Learning from the epics

Abstract

The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are actually immense repositories of learning. Subtle intelligence is required to uncover them. Consider for instance the notion of exile. Lord Rama had to undergo an exile of fourteen years, while the Panadava brothers had to undergo a period of exile of twelve years. Suffering and privation was common to both cases. Sita Devi, consort of Lord Rama, was unused to the rigours of a hard life but she cheerfully accepted the challenge and chose to be by the side of her husband. The same applied to Draupadi. The Pandavas had to face one challenge after the other from the Kauravas, their jealous cousins but with the guidance of Sri Krishna who was their Gurudeva, they were able to successfully meet every one of them. Exile is central in both epics. It is not to be understood in merely physical terms. It is deeply symbolic of what Joseph Campbell calls “the stages in a hero’s journey” from ignorance to self-revelation. It is a journey of inner transformation. The exile is a process of a catharsis, a time of tests and tribulations and represents a necessary cleansing before emerging from the wilderness.

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