A soul is identified not by its friend, but by its enemy, because a friend may be bigger or smaller than our nature, but an enemy should be bigger than our nature. The enemy provokes us, causes us to become stronger and more powerful. The enemy stirs up the fire of self-respect within us. The enemy inspires us to struggle in dire circumstances…' This is part of Ravana's chastisement when Lakshmana goes to learn the science of politics and life from Ravana who is relinquishing his body. Ravana says, 'Your brother could have taught you all this because Rama is wiser and calmer than me, but he sent you to me because he knows that I am the bearer of Asura culture, but my nature is that of a Pandit. . Maybe your brother didn't want Vidya Visharad and world conqueror Ravana to die like Asura… so he gave me a chance to act according to my nature in my last moments. Rama wants me to die giving you knowledge, that I die like a pundit, a sage and be saved…' This is the dialogue, from the musical play 'Hamare Ram'! Ashutosh Rana plays the role of Ravana in it. Rahul Bhuchar is also the producer of this play and also plays the role of Ram. More than three and a half hours long in this play, A.R. The songs are sung in the voices of Rahman, Shankar Mahadevan, Sonu Nigam and Kailas Kher. The huge production and the emotional ramblings give this play a different dignity. Importantly, Ravana's arrival is beautifully marked before his entrance. Lord Surya (Raghuvansa's grandfather) tells Rama's sons Lav and Kush, 'Just as there is no light without darkness, no happiness without suffering, so without the existence of a villain, the greatness of a hero cannot be established.' If we try to understand this, we understand that a person is only good or bad compared to others. Rama and Ravana, auspicious and inauspicious, darkness and light, white and black elements reside within man. We all are sometimes heroes and sometimes villains. It is not possible for anyone to be good all the time, just as it is not possible for a man to be all the time bad, crooked and cruel. A person's time, circumstances and the elements around him force him to behave in a certain way, and sometimes a person himself makes a wrong decision. There is a difference between agitation and outrage, opposition and rebellion are two different things, similarly there is a very fine line between pride and ego. It doesn't take long for a friend to become an enemy, but it takes a lot of effort to make an enemy a friend. Sometimes it happens that what we think is a friend is our enemy, and what we think is an enemy is somewhere that wants our good and is actually our friend. How to recognize, enemy and friend? So the only answer is, someone who stands by us in our good and bad times, doesn't judge us. A friend who accepts us with all our weaknesses, yet constantly tries to understand us, sometimes bitterly, sometimes lovingly, to make us better and better… and who constantly praises, who constantly tries to make us happy – flatters us, who Agreeing on everything and telling others about our weaknesses, mistakes behind our back is the enemy. We all get turned off by people who sweet talk, flatter and agree. We don't like people who point out our mistakes or point out our weaknesses… because we constantly want to hear 'good', we are not ready to hear 'right'. Generally man is his own worst enemy. His pride and envy, laziness and untruth reside within him. Most people do more harm to themselves than an external enemy can do to them. Be it the story of Ravana or the parable of Duryodhana from the Mahabharata… Both are learned, powerful and knowledgeable in scriptures and politics, but ultimately both are doomed because they chose to listen to the beloved instead of listening to the truth. Duryodhana also says, 'Janami dharmasya na chme khiti, janami adharmasya na chme severti', similarly Ravana also says, 'I had the ego of knowledge while Rama had the knowledge of ego…' Strength, power, intelligence, power or Wealth… Everyone knows that all this has to be left here in the end, but does not remember, that is the biggest hardship of human life. We have no right over existence, these panchatattvas which are outside are also inside and as the inner panchatattvas have to be controlled, the surrounding panchatattvas keep us under control. We are travelers on this planet, not residents… So much so that whoever remembers, Rama wakes up and lives within everyone. One who tries to enslave existence and clings to ego ends up turning all the blessings he receives into curses.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
