Ladder Of Fall
The greatest Teacher (Jagat Guru) that Lord Krishna was is so evident in the 2 verses of the Geeta (Chapter 2), where He gives, step-by-step, the ladder of fall of a person leading to his complete perish. The Lord says,
“A man musing over some sense-object develops an attachment for them, from attachment arises desires, from desires arises anger, from anger arises delusion, from delusion loss of memory and intellect, from loss of intellect, he perishes.”
The starting point is the indiscriminate thought flow we entertain for any sense-object (person, etc.) which is unscrutinized by our intellect and ground reality. This entire ladder of fall is perfectly shown in the Ramayana. Mother Sita was living happily with Lord Rama, both while She was in the palace as well as when She chose to join Him in His exile for 14 years. We are all fine irrespective of the external situation as long as the Lord resides with us. All was well till one day She laid her eyes on a fleeting golden Deer (representing the sense-object). It is worth understanding the suggestions here that each and every sense-object has an illusive attraction (since n deer can be actually golden) and also the fact that the joy they give or seem to give is fleeting. Nevertheless, She constantly thought of the deer and that thought-flow (unchecked) created a desire in Her to get that Deer. She sent the Lord to get the Deer suggesting subtly that the Lord departs as soon our desires become more important to us than Him. The deer was actually a demon in disguise. All sense-objects externally look attractive till we know their inherent nature (temporary and limited). When the Lord finally struck the Deer, the demon within shouted in the Lord’s voice “Help me, Help me”. When Mother Sita heard the cry, She concluded that the Lord needed help (indicating her delusion and loss of memory that the Lord could never come to any harm). She immediately asked Lakshman, who had been instructed to protect Mother Sita, to go to the help of the Lord. Lakshman represents our intellect whose job is to protect the mind when it goes berserk after it sends the Lord away. When Lakshman (intellect) gave his assurance that nothing could possibly harm the Lord, Mother Sita got angry and lost her discrimination, memory totally. She charged the noble Lakshman with evil intentions. This is suggestive of our rationalizations and justifications for our own thinking and doing. Lakshmanji too finally left hesitatingly on the order of mother Sitaji, but he drew a line of protection (Lakshman Rekha) outside the hut and insistently instructed Mother Sita not to cross that line for her own protection. This is the line of our own conscience which is our last protective agent forbidding us from crossing the boundaries of Dharma and character, when the binding desire/anger/delusion compels us to go astray. And finally when Ravana comes, disguised as a Sadhu, and tells her to come way out of the hut to give him the Bhiksha (food to a Sadhu), she forgets even the Lakshman Rekha (conscience) and falls prey to the attraction of the Ten senses (suggestive of the Ten Heads of Ravana). She stands victimized and is now bound by Ravana.
Isn’t this our story too somewhere or the other? Think about it, and stop at the 1st thought which comes naturally when we see the “fleeting golden deer” of our life too. It’s all up to us to make or mar our own destiny, since we are a;; given free-will and the power of discrimination by the Lord as a sole privilege given to a human being. No animal is given this privilege. We need to respect it to save us and to serve the Lord. Will we?
The starting point is the indiscriminate thought flow we entertain for any sense-object (person, etc.) which is unscrutinized by our intellect and ground reality. This entire ladder of fall is perfectly shown in the Ramayana. Mother Sita was living happily with Lord Rama, both while She was in the palace as well as when She chose to join Him in His exile for 14 years. We are all fine irrespective of the external situation as long as the Lord resides with us. All was well till one day She laid her eyes on a fleeting golden Deer (representing the sense-object). It is worth understanding the suggestions here that each and every sense-object has an illusive attraction (since n deer can be actually golden) and also the fact that the joy they give or seem to give is fleeting. Nevertheless, She constantly thought of the deer and that thought-flow (unchecked) created a desire in Her to get that Deer. She sent the Lord to get the Deer suggesting subtly that the Lord departs as soon our desires become more important to us than Him. The deer was actually a demon in disguise. All sense-objects externally look attractive till we know their inherent nature (temporary and limited). When the Lord finally struck the Deer, the demon within shouted in the Lord’s voice “Help me, Help me”. When Mother Sita heard the cry, She concluded that the Lord needed help (indicating her delusion and loss of memory that the Lord could never come to any harm). She immediately asked Lakshman, who had been instructed to protect Mother Sita, to go to the help of the Lord. Lakshman represents our intellect whose job is to protect the mind when it goes berserk after it sends the Lord away. When Lakshman (intellect) gave his assurance that nothing could possibly harm the Lord, Mother Sita got angry and lost her discrimination, memory totally. She charged the noble Lakshman with evil intentions. This is suggestive of our rationalizations and justifications for our own thinking and doing. Lakshmanji too finally left hesitatingly on the order of mother Sitaji, but he drew a line of protection (Lakshman Rekha) outside the hut and insistently instructed Mother Sita not to cross that line for her own protection. This is the line of our own conscience which is our last protective agent forbidding us from crossing the boundaries of Dharma and character, when the binding desire/anger/delusion compels us to go astray. And finally when Ravana comes, disguised as a Sadhu, and tells her to come way out of the hut to give him the Bhiksha (food to a Sadhu), she forgets even the Lakshman Rekha (conscience) and falls prey to the attraction of the Ten senses (suggestive of the Ten Heads of Ravana). She stands victimized and is now bound by Ravana.
Isn’t this our story too somewhere or the other? Think about it, and stop at the 1st thought which comes naturally when we see the “fleeting golden deer” of our life too. It’s all up to us to make or mar our own destiny, since we are a;; given free-will and the power of discrimination by the Lord as a sole privilege given to a human being. No animal is given this privilege. We need to respect it to save us and to serve the Lord. Will we?
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