Kesariya Balama, Padharo Mhare Des...

Today's episode was dedicated to highlighting the contrast between Rama and Ravana

Ravana sent an advance party, that is beating the drums of his greatness,

Showing off his wealth and muscle power

The effect on the humble and grounded family of Janak is of course the opposite

And we witnessed Sunayanas apprehensions that Ravana should not become Sita's husband

in contrast, the Ayodhya rajkumars made an unobtrusive entry, after a difficult trek on foot

Not to impress, or to compete, or to win, but with shiva bhakti, and samarpan for guru in their hearts

Here too, their fame and karmas preceded them, just like the khushboo of chandan

And they were warmly welcomed and respectfully received

Their warmth and humility had people wishing that they would win the swayamwar, and the hand and heart of their princess.

So, one's attempt to show off his might actually made him unpopular and unwelcome

Whereas the valour and virtuosity of the other made him recognised and respected everywhere!

Aur kya, highlight was the Rama Sita ehsaas, when they sensed each other's presence

I enjoyed the stories - both the story of Ganga, and the story of Raja Janaks ancestor, and the history of Mithila

What does Gargi Mata want to ask Rama - Janane ke liye dekhte rahiye - Ramayana - Kal raat 8 baje

Waiting for swayamvar

Yes, and the story of Janaks ancestor was new for me.

That's the beauty of our mythology, every story has a back story

Aaye chahe jaise bhi, par jayenge poore band baja baraat ke saath

Woh bhi Sita ko le ke!

Thank you Hema, I am glad you enjoyed the crisp bytes ( that is the name of my daily thread ) . Hope you continue to enjoy them

A choice that is made not seeing the outer cover, but seeing the inner strength. Ravan has to drumbeat who he is, Ram's actions speak who he is.

If you do the right actions you don't have to drum beat your achievements, your achievements will precede you.

And that Ehsas scene I felt like singing " Janam Dekhlo Miti gayi dooriyaan, Mein yahan hoon yahan hoon, yahan hoon yahan "😆

Now don't kill me for putting a Bollywood song for a divine love story. What to do.😆😆

But I just wanted to highlight some facts here and please don't think I am against the real facts (that Ram is Born for Sita & Vice versa). But I just want to relate the status co of both Lanka & Ayodhya and they are similar.

The King of Lanka felt the need to analyze the fact whether it is worth accepting the Swamayvar invitation from king Janak where as Ayodhya thought of refusing the invitation on the pretext of Ram's absence at Ayodhya for the same reason that Janak is not up to their level. Rani Kaikeyi straight away rejected the daughter of king Janak as not a match to her son Ram and when Dashrath suggested about Bharath, Maharani Kaushaly rejected it claiming Bharath is younger to Ram and shall not marry before him but she also gave the statement, if we have to reject the proposal from Mithila, this is the right time as we can use Ram's absence as a cover. So if we think in this line, Raavan is better than Dashrath as he made an attempt to accept the Swayamvar even when he knew the status co of Mithila is lesser than his staus but Kaikeyi found that as the major draw back for not even considering the offer.

While Raavan's minister on visiting Mithila felt the need to make some altrations and arrangements to suite his master's grandure, so that he doesn't face problems during visit while Ayodhya didn't even think twice before deciding the fact that Mithila is too low or poor or inferior to Ayodhya to even think of a match between the two and cowardly took shelter behind the back of Rishi Vishwamithra to refuse the invite, they were not even straight forward like the Lanka king and his minister while accepting their reasons. The minister who had said he is not sure about his master accepting the invitation, moment the he met and realized the girl standing in front of him is the princes of Mithila, then and there he decided his king will marry this girl despite the social uneven match as she was fit to be a queen as he could see her having all those qualities required to be a queen while Ayodhya never even thought about the girl as for them, the gradure was the matching scale and not the girl and her qualities. And this decision of rejecting the Mithila invitation was by the wives of King Dashrath and we felt him gender biased for wanting to have a son.

And as told by Sunaina, the grandure of Lanka was only the match to Ayodhya so on the richness, both were on par and if Ravan projects his gradure, there should not be any qualm as the same is being done by Ayodhya as well except for the 4 princes who have learnt and understood the meaning of equality from their Guru Vashista.

Had it not been for rishi Vishwamithra and the dedication Ram had for his Guru, it may not have been possible for him to attend the Swayamvar and marry Sita. lets not debate about them the match made in heaven and all and the fate of them to be together was decided by the Gods, but had ram gone against his mother kaikeyi and married Sita even if his father and mothers kausalya & Sumithra agreed for the rishtha? No, so at times, it is the guru who decide ones fate and future which parents may try to suppress.