स्थितप्रज्ञः?
Sri Rama is the Avatar who sets the supreme example of an idealized humanity, what it truly means to be a man, paurusham. Though he is the Divine Purushottama, yet he limits himself to fit the ideal human being. Hence he is the Maryada Purushottama. Yes he is virtuous as is commonly portrayed but he is not bound to his virtues as the ordinary man. Dharma comes first for him and hence we see the finest flower of the Ikshvaku dynasty transgressing the lines of conventional morality in the killing of Vali and a few other times. So too he is above vice and does not hesitate in undertaking an action that is needed for the greater and larger good even though it may be construed as a fault and a blemish. As an exempler of ideal humanity he has all the shades of emotions that human beings experience but he is, like the Sthitapragya स्थितप्रज्ञः of the Gita able to rise above them, and eventually regain his calm even in extreme distress. He has mastered his emotions and his Buddhi and Vivek never falters. He is a gyanayogi to whom renunciation and sacrifice comes easily. He is the embodiment of Divine Love tempered to the human pitch as is shown in his equal and universal love for the family as well as for the outcaste, the lowly, the fallen, the animal and bird and the elements. He is also a karmayogi who never swerves or falters from the course decreed for the upholding of Dharma. He is indeed the gyanayogi, bhakta and karmayogi, a jivanmukta, all rolled in one.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
