become vulnerable to divisive influences that aggravate worldly exigencies, thereby trapping us in a circle of spiritual distraction and worldly obsession. To avoid this trap, we need to use our intelligence, sharpened by regular study of scripture, to keep our devotion at the center of our heart and our relationships.
• When we keep ourselves devotionally grounded, we get the inner security to act maturely in outer relationships. We can firmly resist unwarranted suspicions and non-confrontationally resolve warranted concerns. And adversities that could rupture unity can instead strengthen it if we see those adversities as spurs for focusing on God and the common cause of serving him.