लल्ला पुराण ५२

यह राम और रावण पर एक तुलनात्मक पोस्ट पर कमेन्ट है.

One of the things I tell my students in the very first class is that pursuit of knowledge requires not only learning but more importantly unlearning. that is possible only by questioning anything and everything beginning with our own mind set. without giving a thought to why? It has been transmitted to us through generations. During our growing up and learning, we inadvertently acquire many values and beliefs, as a result of our socialization without our conscious will or effort. I call them acquired moralities, that need to be replaced by rational moralities. my acquired moralities were Brahmanical, patriarchal values. since childhood we internalize through practices certain ideological constructs as the only and the final truth. To question them one needs lots of courage and internal struggle prceded by an objective introspection. Ram and Ravan have been 2 legendary characters fictionalized by various authors according to the needs of time and space. That is why their descriptions and characterizations differ. Tulsi's Ram is the hero and Ravan the villain. Ram represents the values Tulsi seeks to deend and ravan all those which are considered to be ignoble according to the ideals of the author. ram is representative of varnahram-patriarchal values. these values visualize women to be won in competition of muscle or nerve power, as a reward, in the same way you win a high price horse. A princes of a prosperous state, belonging to a different culture in which even women as an independent person could propose. while picnicking around in the woods, she  falls for him and proposes. Instead of telling her to get lost he was not interested in such a bad girl who can herself shamelessly propose and express her desires, he orders his obedient brother to disfigure her. Is chopping of the nose and ears of a hapless, unarmed girl by great warriors is bigger crime than the revenge by her powerful brother by kidnapping of the perpetrator's wife by his intellectual prowess and lodging her in a 5-star guest house without using any force or threat. How he mobilized the army is subject of separate discussion. As far as risking life for Sita by waging war is concerned, if you read the last sections of Lanka Kand, Ram very clearly states that he had not waged that war foe a woman like her, but for the prestige of the Raghukul and he could take her along with him only if she proves her purity by walking on fire.That she did. He himself had to go under no such test. The complaint of a washer man was just an excuse, he himself was diffident. How can some one with with such sense of initiative who accepts to go to firest as is the wish of father without applying his own mind and arguments and does so again by throwing out his "dearest" pregnant wife under the garb of public interest and the arguments given by Tulsidas are untenable in this respect. this comment is aimed at provoking to begin questioning your own mindset.with lots of love.