Ramnawami

Chaitra Dasain or Ramanawami is a great Hindu festival which falls generally on the 8th and 9th day of the bring fortnight of chitra (March 30-April 1). We call this festival the junior Dasain as we celebrate it only for two days whereas the senior Dasain generally known as Bada Dasain, is celebrated for ten long days in October. Another name of Chaitra Dasain is Vasanti which means related to the season of Spring. As we all know, the spring is the best of all seasons. It is during this period of time that the vital forces of Nature put themselves into action in all the fullness of their potency with new sense of splendour and spirit. The arrival of the spring always inspires human soul to appreciate the glory of god. In the presence of this regal season every thing, not to speak of the living creatures, looks 'full of life. Thus the spring seems to have a direct bearing on this festival day . According to a holy Hindu text, this is the day when Devi (Shakti) manifested Herself in Her most celestial form and so this day is observed as Chaitra Dasain-an auspicious day to worship Devi with great devotion and faith. Sacred scriptures say that those who worship Devi with the body and mind purified are sure to obtain many great merits one can expect in one's lifetime. Rama, an ideal Hindu King is believed to have obtained all the merits by dint of his sincere devotion to Devi which enabled him to defeat his enemy, Rawana. Traditionally, the day Rama killed Rawana is believed to have fallen on the 9th day of Chaitra month. That is why this day is widely known as Ramanawami Day which is the second day of the celebrations of Chaitra Dasain. This festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm and festivity in Mahotari district of the Janakpur zone, the birth place of Sita, the consort of Rama . Hindu tradition has it that Rama is the incarnation of Dharma Nothing for Him is as important as Dharma(righteousness). He always fought for Dharma. He never allowed Himself to stray away from His duty. He never believed those who always made promises and never fulfilled them . He never failed to fulfil His promise. He was deeply devoted to his father and obeyed his order of banishment without any grumble. Ramanawami is a great day to think of his great deeds and recapitulate his divine achievements which always serve as a great source of ideal characters for the entire mankind. One of the very famous names of Rama is Maryada oPurusottam, meaning the most highly perfected man in whom Divinity met Humanity with all its majesty. The Ramayana takes care of his detailed stories of his divine work. So far the spiritual side of Rama's story is concerned, Rama is regarded only as a symbol of Supreme Brahman (Eternal being) and Sita as Shakti (Primordial Power). Shakti as a law of Nature always activates the eternal Purusha (Rama). It must be remembered how Rama got upset and wandered around in the jungle in search of Sita when he came to know that Sita was taken away by the demon king Rawana. Since then, he never sat relaxed until he got Sita back. This event gives us the basic idea of what Purusha is like without Prakriti around him, the main source of creative energy. The war he fought with the ten-headed demon king, Ravana symbolizes his untiring struggle against ten sense organs (5 of knowledge and 5 of action) which, finally overcame. Symbolically it is interesting enough to note that Rama won this war only in his second attempt. Actually, it is Rawana who won this war of weakness of Rama. This is one of the main reasons why the golden deer episode in the Ramayana has been so commonly accepted as a veiN feeding story for every spiritual mind Now. now should remember how the golden deert incident came out to be a big turning point for the entire troubles which Rama had to face. Sita was so thrilled by the radiant beauty of a nimble footed deer that the very moment she saw it in the jungle, she wanted to have it and Rama wanted to catch it. Thus they both were seized by the devil desire. The creation of this desire also created a big weakness in the mind of Rama. Unaware of it, the all knowing Rama started blindly chasing the golden deer, the demon turned-animal. This is the perfect example of how even the most Dharma-conscious soul like Rama could be so easily carried away by Maya (the golden deer) symbolical of the sense-objects in this context. This was the root cause of his entire trouble. The declaration of the fourteen years of exile in the forest was no more a pain for Rama than his devil desire to get on that golden deer for his beloved wife, Sita. He realized this later. This seems to be a kind of tough spiritual test for Rama designed by Sita (Shakti) herself which he failed to stand with. This event sometimes leads one to think that probably it is alright for an ordinary man to make mistakes and learn good lessons from them but for the one like Rama who is enlightened already is, by no means, pardonable. So it is enlightening enough to note how Rama had to pay the price (Sita) for the blunder he committed even after his victory. Eventually, Rama won Sita (Spiritual Sita) only after he lost her (Physical Sita). One should not forget that Rama came to be regarded as Maryada Purushottam, meaning the most highly perfected personality In the form of highly honourable human-god only after he lost his wife for ever. •