Helplessness vs. obsession - two sides of EGO

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RingsOfSaturn

@RingsOfSaturn

Voyager

+ 2

Posted: 9 years ago

Both are different kinds of ego - everything to do with ME, I.

Today belonged to Dashrath, his helplessness, his pain, his grief all evident in every breathe he took.

Regret, for the life that is ahead, without Ram, his most precious treasure, his EGO, his PRIDE.

Dashrath cannot live without Ram, he loves all his sons equally, but Ram is the air he breathes, and that is being taken away from him, he has only himself to blame for him, what a punishment life has become!

Well done, Dalip Tahil, awesome acting.

Kaikeyi is obsessed with herself, it is all about her, Dashrath has to love her more than other queens, Ram, the ace of all sons belongs to her, as long as he belongs to her, but when definitions come into play, Bharat is HER son, HER EGO, and for her ego, she doesn't care who suffers, Dashrath, Ram, Ayodhya, nothing matters, it is all about HER, sadly, it is not even about Bharat, she us not fighting for him, she is fighting for her importance...

I think Kaikeyis acting falls a bit short, it is bordering on overacting...

What say people?

Why us the forum so dead?

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Justlikethat1

@Justlikethat1

Sparkler

+ 2

Posted: 9 years ago

Beautifully written👏

King Dasharath's pain at Ram having to leave was his worst fear come true. His sons were his pride but Ram was his everything.. Ram going to vanvaas and that too because of king Dasharath's own words is devastating to him as a father. His worst fear was that Ram would somehow separate from him and lo behold, he himself has become the main reason for the separation. It is unimaginable and the pain would have been unbearable. The shame, the guilt, the regret, the mistakes.. the past.. but at this point it would be the broken ego of a proud king who at the heights of power conquered the world but now has been left defeated at the hands of his wife, the wife who he considered his favorite.

With Kaikeyi, the ego and selfishness is completely only hers. She forgets who Ram is.. she forgets the place she has in her husband's heart and worse still, she forgets what her own son, Bharath wants and feels. It all becomes me, myself. Kaikeyi wants to be raj mata. Kaikeyi's son should be king. Kaikeyi should be powerful. The need to feel important is over and beyond reality. It clouds her vision. She has become visicious, vengeful and crafty. Her ego stands tall amidst the destruction she unleashes.

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Maverick_me

@Maverick_me

Voyager

Posted: 9 years ago

Nice analysis you have done!

But it takes two to tango ; Dashrath was also to be blamed, he tells Ram , that he ( Dashrath ) wants to finish coronation of Ram , while Bharat was away, though Bharat would not object and or obstruct Ram's coronation and knowing that Bharat loved Ram very much , why did he want to rush up ? Doesn't that say of his insecurites as well? He cites that position of stars was not favourable to him , an excuse?

and , what about the promise made to Ashvapati, Kaikeyi's father, that, son of Kaikeyi would inherit the throne of Ayodhya , he conveniently over rules it and doesn't invite Ashvapati or Yudhajit and the righteous Janaka as well for Ram's coronation as crown prince.

Second , his treatment of Kaushalya, in her own words , she says, she never got the respect a wife should get from her husband and , she being a chief queen was just namesake ,else she was treated worst than a slave both by Dashrath & Kaikeyi.

Dashrath also quite strangely doesn't inform Kaikeyi, his favorite queen about Ram's coronation, she comes to know through Manthara, while he could always send a messenger and let her know about it , if he couldn't do it himself because of busy schedule.

No wonder Kaikeyi felt betrayed, not that i support what she did was right

Ram was a scapegoat in all this intrigue 😔

Did he know that Dashrath had promised Ashvapati that Kaikeyi's son would inherit the throne? Probably he did.

Rewriting *

Ram doesn't make the same mistake , what is father had done. When he becomes the King , he doesn't prefer his sons over his nephews and divides the kingdom in eight parts .

Edited by Maverick_me - 9 years ago

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Justlikethat1

@Justlikethat1

Sparkler

+ 2

Posted: 9 years ago

@ maverick, SKR has changed quite a bit of how this happens. In Valmiki Ramayan. King Dasharath sends Bharath away because Kaikeyi's father is unwell and he considers bharath almost as his own.

Bharath was away for quite sometime before the coronation. King Dasharath starts growing weak and he realizes that his end is near. That is why the decision for the coronation is taken and the pushya star being auspicious and king Dasharath's star going through bad times, the ministers, Vashist and Dasharath decide on the date.there was no ill intention. Also king Dasharath himself is sad that yudhajit and king Janak will be unable to attend due to the short notice.

King Dasharath himself goes to inform Kaikeyi but by then manthara has already done her brain washing. I agree that one mistake of Dashrath was his partiality to the youngest queen and he laments about it in his death bed begging kousalya's forgiveness.

The way Dasharath has been portrayed in SKR does not unfortunately give the proper picture of the devastation he would have went through.

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Maverick_me

@Maverick_me

Voyager

Posted: 9 years ago

Justlikethat1:

Agree, Dashrath was getting old n tired and he saw his son Ram the ablest and prefered over Bharat . I don't watch SKR so can't comment on how things have got twisted.

In VR , Dashrath surely has his own insecurites .

Do read this:

VR 2-4-25. I have given the verse # and translation is from valmikiramayan.net

"It is my opinion that your coronation function should occur, while Bharata is away from the city."

The next verse: 2-4-26

" Bharata, your brother, goes according to his eldest brother. He is righteous, compassionate and has the senses under control. He verily follows the path of good people."

Then ..

2-4-27

"Oh, Rama! It is my opinion that minds of men are inconstant. But the ever righteous, endowed with goodness, sometimes may act unexpectedly on impulse."

Note, he says Righteous people sometimes act on impulse! Dashrath feels though Bharat is good and supports his elder brother , yet he might be unpredictable.

Dashrath does say he has premonitions of something untoward happenings and so Ram should get coronated before ,he (Dashrath) changes his mind!

2-4-20

"Oh, Rama! Hence, before my mind gets changed, get you anointed to the crown. Are not the minds of men unstable?"

Inspite of all this , there's that promise given to Ashvapati , which Dashrath over rules, conveniently .

Apart from this, promise or no promise,

Ram and Bharat have equal stake towards kingship . Popular belief is that inheriting kingdom was based on primogeniture, which is a myth , in epic age inheritance was mainly on abilities . The ablest took the throne.

One more important thing was the status of mother, believe it or not.

Vidur in Mbh loses out on this fact , though capable he cannot rule because he was dasiputra .

So that again both Ram and Bharat qualify to stake their claim and it also means Sumitra might not have been of royal descent so L & S could not become kings of Ayodhya

Ram scores on popuarity, he was the son of princess of southern Kosala , so the local population would always want the son of their princess plus Ram's own nature made him very popular among everyone. Bharat was away from kingdom , so he didnt have any touch with common man of Ayodhya. That's why Manthara / Kaikeyi want Ram to be away from Ayodhya so that Bharat could make a place in the hearts of people.

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Justlikethat1

@Justlikethat1

Sparkler

+ 2

Posted: 9 years ago

Maverick, beautiful citations👏

The Dasharath explanation of Bharath though has to be taken under the context of his desperation to explain away any objection that King Dasharath things Ram would site at the news of his coronation.

Dashrath actually jumps the gun thinking that he needs to convince Ram. He talks of the age, his burden of taking care of the Rajya, the fickle human mind and his foreboding..

But yes.. there is some insecurity which becomes apparent when king Dasharath says he would denounce Bharath if he had any hand in kaikeyi's kaand. Unfortunately king Dasharath and kaikeyi both forget their children's nature. Neither Ram nor Bharath had anything but love for each other and both suffered for their parents mistake, the main one being their lack of trust.

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Maverick_me

@Maverick_me

Voyager

Posted: 9 years ago

Originally posted by: Justlikethat1
Maverick, beautiful citations👏
The Dasharath explanation of Bharath though has to be taken under the context of his desperation to explain away any objection that King Dasharath things Ram would site at the news of his coronation.
Dashrath actually jumps the gun thinking that he needs to convince Ram. He talks of the age, his burden of taking care of the Rajya, the fickle human mind and his foreboding..

But yes.. there is some insecurity which becomes apparent when king Dasharath says he would denounce Bharath if he had any hand in kaikeyi's kaand. Unfortunately king Dasharath and kaikeyi both forget their children's nature. Neither Ram nor Bharath had anything but love for each other and both suffered for their parents mistake, the main one being their lack of trust.

Thanks and you're right, lack of trust 😕

But all four brothers strived hard to make an ideal family and they led by example 😊