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What are the prerogatives of a human life?
What choices does one really have?
Is Ram's action to leave for vanvaas despite his father's fears responsible for Dashrath's death?
Did Ram have a choice? Yes and No.
His path was determined, he had to leave, he had to accept his dharma, for his kingdom, for his father, for his mother, for his family, for his ancestors, for humanity...
Had Ram stayed in Ayodhya, would Dashrath have survived? No
He would have died of the other guilt - of not fulfilling his promise and leading to the doom of Raghuvansh,
The only choice that Ram had was to choose a path - the seemingly easy path to the throne, OR the seemingly difficult path to vanvaas. He chose the latter. Is this to a disadvantage for Ayodhya people who love him as a king? Maybe in the short term. But Ram has a more significant role to fulfill, he is here to free all people, not just Ayodhya from the evil of Ravana, he is here to lead by example to a Righteous Path.
Did Dashrath have a choice? Yes and No.
He was doomed for this fate, the moment he decided that his life was incomplete without an heir, a son. In his greed, his desperation, to get what was elusive to him, he created blunder upon blunder.
His actions created many reactions in his life that were negative, the curse, the promise to Kaikeyi, the announcement of Ram's coronation...
The only choice Dashrath had was to not want something that much, something that was never meant to be, to not defy destiny, to not defy the right path. He had a choice to pick a path as well - the seemingly easy path of seeing his favourite, beloved son on the throne, OR the seemingly difficult path of letting go of this desire . Had he chosen the latter, Ram would still have been in the palace, not as the king, but atleast as his son...
Did Kaikeyi have a choice? Yes and No.
She lived all her life with the fear of not turning into her mother. She was over-accomplished and over-embellished. Yet she was destined to be a second queen. She served her husband well, lived together peacefully with his other wives, loved all her sons, especially Ram. That may be out of vanity, but she took pride in calling someone else's son her own.
All her life she performed her dharma, and there was a moment of weakness, when she let it all go, desperately clutching to the promises she had from Dashrath, to get her self-respect back, to get her importance back, which she was made to believe she had lost. She lost all her life's good karma in that one moment of weakness, when she decided to follow through with the promises...
The only choice she had was to pick a path - the seemingly easy path of coaxing her wishes out of Dashrath and Ram, getting what she thought she wanted OR the seemingly difficult path of letting it all go, keep her ego and vanity aside and think about the family instead.
They all chose a path, that was the only choice they had, they all acted sometimes true to their nature sometimes against it.
Their actions and reactions that followed are insignificant...
What say forum members?
B/w, today what I loved the most in the episode was Kaushalya describing Dashrath's last breath - that he was chanting Ram's name, as if in the name he found Ram to be close to him. There in lies the significance of the word Ram...
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
