Rama and Sita are rightly the names that have governed the Hindu psyche for long. What Shiva and Parvati are on the subtle planes, Rama and Sita are on the physical. True it is that they are never able to lead a ‘typical happily married hereafter’ life. But to the ancient Aryan type, earthly happiness was never a goal worth pursuing. At best it counted among the lesser goals of mankind, Artha and Kama. They were a preparation for the two higher goals, Dharma and Moksha. Rama and Sita were already emancipated and liberated, divine beings so to say, who came as Avatars not to accumulate personal happiness but to set an example, give the Dharma to mankind at that stage. They came to show and explify how to lead a meaningful life amidst every possible challenge, how to keep the truth, the dharma before self and how to rise from the pyre like the great Phoenix. And they did it with a rare greatness opening the path towards an ideal, illumined mind for man. And even today we in India can relate to this ideal as love is not about money success or possession, true love is sacrifice and giving and not about living happily married and that why precisely why Rama and Sita are and should be the ideals of our Indian culture.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
