Ram and Lakshman had undying love and attachment for each other. Once Indra, the king of the demigods was talking about them to the demigods. He said –
“Their love for each other is unparalleled. They cannot live without each other. This affection is an obstacle to Sri Ram’s renunciation.”
“Oh, such wonderful affection and love?” – the demigods were amazed hearing this.
A curiosity arose in two of the demigods. They thought of testing the love and affection of these brothers. Without telling Indra, both decided to do the test. They wanted to test how one will suffer in the bereavement of the other. That will show the depth in their love.
Both the demigods came to Lakshman’s palace to first test Lakshman’s love for brother Ram. Through their powers, they created an illusion. Lakshman who was talking and having humor with his wives in his palace suddenly heard the sound of a cry. Before he could understand, all his queens started to cry. They all were weeping and saying –
“O Ram, O Ram, You cannot leave us. How can this happen? Such sudden death? What will happen to this kingdom and to this world without you.”
The whole atmosphere had become very serious. There was sadness all around. Lakshman was shocked to see all this. He could not believe what had just happened. He said –
“What? My elder brother, my source of life has died? Death cannot snatch away my brother leaving me here all alone in the darkness?”
Lakshman could not speak further. He could not think of anything, he was in deep shock. He could not bear this and his heart stopped beating. He died sitting on his throne.
When the demigods saw this they could not believe their eyes. They got scared and depressingly looked at each other.
“What have we done? How unthoughtful of us? We killed Lakshman, a great brother, and a brave warrior. Can love and attachment be so strong? We should have just believed what King Indra had told. What will happen to Sri Ram when he will hear this news about Lakshman?”
Demigods could not imagine the impact it would have on Ram. That very thought shook both of them from inside. They wrapped up their illusion. With deep pain in the heart and helplessness, they left for heaven.
When the queens saw passive and lifeless Lakshman sitting on the throne they screamed –
“O Lord, what happened to you? Why are you sitting like this?”
They shook the body of Lakshman trying to wake him up but how will a lifeless body respond? The news of Lakshman’s death spread like wildfire in Ayodhya. The cries of the queens and the news of Lakshman’s death reached Sri Ram.
The next part of the story will reveal Ram’s love for Lakshman. Was Ram able to accept Lakshman’s death? How did he react to this?
Wisdom Bite
This untold story of Ramayana reveals deep love and affection between Sri Ram and Lakshman. One could not live without the other. They respected each other and were ready to sacrifice everything for one another. The world needs to learn from this. Joint families are disintegrating. We see fights between brothers for money, property and status. Greed and selfishness are killing relationships.
If we need to bring back Ramarajya, we need to change ourselves and our outlook. We need to keep relationships, respect and sacrifice at the top and let go of greed, ego and selfishness. Just building a Ram temple is not enough to bring back the glory of India.
March 29, 2021
[…] sudden death had put everyone in a state of deep shock. When Sri Ram heard the cries of the queens, he came […]