Vasishtha

Vasishtha

After his meeting with Vishvamitra, Rama saw Laxman off and strolled past the deserted cottage of the hermit. He remembered how they shared silence when the streams flooded with the rain-waters and how, all of a sudden, the hermit was gone one day without a warning.

These days, after the hermit’s departure, Rama’s mind often remained vacant like the sky. Things seemed neither real nor unreal. They seemed to exist one moment or vanished. It made no difference either way. Vishvamitra was a part of that world which wavered between reality and fantasy.

As he stepped inside Vasishtha’s cottage, he found Vasishtha in deep meditation. After a long interval of silence, Vasishtha opened his eyes. He smiled and said, “Speak Rama; I am glad that you are here.”

Rama was still seeking his answers within. The words came forth, but not in the form of a question.

“I do not want to rule this kingdom,” he said. “What do I do with a kingdom in which I have no involvement? I don’t want to rule over people with whom I cannot relate. They are going to surrender to whoever is going to be their king, because they are required to do so. Why is this complex heritage being presented to me? If you say that this world is unreal, let it remain so. It is not going to matter to anyone. You are all concerned about what Rama is going to do. Which Rama are you talking about; Rama: the prince, the son, the brother, the disciple?”

Vasishtha knew that this moment was destined to come. It was for Rama to decide when he was going to face it. He said, “When I talk about Rama, I talk about Rama. There is no other Rama than the Rama I know. I know him because I know myself. Rama knows himself because he knows Vasishtha.”

Rama asked, “And how does Vasishtha know himself?”

Vasishtha said, “Vasishtha knows himself in the same way in which he knows Rama. He knows Rama in the way in which knows the life that dwells in this earth, waters, air, light and space. You are at this moment agitated by our concern as to what Rama is going to do. I am not agitated. I know, Rama is not going to do anything. Rama is neither the cause nor the consequence of what is happening here in Ayodhya, or anywhere else in the world.”

“Why are we here then, you and me?” asked Rama. Vasishtha was silent for a while. He said, “Your heart holds the knowledge of everything. It is as vast and open as the sky. You know that this world is what you make of it---real if you view it from this side of the fence; unreal if you view it from the other side. “

Rama said, “Where do we find the truth then, on this side of the fence or there where ‘Nothing’ begins?”

Vasishtha was silent. Rama said, “Life has found its most subtle and intense vibration in you. That is why you can make your silence hold all answers. But today I want you to speak. You---the sage known by the name Vasishtha, you who are the embodiment of the highest state of ego---how are you placed in the midst of the real and the unreal?”

Rama’s question ended. There was no answer. The silence was clear and deliberate.

Rama spoke, “Your holiness, you too are speechless like me! I am often accused of withdrawing into silence! There is no question that you cannot answer. Why is this silence then?”

Vasishtha said, “You are innocent, my lad! It’s not that I lack arguments for want of anything worth saying. But silence is the only answer to your question. Be content to know at present that the world is neither real nor unreal. What is real is you and you alone. So long as you know the self in you, the question which you are asking me, holds no relevance. “

After watching Rama for a while, Vasishtha said, “Rama: the one I know, is not fragmented. He was never fragmented. Keep this in mind and go ahead. You are an ascetic born in a royal dynasty. There has to be a meaning to it. “

Rama said, “Things can happen without a reason. They just happen. It’s our vanity that makes us read a meaning into them.”

Vasishtha did not counter Rama. If Rama was determined to follow the path of asceticism, why should he or Vishvamitra not let him do so? Was the world going to lose Rama or was Rama going to lose the world? Was he or Vishvamitra not using Rama against his will? But Rama might live for the world. How and why---these questions had to be left to the discretion of time. Neither Vasishtha, nor Vishvamitra could see the verdict of time . What lay ahead was a war of civilizations and Rama had to choose to fight. Ascetics and sages: however great they may be: and there were many: Rama would be just one of them if he chose the path of asceticism. On the one hand Rama had the right to live his life as he chose to live it; on the other, was the question of preserving a world of sanctity and reason.

Vasishtha was emotionless. He knew what Rama was going to choose in spite of the present state of vacillation.  He said, “Go ahead and do what serves you best, not what suits you best. Whatever is good for you has to be good for the world. “

Rama remained silent. Then he moved forward and touched Vasishtha’s feet.

“I shall go with Vishvamitra,” he said.

Vasishtha blessed him.