Rāma, the perfect God, like us

The divine spirit who accompanies us in October is Rāma, the seventh avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is beautiful, courageous and wise, with steady nerves and skin the color of the sky – which is his origin. He is the devoted husband of Sita, who is just as faithful, in love and rich with talents. He is the divinity who manifests himself on Earth during the Tretā-yuga, the era characterized by the appearance of evil, when human sacrifices were common. In one of the many stories dedicated to Rāma, he was a priest who rebelled against these customs. Rama carries the archetype of goodness of the heart and brotherly love, just as it was with Christ.

Rāma is also called Rāmachandra because his color is as shining and bright as that of Chandra, the moon. The stories of his adventures date back to the fifth century BC, and he is referred to in the “Vana Parva” as part of the Mahabharata, in the story of the killing of the demon king Ravana, who had kidnapped Sita. Rama and Sita represent the couple born to be united, who must go through the drama of separation and suffer through conflict in order to reunite, like the human spirit.

His great epic journey is recounted in Rāmayana, the first epic poem of sacred literature from India. Rāma’s story is still recited today during a series of festivities that coincides with the transition from the wet season to the dry season, in the month of October. “To whomever recites Rāma’s endeavors, the telling of the story assures long life, procures fame, increases strength, and frees from all pain. By reading and meditating on this story, meritorious for those who listen and for those who recite, humanity will be freed from all suffering.” Rāmayana

Rāma is probably a real-life leader who became a hero and was later considered a God. He is the most virtuous figure of Hindu mythology, and his behavior, his thoughts, and his coherence with what he has chosen, remind all human beings about the value of dharma, right behavior.

Rāma is an example of realizing all the best virtues of human beings. “Perfect” is the term that comes to mind when we think about him and his characteristics. “Perfect” often means “unattainable” and “distant,” although these are not his characteristics. On the contrary, Rāma is an ideal that every human being can aim for, precisely because he is an example of the best virtues that we can achieve.

Rāma is one with his wife Sita. She has the same characteristics of perfection and completeness, and it is their unity that indicates the path to follow, a both mystical and material horizon which we can move toward.

Rāma, and Sita alongside him, is a divinity we can imagine getting closer to. He seems to remind us – and this is his most precious function today – that divine characteristics are those that humans can reach, for greater peace within each one of us and in the world.

Rāma is a figure who is strongly representative of a specific culture, the Indian one, and at the same time he is endowed with a great universality. He speaks all the languages of the soul, of all the souls, and he invites us to realize the best of ourselves.

The world should listen to Rāma’s voice, if we want to overcome our problems: identity crises, the crises of peoples, nations, politics that justify and perpetrate pollution, war, violation of human rights, injustice, poverty…

Rāma speaks to us about a strong and compassionate identity based on self-awareness and the desire to come together with others, to overcome evil and the darkness of the soul together. He shows us the light of hope that has already been realized; the world simply needs to learn to believe in it. Rāma, with his skin the color of the moon, who smiles at us, together with Sita, gives us the faith that humans can make his courage and wisdom their own.

Stambecco Pesco